NABC Chapter 1091: A Story In The Dark
Chapter 1091: A Story In The Dark
Chapter 1091: A Story In The Dark
“This guy sure knows how to play.”
Ye Qing’s mouth twitched uncontrollably as he stared at the Buddhas in the sky, all of them sporting Yi Pin’s appearance.
He knew that Yi Pin was doing this to inform him about his location, but to paint himself as a Buddha? Wasn’t he afraid that the real thing would descend from the heavens and rip out his heretical skull?
“But when did the old man obtain such a powerful Buddhist treasure? He’s as good at hiding his treasures as ever!”
Looking at the vastness and purity of the Buddhist light, it had to be an Ancient-class Strange Artifact.
Before Ye Qing could make any other remark, something unusual happened once more.
Thick columns of dark, yin qi suddenly rose to the firmament and attacked the boundless light of Buddha, eating away at its radiance and darkening even the bright, blue sky.
Even stranger, as the sky turned dark, countless lanterns slowly floated into the air.
The lanterns were paper white in color, but a black 囍 word was plastered on its surface. The higher the lanterns rose into the sky, the paler and colder it became, and the blacker and more ominous the 囍 word turned. And all this time, the sky was still getting darker.
Amidst the infinite darkness, Ye Qing saw what looked like a ghost bride wearing a red bridal dress and a red bridal veil flickering in and out of existence. Her dark, evil presence was such that it engulfed heaven and earth.
Ye Qing was a couple hundred kilometers away from the location, but he still felt chilled to the very bone. Incredibly, that ghost bride felt scarier and more dangerous than even the Cloud Mother of Nothingness he encountered earlier.
The darkness in the sky lasted over a dozen breaths before it finally faded. The Buddhist light was nowhere to be found either.
“Heavens... What on earth did Yi Pin do? How did he provoke such a monstrosity?”
Ye Qing rubbed his nose with a deep frown on his face. Clearly, that was the thing that had driven Yi Pin into sending him an emergency cry for help.
“Wait. This is an opportunity!”
It was at this moment Ye Qing realized something and perked up for the first time since he realized he was being pursued by West Kunlun.
“Alright. The plan is a go!”
Ye Qing kicked off the ground and raced straight toward the point where the Buddhist light and the darkness had disappeared.
A few hours later, Ye Qing arrived at the edge of a zone of darkness.
The zone of darkness was over fifty kilometers in radius. It was cold, dark, and full of desolation. It could not be pierced by sight or spirit.
Just looking at the darkness was enough to send chills up Ye Qing’s spine. He had a feeling that he would die if he dared to set foot inside the darkness.
“Live or die. I’m betting it all on this.”
Ye Qing remained outside the zone of darkness for a bit until he felt like the time was right. Then, he darted inside without hesitation.
The strange song was melodious, beautiful, and tinged with uneasiness and sorrow. There was also a hint of longing and hopefulness as well.
As the song continued, the still paper dolls slowly began to move.
The paper dolls’ movements were stiff and slow. They were all moving at the same time as well. As a result, it looked a bit like an amusing, chaotic dance with little to no rhyme or reason.
It wasn’t until a bit later that Ye Qing realized that the paper dolls were acting out a story. The story of the song to be exact.
To put it simply, it was the story of a woman who was about to be wed. Wearing her bridal dress, she bade her family goodbye, entered the bridal carriage, and was carried to her husband’s house. After she and her husband performed the standard wedding ritual that would seal their marriage forever, they entered the wedding chamber, removed the bridal veil, and drank wine from each other’s hand. They then swore that they would be together forever and ever.
The song itself sounded very hopeful and beautiful. The play the paper dolls were putting on were quite lifelike as well.
The problem was that the song and play were taking place in what felt like the bottommost depths of hell. The beauty and hopefulness of it only added to the eeriness of the situation.
It felt like the calm before the storm; the prologue before the true horror.
“A crescent moon hangs outside the window, a candlelight flickers inside our room.
Gusts of cold wind blow and steal away my soul.
The curling moon illuminates the mountains and rivers,
The candle flame flickers as people scream.
They scream until their throats are hoarse, scream until their voice is no more.
They run until their legs are broken, run until their soul is lost.
You’re chasing me, I’m chasing you. I’m killing you, you’re killing me.
You are bleeding, I am bleeding. Together, we bleed to enter the Yellow Spring.
The Yellow Spring is long and wide, souls float everywhere as the cold wind blows.
They float and float to the Naihe bridge. Together, let us be one until our heads turn white.”
......
The hair on Ye Qing’s skin was standing on end already, but the song took a turn for the worse. The beauty, romance, and hopefulness from before were all gone, replaced by a set of lyrics that could only be described as strange, ridiculous, and eerie.
The paper dolls no longer acted as kind and gentle as before either. Instead, they abruptly descended into madness and frenzy, tearing, biting, and killing each other like they were sworn foes. Then, a blazing inferno swept it all and burned everything into ash, leaving behind only lonely piles of ashes under the pale, icy moonlight. A wind blew, and the ashes scattered into nothing.
Are these paper dolls acting out their own stories?
The thought suddenly flashed in Ye Qing’s mind. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure he was right.