fictionpage Chapter 129 A Land of Nine Deaths, A Glimmer of Hope
Chapter 129 A Land of Nine Deaths, A Glimmer of Hope
Chapter 129 A Land of Nine Deaths, A Glimmer of Hope
This is an ancient town, and the words "Ye City" are written in a flamboyant style at the city gate.
The sky was overcast, and the towering city walls were bathed in the dim light of the day.
This wasn't just dark clouds before the rain; it was as if foul air, accumulated over countless years, hung heavy and oppressively over the entire town.
A fierce wind whistled through the holes in the city wall, producing a sound like the wailing and howling of a vengeful ghost.
There were no roosters crowing or human voices in the city.
A strong feeling of weightlessness washed over him, and after a moment Li Jiuhe felt his feet touch the ground. Then his vision cleared, and he found himself standing on the main street of this ancient city.
The moonlight was dim, and it was pitch black all around, with only the outlines of houses on both sides of the street barely visible.
This appears to be a genuine ancient city, rather than some kind of film set.
The space inside the Boundary Stone is different from that of the Morning Bell. The Morning Bell has its own time and space system, but the time inside the Boundary Stone is synchronized with the outside time. Only the space is different.
In other words, it's midnight outside, and it's also nighttime here.
Upon arrival, Li Jiuhe felt a chill; the weather here was noticeably colder than outside.
At the same time, a faint sense of danger emerged.
The danger didn't come from the Guan family who entered the Boundary Stone with him, but from the town right now.
Just then, three lines of text appeared before Li Jiuhe's eyes, words that only he could see.
Because he is the holder of this boundary stone, the current world was generated during the period he held it, although he did not interfere and had no idea what kind of world it was.
His heart pounded as he looked at the text.
【New World: Ye City】
[Period: Later Ning Dynasty]
[World Ranking: B+]
"B+ grade!" Li Jiuhe exclaimed in surprise.
He remembered that the world level of that deflated city was only D-level, or more like D+. After all, he was not the holder of the boundary stone at the time and could not see the specific information. He only heard about it from Zhou Yiwen later.
Zhou Yiwen's own interference caused Biecheng's grade to shift from D+ to C-1.
Li Jiuhe had a deep understanding of how crazy the residents of Biecheng were back then.
Unexpectedly, this place is rated B+, meaning the danger level has increased by four levels.
He immediately walked quickly to the side of the street, hid in the darkness under a roof, and looked around.
I could vaguely make out signs for inns, teahouses, and pawnshops on both sides of the street, and I was certain that there were no modern facilities such as power banks, wires, or sockets in front of these shops.
The doors were all closed, and the sense of danger I had felt earlier was growing stronger.
Li Jiuhe intuitively felt that hiding here was very unsafe.
He immediately started walking quickly along the side of the street.
At that moment, he also discovered that the upgrade progress of "Task Designer - Junior" in the "Occupation" column of his task definition information had actually increased from 1% to 2%!
Li Jiuhe had been on the mission of "survival" for some time, but only today did he encounter this situation.
Then, a second current task line was defined, and a task reset was initiated on this task line.
It's clear that as he makes and executes tasks, his level is slowly increasing.
After walking quickly for a while, I saw a house ahead with a dim candlelight shining from inside.
This was the only ray of light Li Jiuhe saw on the street, and he immediately moved closer to it.
"whee----"
Just then, a burst of laughter suddenly rang in his ears.
Li Jiuhe was startled and immediately turned his head to look, but there was nothing there.
The laughter could still be heard.
He jogged a few steps quickly, looked back again, and found some paper figures piled up under the eaves of the house. They were the kind of paper figures used for funerals, but they all looked like they were half-finished products.
The laughter just now seemed to have come from these piles of paper figures.
"Could it be—this is a strange world?" Li Jiuhe wondered in surprise.
He ignored it and instinctively continued rushing toward the house with the candlelight.
When they reached the door and pushed it, the door didn't budge, but footsteps could be heard inside, indicating that someone was inside.
dong dong dong.
Li Jiuhe immediately knocked on the door, but there was no response from inside.
For some reason, everything in the darkness outside gave him a great sense of oppression, as if something terrifying was lurking in the darkness.
Or perhaps there is nothing terrifying at all, but rather the darkness itself is an extremely terrifying presence.
