Chapter 79 The Second Misty Illusion
Chandler, who was usually mild-mannered towards the returning merchants from the south, spoke with unusual sternness at this moment.
He calmly analyzed, "Based on Shan Ran's experience in the mist last time, she needs to go in with a trusted companion in order to come out safely."
She went in for the safety zone. Even if we can't help her, we shouldn't cause her any trouble! Meng Xin is also her close companion. What about you? What gives you the right to go in with her?
The eldest brother, who was usually gentle and kind, rarely spoke in such an aggressive tone.
However, Nan Guishang didn't notice any of this at the moment; he only noticed the phrase "close companion."
Yes, others are close companions, but what is he?
——
"Mountain Dye, Mountain Dye, don't fall into a misconception, don't get stuck in a stalemate. They want to break your spirit, you must be steadfast."
What misconception?
"This illusion is different from the last one. There are no superpowers, so you can only rely on your own willpower to get through it."
"No more superpowers? Could it be that they've discovered...?"
"Yes, they won't let you gain superpowers in the illusion, otherwise you're bound to lose. But in return, no supernatural phenomena will appear in the illusion. But that might make things more difficult, because sometimes, people are scarier than ghosts."
"Any more specific information?"
Even if I told you, you might not remember it.
"That's true..."
After touching the black vortex, Shan Ran felt as if she had been caught in a tornado, her body being uncontrollably swept in different directions.
Before falling into a coma, Shanran exchanged a few words with the world's will, but before she could finish speaking, she completely lost consciousness.
——
"This one is beautiful, we should add a little more..."
"Er Gouzi, that's not fair of you. How many women have I bought from you? You won't give me a discount, and now you want me to pay more??"
"Qiangzi, don't blame me for not warning you, but don't go too far. It'll be troublesome if you get caught. Buy one, keep it safe, and go easy on it..."
"Alright, alright, stop rambling on..."
"By the way, this one is called Xiaoshan."
A hill?
She opened her eyes groggily, her head still spinning.
Isn't Xiaoshan her name?
She remembered helping an elderly person on the street, supporting them for a few steps, but she couldn't remember anything after that...
Xiaoshan's eyes widened as he realized he was in danger.
That so-called old lady is a fraud; she was drugged!
She was now lying among a pile of smelly, dirty rags, as if she were in the back of a truck.
The road was very bumpy, making her dizzy and lightheaded, and she vomited the next second.
Vomiting didn't help; instead, she felt even more dizzy. She pinched her palms, trying to stay awake, but she couldn't resist the effects of the drug and fainted again.
My eyelids feel so heavy, it's like I had some strange dream, but I can't remember it anymore.
Xiaoshan's consciousness gradually returned, and he struggled to wake up, but he couldn't open his eyes for a long time.
Wake up, wake up quickly...
A voice inside Xiaoshan was shouting and roaring. Encouraged by this voice, Xiaoshan moved his fingers and then slowly opened his eyes.
The room was dimly lit, with a bare incandescent light bulb hanging from the ceiling, illuminating only the surrounding area; most of the room was dark.
The damp, earthy smell, mixed with the musty odor of years, hit him. The surrounding walls were yellow adobe walls, the kind of walls Xiaoshan had only ever seen on television news.
The room was simply furnished with a simple iron bed, a table, an old wardrobe, and a few low stools.
The room wasn't very big; it seemed to have been prepared specifically for Xiaoshan.
She realized that she had been trafficked.
When the terrible things he had read about in books, movies, and news happened to him, Xiaoshan's body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
She is a college student from an ordinary university. Instead of going home for summer vacation, she stayed in another city to work a summer job, hoping to save more money so that she and her roommates could travel to their favorite city next semester.
But I didn't expect that I would be so busy that day and get off work a little late. This happened on my way home.
Her watch and phone were gone, all her valuables had been taken, and she didn't even know the exact time.
Fortunately, the buyer didn't tie her up with anything.
Xiaoshan propped himself up with his hands, closed his eyes, and sat against the wall for a while before the dizziness subsided.
