Xiang Jiang was awakened by the smell of cheap candles.
When he woke up, he was wearing a loose work uniform, with talismans all over his limbs. His brother Xiang Hai was treated not much better than him, and Xiang Jiang could recognize the aura of the magic that suppressed the powerful ghost even with his eyes closed.
The room they were in was filled with small local idols, and the idols were suspended in the air with ropes made of human hair from the ceiling. The various smiling faces were surrounded by black, and the small idols swayed like hanged ghosts, adding a bit of weirdness.
In the middle of the room, a pile of bright red candles melted into a heap. In the melting wax, dark ash particles floated up and down. The candle flames moved without wind, and the shadows of the statues in the room grew long and short, crawling around the room like living things.
Seeing these rather rustic statues and artifacts, Xiang Hai huddled painfully beside Xiang Jiang, with his wings retracted into his body. The two cuddled up tightly, and it was hard to tell who was alive and who was dead.
"Don't be afraid." Xiang Jiang managed to find his voice again.
He tasted blood on his lips, his throat was so dry that it smoked, and all the muscles and bones in his body were aching. Even the treatment given to death row prisoners by Shi An was not so bad. Xiang Jiang's mouth gradually raised a bitter smile. He knew where this place was.
The site of the Sinking Society.
At the back of the school, Ge Tingting and Huang Jin were controlled by love and suddenly turned against each other. He naturally looked for a chance to escape, but just as he and Xiang Hai escaped from Zhi'an's encirclement, several magic spells suddenly exploded and he lost consciousness in an instant.
At the end of their memory, they were dragged into a dark crevice by someone.
Shen Mo is probably using a more "radical" approach to study the other side.
"Because I want more." Shen Mo just smiled and said nothing. "Of course, this is a deal. I will use the best ghosts from the Shen Wang Society to nourish your brother. As for you, I will help you become stronger - so that you don't have to rely on pollution to use special abilities."
During the God's Descent, Shen Mo and Jiao Lian gained the complete "Charon" ability. Jiao Lian cooperated with Shi An in the research of the other side, while Shen Mo betrayed Shi An and directly joined the Shenming Society.
So he could only shrink quietly, slowly moving his body, and using more of his body to block Xiang Hai.
Shen Mo seemed to change his posture unintentionally and turned his body towards Xiang Hai.
Will I become the next "clothing"? If so, will the other party take action here
The living robe exuded the aura of a powerful practitioner and a suffocating sense of despair. Xiang Jiang had an impression of this situation. In the case of Bai Yongji, a living person was also integrated into an object in this way, unable to live or die.
Xiang Jiang was silent for a long time, and finally uttered a weak question.
Xiang Jiang: “…” Now he has nothing but time.
Shen Mo leaned forward and stretched out his hand. As the candle flame flickered, his fingers were still stained with bright blood and suspicious mucus.
A black crack appeared in the air, and the statues began to tremble in unison. The space shook, and in the ripples like water waves, a figure broke through the air.
Xiang Jiang leaned against a wall covered with statues of gods and shrank his body alertly.
As if he had seen through Xiang Jiang's thoughts, Shen Mo pulled over the nearest statue and used it as a chair. His body and voice were very young, but his eyes had the madness that only an old man could have.
He still insisted on tensing his body, wishing he could even blink less often.
"As long as the pollution source is exposed, the sinking society will have as much business as it wants. To reach the other side, there will inevitably be an additional cost."
"Forget it, it's just a purely business relationship." Shen Mo shrugged. "One hand handed over the pollution source, the other hand handed over the research results. There were a few unpleasant things in the process. I can understand that. After all, Shenming will not fight for it and only qualifies them as a research institution."
The Emergency Management Department has a list of all those who betrayed Shi'an - not to mention this "Shen Mo", whose appearance is exactly the same as the photo from that year.
Xiang Jiang stared at Shen Mo for about half a minute. Shen Mo patiently stretched out his hands, his hands no longer trembling, as if his whole body had turned into a stone statue. Around Shen Mo, strange statues of various sizes were illuminated by candlelight. The shadows at the corners of their mouths were raised, and they were smiling strangely and uniformly.
