Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 4 Shadow Devouring (Third Update)

"Snapped!"

A very faint yet incredibly clear crisp sound emanated from the incense burner in the ancestral hall.

The three long incense sticks that were hanging down were all snapped in half.

The burning incense stick was struck into the cold ash with a soft "sizzle" and went out instantly, leaving only a wisp of twisted blue smoke that snaked into the air.

Almost simultaneously, a faint scraping sound came from the old elm filing cabinet in the corner of the photo studio's front hall, as if something inside was impatiently scratching at the wooden board with its fingernails.

The flame of the ever-burning lamp on the counter suddenly dipped downwards and then burst forth, the tip of the flame turning a strange, eerie green, stretching and twisting the shadows of the old photos on the wall, as if they had come to life.

The silence lasted only half a second.

"Clang!!!"

The filing cabinet suddenly shook violently.

The top drawer seemed to have been slammed open by an invisible hand, springing open more than half a foot, and an indescribable stench, a mixture of rotten paper and something rapidly decaying, suddenly gushed out.

“Ugh…” A burly man who was closest to the cabinet immediately started gagging.

Xu Yanhui's eyes were filled with fear as he shouted towards the ancestral hall, "Quick, light the incense! Otherwise, the thing will come out..."

Chen Zhiwei's face turned pale, and she was still holding three broken incense sticks in her hand.

The flames of the ever-burning lamp leaped wildly, stirring the light and shadow in the entire hall like a pot of boiling muddy water.

"This place...something's not right. Smash this broken cabinet!" The landlord's face was pale, but he forced a show of arrogance, trying to mask his fear with his roar as he ordered his men.

However, the two burly men he brought stood frozen in place, their pupils dilated, staring intently at their feet, their teeth chattering.

On the floor, the shadow belonging to the burly man seemed to have been splashed with thick ink, the color so deep it was terrifying.

Immediately afterwards, the dark patch "stood up," twisting and transforming into a pitch-black hand that suddenly gripped his ankle.

Within the swirling black mist, it seemed as if someone was whispering his name close to his ear.

The voice was extremely soft, as soft as an echo from the deepest part of his memory, yet it lingered again and again, sticky and persistent, as if trying to erase him from the world.

As the whispers drew closer, the landlord's shadow suddenly shrank, as if seized by an invisible hand, struggling and tearing at him.

"Damn! What is that?! Is it a projection?! Who the hell is playing tricks on us?!" another burly man shouted in panic, trying to cover up his fear with a roar, but his voice was trembling uncontrollably.

At the same time, the burly man's outline began to thin, and his screams became hollow and distant, as if he were being erased from this world little by little.

In the blink of an eye, the person seemed to have vanished from thin air, leaving only a trembling piece of clothing lying on the floor.

The landlord froze for half a second, then grabbed Xu Yan's sleeve frantically, shouting at the top of his lungs:

"Aren't you good at dealing with these ghostly things?"

Xu Yan stared at him coldly, but his eyes held an even deeper chill.

"You think you're rich? Where's your money? Can money save you?"

Before he could finish speaking, the old camera on the counter clicked and vibrated on its own. The strap dropped, the film reversed, and it flashed twice, but no photos were printed.

Xu Yan's heart sank, and he immediately opened a file folder labeled "Shadow-Bound Ghost - South City Demolition Site - 2015".

The shadow in that photo has disappeared.

It broke free from the cage of the photograph.

boom--

The entire filing cabinet suddenly sprang open, and pitch blackness rushed out, carrying a hunger that seemed to devour everything in its path.

"A ghost!" another burly man screamed, turning around to lunge towards the door.

But as soon as he took a step, he froze—his shadow was also nailed to the spot, as heavy as if it had sunk into asphalt.

The landlord's face drained of color, his gold-rimmed glasses slipped down to the tip of his nose, and he waved his hands in vain: "Fake! It's all... all a smokescreen! Smash that broken cabinet! I'll pay more! Double the price!" His voice was shrill and piercing, but it couldn't hide the deep-seated trembling in his bones.

