Die drei Geistergeschichten von Jinzhong

Kapitel 13

The murderous aura pressed down on Chen Xing like severe frost.

Chen Xing finally stopped laughing and grinning.

"Ading, if I give you this backpack, can you promise not to give it to anyone?"

Chen Xing asked. He asked calmly.

Ask A Dingding, who had no interest in outside affairs and only focused on embracing Tong Rong, and whose face was pale.

A Ding looked up.

Under the green light, the thirteen people's ferocious faces looked like thirteen hungry ghosts that could pounce at any moment.

"Not to anyone?" He gave a faint smile—a ferocious, ugly, and terrifying smile. "Okay."

He said cheerfully, “I agree. I agree and approve with four hands raised. Two are mine, and two are Rong’s. — But will you?” He suddenly became sad, “Will you hand over what you depend on for survival to us? Will they agree? Aren’t you afraid I’ll take it all for myself?” Then he sighed deeply. He sighed again and lowered his head.

*** *** ***

cold.

cold.

fear.

(That wasn't A-Ding, nor was it the familiar Ding Da-da from everyday life.) A chilling, murderous aura emanated from him. Everyone felt that murderous intent. Everyone was terrified by those few ordinary words and those changing expressions.

However, the situation left no room for hesitation, and a choice had to be made.

Make a choice as soon as possible.

“A-Ding took the backpack,” Du Liu said.

"And then?" A Ding looked up.

"Then, it's up to you to allocate them."

"Do you trust me?"

"Trustworthy".

"And what about everyone else?" Adin suddenly turned to look at everyone.

Zhu Qian immediately replied, "A-Ding, don't worry. I trust you at all times. —I agree."

"And you?" A-Ding turned to ask Chen Xing.

Chen Xing was taken aback. "Me? -- Of course I trust you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked you to come and get my backpack."

“A-Ding, you take it. We trust you,” Xu Fangfang said.

Zhang Dawei immediately replied, "Go ahead, I trust you."

“Since everyone trusts you, you should accept the offer,” Wu Xiaohui said.

A Ding slowly stood up. He spread his arms out, with Tong Rong lying across them.

—Tong Rong has fallen into a coma again.

The crowd dispersed slightly. A-Ding stared at the face covered in bruises and purple welts, at the hilt of the short sword in the abdomen, and suddenly gave a bitter laugh. He laughed cruelly and strode away. As he walked, Tong Rong seemed to lie on a sponge bed, completely unaffected by the movement.

The crowd parted. However, he didn't stop and strode through the crowd, not even glancing at the backpack in Chen Xing's hand.

"Ading! What are you doing!"

In unison, Du Liu, Chen Xing, Xu Fangfang, and Wu Xiaohui called out. They called out reproachfully.

"I'm leaving!" Adin sneered.

"Chen Xing, you will abandon love in anger, but I will sever all ties in anger!"

"Wei Yiyi, An Yingying, and Huang Zilan, their fates are still unknown, their future uncertain. And you, you show no concern, instead scheming and fighting over this pitiful amount of food and water! How many people can this little bit feed? What will you eat after that? Your clothes? What will you eat when your clothes are no longer edible? You can drink urine when you run out of water, but what will you drink after that little bit of urine is gone? — Is life so precious in your eyes? The lives of others are less important to you than an ant? Where is your kinship? Where is your friendship? Where is your humanity?!"

He strode away, disappearing into the boundless passageway and endless darkness.

In the distance, his murmured self could still be heard:

"Rong—why did you come? Why are you still alive? Why did you bring back these things?"

"Don't you understand: as long as there is even a sliver of hope, they will fight and kill each other? As long as they can survive temporarily, they will never give up, never give up their lives in the struggle, never abandon their flesh and blood for dignity? Rong, what have you brought back—darkness or light? Misfortune or happiness? Rong, in this world, why can't you learn to be a little selfish, a little weak, a little despicable, a little insignificant? Rong..." The green light shone brightly.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [39]: *** *** ***

Four ghastly green discs appeared, along with four beams of ghastly green light. A soft/cold/evil/terrifying/eerie light immediately enveloped the gloomy passageway.

Ahead is an intersection.

Three-way intersection.

Behind him, to his left and right, were two separate passageways, like a trident. Each passageway had stone walls, stone floors, and stone ceilings, all the same dark blue-green with the same blue stone stripes. Under the eerie green light, they looked like deliberately constructed thoroughfares. The angles between the passageways were all 120 degrees. In the very center of each passageway was a large, slightly recessed circular platform, like a safety island. The green light originated from A Ding's right, and under that green light, there were seven people on that path.

