Chapter 54 The Sleeping Curse (18) [You scared me, Ah Tan...]
They frolicked on the beach, hit it off immediately, and walked along the coast. This scene was drawn with exceptional youthfulness, reminiscent of a campus comic, prompting the forum to exclaim that it was "healing."
[Rare find! Kuku screenshot, my new screensaver]
But in my experience, things are about to take a sharp turn for the worse; danger is lurking ahead. Are you ready, everyone?
It has to be the forum readers who know Knife God's true nature best.
The sky and water were a perfect backdrop, and the sea breeze carried laughter and joy all the way to the old building.
Moss climbs over the Roman columns at the entrance, and even the extreme "white" of the building becomes mottled, like a compressed Pantheon.
However, by pressing down too hard, the most awe-inspiring aspect of the Pantheon—its grandeur—was shattered.
It huddled under the trees, like a tightly pressed grave mound, as if afraid that whatever was inside would crawl out.
The panoramic view of the building almost overlaps with the panoramic view of the club's nighttime visit to the music theater in previous episodes.
No wonder Ah Tan didn't join the night patrol; he didn't want to waste his time and went straight to the source!
The dome is riddled with holes, like the openings of a tomb for the living and the dead, allowing rain to fall in but preventing the resentment from dissipating.
They split up to explore the other side. Xie Tan focused on the other side, while Xi Rui and the others didn't encounter any major incidents. However, during their conversation, Xie Tan noticed that Chang Mingai seemed quite familiar with the place.
It wasn't because they had secretly explored the abandoned theater at night; she was simply familiar with the original art gallery.
When talking about the holes in the dome, she joked, "Raindrops can wear through stone; perhaps that's the power of nature."
She was the first to step back into the hall, and as if in a hallucination, she saw blood-written words on the wall.
She paused, and several people behind her followed. The words disappeared first, and the others saw nothing.
She pretended not to see it and said nothing.
Xie Tan recalled that she had "lived" in the dream world for a year, so it was not surprising that she was familiar with it.
She knows about the Mist Girl, but does she know about the Black Goat's sacrifice to the Sun God? And the whole truth behind it?
He glanced casually at his own side again, but saw that as Lu Jin was leaving, he looked into the depths of the room.
A close-up with clear light and shadow shows his face, when expressionless, appearing even more like a sculpture with the golden ratio.
But the next second, he blinked, became lively again, and disappeared around the corner.
[A rare find! Lu Lu's expressionless face is really intimidating, giving him a unique kind of handsomeness.]
[After all, he's usually a cheerful puppy; his smile is so handsome. It's only when he's not smiling that you notice how striking his features are—a strikingly handsome guy!]
Xie Tan also winked at the close-up shot.
So at that time, did Mr. Good Neighbor realize that the woman who tipped him off had been a woman with a seductive voice?
Hmm... he really is the protagonist. He didn't understand anything in the first series, but now he probably knows more about metaphysics than some of the guys from the two major powers.
It wasn't that Lu Jinzhao was intentionally studying it... it was simply that he had experienced too much and learned from practice.
Back to the comic, after the red-haired boy broke in, the group split up to search for someone. Xue Hong and Lu Jinzhao quickly went out to sea, while Xia Wujin and Sun Enze went door to door asking.
Xi Rui didn't even look for anyone. He sneaked into a remote house, silently knocked out the residents, found a quiet, empty room, burned a talisman, and then fell asleep.
Chang Mingai went to a clothing store, and in the fitting room, she took out her small makeup mirror and drew a "1".
The mirror turned black, revealing a single word: Sheep?
Chang Ming likes to cross things out.
There was no further reply from the other end.
The forum, like Xie Tan's, was full of questions.
[RuiRui is one thing, but I didn't see wrong, did I? XiaoAi is from the Cult?!]
[It could also be a goat; perhaps not the same god?]
However, the tone of the question about "sheep" sounds more like the religious group referring to the Black Goat tribe.
[Is he communicating with Rui Rui?? I'm dumbfounded. Was that Wonderland an act, and was Scarface the only idiot?]
【Scarface Guy——】
[This doesn't look like a fairyland at all. Rui's attitude towards his clone is truly cold-blooded.]
[Could they have joined a cult together in high school? Best friends, holding hands, joining a cult?]
[That's why they're friends, *facepalm* (bitter smile).jpg
[Revisiting the series from Rui's high school days, it doesn't feel right. There was a time when Ai almost caught them red-handed. Rui was still quite young then, and he panicked a bit, trying to cover it up. He probably didn't want his friend to be involved with the cult.]
Rui Rui really didn't seem to know that Xiao Ai was a colleague.
That's another possibility. Xie Tan thought that Chang Ming'ai's clone was brave and decisive in the fairy realm loop, jumping over obstacles without hesitation, feigning submission when the situation was unfavorable, looking for opportunities, and finally taking revenge with an axe.
