Chapter 106: Ghost Village
Chu Feng hailed a taxi and headed straight for Ghost Village. The place had quite a reputation, and the driver seemed reluctant. Only after Chu Feng offered to double the fare did the driver reluctantly agree.
The driver stopped at the outskirts of the village.
“This place is seriously spooky. A few days ago, some college students went in and ended up hospitalized. If you insist on going, be extra careful,” the driver warned.
Chu Feng smiled. “Got it.”
“You’re the ones who insisted. If something happens, don’t come blaming me.”
Chu Feng chuckled. “Of course, of course. It has nothing to do with you.”
The driver looked at the two of them, sighed, and drove off.
Chu Feng exhaled. That driver probably thinks we’re just reckless thrill-seekers.
Illya watched the taxi leave, then eagerly said, “Let’s go!”
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright.”
They walked into the village, one after the other. Illya purposefully stepped in front of Chu Feng to shield him. His eyes sparkled, and there was a hint of fanaticism on his face.
Chu Feng gave him a questioning look.
“You really like Witch Stones that much?”
“There might be Witch Stones here!” Illya said excitedly. “I heard about them when I was a kid, but I’ve never seen one before. I didn’t think we’d possibly find them here—especially since we don’t have anything like that back home.”
Chu Feng pulled up a few photos. Apparently, when Chu Anzhi and his group first entered the village, nothing dangerous happened, and they had taken a lot of pictures.
He selected a few and transferred them to his own phone.
“It should be in that direction,” Illya said, pointing east. “I think I can sense the Witch Stone’s energy. Can you feel it?”
Chu Feng blinked and thought to himself: Nope.
“Then let’s go that way,” Illya said.
Chu Feng nodded. “Alright.”
After walking east for a while, Chu Feng finally sensed something different.
“I think I feel it too.”
Chu Feng vaguely felt that something in the east was pulling at him.
“A very enticing presence, right?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Yes.”
Illya curled her lips slightly. “I’ve heard that Witch Stones have no effect on ordinary people and don’t attract them. But for ability users, they’re incredibly tempting—like instant noodles.”
Chu Feng: “…”
Illya’s comparison really cheapened the mystique of the Witch Stones.
Chu Feng and Illya wandered around the ghost village. Meanwhile, Chu Anzhi was waiting for Chu Feng to handle his hospital discharge, but after waiting for a long time with no news, he finally called. Chu Feng told him that he had forgotten about the discharge completely. Since he and Illya were rarely in the capital, he wanted to spend time sightseeing with his boyfriend. As for the discharge, Chu Anzhi would have to figure that out himself.
After being ditched and force-fed a mouthful of “dog food” (PDA), Chu Anzhi felt a pang of jealousy.
“Dad, can you help me with the discharge paperwork?”
Chu Linsheng looked troubled. “The doctors said it’s best for you to stay a bit longer for observation. What if your condition suddenly worsens?”
Chu Anzhi frowned. “That won’t be necessary, right?”
He rolled his eyes inwardly. The way the hospital doctors looked at him didn’t feel like they were treating a patient—it was like they were examining a lab rat. When he first woke up, they had already drawn two vials of blood for testing, and then just now, they came to draw two more.
Chu Linsheng frowned, clearly unsure. Even though the doctors had been a bit cold earlier, he still trusted them somewhat.
“Xiao Feng’s not around, and his phone won’t connect.”
Chu Anzhi calmly replied, “If his phone doesn’t work, just send him a text.”
It wasn’t the first or second time Chu Feng’s phone couldn’t be reached. Chu Anzhi was already used to it.
Chu Linsheng nodded. “I guess that’s all we can do.”
*
Illya and Chu Feng continued walking east until they found a cave.
Chu Feng felt like the cave was a pitch-black hole, giving off an eerie chill.
He checked his notes. “This should be it. According to the records, this place used to be a mass grave. When villagers in the ghost village died, outsiders feared an epidemic and threw all the bodies into this cave.”
The notes also said the cave was strange—bodies thrown in would soon vanish.
During a past invasion in China’s history, massacres like this happened often. The ghost village once had many residents, but they were all slaughtered and thrown into the cave—and then disappeared. Curious about this phenomenon, the invading army once dumped a huge number of corpses into the cave. Strangely, though the cave was filled one day, it would be empty the next.
This strange occurrence piqued the invaders’ curiosity. They organized a team to explore it—but it’s said that no one who went in came out alive. Eventually, even they gave up.
