Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 61 Ghost Cave
The blindfolded ghost suddenly leaned forward, his voice low and urgent: "Manager Zhou, you are all-powerful. Go and tell my family to set up a memorial tablet for me. The incense must be burned continuously, the paper money must be burned every year, and the offerings must be passed down to my descendants. Otherwise, I will rot here completely, my soul will be unable to be reborn, and I will have no way to return."

Xu Yan's heart suddenly tightened.

Zhou Wenbin's subconscious roared:
"Shut up! You want to kill me?! In the Ghost Cave, you're not allowed to mention dreams or family! The souls here can neither roam the mortal world nor be reincarnated! Anyone who remembers themselves will be thrown directly into the River Styx!"

As soon as the word "Styx" was uttered, the blindfolded ghost's tentacles convulsed violently, as if he too was terrified by the taboo name, and his chest filled with wet and rapid gasps.

After a long while, it began to murmur softly, as if it were treating Xu Yan as its last salvation:

"...Go...Tell me a message...As long as the incense continues to burn, I won't fall into the River Styx...I can still survive..."

The voice gradually turned from pleading to a dry, hoarse roar: "Go quickly! 'He' is still very hungry..."

Its tentacles trembled as they pointed toward the depths of the warehouse.

"He... was already quite satisfied with the 'feast' during the Ghost Festival..."

Xu Yan looked in that direction.

All the pale white light threads drawn from the storage tanks converged into the center, where a huge vertical eye made of black metal and runes slowly opened.

The trajectory of these runes... is seven parts similar to the 'Spirit Binding Evil Seal' recorded on the tattered page of my master's ancient book, but it is even more malevolent...

Its pupils are a deep green, devouring energy, and painful human faces occasionally appear on the surface of the whites of its eyes before being swallowed up.

In that instant, Xu Yan's heart skipped a beat.

Deep within my chest, a low, rumbling sound seemed to echo, like waves in the deepest part of the water being drawn and rippled.

The sound didn't come from his ears, but from his blood and bones, causing his breathing to become erratic.

He instinctively clutched his chest, but his fingertips felt a familiar yet strange pulse, as if it resonated with that vertical eye, yet he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

In that instant, he even had an absurd thought: that eye wasn't just looking at him, but blinking through him.

Directly below the giant eye, inside a huge glass tank...

A figure dressed in a tattered red wedding gown was imprisoned.

Her veil had already fallen off, revealing half of her melted, half of her stunningly beautiful face, and countless severed arms writhing beneath her skirt like living snakes.

She was "looking" in Zhou Wenbin's direction, a "satisfied" and inhuman smile slowly spreading across her lips.

That smile sent a chill down Xu Yan's spine.

He controlled Zhou Wenbin's body, gave a vague response to the wedding dress ghost, and prepared to turn around and leave naturally to explore other places.

However, in the instant he turned around...

hum.

His heel unconsciously kicked an inconspicuous black metal nail half-embedded in the ground in the corner of the wall.

The talisman nail suddenly flashed with a dark red light.

hum...

A deep, resonant sound, as if coming from the depths of the earth, instantly filled the entire warehouse.

"...?!"

The blindfolded ghost on the pillar suddenly raised its head and "looked" in Xu Yan's direction, its muscles tensing instantly beneath the blindfold.

"Manager Zhou, this 'Forbidden Movement Talisman'! It can only be triggered by living beings from outside the area! You..."

“I just went through the Ghost Festival and have been working non-stop for days…” He immediately forced himself to calm down and pointed Zhou Wenbin’s body at the wedding dress ghost, “Hmph, this ‘bride’ is getting more and more picky.”

Xu Yan imitated Zhou Wenbin's tone, which might be nonchalant yet tinged with fear, and mumbled a complaint while casually pacing forward, as if surveying his "territory."

This explanation makes sense.

It's perfectly normal for Zhou Wenbin, as the "mediator" and "manager," to look around after returning.

The blindfolded ghost seemed unconvinced by Ye Weisheng's actions, only chuckling softly.

