Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 30 The Old Man in Black with Corpse Spots
Fourth Brother's lips trembled: "You, how did you know about the Soul-Suppressing Ritual? No, I absolutely cannot say... saying it means certain death!"

Jiang Jin pressed the gun to his forehead: "If you don't talk, you'll die right now. Oh, right, let me remind you again. I've already asked a villager about this, and he told me before he died. I'm here to check your statements. If what you say next differs from what he told me, I don't care who's lying, I'll just send you to the underworld."

Having worked as a police officer for so many years, Jiang Jin certainly possessed these basic criminal investigation and interrogation skills.

Fourth Brother collapsed to the ground, his voice hoarse: "You, you said the villager is Grandpa Huang? Who exactly are you? Brother, I, I'm just a gatekeeper, I'm just a nobody, why are you making things difficult for me? I, I'll give you money, I'll give you money..."

"I'll count to one, and if you don't give me the answer I want, I'll shoot. Ten...nine..."

In the end, Fourth Brother had no choice but to give in: "I'll talk, I'll talk! I'll talk! I'll talk!"

Then he began to explain: "The purpose of the soul-suppressing ritual is to suppress that... woman in blue who appeared during the night patrol performance. You should... have seen her too, right?"

Jiang Jin pressed on, "Then how do you plan to suppress them?"

“The bracelet she’s wearing is the key!” Fourth Brother’s eyes darted around, seemingly hoping someone would pass by. “To be honest, I don’t know where that woman came from. I only know that when she was alive, her name was ▇▇▇. All the old people in the village keep quiet about it. All I know is that since I was born, every household in the village has hung bronze mirrors and kept lanterns, all in an attempt to ward off her! These were all distributed by the ancestral hall, and I don’t know the principle behind their ability to exorcise evil spirits… I swear, I really don’t know! You should be able to tell from the tourist rules that if that woman is wearing blue, she will wear the bracelet, but if she is wearing red, she won’t!”

When the name ▇▇▇ was mentioned, Jiang Jin's ears were automatically blocked out, and the lips of the person in front of him were as if they had been pixelated, making it impossible to discern the pronunciation through lip reading.

"Stop wasting time with nonsense and get to the point! What I need to know is the Soul-Suppressing Ritual!"

"Yes, yes... I'll get to the point! Legend has it that as long as you can take off the bracelet when she's wearing blue, and then put it on the wrist of the woman in red inside the ancestral hall, she will be permanently suppressed and never appear before us again! The village will then be free from the curse! This is the so-called soul-suppressing ritual!"

Jiang Jin was shocked. So this... was the Soul Suppression Ritual?
But if the woman in blue and the woman in red are the same ghost, why does she need to wear red to be suppressed by the bracelet?
"Nonsense!" Jiang Jin retorted angrily, "What you said is completely different from what that villager said! I was willing to let you go, but you insisted on courting death!"

Jiang Jin had learned the criminal investigation techniques from his master, and it was perfect to use them at this time.

"No, no, I'm telling the truth!" Fourth Brother trembled with fear. "Grandpa Huang must be senile and have misremembered, right? I really didn't lie, I didn't lie! You, you can ask someone else!"

"Hmph, nothing you say matters. I've said it before, if your statements don't align, you'll die. You think wearing red and bracelets will suppress me? Changing to blue won't work? Do you really think I'm a child trying to fool you?"

Fourth Brother hurriedly said, "I don't know the principle behind it either! Anyway, it's a legend that has been passed down since the Republic of China era! For nearly a hundred years, the villagers have tried one after another to successfully complete the soul-suppressing ritual, but none of them have succeeded!"

"What's the deal with the night patrol performance?"

"This is the village chief's order. By performing night patrols and sacrificing some villagers, we can give this female ghost named ▇▇▇ an outlet for her resentment. I don't know why we have to do it through night patrols; all the rules were set by the village chief!"

The death knell suddenly raised its head, its ears perked up, and its empty eyes gazed into the depths of the alley.

Fourth Brother's face turned deathly pale instantly: "I...I heard the sound of opera! She...she's coming...I told her the secret...she's here to take my life...Please, let me go light the lanterns!"

"Death knell".

Before Fourth Brother could even comprehend the meaning of "death knell," the waiting hound pounced and bit his throat hard!

How could Jiang Jin possibly let him live?

In this dungeon world, Jiang Jin doesn't suffer from any of the "saintly syndrome" ailments.

Even if his body were discovered, people wouldn't suspect them because of the canine tooth marks on his throat.

Then, Jiang Jin quickly left without glancing at the corpse behind him again.

Perhaps because he didn't do it himself, Jiang Jin didn't feel any psychological burden about his first murder, nor did he have the absurd physiological reactions often seen in novels and movies. His senior colleagues at the police station had also told him that they had never seen traces of vomit at a murder scene; the idea that one would gag upon committing a first murder was purely the imagination of TV drama writers.