She is different from Sun Enze. Sun Enze's clone is a guardian spirit born from "Save Me", so it is the opposite of the original body. Chang Mingai's clone can temporarily replace the original body, so it should be similar to the original body.
If a clone is brave, there's no reason why the original body trapped in a dream would just sit and wait to die.
Was her memory of the original body in the dream really blurred? She probably remembered everything after she woke up.
Many on the forum agreed with his guess.
Did she connect with the cult in the dream world? Could it be that the cult had already infiltrated this evil ritual stronghold of the Black Goat...?
As for the meaning of communication, it's easy to understand: one of them has entered the dream world and is not a member of the Black Goat Clan.
It likely refers to the blue-haired girl who was the first to have an accident.
[It's usually the vice-leader who contacts the followers. Is the vice-leader intentionally isolating them, or does he simply feel it's unnecessary? The vice-leader speaks so coldly, without uttering a single unnecessary word—a truly aloof boss.]
[The deputy leader usually speaks through a mirror; he has never shown written words. Could it be one of his subordinates, or even the leader himself?]
[As expected, our main characters are full of hidden talents; none of them are simpletons...]
However, in the comics, how well they searched is irrelevant to Xie Tan, who returned to the hotel alone. Instead, he learned the truth from the "sinner" first.
Horror comics are mostly dark in color, with few bright colors except for blood. When the story gets to the main point, even if each comic has its own color, there is always a layer of black, white, and gray underneath, creating a common "base color" that sets the tone for the horror.
The author's description of his conversation with the freckled girl is extremely vivid and bold, so rich and thick that it seems as if real demons could drip from the twilight at any moment.
A blasphemous confession, two people with somber expressions.
The long dining table is surrounded by a full-length glass window. The frame in the middle of the window is reflected by the twilight, casting a red glow that symmetrically divides the scene in two, like a mirror.
So rather than repentance, it's more like looking in a mirror at the outside world, with the person outside the mirror also looking at the person in the mirror.
It appears to be a question and answer, but it is actually a self-questioning and self-answering exercise.
When the girl with freckles asked him questions and told him she was "envious," Xie Tan showed no expression.
His face always seemed enigmatic, obscured by thin mist and clouds, and even the dazzling glow of the setting sun could not illuminate it, instead smoothing out the last trace of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness hidden between his features.
It's as if he knows everything, yet knows nothing at all.
In the end, all that came to mind was a whisper, softer than a dream: "Go to sleep."
[Holy crap, I'm impressed! Your drawing is amazing!]
My eyes lit up, but my heart was heavy. To use such rich, warm colors to create this eerie atmosphere—I'm speechless…
[Ah Tan is so beautiful, even if you're a monster, take her away with you, sob sob... Smart people have already taken screenshots, the screensaver was just changed a little while ago, and a new one has already appeared, hehe]
[What kind of two-person version of "The Last Supper"?]
[How did they manage to portray both divinity and demonic nature in one person? Never mind, I'll leave the idol here, Tan Tui, I bow down—]
[Paying homage to the God of the Pond—]
[Paying homage to the God of the Pond—]
[You are now watching the birth of the third great evil force in the story. Everyone is bowing, and so am I.]
[The first follower of the Tantan Cult was Xiao Enze, hahaha]
[This composition is amazing. My personal interpretation is that it looks like two people looking at each other in a mirror.]
Ah Tan may seem expressionless, but his freckles are actually a reflection of his joys and sorrows.
While Little Freckles appears heartbroken, considering the later plot, it's clear she had already made up her mind to see things through to the end. Ah Tan is a reflection of her inner calm and indifference.
[The person upstairs is amazing, and it's not just the visuals, but their conversation as well.]
"Pandora's Box," "The Price of Pretending It Doesn't Exist or Opening It," "It Never Belonged to You," two people sharing the same judgment—a truly exquisite passage... I'm bowing down to you, Blade God!
[The story of Little Freckles is clear, but what is Ah Tan's Pandora's Box, and is it related to his coming to the town?]
I always felt that Ah Tan's motives were different from everyone else's.
Then Xie Tan saw that in the comic, when he went upstairs, the eye on the third floor was indeed floating, still inside the torn eye socket.
But the next second, the boss stepped forward and became his remaining eye.
The two eyes are opposite, one is left and one is right. The one that is suspended in the air is clearer, while the boss's eye is cloudy, but the tail of both eyes is slightly upturned and longer than the average person's eyes.
Xie Tan realized that the gaze that had been secretly watching him was the hotel owner's other lost eye.
What kind of remote monitoring is this?
[Holy crap, is this some kind of surveillance on Ah Tan? Those must be the boss's eyes!]
The person locked up in Taipei 101 is likely his wife.
[Ah Tan is nice, Miss is nice too, and she even comforted Little Freckles.]
I feel like my freckles are going to get bigger...
[Where did those eyeballs come from?! They startled me!]
[I came back after watching the rest... What a triple kill! Sigh, but will the pain disappear after revenge?]
That's probably why Atan let her "take a nap."
