Chapter 773: Chapter 583: "The Eye" _2
Reflecting on the unusual experiences they had encountered along the way, Yang Xiao remembered a scene outside the ruined temple. With just a glance over his shoulder, he had fallen into a trap, and at that time, Jiang Qingluan had slapped him awake. He had seen, in a daze, that the statues in the temple seemed to come alive, leaning forward as though they wanted to chase after them, or perhaps... they had something to say.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning crossed Yang Xiao’s mind. In his memory, the clothing on those statues bore a striking seven or eight-tenths resemblance to their own attire, and the number of statues seemed close to their number of people.
However, when Yang Xiao shared his thoughts, Director Nalan and Xiang Fengchen did not react as strongly as he had anticipated. "Before you arrived, we had already checked those statues and found nothing unusual. Their clothing is very ordinary, completely different from ours," Nalan Shuo assured him firmly.
Nonetheless, since someone had brought it up, the two planned to ask Fang Zhou, who had also been ensnared, the next day; if that failed, they would find a chance to revisit the ruined temple.
The mission had just begun, and there were too few clues to make any conclusions. After leaving Yang Xiao to keep watch that night, Nalan Shuo and Xiang Fengchen each went to rest. But before that, Xiang Fengchen called over Yang Xiao, pointing to the chairs in the outer hall, "Kid, don’t sit on these chairs tonight. Move the flower pot from the floor and place it on the chair directly facing the door. There’s a copper mirror at the back of the hall, take it down and hang it outside our bedroom door, making sure the mirror faces the flower pot. Got it?"
"Do as he said."
Only after Director Nalan spoke did Yang Xiao move a pot of an unknown type of flower from beside the wall. The plant was slim with small leaves, but the flowers were blooming nicely, pink, and large, drooping down. He arranged the flower exactly in front of the door-facing chair, then took down the slightly tarnished copper mirror, hanging it outside, with the mirror facing the flower pot. Watching him complete all these tasks, Xiang Fengchen went to sleep, and Director Nalan, after giving Yang Xiao a couple of reminders, also hurried to rest.
Keeping watch was a tedious task, but this occasion was different. This time, he had the trustworthy Director Nalan by his side. Yang Xiao truly admired Nalan Shuo, who was impeccable in his conduct and actions. Meeting such a leader was his good fortune.
As time ticked by, with Yang Xiao sitting inside the bedroom, near the bed closest to the door, he looked at the chairs and the flower pot placed on them outside. It all seemed awkward to him. Just as he hesitated about possibly closing the bedroom door a bit more, suddenly, he heard a discordant sound. Listening intently, it resembled... the sound of water.
There was no river nearby, only a well.
Quickly, the sound of water vanished, replaced by a light yet unsettling creaking sound, like an old rope being pulled.
Water sounds, a rope being tugged, connecting these dots, a terrifying image instantly dominated Yang Xiao’s mind — something was emerging from the well in the courtyard, climbing up the old well rope!
Although he was afraid, he didn’t lose his composure. Yang Xiao immediately woke up Director Nalan and Xiang Fengchen. All three heard the sound of the well rope, and shortly thereafter, the creaking of the rope stopped, only to be replaced by an even more unsettling sound of footsteps.
"Clatter."
"Clatter."
Yang Xiao held his breath. Based solely on the sounds of the footsteps, he could picture a creature soaked all over, drippy with water.
It was a ghost, whose background he didn’t know, possibly the already dead "Yuan Ruoci." He thought about peeking through the crack of the door, but seeing that Nalan Shuo and Xiang Fengchen hadn’t moved, he didn’t dare act without permission. Fortunately, the footsteps weren’t heading towards them. By the sound, it seemed to head towards the middle building, which was where Jiang Qingluan and Chang Chuchu, the three women, stayed.
Not long after, the footsteps suddenly disappeared. From the last audible position of the footsteps, Yang Xiao deduced that the ghost had probably reached the doorway of the three women’s room.
That building faced the courtyard door directly, and if the Feng Shui was poor, it could attract a door-facing evil spirit, yet this ghost had crawled out from the well.
As Yang Xiao was pondering, the footsteps started up again, but this time, they were heading towards them. However, looking at Nalan Shuo and Xiang Fengchen, neither of them panicked. Nalan Shuo gave Yang Xiao a reassuring look and glanced outside the door.
Xiang Fengchen gestured towards the door with a nod of his chin, and Nalan Shuo subtly nodded back, a response that led Yang Xiao to guess that it was probably the setup in the hall that gave them confidence.
But could a flower pot and a mirror really stop this ghost?
Not long after, footsteps finally reached the door. At that moment, Yang Xiao held his breath subconsciously, peering through the wall toward the direction of the bedroom door.
Time ticked by, and suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he caught something. As he turned his head, a scene in the hallway made his eyes widen; the flowers placed on the chair had suddenly moved.
The once drooping pink bloom seemed to be controlled by some force, slowly lifting its head. At a strange angle, it began to rotate toward the bedroom door. For a moment, Yang Xiao felt a chilling realization—it wasn’t just a flower but... but an eye!
A ghost’s eye!
The ghost outside was using this flower to search for someone!
A hand gently rested on Yang Xiao’s left shoulder, and turning around, he saw Director Nalan nodding slightly at him. Yang Xiao’s tense heartstrings finally began to relax. However, as the flower slowly rotated, it eventually "looked" toward the bedroom. But the next second, the flower suddenly withered, drooping down as steps sounded outside.
"Click."
"Click."
The footsteps gradually faded away, this time in the completely opposite direction, and suddenly there was a "thump."
The creature had thrown itself into the well.
But Yang Xiao still dared not be careless until Nalan Shuo and Xiang Fengchen slowly stood up. "Is it gone?" Yang Xiao asked softly.
"It’s gone," Xiang Fengchen seemed to have expected it, he sighed with relief. "I knew this courtyard was cursed, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad. There’s something sinister in that well. Stay away from it."
Nalan Shuo stood up, looking behind, his gaze seeming to penetrate the window, looking toward another direction—the room of the three women.
"These young ones aren’t too bad, seems like they know a bit. But their hearts are heavy, and their hands aren’t ruthless, they can only persuade, not frighten," Xiang Fengchen yawned as he commented, following Nalan Shuo’s gaze.
"It must be Jiang Qingluan, she knows a thing or two," Nalan Shuo nodded slightly.
"Don’t worry, that thing won’t come back tonight," Xiang Fengchen slapped Yang Xiao’s shoulder, suggesting he go to sleep and offering to take over the watch.
"You’re quite clever, knowing there won’t be more trouble tonight. You can slack off while on watch," Nalan Shuo glanced at Xiang Fengchen, immediately exposing him.
"What’s all this about?" Yang Xiao looked at the withered flower pot. The scene of the flower rotating had left a deep impression on him; hidden in the shadow, the flower had slowly turned, creating a truly terrifying spectacle.
"This place is blocked from the front and the back, the Feng Shui here is dead, severing all vitality, so it’s impossible for flowers to bloom. This flower has long been dead, the blossom was spawned by a sinister energy."
"What’s all this about?" Yang Xiao looked at the withered flower pot. The scene of the flower rotating had left a deep impression on him; hidden in the shadow, the flower had slowly turned, creating a truly terrifying spectacle.
"This place is blocked from the front and the back, the Feng Shui here is dead, severing all vitality, so it’s impossible for flowers to bloom. This flower has long been dead, the blossom was spawned by a sinister energy."
