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.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

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.

As soon as he set foot inside the darkness, he felt as if he had fallen into an ice cold lake. Filthy, cold, and desolate air washed in from every direction as if desiring to freeze his very soul into ice.

The air felt dirtier than the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi, colder than the yin qi of Fengdu, and more despairing than the stench of death and extinction.

If his body and mind weren’t protected by the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, he was certain his body would lose its life force, and his soul would be corrupted and frozen in just a moment.

That wasn’t all. He had taken but a single step into the darkness. Theoretically speaking, he only needed to take one step backward to leave the zone of darkness. In reality, that wasn’t the case.

The second he entered the zone of darkness, it was as if he had crossed over into a whole new world. Infinite darkness did not just exist in front of him, it was behind him as well. Like a pitiful soul who had stumbled into hell, the way back was completely cut off from him.

Hell was infinite. It was easy to enter but difficult to leave.

Making sure to conceal his presence, Ye Qing tentatively took a couple steps forward.

It was at this moment he caught a whiff of inauspiciousness. He saw a few white paper lanterns with the word 囍 on them floating out of the darkness. It was the exact same as the ones he saw before.

However, it wasn’t until the white lanterns came close that he realized that the lanterns weren’t floating after all. Someone was carrying them, and of course, they weren’t people. They were paper dolls.

They weren’t your usual paper dolls. These ones looked scorched and burned.

Indeed, these paper dolls looked so ashen and fragile that a gust of wind could blow them apart.

Unfortunately, there was no wind inside the zone of darkness, and even if there was, the paper dolls weren’t nearly as fragile as they appeared to be. They were carrying the paper lanterns and walking through the darkness with stiff footsteps.

The number of paper dolls gradually increased over time. Soon, they were standing everywhere. As the eerie candlelight painted twisted, dark shadows on the ground, a strange song suddenly came from somewhere in the darkness:

“I wear my red bridal dress, paint my pink nails red,

Comb my long hair straight, wear my gold buyao right,

Bid my parents goodbye, and climb into my red bridal carriage.

The carriage shakes left, my heart sways right.

Still I look forward to this day with all my heart.

Come with me into the main hall, bow to heaven and earth by my side.

Once we are together ever after, join me in our bridal chamber,

Sit with me by the red candle light, remove my red bridal veil,

drink my cross-arm wine, and hold my slender hand.

Together, let us be one until our heads turn white.”

......

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.