"We are of the same generation, so you don't have to be so nervous."
Shen Mo slowly stroked his living robe.
"They will be related to the sinking, so it doesn't have to go through me." Xiang Jiang finally spoke.
He recognized that face.
At least he had to find a way to rescue Xiang Hai. Xiang Jiang gritted his teeth and stared at Shen Mo.
“If you want to do something in a foreign country, it’s always better to have a local guide who is familiar with the local customs... I just need to meet once, to meet the person who connected with you.”
Every second Xiang Jiang was silent, the opponent's aura became stronger. Xiang Jiang was already so weak that his whole body ached, and now he felt as if he was being slowly buried alive by the opponent's hostility.
Xiang Jiang Mechanical answered: "So?"
The man was tall and handsome, wearing a loose red-brown robe. In the candlelight, the robe was faintly visible with lines like capillaries. There was something wet and glittering at the edge of the robe, and the outline looked like a human eye.
Xiang Jiang finally grabbed that hand.
Since then, he has almost disappeared from the metaphysical world and never participated in any open activities.
"We have the same goal." Shen Mo smiled frivolously.
"A skinny camel is bigger than a horse. They need some of the connections and experience they have accumulated over the years. You should have realized that humans themselves are the group that best understands human fragility."
Just like now.
This was a warning to himself, Xiang Jiang smiled bitterly in his heart. Even if he and Xiang Hai were at their best now, they couldn't defeat a real Charon.
Shen Mo, a former member of the Emergency Management Department, was the master in charge of guiding Fu Xingchuan. Xiang Jiang had read this man's profile and found that he was a very good ghost master. However, he had nothing to do with the word "genius" and was the type who learned things in a down-to-earth manner.
"I have a rough idea of what happened between you and Higan. Well, it's your luck to be noticed by Higan. If you have time, can we chat?"
Xiang Jiang's limbs were cold and his mind was racing.
"Why?"
“… Enough of that. I know roughly what you guys want to do. I specifically invited you here so that you can introduce some friends on the other side.”
At this point, looking at the man's "brown robe" who was still breathing lightly, and then looking at the black space behind him, Xiang Jiang could probably guess what Shen Mo had been doing in recent years.
Shen Mo is one of them.
In contrast, Shen Mo's tone was so relaxed that it was infuriating: "I am a Charon. Those things on the other side have always had some opinions about me - they don't like humans wandering around on their own. Whether it's Fu Wuya from the Fu family or your Minister Jiao, they all failed because of this. Wei Huaqian is still obsessed with being a Charon, and no matter how hard we try to persuade him, he won't stop."
"You want to make everyone crazy, right?" Shen Mo said softly, "Don't worry, I will make you the strongest crazy spreader."
"I will be in charge of the training for the next investigation on the other side." Qi Xin clapped his hands, "You guys, remember this place firmly in your mind."
The Beyond Expedition Team—all nine teams, plus Fu Tianyi and Qi Xin—are standing in an eerie white room.
The floor, walls, and ceiling here are all pure white, which is hard on the eyes. I don't know what material the walls of the room are made of. The floor feels very soft when you step on it, and there are no wrinkles or dirt on the walls. The monotonous piano music "Happy Birthday to You" is playing in the room, and the air is filled with the pungent smell of soap.
This place is monotonous and stark, like an icicle piercing the brain. If it weren't for the large number of people entering at once, this would be considered a top-level mental hospital.
The kind that holds the craziest patients of the year.
The environment was so strange that no one dared to breathe too hard and their steps were involuntarily a little slower. Everyone walked towards the center of the room at the same time, where there were a few dark spots on the floor.
There were six photos neatly arranged there.
The photos were with the portraits facing upwards, and were individual life photos of each member of the expedition team.
Qi Xin ignored everyone's confusion and anxiety. She walked around the room and emphasized again: "You must remember the size and appearance of this room. You must remember it completely even with your eyes closed."
"What's there to remember?" Huang Jin said in a low voice.
Knowing that he was going to the other side, he wrote a transfer application overnight. I don't know if it was because he had too many drafts in mind, but Comrade Huang Jin performed beyond his level, and wrote an application with sincerity and heart, which makes people cry.