The places where people are usually abducted are very remote, requiring several transfers of transportation to reach.
So much time has passed, and he hasn't eaten anything. He even vomited a little in the middle of it. Now his stomach is empty. He's so hungry that he doesn't feel hungry anymore. He just feels weak all over.
The iron bed was covered with an illegible sheet, stained with old, unidentifiable substances and stained with a foul, rotten smell that was hard to describe.
Xiaoshan felt nauseous again.
But her stomach was empty, and she gagged a few times but nothing came out.
I forced myself out of bed and slowly walked to the door.
The door was locked from the outside and couldn't be opened.
Although it was a wooden door, there was no way she could break it down given her current physical condition.
Just then, irregular footsteps came from outside the door, the sound growing louder as it approached, clearly heading towards Xiaoshan.
Despite her weakness, she used all her strength to walk back a few steps quickly and lay down on the bed.
With a creak, the wooden door was pushed open, and someone walked in.
The footsteps of the person who came were heavy and light, which sounded a bit unusual, but they were not slow and soon arrived at the bedside.
Xiaoshan closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep, but she could feel a sticky gaze watching her, which made her feel nauseous and want to vomit.
She dared not move and could only endure it, continuing to pretend to be asleep.
A moment later, there was the sound of a stool being dragged to the bedside.
"Still not awake? Was the drug really that effective this time?"
The man waited a while longer, but soon lost patience.
"Hey, wake up!"
Xiaoshan's face was slapped a few times, quite hard. She could feel the barbs on the other person's rough fingers scraping against her delicate skin, making her hair stand on end.
I can't keep up the act anymore.
Otherwise, who knows what else this person might do to her.
She made up her mind and suddenly opened her eyes.
"Damn it!" the person on the other end cursed, looking terrified.
Immediately afterwards, Xiaoshan felt a burning pain on his right cheek.
Her face was slapped to the side.
"You scared the hell out of me! Why did you suddenly open your eyes? You son of a bitch."
The man was swearing and cursing.
Xiaoshan was stunned for a moment.
She didn't expect to be beaten the moment she opened her eyes.
The person who bought her has an extremely unpredictable personality.
She clenched her fists, trying to control her emotions, and slowly turned her head to look at the man sitting by the bed.
This was a man in his forties or fifties, with dark skin, thick hair, a thin build, fierce eyes, and sloppy clothes.
The man looked Xiaoshan up and down, as if he were examining a product.
His eyes were sinister and ruthless, sending chills down Xiaoshan's spine.
At that moment, Xiaoshan recalled works and cases he had never seen before, those poor women who had been trafficked to the mountains. Thinking that their experiences were about to happen to him, Xiaoshan's body couldn't help but tremble slightly.
She wanted to resist, but the effects of the drug hadn't completely worn off. She hadn't eaten properly for the past two days, and her stomach was acidic from hunger, leaving her with little strength.
but.....
She couldn't just sit and wait to die.
Even if it means death, this man must pay the price!
The man reached out towards the hill, and was about to touch her cheek.
Suddenly, she burst forth at her physical limits, moving forward at lightning speed, and bit the man's finger.
"Aaaaaah!!!"
The man never expected that this woman, who had just woken up, would bite him like a madwoman.
Caught completely off guard, he let out a deafening scream.
Humans have very strong chewing power; even when the body is weak, the jaw can still clench tightly.
Xiaoshan heard the sound of bones cracking and breaking.
When the man realized he couldn't pull the finger out, he punched Xiaoshan in the face.
Despite the barrage of punches raining down, Xiaoshan remained stubbornly clenched and refused to let go.
In the struggle, Xiaoshan was pulled and fell off the bed.
The chair had fallen over to the side.
Xiaoshan barely opened her eyes, reached out and grabbed a chair next to her, pulled on one of the chair legs, and with all her remaining strength, thrust herself hard into the man's groin.
"Aww..."
After the man roared, he suddenly lost his voice, and the screams stopped abruptly.
The intense pain caused his eyes to bulge out, leaving him unable to scream.
Xiaoshan spat out the severed finger and, taking advantage of the man's inaction, slammed it into the chair a few more times.
