Chapter 52 The Sleeping Curse (16) [It has to be Ah Tan again!]...
Xie Tan first looked towards the shore.
As the rain and fog descended, the indifference remained unchanged. In Chang Mingai's eyes, a lone ship at sea was swallowed up by the fog, and in Xie Tan's eyes, the town was also buried by the fog in an instant.
Even a single leaf can obscure the view, let alone a thick fog that covers the sky; for a moment, nothing can be seen at all.
The faint singing could hardly penetrate the layers of rain, but when the sound echoed throughout the town, it was as if the town itself had spoken, and at least a little bit of the song reached the ears of those who had left the shore.
The long hair inside the hood simultaneously covered his ears, and Xie Tan was only distracted for a moment.
As the boat drifted further away, her long hair cascaded down, and all that remained was the patter of raindrops on the sea.
Xie Tan looked away and placed his phone on his lap. The human-skinned monster in the bouquet stuck out a corner, supporting his phone.
The real beginning of the story also begins with rain.
At midnight, the stars and moon were nowhere to be seen, and beneath the thick clouds lay a forest as dense as the clouds themselves. The veteran detective was driving along the coastal highway when his cell phone, which was propped up to the side, lit up.
He glanced at the photo Lu Jinzhao had sent him. It was a group photo of several kids from their club standing in front of the wall of Qilu Police Station, which was covered with banners, each holding a "Good Citizen of Diqiu" certificate, their smiles radiant.
Beneath the unfinished musical theater, several cultural relics once hidden by tomb raiders were confiscated, but this happened in just the last couple of days, and the process isn't that quick. What they received were all Lu Jinzhao's previous award certificates.
Lu Jinzhao, this kid, is probably someone who descended to earth to save the common people from their suffering. His ancestor must be the old man Ji Gong. In the past, the review of award certificates couldn't keep up with the speed of his daily good deeds. Just as this one was issued, we have to wait until next month to submit an application for the selection.
Police officers from nearby police stations all know him, including some criminal investigators from the Criminal Investigation Detachment. They often visit his police station and are as adept at submitting applications and writing reports as he is at it.
He felt embarrassed to keep troubling everyone, so he eventually stopped asking for it. He already had plenty of them, and his house wasn't big enough to display them all. He even jokingly said that he could be considered an unofficial police officer.
Xue Hong couldn't help but smile when he thought of that sunny child. In the blink of an eye, a road appeared before him.
A drop of crimson, brightened by the rain in the lush, shady forest, was an umbrella.
Xue Hong inexplicably recalled the umbrella he had seen next to the director's body at the foot of the Di University teaching building.
So he drove onto a gloomy side road and encountered a ghostly, cold-looking man who had been waiting for him all along.
That was a child completely different from Lu Jinzhao.
Even if we compare him to the moon, he would be an incomplete crescent moon, surrounded by wispy clouds to shield him from the glaring starlight, allowing him to half-open one eye in the night and coldly observe the world.
He said he had just crawled out of a coffin, and it really... didn't feel out of place at all.
Xue Hong asked them where they were going. The boy's sleeves and hair were disheveled and still damp from the rain, but his expression was calm. He only uttered two words: "Hell."
So they descended the bumpy slope, and the panoramic view of the seaside town under the night sky slowly unfolded.
[Such an adorable group photo! Please make postcards!]
[Support, but upon closer inspection, all the certificates have Lu Lu's name on them, haha, just typical of a male bodhisattva like Diqiu.]
[Let's put them in the Wonderland blind box. Since the blind box series doesn't include Little Sun and Miss, and Ah Tan isn't in the group photo, let's consider it a reunion!]
Has the blind box announcement been released yet? When?
[Please check the other post [link] for updates. The author says it will be released around the time the story is finished.]
[Wishing Sunshine Dog Lu and Cheshire Cat Pond, and Math Prodigy to Pass All Midterm Exams]
[Just realized the story isn't over yet! Is this an extra episode of their vacation slice-of-life? Yay!]