Faced with this application of almost 10,000 words, Fu Xingchuan only replied with two paragraphs.
"If you insist, I will definitely approve your application. However, if this exploration is successful, it will be considered a major meritorious service. We will report the situation and cancel your status as a 'working prisoner' as appropriate."
In the office, Fu Xingchuan tore off a piece of paper and quickly wrote down a string of zeros.
"And there is a huge bonus, which can be paid from the research funds on the other side. This is an important task related to social stability, and the reward cannot be stingy."
Huang Jin didn't take it seriously.
Prisoner's identity? He would rather go to jail than do such a deadly job. He has suffered enough and will never be fooled by Shi An's tricks again. As for the money... Huang Jin snorted coldly and glanced at the paper with numbers written on it.
"I'm going to prepare for the mission." Huang Jin said loudly, "I will withdraw the application."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure." Huang Jin answered clearly and decisively.
That being said, Huang Jin tossed and turned the text last night and still couldn't bear to delete it. He saved it as a document and placed it in the center of the computer desktop, which made him feel much better.
really.
As soon as the investigation got to the first step, things got weird. Huang Jin looked around the white room. The room was as neat as a computer model, and there was really no detail worth remembering. The only thing worth mentioning was the door of the room.
That was the only door in the room, and it was painted a dazzling red, so pure that it was blinding. No matter which corner you walked into, the red door was like a series of screams, attracting your attention all the time.
Huang Jin shook his head, squatted down cautiously, and picked up his own photo.
In the photo, Ding Lizi is playing guitar in the sunshine of the ward, and he chose the most suitable position to take a "selfie", making a photo that doesn't look like a group photo. In the gentle warm tones, both people have smiles on their faces.
The photo felt a little hard and heavy. Huang Jin turned over the photo and saw that there was a thin plate stuck to the back of the photo for fixing. One side of the photo was firmly glued to the black plate, and the whole photo looked a bit like a menu clip used by waiters to take orders.
If you want to see the back of the photo, you must carefully lift up the hard photo and look through the V-shaped gap between the plastic plate and the photo.
Behind his photo, there were five lines of words. These words were written on very thin paper and carefully pasted on. At first glance, there was almost no trace of pasting.
[Girlfriend? Fu Tianyi]
[It’s not good to take secret photos. Ge Tingting]
[I wish Miss Ding a speedy recovery. Lu Xiaohe]
[Ding Lizi, guitar, Huang Jin. Zhong Cheng said]
[When will you confess? Yin Ren]
It was the comments and signatures of his companions. I wondered what the meaning was. Was this something he was going to bring in? Aren't inanimate objects not allowed in the other side? Huang Jin had a bad feeling. Having this photo next to him was like a sign of "returning home to get married after the war."
Look at other people’s photos—
In the photo of Yin Ren, Zhong Cheng said he was running around the kitchen with a pot in his hand, as if he was looking for something. Yin Ren bit a lamb chop and made a "V" sign with pride.
In the photo that Zhong Cheng mentioned, Yin Ren was taking a nap on the sofa. Zhong Cheng said he carefully moved his head closer and took a selfie with a serious look on his face.
Lu Xiaohe's photo was taken with his mother when he was a child, and Ge Tingting's was a selfie taken when he was eating hot pot with Group 9. Fu Tianyi took the photo standing in front of the statue of the Great Heavenly Master in his home. In the photo, he put his hands together and looked subtle, with a kind of broken-pot peace.
Huang Jin had seen all these photos and had also written a sentence to comment on them upon request. Shi An had collected photos of their daily lives from them in advance, and Huang Jin had thought that they would be used in Schrödinger's award ceremony, but who knew that they would be used here.
I can’t figure it out, forget it.
Huang Jin glanced at the words "Not good for candid photos" on the back of the photo and was about to go find Ge Tingting to clarify something, but was frozen in place by a look from Qi Xin.
"You should also take your own photos with you," she said. "I'll explain it to you when we get to the other side. Do you remember all the rooms?"
Everyone put the photos away and nodded.
