Heimat der Spirituosen

Kapitel 30

"What should we do now!?" There's no time to investigate the issue of him invading my body at will; we should deal with the most important thing first!

"...Pick me up and run!"

"Huh?" Although he didn't understand the important purpose at all, he had no choice but to listen to Lou Lifan. He casually wrapped the five-year-old Lou Lifan in the pile of clothes, ignored the direction, and started running. As he ran, Lou Lifan said in his mind, "Actually, running like this won't do much to save me..."

Pei Linhai staggered slightly.

"I let you run only to break through this space. We must first escape this space to undo the time reversal; otherwise, with our abilities, we probably cannot completely resist it."

“I understand what you said later,” Pei Linhai said, his footsteps continuing without slowing down, “but what does it mean to break through space?”

“As I said before, our current situation is like walking blindfolded, while someone else is using a dimensional blade to create space in front of us. What we need to do now is to be faster than that person, get ahead of him, and get past him before he has time to split or repair the space piece by piece. Maybe then we can break out of this space.”

"Then why don't you just let me open a spatial portal?" Wouldn't that be faster?

"That won't do! I must find the end today! If I open a spatial rift randomly, I'll just end up somewhere else and never be able to come back."

"Which is more important to you: your life or breaking the curse?"

"Breaking the curse is important! If I'm destined to marry you, I might as well just die here."

"..." It's not like I'm asking you to get married tomorrow...

Pei Linhai sprinted forward frantically. The scenery around him was always the same; no matter how fast he ran, nothing seemed different from before—it was still the same orange-glowing passageway, repeating itself endlessly. But he dared not let his guard down. If Lou Lifan's time-reversal effect wore off, he would be truly doomed. Putting Lou Lifan's life aside for now, if he were alone here, he probably would never get out—the level of perversion in this school was too high; heaven knows if the person who created this space was planning to imprison him for life.

Having run for so long, the repetitive scenes in the passageway had a strange hypnotic effect. Pei Linhai gradually lost the feeling of running; he only knew that his legs were mechanically repeating the same movements, and that the same things around him were constantly moving backward, backward, backward…

The orange light shimmered and swirled before his eyes, tracing all sorts of strange patterns, seemingly conveying some message, yet also seeming to convey nothing at all. He could no longer feel his feet moving; his legs no longer belonged to him, his body no longer belonged to him. He felt no fatigue whatsoever, yet why did he feel such an overwhelming urge to sleep? If he could just drift off to sleep like this, perhaps it would be more reassuring…

"Peilinhai!"

Lou Lifan roared, and Pei Linhai suddenly woke up, only to realize that he had almost fallen asleep while running.

“That won’t do,” Lou Lifan said. “If you get hypnotized by this passage, I won’t be able to control your body anymore. If you die, that’s fine, but I don’t want to die here!”

There's no need to explain it so clearly...

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"I will keep reminding you."

Keep running, keep running, the hypnotic numbness returning to my body. This cycle goes on and on, when will it end? Where is the finish line? Or rather, does the finish line even exist? Wasn't this just a prank those witches came up with on the spur of the moment? Thinking about this, my doubts deepened.

Are witches trustworthy? In their elective course on witch etiquette, the very first sentence of the textbook is, "Never believe a witch, never disbelieve a witch." If you believe her, you're likely to be deceived; if you don't believe her, you're likely to fall into an abyss of misfortune. Weighing the two, it's probably better not to believe in witches in the first place and just do what you think is right…

What about that "I love you" from earlier? The thought sent chills down Pei Linhai's spine, yet he couldn't ignore the issue. Lou Lifan was back safely, and the red thread had disappeared, but in this place supposedly capable of "lifting the curse," uttering those words that echoed the curse—wouldn't that only intensify its misfortune?

“Pei Linhai,” Lou Lifan suddenly called to him, “look around, isn’t it getting a bit dark?”

Pei Linhai looked around and, just as Lou Lifan had said, the light in the passage was much dimmer than before. It was no longer a pure orange, but an orange color with a hint of dark mist.

What's going on?

"I don't know, but... it might be a good omen."

"How so?"

"The identical scenery just now meant that we were always going around in circles in the same space, but now the scenery is different, which may mean that we are one step ahead of the person who split the space and have broken away from the closed space we were in before."

"but……"

"but?"

"But we can't be sure this is a good omen; it could be another trap..."

The surrounding scenery darkened noticeably, and the visible end of the passage ahead was no longer orange, but had transformed into a terrifying place shrouded in darkness. Along the passage, dark patterns radiated a distinctly centripetal light, creeping all the way to that black end. It was as if they were running through the cave of some monster, rushing headlong into its jaws.

"Li Fan... are you going to run over there?" That's terrifying...

"Run over there!"

