Meng Yan's Transformation

The night was thick and dark, casting a deep shadow over the road where Zhan Mengyan was cycling. The surrounding silence was broken into fragments by the sound of Zhan Mengyan's wheels.

The sound of bicycle wheels crunching over gravel was particularly clear in the still of the night.

Zhan Mengyan sang loudly all the way to bolster her courage. As she rode, her voice grew slower and weaker, for she had entered a terrifying area—the graves on both sides of the road lay like sleeping giants in the withered grass.

Zhan Mengyan silently prayed, "Sleep, sleep, please don't wake up..." She looked up and saw the blue stone tombstone gleaming coldly in the pale moonlight, which made her shiver involuntarily.

"Please forgive me if I disturb you! I'm just passing by..."

Zhan Mengyan murmured to herself, her eyes unconsciously glancing back and forth across the cemetery.

The wind rustled the white banners on the grave, whispering, "Go quickly! Go quickly!..." It sounded like countless souls sighing in the dark night, or like someone weeping softly...

Zhan Mengyan mustered her courage, turned on her precious flashlight, and placed it on the handlebars, hoping to use the light to drive away her fear.

The beam of the flashlight swayed erratically from the vibrations of the handlebars, casting long, distorted shadows of the weeds. The faded inscriptions on the tombstones appeared and disappeared, the surnames blurred by the weeds and moss, and a few scattered new graves held withered bouquets, proof that someone remembered them. But those bouquets bloomed with an eerie hue in the night, like the spider lilies blooming on the road to the underworld and along the River of Oblivion, stained with the blood spilled during the ferrying of souls, a testament to endless longing.

Zhan Mengyan unconsciously increased her cycling speed, but her collar was soaked with cold sweat.

Moonlight occasionally peeks through the clouds, illuminating the phosphorescent lights flickering among the graves. Those eerie blue specks of light, sometimes bright and sometimes dim, are like the sleepless eyes of the deceased, or like indistinct figures wandering among the graves, searching for their way home.

At this moment, even the slightest sound is terrifying—a hoot from an owl, a cry from a night owl, can snap dry branches.

In her illusion, Zhan Mengyan felt faint footsteps following her closely.

The bicycle chain made a strained grinding sound. On this land shrouded in death, every inch of Zhan Mengyan's progress seemed to be a struggle against an invisible force.

As the last grave mound disappeared behind Zhan Mengyan and vanished from her sight, scattered lights appeared ahead.

At this moment, the beam of Zhan Mengyan's flashlight trembled in the darkness. The once bright white light had long since faded; it was out of power, leaving only a tiny, dim yellow spot of light, flickering weakly on the handlebars. The edges of the spot were blurry, as if it could be swallowed by the darkness at any moment. It barely illuminated the small patch of land in front of the vehicle. The dying battery hissed and whimpered, and the beam of light flickered, like the last breath of a dying person. With each flicker, the darkness drew closer, and the smell of earth mixed with the metallic scent of rust spread from the corner where the light had faded. The spot of light suddenly shrank to the size of a pinhead, then struggled to expand slightly before finally going out completely after a very soft hum.

Darkness surged in like a tide, instantly crushing the remaining light and shadow on Zhan Mengyan's retina. The hooting of an owl in the distance pierced the silence, and the rustling of the wind through the roadside branches suddenly became clear. The fear that had just been soothed by the light was now slowly creeping back into her heart along her fingertips.

Zhan Mengyan looked up into the distance, and the brilliant lights gave her strength again.

Zhan Mengyan's tense back relaxed slightly, but she could still feel the chill emanating from the cemetery behind her, following her like a shadow.