The man fainted from the pain.
Xiaoshan threw down the chair, propped himself up on his hands, and sat up, panting heavily to calm his breathing.
Her hands are still trembling, and she can't calm down anytime soon.
But she didn't have much time left, and she didn't know when the man would wake up.
Xiaoshan managed to stand up, but a wave of dizziness hit him, and he almost fainted again.
She clenched her fists tightly, using the pain to stimulate herself and prevent herself from fainting.
The blows to her head weren't light; she felt swelling in several places, but she didn't dare touch them, only thinking about escaping first.
Xiaoshan stumbled and ran to the door, opened the wooden door, and found himself in a courtyard.
She looked delighted; she was finally out!
It will be soon.
As long as she can leave this courtyard, she can escape!
As soon as she opened the courtyard gate, her smile froze on her face.
A couple was standing at the door.
The couple was middle-aged and were quite surprised to see Xiaoshan's disheveled appearance.
They quickly realized what was happening, subdued Xiaoshan, firmly restrained her hands, and dragged her back to the room they had just left.
Xiaoshan struggled and screamed desperately, but she had just used up all her strength.
She could only watch as the open courtyard gate receded further and further away.
——
Xiaoshan woke up.
She was in a daze for a moment, and only after seeing her surroundings clearly did she wake up from the dream.
In her dream, she was in her school dormitory, chatting happily with her roommates.
Then she received a phone call, and after going downstairs, she happily ran into a boy's arms.
In the dream, the boy's face was blurry, but he smelled fresh, like the scent of grass and trees in the early morning.
She couldn't see the boy's face clearly, but she could see his mouth opening and closing as he spoke.
Xiaoshan listened to the boy speak with a smile.
I woke up the next second.
On the table to the side lay a simple meal: coarse rice and a large pot of mixed vegetables of unknown origin.
She sat up, and with her movement came the sound of metal clashing.
A chain was clearly tied to Xiaoshan's ankle.
The distance between the chains was just right, enough for her to reach the table to eat.
Xiaoshan sat at the table, staring blankly at the bowls and chopsticks on the table. He mechanically raised his hand and stuffed the food into his mouth.
This is the fifth day since she was abducted to this village.
That night, a man named Guan Shengqiang screamed loudly, attracting the attention of his neighbors.
The two neighbors clearly knew about Guan Shengqiang's actions and even helped him by dragging Xiaoshan back into the house and locking it.
Then Guan Shengqiang was taken to the town's hospital for treatment.
Due to the severity of his injuries and the need for surgery on his severed finger, Guan Shengqiang was hospitalized.
This gave Xiaoshan a few days to catch his breath.
Her injuries had healed somewhat, but she still had a bump on her head and several sore spots on her face. Since there was no mirror, she didn't know what she looked like.
The effects of the drug had long since worn off, and his body had fully recovered.
But the iron chains on her feet left her helpless.
The neighboring couple knew how formidable she was, so they took away all the usable tools from the house.
Xiaoshan searched the entire house, but finally found a tattered notebook in a corner under the iron bed.
The notebook was buried under a pile of rags, covered with dirt, and could not be seen unless you looked carefully.
Xiaoshan learned from the notebook that there were three other women like her who had been bought by Guan Shengqiang.
They are all dead.
Guan Shengqiang has a severe tendency towards violence and often beats people without any provocation or restraint.
When the women first arrive, they all resist, and they inevitably get a beating. Then they beg for mercy, but Guan Shengqiang ignores them and continues to beat them.
When I'm in a good mood, I hit you lightly; when I'm in a bad mood, I hit you hard; when you've had too much to drink, I hit you.
They don't do any housework; they make the women do it all. If they're not satisfied with how the women do it, they beat them.
When Guan Shengqiang is drunk, he will boast about how he once killed someone but was not punished at all.
At the end of the notebook, the woman's hand was trembling so much that she could barely write anything, and Xiaoshan could only make out what she wrote.
"I want to go home..."
Xiaoshan had just finished eating when the door was opened.
