Xishuangbanna Tal des Schreckens

Kapitel 3

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [12]: I posted this right after the Ghost Festival (July 15th of the lunar calendar), I'll check it again tomorrow...

---No time available

Reply [13]: Cheng Zhiyun slowly turned her head and saw that Zhou Tao was tied to a pillar and covered in injuries. Cheng Zhiyun immediately forgot everything and ran over to untie him. At this time, the old woman was watching coldly and without saying a word. After Cheng Zhiyun untied Zhou Tao, Zhou Tao hugged Cheng Zhiyun in terror and trembled all over. "Zhiyun, how did you get involved with these people? They whipped me and called me an adulterer... Zhiyun, how did you kill Zhang Xuan? If I had known this would happen, I would have just given him some money and that would have been fine. It hurts so much, all the bones in my body are broken!"

Cheng Zhiyun looked at him with distress, wanting to say something but unable to.

"Zhiyun, do you really love him?" Zhang Xuan's figure appeared in the mist. His clothes were the same as when he was alive, but his face was very pale, almost transparent, and his expression was bitter and full of sorrow.

Cheng Zhiyun glanced at him, then at Zhou Tao, and remained silent. Zhou Tao was terrified. "Don't come any closer, you..." The old woman suddenly shouted, "Zhou Tao! Do you remember what you said?"

Cheng Zhiyun was confused when suddenly she was shoved hard in the waist, and her whole body fell forward towards Zhang Xuan! It was Zhou Tao! Cheng Zhiyun fell onto Zhang Xuan, feeling his chilling aura, and she screamed in fright. The old woman coldly said to Zhou Tao, "Good, well done! You can go now." Zhou Tao quickly bowed and thanked her, "Okay, okay, then I'll be going, Zhiyun..." He glanced at her desperate and helpless face, and was immediately glared at by the old woman's sharp eyes. He shook his head, opened the door, and left.

Cheng Zhiyun gasped, unable to believe her eyes. Was he really gone? The man she had relied on for life—had he betrayed her and just left like that? After a long while, she finally accepted this cruel reality. She stared blankly at the old woman and Zhang Xuan, her face utterly haggard, and stammered, "Weren't you going to kill me? Come here, come here..." The old woman's expression suddenly softened with kindness. She went over and gently stroked Cheng Zhiyun's hair, saying tenderly, "Poor child, you were so frightened... How could your grandmother bear to kill you? Zhang Xuan couldn't bear to either! You're still our good daughter-in-law, aren't you?"

Cheng Zhiyun stared straight at Zhang Xuan, who was smiling brightly at her, just as he had in life. "Zhiyun, will you marry me?"

Cheng Zhiyun nodded dazedly. The old woman was overjoyed, put their hands together, and said, "Good, good, good, I'll hold a wedding for you two right now!"

Cheng Zhiyun followed them blankly, not knowing how long they walked or where they were. All she could see were two large red candles shining overhead, while the rest of the room was dark. The old woman sat in a chair, leaning against the table where the candles were placed, watching them with a happy expression.

“Zhiyun, let’s serve tea to Grandma. She’s been waiting for this cup of tea for a long time!” Zhang Xuan said happily. Cheng Zhiyun nodded blankly. Zhang Xuan took two teacups from the table, handing one to her and keeping the other for himself. They knelt before Grandma, and Zhang Xuan served her tea first, saying, “Grandma, have some tea!” Grandma smiled and took out a red envelope from her clothes, patted Zhang Xuan’s head, and said with satisfaction, “What a good boy! Grandma’s efforts haven’t been in vain!”

Cheng Zhiyun also presented the tea to the old woman and said respectfully, "Please have some tea, Grandma!" The old woman smiled even more proudly, "Zhiyun, you will be Zhang's daughter-in-law from now on. You must live a good life with Axuan... He is a good boy, and you are a good boy too... Give Zhang's family a healthy baby soon!"

Cheng Zhiyun nodded silently, her eyes glazed over, like a walking corpse.

The old woman took out a red envelope from her clothes and said with a smile, "Here, this is for you!"

