“Let’s go,” Dong Zheng called out. The vehicle’s headlight illuminated the road ahead of them. Cui Zuojing sat in the back seat and naturally embraced Dong Zheng’s waist from behind. A black cat jumped out from the flower bed to block them, and even though Dong Zheng was driving toward it, it wasn’t afraid at all and didn’t withdraw.
Dong Zheng had to carefully bypass it. After they were some distance away, he turned his head back and saw that the group of cats were standing very still with their heads turned in unison to watch them. There were cat eyes everywhere, gleaming out through the flower beds and from behind bushes…The shiny reflections of their eyes gave off a creepy sensation.
Dong Zheng asked, “Are these cats being controlled by Midnight?”
“They’re equivalent to his spies, but his control over them isn’t too good. Whatever the cat sees will be passed on to him, just like Wang Que spying through her insects.” Under the bloody moonlight, the lights were dim. It was difficult to see the details of the roadside when sitting in a moving vehicle, but Cui Zuojing was certain that something was quietly watching them from some unnoticed location.
“Was Midnight the one who turned Victor into a cat?”
“Yes, that’s one of Midnight’s abilities. He can become a cat of any breed or look. He can also change other creatures into adult cats, but only if the other party is in a weakened state,” Cui Zuojing said. “So you must be careful. Any one of these cats may be Midnight.”
As they spoke, they continued to drive into the night toward Heimdall. Dong Zheng had always been afraid of things like ghosts and other spiritual entities. Fortunately, Cui Zuojing was sitting behind him now, with his arms tightly wrapped around his waist. The warmth that came from the place where they were pressed together gave him a sense of reassurance.
At the corner ahead, a white figure fluttered past. In the window of the house on the left side of the street, an eye was peeking out through the gap in the curtains. Sadako slipped under a blanket while her son hid the videotape that contained the seven day curse under the bed. And there was an antique doll who would appear on the bedside regardless of where it was thrown, smiling. In the sewer nearby, there was a terrible clown with a white face full of fangs hiding, waiting for its next prey. There was also a painted skin malicious spirit who had turned into a smiling, seductive 16-year-old beauty.
At this moment, the powerful ability of Dong Zheng’s kernel became a burden. Any unusual noises his brain captured would be supplemented with a horrific fantasy. Dong Zheng had almost never watched horror films before coming to the Pure White Realm. Maybe if he did, his brain would have more to work with. Even so, he had entered two supernatural boxes before, and it was those memories that rose up at this moment to speed up his heartbeat.
The psychological shadow left by those boxes were absolutely hell-level. After coming out, he and Cui Zuojing had to be in the same bed every night to be able to barely fall asleep. Even the most courageous Dong Linhai was scared enough to sleep together with Lin Hangzhi.
Don’t think about it anymore! Those were all in the past! They still hadn’t even seen a hair of Midnight yet, so there was no need to become scared ahead of time!
Dong Zheng forced his thoughts to stop churning. He quickly compressed those ghost-related thoughts and threw them into the corner. Then he took deep breaths to relax his tight muscles.
But in the next second, his body abruptly stiffened.
To prevent the bell from attracting the attention of others, Dong Zheng had sealed the mouth of the bell with rosin. Tonight, he knew he was destined to hit ghosts and so he didn’t bother with removing it. Otherwise, the bell would continuously keep ringing and end up revealing his locations to the ghosts.
Right now, the bell placed in his shirt pocket was hotter than ever. And the hand resting on his shoulders, Dong Zheng was certain that it was definitely not Cui Zuojing because the young man was currently still embracing his waist.
Dong Zheng couldn’t help but pressed harder on the accelerator pedal. The electric motorbike let out a loud vroom as it abruptly accelerated and rushed down the road.
The hand at his waist quietly slipped into his jacket and tightened down.
The communication channel between them was still in place, so Dong Zheng asked silently, “…Is there something strange behind me?”