Wow, the oppressive atmosphere created by the screen is unlike anything we see in everyday life.
[Oh my god, a ghost, back off... Oh my god, Ah Tan, kiss me!]
[What kind of vengeful spirit is this, seeking revenge on the road? Stop mistreating the elderly! Let go of Uncle Hong... let me handle this!!]
[The comment upstairs is hilarious; that's how perfectly synchronized the Tan fans are.]
[I also thought it was just another regular extra chapter. The bonus scene at the end of the last chapter was A-Tan buying Lu-Lu a collaboration plush toy from a competitor. It cracked me up.]
When Ah Tan and Uncle Hong were talking about it, I thought it was an Easter egg and a little more plot, but it turned out to be just foreshadowing.
Looking back at Ah Tan's words at the time, on the one hand, he said, "I don't understand things like peach wood swords that can save people," and on the other hand, he said, "Mind your own business, you're so old and you're always courting death." It seemed like he was trying to dissuade him, but in reality, Uncle Hong only felt threatened, and his mind was filled with the thought, "How did he know?"
The funniest thing is that Ah Tan wasn't really paying attention. He knew Uncle Hong was just asking for trouble, so he was only being polite. He was already prepared to hitch a ride. I can't take it anymore, hahaha.
Teacher, did my cat fall into a puddle? It's a bit dirty.
Your cat says it just came out of the coffin.
[Even as a fan of Tan, I have to say, it really does look like a ghost that crawled out of nowhere. The artist is amazing!]
[Have I been kidnapped?]
[Who is it, Ah-Tan? Is it Ah-Tan who says "hell" is like saying "going home"?]
[Is anyone even living in this town? It's built all over the place, like they're afraid people won't get lost.]
This is Diqiu, a stranger from out of town!
Under the watchful eye of the sea, the vehicle skimmed the coastline and crashed into the hotel, where it awaited the arrival of guests on a rainy night. The eccentric innkeeper gave the eerie advice, "Don't go out at midnight," like a taboo incantation.
The boy, who had already booked a room, parted ways with the "driver" and reunited with his real companions in the dimly lit room.
Their eyes met, one side eyeing the other with predatory intent, the other seemingly unconcerned.
[I missed you so much! It's been several series since I last saw you. What did Su He say?!]
【daddy——】
【daddy——】
...
[Wolf Dad startled me. Did he book a room for Atan? Atan is coming to meet up. Is this Black Goat's rendezvous?]
[I knew Atan was definitely from the Black Goat Clan! The fact that they sent Wolf Daddy means Atan must be from the main family. He's a real young master!]
[But Wolf Dad doesn't seem to recognize Ah Tan. Does that mean he suspects he's an imposter? "The son of a coward"—who is this coward?]
[Breaking family rules and going through all sorts of hardships to send him away—isn't this the background of the collateral branch young master that Xi Rui found out about? He was secretly sent out of the family by his parents to be raised by a wealthy jewelry tycoon's friend.]
[The hair knot around Ah Tan's waist! It belonged to the collateral branch of the family; Ah Tan took it when he died!]
[Wow, so Ah Tan is pretending to be a young master from a collateral branch of the family? Do you think he can fool Wolf Father? That's ridiculous. Wolf Father will definitely know the truth the moment they meet.]
Indeed, after all, he's the "male Xi Shi" certified by Wolf Dad.
[But it seems Wolf Dad didn't take it seriously, neither about the impersonation nor about Ah Tan himself.]
[Wolf Dad usually just kills when he appears. Who does he care about? Last time, when he tracked down the Mirror Cult Leader and came face to face with the leader's puppet, he went straight for it. So what's a little brat who, in his eyes, came from who-knows-where, is audacious but only dares to pretend to be a good-for-nothing young master?]
[So that's how it is! I'm so worried for Atan! What should we do?!]
It's okay, didn't the people upstairs notice? Ah Tan didn't seem to care either.
The boy, preoccupied with cleaning himself in the bathroom, only managed to utter a brief reply, "He's not my father," as the slightly fogged mirror reflected his indifferent face.