"...I'm scared..."

"Either you run in under my control, or you run in according to your own will. The choice is yours."

"I..." It was one thing to be forced inside by Lou Lifan, but the problem was, if he dared to disobey Lou Lifan again, the consequences wouldn't be just a beating. Lou Lifan would definitely keep his promise: "If you dare disobey me again, I'll kill you!"... "I... I'll go in myself..."

"uh-huh."

Since seeing it or not seeing it made no difference, and seeing it would only make him more afraid, Pei Linhai decided to close his eyes and charge into the most important battle of his life—

"Pei Linhai!?"

Charge! ...

Hey! Your eyes—

Charge! ...

"Pei Linhai, you big idiot! Why did you close your eyes?!"

Suddenly, his footing gave way, but instead of falling directly, his body was propelled high into the air by the momentum of his desperate run-up before gently descending. Pei Linhai couldn't close his eyes now, but he dared not open them completely, only opening them a tiny slit.

It was very dark all around, but as we descended, it gradually brightened. However, the light that brightened was no longer the orange glow from before, but a gentle, hazy yellow light.

"Li Fan, this..."

"Look down! Look down!"

"Huh?" Pei Linhai belatedly looked down—"Wow!"

They saw nothing else, only the eldest and second eldest sisters of the Lou family directly below them, seemingly forgetting to shout, just staring wide-eyed as they fell... silently...

Then... a deafening explosion... a horrific scene...

Pei Linhai lay sprawled out on his back, holding five-year-old Lou Lifan in his arms. His expression was one of terror so intense that he wished he could die right then and there.

The eldest and second eldest sisters of the Lou family were used as cushions by him, pressed down on him in a crawling position, only able to exhale but not inhale.

"Two...two...two...two older sisters..." Oh God! Oh Earth! Why didn't they just let him fall to his death?! Even if he died from the fall, it would be better than this situation!

"Pei-Lin-Hai!" The two witches called his name in unison, but their voices were chilling and blood-stained, their resentment even stronger than that of a thousand-year-old vengeful spirit!

Lou Liyan's hair was smashed into a mess by Pei Linhai's elbow, and Lou Lijia's veil was askew, her hair was also disheveled. The two beautiful faces were covered in blood and gore because they had pressed themselves against the dear Mother Earth.

"I...I'm sorry..." That's it, my body was frozen with fear...

They struggled to lift their heads, roaring in grief and anger, "You bastard! You know you're sorry, so why don't you get off us right now? Do you want to crush us two beauties, two women of a thousand years, to death, cripple us, leave us unable to take care of ourselves, and only be satisfied when we marry you with tears in our eyes?! Get out of here—!!"

Pei Linhai's body seemed to be freed from some kind of spell; he scrambled to his feet—still holding Lou Lifan in his arms—and hid in a corner, his back pressed tightly against the wall, fantasizing that he could escape through it…

The two nearly disfigured beauties shakily got to their feet, their fingers trembling as they pointed at Pei Linhai: "Good...good lad...you'll remember this..."

Pei Linhai decided that the first thing she would do after escaping danger was to get plastic surgery, so much so that even her own mother wouldn't recognize her... No matter how much she hated him, the first thing she had to do was to groom herself and look beautiful before she could talk about anything else; it was a woman's nature. So after uttering her threatening words, the two beauties didn't do anything else but busied themselves taking out mirrors, combs, handkerchiefs, and cosmetics to make themselves presentable before turning to face Pei Linhai.

“Pei Linhai! We’ll remember you! After we get out… Hmm? What are you holding in your arms?” Lou Liyan and Lou Lijia strode closer to him, pulling aside the pile of clothes—“Ah! You and my Li Fan even have a child!?”

"Please...please, sisters, don't talk nonsense..." Pei Linhai and Lou Lifan inside him both turned green. "This is...this is..."

"I know, it's Li Fan, isn't it?" Lou Liyan continued disdainfully, "How could I not recognize something like this? Hmph... My adorable Li Fan... I'd recognize him no matter what!"

She picked up the infant Lou Lifan, still wearing her shirt, and lifted him high in the air. Lou Lifan was still inside Pei Linhai's body, so the baby Lou Lifan was sleeping soundly.

Lou Lijia poked her younger brother's tender little cheek and suddenly said, "Huh? Why is there only an empty shell? Where is the original spirit?" The original spirit does not refer to the spirit body, but to the divine consciousness. The divine consciousness depends on the spirit body for its existence, but it is not only the existence of the spirit body that can maintain the divine consciousness. Under certain circumstances, the divine consciousness can also break free from the restrictions and move at will—for example, when using the witch's control spell.

Pei Linhai pointed to himself: "Here."

Lou Liyan glanced at him: "Oh, so Li Fan was in there too? Okay, remember that, you were part of the group that smashed us earlier."

