Atavismo

Capítulo 25

Is there no hope?

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(No update today. How could I possibly write a thousand words? My inspiration has been terrible these past two days. The Ghost Stories has reached a minor climax, and the subsequent developments are crucial for the future plot. Ugh, headache! April 26, 21:42)

Another strange thing happened. A gray-black figure suddenly sped past the milky-white light screen, passing by Gu Feng and the other person, and headed straight for the human bone cemetery inside.

As the wind swept past him, Gu Feng seemed to see the figure clearly, yet it was also like a hallucination in his eyes, as if it were a person dressed in a Taoist robe.

The space where the two could stand was so small that they had to crouch down and squeeze together to avoid being exposed. When such a figure suddenly flashed by, it was inevitable to have endless imagination. It must be going to break the ghost formation to save them!

Just as they were pondering this, a blinding yellow light shot into the sky from the distant, blurry horizon, forcing them to close their eyes to endure it.

Gu Feng noticed that feeling was strangely familiar. A magnificent image flashed through his mind: a handsome young Taoist priest wielding the Golden Dragon Demon-Slaying Sword, cleaving through the sky in a spectacular display.

Gu Feng shook his head and saw the white curtain covering several miles gradually shrinking and gathering back to the place where it originated. After a while, it also broke away from the place where Gu Feng and the others were!

As soon as the pressure was released, the golden light of the amulet suddenly lost its restraint and expanded, illuminating the entire space.

Without pausing for a moment, the two hurried toward that place.

The dense forest they had strolled through that morning was now just piles of ashes and withered branches. Apart from the jagged rocks, there were no thorns to block their way. Soon, they found themselves back on the burial ground of human bones, which was riddled with holes.

A hissing, eerie wind lowered the temperature of the entire open space to below zero, sending shivers down one's spine. Standing motionless in the dark open space was an old Taoist priest with white hair, holding a long golden sword embedded in the ground.

Gu Feng looked on curiously and called out, "Hey, old Taoist priest, is there anything I can help you with?"

The old Taoist priest remained unmoved and did not answer him.

A sudden heat surged through his palm, and the talisman left Gu Feng's hand and flew into the air toward the Taoist priest.

Amidst a burst of spiritual light, the old Taoist priest drew his sword, only to find a filthy black "claw" gripping the blade, along with a headless black humanoid creature—none other than the headless ghost.

Just as they were wondering how he could come back to life after self-destructing, the protective talisman that had stopped the void shattered with a crash. Gleaming powder spread throughout the graveyard with a chilling wind, forming a Tai Chi Bagua-like formation. The headless ghost was also suppressed by the formation, let out a sharp cry, and disappeared into some unknown place...

The old Taoist priest murmured, "True Body Talisman, True Body Talisman... The Celestial Master has manifested!"

Gu Feng looked back towards the mountaintop, but the white figure had already disappeared.

(It was really hard work typing this out, but the little incident is finally over.)

Soul-Searching Array

Gu Yuehan, April 27th, 12:00 PM. (45 characters)

()

Volume 2, Chapter 35, Pit No. 3

"Hey, Zhao Qiang, you can't go back on your word. School's over now, go to the toilet."

"Hmph, needless to say, get your money ready and wait to treat me to dinner!" With that, he strode towards the restroom.

Sun He followed closely behind, afraid that he would renege on his debt and run away halfway.

This school is about ten years old and its facilities are fairly complete. However, the toilets are still old-fashioned latrines. The school plans to demolish and rebuild them as soon as the semester ends, not because they are unsanitary or inconvenient, but because of the No. 3 latrine that no one dares to use...

The story begins a year ago. I heard that a bright student suddenly disappeared from the school. It took all our resources and two weeks to find his body, which had been devoured by maggots, in the latrine by a student.

He was a key student the school was cultivating. The teachers were saying that he could easily get into Tsinghua or Peking University based on his grades. Apart from the thick glasses he wore, he was quite good-looking overall. Many female students admired his talent and longed to be with him. Why did such an outstanding student die so inexplicably in a filthy latrine?

