parfum

Chapitre 21

"No, we need to keep going!" Shubai said, pointing to a darker, more secluded mountain ahead.

"Why would you go to that place?" the driver started to ask.

"Um, um, we're going back to visit our relatives!" Professor Wang said from behind.

"Hmph!" The driver sneered, "People always come out of there, but I've hardly ever seen anyone come back! Visiting relatives, huh?"

"Is there anything strange about that place?" Chen Kai asked him, judging from his tone that the village didn't seem like anything special.

“Strange? It’s downright eerie!” he said, pointing at Shubai. “Why don’t you just ask her? How many people have died there over the years?”

"What's going on?" Chen Kai asked her anxiously. Was she leading them into a trap? Just like the trap she set up at the beginning?

"We'll talk about it after we get off the bus!" Shubai waved her hand, signaling him not to ask any more questions.

No one spoke in the car anymore. No one dared to ask anything about the village. Even the driver kept his mouth shut. As the car bumped along, the road was getting closer and closer to the village.

A cold wind blew up the mountain, the shadows of the trees swayed, and occasionally some unknown animal would dart onto the road and then run away.

They were terrified that if they opened their mouths, something would be summoned from the dark forest, carrying a scythe of death, and take their lives.

"I'm not going any further!" After driving for a while, the driver suddenly stopped the car: "You can see that village now. Just walk down this hill!"

"Hey! You can't do this!" Chen Kai shouted. How could this person be so untrustworthy?

"Get out of the car, please! I'm begging you! If I weren't desperate for money, I wouldn't have come to this godforsaken place!" He pointed to a road ahead and said, "A couple of days ago, a car overturned over there. They said they were here to inspect the work, and not a single person survived. So I'm not leaving, even if you kill me!"

"Let's get out! I know the way!" Shubai said, pushing open the door and getting out of the car.

They had no choice but to follow her out of the car. As soon as they stepped off, the driver started the engine, turned it around as if his life depended on it, and drove away. He seemed genuinely terrified!

"It's so cold!" Chen Kai exclaimed, as the mountain wind blew right through his cotton-padded coat.

"Is this the place?" Fei Xiao, who had been silent until now, pointed to a cluster of lights below the mountain.

"This is it!" Shubai said expressionlessly, showing no joy at returning home, but rather as if she were facing an inescapable problem.

In the cold, damp mountains, the village seemed shrouded in a blue mist, appearing ethereal and unreal. Clusters of lights, like the glow of fireflies, also shimmered with a faint blue hue.

Chen Kai looked down at the village below, his heart tightening for some reason. What would happen there next? What awaited them?

The village shrouded in blue mist, like a ghostly eye emitting a bluish-green glow, was watching their every move.

"Let's go!" Shubai said, walking down the hillside. The grass in the forest was up to her waist.

"What if there are snakes?" Chen Kai turned around and asked Fei Xiao beside him, looking at the dark expanse, he felt a little scared.

“It’s too dangerous to walk like this, I’ll go first!” Fei Xiao said, taking two quick steps to walk alongside Shu Bai. “Is that the way?” he asked Shu Bai, pointing ahead.

"That's right, we should be able to get there as long as we follow this road. I haven't been back in a long time, and I didn't expect the grass to grow so tall!"

Upon hearing this, Fei Xiao stretched out a hand, her eyes closed, seemingly doing something. Suddenly, the surroundings were illuminated by a blue light, and the terrifying atmosphere in the forest immediately lessened. Chen Kai looked closely and saw something like a flame leaping and rising in Fei Xiao's palm.

"What is this? A will-o'-the-wisp?" It seems that Feixiao really has a lot of ideas.

"The Soul-Guiding Lamp!" he said, raising his hand. The ball of blue flame seemed to come alive, slowly flying to the top of their heads and lingering in front of them. Turning back to Chen Kai and Professor Wang, he said, "This can drive away some unclean things. It will be helpful. Let's go!"

"Where did you meet this friend?" Professor Wang was also amazed. Even though he didn't believe in ghosts and monsters, he had to admire him now.

"Yes, yes..." Chen Kai scratched his head, unsure how to explain, "I picked it up on the street before the college entrance exam."

Professor Wang adjusted his glasses, looked at Chen Kai's face, and, unsure what to say after receiving such an answer, could only shake his head and follow Fei Xiao and Shu Bai.

The ball of blue flame floated slowly about a meter above the four people's heads. It moved quickly when they moved fast and slowly when they moved slow. The faint blue glow always enveloped them, never leaving their side.