“Picky? The ‘bridge’ is almost open, and she’s starving… The ‘wandering spirits’ you attracted last time had too many impurities; they even made her eyes uncomfortable. Next time, we’ll have to find some ‘domesticated’ ones…”

"Domesticated?" Xu Yan's heart sank. What did that mean? Like his father, a "gold-grade" animal branded with such a mark?
He suppressed the turmoil and continued pacing calmly, his gaze sweeping over the blindfolded ghost.

He discovered that these ghosts were not aimless; their iron hooks were drawing and maintaining the complex and eerie runes on the ground to ensure the stability of energy transmission.

He walked up to a huge soul storage tank and looked closely at the dissolving faces inside.

Suddenly, the heart of the body he was controlling skipped a beat.

Zhou Wenbin's instincts reacted to a certain soul.

Xu Yan then looked in that direction.

Inside the storage tank, a nearly completely melted soul still retained a faint, familiar fluctuation...

That was... a rookie contractor he had once mentored who "accidentally" disappeared many years ago during a low-level mission!

Could it be the so-called "accident"...?

Xu Yan felt a chill rise up his spine.

The conspiracy at the center was far darker and more extensive than he had imagined.

They are not only extracting souls, but also systematically "breeding" and "harvesting" them!
He needs to see more.

He controlled his body and walked seemingly casually toward the control panel directly below the giant eye in the deeper part of the warehouse.

There were several technicians in white coats, but their faces were ashen and like corpses, operating flickering screens.

Instead of data scrolling across the screen, there were constantly wailing and distorted images of souls, with indicators such as energy purity, resentment concentration, and soul resilience labeled next to them, as if it were evaluating... ingredients.

"Manager Zhou, 'Number 7' is dissatisfied again." The technician didn't even look up, his voice dry. "The higher-ups are urging you to get 'Core Firewood' done as soon as possible."

As the technician spoke, he subconsciously glanced at an object protected by a glass cover in the center of the control panel.

Xu Yan's gaze followed.

Inside, lying quietly, was a dark gold compass with an antique design.

A compass just like Chen Zhiwei's!

In an instant, countless clues began to connect wildly in Xu Yan's mind!
Zhou Wenbin, the spirit medium! Master's compass! The "bridge" that requires the bloodline of a spirit medium to operate! High-quality "Xu" surname bloodline fuel! And this giant eye that uses souls as fuel!
The ultimate goal of the center, "crossing the bridge," requires a special medium, immense energy, and... a core offering!

Xu Yan's killing intent had never been so cold and clear.

But now is not the time to take action.

He is a lurking ghost, an eye hidden in the enemy's heart. He needs to take all of this out.

He waved his hand impatiently at the technician in Zhou Wenbin's tone: "Hurry up, hurry up! Damn it, are 'domesticated' so easy to catch? Alright, I know what I'm doing!"

After saying that, he turned around, pretending to be calm, and walked towards the exit.

With each step, he felt as if the giant eye and the "gaze" of the woman in the wedding dress were tangible, stuck to his back.

But he couldn't rush, he couldn't panic. He was Zhou Wenbin, and he was simply conducting a routine inspection.

As he stood in the rain, the iron gate slowly closed behind him.

Before he could even catch his breath, a sudden surge of heat coursed through his mind, like a hungry wolf that had caught the scent of blood, its icy nose pounding against the cage of his consciousness...

It was a strange sense of "restlessness" as Yuan felt a frantic desire to devour the vengeful spirits and blood sacrifice devices in the ghost cave.

He could even "hear" Yuan growling in his mind: "Let me in...I want them..."

He immediately suppressed the impulse, secretly alarmed:

If it were his original self here, Yuan would probably have been unable to resist swallowing all those monsters and ghosts long ago.

This thought made him realize:
Not only his enemies, but even the "Abyss" within himself is an uncontrollable and sinister force.

Rain pounded on his face, and he took a deep breath of the cold air.

Let's take a gamble and have the original owner come back tomorrow to see how things react.

(End of this chapter)