Despite the school police's extensive investigation, they remained clueless, and as time passed, the matter gradually faded from everyone's memory.

However, three months later, something strange happened.

First, a boy and his classmates were "staking out" a place when he suddenly disappeared. They searched the latrines and looked everywhere, but they couldn't find a trace of him. He just vanished into thin air!

Since that incident, whenever someone goes to Pit 3 for a night watch, strange things always happen, from minor incidents like underwear disappearing to major ones like never being seen again. The odd thing is that these strange occurrences only happen in Pit 3; everything else is normal.

Upon investigation, everyone learned that the body was pulled out from the No. 3 pit. As a result, rumors of a haunted toilet spread like wildfire, causing panic throughout the school, and the toilet was temporarily closed off.

Later, for some reason, the toilets were reopened. While relieving themselves, no one would even glance at the door of pit number three...

Zhao Qiang went to the restroom, gave Sun He behind him a disdainful smile, and said, "Look at you, so easily frightened by a little rumor. I, Qiangzi, refuse to believe it. You're definitely treating me to dinner tonight."

The dim yellow light in the toilet was always on, and a disgusting stench of feces and urine hit him. Zhao Qiang covered his nose; this school was really backward.

Before me stood a long row of twelve wooden doors. Under the dim light, the handles of the other doors were smooth and shiny, but the door number three was covered with a layer of grime, clearly indicating that it hadn't been touched in a long time.

Sun He glanced at the somewhat gloomy door of the No. 3 outhouse and hesitated, saying, "Qiangzi, why don't you stop showing off and let's go back to the dormitory?"

Zhao Qiang chuckled strangely: "Kid, you're already at the point and you're still trying to back out. Are you worried about wasting your dinner?"

Sun He quickly replied, "No, no..."

"Then what are you babbling about? Just wait until I've relieved myself, then I'll pay the bill." Zhao Qiang had barely finished speaking when he reached for the wooden door. Perhaps it hadn't been opened in a long time, as it creaked and wouldn't budge. Frustrated, he pulled hard, and with a sharp crack, it opened with a whoosh.

Sun He quickly covered his eyes, and Zhao Qiang laughed and said, "Look at you, what's inside?"

Sun He slowly lowered his hand. Indeed, apart from a thin layer of dust, it was no different from other pits.

Zhao Qiang patted him on the shoulder: "Xiao He, if you're worried I'll run away, wait for me here. If you don't like the smell, you can wait at the door. But you can't skip this meal, hehe!"

With a wicked grin, Zhao Qiang walked in. To be seen as someone powerful and influential—there probably weren't many people in the world who could stand it, right? While Zhao Qiang's skin was thicker than most, even he couldn't bear it. After taking his place, he casually closed the door behind him…

Sun He stared blankly at the gray-black door panel, feeling somewhat uneasy.

"Qiangzi, say something!"

"Holy crap, are you out of your mind? I'm here tonight!"

"No, I need you to say something to put my mind at ease!"

"Get lost, I don't usually talk like this."

"Then I'll explain, and you can answer, okay?"

"Do you still want someone to pull you? This makes it hard for me to concentrate on my strength. If you're going to hold on, then you should consider what you're going to treat me to tonight."

Sun He was speechless.

Zhao Qiang squatted there, thinking that Sun He was really annoying. Seeing that he had given up and didn't continue nagging, he felt relieved and began to relieve himself comfortably...

"Thud..."

A clump of excrement rolled into the cesspool, which hadn't been replenished in a long time, and splashed into the filthy, black, stagnant water.

Zhao Qiang's heart skipped a beat. Why did he suddenly feel a cold draft coming from the latrine? And what was that feeling under his buttocks? He didn't dare to look down. Even though he was usually bold, he felt his thighs trembling.

A chilling cold quickly filled the small space, and the disgusting stench made him dizzy. A gurgling sound came from below the latrine—was something struggling down there?!