Cheng Zhiyun accepted the envelope with both hands and immediately tore open the seal, like an impatient child eager to see how much money was inside. The old woman chuckled, "Good daughter-in-law, Grandma wouldn't be stingy!"

Cheng Zhiyun finally pulled out the contents of the red envelope, and it turned out to be a 100 million yuan ghost money!

Cheng Zhiyun stood up abruptly, threw the red envelope on the ground, and sneered, "Who said you're not stingy? You think you can marry me with this?! You'd better save your breath!"

The old woman and Zhang Xuan's expressions changed drastically. The old woman's face turned ashen, and she asked tremblingly, "You...you...who exactly are you?"

Cheng Zhiyun chuckled, stretched out her right hand, and called out crisply, "Dispel the illusion!" Instantly, the large red candle disappeared, and the surroundings were brightly lit. The darkness had nowhere to hide and all revealed its truth in the light.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [14]: Jiongying stood smiling in front, while Heimi protected the real Cheng Zhiyun behind her. The old woman asked in disbelief, "You...you actually used illusion magic to deceive...deceive me?"

Jiongying calmly said to her, "Using illusion to counter illusion, this game ends here. I've let you off three times already, but there's no going back. If you remain stubborn and continue to hurt Zhiyun, then I won't care about our past relationship anymore!"

The old woman gritted her teeth and said, "So, you've tricked me today! Fine! Fine..." Her face gradually turned pale, and a red banner appeared in her hand. She waved the banner, and things in the room seemed to be sucked up by some force, including knives, scissors, and even a broken, still crackling electrical wire... These things suddenly flew towards Jiong Ying and Cheng Zhiyun as if they had received a command. Jiong Ying remained calm and sighed inwardly, "I'm truly sorry, but I have no interest in battles where the difference in strength is too great!" She didn't move, but all the flying objects stopped in mid-air and then returned to their original positions. The old woman waved the red banner repeatedly, but there was no reaction. She angrily threw it on the ground and spat on it. Just then, a small, bright object suddenly flew in through the window, brushed past the old woman, and stopped in front of Jiong Ying.

Jiong Ying was slightly surprised and asked, "Why are you here?" The glittering thing moved twice in the air. Jiong Ying was silent for a few seconds before finally saying, "Okay, you should explain things to her."

The shimmering object moved twice more, as if to express its gratitude, and then flew straight towards Cheng Zhiyun. Cheng Zhiyun was terrified and was about to cry for help when her body went limp and she fainted on the ground.

"It's so noisy." Cheng Zhiyun's first thought upon regaining consciousness was how chaotic it was. She opened her eyes and found herself lying on the side of the road. This was too dangerous! She quickly scrambled to her feet; cars and people brushed past her without a second glance. She was stunned. How did she suddenly end up in this place?

"Why haven't I seen you wearing that chain lately?" Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind her. She quickly turned around and saw herself! And Zhang Xuan! Yes, it was that bus stop. She and Zhang Xuan had broken up there. And not long after she left, Zhang Xuan died. She saw herself saying, "I put it in my office." Lie! Lie! She shouted at herself, why did you lie to him? You clearly put it in the bag, and you even fell in love with another man behind his back, and lived with that man, because you wanted his help in your career, because you loved his money! Why wouldn't you tell him? If you had told him, Zhang Xuan would have despised you, he wouldn't have been so stupid as to pick up red beans for a woman who didn't love him, he wouldn't have... died.

She cried. She watched her own oblivious self entangled with Zhang Xuan, finally leaving him. Don't go, don't go! Why were you so heartless to abandon him like that? Why didn't you turn back and look at him even once, just once? You could have saved his life, he wouldn't have died. You and he had been together for four years, and you just ended it all like that? Four years, and you didn't even have the heart to look back at him one last time?

She prayed that heaven would allow her former self to turn back and look at the disappointed Zhang Xuan one last time. But she knew perfectly well that she herself was so resolute and unwavering in leaving.

She saw Zhang Xuan searching everywhere under the scorching sun for the lost red beans, one, two, sweat streaming down his forehead. He struggled to push through the crowd, carefully picking up the beans from under their feet, as if he were picking up his own broken heart. He thought that in this way, he could mend his shattered heart.

