Cataclysm Chapter 31: Ye Family Estate No.444 4; Female Enmity

Chapter 31: Ye Family Estate No.444 4; Female Enmity

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations 

Editor: Addis

 

The first person to go to Ye family estate No. 444 was said to be crazy, but he had been cured. It was only after two years of madness that he began to wake up. Chen Yang was going to visit this man, who lived alone in an old residential building.

When Chen Yang rang the doorbell, a thin man came to open the door. Standing at the door, the thin man asked them, “Who are you looking for?”

“He Tao.”

“That’s me. What can I do for you?”

Chen Yang and Du Shuo looked at each other and said to He Tao, “We are here to ask about Ye family estate No. 444.”

He Tao stared at them in silence, very gloomy. Just when Chen Yang thought he would shut the door on them, he took a step back and made room for them to enter, “Come in.”

He Tao closed the door behind him, ignoring them and sat directly on the sofa. The room was dark, the table was covered with instant noodles, and the computer screen was filled with Icons of old movies and TV dramas. Chen Yang also noticed that there was a talisman in the corner of the room and a statue of the Guan Sheng emperor in the corner.

After a long time, He Tao said, “I advise you not to be curious and playful, and also not to go to Ye family estate No. 444. Don’t offend those “things”. Even if you don’t believe in ghosts and Gods, you should fear the unknown things.”

Chen Yang said straightly, “What did you meet in Ye family estate No. 444?”

He Tao thought of what happened at that time. There was a frown on his face, it was filled with despair and fear. He stared at Chen Yang, “If you don’t want to die then don’t go! Don’t go!”

His mood was unstable and a little volatile. It seemed that after two years in the sanatorium, he  still had not recovered completely. When he got irritated, he would still be unstable.

For a moment, Chen Yang didn’t know whether coming for a clue was a correct decision. But if he hadn’t come, he was afraid that they would miss an important clue and cause more people to die. So he waited until He Tao regained his composure and asked, “There was a college student who went to the Ye family estate No. 444 to explore like you did and he died.”

He Tao froze, “How did he die?”

“Is there a way he should have died?”

He Tao stared at the table and blurted out four words, “The punishment of the vertical eye.”

He did know something. What puzzled Chen Yang was, how did He Tao know about the punishment? No one died in the first live broadcast expedition. The only thing that caused  a supernatural event was when the live broadcast blacked out halfway causing others to scream. He Tao then went crazy.

He Tao sneered, “Do you think we didn’t have any casualties in that live broadcast?”

”What do you mean?” asked Chen Yang.

“There were seven people there.” He Tao’s smile became like he was crying, “In the end, I was the only one who survived.”

Chen Yang’s pupils constricted, “Six people died, and there was no commotion at all?”

“No. It was as if they had evaporated from this world. The traces of life of the six people who died were wiped away. If even their parents don’t remember them, who will remember their death?” He Tao said, “Only I remember.”

He got up and took a picture from under the table. The photo was taken during the day, with an old two-story building behind them. There were seven people in the picture, all young college students.

“This is Liu Xiaojun, and this is Mai Rong. She didn’t speak well, but she was very loyal. This was Chai Ming…” He Tao pointed out the names of the six people in the photo one by one, he was quite sad. “Now only I remember them. Every time I mention them, others will think that I am having a schizophrenic attack. Only I know it’s not like that. They do exist, but no one else can remember them. Only those who participated in the Ye family estate No. 444 exploration still remember.”

“What’s going on? Did they all have an accident because of Ye family estate No. 444?”

He Tao recalled that night two years ago he still had a deep sense of fear. He described the events of that night in detail,  even Chen Yang felt terrible. Maybe this reminded him of the horror of being terrorized by ghosts before he got to sixteen years old.

The association He Tao was in before the incident wanted to do a film project, but there was no set idea on what to film. So it was suggested that they do recordings of the top ten horror stories in Shen city, and  broadcast it live to the Internet.

They thought it was a good idea. Especially after they did a live horror subject, their fans increased dramatically. Their popularity increased with the live broadcast of haunted places. When they had gone through most of the horror tales in Shen city, it was finally the Ye family estate No. 444’s turn.

At that time, He Tao and his friends were still making fun of why the Ye family estate No. 444 was listed as one of the top ten mysteries in Shen city.  It basically had no sense of existence? They thought it lacked impact and was wondering whether to add some special effects to scare people.

So they broadcasted themselves playing a Ghost summoning game in the room of the Ye family estate No. 444 where people had died before. Of course, they did not manage to summon anything. He Tao was in his room downstairs broadcasting live feed while the others introduced the stories of the three massacres of Ye family estate No. 444 upstairs. Then he heard the screams of his companions, and  the nightmare began.

