The King of Curses

Chapter 52 Ghost covering eyes

The dormitory in front of me was about a dozen square meters in size. The windows were sealed and covered with old newspapers, not letting in any light.

The walls show signs of weathering and peeling, the cement floor is uneven, and there are four green camp beds stacked up on top of each other. There is no air conditioning, only electric fans.

Judging from the cosmetics and small items placed on the table and in front of the window, it seems to be a girls' dormitory.

The room was dirty and had been eroded by years of wind and rain, as if it had gone back to ten years ago.

"Why would we..." He felt the force on his arm tighten, and the girl's voice trembled slightly, "I don't know this place."

"Don't be surprised." Cen Dongsheng said, "In a haunted house, anything is possible."

"Eh?"

"The phenomenon of spatial disorder and the passage of time in the outside world... can all be replicated in a haunted house."

Having said that, Cen Dongsheng's eyes were filled with a hint of heaviness.

Space operations?

No, it is not certain at this time.

It is possible that the core ghost used Yin Qi to transform the environment.

But if it is a space operation, the cause of the current scene is very simple and crude: the owner directly pieced together and riveted the space of the dormitory and the space of the teaching building, as easy as building blocks.

This also means that the final opponent he will face is a Class A ghost.

Not good news.

If it was true, then the speedrunning haunted house he envisioned would no longer be possible. Cen Dongsheng felt that he might not be able to win, and he would have to rely on the "Immortal Bone" at the critical moment.

Of course, Yi Qingyan is by his side now; but precisely because of this, it would be very difficult to protect her from getting hurt... and from being stimulated.

"Are there no ghosts here?"

"No."

Cen Dongsheng answered.

"The core ghost wants me to go through four rooms, there must be a reason. I will look for clues while I am here."

As he spoke, he walked deeper and began to check the dormitory.

"I'm here to help."

Yi Qingyan hurriedly followed.

At this moment, along with the actions of the two people, the surrounding environment began to change subtly, as if they were in a projector and the play button had just been pressed.

The scenes switch, and the yellowed film unfolds bit by bit in front of people, accompanied by shot editing that seems to symbolize the passage of time in a movie.

As the years passed day by day, the details of the dormitory changed, and the lime on the walls turned gray and cracked at a speed visible to the naked eye.

More than one illusory figure appeared, and they looked to be students from Caixin Middle School who had lived in this dormitory over the years. They wandered back and forth beside the two of them, entering and exiting the room. Their movements were as fast-forwarded as if the button had been pressed, speeding up dozens or hundreds of times, making it difficult for them to keep up.

Yi Qingyan widened her eyes and looked at the scene in surprise.

She stretched out her hand carefully, and the phantom outline flowed from her fingertips like water.

"The school uniforms people wear here... should be the old uniforms of Caixin Middle School. They are different from the ones we wear now."

Cen Dongsheng folded his arms and remained silent.

Now that he didn't have to fight in this room, he was relieved.

It can be seen that the haunted house is re-enacting scenes that happened in the dormitory in the past. It can be regarded as a kind of "illusion", but it is harmless to people.

After a while, the speed of the scene changes gradually slowed down. Among the crowds of people coming and going, the outline of one of the phantoms became more solid, but the facial features and expressions were still unclear.

It feels like the “heroine” has finally appeared.

Cen Dongsheng and Yi Qingyan looked at this man silently. He lived the same life every day, leaving the dormitory to go to class, coming back to study at the desk, washing up and going to bed, and leaving the dormitory the next day... It was like a time loop.

But every high school student goes through life like this, it's nothing special.

But it is obvious that this ordinary daily life will not last forever. What the ghost wants them to see cannot be just this. Some changes are quietly growing in the dark -

"Hey, what is this?"

Yi Qingyan looked around and found that the originally gray environment suddenly became brighter. There was a faint soft light in the air, and no one knew where it came from.

"I think it means that the 'protagonist''s' mood has changed a little bit."

Cen Dongsheng said.

The soft light in the environment became brighter and brighter, and the girl's footsteps became lighter and lighter. It was obvious that good things had happened to her.

Until one day, the girl did not return to the dormitory as before, as if something unusual had happened, and the cycle of day after day was interrupted.

There was a "click" sound from the direction of the door.

The two of them looked at the wooden door at the same time. It slowly opened to the outside, leaving a shallow gap leading to the darkness.

"Let's follow."