"Stop picking them up, they're useless!" Cheng Zhiyun cried out, but Zhang Xuan couldn't hear her at all and continued mending the heart. Finally, he had found twenty-three red beans and held them tightly in his hand. Where was the twenty-fourth? Zhang Xuan searched everywhere but couldn't find it, and sighed in frustration.

"That's right, stop looking. Twenty-three is fine. She's such a heartless woman, she doesn't deserve this from you. You should string the twenty-three red beans together again and give them to other women who like you. You've loved the wrong person, Zhang Xuan, do you know that? Do you know that?" Cheng Zhiyun leaned against Zhang Xuan, pleading desperately. But he couldn't hear her; he finally found the last red bean.

No, don't go over there! I beg you, don't! Cheng Zhiyun wanted to stop Zhang Xuan, but found that her body was like smoke and mist. Zhang Xuan carefully walked over her body and into the middle of the road.

Cheng Zhiyun cried and shouted. At this moment, she felt that she would be willing to die in his place, as long as he didn't die.

Suddenly a voice called softly from behind her: "Zhiyun... Zhiyun..." --- Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [15]: Cheng Zhiyun stopped crying, "Ah Xuan... is that you? You're not dead?"

"No, I was dead. But I've come back," the voice said.

Cheng Zhiyun turned her head to look, but there was nothing behind her. "Ah Xuan, where are you?" she called out.

“I’m right behind you, but… because of death, I’ve changed my appearance, and you’ll be afraid of how I look now.”

“No, let me see you, let me see…you…” Cheng Zhiyun cried.

Zhang Xuan paused for a moment, then said, "It's better not to see you. I came back to ask you a question."

"What is it? Ask away, can I see you?"

Zhang Xuan's voice was tinged with sadness; every word he uttered seemed like a sigh. "Zhiyun, if all of this could happen again, would you still break up with me?"

Cheng Zhiyun's lips were tightly pressed together, but tears welled up in her eyes. She remained silent for a long time, her tears soaking her clothes, before finally speaking slowly, "I'm sorry, Ah Xuan, because at that time, I was already pregnant with Zhou Tao's child..." She reached out and touched her stomach; she was three months pregnant. They were getting married next month.

"I'm sorry, Ah Xuan, it's my fault that you died. I've been hiding my relationship with Zhou Tao from you. You hate me, but I won't blame you even if I die."

"No, Zhiyun, it's all in the past. I've come only to return this to you."

A bright red bean chain silently slid down to Cheng Zhiyun's feet. She picked it up; twenty-four beans, the twenty-four beans he had given his life for, love beans stained with his blood.

Zhang Xuan's voice grew weaker and weaker, seemingly fading into the distance. Cheng Zhiyun called out, "Ah Xuan, let me see you, let me see you one last time!"

"No, Zhiyun, because I no longer love you..." Zhang Xuan's voice drifted back, seemingly from a very, very far place... Cheng Zhiyun woke from her dream to find herself still in her room. That small, shimmering thing was gently floating out the window. She wanted to call out, but she was powerless. He was gone. Just like when she left, resolute and without hesitation. He left. Only then, he watched her leave; now, it was her turn to watch him leave.

Ah Xuan... She found a string of love beans in her palm, but the beans had faded from their bright red color and turned gray, just like some lost love.

"Zhang Xuan is gone, what about you?" Jiongying raised her head and asked the old woman.

The old woman muttered to herself, seemingly unintelligible, then suddenly let out a cold laugh. A ball of fire erupted from her body, quickly engulfing her. Amidst the flames, she laughed maniacally and wickedly, "Haha! Heavenly Mother, I beg you to avenge me! Haha... Heavenly Mother, pursue me to the death, hahaha..." The fire quickly consumed her. Strangely, nothing in the room was damaged; she simply turned to ashes. In the blink of an eye, even the ashes vanished.

Suddenly, a deafening clap of thunder roared outside. Jiongying murmured, "Tianmu Zhuiming... Tianmu Zhuiming..." Heimi dared not speak, feeling a chill creeping over her entire body.

One more thing, the end!