Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 47 Overlapping Worlds

He bent down and carefully carried Chen Zhiwei on his back. As he tightened the straps, his voice trembled violently, carrying a roar that seemed about to tear his throat apart:

"Zhiwei, if you dare to die, I'll strangle you! Do you hear me?! If you dare to abandon us, I'll drag you back from the gates of hell!"

After saying that, he wiped his face hard, suppressing the dampness and trembling. His movements were rough yet extremely careful as he adjusted his posture, as if he were carrying not a person, but his hope.

Xu Yan also forced herself to stand up.

The two fell silent, supporting each other and carrying each other on their backs, their steps faltering yet resolute as they walked toward the all-consuming darkness.

At this moment, the blood moon was completely obscured by dark clouds, the streets fell into deathly silence, and only the faint, dying light remained in A Zhe's arms.

The sound of footsteps echoed hollowly in the silence, like a death knell tolling for their journey.

Ahead, the roar of the Styx River gradually amplified, each step seeming to awaken some slumbering behemoth.

The air grew colder and colder, as if the whole world was holding its breath in the dark, waiting for them to fall into that abyss of no return.

Just then, a taxi with its "For hire" light on silently glided up to us.

A Zhe, carrying Chen Zhiwei on his back, subconsciously raised his hand.

There was no collision, no sound.

The car, along with the driver inside who had an empty gaze and seemed to be programmed, passed through Ah Zhe's raised arm without any hindrance, as if passing through a cloud of fog, and continued on its way.

A Zhe abruptly withdrew his hand; a bone-chilling coldness did not linger on his skin, but penetrated directly into his marrow.

His face was deathly pale, and he frantically rubbed his arms, but his skin was incredibly dry.

"It...it went through!"

A fear of "absolute nothingness" seized him.

The driver was completely unaware, as the intermittent radio broadcast drifted in from inside the car:
"...Total lunar eclipse...Rare celestial phenomenon...Citizens, please...be careful..."

The sound seemed to be disturbed by something, mixed with harsh noise.

A Zhe stood frozen in place, his back soaked with cold sweat, but he subconsciously lifted the unconscious Chen Zhiwei on his back a little higher, so that she could lean more securely against his shoulder.

This subtle movement became almost his only anchor at that moment.

"Hallucination?" he murmured, his voice trembling. "But how could the broadcast be... No, something's not right!"

He shook his head violently, as if trying to shake off the absurd idea.

"Damn it, electromagnetic signals can't lie, unless..."

A more terrifying thought exploded within him, causing his voice to suddenly rise: "This is not an illusion! It's spatial folding! We've entered another 'layer'!"

His reasoning process was stumbling and rushed, filled with self-doubt and a torn feeling of forced composure, before finally grasping at that cold conclusion in near despair.

Xu Yan's heart clenched suddenly. The emptiness that pierced through the vehicle, along with the broken broadcast from the radio, felt like an ice spike piercing his nerves, almost making him blurt out a name that was suppressed deep in his heart.

But his Adam's apple bobbed violently, forcefully suppressing all his surging emotions beneath a cold exterior, leaving only his eyes scanning his surroundings with increasingly sharp gaze.

The living and the dead walk side by side on the same streets, yet they do not interfere with each other.

Two drunken young men laughed and joked as they passed the spirit of an old woman who was squatting by the roadside, hugging her knees and crying silently, without any reaction.

They can see two worlds! And the living... can't even perceive their existence!

“We…” A-Zhe’s voice trembled uncontrollably. He turned his head, his cheek unconsciously brushing against Chen Zhiwei’s loose hair. “Are we… already dead?”

Xu Yan did not answer immediately. His gaze passed over A Zhe and fell forward.

The skyscrapers stood coldly in the crimson glow, while between the buildings, a dark "river" formed by countless fragmented sounds, images, and words flowed silently.

That was not the River Styx, but a tangible manifestation of the River of Oblivion. Floating and shimmering in the water were the lingering echoes of memories being erased, like a world silently collapsing.

Ah Zhe saw it too, his voice dry: "That river...it doesn't flow with water..."

“It’s a name.” Xu Yan’s voice was low and deep, like a sigh. “All names that will eventually be forgotten.”

He saw ghostly figures lingering by the riverbank, some bending down to drink the lingering echoes, others standing blankly, their forms gradually fading, about to merge into the torrent of information and completely dissipate.

This scene made him clench the "key" in his pocket so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

The silence created a tremendous sense of oppression.

“It’s not that they can’t see us,” Xu Yan finally spoke, suppressing all the turmoil, “it’s that we’ve fallen into the ‘bottom.’ We’ve become non-existent bystanders.”

His gaze swept over A Zhe's arm, which was tightly protecting Chen Zhiwei, and his tone was resolute: "Go!" His voice was hoarse, but it carried an undeniable determination, "We can't delay any longer."

A Zhe suddenly jolted awake, as if jolted from a despairing delusion, nodding frantically, all his attention once again focused on the weight on his back:
"Yes! The photo studio! Zhiwei has been saved!"

He mustered almost all his strength to take a step forward and run into the deeper darkness.

Finally, they saw it amidst a distorted, ghostly streetscape that resembled a poorly identifiable signal.

"Forgotten Photo Studio".

It has the exact same outline as a real photo studio, even down to the cracks on the lintel and the size of the shop window.

But what appears before us now is a completely different scene: the lintel is crooked and the shop window is gloomy.

It's like a "shadow copy" of reality, both familiar and strange, as if it has been forgotten by the world and has even begun to forget itself.

Xu Yan paused slightly. It was a place he knew well.

In the real-life photo studio, he and Chen Zhiwei had just renovated it. Every beam, every photo frame, and every nail was arranged by his own hands.

Even the talismans and protective charms embedded in the corners of the walls were carefully rearranged by him according to the old rules left by his master.

Now, they all appeared before my eyes, but their appearance was distorted by darkness and decay.

What's even more chilling is that the aura emanating from those talismans and protective objects has overlapped with the laws of the ghost realm, turning into layers of cold, stern barriers that firmly seal off the entire photo studio.

Xu Yan stretched out his hand, his fingertips stopping an inch away from the barrier.

That power was cold and resolute, and he was all too familiar with it.

—This is a "spirit-repelling array" that I set up myself.

Originally intended to protect the archives and keep out evil spirits, it has now become a cage preventing them from entering.

“I can’t get in…” A Zhe’s voice was hoarse with despair as he tried to take another step closer.

The barrier immediately rippled, and a repulsive force suddenly bounced him back a few steps.

Chen Zhiwei, held in his arms, frowned in pain; that momentary tremor pierced their hearts like needles.

Xu Yan's eyes were somber.

The familiar feeling intertwined with the cold reality, giving rise to an absurd illusion in his heart:

He stood in front of his photography studio, but was blocked outside by the restrictions he himself had set up.

Just as despair began to spread, Ah Zhe suddenly took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind.

He lifted Chen Zhiwei up a little to make sure she was stable, then turned to Xu Yan, trying to force an expression that was somewhere between confidence and nervousness.

(End of this chapter)