Guan Da's wife, a neighbor, came over and unlocked the chains at the foot of the hill.
Xiaoshan was surprised, but he didn't show it on his face. He didn't say much, but just pretended to be confused as he looked at the woman opposite him.
It looks silly.
Guan's wife was tall and fat with a dark complexion, clearly someone who did farm work often. Compared to Xiaoshan's fair and slender arms and legs, she was almost twice her size.
Therefore, Guan's wife was very confident and simply untied the restraints without fear that the girl in front of her would escape.
After taking a closer look, Guan's wife murmured, "Why does he look a bit mentally challenged? Could it be that he was beaten senseless by that roughneck Qiangzi?"
The girl didn't react much, she just smiled at Guan Da's wife.
When he smiled, he looked even sillier.
"Never mind," Guan's wife frowned. "It doesn't matter if she's stupid or not, she's not my daughter-in-law anyway."
As she spoke, Guan Da's wife grabbed Xiao Shan's arm and pulled him outside. She was so strong that the girl stumbled.
"Tsk," she looked at the girl with disdain, "With such a poor health, how could she ruin Qiangzi? I told Qiangzi to do more work, but he's as lazy as a pig. Every time he buys a wife, he doesn't treat her well. He has to work hard and beat and scold her. He's been tortured to death. He's also raised a useless person."
She spat and impatiently continued to pull the girl away.
Guan's wife didn't care whether the girl could hear her or not, and kept muttering to herself all the way until they arrived at another house in the village.
This family's conditions were clearly much better than those of Guan Shengqiang and Guan Da.
The yard is large and the house is relatively new, a three-story self-built rural house that has been renovated in recent years.
Several tables were set up in the courtyard, and people were busy working around the house.
Guan's wife pulled the man away and had someone take the girl to change her clothes.
Xiao Shan behaved very well throughout, and before leaving, he overheard a conversation between Guan Da's wife and several other women.
"Here you are. He's clean and fair-skinned, but he has some injuries on his face, and it seems like he's been knocked out of his head."
“If Guan Shengqiang, that good-for-nothing, causes another death, we won’t be able to talk to the people in town about it.”
"He's injured now, so he'll probably stay put for a while. By the way, who's coming today? Such a big commotion..."
"My son, Xiaojun, brought a classmate home. That classmate's family is really rich..."
"......."
When Xiaoshan was brought down again, she had changed into clean clothes and had her hair tied in a side braid.
Although her clothes were still rather unfashionable, the girl's demeanor was completely different from those around her; she was fair-skinned and stood out from the crowd.
There were hushed whispers coming from the surroundings.
"This kid is really handsome, it's a pity he's paired with Qiangzi."
"Then why don't you buy it back from Qiangzi? That guy doesn't have much money, he'll definitely be willing to pay more if you raise the price."
"Come on, don't let her seemingly simple-minded appearance fool you, she's surprisingly strong. Didn't she end up taking Qiangzi to the hospital?"
"Haha, I heard that place is abandoned. He bought a beautiful wife there, but now he can only look at her but not have her!"
"Don't gloat. There are so few women in the village. If she's forced to live a life of widowhood, she might go and ruin someone's life. You'd better keep an eye on your Erzhuzi."
"Pah! She dares?"
"......"
Xiaoshan listened silently, expressionless, outwardly calm but inwardly filled with disgust.
This village is full of lunatics. Do they really think their male relatives are some kind of treasure?
Before long, someone was pushing the small hill to work.
Let her serve the dishes.
Through his notebook and snippets of conversation from those around him, Xiaoshan had a pretty good understanding of his current situation.
Guanjia Village, where she currently lives, is a small village in a remote area.
In the past, the village favored sons over daughters, and most of the local young people went out to work, which exacerbated the gender imbalance in the village.
So some people started thinking about buying wives.
Once someone does it, it's bound to happen again. Everyone does it, so it becomes commonplace. They also help each other out, looking after each other's newly purchased children, so that when it's their turn to buy one, others will come to help too.
Even the women who were once bought have now become accomplices.
