Chapter 50 Tangdao Beach ① - Entering the Island, Ah Li still believes in science~...
Lan Shuyin wandered aimlessly along the street, a strange sense of oppression lingering in her heart. She turned off her phone and smelled the aroma of a long-established beef offal stall.
The stall owner was very busy, greeting customers in a local dialect, pointing to the small wooden sign on the stall with the prices written on it, and then gesturing as if counting money.
Lan Shuyin patted her pockets and realized she didn't have any cash, so she left.
With both her hands injured, she suddenly decided to treat herself, so she ran back to the hotel and ordered room service.
A classic fast food meal: burger, fries, and fried chicken wings.
Then, as if she had some serious illness, she could hold things with her fingers, but she wouldn't. Instead, she insisted on bending down and using her mouth to pick them up. Her movements were clumsy and laborious, but she enjoyed it immensely. It wasn't until she ate too quickly and accidentally bit her tongue that she cried out in pain, venting her frustration in the room in a completely unseemly manner.
After shouting, I finally felt a little better.
She sat up straight, slowly finished the rest of her fries, tidied up the trash and put it outside the door, and then began washing her hands and changing her dressing.
It must be said that the effects of the Spirit's Subtle Power are astonishing. In just a short while, the deeper wound on his left hand has become much shallower than the one on his right hand, and his grip has basically recovered.
Thinking back to how everyone flocked to the banquet, she realized it was no wonder.
Such amazing restorative power is comparable to a withered tree coming back to life.
After eating and drinking her fill, Lan Shuyin took her laptop and went to bed.
She first searched for "Jiang family of Gangzhou". Most of the results were peripheral news about charitable donations and real estate development, indicating that the family operated with extreme discretion. However, when she added keywords like "metaphysics," "feng shui," and "life extension," several posts from old, niche forums surfaced. Some vaguely mentioned that the Jiang family possessed some kind of secret art of "borrowing life to extend life," while an anonymous user hinted that their ancestors had close ties with a "family that can travel between the realms of the living and the dead."
But when she clicked on it, she found that all the content had been deleted.
She noted down a few key names, then typed in 【Tang Island】.
This time the information is much more complex.
For example, this small island south of Nanzhou was once a bustling trading hub a century ago. Over a decade ago, developers invested heavily in its planning and construction, but a series of construction accidents led to its abandonment. Another example is Tang Island, best known for its paranormal rumors, largely thanks to its famous "Kagura Bathhouse."
Legend has it that the place was once a brothel, where a horrific tragedy occurred during a time of war, after which strange things began to happen. Local elders have passed down the story for generations, saying that a woman in the brothel used witchcraft in an attempt to imprison the gods, thus angering the heavens and causing the entire Tang Island to decline.
Sorcery, imprisoning gods?
It seems to be subtly in sync.
Lan Shuyin had a premonition that the answers she wanted to know might be on Tang Island.
She immediately opened the flight page and found that there was no direct flight, but there were two shuttle buses a day between the airport and Tang Island.
At the bottom of the page is a warning from the local tourism bureau:
[Tang Island's infrastructure is still underdeveloped, and some areas lack communication signals. Visitors are advised to make thorough preparations.]
She stared at the line of text for a moment, and a plan was already forming in her mind.
Having booked her flight to Nanzhou for the next morning, Lan Shuyin closed her laptop and turned on the TV. A horror movie was playing on the movie channel, and she was quite engrossed until the end credits rolled, at which point she realized her phone hadn't been turned on.
The screen lit up, displaying numerous unread messages. She replied to Li Yang and Xuan Bingbing first before opening Jiang Wuyang's chat window.
He sent a long message, basically saying that his family had been reassured and she didn't need to worry, and that he could sound out his brother's intentions first. She didn't reply, but simply changed his contact name.
Chang Jingyu also sent several messages, inquiring about her whereabouts, worrying that she might be unhappy, and wanting to invite her to her home again. She simply explained that she had something to do and left early, then politely declined the invitation.
I scrolled through the unread list to the very bottom repeatedly, but I still couldn't find Wei Li's name.
However, someone named 【AA[Strawberry] Xixi】 looked unfamiliar. Clicking on her profile revealed she was a college classmate, Jiang Yuxi. I asked her if she was free to attend a class reunion next week.
She politely declined and then clicked into Wei Li's WeChat Moments.