This indifference applies not only to the unknown "father" he speaks of, but also to the person inside the house who is putting pressure on him.
The sharp edges hidden in his words and glances were not as heavy as the fog on the mirror before him.
[This is the truth, 666, it's so salty it's almost gone.]
[He came out without any explanation, just sat there with a "believe it or not" look on his face. If I were being scrutinized like that by Wolf Dad, I would have been terrified and begged for mercy. But Tan is different.]
It has to be Ah Tan again!
[This is hilarious! Let Wolf Dad call me Dad if he wants to, and the part where he persuades Wolf Dad to get cosmetic surgery, hahaha, why does Ah Tan's mouth seem so sharp? Is it some kind of "young master" buff?]
[The young master scolded me a couple of times, and I acted all coy.jpg]
[Young Master says he likes young people! Our Lu Lu is the youngest and has the most energy!]
[What energy do we need? Let's discuss in detail.]
Car exhaust fumes are all over my face, but I don't care, it's all about the tangent theorem 99.
[This has made our wolf dad lose confidence, haha, so handsome! But after all, the one in front of you is a male Xi Shi (a legendary beauty in Chinese mythology).]
The family sends an old man and a young man to team up and subdue the monsters in town. But the story isn't over yet, so the source of the Sleeping Curse is in this town?
Why is Ah-Tan here, pretending to be a young master from a collateral branch of the family?
Following the previous story, just like with Rarity, let's see what the Black Goat is up to!
[I always felt it wasn't that simple...]
In the comic, after Xue Hong delivered the clothes to Xie Tan, he returned to the second floor and bumped into a blue-haired girl who suddenly rushed out of the room. He narrowly avoided her.
Seeing her running downstairs, he reached out to stop her, reminding her that "you can't go out at night." The blue-haired girl bumped into him again as if in retaliation, scattering half of his words and adding a disgruntled glare.
She bumped right into his injured old arm, which was already aching from the rain, and this time he couldn't grab her.
"You old codger, get out of the way!"
Xue Hong remained calm and repeated the reminder, but the girl ignored him and had already run downstairs.
He went back to his room, and the girl's two other friends chased after him, but they quickly slunk back.
The first night was marked by a midnight encounter between two couples.
Xie Tan, who was reading the comic, noticed that in the dimly lit corridor, a freckled girl stood at the door, coldly watching her boyfriend go to the stairwell, while a white figure was faintly visible behind her.
It's that woman.
Sure enough, it appeared on the first night, but it rained that night and couldn't sing, so it just tested the waters.
Back to the comic, the next day, the three young men went beachcombing, but soon got bored and left on their bicycles. Xue Hong also drove back to the town to investigate the strange things happening there.
After several twists and turns, he obtained a yellowed old newspaper from the last century. Many words had been worn away by rain, and the front page featured a photo of a woman in a white veil singing.
The title is "Pink music stirs up an art wave, waves harmonize for her, tickets for Pan Ling's solo concert are in high demand!"
Xue Hong then checked local records and travelogues, and despite setbacks, he asked the elderly in the town, and finally found some information.
Art Harbor is a great place, but it didn't reach this scale until 40 or 50 years ago. The location of Fushui Town is rather "desolate" because strange things have been happening there ever since a small cruise ship sank not far from here.
It's not about the later singing and sleeping, the organ vacuuming device leaving a sound, or the small hill appearing out of thin air in the rain and fog, but rather the unpredictable nature of this place, sometimes as still as stagnant water, and sometimes able to stir up a thousand waves.
It seems to be the work of those wronged spirits; they are awake one moment and asleep the next, quite unpredictable.
The passing ships carefully checked the weather, chose their days, and used various monitoring tools. They also performed rituals for the victims, worshipping the Dragon King and the Sea God. Because that ship was a foreign vessel with several foreigners, they also worshipped foreign sea gods. They could see the spectacular sight of the statues of the Old Dragon King and Poseidon standing side by side. They took care of everything.
