Cataclysm Chapter 114: The Roofless Crypt 06

Chapter 114: The Roofless Crypt 06

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Suddenly, the sound of noisy footsteps echoed outside, signaling a group of ghosts had found their way to the attic and were now at the door. Mao Zhen quickly fumbled along the wall, and surprisingly, he opened a hidden compartment—a small, one-meter-high square hole. He climbed in and called out to Chen Yang, “Hurry up, get in.”

At the critical moment, Chen Yang climbed into the square space. Mao Zhen quickly closed the wall behind them, and the two of them sat inside. The square compartment then descended like an elevator. As they fell, they could hear the ghosts outside breaking down the door.

Chen Yang asked, “Where are we going?”

Mao Zhen replied, “We need to leave Cloud Pool Bath. The ghosts are surrounding the place now, and the mistress of the unnamed house will soon arrive. I heard her skin was taken—did you steal it?”

Chen Yang simply responded, “Mn.”

“Is it still with you?” Mao Zhen asked eagerly.

Chen Yang answered, “I traded it with two kids earlier and gave it to them. It should still be in the process of being consumed. Is the mistress of the unnamed house a painted-skin ghost?”

Mao Zhen nodded. “Yes. Do you know that because of the Tianshi’s intervention, no humans have entered the crypt in years? Occasionally, one or two might get in, but they’re not necessarily beautiful. The painted-skin ghost’s human skin has been over a hundred years old, and it’s long decayed. She has to carefully maintain it, wearing a veil when meeting others. But you stole her skin and threw it to two little ghosts to eat. Tsk tsk, she’s definitely going to go mad.” He spoke with a mischievous tone.

The compartment shook briefly, then stopped. Mao Zhen opened the wall and descended, with Chen Yang following. They found themselves in what seemed to be the boiler room of Cloud Pool Bath. The temperature was high, and Chen Yang quickly began to sweat. The boiler room was eerily silent, with no ghosts in sight. They navigated around large cabinets, and ahead were a stove and a huge boiler, the sound of boiling water emanating from it. The lid of the boiler was missing, and steam soon filled the room, obscuring their vision.

Below the boiler, a blue flame burned fiercely, and Chen Yang could vaguely make out human bones serving as firewood. The mention of “white firewood” by the two boys earlier now made sense to him—it was human bones. He glanced at them briefly, then turned to Mao Zhen and asked, “Which way do we go now?”

Mao Zhen suddenly said, “Something’s coming. We need to hide.” They quickly took cover as two boys carrying a large, plump ghost entered the room. They stopped by the stove, sniffing the air, then said in unison, “The smell of a living soul.”

The boys placed the ghost aside and followed the scent of the living soul, heading straight for them. Mao Zhen, having been trapped in the crypt for over twenty years, was a living soul himself, but he had been tainted by the resentment of the crypt and was almost indistinguishable from the ghosts. He turned to Chen Yang and silently signaled, “Invisibility technique.”

The Taoist invisibility technique didn’t truly hide one’s body but masked their yang energy and aura, making it undetectable to ghosts. To the ghosts, it appeared as if they had vanished. Chen Yang pulled a length of red string from his wrist and tied a complex knot on his middle finger. This was a “lock yang” knot, designed to trap yang energy and prevent ghosts from sensing it.

As expected, the two boys soon stopped in their tracks. “No scent,” one of them muttered. They hesitated for a moment, then turned back and saw the “white pig” had broken free and was trying to escape. The boys immediately rushed back, one of them pinning the “white pig” down while the other pulled out a butcher’s knife and made a light cut across its throat. They positioned a bucket beneath it to collect the blood. Once the blood had nearly filled the bucket, the two boys worked together to hoist the “white pig” up a flight of ten steps, tossing it into the boiler where it would be cooked and its skin peeled off.

The steam filled the air, and Chen Yang and Mao Zhen seized the opportunity to slip out of the boiler room. Mao Zhen explained, “They’ll take the ghosts from the bathhouse, bleed them, and burn their bones for firewood. The blood and flesh are used to make special spices, which become materials for the bath. They also stuff the five organs with rock candy and feed them to the hungry ghosts. After all, hungry ghosts will eat anything. That’s why there are large numbers of ghosts around the bathhouse, and many hungry ghosts are lurking near the boiler room too.”

Chen Yang exited the boiler room, finding himself at the end of a long corridor. The dim yellow light of a lantern flickered weakly every five meters. The faint glow was nearly useless in the encompassing darkness, with the entire corridor sunk into shadows.

Mao Zhen spoke, “The hungry ghosts won’t appear within the light’s range. We just need to follow the light.” He glanced at the lock yang knot on Chen Yang’s middle finger and added, “The lock yang knot can only be used for five minutes. If it’s used too long, it will harm your yang energy. We need to get out of this corridor in that time. Once the hungry ghosts go wild, they’ll even eat other ghosts.”

Chen Yang’s brow twitched as he noticed Mao Zhen’s serious profile. “I know.” He said, then began walking, carefully stepping along the light. The light flickered on and off, adding an eerie atmosphere. Soft rustling noises echoed from the darkness, as if whispers from some unknown creature. Chen Yang could clearly feel the hungry ghosts hiding in the dark, their mouths watering as they eyed him. If he accidentally brushed too close to the dark, a hungry ghost would try to drag him into it.