“I was downstairs. I didn’t know what happened to them. As I was about to leave the room to see what was going on, I suddenly noticed a rustle above my head. I held the mobile phone torch up a little bit and a naked woman was staring at me. Her facial features were almost blank, and there was a vertical eye on her forehead.”

He Tao was very scared when he thought about how something like that was observing him all this time as he was alone in the room. He was so scared that he ran out of the room, only to find that his classmates had died one by one.

One of Mai Rong’s eyes was hammered in with a wooden stake. The long, protruding stake looked like a deformed protruding eye. Her face was covered with blood, and she stumbled towards him, she pushed He Tao into the cupboard and said to him, ‘Don’t make a sound, don’t come out. You didn’t violate… You’ll be fine.’

Then there was a tall figure with a bronze mask of terror on his face. It grabbed Mai Rong and pinned her to the ground. With a wooden stake in one hand and a hammer in the other, it gradually hammered the stake into Mai Rong’s remaining eye.

Mai Rong screamed, struggled, and died. Kneeling down towards the north, blood flowed from her two eyes, and the two wooden stakes looked like deformed eyes. He Tao was so scared that his eyes rolled back. When the tall figure left, he came out of the cupboard and found his other companions died in a similar way. Then he ran out of the Ye family estate No. 444 to call for help. When he came back, there was only blood all over the ground, and the corpses of his companions were nowhere to be found.

The police came and initially identified him as the murderer. Later, he was diagnosed with psychosis and mania. Later, they all forgot about Mai Rong and his other companions, and decided that He Tao was the only one who entered the Ye family estate No. 444.

He Tao was sent to the sanatorium for two years, and came out still being gloomy and down. However, He Tao still researched a lot about the way Mai Rong died in the Ye family estate No. 444.

“That’s the punishment for those who offend the God of Three Eyes. The three eyes also call themselves the Vertical Eye Clan, and they have an abnormal worship of the eyes. They have three eyes and love to wear bronze masks.”

Chen Yang asked, “Are you sure they all had three eyes?”

He remembered Du Shuo saying that there were no natural three eyes in the human realm. At least, they were not born with them. In his opinion, he thought it might be forehead ornaments or something. Some Wu would put on forehead ornaments with the eye pattern, or draw an eye to show that they have a holy eye.

“Some people do have three eyes, but they seldom appear in front of people and live in seclusion away from the crowd. Some historical books have records, but in the recent history books, in Guangxu year thirty, some people met more than twenty people with three eyes in Jin City. The third eye was not innate, it’s a man-made eye.”

He Tao brought a lot of materials and put them in front of Chen Yang. Chen Yang picked it up and looked at them. He turned to the information about the third vertical eye, which recorded the origin of the third eye.

It turned out that the eye worshipers adore their eyes so much that they would cut a hole in their foreheads and put a black bead in it when they were still young. Over time, the slit would heal and the black bead would be embedded in the slit. It looked like an eye standing vertically.

Chen Yang turned away from this page, and the information on the next page was about the origin of the Ye family estate No. 444. The first massacre in Ye family estate No. 444 took place seventy or eighty years ago, with four members of a family dead. According to the confession of the surrounding residents, it was known that the owner was surnamed Ye, and the family was especially religious. He believed in the Luozu, a powerful folk religion at that time. In today’s view, it was seen as a cult.

Founded in the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Luozu believed in governing by doing nothing. It was a very important folk sect in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The famous Bailian (White lotus) religion used Luozu as their base. They also believed in their idea of governing by inaction. ¹ The Luozu cult worships the Immortal mother, which was a god image created by its own sect. It was regarded as the supreme goddess and regarded as the creator and savior.

Later, it was refuted as a cult by orthodox Buddhism.

The four members of the family were all Luozu believers. At the beginning, their deaths were defined as the contradictions between believers in the sect. Then the case was closed. There was one thing in common for the first and second Ye family estate No. 444 massacres. That was all the family members were Luozu believers.

“What’s the relationship between the Luozu religion and the three eyed ghost tribe?” Chen Yang wondered how a cult that believed in ‘Inaction’ would impose the “punishment of the three eyed” which was a punishment of the Three-eyed Ghost Tribe.

Du Shuo took the information from Chen Yang and turned over a few pages and said, “Luozu creates its own doctrines and Gods. Individual religious members are very extreme. They might count excluding their sect as offending their Gods.”

Chen Yang thought about how members might have misunderstood the doctrines of their religion, hence killing other members. He also believed that Du Shuo was more reliable. The two families who lived in Ye family estate No. 444 were all members of the religious sect. It was possible that they offended a God and were revenged upon.

If the above hypothesis holds, then they needed to know whether the punisher was a member of the three eyed ghost tribe. In other words, what was the tall figure wearing a bronze mask He Tao saw? Why was it that all traces of the people he killed were erased?