“There is.” Cui Zuojing’s gaze silently followed the arms that were stretched out over his own shoulders to the hands that were pressed down on Dong Zheng’s shoulders. Behind him was a block of cold air, and he was trapped between it and Dong Zheng. It was really too strange, and even though Cui Zuojing often bragged to the heavens that he wasn’t afraid, a cold sweat was beading across his forehead. “That buddy is holding me. You’re not going to do anything to protect your weak and helpless boyfriend?”
Dong Zheng didn’t bother to try to impress him by puffing up his capabilities, and he directly said, “…I’m afraid.”
Cui Zuojing said, “I am also afraid QAQ.”
Dong Zheng: “…………………………..”
Cui Zuojing: “…………………..”
They became silent, and the ghost that was sitting on the motorbike and clinging to Cui Zuojing’s back and Dong Zheng’s shoulders was also silent.
The silence stretched on.
The seconds ticked on like years.
Hundreds of years later, Dong Zheng couldn’t withstand the weird atmosphere anymore and asked, “What should I do?”
Cui Zuojing’s eyes drifted past a headless ghost on the side of the road. “I don’t know.”
Since the creature had no intentions of attacking for the time being, the best choice of action was to not be alarmed. Dong Zheng said, “Let’s continue to Heimdall. Once there, we can try to use the lantern to see if we can drive it away.”
“Using a spiritual prop sounds good.” Cui Zuojing clearly felt that Dong Zheng’s back was soaked in sweat, and he himself wasn’t any better. “So brother, can you drive faster?”
Dong Zheng had already turned the throttle to the maximum. The electric motorbike was going as fast as it could. If possible, he also wanted it to hurry up.
The little eDonkey drove through the empty streets with two persons and one ghost on it. From time to time, one or two sudden, blood-curdling screams could be heard. Obviously, other pilgrims who didn’t have enough points were suffering vicious attacks
“I think Midnight might finish with other people first before concentrating on dealing with us, so it seems that we should have enough time—“
The tires squealed loudly against the ground as Dong Zheng abruptly stopped the motorbike. Cui Zuojing was caught off guard and his face slammed into Dong Zheng’s back, nearly breaking his nose. The ghost behind him that was threatening their lives didn’t have time to react, and under the influence of momentum, it’s entire body shot through them and flew out like an off-line kite.
Cui Zuojing: o_0?
A pale little boy who was about two to three years old stood alone in the middle of the road in front of them. He was barefoot and had two black eyes and slightly parted pale lips.
The front of the electric motorbike managed to stop half a meter away from him. When the little ghost suddenly emerged from the ground, Dong Zheng instinctively slammed on the brakes. The kernel made his reaction speed extremely sensitive, so that he managed to avoid hitting the ghost. When he noticed that a white figure had suddenly flown out through his body from behind, Dong Zheng immediately realized that this was the perfect opportunity to act!
He squeezed the throttle and the motorbike that had just stopped suddenly accelerated. It sprang out like a gust of wind. Cui Zuojing had just peeled his face away from Dong Zheng’s back. He grinned and raised his head to see what was going on, when he was suddenly jerked backward by the abrupt acceleration. His entire upper back was flung backward and he nearly fell off from the back seat.
“Hey!” He barely managed to grab Dong Zheng’s belt in time. With a crash, the motorbike violently bumped over something, followed by the sharp, foul wail of a child. Cui Zuojing turned his head to look back and saw that there was a kid lying at the place where Dong Zheng had suddenly braked and accelerated. Suddenly, the kid lying on the ground began moving rapidly, dragging out bright red blood as it screamed and crawled after them on fast-moving limbs.
But it still couldn’t keep up with the speed of the electric motorbike and was soon left behind. The sound just now attracted the attention of other creatures. Ghosts began appearing on the corners and started chasing after the little eDonkey.
Under the blood moon, in the empty street, the electric motorbike was speeding in front, while a group of strange ghosts followed from behind. The ghosts had hanging eyes full of blood and pus and their mouths were wide open, revealing their hanging tongues.….Cui Zuojing turned his head back in fear. He hugged Dong Zheng tightly, and asked, “How long until we get there? There are things chasing after us like we’re holding a concert!”
