Chapter 28: Make a Choice
Liu Haoyu’s face was covered in black lines as he looked at the bloody words on the black book.
So this thing also pays attention to duplicate names?
But thinking about the ownerless graveyard with so many tombstones, who knew how many “Liu Haoyu” were inside.
If this was only for one night, how could he possibly find it?
“So, with so many people sharing the same name, how can I find the tombstone with my name carved on it?”
Facing Liu Haoyu’s questioning, the black book felt a bit apologetic, and soon a line of bloody words began to appear on it.
“This is indeed my oversight.”
“I didn’t expect that in an ownerless graveyard with only a few thousand tombstones, there would still be someone with the same name as you.”
Qin Liu looked at the bloody words on the black book and asked with some confusion.
“Then how do we find Liu Haoyu’s name? There are thousands of tombstones there, and if we search one by one, it’s already too late.”
“And can’t we just get rid of it directly?”
The time was already four in the morning, and there were less than three hours left until sunrise.
Although they could still search if they returned to the underworld now, finding Liu Haoyu’s name in a place with so many tombstones was no easy task.
In response, the black book continued to write.
“The Red Gate has locked onto Liu Haoyu.”
“It is in the dark, and the initiative is in its hands.”
“As long as it doesn’t want to reveal itself, we’ll never see it.”
“But it can use the lock to slowly torment Liu Haoyu’s mind until it finds an opportunity to take his soul into the Red Gate.”
“So, only after the lock is released will it reveal itself, and only then will we have a chance to capture it.”
The black book’s words plunged both the man and the ghost into thought.
Especially Liu Haoyu, who had just pushed open the coffin lid, now quietly lay back down.
“Fine, instead of dwelling on it here, it’s better to take action quickly.”
After he lay down, the black book was silent for a while, and the bloody words continued to appear on the blank page.
“It is by no means easy to find your name among so many tombstones.”
“There are only two hours left before sunrise, and there is not enough time.”
The black book’s words clearly wanted to persuade Liu Haoyu to give up.
“If you keep the green hills, you don’t have to worry about firewood. You can give up now.”
“You can return to this place again on the next full moon and continue to seek your name.”
Facing the black book’s dissuasion, Liu Haoyu shook his head.
One month was not long, nor was it short.
But for the Red Gate, this month was enough time for it to make many moves.
What’s more, Liu Haoyu had not forgotten that the Red Gate in his dream was less than two meters away from him.
Perhaps Liu Haoyu knew that he might not be able to last this month.
Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, he decided to return to the ownerless graveyard again.
“…”
Liu Haoyu’s answer made Qin Liu a little worried.
But this little ghost did not speak, only holding the lantern, slowly closed the lid of Liu Haoyu’s coffin.
She chose to believe Liu Haoyu.
After a while, Liu Haoyu’s soul went out again.
However, this time, there was no longer the previous leisurely expression on his face.
Glancing at the time, he said to Qin Liu.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait a moment.”
At this moment, a black shadow appeared behind Liu Haoyu.
This was the main body of the black book, and this shadow spoke.
It was a voice that could not be identified as male or female.
“I have found a way.”
“Put on a blindfold and wear a white burial suit.”
“Keep chanting your own name and walk forward without interruption or stopping.”
“Kindhearted lonely souls around will mistake you for a descendant looking for an ancestor and guide you in the right direction.”
“Attention! Because it requires guidance from lonely souls, Qin Liu cannot accompany you.”
“In the underworld, without the guidance of light, you should understand how dangerous and terrifying this is.”
“And if Qin Liu accompanies you, it will be safe, but finding your name within two hours is a mission that is bound to fail.”
“The choice is yours, and I will not interfere.”
Only Liu Haoyu could hear the black book’s words.
Qin Liu, who was standing beside him, did not notice the extra shadow behind her.
She was just wondering why Liu Haoyu was looking back.
“Is there anyone behind us?”
“No one,” Liu Haoyu said calmly, taking out the Hong Yu, “Come in, it might be dangerous from now on.”
“Ah… Okay…”
This was the first time Qin Liu didn’t want to go into the Hong Yu, but since Liu Haoyu said so, she couldn’t force him to let her stay.
After Qin Liu entered the Hong Yu, the black book’s tone was a bit mocking.
“It seems you have made your choice. You are as fearless as ever.”
“Only by not fearing death,” Liu Haoyu put the Hong Yu back into his pocket and said, “can one truly survive. In the line of ghost exorcism, being timid will only lead to a quicker death.”
“As expected of you, hehe… Good luck, don’t die.”
With that, the black book completely disappeared.
Liu Haoyu was left alone in the dark and silent mountain forest.
Liu Haoyu took a long breath, then rummaged through his backpack for a white burial suit and put it on.
After putting on the burial suit, Liu Haoyu’s gaze fell on the full moon hanging high in the sky.
“The last time I saw such a full moon was at Qin Liu’s cenotaph… Time flies so fast.”
The man, dressed in a white burial suit, sat on the steps of the scenic area and took out his last cigarette from his pocket, lighting it.
The strong and pungent smell of smoke filled his lungs, and he slowly exhaled.
The time was now half past four in the morning.
The coldest part of the day was just before sunrise.
After finishing the last cigarette, Liu Haoyu stubbed it out in the ground.
He knew what he would encounter walking in the underworld without Qin Liu’s protection.
It was not an exaggeration to say that this was a decision to risk his life.
But… as the saying goes, only by facing fear can one overcome fear.
Constant avoidance would only lead to a quicker death.
Taking out a black blindfold from his backpack, Liu Haoyu looked up at the moon again, as if to engrave the bright full moon into his mind.
“Whoosh… It’s time to go.”
After saying that, the man in the white burial suit slowly covered his eyes.
The world turned pitch black.