Four men and three women.

Four men, two in front and two behind.

The two in front, one stood with his hands behind his back, his face cold and murderous; the other stood with his hands clasped, his face flat, his nose pitifully small. Behind them, two people each pulled a small pulley, with miscellaneous items on it. One resembled a wolfhound, the other had an ordinary face, but his exposed hands were flat and thin, like sharp knives.

Three women, huddled at the back, were:

—Wei Yiyi. Huang Zilan. An Yingying.

"stop."

The man with the cold and stern face spoke.

A-Ding stopped. He looked up. A cold laugh.

"It's you? —Which one of you is it? Show yourself!"

*** *** ***

There is light in the distance. It is green light.

The green light was very bright. Chen Xing suddenly smiled.

A cruel laugh.

He slowly shook his head, seemingly lost in thought. But his gaze remained fixed on the green light, as if looking towards the horizon.

There is emptiness. There is bewilderment. There is sorrow. There is fear. There is worry.

Suddenly, his gaze turned cold as he stared at Wu Xiaohui.

"If my judgment is correct, those people have officially appeared. Will you retreat or advance? Will the dozen or so of us stick together, or will we first divide up this pitiful little bit of spoils?"

A trace of sorrow welled up in his eyes again. Looking into the distance, he suddenly burst into laughter. "Du Liu! [Unintelligible characters]!"

Du Liu received the package.

The eleven people immediately looked at Du Liu.

But in the instant he caught the bag, Chen Xing shoved Wu Xiaohui, who was blocking his way. He grinned maliciously, his eyes gleaming with an utterly despicable evil light. The shove landed squarely on Wu Xiaohui's chest, nearly knocking her over. And, at the very end of that shove, he transformed his palm into a claw, kneading and grabbing her.

But Wu Xiaohui had no time to care.

As soon as she regained her footing, she stared intently at Du Liu, who had caught the backpack.

Chen Xing strode away, laughing as he went, barging and shoving, and before he left, he had almost already groped and kneaded all the women.

However, no one cared.

At this moment, the "collision" is simply a trivial matter.

He finally left.

But then it suddenly stopped. A cold, sinister laugh followed:

"Du Liu! Please! Please make your move! [The rest of the text is incomplete and appears to be a fragment of a larger document. A direct translation isn't possible without further context.]"

Du Liu slowly looked at everyone, then slowly closed the backpack, stuffed the empty backpack into his own empty backpack, tied it shut, and slowly slung it over his shoulder. He turned to face the green light.

"Everyone!"

"plz follow me!"

Chapter Two, "The Heart-Eating Smile Abandons Love in Anger," has ended.

Chapter Three, "A Gentleman Kills with Courtesy Before Using Force," will continue.

Chapter Three: "A Gentleman Kills with Courtesy Before resorting to Force"

1. A soft tongue

The palace moves, the labyrinth remains labyrinthine. Given this, it wouldn't be surprising if the dirt path turned into a stone path, or even a highway. But this area is the location of a "node," so why is it changing?

—Could it be that there are no "nodes" in this tomb?

Or perhaps, the "node" is actually a kind of deceptive mechanism?

But these leaders no longer had time to investigate.

Because they had already arrived at the "Bridge of Helplessness".

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [40]: People are helpless before the Bridge of Helplessness, and embark on their journey with no other choice.

Legend has it that when a person reaches the Bridge of Helplessness, it is their final moment of bidding farewell to the world. This moment is also a crucial juncture where a confused person makes a careful choice. If one does not cross the Bridge of Helplessness, one can still be reborn; but once one crosses the Bridge of Helplessness, the only way to return to the world is to wait for the cycle of reincarnation.

And now, they have arrived at the "Bridge of Helplessness".

It's a three-way road, and every single one of them looks exactly the same. If this is indeed the most important turning point in life, then the "crossroads" in the middle of the road undoubtedly represent the "Bridge of Helplessness."

—So, is the real bridge that is a slightly concave, large disc that resembles a traffic island at a road intersection?

The eldest brother doesn't know.

He didn't want to, and was unwilling to, take any risks.

He was waiting—waiting for the "test subject" to arrive.

The "test subjects" were that group of "people." They were that group of "people" who, at first glance, seemed very united, but in reality, their hearts were scattered to a laughable and pitiful degree, filled with deceit, treachery, and selfishness.

— Mainly Zhu Qian.

*** *** ***