“Soon!” Dong Zheng drifted around the crossroads. “If you’re afraid, hold me tighter!”
Cui Zuojing pressed his face to Dong Zheng’s back, and he couldn’t help but smile and shouted, “It’s definitely not that you’re afraid and wanted me to hold you?”
Dong Zheng couldn’t help but raise the corners of his lips. “Yes! I’m afraid! Hurry up and hug me!”
Dong Zheng’s body shielded the wind. A cat rushed out from the roadside to stop them but Dong Zheng’s extremely fast reaction speed and superb driving skills allowed him to evade it. At this moment, on this perilous night, Cui Zuojing suddenly felt a different kind of romance.
He was together with the person he liked in this blood-colored life and death escape, and the hunting wind was blocked by the person in front, creating a safe haven for him. The world seemed empty and silent, as if there were only the two of them…It was too exhilarating!
The mad adrenaline unexpectedly diluted the tension and fear in Cui Zuojing’s heart, and he let out a loud and courageous hollar. The sound of his voice hadn’t yet fallen when the sound of cats meowing came from all directions. The meows rose together, sounding like a group of children crying.
Under this kind of accompaniment, although there were some twists and turns in the middle, it could be considered that they had managed to reach their destination smoothly. They parked the motorbike randomly downstairs in Heimdall’s headquarters. They had already thrown the group of ghosts chasing after them some distance away, and so it would take a while yet for them to catch up.
No one would choose to stay in the headquarters on a night clearing. Therefore, there was no one in the entire building. The rows of dark windows were like eyes, quietly watching Cui Zuojing and Dong Zheng.
Without delay, Dong Zheng took out Xia Qiongyun’s lantern. The warm light illuminated a small area around them, expelling the unknown cold atmosphere. The bell that had been scorching since the night began finally cooled down somewhat.
The lantern was really useful. Dong Zheng let out a silent sigh and walked quickly into the front yard with Cui Zuojing. The doors were locked, and Dong Zheng had to lean in to scan his eye.
The electronic lock automatically sounded with a light click, and Dong Zheng pushed the door open. As the door gradually opened, a dark red spot was projected on the dark hallway floor, reflecting the bloody moonlight with the two shadows of the people standing outside.
Cui Zuojing closed the door. The showroom where the props were placed was on the third floor. They were both very familiar with the building and didn’t need to exchange any extra words before tacitly walking together toward the left stairway.
Dong Zheng invaded all the surveillance cameras as usual so that he could monitor their surroundings. But all the images were covered with an unknown bloody fog, and he couldn’t see clearly. He didn’t continue to try and quickly gave up.
Cui Zuojing never thought that Heimdall could look this creepy. The spacious and bright hallways were now empty and sinister-looking. The windows looked like the stained multi-colored glass of a chapel, every color mixed with a blood red. He took the stairs two steps at a time, but when he reached the last step, he suddenly realized that something was wrong.
“An extra step.” Cui Zuojing immediately reached out and grabbed Dong Zheng’s wrist in front of him. He said in a low voice, “This staircase suddenly has 13 steps.”
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Thank you for the chapters~
Kether is so underhanded but at least there’s hope that they can get through this without much trouble. I appreciate how Cui Zuojing and Dong Zheng always find a way to face things together while supporting each other~ >u< And Cui Zuojing always manages to put a flirty or romantic spin on things XD Poor Dong Zheng for having to face one of his biggest fears but thankfully he has Cui Zuojing to make him feel better through reassuring hugs~
It’s really not that scary compared to the doors in kaleidoscope of death. Since they could have special props and they have their own abilities…just wondering why they can’t physically fight the ghosts even though the ghosts can touch them..? If they could touch the ghosts then CZ wouldn’t be so helpless and they wouldn’t be this scared..? Ghosts are only scary because they could hurt and kill you.