Chapter 229: Two Hundred Twenty-Five: Escape (Two-in-One)

Two Hundred Twenty-Five: Escape (Two-in-One)

Looking at that blood-smeared, mangled smiling face in the video chat, a chill shot straight to Misaki Naomi's brain. She glanced at the deathly pale He Jia'an beside her, and the instinctual movement to lean on him stalled. Gritting her teeth to muster her courage, she stepped forward and stomped the phone into two pieces. Yet, the broken phone continued to work; the damaged screen flickered, playing Mimiko's eerie face, and the ruined speaker continued to emit intermittent ghostly laughter.

The sense of terror did not vanish; instead, it added a few more layers of bizarreness.

"If you're so capable, fix my phone again then," Misaki Naomi said stubbornly. "With that kind of skill, why not go be a phone repairman instead of playing god and ghost to scare people?"

"Heh." A weak He Jia'an heard Misaki Naomi's words in a daze; despite his lack of strength, he was still amused by her.

"Uncle, don't die on me." Hearing He Jia'an's voice, Misaki Naomi said worriedly. She supported his waist, looking at the desolate and gloomy surroundings, knowing full well that things were far from over. "Can you still stand?"

He Jia'an did not speak, merely moving his feet with difficulty, using Misaki Naomi's shoulder to stand up again. He lowered his head and said, "Not dead yet. Let's go."

Seeing He Jia'an in this state, Misaki Naomi felt a sour ache in her nose. While supporting He Jia'an and walking in the direction he pointed, she said guiltily, "I'm sorry, it's all because of me..."

"Yeah... it's all your fault, so you have to take responsibility. Don't you dare die here, or else this half-life of mine will have been for nothing." To save a bit of energy, He Jia'an kept his eyes closed almost the entire time he walked, only occasionally lifting his eyelids to check the path. He knew what she was thinking the moment he heard her words.

Misaki Naomi pursed her lips, holding back her tears, stuffing the sorrow deep inside. Her eye sockets turned red, and for a moment, she dared not speak again, because once she opened her mouth, the guilt would surge into her throat and mind along with her ragged breathing, and then the tears would be unstoppable.

However, He Jia'an felt his body growing colder and his consciousness gradually blurring. The pain from the wound on the back of his head was slowly fading. He knew his physical condition was trending toward the dire, so he whispered, "Say something to me. Don't be silent; it feels weird."

"Mm." Tears seeped from the corners of Misaki Naomi's eyes. She wiped them away quickly and said with a nasal tone, "The way Uncle saved me just now was very cool."

"... My human cushion is too thin now; I didn't hurt you, did I?" He Jia'an said with his head lowered.

"No, you protected me very well." Misaki Naomi couldn't help but grin, then quickly wiped the corners of her eyes again.

He Jia'an: "If it were me from a few years ago, you would definitely have been able to feel my firm chest muscles and be captivated by them."

"Pfft, bullshit, I wouldn't." Misaki Naomi felt a bit shy and annoyed, her small mouth pouting slightly as she muttered, "Even without those, I've already felt Uncle's charm."

"... You have good taste."

"Uncle, after we get out, can you wait for me to graduate?"

"Okay." He Jia'an didn't even lift his head. He felt the ringing in his ears growing louder, to the point where he suddenly couldn't hear what Misaki Naomi was saying.

Even if he couldn't hear or understand, listening to Misaki Naomi's voice made He Jia'an feel peaceful inside. All the pain in his body became trivial, and his state of mind was tranquil as never before.

Misaki Naomi also noticed that He Jia'an's responses were becoming smaller in range. The path ahead grew darker, and shrill echoes came from the depths. Although afraid, she still firmly moved forward step by step, because this was the direction Uncle pointed; as long as he didn't say stop, she couldn't stop.

To her, what He Jia'an had said earlier was the only hope for her, who was now aimless, even if this hope might lead to a dead end.

Step, step, step...

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Footsteps came from the depths of the dark corridor, and the school's clock tower emitted a hollow funeral knell.

The pervasive darkness coiled like a gloomy vulture, waiting for a life to wither.

Misaki Naomi dragged the increasingly heavy He Jia'an forward without stopping. Because she didn't know what else to talk about, a forced smile appeared on her desperate, pretty face. "Uncle, I'll sing for you, okay? No matter how I sing, you aren't allowed to say it sounds bad."

A grandfather's clock that was big and tall

It was my grandfather's clock

It hadn't stopped for a hundred years

It was a clock to be proud of

It was bought on the morning

Of the day my grandfather was born

And now, that clock will no longer move...

