Chapter 42 Darkness

This “person” had a very strange figure. Although the light from my lighter was very dim and only showed a vague gray outline, I could still see that the “person’s” neck seemed strangely long. It was so long, in fact, that I got the feeling it could put its face right in front of mine without having to stand up.

It was sitting in the chair I had been sitting in just now, its two slender arms moving around its head in a strange and unusual way. I stood there frozen for a moment before realizing that it was combing its hair. A chill ran up and down my spine, and my whole body suddenly broke out in goosebumps.

In a basement that had been abandoned for more than ten years, a “person” had suddenly appeared and started combing their hair in the dark. This kind of behavior, coupled with the current atmosphere, would have probably caused an ordinary person to die of fright on the spot.

I was covered in a cold sweat as I wondered who it was and when exactly they appeared. From the time I found the notebook to the time I sat down, it had only been about twenty minutes at most, so when the hell did this “person” sit down across from me? How did I not notice them at all? Moreover, this was a secret basement in an abandoned building. How could someone else be here?

That, coupled with the “person’s” strange movements and the fact that they were sitting in that chair and looking at the mirror Huo Ling had used to comb her hair, suddenly made me wonder if Huo Ling hadn’t gone with the others. Could it be…this “person” was Huo Ling?

Sweat was pouring out of my body like a waterfall, but fortunately, my nerves were stronger than they used to be. Although I didn’t understand what was happening in front of me, my body instinctively moved on its own—I took several steps back, remaining on high alert as I kept my eyes fixed on the “person”.

If this were a TV show, when I startled, the person hiding in the dark would definitely chuckle, and then the director would zoom in on them as they pulled out a small pistol and said, “Didn’t expect to see me, did you, Mr. Bond?”⁽¹⁾ But this wasn’t a TV show, and as I backed up, the person didn’t move at all. Instead, they continued mechanically combing their hair. As I increased the distance between us, the wavering light of my lighter moved with me until the person was almost swallowed up by the surrounding darkness.

After retreating five or six steps, I finally felt a little safer, so I stopped, gathered up my courage, and asked, “Who are you?”

After reaching the basement, I hadn’t spoken at all, so my voice sounded very hoarse. In fact, I couldn’t help but feel a little shocked because it didn’t sound like me at all. But the basement was quiet enough to hear a pin drop, so my hoarse voice still came across loud and clear.

Despite this, the “person” didn’t respond, and there was no sound from the other side of the desk. It was like I was talking to air.

Damn it, are you trying to scare me? I cursed to myself, really starting to feel afraid now. Then I thought of the “person’s” strange figure, and wondered if it wasn’t actually human.

But I quickly rejected the thought. No, that’s absolutely impossible. While it might occur in an ancient tomb, this is a modern building. Such a thing won’t appear here, and it’s not like there’s a coffin… wait, wait, wait. That’s not right! Fuck, there is a coffin here.

My mind started buzzing as I wondered if this was a zombie from that coffin.

I quickly shook my head and tried to take a few breaths to calm myself down.

This was also impossible. There was no reason for a zombie to appear just because I came across a coffin. If that were the case, then everyone who worked in a funeral home would have to go and get a degree in Maoshan.⁽²⁾

At this time, another idea suddenly popped into my head—could this “person” be the one who sent me the videotapes? Had they been waiting for me here?

Based on what I had read in the notebook just now, the person who arranged for the videotapes to be sent was Chen Wen-Jin. But there was no way to be certain that she was the one who actually sent them. She could have entrusted the task to someone else.

Thinking about it like this, it seemed quite plausible. After all, there was no way an ordinary person would know that this basement existed. The only person who would enter it would have to be an insider. Maybe the person who sent the videotapes had been waiting for me nearby, and when they saw me climb in through the window, they followed me in. The thought helped calm me enough to gather my remaining courage, tell myself that there was nothing to be afraid of if this was a living person, and then stretch out my hand holding the lighter to see who it was.

I cautiously took two or three steps forward until I could vaguely see the situation on the other side of the desk, but what I saw left me stunned—the “person” sitting there was gone.

I squinted, straining to see in the dim light, but the “person” was really gone. There was no one in the seat. Suddenly feeling confused, I wondered if I had seen wrong just now. Maybe it was a hallucination?

Impossible. My body wouldn’t be drenched in a cold sweat if I hadn’t seen something just now. Suddenly feeling nervous, I hurriedly raised my lighter and looked around.

But the movement was too abrupt—the lighter’s flame suddenly flared a little brighter and then went out, immediately plunging me into absolute darkness. With no other light in the room, I couldn’t even see my fingers in front of me.

Heart clenching in fear, I ignored how hot the lighter head was and quickly tried to reignite it. But no matter how much I shook it or turned the spark wheel, it just wouldn’t reignite. All I got were a bunch of sparks flying everywhere, which looked especially dazzling in the absolute darkness of the basement. It was only at this time that I realized the lighter might be out of fluid.

I’m screwed, I thought to myself as I looked at the darkness all around me, suddenly feeling an ominous sense of foreboding. I put the notebook in my pocket and started to step back towards the door, but at this time, I suddenly heard a noise above my head that sounded like a woman’s laughter.

<Chapter 41><Table of Contents><Chapter 43>

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TN Notes:

(1) Wu Xie is referencing the movies featuring the popular fictional character, James Bond, created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. He’s a British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007.

(2) Maoshan is traditional Daoist witchcraft/magic that uses rituals and talismans to dispel evil spirits and subdue demons. More info here.

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Welcome back everyone! FYI, if you can’t access the Conjuring Curse movie on youku like me, I found it on kisskh. It actually wasn’t bad even though the guy they cast as Wu Xie looks like a 12 year old instead of a middle aged man lol.