The later plot has nothing to do with him, so Xie Tan can be viewed more as a pure comic book. The young lady's personality is quite interesting.
Xia Wujin, who handed a tissue to the freckled girl upon entering, noticed something amiss and went to her door. One second she was tender and attentive, the next she was heartless and completely ignored the freckled girl's tearful complaints. The freckled girl was starting to lose her act, and Xia Wujin left after finding out where the blue-haired girl was.
The young lady has a rather straightforward personality.
To Xie Tan's surprise, in the comic, when Chang Mingai and Sun Enze returned to the hotel, Chang Mingai went to the RV first to retrieve the data cable.
She unplugged the wire, took out a mirror with her other hand, and called out a number to the other side, this time adding a "sheep".
There was no response from the other side of the mirror.
When she got out of the car, Xie Tan was standing some distance behind the window on the third floor of the hotel.
Chang Mingai looked up as if she had a premonition. The window at the end of the third floor was empty, with nothing in front of it.
[Xiao Ai is counting again; the sheep must be Atan, right?]
【Oh my god, Ah Tan saw it! Right by the window, it startled me! Did Ah Tan know she was contacting the religious group?】
Looking at it this way, it seems like it was intentional on her part to make the contact; after all, this isn't the first time Tan has used someone else to do his dirty work.
ah……
Seeing this, Xie Tan realized that it was where the cat had tricked him into going to sleep.
He was looking at the sea at the time, but because of this shot, he was far away, his figure was small and blurry, just like looking at Chang Mingai from behind a window.
[Did anyone notice that in their previous group chat, everyone else said "whatever" but Xiao Ai booked her own room?]
[Xiao Ai dreamt of a bubble painting, which is why she created a clone. Could she have lived in the town that year?]
[It seems so. Judging from her reminder to Xiao Sun, she is clearly familiar with the town and might be someone who knows about the strange events.]
Xie Tan looked down at the scene they were pointing to. In the comic, Chang Ming loves to go back to the second floor and runs into Sun Enze. He specifically reminds him not to open the doors and windows under any circumstances.
Sun Enze was timid by nature, and the more explicitly forbidden something was, the more likely he was to overthink it, especially since several people hadn't returned.
He knew he couldn't be of much help, so he would do as he was told to do so so as not to cause trouble for his busy companions. Based on his animal instincts, he would never try to find out what everyone was busy with.
But with his guardian angel not around, and all alone, the hotel was making him uneasy. His face paled, and he asked in a low voice, "Sister Xiao Ai, when can we leave..."
He was actually a year older than Chang Mingai, her senior, but ever since he heard about her bravery in the fairy realm, he immediately followed the food chain and started calling her "sister".
Chang Mingai felt it was too strange to call her "Sister Chang," so she suggested that he just call her "Xiao Ai" instead. Sun Enze then respectfully called her "Sister Xiao Ai."
Chang Mingai: Okay.
"Sister Chang" sounded more pleasant to her, and after being called that a few times, she actually took some care of him. She had also heard about how he had been bullied and manipulated before.
So Sister Xiao Ai patted Senior Sun's shoulder, who always looked like a little old man, and said in a coaxing tone, "It will rain soon, and the siren will disappear completely. Don't worry, go to sleep early."
Then, the freckled girl achieved a triple kill and fell asleep to the singing drifting from upstairs.
Soon, a small figure swept down from the window, the chains on her ankles swinging like a woman's song.
The hotel owner rushed out, unaffected by the siren's song.
He seemed to age instantly. He could only drag his feet back and forth across the short distance in front of the door, and he stumbled and fell twice before finally reaching the body in the pool of blood, where he held it tightly, his face blank.
His appearance and temperament are both strange and mean, giving people the feeling that he is "not to be trifled with".
However, the fierce demeanor of the living person has now been stripped away, leaving only a foolish and idiotic appearance, as if his days are numbered and he is about to turn to the other side of kindness.
The old woman's head was flattened, her torso and limbs were twisted and dislocated, but her bloodied and mangled face seemed to be smiling, with a kind of relieved and benevolent expression.
This makes them look somewhat like a married couple.
"You...you're not staying with me either. Well, in this awful place, with her singing, it's more comfortable to sleep than to stay awake. You've wanted to leave for a while, but I was afraid of being alone and forced you to stay. It's probably for the best..."
The old man paused for a moment, then finally made up his mind. His body hunched over even more, almost curled up like a worm, and he shakily carried the corpse back to the hotel, crawling back to his grave with every contraction and expansion of his body. He muttered in his aged voice, "This eye, what kind of relief did it bring? You were right, staying awake like this is just asking for trouble. It's not as good as a good night's sleep. Only in dreams can one find relief..."
-----------------------
Author's Note: I just realized the number of coffins in the coffin shop chapter was wrong. I only remembered ten people on the second floor, and forgot about Ah Tan on the third floor [laughing and crying emoji].
I've already changed it. I'll just have to study the tangent theorem more to save my math skills...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