He immediately pressed himself against the door and whispered, "Please open the door! I'm not a bad person, my name is Li Jiuhe, and I just happened to be passing through Yecheng and had nowhere to stay—"
A slight noise came from inside the room, seemingly the sound of a body bumping into a stool.
But no one answered him.
"whee----"
The eerie laughter suddenly rang out behind Li Jiuhe.
Li Jiuhe turned around quickly, his body trembled, and he saw a half-finished paper figure standing behind him, with pale features and a slightly upturned mouth drawn by the paintbrush, as if it were smiling.
Overwhelmed by fear, he became enraged, took two steps forward, and kicked the paper figure away.
The paper figure was very light; it floated up and landed not far away.
"whee----"
"whee----"
The next second, eerie laughter echoed from all directions.
Li Jiuhe turned his head and saw another paper boy standing under the eaves of the house across the street, his eyes wide open, staring at him.
On either side of the candlelit eaves, at the corners of the walls, lay paper figures of a boy and a girl, staring intently at him.
Looking up again, there was a paper doll of a little girl lying on the roof of the house, with two pigtails, tilting her head and staring at her without moving.
A gust of cold wind blew by, and all the paper figures remained motionless.
Li Jiuhe gripped the silver-corroded dagger in his hand, his heart pounding, and he could feel cold sweat running down his back.
It is certain that this is a bizarre ancient world.
Just then, the door behind me creaked open.
Li Jiuhe turned around and saw that the door had been opened a crack.
A sliver of candlelight shone through, and he rushed over, pushing the door open—
A rustling sound came from behind me; it was clear that the paper figures were moving rapidly.
A chill ran down Li Jiuhe's spine. He felt something touch his back, and a cold sensation instantly seeped through his spine and into his entire body. He couldn't help but shiver and slammed the door shut behind him.
Although he felt very cold, the candlelight in the room brought Li Jiuhe a sense of warmth.
The instant he closed the door, a man standing behind it quickly locked it.
The man looked shaken and was clearly terrified.
Besides the man, there was also a mother and daughter in the house. All three were dressed in ancient commoner's clothing, and their faces still showed fear as they looked at Li Jiuhe with some wariness.
If they hadn't opened the door at the crucial moment, Li Jiuhe would have had to find another way to escape.
If all else fails, reset the quest and avoid the paper doll shop you just visited.
The little girl looked about five or six years old. Suddenly, she pointed to the bottom of the door behind Li Jiuhe, her face filled with fear.
Her father immediately stepped back, away from the doorway.
Li Jiuhe turned his head and saw that a paper figure's hand had reached in through the crack in the door. However, the paper-like arm suddenly trembled slightly, as if it had been burned, and quickly withdrew.
The family of three visibly breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this.
The male homeowner then gestured for Li Jiuhe to be quiet and looked towards the window.
Outside the door, the shadows of paper figures could be seen moving slowly, but they did not enter the room.
Li Jiuhe felt that his body was still radiating that inexplicable chill from the inside out. Before long, his face turned pale, his lips turned purple, and his body began to tremble involuntarily.
The little girl's mother pointed to the flickering candlelight on the wooden table, gesturing for Li Jiuhe to approach the candle.
Li Jiuhe also felt that the candlelight brought him a sense of warmth. As he took a few steps closer, this feeling of warmth suddenly became stronger.
He felt a slight jolt in his heart, moved closer, and lay down directly on the wooden table with the candlesticks on it.
The chilling aura within his body was immediately forced out by the candlelight, transforming into wisps of visible white vapor that drifted out from between his hair, creating an extremely eerie sight.
He looked up in surprise and quickly realized that the burning candle had the effect of dispelling the ghosts outside.
That's why those paper figures didn't dare to come in after the door was closed.
The paper figure that reached in immediately withdrew when illuminated by the candlelight.
However, these paper figures did not leave; instead, they continued to wander outside.
After waiting a while and feeling her body recover, Li Jiuhe sat down at the wooden table, still close to the candlelight.
The male homeowner scooped a ladle of water for him, handed it to him, and gestured for him to drink.
Li Jiuhe glanced down; the water was full of floating debris. He didn't dare drink it, waved his hand, and asked, "Why are you—"
Before he could finish speaking, the woman and the man immediately waved their hands, signaling him to stop talking.