Pei Linhai's face turned even greener, because he could sense that Lou Lifan was extremely angry because he had revealed this "secret of heaven".

They had fallen into a cave shaped like a gourd's belly. There was a narrow entrance passage on the ceiling, just wide enough for one person to pass through. This must be where they had fallen from. The cave was very large, and the walls and ceiling, except for the entrance, were covered with all sorts of talismans. A rough estimate puts at least a thousand different kinds.

In the center of the cave is a large incantation circle, about five meters in diameter, made of a cement-like material, inlaid with hundreds of large incantations using gold and silver powder. (A large incantation is a type of spell made without paper or pen, using other durable materials. It has a long duration of effect and wide range of uses, but correspondingly, it absorbs more of the caster's ability. Unless one possesses an ability of at least A+ level, no one would use it.) In the center of the incantation circle is a smaller circle, about one meter in diameter, emitting a faint blue and green light. These two lights do not merge, yet they intertwine, winding like a snake.

Lou Liyan held her younger brother in one arm and pointed to the small circle with the other, saying, "That's the center of the curse emanating from this 'cursed couple.' What you need to do now is go there, and then..."

"Wait a minute!" Lou Lifan asked from inside Pei Linhai's body, "Sister, you should know the location of this cave, right?"

Why didn't you tell us the location from the beginning so we could open the entrance here and walk straight in?

"Because I'm happy," Lou Liyan said.

Lou Lifan was so angry he couldn't speak.

Lou Lijia chuckled twice and explained, "Uh, actually, this space is governed by certain 'laws.' Just like when my older sister and I came down with you, we were bounced directly here, while you were at the entrance. 'Couples' who want to enter here... oh, don't make that face! I put that in quotes!—Couples who want to enter must pass a specific test, otherwise they are not allowed to enter. Even if we tell you the location of this space, you still can't get in; at most, you'll be bounced to the entrance, the same location we guided you to before."

Lou Lifan could barely accept this reason.

"So, sister, what happened to that place you mentioned earlier?"

"kiss."

"Kissing!!??" A thousand thoughts flashed through Lou Lifan's mind, finally settling on one—rather than suffering the torment of this twisted curse here, it would be better to just kill Pei Linhai... Pei Linhai was now one with him, his mind completely absorbed; he knew everything Lou Lifan thought. So, Pei Linhai began planning to drop out of school. Rather than have his life taken by the terrifying Lou family, it was better to drop out now, so he wouldn't have to live with this unfortunate couple anymore, and he wouldn't have to worry about being killed...

"You two," Lou Lijia's forehead veins bulged, but her voice became much gentler than before, which was very strange. Lou Lifan, Pei Linhai involuntarily took a step back. "Let me tell you, don't expect any other ideas, and don't even think about backing down. Once you enter here, you must break the curse. If you can't break the curse, none of us can leave here—until we die! Do you understand? Do you understand!"

Dizziness...

Is there no chance to retreat?! If I had known this would happen, I would have killed Pei Linhai outside (and dropped out of school early)... Lou Liyan walked to the outer edge of the large spell circle, stretched out her arms, and Lou Lifan, wrapped in her shirt, slowly left her arms, floated to the center of the spell circle, and then slowly landed on the small circle.

As soon as Lou Lifan landed on the small circle, the large incantation circle immediately emitted a dazzling white light, so bright that it was impossible to open one's eyes. A buzzing sound echoed throughout the entire cave, as if all the incantations were in a grand chorus. Pei Linhai felt a kind of suction force coming from the large incantation circle, which he could not resist, and his body involuntarily slid towards it.

"Pei... Pei Linhai! If you dare to lay a finger on me, I'll tear you to pieces when we get out of here!"

"I...I...I didn't want to either!" Why did I kiss a man?! Why!

"Whatever you do, get out of this situation as soon as possible!"

"Why won't you help? You're more capable than me!"

"...Because I had no choice..."

"Then why are you forcing me?!" If you can't do anything, what can I possibly do?!

Help!

The two involved were helpless, and Lou Liyan and Lou Lijia stood by and watched, so everything went smoothly. Pei Linhai was forcibly pulled into the Great Curse Circle and slowly approached Lou Lifan in the circle.

Upon reaching the outer edge of the small circle, Pei Linhai seemed to trip over something and fell to the ground with a thud. Five-year-old Lou Lifan's face was less than twenty centimeters away from him...

"I don't want to... I don't want to! Help—" Her body was being pulled closer and closer...

"Stop yelling for help!" Lou Lifan mentally smacked him in exasperation. "I've got it! Get down here right now!"

"Um?"

"I can kiss myself and I'm fine! You better get out of here and go to the deepest part of your consciousness!"