There were no major casualties, but the experience was twice as harrowing as in other places. Going out to sea was incredibly difficult, and I often worried that I was on the Titanic. Every big wave meant rain, and being rocked in the storm was so bad that I felt like I was going to throw up my guts. It was physically and mentally exhausting.
Ultimately, they still couldn't quite grasp the temperament of this place.
Until the travel company hired a true master.
After the master finished reading, he neither performed any rituals nor exorcised any ghosts. Instead, he instructed his attendants to remove all the random dragon kings and sea gods they had been worshipping.
They were right by the sea, and the manager looked worried: "But... to be honest, we're only able to go out to sea because we're relying on these sea gods for a bit of divine energy. Although we haven't swept away the troublesome ghosts, we still need their protection. If we leave now, wouldn't that be like crossing the river and burning the bridge?"
The one-eyed master pointed downwards: "What stirs up the storm is not the dead, but the god of the sea."
The manager was startled: "So it was the sea god causing trouble—no, wait, we must have done something wrong and upset him. What should we do?"
The deity turned half his face, revealing an empty eye socket, and said to the general manager, "Not the sea god, but... the sun god."
He didn't say the last few words; he mouthed them instead.
The blazing sun shone directly on his head, yet it couldn't dispel the eerie shadows on his face.
After that, the "Water Splashing Festival" arose in the area. The master, using some unknown method, actually suppressed the fickle sea, allowing boats to pass normally. The name "Floating Water" also originated from the master.
The master's follower had just finished his apprenticeship that year, and because he liked the seaside scenery, he stayed in the small town to live.
The town has become prosperous, and there are only occasional rumors of disappearances, which are harmless.
But one time things got out of hand when a businessman who was on vacation disappeared here. Although no evidence was ever found, the family made a huge fuss about it, which affected the town’s reputation, especially its tourism industry.
Then, about thirty years ago, a local girl sang "The Storms of Harbor" and became famous overnight. Everyone called her "The Melodrama Girl".
The town built a music theater for her, and from then on, the harbor was given the name "art," originating from this place and spreading like waves along the coastline.
The criticisms of her singing voice as ominous and decadent never ceased, but they couldn't suppress her ever-growing fame.
After all, everyone has ears, so what do we care about "ominous" or "disheartening"? We just know that it sounds good!
Pan Ling, being an arrogant person, responded casually on stage, saying that those were just "crazy talk".
The town was revitalized by this "first sound of the art harbor," which surpassed even the waves. People once again traveled thousands of miles to this remote seaside town, not for the waves, but just to hear her sing.
But flowers bloom beautifully, but their fall is fleeting. Without warning, on a long, rainy day, Pan Ling suddenly committed suicide in the music theater, where she was all alone.
The elderly people in the town also told a strange rumor that was not recorded in any written documents: when she hanged herself, there was a blood-written note on the stage wall of the theater with only three words: I am guilty.
The blood, for some reason, could not be washed away, nor could it be removed with knives and axes; it seemed to have soaked into the bricks and stones, nailing her self-judgment.
The town couldn't possibly dig through the wall, so the ominous music theater was abandoned.
Her death, like her song, always fades away; the waves it can create are ultimately limited. In just six months, the bay, a place teeming with artists, washed those waves of the past onto the beach and forgot about them.
A few years later, the town, unable to bear the decline, wanted to come up with something new. Perhaps feeling it was bad luck and wanting to turn the page, they transformed the music theater where she hanged herself into an art museum.
Since we can't dig through it, we'll just paint it with new paint, the whiter the better, so it'll look brand new, pure white and flawless. Then we'll invite all the artists to a gathering to exchange their paintings.
As the origin of the Art Harbor, and coinciding with the Water Splashing Festival, people flocked to Fushui Town to participate in the grand event.
They even deliberately avoided rainy days and chose a clear, cloudless day as the opening day of the art museum, hoping for good luck.
Then, that day.
Everyone present heard her singing again.
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