Suicide Ritual
Liu Qingyan froze in place.
"Cough cough cough... uh uh cough cough cough..."
The faint Kerosene Lamp flame swayed in the corridor. A burst of rough and painful coughing came from behind the door next door. It was a man's voice, but the vocal line was different from a normal person's. It sounded like some kind of primitive beast making a sound, even causing the floor under her feet to tremble slightly.
Liu Qingyan's brows unconsciously furrowed. She glanced at the half-open door, but didn't go forward. Instead, after sighing lightly, she opened the door and returned to her own room.
After all, it was a cheap inn. The room was narrow and dilapidated, with only a solitary hardboard bed in the center, next to some old-fashioned tables and cabinets that had seen their years. The room's soundproofing was also exceptionally poor; even with the door closed, she could hear the coughing and heavy panting coming from next door.
Liu Qingyan's gaze swept over the room. She casually placed the Kerosene Lamp on the tabletop, making the old table creak under the weight.
She walked straight to the tightly closed small window, unfastened the latch, and pushed it outward. A light evening breeze rolled into the room, making her black hair fly up...
Liu Qingyan stood behind the window of the dim inn. Opposite her was the brightly lit Theater House. The faint light brushed softly against her cheeks like a dreamy reflection.
"...The children went to scout the military situation but there is still no news~ I am alone in the painted hall, pondering silently in secret,
I only fear that those treacherous officials will come again to pick a quarrel, damaging my Yang family's generations of heroic reputation..."
Hearing this voice, Liu Qingyan was slightly stunned. It seemed she didn't expect Chen Ling to actually know how to sing opera, and sing it so well... She had also heard others sing this tune, "Mu Guiying Takes Command," on normal days, but compared to Chen Ling, it was As Different as Clouds and Mud.
The crowd watching outside the Theater House also immediately quieted down. They just sat on the side of the road, infatuatedly listening to the melodious Opera Vocals. Hearing only his voice and not seeing his person did not affect the crowd's enthusiasm in the slightest.
After Chen Ling sang, another Thespian's voice also sounded. Liu Qingyan felt it sounded somewhat familiar. After a slight recollection, she remembered the appearance of Li Qingshan she had seen in Willow Town.
Gradually, Liu Qingyan became intoxicated by it. She just stood by the window, her deep eyes looking at the brightly lit Theater House, not knowing what she was thinking.
"Wu cough cough cough!!! Cough cough cough cough cough cough!!!"
A burst of urgent and rough coughing sounded from next door again, directly interrupting Liu Qingyan's immersion. She frowned and looked at the pale wall, her eyes full of displeasure.
It wasn't just her. This coughing was so noisy that even the pedestrians downstairs of the inn heard it. They unconsciously looked up, suspiciously observing the several rows of small black windows upstairs.
Fortunately, this time the coughing lasted for a few seconds before stopping. Liu Qingyan finally heard the sound inside the Theater House clearly again... After taking a deep breath, she continued to look in the direction of the Theater House, seeming to want to immerse herself in it again.
"It is not that I stand by with folded arms when the nation is in peril, but seeing the commander's seal brings back so many past emotions.
The Yang family generals sacrificed themselves and forgot their families to settle the state, but when returning in triumph, others received favors while I added new graves..."
"Wu cough cough cough cough cough!!!!!!"
Before Liu Qingyan could finish listening to a complete sentence, hysterical coughing sounded again. This time it was also accompanied by the piercing sound of fingernails scratching the wooden board, and the eerie sound of something heavily smashing against something.
Thud— Thud— Thud—
The floor under Liu Qingyan's feet trembled slightly. The bed, cabinets, and tables and chairs in the room all made creaking sounds, as if they would collapse in the next moment.
Her expression instantly darkened, her brows almost knitting together into the character "川" (chuan). After a brief hesitation, she carried the Kerosene Lamp and walked straight out of the room, coming into the dim corridor.
Without the shielding of the wall, the sound in the corridor was obviously much noisier. Various strange commotions came from behind the half-open door next door, while the doors of the other rooms remained tightly closed, as if there were only the two of them staying here as guests.
Liu Qingyan had just grabbed the doorknob next door when the latter automatically fell to the ground with a thud and shattered into parts, just like her doorknob had moments ago.
Seeing this scene, an ominous premonition rose in Liu Qingyan's heart.
One doorknob breaking like that could still be attributed to being old and out of repair, but two doorknobs breaking at the slightest touch consecutively, this matter was somewhat eerie... Coupled with the inhuman coughing and panting coming from the room at this moment, Liu Qingyan instantly became vigilant!
Her fingers grabbed the edge of the half-open door and slowly opened it. Borrowing the faint light of the Kerosene Lamp in her hand, she finally saw the scene in the room next door clearly.
In the narrow and dim room, a figure draped in a red robe was kneeling on the ground. Under the red robe was a completely naked body, completely dyed red with blood at this moment. Especially the position of the lungs, a bloody gash had already been cut open by something!
At this moment, holding a sharp Razor Blade in one hand, he cut open the flesh and skin of his left chest, and holding a bloody hammer in his other hand, he was smashing the pale ribs. With the fall of the last hammer strike, the second rib also broke in response!
But he seemed unable to feel the pain. He knelt on the ground, grinning hideously. Under the flesh and broken bones of his left chest, a lobe of lung was exposed to the air.
"Cough cough cough cough cough cough cough!!!"
Violent coughing accompanied by mouthfuls of scarlet blood splattered all over the ground. He caught a glimpse of that swaying Kerosene Lamp flame from the corner of his eye, and slowly raised his head... A pair of eyes without whites were eerie and sinister.
"So I was actually discovered..."
Seeing Liu Qingyan standing outside the door, looking as if she had been scared stiff, the smile on the corners of his mouth became even more ferocious.
"What a pity... you came too late... the suicide ritual is nearing completion... the 'Sighing Wilderness' is about to descend... everything here will be buried in the Gray World!
The world, will eventually return to the origin."
As his voice fell, he reached one hand between the broken ribs, grabbed the lung lobe that was heaving like a broken bellows, and was about to tear it out of his body!
But the next moment, a hand like iron pincers grabbed his arm.
He froze...
He tried to forcefully struggle with his arm, but found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his arm the slightest bit!
He looked up blankly. He only saw that Liu Qingyan, who was still standing outside the door scared silly by him just now, had arrived in front of him at some point. There was not the slightest bit of fear of being frightened by this bloody scene in those eyes, nor did she scream like other Ordinary People. Instead, she just quietly looked at him...
In her eyes, there was no fear, only confusion.
Although the scene before her was also extremely eerie and bloody, compared to skinning Zong Wen alive, it wasn't actually that much worse. Therefore, Liu Qingyan wasn't really scared, just wondering where exactly this madman came from.
"You... you let me go!" That person roared angrily.
"Let you go?" Liu Qingyan looked into his eyes, her voice gentle as water. "But aren't you conducting some ritual? And you even want to bury everything here in the Gray World? Then why should I let you go?"
Scarlet Heaven Cultist: ...