The Eldritch Files

Chapter 8: Chapter 6: Ancient Castle Monsters

Han Su recognized the man the moment he saw him.

This man was also a family member of a victim. He was the older brother of the girl with the ponytail who had died on the second floor of the Ancient Castle.

Over the years, aside from that wealthy couple, he was the one who had sought him out the most. However, that was only for the first few years. Starting about six or seven years ago, Han Su hadn’t seen much of him; it was as if he had suddenly disappeared.

He didn’t dare to let his guard down. He slowly looked up at the man and clutched his backpack tighter. "I’ve already told you everything I know."

"Whether you believe me or not, I have nothing more to say to any of you."

Song Chushi noticed Han Su’s wariness and gave up on his intention to shake hands. He just nodded and said, "I know."

"I didn’t come back to Qinggang City to rehash the past with you, Mr. Han. I was just wondering if you might be interested in finding a place to sit down and talk?"

"Hm?"

Han Su was slightly taken aback and looked up at him.

A few minutes later, Han Su was sitting with him in a nearby wonton shop. Two bowls of wontons with egg yolk filling were placed before them.

Song Chushi took off his glasses, pulled out a tissue to wipe them, and said softly to Han Su, "When this incident happened ten years ago, it was hard on everyone."

"At the time, many people thought you were lying. Or rather, that you had lost your memory and replaced it with some unrealistic fantasies. So they were always waiting for you to remember some valuable clues."

"But I believe you, Mr. Han."

"I saw what you looked like right after you escaped. The fear on your face wasn’t fake. Afterward, I reviewed the videos of your interrogations with the Public Security Bureau many times. I studied your class’s entire itinerary, the time of the disappearance, and the time you escaped."

"Although we never found the Dark Castle you mentioned, looking at the timeline, the location of the incident should indeed be close to where you described."

"And for so many forces to investigate so deeply over the years, to turn that entire area upside down and find no clues whatsoever... that in itself is rather unreasonable."

"..."

Listening to the man’s words, Han Su looked up in surprise.

Ever since he told the Public Security Bureau about the Dark Castle as a child, no one had ever believed him—not the newspapers, not the experts, not the victims’ families.

Aside from Xu Ji, who believed anything he said, this man was the very first.

He fell silent for a moment, put down his spoon, and asked softly, "So, you came to find me because..."

"Before my sister’s incident, I didn’t really believe in the so-called supernatural or ghosts. I’m a Doctor from Qinggang University and a researcher in the application of artifacts from the Radiation Era. I believe in science and logic, not such ethereal things."

Song Chushi let out a low sigh, gently rubbing the bridge of his nose. "But over these ten years," he said slowly, "in my efforts to find out the truth of what happened to my sister, I’ve investigated a lot of things. Even some nonsense."

"I..."

He seemed about to say something but stopped. He simply said to Han Su, "I’m starting to have my doubts, Mr. Han."

Han Su listened carefully, a flicker of something stirring in his heart.

’This man’s background is quite extraordinary.’

’In this world, all relics and even records related to the Radiation Era are extremely dangerous and difficult to access. The Administrative Hall has even passed laws forbidding anyone from entering these fields without approval. The fact that this man could enter this field speaks volumes about his capabilities.’

"I’ve discovered that there do seem to be many things in this world that don’t abide by the logic of reality."

Song Chushi began to speak slowly. "I came here this time to ask if you could help me by recalling what happened back then one more time."

"And the monsters you saw inside the Dark Castle?"

"..."

When Song Chushi made this request, he looked somewhat apologetic. It seemed he also felt it was impolite to force someone who had escaped that nightmare ten years ago to repeatedly recall such painful memories.

Han Su was a bit surprised by his plea.

After a moment of thought, he slowly nodded. "Alright."

In truth, if Han Su had been asked to describe these things ten years ago, right after he escaped, he wouldn’t have been able to say much. He was too panicked at the time to observe all the details inside the Ancient Castle.

But now, after returning time and time again, escaping time and time again, everything was deeply imprinted in his mind.

Hearing this, the other man was overjoyed. He quickly took out a notebook and a sharpened pencil.

"I don’t need to elaborate on how it all started."

"Our class was on a trip to the science museum. We were young and didn’t know the way, and somehow, we ended up in that place."

"It was... a castle, I think. Or you could say a cage. Even calling it a tower wouldn’t be wrong, because it seemed to have many floors connected by a spiral staircase. And on every floor, there was a monster..."

As Han Su began his story, his voice was strangely flat, without any intonation. "The monster guarding the gate was a man with a face as white as porcelain, wearing a black suit. He was very tall, probably... three meters tall. Very thin, with countless withered vines wrapped around his body..."