He Tao said, “That’s all I’ve found. I can’t find out the identity of the tall monster with a bronze mask on. There is no information at all about it, but I know that it is still hiding in the Ye family estate No. 444.”

“Do you know how the slain offended the God of Three Eyes?”

“Blasphemy, abuse, disrespect.”

“Too general.” Chen Yang shook his head, “There is no reason for it to be counted as blasphemy just like that, unless… You didn’t go to the second floor. Your companions went to the second floor, right?”

He Tao nodded hesitantly.

Chen Yang said he understood. Then he got up and left with Du Shuo. As they went down, Du Shuo lit up the stairs for Chen Yang with his mobile phone while listening to his guesses.

Suddenly, there was a blunt noise from the building, and then there was a loud noise. Chen Yang took out his mobile phone, turned on the light and ran upstairs., “I’ll go up and have a look.”

Chen Yang was very fast. After stepping into the corridor, he found that the whole corridor was strangely quiet. All the doors were closed, as if ii was isolated from a different space. He kicked open He Tao’s door and the room was a mess. A sound came from He Tao’s bedroom and Chen Yang ran to the bedroom door. He saw a woman with twisted limbs climbing on the ceiling. Her long hair wrapped around He Tao’s neck tightly, her hands were very long and she was holding a stake and a hammer in each hand respectively. She was about to hammer down on He Tao’s eyes.

Chen Yang untied the red string on his wrist and flung it at the woman on the ceiling. The woman felt pain and let go of He Tao. She stared bitterly at Chen Yang, and suddenly opened her mouth. Her voice was like a snake, she made a hissing sound.

Long hair crawled towards Chen Yang, trying to entangle his ankles. Chen Yang dodged her long hair, ran inside, grabbed He Tao and pushed him out of the bedroom. Then he stepped on the chair and jumped to the top of the closet. He turned and threw the red string with the copper coin at the woman on the ceiling.

While the woman was shifting her head, the red string wrapped around the woman’s neck and encircled her. When her hair came stabbing at his face, Chen Yang dodged and landed on the ground with a backward somersault. Her hair went through the wall, Chen Yang glanced at it and ran towards the bedroom door while pulling on the red string.

The long haired woman couldn’t get rid of the red string. In addition, the copper coin at one end of the red string was tightly attached to her neck, and the Yang aura on it burned her skin. She was in agony and her skin sizzled.

Chen Yang ran out, and the woman with long hair rushed to him. The long hair covered the whole house. The woman with long hair suddenly appeared in front of Chen Yang, almost with her face sticking to Chen Yang’s.

He Tao stood up and yelled, “Don’t look at her third eye.”

But it was too late. Chen Yang was facing the third eye of the woman with long hair. The long-haired woman’s facial features were very small, and if one didn’t look carefully, they would almost think that her facial features were blank, as if she was just a big white dough ball. However, the third eye was a little larger than a normal person’s eye. It was closed before, but now it suddenly opened.

Chen Yang was in a trance for a moment. When he came to, he found himself buried in Du Shuo’s chest. Chen Yang shook his head, and finally woke up. He peeked at the woman through Du Shuo’s arms. The woman with long hair was found huddling in the corner of the wall, and her whole body was bound with iron chains. The iron chain was still tightening, almost twisting the long haired woman’s body, but there was no sound of bones breaking.

From her elongated arms, they could see that there were no bones in the woman – no, maybe there were bones in her head.

Chen Yang stood still and said, “Brother Du, let her go first. I want to ask her a few questions.” As he spoke, he looked up and saw Du Shuo’s cold and terrible expression which made him shut up immediately.

“Brother Du?” Chen Yang said carefully, Du Shuo seemed angry.

Du Shuo gave Chen Yang a faint glance, pulled Chen Yang behind him and took a step forward. “Do you have a knife?”

He Tao was stunned by the question, “Only a watermelon knife and kitchen knife.”

“Bring it.”

For some reason, He Tao thought that Du Shuo was more scary now. In fact, when he first met Chen Yang, he hardly noticed Du Shuo. Du Shuo was stronger in appearance and aura, but it was as if there was a layer of mist over him. Unless Du Shuo was willing to be noticed, others would ignore him.

He Tao didn’t know whether Du Shuo wanted a kitchen knife or a watermelon knife so he handed both of them to him. Du Shuo picked up the watermelon knife and walked over to the woman with long hair. After a few steps, he stopped and looked back at Chen Yang, “Stand still.”

Chen Yang said, “Oh.”

Brother Du was angry. He had to be smart.

He Tao walked up to Chen Yang and said, “You were in a lot of danger, you almost got your eyes hammered in. Fortunately, your companion got here in time.”

Chen Yang looked down and his assessment of Du Shuo’s anger level went up to the top. He would have to coax him later.

