Chapter 51 The Sleeping Curse (15) "I did say...for..."
The black leopard cub walked with a cat-like gait, its steps somewhat labored. Every now and then, it would twist its body in a hurry, raise its paws, and consider where to place its feet, dodging the filthy, landmine-like debris scattered on the ground.
Xie Tan has two sections of hair. The shorter one, tied in a golden knot, belongs to the good-for-nothing young master. The longer one, like a ball of yarn and bound with many talismans, belongs to the former owner of the house who locked the bedroom. He carries both of them.
The Black Goat tribe should all have hair knots, but he never saw Su He or Old Man Su with these things hanging around their chests and waists.
That makes sense. If it were truly a weakness, who would open it up every day to display it like dried pickles?
Only collateral relatives, eager for recognition, would wear it around their waist like a luxury item tag to highlight their family status.
The sleeping clansman was the bait used to lure Xie Tan.
He opened the old coffin and saw that the clansman was mummy-like, with his hair tied around his waist. He then threw the young master's hair knot into the gap under the old coffin.
The tuft of long hair he had tucked into his hood to lock the door, after the lock on the master bedroom door gave way, remained quiet, as if its mischievous power had been completely lost, turning into a dull, lifeless object.
As a result, he suddenly rose from the dead, and his hair was not only much longer than those short Vajra knots, but also much more evil.
He knew his former master was a member of the Black Goat Clan, but he assumed he was no different from other minor members of the collateral branch of the family, and was relatively unknown.
Looking at it this way...maybe not.
What's his background? Did he move into the lair of some ghost that was left behind in the human world? Now that I think about it, how could the empty apartment across from the real protagonist's always-occupied one be simple?
But for him, it didn't seem like there was anything wrong with it.
He wanted to use the homeowner's long hair to escape danger, but before he could even discuss it with the long-haired man, the long-haired man made his move first, as if he could read his mind.
Xie Tan hurriedly lifted the coffin, not wanting to be buried next to the old man covered in blood, in a way that was unclear and ambiguous.
As soon as he stood up, he saw his cat appear out of nowhere, jumping onto the edge of the coffin and rubbing its little head against his pants.
Since he was preparing to fight back, he naturally wanted to make the most of everything and reinforce the plot. His head was throbbing from the smell of the place, and after acting out a whole series of scenes under the watchful eyes of the cat, he reflected on it and felt a bit mentally unstable.
It's okay, does no one like people with mental illnesses?
The forum is full of all sorts of weird ideas. Thinking back to those weird posts he'd read, maybe there are some people who like this kind of thing. He'll just serve up the food and that's it.
As he stepped out of the coffin, the cat stepped on his long, tangled hair, pressed down a strand, picked up the golden hair knot under the old coffin, and handed it to him.
Xie Tan reacted for a moment. Yes, the cat can touch emptiness. Anything that completely belongs to him has the quality of "emptiness" and he can touch it. And this strange clump of hair is "his property" personally certified by the cat himself.
So he threw the hair knot into the coffin.
The cat followed him away, walked disdainfully through the coffin shop's narrow corridor, watched the lively scene, and then went back to sleep.
In the outer room, Xia Wujin lay flat on the ground with her eyes closed. Chang Mingai sat on the ground beside her, and turned around when she heard footsteps.
Whether it was because the owner had died or because of the person passing through the hall, the two rows of terrifying skull lamps in the small corridor went out at the same time. The tall and thin figure seemed to have been summoned from another world, still shrouded in gloom, yet too lazy to be tainted by the mundane world. Neither bright nor dark, it dared to stay anywhere.
A glance from afar is more chilling than any coffin shop filled with living people, dead people, parts, and monsters.
Chang Mingai suppressed her heart palpitations. When she met Xie Tan on this vacation, she felt that something was different about him. Beneath his coldness, there was a hint of arrogance. She felt for no reason that his temperament did not suit him.
But now things are different. His chaotic and annoying temperament has disappeared, and when he tried to get back on track, he turned back and veered towards a more dangerous place... Anyway, it's different from his usual indifference.
She couldn't think of a way to describe it, and she didn't dare to get closer.
But as soon as he emerged from the shadows and stood before her, that feeling dissipated, and he became his usual self again.