Listening to Han Su’s description, Song Chushi’s pencil began to move across the paper with a soft SCRITCH-SCRATCH sound. He was actually sketching the monster.

’His skill is quite good. It bears some resemblance to the monster I saw.’

’But no matter how accurate the drawing, it could never capture the oppressive feeling of facing that monster in the body of a ten-year-old child.’

"We were all on the elementary school bus. All we felt was a jolt, and the sky seemed to turn dark. When we opened our eyes, we were already in a courtyard filled with a putrid stench."

Sitting across from Song Chushi, Han Su continued his slow narration. "That man with skin like porcelain led us into the castle."

"There were many monsters sitting at a long table, as if at a banquet. They were speaking in a language we couldn’t understand. Or rather, it wasn’t speech, just the howling of monsters. It was their language."

"..."

When Song Chushi heard this, his expression clearly shifted, growing much more solemn.

Han Su continued, "They stared at us like we were toys, or maybe food. Then they began to choose carefully, taking the children they fancied upstairs."

"One of the disobedient children started crying and was smashed to death by a monster in a black apron. Blood splattered all over our faces. After that, all the children forgot how to cry. We couldn’t understand how a child’s head could be smashed like a watermelon, and yet he didn’t cry."

"They were very pleased with our silence, so they chose even more carefully, examining our eyes, our teeth, the lines on our palms, our eyebrows, our ears. Some of the monsters seemed excited. Some were drooling."

"There was a monster wrapped entirely in a black robe, like a noblewoman, who chose a girl with a ponytail..."

"There was a female monster with only the upper half of her body who laughed like a goat. She chose a little boy with glasses..."

"And there was another one in a trench coat, whose body looked like a bloated corpse. He carried away a girl who was as pretty as a doll, wearing a little white dress and a birthday crown on her head..."

"Oh, right. Her name was Li Xiaoman. She was the daughter of the chairman of the Magic Box Group. For the past ten years, her parents have often come to me, asking about her."

"..."

Song Chushi’s hand, the one sketching, seemed to tremble slightly.

After a long moment, he looked at the images he had drawn and said in a low voice, "These are the ones the newspapers reported on... the Withered Steward, Lady Meat Horn, the Worm Monk, and... the Pale Giant..."

Han Su sneered. "Yes."

Back when Han Su first got out, the Public Security Bureau questioned him repeatedly. Reporters lying in wait managed to get ahold of his interrogation records and published them in extensive reports.

Although no one believed Han Su’s story, the case’s impact was too significant.

They still reported the detailed sequence of events Han Su described, and even gave codenames to the monsters he mentioned.

It was just that, despite the huge media frenzy at the time, it was all quickly forgotten. He hadn’t expected Song Chushi to actually remember.

After a long silence, Song Chushi finally looked up. "And then what?"

Han Su looked at him calmly and said slowly, "After that, I escaped."

"The girl with the ponytail... she was very brave, maybe even a bit reckless. She wasn’t old, but she must have trained regularly. Her skills were good. She jumped out, knocked over a candelabra, and started a huge fire. All the terrified children started crying."

"..."

At this point, Han Su paused for a moment. He looked at Song Chushi’s expression. The man didn’t show any obvious grief, but his face seemed to... blur.

’That was his sister.’

Han Su sighed softly and said, "Because of the fire—or maybe just because the children were being disobedient—the monsters got agitated. I took advantage of the chaos to run out through a door that hadn’t been closed yet and dove into a nearby rose bush."

"I just remember crawling through a lot of thorns and vines, and then running without stopping, not daring to look back, until a search and rescue team member saw me."

"Afterward, I pointed out the direction of the Ancient Castle to the others, but as you know, there was nothing there."

"..."

Han Su did his best to satisfy Song Chushi, telling him every detail he knew. He even drew the mysterious symbols from his memory for him, telling him with a tone of certainty that they were clues.

Song Chushi recorded everything very seriously, not missing a single minor detail. But as their conversation neared its end, he suddenly stopped his sketching pencil.

In that instant, his gaze seemed to turn sharp and shrewd, completely unlike his usual weary demeanor. "Mr. Han, ten years have passed. How can you possibly remember so many details?"

Looking at the scrutiny in the other man’s eyes, Han Su suddenly grinned.

He said softly, "For the past ten years, I’ve had dreams that take me back to that hellhole."

"I relive that experience over and over again. I can’t forget it even if I wanted to. And even in my dreams, I try, again and again, to save the other children..."