Chapter 222: Chapter 189: Business
After pulling off the velvet cloth covering the tripod, just as Yang Xiao suspected, there it was: a camera, and an exceedingly ancient one at that, resembling the kind of wooden box style he had only ever seen in old movies.
On the right side of the camera was a crank that could be turned, while the left side featured a strange indentation, about the size of a fist.
Lu Youdao lifted his somewhat limp left leg and stepped down onto a specific spot beneath the tripod, making Yang Xiao notice that there was a hidden black pedal under the tripod.
The lighting in the room was very poor, with an old-fashioned lamp with a lampshade placed in each corner of the room—the only sources of illumination within.
As the black pedal was stepped on, the wall directly in front of the camera lens began to change. The dark red velvet curtains that had been concealing it slowly drew apart to either side, revealing the scene behind them.
A high-backed chair with an exaggerated design appeared in front of Yang Xiao, covered by an enormous glass dome.
Under the dim lighting, the glass dome took on a strange bronze hue, suggesting that special materials had been added to it.
The legs of the chair were extremely long, the seat level almost even with Yang Xiao’s shoulders; to sit in it would presumably require one to either jump up while holding on to it or to use a ladder or some other form of assistance.
The chair’s back was carved with bizarre and odd patterns, filled with eerie human faces.
From its design, it did not seem like an item from within the country but more like something that had made its way from abroad.
"What is this?" Yang Xiao asked, not understanding.
But Lu Youdao did not answer the question; he slowly moved aside, and the look he gave Yang Xiao made the latter quite uncomfortable, "Come here, operate this, and take a photo of what’s in front of you."
Clearly, this chair was a Resentful Eye Item, sealing inside it a ghost.
This was the Patrol Defense Bureau, and since he had no feud with this senior Lu, Yang Xiao boldly stepped forward and attempted to operate the Ghost Camera.
The movable crank was used to control the pitch angle of the camera lens, which could not move left or right; the camera was fixed on the tripod, and the tripod itself was crudely welded to the ground.
After confirming the angle, Yang Xiao pressed the shutter button.
"Hmm?"
The camera had no response.
Lu Youdao then reached into his pocket, took out a flat metal box, and with a "clank," he inserted it into the indentation on the left side of the wooden box camera, where it fit perfectly.
"Continue."
This time, when Yang Xiao pressed the shutter again, the camera finally came to life.
After about 1 minute, a small green light suddenly came on at the bottom of the camera and, accompanied by the sound of rustling, a photograph was slowly ejected from the bottom.
The texture of the photo was somewhat similar to a Polaroid, not very clear, with obvious graininess and an odd atmosphere you couldn’t quite put your finger on, as if it had a filter of antiquity over it.
At the sight of the photograph, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but gasp sharply. He saw that there was a figure sitting in the otherwise empty high-backed chair.
The figure wore a black top hat, was extremely thin, and was dressed in an oversized tailcoat with a colorful, lace-trimmed shirt beneath it, dyed in various shades.
Bowing slightly, the face of the figure hanging down showed exaggerated makeup: white as paper but with strikingly red lips. Blood-chilling scars as if cut by a knife trailed from the corners of the mouth to the ears, exposing the ghastly and ugly gums beneath the peeled back flesh.
Yet more horrifying was the fact that the clown-like figure possessed abnormally long legs; while seated in the chair, the figure’s feet could actually reach the floor.
"Take another one," Lu Youdao commanded without looking at Yang Xiao or seeming to care about the photo he had taken, prodding in habit.
But when Yang Xiao saw the second photo, he became truly unsettled: the clownish figure had stepped down from the chair and moved to the edge of the glass dome.
The photo captured only the clown from the neck down, but from the way its shoes were pointed squarely at him, it was obvious that the clown had noticed his presence.
No, Yang Xiao suddenly realized, it was he who had awakened this creature!
A chill stretched from the glass dome in front of him; to the naked eye, there was only an empty high-backed chair within.
But from the photograph in Yang Xiao’s hand, it was clear the clown ghost had set its sights on him, and the dissonance between illusion and reality made him struggle to adjust.
Without Lu Youdao’s customary urging, Yang Xiao immediately operated the camera, turning the crank and raising the lens. He remembered what Da Xiong had once told him: to restrict a ghost, one must capture its entire body in a photo.
"Click."
"Click, click."
Yang Xiao was flustered; the Ghost Camera had actually jammed—or no, that wasn’t it... it was out of film!
The metal box that Lu Youdao had given him contained only two shots!
The oppressive force emanating from the blank glass dome in front of him was growing stronger, a pressure far surpassing that of the ghost girl in the painting they had contained last time.
Even more disturbing, his head was becoming increasingly heavy, his vision blurry, and deep within his mind, it was as if a long-legged clown was tumbling and leaping closer and closer to him.
"Hiss—"
A familiar sound of chains being yanked rang out, and as the dark red velvet curtains in front of the glass dome drew to a close, the spooky chill vanished, and a completely drained Yang Xiao stumbled back until his back hit the wall, finally coming to a stop.
Sweat streamed down his forehead, and cold sweat soaked through to his back. His legs were shaking uncontrollably; he had no doubt that he had just taken a walk on the brink of the ghostly gateway.