Cen Dongsheng pushed the door open smoothly without any obstacles.

The darkness in front of them was dispelled by the lights above their heads that were lit one by one, and elliptical halos extended from under their feet to the distance.

This is a wooden corridor with the night diffused on both sides and a warm light at the end.

"Do you recognize where this is?"

"It seems to be... the road from the girls' dormitory to the teachers' dormitory."

"… Let's continue."

Cen Dongsheng took a few steps forward, and the corridor under his feet suddenly shortened, like a springing snake. Yi Qingyan, who was following behind him, let out a small cry of surprise.

They suddenly reached the end of the corridor.

The door at the end also opened automatically.

In the depths of the room, there were two figures standing, one was the girl from the dormitory just now, and the other was slightly taller and seemed to be an adult male.

At first, one person was sitting at the desk and the other was standing and asking questions; after a while, the girl was sitting and the man was guiding her studies.

But as time goes by, the distance between the two people becomes closer and closer.

"..."

Cen Dongsheng watched expressionlessly as the man and the girl's faces approached a dangerous distance.

at this time.

"boom!"

The light bulb behind me shattered, and the surroundings suddenly fell into pitch darkness.

Just like when a play is halfway through, the actors leave the stage to prepare. After the curtain is drawn, the people in the audience remain silent, quietly waiting for the next scene to come.

Because of nervousness or fear, Yi Qingyan's breathing became rapid.

"Don't be afraid."

Cen Dongsheng said softly.

He grabbed the girl's hand to comfort her.

The hand trembled slightly, and then took the initiative to hold it.

……

A candlelight appeared in the darkness.

Despite being the only light, that light did not bring any sense of security. Instead, it was red like human blood and exuded an indescribable weirdness.

"I'm sorry I can't be with you anymore."

"Why? Why? Don't abandon me..."

"I'm getting married."

His and her voices rang out from behind the curtain, sometimes high, sometimes low, sentence after sentence, constantly intertwining with each other.

Teacher, if I tell anyone about this…"

"I won't let you do that!"

The words came and went more and more rapidly and violently, like the beat of a drum.

The disturbing red color was spreading, like splashes of blood, being splashed on the pitch-black curtain that served as the background.

"what--"

Then there was a terrible howl.

“Help—don’t…!”

Behind the curtain, the girl cried miserably, accompanied by the man's gasps.

In the darkness, nothing else could be seen, but only that sound could be heard, like impurities floating to the surface of a boiling pot, chaotic and noisy, getting louder and louder, more and more urgent, and finally -

"Boom!"

First there was a blazing white light, piercing the endless darkness. Then there was the astonishing thunder, rolling through the clouds, drowning out all other noises. All the background sounds became nothingness, leaving only the natural sounds of thunder, wind and rain.

The huge screen slowly opened again.

Cen Dongsheng narrowed his eyes subconsciously.

What came towards him was dripping water vapor, which hit his face like a wave.

He wiped his face, and felt the clear and real feedback of rain from his fingertips. The wet and cold air flowed through his clothes and penetrated into his bones.

This is a haunted house…anything can happen.

They came from the closed school dormitory into a stormy night.

The surrounding environment appeared to be a small forest, with dense bushes and vines, which were dimly visible in the hazy rain.

A man can be seen in the distance. He is wearing a black raincoat and holding a shovel, shoveling the soil again and again.

At his feet was a large flashlight, which was not turned off.

The snow-white beam of light illuminated the dark dirt ground and the naked body of a young woman lying in a shallow pit. Her head was deeply sunken and there were huge wounds on her face, but one could still see the pain of death.

Another flash of lightning flashed, illuminating the man's face. His expression kept changing between fear, tension and hideousness.

……

Cen Dongsheng was a qualified audience, so he just watched.

However, he soon noticed the girl next to him. She was lowering her head, one hand tightly grasping the other arm, not saying a word, but her slender body was trembling slightly.

I don’t know if it was because of the sudden night rain or because I witnessed but was unable to do anything about the tragedy that happened in the distant past.

The overwhelming torrential rain wet her long hair, making her already messy hair look even more like seaweed.

For some reason, this scene reminded Cen Dongsheng of a stray dog ​​abandoned in a cardboard box... The child looked so pitiful.

He sighed, took off his somewhat tattered coat, and covered Yi Qingyan's head with it.