Zhao Qiang knew this wasn't the time to worry about saving face. He pounded on the wooden door with all his might, using enough force to break a brick with a single punch! But... why was there no sound? Why did it feel like he was hitting cotton when he was hitting the door with so much force?

Zhao Qiang tried to shout, but no matter how hard he tried, he was as mute as a bat, he lost his voice!

He grabbed the handle, fiddled with it for a while, but it didn't budge. Strange, the door wasn't locked!

Zhao Qiang frantically pounded on the door in a panic and helplessness, but the already fragile wooden board didn't even tremble, let alone make a sound.

The wooden door was only about two meters high; climbing over it should have been a piece of cake for him. But to his dismay, he found his legs were weak and powerless, and he couldn't even stand up!

Zhao Qiang was horrified to see a hand covered in green hair reaching out from under the latrine...

**********

The battle that night had a significant impact on these three people, who were both Taoist and laymen, leaving them staring blankly at the desolate place for a long while…

Finally, the old Taoist priest gave a call, and they set off together.

Next, Gu Feng successfully recognized his grandfather. Zhao Longteng had also anticipated Gu Feng's current situation, and the group began to head towards Fengmo Mountain.

As they passed by a school, the old Taoist priest Zhao suddenly stopped them, muttering, "Such a strong ghostly aura!"

Pit No. 3

Gu Yuehan, April 28, 13:28

()

Volume 2, Chapter 36: The Demon-Slaying Sword

Gu Feng looked around, but strangely, he didn't feel anything.

He asked, "Where's the ghostly aura? I don't feel anything."

The old Taoist priest gestured for him to be quiet, and stood there silently for about thirty or forty seconds. Finally, as if he had locked onto his target, he led the way into the school.

Gu Feng quickly said, "Grandpa, have we taken the wrong path? Shouldn't we be heading up Fengmo Mountain?"

"This place is filled with ghostly energy; it's likely that some evil spirit has appeared. Let's go and investigate."

The school covers a large area, but it's strange that the iron gate was open and there were no security guards. Also, it's unusually quiet even though it shouldn't be dismissal time yet.

The three of them went inside and wandered around for about ten minutes before they saw a living person behind a teaching building, who looked like a high school student.

Gu Feng stepped forward and asked, "Hey friend, is it a holiday today? Is everyone at your school?"

The man first looked at them with a puzzled expression, and instead of answering Gu Feng's question directly, asked, "Who are you people?"

Gu Feng thought for a while, but couldn't come up with a suitable way to introduce himself, so he said, "This is my maternal grandfather. He said there was 'ghostly energy' at your school, so we came in to take a look."

The man looked at Zhao Longteng in astonishment and murmured, "How...how did you know our school is haunted?"

The ancient style is so strong, it's really ghostly!

"Young friend, could you tell this old Taoist about the whole story?" the old Taoist asked.

The young man said, "Please come inside, Daoist Master."

The three followed him into a living room. The young man poured tea and said, "My name is Sun He, and I am a student in Class 3 of the second year of high school at this school."

Gu Feng said impatiently, "What exactly happened? Tell me quickly!"

"Improper!" the old Taoist priest reprimanded, relying on the fact that he was the grandfather.

"The story begins a year ago," the young man, Sun He, then recounted the strange occurrences at Pit No. 3...

After he finished speaking, Gu Feng frowned and asked, "Um... has the cause of the high-achieving student's death been determined? Was it suicide or murder?"

Sun He seemed to be thinking of his innocent friend who had died, his expression somewhat bitter. He shook his head slowly and said, "I don't know. Only a mutilated body remains. There are no clues whatsoever."

Gu Feng nodded silently, looking at Zhao Longteng. This kind of thing was not something he should handle.

Zhao Longteng coughed softly and said, "Take me to that toilet."

Sun He nodded and got up to leave. Gu Feng looked at the hesitant Shi Xin, knowing what she was wary of, and said, "Shi Xin, wait here for a while!"

Shi Xin smiled and nodded in agreement.