The long-haired woman saw Du Shuo coming, and retreated in fear. Du Shuo stepped on the woman’s head, moved her hair away, raised the watermelon knife, and cut it down without any expression or tenderness.

Chen Yang and He Tao craned their necks and peeked at the back of the long haired woman. They were frightened to find that the back of the woman was extremely deformed, and there were many lumps on it. After a close look, they found that the tumors were heads. The heads were still groaning in pain.

He Tao was pale. Now he knew what the rustling sound was. He thought it was the long haired woman crawling over the ceiling, but now he knew it was the groans of the heads beneath her long hair.

That scene was disgusting. He Tao didn’t stop retching and didn’t want to see it again. Du Shuo had already cut off the tumor on the back of the woman with long hair. Every time he cut down one, the girl with long hair would scream bitterly. But she did not dare to struggle. She could only scream and be cut until he was done.

He Tao admired Chen Yang for being completely calm at the scene. Chen Yang waved his hand and said there was nothing wrong with this. He had seen more disgusting things before. He Tao was even more admirable. He asked, “What is that woman with long hair?”

“A female enmity.”

“Ah?”

“As the saying goes, crazy men and resentful women. Men and women who died out of love have a lot of resentment. Female enmities are women that died from love and were in extreme heartache before their death. This results in strong resentment. Female enmities like to eat corpses. Especially the people who were feeling fear, as their resentment would be very heavy. I guess the bodies of your companions, and the bodies of two other people who lived in Ye family estate No. 444, were all eaten by this Female Enmity,” Chen Yang explained

When it came to talking about his companions, He Tao looked gloomy.

Seeing this, Chen Yang said, “If you want to kill a Female Enmity, you have to cut off the tumors on the back of her neck. Those head tumors are the souls of the people she ate. As long as they are cut off, the soul can be released and reincarnated.”

He Tao whispered, “Mai Rong! they all can be reincarnated, right?” 

“Yes.”

“Can I… see them? “

Chen Yang didn’t say anything, he just nodded.

Du Shuo threw away his watermelon knife and walked back to Chen Yang.

Chen Yang took a few steps forward, paused and looked at Du Shuo’s hands. Good. No blood. So he happily threw himself into Du Shuo’s arms and said, “Brother Du, fortunately you are by my side.”

Du Shuo hugged Chen Yang, smiled and whispered, “It’s no use saying good things. Have you forgotten everything I taught you? Knowing that there is a problem with the third eye, but when you are fighting you didn’t even think about that. When you go back, reflect on it.”

Seeing that it was useless to say good words, Chen Yang nestled in Du Shuo’s arms and didn’t speak. He hoped Du Shuo could calm down quickly, hoping that he’d forget it when they got back.

On the other side, He Tao saw his former companions and wept. He felt sorry that everyone was dead, only he was alive. He also knew that if it had not been his companions pestering the Female Enmity, he would have been killed by the long haired woman. Why was he still alive? just because Chen Yang came to help?

He Tao’s companions looked at him quietly, without saying forgiveness or comfort. They just smiled and hugged him, then they left. When the room became quiet, He Tao raised his head and asked Chen Yang, “Will they go to reincarnation?”

Chen Yang couldn’t say that even if they entered the underworld, there was no guarantee that they would be able to reincarnate. However, his companions were not big sinners, so they should be able to reincarnate. Then he nodded and said, “You can pray for them and accumulate virtue for them.”

He Tao nodded, “I will!”

Chen Yang said, “You should forget about Ye family estate No. 444. Start your life again.”

He Tao nodded and choked.

This time it went well when Chen Yang and Du Shuo left. However, Du Shuo was silent all the way. His expression was cold, and his anger was obviously not over. Chen Yang looked up at Du Shuo’s face for a long time before he said softly, “Brother Du, I know I’m wrong.”

Du Shuo answered, “Mn.”

“Brother Du, I didn’t think about it much. Just because I thought you’re by my side, so I was not afraid.”

Du Shuo didn’t speak, which meant that Chen Yang had a chance to persuade him and calm him down.

“If you are not by my side, I will not take it so lightly. Brother Du, I feel safe whenever you’re here, really.” Chen Yang kissed Du Shuo on the chin and said sincerely and courteously, “Believe me, my dear hubby.”

Du Shuo squinted his eyes slightly and put his arm around Chen Yang’s shoulder, he caressed his neck.

After six years with Du Shuo as his husband, Chen Yang knew that this meant Du Shuo was in a good mood. Du Shuo liked to hear Chen Yang call him ‘hubby’. Chen Yang felt too ashamed to call him that usually though.

“One more time.”

“Hubby.”

Du Shuo squinted and his lips were slightly raised, “When you get back, reflect.”

“Still angry?”

“You only need to re-consolidate your technique, there is no need to write a reflection essay.”

“…Okay.”

This was too unreasonable.

 

 

 

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