Whether it is the sudden changes in the environment in the haunted house or the various tragedies that lead to the birth of ghosts, he has long been accustomed to it after watching it for a long time.

But for Yi Qingyan, who is still an ordinary high school girl, the answer is obviously not the case.

"Thank you, thank you brother..."

She clutched her clothes tightly and whispered.

"You're welcome."

—but sooner or later she will.

Not only will she get used to tragedy, she will also use her own way to carry out her beliefs, to change it herself, to reverse it herself, and...

Make it yourself.

But at least at this moment, he felt that there was no need to be too harsh.

"It's about to end."

Cen Dongsheng said.

"Eh?"

Before he finished speaking, the scene around him changed drastically again.

Yi Qingyan used her fingers to push away the hair that was blocking her view, and then was surprised to find that the bean-sized raindrops that had just been falling on her body had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

The howling sounds of wind and rain suddenly disappeared, and they were back in the dim and warm corridor illuminated by the dim light.

The stormy night just now seemed like an illusion...

"We're back?"

"No, it's not over yet."

Cen Dongsheng looked at the end of the corridor and found that there was an extra door at some point.

"There's no ghost in the first room. What about the second one?"

He motioned for the girl behind him to follow.

……

Behind the door is an office.

It was late at night, and the man and the woman were talking inside. Then, they left side by side, looking very close.

Whenever I meet students and teachers on the road, I will take the initiative to greet them.

Compared to the teacher-student pair who had been together in private, the relationship between these two was obviously more open and aboveboard. In other words, they were a couple recognized by everyone. Or husband and wife.

The scenes kept changing, including one where men and women walked out of the classroom, each holding a lesson plan. They all seemed to be teachers in this school.

"Is it... the same person?"

"Ah."

Cen Dongsheng answered while staring at the man's blurry face in the picture.

He always felt that the face looked familiar, as if he had just seen it recently...

The second room shows scenes no longer limited to the school, but also street corners, city buildings, and rooms in apartment buildings.

The home that appears most frequently is the couple's home.

Sometimes the man is at home, sometimes the woman is at home, and occasionally when both of them are at home, they keep a certain distance from each other, rarely communicate, and seem a little cold.

Unlike at school, it seemed that the couple's relationship was not as close as they appeared in public.

Then, the scene slowed down as time passed.

Based on their previous experience, both of them understood that this was a sign that something bad was about to happen.

They saw the woman open the door and put on slippers, and were suddenly stunned.

There was no light on in the living room, so the light was dim, but there was a faint candlelight coming from the kitchen.

The woman raised her head, and following her line of sight, Cen Dongsheng saw a small red couplet.

"Happy 35th birthday to my dearest wife Wang xx!"

With a "bang", colorful strips fell from the sky and from the direction of the kitchen came the pleasant sound of a music box singing "Happy birthday to you~Happy birthday to you~"

The woman covered her mouth and the bag slowly slipped from her hands.

She was touched.

Although the relationship between the couple had reached a freezing point due to various things that had happened, at this moment, love seemed to have rekindled in her heart.

The woman took a step forward and walked towards the kitchen impatiently.

Although the man did not show up, she certainly knew where he would give her a surprise.

……

The kitchen door was opened.

There were no lights on and no one was inside.

There was only a cake on the table with candles lit on it.

The candlelight was dim, and for some reason, most of the cake had collapsed, and there were shadows inside, as if there was something hidden.

The woman stood there for a while, then seemed to realize something and slowly, slowly walked towards the cake on the table.

Then, when she saw the scene on the table clearly, she screamed, took two steps back, fell to the ground, and her body shook uncontrollably.

"Ah... ah ah..."

——Hidden in the birthday cake was her husband’s head.

The pair of eyes stained with white cream and yellow cake base were staring at her blankly and empty.

From great joy to great sorrow, and then to incomparable fear, this shocking and thrilling scene before her completely broke down the woman's psychological bottom line.

She covered her mouth and tears kept flowing.

She also heard the sound of wind and rain, and smelled the scent of rain and soil...

A sinister and resentful voice sounded from behind the woman.

"Teacher Wang, you obviously know this, right? You and he have been engaged for a long time..."

"Why don't you help?"

"Why are you still with this man?"

"Tell me, why? Or..."

A pair of bluish-white hands covered with wet soil stretched out from behind the woman's head and suddenly covered her eyes.

"——You don't need these eyes anymore?"

(End of this chapter)