Because of his shadow, he was nailed to the spot.

"Save...Xu Yan! Save us!" The landlord, who had been arrogant before, was now completely gone. His gold-rimmed glasses were askew, and tears streamed down his face as he desperately pleaded for help from Xu Yan. His body, however, was limp on the ground from extreme fear.

At that moment, the shadowy figure, as if it had a life of its own, slowly "stood up" and transformed into a humanoid silhouette without facial features, constantly writhing and deforming.

The next second, it pounced.

It didn't pounce on their bodies, but instead merged directly into the nailed shadows on the ground that belonged to them.

"Do not--!!!"

The burly man let out a heart-wrenching scream, as if he were being subjected to the extreme torture of being torn to pieces.

To everyone's horror, his shadow on the ground was being rapidly "devoured" and assimilated by the dark shadow-binding ghost.

His screams became hollow, his figure blurred, as if he were about to be completely erased from everyone's memory and sight in the next second.

This is the killing rule of the Shadowbound Demon.

Devouring shadows, erasing existence.

"Crack!"

At this critical moment, a blinding flash of light suddenly exploded.

It is Xu Yan.

He endured the scalding pain from the camera and the dizzying fragments of memories that flooded his mind as he used his abilities, and gritted his teeth to take the first photo.

The instant the shutter clicked, he felt a familiar sense of detachment, as if someone had casually torn a corner from the pages of his memory.

What did you eat last night? What color apron is the owner of that noodle shop I frequent wearing today?

These insignificant fragments of daily life vanish silently, leaving only a blank void.

The flash of light abruptly halted the Shadowbound Demon's movements, causing it to emit a silent shriek as the interrupted assimilation process twisted in pain.

"It's no use! Ordinary flashlights won't drive it away!" Chen Zhiwei's voice rang out urgently. She had rushed into the store at some point, her face pale and her forehead covered in sweat. She slammed a heavy metal sealed box onto the counter with a "thud".

"A shadow is a person's mark on the world! Without a shadow, there is no foundation for existence, and one will be completely forgotten!"

Without even glancing at the landlord and his companions sprawled on the ground, her gaze sharp as a knife, she instantly locked onto the twisted Shadowbound Ghost.

She quickly took a flashlight out of the box.

"Senior! Use continuous shooting! The frequency needs to be fast! Interrupt it!" Chen Zhiwei shouted sharply, while slapping a piece of black film that was flashing silver light onto his forehead. His hands moved quickly on the instrument inside the metal box, making rapid "beep beep" sounds, as if he was connecting the flash to the camera.

Xu Yan jerked his thumb across the mode dial, aimed the camera at the dark mass that was once again lunging at the burly man's shadow, and pressed the shutter button hard.

“Crack! Crack! Crack—!”

A rapid, heart-stopping flash of light, like an invisible whip, lashed wildly at the Shadowbound Demon.

The camera vibrated violently in Xu Yan's hand, becoming so hot that he could barely hold it. The lens automatically extended and retracted, emitting a low "hum," as if a bloodthirsty creature was greedily devouring something.

What appeared in the viewfinder was not reality, but a distorted, swirling vortex of energy composed of pure resentment and shadow.

Each flash of light carried a peculiar, asymmetrical frequency of fluctuation, precisely striking the energy core of the Shadowbound Ghost.

"hiss--!!!"

A piercing scream, inaudible to the human ear yet capable of tearing apart the soul, erupted from the direction of the Shadowbound Demon.

It twisted and contracted violently amidst continuous flashes of light, like a living creature thrown into boiling oil, its black "body" being torn apart and peeled off piece by piece by the intense light.

Finally, it let out an extremely unwilling and twisted wail, and was abruptly pulled out of the burly man's almost completely faded shadow by the last and most intense flash of light, and completely sucked into the bottomless darkness of the camera lens.

(End of this chapter)