The aura of death slowly enveloped his entire body.
As his eyes were covered, Liu Haoyu could feel.
Many terrifying things were watching him from the darkness.
After taking a breath, he took a step forward.
Since he couldn’t see anything, Liu Haoyu could only walk forward based on his memory.
Liu Haoyu didn’t know where he would end up.
He only knew that his steps could not stop.
The whispers in his heart must not stop either.
“Liu Haoyu… Liu Haoyu… Liu Haoyu…”
Although he was muttering his own name in his heart, for some reason, Liu Haoyu seemed to hear the same words echoing in his ears.
These voices, from the beginning, were exactly the same as his own intonation, and gradually began to change in various ways.
“Liu Haoyu… Liu Haoyu… Liu Haoyu…”
At this moment, the voice did not seem to be muttered by Liu Haoyu, but rather by someone else.
Some voices were mocking, some were angry, some were sympathetic…
Liu Haoyu felt like a pile of nosy relatives and friends were chattering around him, making him unbearably irritable.
However, as the voices grew closer, a trace of chill rose in his heart.
With his eyes covered, the fear he experienced in his heart was several times stronger than usual.
One after another, soft whispers echoed in the darkness and spread into the distance.
Because his eyes were covered, Liu Haoyu had no idea what was happening around him.
Perhaps the tombstones lining the roadside had already reacted?
Or perhaps the deceased lying in the graves were crawling out?
Or perhaps, countless rotten corpses were already standing beside him, silently watching him walk, who could tell…
With continuous chanting, Liu Haoyu even felt like he no longer recognized his own name.
But it was precisely because of the non-stop chanting that something finally reacted.
A withered and stiff hand firmly grasped Liu Haoyu.
The fear, like an ice-cold abyss, instantly spread throughout his body.
However, even so, he still couldn’t open his eyes.
Soon, more and more hands appeared, firmly gripping Liu Haoyu’s body.
As if to tear him apart, the strength of these hands began to increase.
The pulling and dragging of these hands caused intense pain throughout Liu Haoyu’s body.
And Liu Haoyu could feel these hands dragging him along.
Where were they taking him?
Even with Liu Haoyu’s strong heart, fear and oppression found him at this moment.
Even Liu Haoyu’s instincts were starting to urge him to open his eyes.
But Liu Haoyu could only suppress this urge, because he knew that if he opened his eyes now… he would definitely see many terrifying entities.
He couldn’t open his eyes, he could only keep chanting his name in his heart and walk forward step by step.
After being grabbed by these things, Liu Haoyu no longer kept chanting his name in his heart.
He let these strange and terrifying entities lead him to an unknown place.
After an unknown amount of time, the tearing pain finally disappeared, and so did the ghostly hands that had been tearing at him.
Liu Haoyu stopped.
The strange and noisy sounds surrounding him also completely disappeared.
The whole world returned to silence.
At this moment, Liu Haoyu slowly took a breath and slowly exhaled.
With his emotions calming down, he pulled off the blindfold.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene before him was vastly different from before.
A gloomy and desolate green mist obscured the road ahead.
Within this mist, there was a path leading to a deeper and darker path.
The time was now… five in the morning.
The sun was about to rise.
The lonely souls had brought him here, which meant that what he was looking for was ahead.
Facing the deep and strange darkness before him, Liu Haoyu did not hesitate and continued to move forward.
As he entered the small path, he found that the tombstones on both sides of the road were becoming fewer and newer.
On them, he also saw familiar names.
Police Officer Li Rongjun…
Auxiliary Police Officer Li Suqin…
Real Estate Salesperson Wang Faqiang…
These names were all covered in blood.
This blood was filled with ill fortune and deathly aura.
Even if Liu Haoyu wiped it away, it would be of no use.
Besides that, he also saw Deng Shuyuan’s name.
However, this name was not covered in blood filled with deathly aura.
It seemed that he was still alive.
Liu Haoyu took out the fire axe and smashed this tombstone into pieces.
But because Deng Shuyuan’s life and death were still unknown, it was difficult for Liu Haoyu to say whether this would be able to save him.
After smashing the tombstone, Liu Haoyu’s gaze fell ahead.
The tombstones ahead had become very few, only two or three left.
Liu Haoyu had a premonition that the tombstone with his name carved on it must be among them.
Therefore, he took a deep breath and continued to walk forward.
However, at this moment, Liu Haoyu realized that his current location was too far from the human world.
Although he was walking on the road, he could feel his body sinking continuously.
Darkness gradually enveloped his vision.
The extreme sense of weightlessness made him instinctively release adrenaline.
His heart began to race.
Even time seemed to slow down.
The feeling of falling that never seemed to end made it difficult for him to even walk, and he involuntarily felt fear.
As a result, Liu Haoyu even had to wonder if he would be able to get back.
Finally, his footsteps stopped, and the terrible feeling of falling also disappeared.
Before Liu Haoyu stood a very new tombstone.
The epitaph clearly read three large characters – Liu Haoyu.
It was obvious that this was definitely his tombstone.
Liu Haoyu slowly raised the fire axe in his hand and brought it down fiercely.
The tombstone shattered.
The splashing stones grazed Liu Haoyu’s face, leaving a bloody gash on it.
At this point, the terrifying feeling that had been lingering around Liu Haoyu finally disappeared.
He closed his eyes, and the terrifying Red Gate no longer appeared.
It seemed the lock had finally been released?
With the release of this lock, the Red Gate completely lost its initiative, and he no longer had to worry about sneak attacks from the darkness.
Liu Haoyu picked up his mobile phone, intending to check how much time was left.
And find a way to return to his body.
However, when he picked up his mobile phone.
He found that his reflection on the phone screen had a fresh, deathly aura-filled bloodstain drawn across it.