"Very good." Qi Xin took the lead and walked towards the red door. "It's time to go now."
The white room was built underground in Shi'an, and not far away was a temporary passage. The moment he saw the passage, Yin Ren took a deep breath.
The passage is roughly spherical, showing a uniform black-gray color, with a dot of pure black in the center. With the strange sense of rotation around it, the entire passage looks like a whirlpool.
It is about 1.56 meters in diameter and is locked in the middle of a snow-white laboratory.
Like a gray-black pupil.
Yin Ren had a strange feeling—it wasn't that they were looking at it, but that it was looking at them. It wasn't as peaceful and dead as the gap, but just standing next to it was like being licked by a cold and sticky tongue. Even someone as strong as Yin Ren felt dizzy for a moment.
Yin Ren decisively took a half step back, took two puffs of Zhong Chengshuo's wine, and then he quickly came to his senses.
Qi Xin followed suit and stepped forward. She took a little white mouse from the cage and reached through the passage.
There was a hissing sound, and the poor white mouse screamed miserably. In full view of the crowd, its body was shattered and stretched by the spinning space. When Qi Xin retracted her hand, she found a ball of deformed flesh in her palm, with facial features and limbs mixed together and the body twitching continuously.
Ge Tingting turned his head away with a bit of reluctance, and Fu Tianyi's gaze gradually became dull.
Qi Xin held the deformed mouse and looked at it for a while, making a clicking sound. Then she took two steps forward and touched the edge of the passage with one hand.
The next moment, Qi Xin's entire body stretched and deformed, as if being sucked into a whirlpool. Her body continued to stretch and rotate, connecting end to end. In four or five seconds, a twisted human body frame firmly framed the entrance. The human body's limbs and facial features twisted into a meat ball, like a nightmare.
The sense of rotation at the entrance gradually disappears, revealing a strange sense of stagnation.
Qi Xin, however, acted as if nothing had happened, and moved his palm-length lips up and down: "I've stabilized it, let's try again."
As planned, Yin Ren picked up a mouse and probed it into the vortex. This time, the mouse's body was intact. However, after returning to the human world, it seemed a little dazed, and its black eyes showed infinite dullness and confusion.
"Okay." Qi Xin said, "Everyone go in, close your eyes, and wait for my arrangements."
The feeling of passing through the portal was very strange.
Yin Ren felt his entire body lighten, as if he had stepped into a pool without any liquid. The next moment, countless sensations exploded in his nerves like holiday fireworks.
He heard the vague sounds of news and pop music, smelled the fishy filth of fish and the leather in the car, felt the soft fur and scales of small animals rubbing against his skin, and the sour bitterness of black coffee and heated broth danced on the tip of his tongue at the same time.
Yin Ren's five senses were completely confused, and his body lost balance. He couldn't tell whether he was falling, floating, or staying in place. It was as if his five senses were put into a juicer and blended into a mess.
Yin Ren subconsciously wanted to grab Zhong Chengshuo, but he couldn't find his arm. He wanted to use magic to defend himself, but no matter how he tried, all the magic was like a drop in the ocean, and there was no reaction around him.
until-
[Imagine that white room.]
The thought with the sad voice came directly into my mind.
[Close your eyes after listening to the music.]
All of a sudden, the white room came flooding back from my memory. The extremely simple soft walls, the words "Happy Birthday to You", and the rich smell of soap.
The next second, gravity returned, and Yin Ren stepped on the soft ground again. The melody of "Happy Birthday to You" kept ringing in his ears, and the scent of soap dispelled those messy smells.
Yin Ren opened his eyes.
White walls, red doors. Beside him were his frightened companions and Qi Xin, who had recovered.
She was wearing a more casual clerk uniform, just like the day they first saw her. Yin Ren blinked and moved his eyes, noticing that everyone's attire had changed a little.
Huang Jin wore a slightly larger work suit, Ge Tingting wore a Shi An Ji commemorative T-shirt. Lu Xiaohe's T-shirt had "She Shen Chu Di" printed on it, and Fu Tianyi wore that mysterious red mask.