At the same time, the two opened their mouths, and Li Jiuhe was shocked to find that they had no tongues, only short pieces of flesh.
Inside one of the dark stone houses in Ye City.
A fierce swordsman wielding a machete has arrived here.
The one wielding the fierce sword is Ahui, Guan Guangwei's cousin.
He had just felt a blur before his eyes and suddenly found himself in this dark stone house, which looked like an ancient bedroom.
The room contained a bed, cabinets, a screen, and a dressing table. The door was an old-fashioned wooden door with a bolt.
It looks like there's another courtyard outside; this family must have been wealthy even in ancient times.
-
Ah Hui's heart was pounding, and he was on high alert. He didn't understand why he had suddenly appeared here.
After looking around, they did not see their family members, nor did they see their target, Li Jiuhe.
A chill ran down his spine, and he couldn't help but call out softly, "Guangwei, Uncle, Second Uncle—"
After a moment, the guy realized that he was probably the only one experiencing the strange situation, while everyone else was probably still in Li Jiuhe's dormitory room.
Just then, a creaking sound came from the direction of the bed.
Ahui was startled and took two steps forward. He could vaguely see a person lying on the bed!
The person was curled up in the quilt, and seemed to have just turned over, revealing only a cascade of black hair, making it impossible to see their face clearly.
When Ah Hui saw that head of beautiful hair, he had a sense of déjà vu. He immediately recognized that this should be his cousin Xiao Yu, who was the long-haired female sequencer in Li Jiuhe's eyes.
"So I wasn't the only one who was transported to this strange place?!"
He thought to himself, and then suddenly realized something. He reached for the blanket, intending to pull it off and ask Xiaoyu why she was in bed.
Just as Ahui grabbed the corner of the blanket, his ankle suddenly tightened as a cold hand grabbed it.
He looked down and saw a pale hand reaching out from under the bed, gripping his right foot tightly.
The person on the bed seemed to feel the blanket being pulled back, and turned their head, about to roll over to check.
He grabbed Ahui's hand and pulled him to the ground with a sudden force.
Ah Hui lost his balance and almost hit the back of his head on the ground, but his sequence ability was martial arts, and he was best at using knives.
The moment he fell, his body immediately flipped over, his hands braced on the ground, and just as he was about to kick the person under the bed, the pulling force suddenly increased.
Ah Hui lost his balance again and was quickly pulled under the bed. Unable to kick backward with his legs, he simply bent over and swung his knife, using the force of being pulled to slash under the bed.
This strike was extremely powerful, employing the Fierce Blade Style that this guy was skilled in.
A blush of red enveloped the entire blade, faintly revealing the face of the person dragging him from under the bed.
However, upon seeing the person's appearance, Ahui was shocked, because he discovered that the person who had grabbed him was none other than his cousin, Xiaoyu!
Xiaoyu watched in horror as the fierce blade drew ever closer. Ahui immediately forced the attack away, channeling his strength into his arms, and with a sudden drop in the blade's momentum, he abruptly stopped the cleaver in his hand.
However, this incident also made Ah Hui feel so sad that he felt like he was going to vomit blood. His blood surged, and after taking a long breath, he slowly recovered.
He looked at Xiaoyu in surprise, wondering why she was hiding under the bed and suddenly pulling at him.
"you----"
Before he could even open his lips to speak, Xiaoyu pressed her hand over his mouth.
Xiaoyu looked nervous and gestured for him to be quiet, while pointing to the bed above her head.
Ahui's heart pounded, and he felt inexplicably nervous.
Looking up at the bed, I could still hear the creaking sound, as if the person on the bed was sitting up.
At the same time, he also saw that right above their heads, there seemed to be a large pool of liquid that was gradually solidifying, seeping from the front of the bed to the back of the bed.
The liquid resembled blood and emitted an indescribable, fishy stench.
The bed was still creaking. The person on the bed, like Xiaoyu, had a head of black hair, but because of the urgency of the situation, Ahui hadn't been able to see the other person's face.
Now it seems that guy is either incredibly strong, or he's not even human.
Otherwise, Xiaoyu wouldn't have been so frightened that she hid under the bed and told herself not to make any rash moves!
Ahui felt his palms were covered in cold sweat as he gripped the knife. Xiaoyu's nervousness also made him tense.
The creaking of the bed overhead moved to the edge of the bed, and soon a pair of fair and delicate ankles stretched out.