Misaki Naomi could no longer hold on; she collapsed to the ground, covering her face and weeping.

Step... step... step.

The footsteps drew closer and finally stopped in front of her. Misaki Naomi wept, then screamed hysterically: "Kill me or carve me up, whatever! I'm not resisting! What's the point! Just let me die!"

"... Student, what are you saying? What are you doing!? Wait, what's going on with this gentleman!? Such a severe injury!" Just as Misaki Naomi was in despair, a high-intensity flashlight pierced her eyes at close range. The person holding the flashlight shouted at her in shock and panic.

"Eh?" Misaki Naomi was a bit dazed. She opened her tear-blurred eyes and looked around, discovering that while it was dark, the moon outside the window was bright and flawless, without a trace of murderous bloodthirst. The security guard uncle standing before her was calling for his companions on a walkie-talkie while checking the injuries of the unconscious He Jia'an.

Suddenly, Misaki Naomi couldn't hold back and burst into tears again, this time more intensely and loudly.

"Uh, does this count as me being dead?" He Jia'an rubbed his head in embarrassment, standing barefoot inside the Forest Cabin shop. Looking at his hospital gown, his vision wasn't blurry, his head didn't ache, and his injuries were gone. Except for his feet feeling light, he was as healthy as if he hadn't died at all.

"Team Leader He, you weren't dead to begin with." Wei Jiang, dressed in red, reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. With a gentle press, He Jia'an's feet planted firmly on the ground, no longer floating.

"Really?" He Jia'an let out a sigh of relief for some reason. "As long as I'm not dead. Things aren't over yet; if I just ended it there, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to rest in peace."

"It's fine, I can still hook you back." Wei Jiang smiled slightly and patted the Shackles at his waist.

He Jia'an: "I didn't expect you to be into such perverted things now, kid."

He shook his head with a pained expression, as if seeing a former comrade fall from grace.

Wei Jiang pretended not to understand the joke. "Tell me, what's going on with you now?"

He Jia'an stopped messing around and, as he walked toward the front desk with Wei Jiang, explained the ins and outs of the matter.

"... It was at the most critical moment that the ability of the New Year Red Envelope took effect again, actually scaring that Abnormal mire away. That's how I wasn't eaten by it. But to protect the little girl by acting as a human cushion, I almost fell to my death. Fortunately, before I lost consciousness, I found a way out and had the still-mobile little girl Naomi drag me out." Recalling that experience now, He Jia'an felt a sense of lingering fear; it had been a heart-pounding, nine-deaths-and-one-life ordeal.

Speaking of this, He Jia'an couldn't help but smile at Wei Jiang: "That we could get out, come to think of it, I have to thank that kid Xin Junmao and his... pet? If it weren't for their guidance at the last moment, I wouldn't have found the way out."

It turned out that while Misaki Naomi's attention was drawn by Mimiko's video call, He Jia'an had noticed Miss Zhao and Xin Junmao appearing in the shadows—or more accurately, the two of them merged together. They appeared and pointed out the path to him, and perhaps they had even secretly cleared the "filth" in that corridor; otherwise, he and Misaki Naomi likely wouldn't have left so smoothly.

"Next time I run into him, I will try my best to return the favor." He Jia'an smiled, then looked toward Lin Laoban, who was watering the only potted plant in the shop. His smile faded slightly. "Boss, can you tell me what the situation on Sakura Island is exactly?"

After this ordeal, He Jia'an realized there were many quite Abnormal things on Sakura Island now. For instance, Mimiko's Curse—he was now certain that it was the "Blessing" power that had once appeared on Yu Lianyun. Furthermore, perhaps Hanako's Curse was also a "Blessing."

After Lin Ling finished watering the Stone Leek on the table, he waved his hand gently to drive away the black cat that was planning to bully the little red flower again. Then, turning to feed the deformed octopus, he said, "There are too many situations. Which one do you want to ask about?"

Hearing this, He Jia'an was silent for a moment, then asked respectfully, "I want to ask, why has the 'Blessing' of the past appeared again? Logically speaking, the 'Blessing' has already been dispersed; its power shouldn't have become the same as it was in the beginning."

Back then, Yu Lianyun had done something that could almost be called a danger to all humanity. To weaken the Blessing's targeting and power toward its recipients, she had liberated the source of the Blessing, diffusing it to the whole world, and even the entire universe.

This resulted in the Blessing having almost no lethality for recipients who weren't deeply affected. Even Yu Lianyun, who had once come into direct, close-range contact with the power of the Blessing, did not die when the Blessing finally came to pass.

