Chapter 32: Out of Control (11)

The gloomy atmosphere and the delirious words made everyone present feel a chill creep down their spines.

"Hey, stop spouting nonsense!"

"No, no." The woman shook her head, her eyes fixed on the doorway as she kept stepping back. "It’s coming in... it’s coming in!"

Her tone rose higher and higher, becoming almost piercing.

"Shut up!" someone snapped.

She hadn't forgotten what Ah Luo had said: do not kill, do not speak loudly, do not go outside, and do not turn on the lights.

But the woman seemed not to hear her, retreating continuously as if putting distance between herself and some invisible presence. Her eyes remained locked on the entrance, as if a terrifying entity, unseen by the rest of them, truly stood there.

At a certain moment, the breaking point was reached.

"It’s inside!"

The woman's shrill voice pierced their eardrums, yet the doorway was clearly empty!

"We’re going to die! It’s going to kill everyone here!"

She screamed hysterically, and then, as if crushed by the weight of her own terror, she let out a shriek and bolted out of the ancestral hall, plunging into the darkness.

...

A deathly silence permeated the hall. Invisible fear coiled around them, and the woman’s manic behavior and words made the already anxious passengers even more unsettled.

"...Is she crazy?"

Some questioned it, while others edged closer to the door, intending to flee at the slightest sign of trouble. Wei Ling’s expression was a mixture of shock and suspicion. She looked toward Lu Jinchao, only to see her still sitting in the same spot, her expression resolute. Strangely, this calmed Wei Ling slightly.

But...

"What on earth is happening?"

"Is this place... really safe?"

"Hey, say something!" Xu Ruolin turned to Lu Jinchao and demanded.

Lu Jinchao lifted her eyes to look at her. "It’s just an illusion."

"An illusion?"

"You mean the shadow she saw was an illusion?"

Some were skeptical, while others felt a bit more at ease with this explanation. After all, Lu Jinchao was still sitting here herself; if she were trying to deceive them, she wouldn't risk her own life, would she?

"How do you know it’s an illusion?" Xu Ruolin was clearly not satisfied with this answer.

Lu Jinchao, however, could not be bothered to explain further. She only said, "If you want to survive, it’s best not to leave this place."

The others grew grave, unsure whether to trust her. After all, Lu Jinchao was just an unfamiliar companion to them, and they knew nothing of her abilities or strength. Yet, the sight of that passenger being scared to the point of madness had been real.

Is this place really safe?

...

No one spoke again. There was still a long time left before the mission ended, but for now, they were lost in confusion.

What should they do next?

Most of them had no idea.

In the silence, a sharp, ragged sound of breathing echoed through the hall.

This sound would not have been strange half an hour ago, when everyone had just arrived and was exhausted from the journey. But now, the five people remaining in the room had long since regained their composure.

At a time like this, whose breathing could be so labored?

Everyone turned their gazes toward the source of the sound, only to see Xu Ruolin clutching her throat with both hands, scratching frantically. Her face was flushed, and her legs kicked aimlessly against the floor, as if an invisible pair of massive hands had clamped around her neck, making it impossible to breathe, pushing her to the brink of suffocation.

"What’s going on?!"

The remaining few looked toward Xu Ruolin with alarm. Even Lu Jinchao’s expression turned uncertain. According to her deduction, the ancestral hall should have been safe, so why...?

Seeing Xu Ruolin’s face grow increasingly purple and her struggles slow, she seemed to realize she was doomed. She ceased her futile resistance. Her eyes, bulging as if they would burst from the lack of oxygen, fixed on the others. With her final ounce of strength, she rasped, "...Run!"

"Run! There’s... a ghost here!"

*Thud!*

With a dull, sickening sound, Xu Ruolin’s neck was crushed by invisible hands. Her head spun halfway around in the air before hitting the ground. A fountain of blood sprayed from her hollow neck, painting every corner of the hall. The ancestral tablets were stained crimson, and the blood showered the remaining four like a downpour. Even the eternal lamp flickered, as if about to be extinguished.