Those feet were actually wearing shoes—a pair of black and red embroidered shoes.
"What normal person would sleep with their shoes on?" Ahui's whole body tensed up, and a little sweat beaded on his forehead.
He turned his head and stared intently at the edge of the bed, where he saw a pair of feet that were clearly a woman's touch the ground, and then she slowly stood up.
A skirt hung down, and the person on the bed was clearly a woman.
The man stood up, took two steps forward, and then sat down on the ground with a thud, leaning forward with a large amount of black hair spread out on the ground, his whole body seemingly twitching slightly.
From the perspective of looking under the bed, the two sides are exactly parallel at this moment.
Ahui felt Xiaoyu still pulling him from behind. He gently patted Xiaoyu, signaling her to let go so that he could intervene immediately if things went wrong.
The large amount of long hair spread out on the ground slowly moved, clearly indicating that the guy was slowly turning his head to look under the bed while lying on the ground.
A large amount of hair slid on the ground, then receded as the person slowly turned their head, revealing a pale face beneath the hair.
Ah Hui held the knife in both hands, his heart pounding in his throat, his eyes fixed on the bizarre scene.
Despite his fear, he was still waiting for an opportunity, a chance to kill his opponent with a single blow, or at least severely injure him.
Suddenly, most of that pale face was revealed, and her eyes were filled with terror as she saw Ah Hui under the bed.
Ahui was stunned because he realized that the woman in the long dress with long black hair had a face exactly like Xiaoyu's.
Outside the bed, Xiaoyu's mouth was bleeding, and she managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Brother, what are you doing under the bed? There's a ghost here! It not only hurt me, but it also changed my clothes!"
These words sent chills down Ahui's spine, and the fear that rose in his heart made his hands, which were gripping the knife, tremble.
A chill ran down my spine, and I heard Xiaoyu's voice from behind, but it was different from the voice of the person outside the bed; it carried a strange sense of dread.
"Hehe, bro, are you scared? Let me see how fast your heart is beating!"
Before he could turn around, he felt a sudden emptiness in his chest. Ah Hui's body convulsed, and when he looked down, he found that a hand had pierced through his chest and was firmly grasping his heart.
Inside a dimly lit alley.
Guan Jiqian tapped his index finger slowly in the air, his gaze fixed on the woman in front of him.
The woman, with disheveled hair and tattered clothes, stared at him expressionlessly.
"Sir, have you seen my child?"
-
Guan Jiqian did not answer or make any other statement, but simply looked down and glanced at an infant crawling on the ground.
The infant was naked, covered in blood and other filth, with an uncut umbilical cord attached to its navel. The other end of the cord extended to the eerie woman's legs, covered by clothing.
As the baby crawls, the umbilical cord is stretched longer and longer, seemingly without end.
Guan Jiqian wanted to answer the woman: "Isn't her child crawling on the ground?"
But he refrained from speaking. The situation was strange, and he suspected that if he answered, it might trigger an unpredictable crisis.
He is now convinced that he and everyone else have been transported to some strange world by Li Jiuhe.
The stone that Li Jiuhe was holding earlier might be some kind of spatial stone.
Like his father Guan Chuandao, Guan Jiqian had a bad feeling at this moment. He did not expect that killing Li Jiuhe was indeed "a place of nine deaths and a sliver of hope".
He glanced at the other end of the alley, ignoring the strange woman, and cautiously turned to leave while observing her.
The woman followed closely behind, still asking, "Sir, have you seen my child?"
As they drew closer, almost touching his back, Guan Jiqian frowned slightly and tapped his index finger in the air.
The woman's body trembled violently, and her chest burst open like a blooming flower of blood.
Boom!
The woman fell straight to the ground.
Guan Jiqian's tense nerves relaxed, not expecting that the opponent, who seemed terrifying, was actually very vulnerable.
But at that moment, another voice suddenly rang out, a childish voice.
"Uncle, have you seen my mother?"
Guan Jiqian's heart skipped a beat. He looked down and saw that the infant who had been dragged on the ground by the woman had actually stood up.
Because an infant's limbs and body are not fully developed, his standing posture is very strange, just like an ape who has just learned to walk upright.
The infant had no eyelids, its pupils were white, and its expression was terrifying. It was staring expectantly at Guan Jiqian, awaiting his answer.