Once dragged into the darkness, hordes of hungry ghosts would swarm and tear him apart.

Mao Zhen said, “Because of the hungry ghosts, ghosts usually avoid the boiler room. Old Yun, along with his wife, son, and grandsons, all raise hungry ghosts, so the hungry ghosts won’t harm them.”

Chen Yang caught sight of the old Yun ahead, his body charred, but he didn’t stop walking. “I see him. He’s coming.”

The Yun Bathhouse had once been a thriving business in the living world due to its special ingredients. The recipe for the bath was said to have been passed down through generations, but in reality, it was stolen by Old Yun when he murdered a friend’s entire family for the recipe. Later, Old Yun’s grandsons fell into the boiling hot furnace and were cooked alive. His daughter-in-law went mad, his son grew weak and terrified of his father, yet became violent. Eventually, the Yun Bathhouse caught fire, killing everyone.

Old Yun believed his death was unjust, so he opened a replica of the bathhouse in the Roofless Crypt. He wasn’t deceiving himself but was too clever to believe in reincarnation; with his sins, he’d be reborn as an animal at best. So instead, he waited in the Roofless Crypt, hoping one day a living soul would wander in, and he could take advantage of it to return to the living world.

Chen Yang pulled the bronze coin from his wrist and transformed it into a long whip. As Old Yun charged toward them, Chen Yang struck the whip into the darkness. Old Yun was shocked. He had assumed that, with the threat of so many hungry ghosts around, Chen Yang wouldn’t dare use any Taoist techniques. Using such techniques would require drawing on yang energy, revealing his identity, and inciting a hungry ghost riot.

But Old Yun didn’t know that Chen Yang practiced Ghost Arts, a technique that worked with ghosts and strengthened his yin energy while weakening his yang energy. This made him a target for malicious spirits in the living world but a powerful shield in the crypt.

The hungry ghosts quickly grabbed hold of Old Yun, tearing at his limbs before devouring him, their hunger overwhelming them.

Chen Yang wrapped the whip around his waist, then turned to Mao Zhen, asking, “You said the hungry ghosts raised by Old Yun wouldn’t harm him?”

Mao Zhen gave a bitter smile. “Even the most loyal dog, when starved enough, will eat its owner. Let alone these mindless monsters.”

Chen Yang glanced at the restless hungry ghosts, lips moving as he whispered, “Run!” The two of them immediately fled, and as they did, the lanterns behind them shattered one by one, and darkness consumed the corridor. The now ravenous hungry ghosts gave chase.

When they reached the stairwell at the end of the corridor, Chen Yang slammed the wooden door shut, locking it just as Mao Zhen caught up. On the other side of the door, hungry ghosts pressed against it, filling the hallway. Chen Yang let out a breath of relief. “Do we head outside now? Won’t we encounter other ghosts?”

Mao Zhen shook his head. “No.” He led Chen Yang upstairs but then opened a wall halfway up and crawled inside. “This is a secret passage, originally used for fire escape. Heh, I wouldn’t have known about it if I hadn’t bribed those two little ghosts. By the way, let me warn you—don’t trust any ghosts or creatures in the crypt. They’re inherently greedy. You can make deals with them, but never trust them.”

Chen Yang followed Mao Zhen out of the Yun Bathhouse, emerging in another building. Mao Zhen climbed to the fifth floor and opened a window to a room. “Come in.” He warned the lanterns below, “If any of them scream, I’ll rip out their tongues immediately.”

Chen Yang entered the room, closing the window behind him. From the window, they could see a large group of ghosts surrounding the Yun Bathhouse’s entrance. In front of them stood a towering, red-skinned, skinless monster. This monster was hideous, with jagged, serrated teeth, and was likely the mistress of the unnamed house—the painted-skin ghost.

After a while, a few ghosts dragged the two boys in front of the painted-skin ghost. The painted-skin ghost sniffed them for a while, then suddenly became enraged, tearing them apart and tossing their halves to the ground. From a distance, Chen Yang could vaguely hear the word “skin.”

The painted-skin ghost suddenly looked up toward the window where Chen Yang was hiding, but the window was empty. At that exact moment, Chen Yang pressed himself against the wall and quickly concealed himself.

Just then, the door in front of him was pulled open. Chen Yang reacted swiftly, grabbing the person who entered. The person struggled, but upon turning, they recognized each other. “Zhang Qiudao?”

Zhang Qiudao froze, then relaxed. “How did you get here?”

At the same time, inside the old house, Kou Xuanling, hiding in the shadows, collided with someone and they began to grapple. The more they struggled, the more familiar the other person’s movements seemed. Kou Xuanling, feeling something was off, tentatively called out, “Zhang Qiudao?”

The stranger paused, and they both stepped into the light, revealing their identities.

Kou Xuanling took a moment to examine the person before him and, sure enough, recognized him. He said, “Zhang Qiudao, how did you end up here?”

 

 

 

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