Sun Enze No. 2, who came out after him, stepped forward and carried Xia Wujin on his back.
Xie Tan glanced at it; it shouldn't be dead, but rather in a deep sleep.
He didn't meet the young lady in the dream world; it must have been after he left the crashed hotel in the dream.
He didn't give it much of a look, but instead stared at the drizzle outside. The door of the coffin shop was open, and the human skin carpet at the entrance was soaked. The old blood had turned a shade redder, like a wronged ghost returning to its senses. The stench of blood mingled with the salty, fishy smell of the rain.
"Let's go back to the hotel," he said.
Chang Mingai sensed something was wrong: "What about you?"
"Going to sea".
The worry that had been weighing on Chang Ming'ai's heart finally surfaced. Xue Hong and Lu Jinzhao hadn't returned since they boarded the ship. The sea was vast and there wasn't a trace of them. She dared not think too much about it: "Should we look for them?"
Xie Tan nodded.
Chang Mingai took out three human skin umbrellas from under the table, gave one to Xie Tan, held one for himself, and gave the other to Sun Enze who was carrying someone. Without saying a word, he said, "Take Sister Xia and Xiao Sun back first, and I'll go with you."
Xie Tan casually picked up a skull lamp, opened his umbrella, and stepped into the rain before she could, clearly not intending to go the same way: "Sleep outside, you'll catch a cold."
Chang Mingai was taken aback. She first held Sun Enze back to prevent him from leaving the house, then took a few steps forward herself. After hesitating for a moment, she said directly, "The Miyin Girl has been eliminated, but it just so happens to be raining, so the dream dares not dissipate. The 'Sleeping Curse' of the town has been lifted."
When the rain stops, the person in the dream will wake up.
She didn't think Xie Tan would be unaware of this, and even if the dream world still existed, the girl was dead, so how could she continue to use seductive music to guide people into the dream?
Xie Tan turned slightly, and the raindrops hitting the umbrella splashed out in a swirl. A few delicate petals from the bouquet in her arms were shaken off and flew away in the wind.
The umbrella was held low, revealing only the lower half of his pale face and very light-colored lips.
Those lips opened and said, "Did I say... I came to break the curse?"
Before Chang Mingai could react, the person was completely obscured by the rain and mist.
For some reason, the rain looked biting and the wind should have been cold, but it wasn't cold at all; it was just warm.
It wasn't until those words that she felt a chill... a chill that welled up from her heart.
She suddenly turned her head to look at Xia Wujin. As soon as she found him in the coffin, Xia Wujin was in a deep sleep... But did the young lady fall asleep before or after the rain?
Sending the message to her before the rain doesn't mean you went to sleep before the rain.
Number Two was originally keeping watch for the young lady, but later noticed that the coffin shop owner had returned. He made a commotion to help the young lady lure the old man away, making it easier for her to investigate.
But by the time he shook off the old man and circled back, Xia Wujin was already asleep. It was raining then, so he couldn't be sure.
The old man realized what was happening and rushed back, so Number Two had no choice but to hide Xia Wujin in her coffin.
Chang Mingai decided to listen to her mysterious thigh: "Let's go back to the hotel, quick."
On the way back, I don't know if it was because of the rain or something else, but the town was even quieter. It seemed that there was only the sound of rain and no living people.
On its return journey, Sun Enze No. 2 also sensed something and quickened its pace.
Back at the hotel, the blindfolded owner wasn't at the front desk, but the door to room 101 was ajar.
Chang Mingai looked inside and saw the boss lying next to a mangled female corpse. He didn't know if the woman was asleep or if they had died together. Blood stained the bed.
The couple held hands, and the reflection of their intertwined gold rings momentarily caught her eye.
Sun Enze No. 2 carried Xia Wujin up first. When Chang Mingai caught up, she found the real body lying on the bed, with No. 2 guarding it.
The doormat was twisted, half of it was leaning against the wall, and there were marks on it, as if someone had bumped into it and knocked it askew. It must have been that Number One suddenly fell asleep at the door.
Just as Xie Tan said, even though it was raining, some people were still fast asleep!
With her clone protecting her, Chang Mingai returned to her room, where Xia Wujin lay on her bed.
