Chapter 726: Chapter 558: Japan Ghost Society_2
Yang Xiao dared not, nor could he agree, for he had his good sister with him, and the Old Clan Leader clearly knew something about the secrets here. In the short term it might be fine, but if he stayed at the Academy for a long time, his secret would eventually be exposed.
Seeing Yang Xiao’s slight hesitation, the Old Clan Leader did not insist and smiled, "Little Yang, you don’t need to rush to answer me. Go back and think it over."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Old Clan Leader seemed to sense something; the flame in his lantern flickered without any wind. Immediately after, Yang Xiao saw the fog billowing violently behind the gate of the Japan Shrine, as if blown by the wind.
"The time has come," the Old Clan Leader stepped forward, walking towards the Shrine, with Yang Xiao following closely behind, his nerves tensing.
The closer he got to the Shrine, the more pronounced was the unease in Yang Xiao’s heart. To him, the Shrine seemed alive, as if stepping inside would lead to being ruthlessly devoured.
Yang Xiao didn’t know that the moment the Old Clan Leader led him through the gate of the Shrine, all the lights inside the Shrine dimmed and extinguished—not suddenly, but gradually. If anyone had been watching from outside, they would have noticed that at the moment the lights went out, almost every window in every room cast a human silhouette.
Each silhouette was different in height and build, some even missing parts of their bodies. Each "silhouette" stood silently behind the windows, motionless like statues, until they were submerged in the silent darkness.
With the lights completely extinguished, the building itself vanished into the night, as if it had never existed.
"Thump."
"Thump."
"Thump."
Guided by the Old Clan Leader, Yang Xiao walked along the deserted corridor, stepping on the very old wooden floor which occasionally emitted a harsh creaking sound.
Looking around, everything here was filled with a strong Japanese style. The rooms on both sides of the corridor had no doors, but instead had those split curtains, embroidered with broken cherry blossoms, adding to the cold, desolate beauty along with the old wooden frames. Here, Yang Xiao’s most profound sensation was the chill.
Walking past each door, Yang Xiao felt as if eyes were watching him from inside, their gaze cold and creepy, like a scalpel slowly flaying and dissecting him... They were definitely not the eyes of the living.
They were ghosts...
Every room here hid a ghost!!
This realization sent a chill down Yang Xiao’s spine, and cold sweat involuntarily broke out on his forehead. Could it be that his good sister’s disguise had been discovered, and the Old Clan Leader had brought him here to deal with him?
However, this thought was quickly dismissed by Yang Xiao. The reason was simple: if the Old Clan Leader wanted to deal with him, he need not have gone through such trouble.
Suddenly, the Old Clan Leader stopped in front of a room, causing Yang Xiao to pause as well, following suit. He carefully observed but found no difference between this room and the ones they had passed earlier. It was also doorless, with only two low-hanging curtains leaving less than 20 centimeters from the ground, embroidered with a tree of broken cherry blossoms.
"Little Yang, remember this, remember these paths," the Old Clan Leader spoke up, his tone extremely serious. "You’ve taken 107 steps, no turns, just a straight path, then the door on your left hand side."
The next second, before Yang Xiao could react, the Old Clan Leader stretched out his hand and lifted the curtain of the room’s door, which frightened Yang Xiao badly, considering there was still a Ghost hiding inside the room, and he had already felt the malicious gaze of the Ghost.
But as the curtain was fully opened, Yang Xiao was stunned. A gray fog drifted around the room, and the Ghost’s gaze... was gone!
The Old Clan Leader took the lead and entered the room, and Yang Xiao immediately followed inside. When he actually stepped into the room, Yang Xiao was baffled by the sight in front of him. This was not a room at all, but another corridor. The corridor was gloomy and dim, a faint mysterious dark light sprinkled from above. Everything around seemed as if it had been overlaid with a gray filter. The corridor stretched forward, leading to an unknown end.
Yang Xiao immediately looked back, and the next second, an even more terrifying scene unfolded. The door he had just passed through, that curtain, was all gone. Behind him was also a corridor, stretching as far as the eye could see without end.
He had observed this building from outside, and the space could absolutely not accommodate such a long corridor.
Besides, the building had three floors, yet until now, he had seen no stairs to go upstairs.
At this moment, Yang Xiao suddenly understood: this building was a maze, and within the maze were many rooms, most of which indeed housed Ghosts. Only by following the only path, could he avoid the Ghosts.
"Don’t trust your eyes, trust your steps, your heart, measure every step underfoot with your heart," the Old Clan Leader cautioned.
Shortly afterward, they continued walking along this newly appears corridor, indistinguishable from the previous ones. This time the journey was slightly shorter, only 71 steps before the Old Clan Leader lifted the curtain on the right hand and led the way inside, with Yang Xiao quickly following.
After walking through 5 corridors and entering 5 doors, the Old Clan Leader finally stopped. At this moment, in front of them stood a wooden door, the only door Yang Xiao had seen since entering this place.
Although the wooden door was old and dilapidated, it was still possible to see the bizarre and complex carvings on it. It was a double door as well; on the left door was carved a fearsome Evil Ghost with a blue face and sharp teeth, it had three pupils, wings on its back, and two more arms growing out from its ribs. In its palms, apart from such weapons as knives and swords, were torn limbs of a human. Under the feet of the Evil Ghost, were amputated limbs and a sea of blood - the scene was extremely brutal.
Yang Xiao guessed this was some sort of allegory, not specifically representing a particular Ghost. The general meaning was that these spiritual beings were especially fierce, especially powerful.
Shifting his gaze, he saw a Samurai carved on the right door. The Samurai was short, wearing armor clearly too large for his body. The Samurai leaped up, barely as tall as the Ghost on the left, but the aura of the Samurai was not to be underestimated. With a black, long-handled sword held high, he leapt up and chopped off three of the Evil Ghost’s arms with one swing.
That was not all; the remaining force of the blade actually split the Evil Ghost’s body in two. He involuntarily gasped in shock; through the door, Yang Xiao could feel the Evil Qi overflowing from the sword.
But the next second, Yang Xiao suddenly realized something was wrong. How could he see the scene of the Samurai chopping the Evil Ghost, when clearly the first thing he saw was the Evil Ghost displaying its might on the left, and on the right, the Samurai standing with his sword? But viewing these two images together transformed into the Samurai leaping up, slaying the cannibalistic Evil Ghost with one stroke—and this scene had quite a graphic, almost sequential art-like quality. Closing his eyes, he could even recall the fierce image of the sword chopping down.
He couldn’t look any longer, he... he seemed to have been tricked! If he continued to look, the Evil Ghost and Samurai might come to life!
Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, and the next second, he suddenly turned his head to look for the Old Clan Leader, but a shocking scene unfolded— the Old Clan Leader had disappeared, and even the ever-burning lantern in his hand was nowhere to be seen, the corridor was engulfed in a hazy darkness.
At this moment, Yang Xiao truly panicked, but he dared not cry out for help, for who knows what calling out might summon.
This was no Shrine; this was clearly a Ghost Shrine! This room after room was like tomb mounds, enshrining Ghost after Ghost!
Yang Xiao searched in vain for the Old Clan Leader and dared not leave the door unattended. The scene was at a deadlock, but when Yang Xiao looked at the wooden door again, his pupils violently trembled, and his breathing halted. The Evil Ghost and Samurai on the door were no longer fighting each other but had turned around, facing him, their eyes from above, dead set on him.