As for what Zhong Cheng said... the loose white sweater that Zhong Cheng mentioned was simply engraved in Yin Ren's mind.
These seemed to be the clothes that everyone wore most often, or the ones that left the deepest impression on others. Now everyone collapsed and gasped for breath, only Zhong Cheng said that everything was fine and stood there like everyone else, observing the surroundings carefully.
"Happy Birthday to You" played over and over again, and the surrounding environment seemed no different from before, as if they had never walked out of that white room.
"Is this the other side?" Ge Tingting finally stopped breathing and asked tremblingly.
As soon as the voice came out, she was startled. The words came out directly from her lips, the pronunciation was clear, the logic was smooth, and the symptoms of madness completely disappeared. Huang Jin also looked around in shock, with complete surprise in his eyes.
"This is indeed the other side," Qi Xin said.
"Why is it like this?" Ge Tingting was determined to get to the bottom of it.
Qi Xin glanced at her, then floated up into the air, looking down at everyone from above.
"The so-called other shore, to use your previous analogy, is the 'brain network' composed of the brains and neural structures of all living things."
"The visual, auditory and other perceptions of living things are essentially electrical signals transmitted to the brain. Generally speaking, everything a living thing feels is a message returned by the flesh shell called the 'body', which is processed uniformly by the consciousness."
Yin Ren was confused by what he heard, while Zhong Cheng nodded in agreement.
"Normally, the autonomous consciousness of living things runs in the 'brain firewall'. And some more basic and safer information, such as fear of pain and death, and more so-called 'instincts'... all flow in this 'brain network'."
Qi Xin explained slowly and leisurely.
"You have invaded here now, which is equivalent to a virus. Before you learn to control yourself, you will absorb information indiscriminately. It's okay if your perception is confused, but if the situation is worse, you may collapse and disappear."
"'Imagination' is essentially to help you focus and block out other information. If you can't stand it later, you can imagine this room together."
Huang Jin swallowed loudly.
Zhong Cheng said thoughtfully, and he took a half step towards Yin Ren: "So that's how it is. Those exaggerated perception characteristics are to facilitate your memory."
"Are you okay?" Yin Ren replied in a low voice.
"No, it might be body memory." Zhong Cheng told the truth.
Yin Ren opened his mouth and pursed his lips again - he was theoretically a Yuanwu cub, but he looked ignorant and clumsy on the other side. The situation was worse than he had imagined. Right now, let alone saving people, he couldn't even move on his own.
It's just like a tiger cub raised in a zoo. It has good health and strength, but it will surely die if it is thrown into the wild.
He hadn't felt this kind of "weakness" for a long time.
"That's all for today. For the next 24 hours, you need to keep imagining this room until a conditioned reflex is formed." Qi Xin moved his shoulders. "When you are more stable, I will teach you how to use photos."
"Can't you just bring the missing person here?" Lu Xiaohe took two steps forward, but she still didn't dare to raise her head in front of Qi Xin. "We are close to the entrance now, we can take them out first..."
As soon as she said this, almost everyone looked at Qi Xin.
Indeed, "happiness" and "disgust" have already fallen, and "love" is in the gap. As one of the top four emotions, Qi Xin can be said to have no rivals in the other side. Otherwise, she would not risk bringing Yin Ren, the cub, back home.
Qi Xin smiled.
Her smile always made people feel uncomfortable, as if a piece of human skin was wrapped around a wooden mask, giving it a dead and cold feeling.
"Of course I can do it." Qi Xin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "But what good would that do for me? I'd help you pave the way, teach you knowledge, and find people for you - but if 'fear' backs off and just runs away, wouldn't that be a loss for me?"
Lu Xiaohe was silent.
Qi Xin landed in front of her, tilted his head stiffly, and didn't blink.
"When you humans train small animals to bite, you also use some meat or toys. For the 'Fear' cub, looking for humans is a good training." Her smile became more and more obvious, almost showing all her teeth. "What a win-win approach, don't you think?"
Lu Xiaohe's breathing suddenly became chaotic and broken, and his body trembled slightly. But she still held back her emotions and didn't reply.