Jiang Jin walked quickly along the bluestone path, with Deathstroke following behind, his empty eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

Almost all the lights in the village were turned off, with only a few houses still lit by faint candlelight, flickering like will-o'-the-wisps in the night.

Now he needs to find a place to spend the night.

The previous guesthouse was no longer safe, so he had to find a new place to stay.

Turning into a narrow alley, Jiang Jin saw a low, old house with a faded wooden sign hanging at the door that read "Night Returner Inn" in crooked handwriting.

A dim light shone through the window, suggesting the business was still open.

Jiang Jin pushed open the door and entered, the copper bell jingling.

The room was filled with the stale scent of sandalwood, and the wooden floorboards creaked softly underfoot. Behind the counter sat a woman who looked to be about fifty years old, her hair neatly styled, her face heavily made up, and a stiff smile playing on her lips.

"Hotel room? Eighty a night. No deposit required."

Jiang Jin nodded and handed over his ID card: "One night. Preferably on the first floor."

The landlady registered him, took out a brass key from the drawer, and pushed it in front of him: "It's the last room in the corridor on the first floor. You can heat the water yourself."

Her nails were trimmed very short, but the color of her nail beds was normal.

Jiang Jin took the key and walked to the end of the first-floor corridor.

After unlocking the door with his key, Jiang Jin quickly closed it and habitually took out a rusty animal trap from his watch and placed it by the door. The room was small, containing only a wooden bed, a table, and a chair.
A bronze mirror hangs on the wall, and below it are red cloth, red lanterns, and matches.

"Let's just make do here for the night."

Then, Jiang Jin sat on the bed and began to think.

"What he said must be true... If that's the case, how can I complete the soul-suppressing ritual?"

Putting everything else aside, the presence of so many armed villagers inside the ancestral hall is a real headache.

"To complete this soul-suppressing ritual, we need to make a plan. First, we need to cut some more premium char siu pork... If all else fails, we can sell the resentment crystals for SAN points."

Just then, the death knell beside them suddenly tolled, clearly still thinking about the crystallized resentment.

"How can you be so greedy... huh?"

Jiang Jin suddenly looked at Deathstroke and said, "You...swallowed that paper bag?"

Although Jiang Jin and Deathstroke are connected by mind, Jiang Jin doesn't usually communicate with Deathstroke's consciousness to see what he's thinking. And when they are communicating, if Deathstroke isn't thinking about something, Jiang Jin won't know.

But now that Deathstroke was in a hurry to ask Jiang Jin not to sell the Resentment Crystal and to keep it as his own reserve food, he naturally thought of the paper bag he had eaten at the Huang family's old house, and Jiang Jin immediately found out.

"Spit it out! Why did you eat that paper bag?"

Jiang Jin wondered if there were any hidden items inside, similar to the village rules.

Deathstroke could only helplessly spit out a small paper bag.

The paper bag was covered with dark red, blood-like stains. The opening was self-contained and closed naturally without a drawstring. Some strange words were faintly visible on the outside of the bag. It was about the same size as the paper bags used to hold coffee cups in coffee shops.

Moreover, it was completely free of any dirt, as clean as if it were brand new.

Jiang Jin picked up the paper bag. It felt cold to the touch, yet it was also resilient, like the skin of some kind of creature.

A notification came from my left eye:

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have obtained a special item that needs to be appraised."

"Is the appraisal fee 8% of SAN value or one Resentment Crystal payable? Yes/No"

Before Jiang Jin could even consider whether it was worth it, a notification appeared in his right eye:
"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have obtained the unique storage item 'Curse-Hidden Paper Bag' from the Reincarnation System."

Because of your "deceptive lawyer" identity, you can view its features for free without system verification. View? Yes/No

Because of your identity as a cunning lawyer, you can directly crack the blood pact link of the 'Cursed Paper Bag'. Do you wish to attempt to crack it (no SAN deduction will be made if the cracking fails)? Yes/No

Jiang Jin chose "Yes".

"Attempting to break the blood pact link ability granted to the 'Cursed Paper Bag' by the Reincarnation System..."

Cracking in progress...

Successfully cracked.

The blood pact link owner of the 'Cursed Paper Bag' has been changed to you.

You can now open the 'Cursed Paper Bag'.

Then, Jiang Jin reached into the paper bag and took out...

one……

"what?"

A gleaming gold suitcase the size of a regular suitcase!
"This...this could be...gold?"

Jiang Jin was stunned. He didn't know how he had taken such a big box out of such a small paper bag, and the bag was completely intact.

The box is locked and cannot be opened.

So, Jiang Jin stared at the box in front of him... activated Hunter's Vision, and began to see through things!

Then, what gradually appeared before his eyes was...

"What???"

Inside the box was an old man curled up... wearing a black robe, his face covered in lividity!

(End of this chapter)