After the founding of the new nation, some people returned and tried to live here again. But the mortality rate was high, and the village’s ghostly reputation only spread further. Fewer and fewer people chose to stay.
Illya frowned. “Whatever we’re looking for seems to be below—probably 50 or 60 meters underground.”
Chu Feng furrowed his brows, wondering if there might be an ancient tomb beneath the layers of bones.
A rustling sound broke the silence. Chu Feng saw a swarm of black scorpion-like creatures crawling out.
Just as he was about to teleport them both away, a thick gray mist spread around Illya.
Illya grabbed Chu Feng’s hand, and the mist enveloped both of them.
The scorpions seemed unable to see them and scuttled past harmlessly.
Chu Feng said with relief, “Looks like they can’t see us.”
Illya nodded. “Seems that way.”
Chu Feng frowned. “There sure are a lot of those ghost scorpions.”
Considering how his cousin nearly died after being bitten, their venom was clearly deadly.
Luckily, it seemed they couldn’t stray far from their territory. If they could, and they ran loose, it’d be a disaster.
“Did they come out because they smelled fresh meat?” Chu Feng asked in confusion.
“In my homeland, ghost scorpions feed on corpses and show no interest in the living. But these might be mutated,” Illya said. He paused and added, “To these ghost scorpions, we might look like… instant noodles.”
Chu Feng: “…Could you stop bringing up instant noodles? Do you want some? Tired of gourmet food and craving junk now?”
Chu Feng carefully searched the cave. Soon, he discovered a few corpses.
“These are… tomb raiders?”
Illya looked puzzled. “Tomb raiders? What’s that?”
Chu Feng: “…‘Tomb raider’ is the nicer term. More commonly, people call them grave robbers.”
Looking at the bodies, Chu Feng’s scalp tingled. Their clothes were still relatively new, so they hadn’t died long ago. But their corpses were almost completely eaten away.
Chu Feng found some explosives, flashlights, a shovel, and a map on them.
He also discovered a dug-out hole—not very wide, only about the size of a bowl. A small cat or dog might fit, but not a person.
“There seems to be a tunnel below,” Illya noted.
Chu Feng grabbed Illya’s hand and teleported them into the underground tunnel.
They hadn’t gone far when they hit a stone wall.
“This wall shows signs of being damaged,” Illya said.
Chu Feng narrowed his eyes. “Looks like it was blown with explosives.”
Explosives weren’t exactly subtle. Thankfully, they were in a ghost village—anywhere else, it would’ve drawn major attention.
Illya looked at the wall. “It seems pretty thick.”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yeah. Looks like whoever tried to blow it open only caused a collapse instead of breaking through.”
“Can’t you use your ability to teleport us past it?” he asked.
Chu Feng nodded. “Should be possible.”
When he first came to the capital, he had managed long-distance teleportation—there had been some errors, but it still worked.
Chu Feng teleported with Illya again, appearing deep inside the burial tunnel, several meters underground.
Illya wrinkled his nose. “So many bones. Why are there so many corpses here?”
Chu Feng took a deep breath and said, “They were probably sealed alive inside the tomb passage. In history, some emperors would spend a huge amount of time building their own mausoleums. To keep the location secret, those in power would sometimes entomb the laborers alive once the tomb was completed.”
Illya frowned slightly. “Your people have the same habits as the nobles in our land?”
Chu Feng sighed. “Let’s go.”
Illya nodded. “Alright.”
The two of them continued down the tomb passage and were soon blocked by a stone door. Chu Feng used his spatial ability again and passed through it.
Behind the stone door was another stone door. Chu Feng suddenly realized his ability was kind of a cheat—these doors posed no obstacle to him.
Soon, two massive golden doors appeared before them. Chu Feng looked at them in awe. “What a magnificent door!” he murmured. “Given the capabilities of ancient people, it’s impressive they managed to build something like this. And the patterns on it… so strange!”
He saw characters like “Life and Death,” “Reincarnation,” and “Eternal Life” engraved on the door.
Chu Feng silently speculated that the symbols formed some kind of formation—perhaps a ritual to convert death into life, praying for resurrection.
The higher one’s status, the more afraid of death they become. Once they die, they hope for rebirth as someone rich and powerful.
Chu Feng suspected the formation was carved by some feng shui or occult master. It gave him an otherworldly feeling. “The item should be inside. Shall we go in?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Let’s do it.”