"Little sister, you must learn to be grateful." Qi Xin's voice became a little lower. "Otherwise, if I kill you now, not to mention Shi'an, even 'Fear' will be helpless against me."
"Like someone who sneaked in here and had no manners at all."
Qi Xin's arm suddenly stretched out and bounced to a corner of the room. With a scream of "meow", a black ball was pinched in her hand.
Dr. Cat twisted in dissatisfaction in her hands, opened his mouth and hissed. Just now, everyone's attention was on Qi Xin, and no one noticed the small black ball in the corner of the white room.
"Coal balls?!" Fu Tianyi couldn't sit still any longer, "Impossible, you didn't even enter the white room just now, how come..."
"A person with infinite power, no wonder." Qi Xin looked at the black cat breathing crazily and tightened his fingers lightly, "You guys really have all kinds of strange things over there."
Being pinched by Qi Xin's throat, the black cat stretched out its claws to tug at him, but to no avail. Fu Tianyi's face turned pale, and he tried his best to use the magic formula, but just like Yin Ren, Fu Tianyi couldn't even make a single spark.
"Qi Xin."
Yin Ren walked forward with a stern face and grabbed Qi Xin's wrist.
"I understand your dissatisfaction. But this is our colleague, I hope you don't touch it."
Even though it was the world of consciousness, Yin Ren's palms still sweated a little. Qi Xin was right. In this damn place, let alone killing Dr. Cat, even if she really killed Lu Xiaohe, he might not be able to stop her.
so terrible.
Qi Xin moved one eye to her temple and looked at Yin Ren for a while. Finally, she snorted and threw the cat away.
Yin Ren hugged the soft cat, and Dr. Coal Ball finally regained his ability to speak. The fur on his body stood up, and he nestled in Yin Ren's arms, cursing in a low voice.
"It's not the only one that sneaked in without saying hello."
Qi Xin said with a half-smile, his crooked eye looking directly at Yin Ren.
"… Never mind, I'm going to go out and stretch my legs. Anyway, you guys brought all the stuff with you, so don't blame me if you lose it."
Yin Ren was still holding Qi Xin's wrist, and for a moment, the room was silent.
Qi Xin shook her wrist casually, and her arm instantly turned into a pile of thin bones. She easily pulled it out of Yin Ren's palm and walked straight towards the red door.
Yin Ren grabbed nothing, slowly tightened his hand, and dug his fingertips into the palm of his hand.
"Wait, I have something else to tell you!"
Unable to stop it with his hands, Yin Ren wanted to use his hair to hold Qi Xin. However, for some reason, the hair that used to be obedient did not move, hanging down softly, just like real hair.
"If you can get out of this door, I can talk to you." Qi Xin replied without turning his head.
Her figure disappeared behind the red door.
As soon as Qi Xin left, everyone except Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief.
I didn't feel it in the human world, but when I reached the other side, Qi Xin's thin body exuded an inexplicable sense of oppression, which made people instinctively afraid to approach.
Dr. Cat rolled and crawled to Fu Tianyi's side, and climbed onto his shoulder, then he caught his breath and licked his fur. However, he licked for a long time, and licked all over the fabric on Fu Tianyi's shoulder.
"I'm going out for a while."
Yin Ren strode towards the red door that Qi Xin had left. Qi Xin had left the door open, and the other side of the door was filled with countless gray-white substances that were wriggling and moving. Yin Ren stepped out as if he hadn't seen anything.
The red door closes automatically.
In a few seconds, Yin Ren, who was still gasping for breath, appeared in the middle of the room, almost bumping into Ge Tingting. The Ghost King wiped his face and cursed in a low voice.
"Let's practice first." Ge Tingting advised in a low voice, "From what she said, we need to adapt to the environment first. Brother Yin, why don't you..."
Zhong Cheng patted the little girl's shoulder and shook his head at her.
"Yin Ren, give me your hand."
Zhong Cheng said as he stretched out his hand, naturally extending the invitation.
"I'll take you to her."
Yin Ren reflexively put his hand over that hand, and his brows relaxed. But the next second, his expression froze.
"No."
Yin Ren withdrew his hand.
"I want to go by myself."
(End of this chapter)