For some reason, Chen Kai didn't feel afraid walking in the forest. Even though the surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, his soul seemed to be soothed and he felt very calm.

The four remained silent the whole way. When they reached the halfway point of the mountain, they noticed something lying among the tall grass in the nearby woods.

"What's that?" Chen Kai pointed to the huge shadow not far away, which seemed to have some mottled white spots.

Feixiao looked back and said, "It looks like a car! A car that was in an accident!"

“This hillside is called Broken Soul Slope. A lot of things have happened here, but we’re not afraid to walk here!” Shubai told them.

"Soul-Severing Slope?" Chen Kai suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, and terror followed.

Professor Wang, who was standing next to her, seemed to remember something and hurriedly asked Shubai, "Is there something special about this place? Why don't the drivers like to come here? And what's this place called, Soul-Severing Breaker?"

Shubai glanced back at Professor Wang, her eyes filled with a cold and sorrowful look. After a moment, she sighed and said, "That's right! We do have some opinions here!"

"What do you mean?" Feixiao asked curiously from the side.

Shubai looked around at the eerie woods and said to them, "Many people died here a long time ago. It wasn't called Guiye Village, but Guiye, meaning a wilderness full of ghosts!"

"What?" Chen Kai exclaimed, finding it hard to bear hearing such words in the eerie mountain forest at midnight.

"Why did so many people die?" Professor Wang always had the scholarly air of someone who wanted to get to the bottom of things.

“Perhaps it’s the battlefield!” Feixiao replied, her questioning gaze turning to Shubai.

Shubai nodded: "That's right, it's a battlefield. The souls of the war ghosts have been wandering here because it's surrounded by mountains and they can't find a way out!"

After saying that, he pointed to the village below: "Since ancient times, the emperor has been sending shrines and people who perform rituals to exorcise ghosts and monsters. Over time, a village was formed. It is said that this village was built according to the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and the people in this village are still following the ancient practices!"

"Was the exorcism successful?" Professor Wang asked Shubai.

"No!" Shubai shook her head with a wry smile: "It seems there are ghosts, but it doesn't work. Every time we dance that exorcism dance, there are deaths and injuries. However, someone used to cut off a ghost's horn and put it in a temple far away."

"Let's go! Looks like we have a lot of tasks ahead of us!" Fei Xiao smiled, as if these matters had piqued his interest.

"It's time to go, or it'll get even later!" Shubai said, pulling her clothes tighter, and then turned to lead the way.

As Chen Kai watched her and Fei Xiao's two figures, one in black and one in white, from behind, an uneasy feeling gradually arose in his heart. What kind of ghosts and monsters were lurking in this village that used to be called Guiye?

After walking for about another hour, we finally saw the gray-tiled houses below. It was already late at night, and all the sparse lights we had seen from the mountaintop had gone out.

"Shubai!" Chen Kai pulled his coat tighter around himself and asked her, "It's so late, can you find a place to stay?"

"Come to my house, it should be fine!" By this time, they had reached a wide road, indicating that this place was not completely isolated from the world.

"That's great, I'm so tired!" Chen Kai breathed a sigh of relief. Walking on this mountain path was much more tiring than walking on flat ground.

Just as they were about to enter the village, a very old voice suddenly rang out from some distance: "Those who manipulate will-o'-the-wisps will bring disaster!"

"Grandma, you can't say that!" Fei Xiao said, taking a few steps forward and beckoning the lamp above her head back. The flame danced in her palm, casting a bluish halo that made Fei Xiao's face look flawless, like a wax figure—black hair, white face, red lips, so unreal.

Across from her was an old woman dressed in gray, her body hunched over, her face covered in wrinkles, creating a stark contrast with the scarlet silk.

"Hehe!" she chuckled, revealing a dark, toothless mouth. "I hope you'll behave yourself and leave here as soon as possible!"

"I bring good news, we'll see!" Fei Xiao said, blowing out the flames dancing in her palm. They were now at the village entrance, a far cry from the eerie terror they had just experienced in the deep mountains.

"Mom! Why did you run out again!" A middle-aged man appeared out of nowhere, holding a flashlight. He pulled the old woman back, apologizing as he walked away, "I'm so sorry, she's getting old and a little confused!"

"What are you confused about? That's clearly a will-o'-the-wisp, an ominous sign, the ghost is about to appear again..." The old woman shouted as her son pulled her back, only her trembling voice echoing in the air.

Upon hearing this, Chen Kai involuntarily shivered and quickly turned to Shu Bai, saying, "Let's go quickly, I'm so cold!"

Shubai led them to a brick house, took out a key from her backpack, and opened the gate to the courtyard.