Wow, I just shared a short video ten minutes ago. The title was: "[Human Pain Mechanism and Brain Reward Feedback - Why is Self-Harm the Most Ineffective Way to Relieve Stress?]" I clicked on it, and it turned out to be a legitimate science video.
His caption read: "Interesting. Turns out there's a scientific basis for being silly."
Lan Shuyin paused slightly, then typed a sentence: 【Ah Li still believes in science~】
She was teasing him about how he addressed her, but after posting the comment, she realized it was a bit ambiguous.
Just as I was about to delete it, a reply popped up instantly: 【Hmm】
She simply lay down on the bed and sent another message: 【What principle does a magic circle even have? ~】
The other party's reply quickly appeared again: "Not everyone can activate a magic array, just like an electrical circuit needs a conductor to conduct electricity. Some people are born that conductor."
A conductor? That sounds ominous; who knows when someone might get electrocuted. Lan Shuyin shuddered inexplicably.
[Ah Li, which university did you graduate from? You didn't study engineering, did you...?]
The two started chatting back and forth in the comments section.
She sent the message quickly, and Wei Li replied just as quickly, as if she were glued to her phone.
In the end, Lan Shuyin couldn't take it anymore and ended it with the words, "I believe you're on standby 24 hours a day. I'm going to wash up now."
...
The next day, the plane arrived in Nanzhou on time, and Lan Shuyin successfully caught the airport shuttle bus to Tang Island.
I initially thought it would be a remote and inaccessible island, but the scenery along the way was unexpectedly beautiful. The two-hour drive took us past rows of coconut groves and azure coastlines, the sunlight shimmering and sparkling – a truly breathtaking sight and a perfect place for a road trip.
After crossing the magnificent Nantang Bridge, you will arrive at Tang Island.
But once you pass the tollbooth, the scene changes.
The wide road was deserted, the shops along the street were quiet and deserted, and there was a sense of desolation everywhere.
The shuttle bus stopped in front of the designated hotel, and the few passengers on board quickly dispersed. Only Lan Shuyin remained, carrying her bag and pulling her suitcase, standing on the unfamiliar street, waiting for the guesthouse staff to pick her up.
The guesthouse she booked was very close to Kagura Bath, less than half a kilometer away. At 300 yuan a night, it was considered luxurious in this off-the-beaten-path tourist destination.
Before long, a dark-skinned, lean middle-aged woman rode up on a motorcycle. From afar, she raised a simple smile and asked in heavily accented Mandarin, "Are you Miss Lan?"
Lan Shuyin nodded, "Yes."
The proprietress deftly strapped the suitcase to the specially made iron frame on the back of the motorcycle, greeting the owner warmly as she tied the rope, "My surname is Wei, you can just call me Sister Wei! There are so few tourists on the island this season, it's so brave of you to come all alone!"
“I think so too.” Lan Shuyin nodded, very certain of herself.
Sister Wei is a typical seaside person, with tanned, shiny skin. The motorcycle she rides looks weathered, but it is actually underpowered.
As the car slowly drove along the ring road, she introduced the seaside park, the beach, the viewing platform, the Dragon Gate Rapids... in short, everything was related to the sea.
She was so talkative that Lan Shuyin tried to interject several times but couldn't find an opening.
Finally, after waiting for her to pause slightly, he seized the opportunity to ask, "Do you also have a Kagura Bathhouse around here?"
Sister Wei was clearly taken aback and said, "That place has been abandoned for many years, it's dilapidated and abandoned long ago."
Lan Shuyin nodded immediately, "That's exactly why I came here."
Sister Wei turned her head and glanced at her, clicking her tongue as she said, "Oh dear, a while ago there was some young man, I think he was some kind of blogger, who insisted on going in to film videos with his equipment. As a result, he fell and injured his leg inside! In the middle of the night, he was trapped in those dilapidated walls and tiles, crying out to heaven and earth without anyone answering. In the end, it was a few of us old neighbors who went in with flashlights and carried him out!"
As the motorcycle rounded a bend, the outline of a mottled white building gradually came into view behind the roadside trees in the distance.
"Hey beautiful, take my advice," Sister Wei said earnestly. "That place is unlucky and eerie. Even we locals don't dare go there at night. You've come all this way to have fun, why not go see the sea and eat some seafood? Why go looking for trouble?"
Lan Shuyin gazed at the blurry yet vast white expanse and smiled slightly, "I'm just curious. I'll go take a look and come right back."
Having seen too many tourists like this who were determined to go their own way, Sister Wei sighed heavily and stopped trying to persuade them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