She tucked the young lady in, then went to the window with a somewhat solemn expression. She saw a small fishing boat slowly leaving the shore and heading towards the dark shadow of the hill after the rain. Soon after, it was swallowed up by the rain and mist.
She still stared at the spot where the small boat had disappeared, completely baffled. The woman was dead; there was no mistake. Xi Rui couldn't have made a mistake.
How can one fall into a dream without singing?
It can't be these ubiquitous "gramophones".
If the seductive sounds of demons and ghosts could truly be preserved, they would have fallen for it on the very first night. How could they be allowed to roam freely?
So what exactly is the reason...?
Chang Mingai suddenly heard a familiar singing voice.
The eerie singing suddenly began in the room, very close to her.
She slowly turned her head.
On the bed, Xia Wujin was still sleeping peacefully, his eyes closed, but his mouth was open.
A voice that didn't belong to her crawled out of her throat, like a vengeful ghost from hell grabbing the hem of a living person's clothes and pulling it upwards.
Inside her open mouth, on the surface of her tongue, was a pitch-black pattern.
It was the same design used in the coffin shop.
Xie Tan pressed the pried-open outer wooden board back in and fastened it with that annoying pattern.
He chose this boat because it looked just like the wrecked boat buried in the beach, and also the same as the harvest boat in the hotel photos.
He towed the boat himself, and the human-skinned monster, who had been drenched in the rain, suddenly stood up, like a triangular blanket, and leaned forward to shield him from the rain. The last corner of the blanket helped him pull the boat, like a nimble starfish.
So, the ship also belongs to the Black Goat family. Could the two people who first went to sea and fell asleep be members of the Black Goat tribe?
He always felt that the black goat sightings in Fushui Town were not something that had only appeared in the last couple of days or even the last two years.
The sleeping clansman may have wandered in by mistake, but Old Man Su seems like a local, someone who has been rooted here for a long time.
The strange phenomena in the town, hidden behind non-existent side roads, are they caused by the goats, or are they the work of the goats themselves?
This isn't over yet. Since we've come this far, why not take it a step further?
Now that he'd been found out he wasn't the young master from the collateral branch of the family, he stopped pretending. Although he only acted more proactively when he was being confrontational and domineering along the way.
Now that I've shed my skin, I still have one thing left: a tendency to court death.
He had to go and see the hill that had appeared out of nowhere.
Because once at sea, the closer one gets to it, the more blatant the gaze that has been lurking in the shadows, trying to scare him from time to time, becomes.
Besides looking for people, Xie Tan had another reason for going to sea: Su He.
Old Man Su may have made coffins his whole life, but he didn't necessarily make them all in Fushui Town. That clansman was long ago buried in his dreams.
Xie Tan was nominally with Su He, but the old man Su insisted on waiting for him to be sacrificed together and thrown into the coffin. Unless he was also a pervert like Zhu Fengliang with an even number obsession, it should be that Su He tacitly approved it, or even that he was acting on the orders of the Black Goat.
Even if sacrificing two clansmen wasn't his real purpose for this trip, it was still something. Didn't he care at all about Old Man Su?
He hasn't shown up since. Xi Rui must have searched the whole town for him, but Xi Rui couldn't find him. Xie Tan figured it was even less likely that he could, so he didn't plan to keep searching in the town in vain.
Thinking of the two who went to sea and never returned, Su He was very likely at sea as well.
Unfortunately, the small fishing boat couldn't keep out the rain, so Xie Tan placed the skull lamp at the bow of the boat. The eerie firelight was also blurred in the rain. He held up an umbrella, placed the corpse flower on his lap, but pushed the flower aside so that the human skin monster could curl up into a ball and take refuge in the paper wrapped around the flower.
The starfish hopped gently, seemingly very happy.
The cat perched on Xie Tan's neck glanced at him, then looked towards the distant hill, seemingly unbothered by the territorial intruder.
The small boat moved toward the mountain on its own, cutting through the faintly boiling water, but the mountain was still far away, remaining only a gloomy black shadow.
The cat's tail bobbed up and down, occasionally brushing against Xie Tan's chin, and it suggested, "We won't be there for a while. Do you want to check the comic update first, meow?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