"This is my home!" she said, pushing open the door. The house had everything, but it smelled of dust.

"Is no one home?" Chen Kaiyuan had assumed that the house would be filled with a harmonious and joyful atmosphere.

Shubai smiled and said, "My parents have left and gone somewhere else, but my uncle is here, and so is my grandma. We should be able to see her tomorrow. It's too late tonight, let's go to sleep!"

After tidying up briefly, the group went to sleep.

Feixiao pinched her nose, seemingly very dissatisfied with the musty smell emanating from the quilt, and kept complaining.

"Feixiao, is there really a ghost here?" Chen Kai asked him suspiciously. There seemed to be many strange things here, but no ghosts or monsters had ever appeared.

"I don't know!" Fei Xiao was still shaking his blanket, as if trying to shake off all the dirt on it: "We'll have to see what kind of exorcism dance they're performing before we say anything!"

"Why?" Chen Kai was puzzled. Couldn't he sense it now? Every time Fei Xiao came, she could tell if there was anything strange or dirty.

“There’s no demonic aura at all!” Fei Xiao looked at him and said, “Here, there’s only evil energy and the aura of death. Human hearts are unpredictable, and these things will be present in any enclosed place, but there’s no demonic aura!”

"What does this have to do with people's hearts?" Chen Kai asked him.

“Sometimes, evil isn’t about the dead, it’s about the living. What comes out of the living can be more terrifying than what’s in the dead!” He waved his hand and said, “Oh, I’m not going to talk to you about that. I don’t know anything about it yet. Let’s talk about it tomorrow!”

Chen Kai could only hug his blanket, staring blankly at the ceiling, not knowing when he finally fell asleep. In his dream, a warrior in white armor and a mask was dancing or fighting, his long sword flashing like water, blood splattering everywhere, exuding a magnificent aura of death.

The next day, Chen Kai slept soundly until dawn. Outside, he heard the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking; it seemed he was truly in the countryside, a peaceful scene of crisscrossing paths and the sounds of chickens and dogs.

He stretched and realized that he seemed to be the only one in the room. Fei Xiao next to him must have gone to meddle in some other people's business. It seemed that even Professor Wang was nowhere to be seen.

"Chen Kai, you're up?" Professor Wang's voice came from afar in the courtyard.

He responded and quickly got dressed and went out. After the sun came out, the weather here wasn't very cold.

"Come with me quickly!" Professor Wang saw Chen Kai waving at him.

"What are we going to do?" Why is he so excited so early in the morning?

"Shubai has already found the people, and rehearsals should start soon!" Professor Wang said, rubbing his hands as he walked.

"Rehearsal? Rehearse what?" Chen Kai asked him, "Is it that Nalan dance for exorcising evil spirits?"

"Not bad!" The old man beamed. "It's that dance. They're casting now. Let's go take a look!"

After walking for a while, the two arrived at a large courtyard. The house had a red roof and blue walls, and there was a satellite dish in the courtyard, giving it a modern feel. There were more than a dozen people standing inside, watching something interesting.

"Chen Kai! Come here quickly!" Shu Bai waved to him from inside the house.

"Why are you so happy to see me today?" Chen Kai looked at her bright smile and suddenly a sense of foreboding rose in his heart.

"Come and see the armor you're going to wear!" Shubai said, carrying a blue breastplate as she walked towards him.

"What?" Chen Kai shouted, "Did I hear that right? Why would I wear this?"

The armor was covered in patina, like an unearthed artifact, with two particularly bright red patches, almost like the color of blood.

"No, I won't wear it!" Chen Kai felt a chill run down his spine just looking at what she was holding. Wearing it would be worse than death. "Besides, what would I do in this? Perform some kind of acrobatics?"

"I'll let you dance!" A cold, pretty voice came from inside the room. A moment later, a figure in white silk had already walked up to him, her peach blossom eyes full of amusement as she waited to see a good show.

"Dance? What kind of dance?" Chen Kai was speechless. He had only taken a nap, and now he was assigned such a difficult task. It was like a sudden change of worlds, and his good mood had vanished.

"Hehe!" Feixiao couldn't hold back her laughter any longer: "It's that Nalan Wu!"

"Why are you making me jump?" At this point, he didn't know how to describe his feelings; he wouldn't be surprised by anything they said now.

“Shubai is about to jump. There are six people needed in total, and we are only one short. Only you can do it!” Feixiao said, patting him on the shoulder, which meant that his task was arduous and far-reaching.

"And what about you!" Chen Kai pointed at Fei Xiao: "Your figure is made for dancing, why are you asking me to go?"