Guan Shengqiang was a notorious lazy man in the village. He used all the subsidies he received from the village to buy women. After buying them, he would become a hands-off manager of the household and leave all the work to the women.
Compared to such a lazy man, other women who have been abducted may even feel that they are very lucky.
At least nowadays men don't beat them, they can do housework, and they even take on some of the household chores.
After finding psychological comfort in their predicament, more women accepted their fate of staying in Guanjia Village.
Especially after having children, they completely regarded this place as their home.
Xiaoshan clenched his fist.
Despite being victims themselves, they ended up becoming perpetrators.
She absolutely refused to accept this fate!
Guan Xiaojun is the only college student from Guanjia Village in recent years, which makes his father very proud.
Today, Xiaojun brought home his classmate, who is said to be a rich second-generation. His family is wealthy, his parents are away from home for many years, he lacks care, and he feels empty inside. He usually spends money extravagantly and is very generous to his friends.
Xiao Jun was clever from a young age, good at reading people's expressions, had high emotional intelligence, and was good at sweet-talking and coaxing people. Although he came from a remote area, it did not prevent the rich second generation from being friends with him.
Before the holiday, a rich kid suddenly decided to go to the countryside to experience rural life and enjoy the rural scenery he had never seen before.
Xiao Jun volunteered, introduced his hometown, and persuaded the rich second-generation to come home with him.
The parents live abroad most of the time, have little communication with each other, and show little care. It is said that they each have illegitimate children. They basically leave the rich kid to his own devices, only giving him money.
Even a little bit of money that comes out of this rich kid's pocket is enough to build a road in Guanjia Village.
When Xiao Jun's parents learned of all this, they naturally wanted to put on the grandest welcome ceremony and try their best to please the rich second-generation.
There are few women in Guanjia Village, and even fewer young women, so they thought of Guan Shengqiang's newly purchased female college student and brought her over to make a show of things.
Xiaoshan was thus pushed into delivering vegetables.
She carried the dishes to the designated spot.
This is the center of the courtyard and also the main table for the entire banquet.
A young man was sitting in the seat of honor.
The college students are in the prime of their youth. The boy on the table is handsome, fair-skinned, tall, and has long legs. He stands out from the people around him.
The young man looked listless, had a gloomy demeanor, and seemed somewhat impatient.
He listened to the flattery and fawning of the surrounding villagers without even giving them a glance.
Only Guan Xiaojun, who was sitting beside him, could exchange a few words with him.
"Xiao Meng, is it alright for me to call you that, Uncle?"
Guan Xiaojun's father stood up, his face crinkling with laughter. Although he was an elder, he bowed slightly, appearing somewhat humble.
The man didn't look at Xiaojun's father; he simply rested his chin on his hand and nodded indifferently.
Xiao Jun's father smiled even more broadly. He picked up a glass of wine, said a bunch of welcoming wishes, and then drank the glass in one gulp.
Xiao Meng looked indifferent. He picked up his wine glass, took a casual sip, and then frowned, as if he was somewhat dissatisfied with the taste of the wine.
All the other villagers joined in a toast, creating a lively atmosphere.
The wine glass was empty, and the woman who had just been serving the dishes was now pouring him more wine.
He had seen plenty of people trying to curry favor with him; the obsequious faces of the villagers around him were no different from anyone else's, including his classmates.
I just wanted to go to a place I'd never been before to spend a few quiet days and see the so-called simple, honest people and natural scenery of the countryside.
That's an oversimplification. People from poor, remote areas aren't necessarily honest.
Xiao Meng tapped her wine glass listlessly with her slender fingers, feeling utterly bored.
-----------------------
The author's note: The second illusion is different from the first, but both are terrifying things extracted from Shan Ran's memories, used as background and memories, with the aim of causing Shan Ran to collapse and destroying the light in her mental world.
Many scary things aren't necessarily ghosts or supernatural beings; sometimes, humans are even scarier.
In addition, it can also be viewed as a parallel world if story between Shan Ran and a certain man, with a different background and identities, but a version filled with fear, darkness, and pain.
Thank you to all the little angels for your support! Thank you! [cheering emojis]
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