Therefore, when Mimiko's Curse appeared, He Jia'an was surprised—how had the Blessing become stronger again, and how was it capable of killing people once more?

To this question, Lin Ling answered with a smile: "Since it can be dispersed, it can naturally be gathered."

He Jia'an's pupils shrank sharply. "Could it be that someone is utilizing the power of a Blessing? But... how is this possible? To think there are people who knew of the existence of Blessings even earlier."

Lin Ling smiled and said, "Is this something so surprising?"

Upon hearing this, He Jia'an was momentarily speechless.

It was true; Blessings had existed since ancient times, but there had never been a clear understanding of them before. They were all just regarded as a form of spiritual sustenance, ethereal and void, until Yu Lianyun bought a videotape from here, became entangled by a Blessing, and then witnessed the manifestation of the Blessing with her own eyes, finally abandoning her inherent perceptions and confirming that a 'Blessing' is a form of tangible power.

But there was another reason why He Jia'an dared not believe it: he had always thought that Blessings were spread from the Forest Cabin, from Lin Laoban, and that this power should not have existed in this world originally.

Yet looking at it now, if that were truly the case, the timeline did not match up. Yu Lianyun spreading the Blessing was something that only happened in the last few years, while the Curses of Mimiko and Hanako could be traced back much further.

"May I ask, since Mimiko's Curse, Hanako's Curse, and Yao Zhenzhen's videotape are all essentially a type of Blessing, can they be solved using the same method?" He Jia'an asked humbly, though he felt quite unconfident inside when he posed this question.

He thought to himself that, following the solution for the videotape Blessing, the Curses of Mimiko and Hanako should both involve finding the source of their spread and then releasing them all into the outside world through some method.

But what were the sources of Mimiko's and Hanako's Curses?

The source of the videotape Curse was the final dumping ground of the deceased, which was actually relatively easy to deduce and find.

Yet the remains of Mimiko and Hanako were not missing; they had both been laid to rest, and the source of the Curses had instead become untraceable.

Lin Ling did not give a direct response: "Whether it is Yao Zhenzhen, Mimiko, or Hanako, they are essentially just Avatars of a Blessing, a form of manifestation. Although the negative factors they carry are related to them, it does not mean they are necessarily the root."

He Jia'an was stunned and hurriedly pressed, "Boss, could you explain it more clearly and simply?"

"Hmm... then let me give you an example." Lin Ling thought for a moment, then clapped his hands, seemingly having thought of an idea. "Once upon a time, in a small town, there lived a famous fool, and there was also a scholar known in town for his learning. There was a gap between them, but they were friends from childhood."

"Then one day, the scholar suddenly died, murdered by his cheating and vicious wife in league with her lover. After the fool heard about this, he slaughtered the entire families of both the scholar's wife and her lover... Hmm, having given this example, do you understand?"

So abstract! He Jia'an couldn't help but complain internally, but he grasped Lin Ling's meaning and nodded: "I understand. It's like the fool avenging the scholar; although the one with the deep resentment should have been the scholar himself, the one who ultimately took action was the fool."

"I know what to do now. Thank you for clearing up my confusion, Lin Laoban." He Jia'an said sincerely.

Lin Ling waved his hand with a smile and said the most tempting words in a calm tone: "Would you like to buy something?"

After hearing this, He Jia'an was somewhat moved, but thinking that he had already bought a New Year Red Envelope, and he still didn't know what price he had paid while receiving the protection of the New Year Red Envelope, if he were to make a deal with Lin Laoban now, it would purely be a case of having too long a life.

"Next time." He Jia'an took a deep breath and resisted the urge to spend. "Once this matter is settled, if there is an opportunity, I will definitely come."

"Then I look forward to your visit." Lin Ling felt no regret and never forced customers to spend.

"Hiss." He Jia'an woke up, first blinded by the bright sun, and then feeling a piercing pain as if his whole body were riddled with holes, especially the tearing sensation in the back of his head, feeling as if his brain were about to detach from his body.

"He Jia'an, former member of the Shenzhou Region Xuanmi Group Twelve Zodiac Squads, captain of the Tiger Team, Grade A Mysterious Secret Investigator, corresponding to a current S-Class Investigator. Retired due to the Abnormal influence of the Lord of Yellow Sands, receiving treatment at a mental health facility specifically established by the Xuanmi Group for personnel with mental abnormalities, suddenly escaped two weeks ago... I wonder if there are any errors in what I have said?"

He Jia'an followed the voice and looked over, only to see a white-haired man smiling like a fox slowly walking into his field of vision.