This horrific scene shattered the psychological defenses of the others. Under such immense pressure, they lost the ability to judge the situation.

Some retreated in terror and sprinted out of the hall without looking back. Another glared at Lu Jinchao and roared, "You liar!"

"You’re a liar! You want to get us all killed!"

With that, she followed the others, rushing out of the hall.

What was the point of "don't leave if you want to live"? If they didn't leave now, they would be the next to die!

Wei Ling also stood up, hesitating. Before this, she had been half-convinced and intended to trust Lu Jinchao’s judgment, but now it seemed... her judgment might have been wrong.

Just as she prepared to head for the exit, Lu Jinchao, who had remained indifferent to those running away, suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist.

The blood-slicked hand was icy and sticky, making Wei Ling’s scalp tingle. She looked down and saw Lu Jinchao’s face, which remained resolute even through the splatter of blood.

"Don't go. You’ll die," she said.

Wei Ling gritted her teeth. "But if I stay here, I'll die too!"

Lu Jinchao pursed her lips, released her wrist, and looked at her earnestly. "I only want to ask you one question."

"...What?" Wei Ling had a premonition that this question was crucial.

"Since we entered this village, have you heard any sounds that belong to a village?"

"What do you mean?" Wei Ling was perplexed, her mind filled with anxiety. She felt Lu Jinchao was wasting time; all she wanted was to leave.

"Other than the sounds we make, or the sounds the villagers make, have you heard any other noises? Isn't it completely silent?"

Lu Jinchao’s words hit Wei Ling’s mind like a heavy hammer. She understood the implication instantly. As she recalled whether she had heard any other sounds in the village, a wave of dread washed over her.

None.

There were no crows of roosters, no barking of dogs, no chirping of insects or birds, not even the sound of wind rustling through leaves.

The village was far too quiet, but until now, she hadn't noticed it! Perhaps all her focus had been on the ritual. She realized then that there wasn't a single living creature in this village!

"...What about those villagers?"

"They were never alive," Lu Jinchao asserted.

From the very beginning, there had been no living things in this village!

"...Why is it like this?" Wei Ling felt a chill spreading from the depths of her heart. The village was strange, the altar was off-limits, and someone had just died in the ancestral hall. Yet, half an hour ago, this instance hadn't been this perilous!

"Illusion."

"Li Haoyang at the start, then Ye Jingyun—I suspect they all saw some kind of illusion that drove them to run away like madmen."

"Even now, I can't fully distinguish what is an illusion and what is truly happening," Lu Jinchao admitted, her tone momentarily weak. "I only know that if there is any place left in this village that can be called safe, it is here."

"But..." Wei Ling still hesitated, though she no longer felt the desperate urge to leave. "Where did it go wrong?"

She couldn't understand how things had devolved to this point. Had they done something wrong during this stop?

Lu Jinchao sighed and provided the answer: "Time."

It was time that had gone wrong.

When they first arrived, the state of the hall, which looked as if it hadn't been cleaned for a long time, was one of the clues. Then came the most critical realization.

"Do you remember the zodiac sign of the sacrifice?" she asked.

Wei Ling nodded. "I remember, the Rat."

"But this year is the Year of the Ox."

The Rat should have been last year’s sacrifice. She asked again, "What is the name of this stop?"

Wei Ling realized something and whispered in disbelief, "...Out of Control."

"Exactly," Lu Jinchao’s voice was deep, her dark eyes flickering in the light of the torch. "Out of Control. The ritual failed, so it went out of control. Why do you think the stop is named that?"

"Because Qu Village has long since spiraled out of control."

The failed ritual was something that happened last year. Qu Village had already been emptied by that loss of control.

"We are an entire year late!"

Therefore, the taboos of Qu Village were no longer what Ah Luo had described, but rather...

—Those who step into Qu Village, die!