Cataclysm Chapter 50: Play Till Death 6; Sanatorium of Horror

Chapter 50: Play Till Death 6; Sanatorium of Horror

Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations 

Editor: Girl from the East

 

“The Bodhisattva of Peace? I’ve never heard of it.”

No one in the branch office had heard of such a bodhisattva. Probably as Chen Yang had said, some kind of evil spirit was posing as a bodhisattva to harm people. It so happened that at this time Du Shuo and Ma Shanfeng entered the room, Chen Yang repeated the same question to them.

Ma Shanfeng pondered: “Buddhist and bodhisattvas are as numerous as the sands. But there are fifty-two familiar cultivating bodhisattvas that I know of, but I really have not heard of this ‘Bodhisattva of Peace’. Seeing that it tempts the faithful to do evil deeds, and toys with their lives, I am afraid it is an evil god.”

A bodhisattva practices Buddhism, they guide people to develop bodhicitta ¹, so basically any monk or nun can be called a bodhisattva. Except for a few famous bodhisattvas who have attained “Buddhahood” and have many followers in the community, other Bodhisattva are quite unknown. This has allowed many evil spirits to pretend to be bodhisattvas and deceive people.

In times of chaos, there were demons and evil spirits pretending to be Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to gather faithful followers, only to eat their internal organs and leave behind only their skins. They would hide inside the skin and increase the flanks of evil spirits lurking in the human realm. They would continue to cause harm to the people.

Ma Shanfeng also did not know which evil gods have this name, and turned to ask Du Shuo. Du Shuo replied, “I have never heard of the “Bodhisattva of Peace”, but I have heard of the Deity of Peace.”

“Deity of Peace?”

Du Shuo, “One of the Five Deities, the Deity of Peace is usually a six-year-old child. Naughty by nature, and likes to play tricks on people.”

The Five Deities of the South and the Mao Ghost Gods of the north. They refer to a type of household Gods in folk beliefs in the north and south, they are the evil gods who gather money and will usually answer any requests. Although the southern gods were called gods, the beings worshipped by many people with incense were in fact, demons and ghosts. Although the Deities of the South had a penny-pinching and vengeful nature, they will normally bring good fortune to their worshippers. But if they do not get their way, they will cause the family of their worshipper to be ruined. The Deities of the South also love to lust after women and are narrow-minded and erratic.

The “God of Peace”, who often takes the form of a six-year-old child, is also one of the Five Deities. He does not care for women, but loves to play with the people who worship him. His mood is the most erratic of them all. Although the God of Peace is easy to invite to one’s home, the most difficult thing was to keep him pleased. Therefore, very few people will invite the God of Peace as a family deity. Over time the God of Peace became even more erratic in nature and almost hateful towards humans.

“The more powerful the incense, the stronger the God’s power.” The God of Peace is good at playing with people’s hearts by tempting their deepest, most hidden desires by allowing them to sink into depravity, forcing them to believe in immunity from sins,” said Du Shuo. “After all, it is a ‘God’ who teaches them to do evil.”

If even the ‘Gods’ approved of their killings, then those people who committed sins would be even more carefree and guiltless when they murder other people.

Chen Yang wrote down the “God of Peace” as a key suspect. Then he looked up and asked Kou Xuanling. “Have you heard back from Changhe Sanatorium?”

Kou Xuanling replied, “Not yet, but Ye Youyou asked me to meet with her.” After a pause, he remembered the news sent to him from the police station, so he said, “Ye Youya is being pursued by the police.”

Chen Yang was curious, “What did she do?”

“Suspected homicide.”

“Is it about the death of Ye Youya’s adoptive father?”

“You could say it’s related. But that’s only one of her victims. In the past five years, the number of lives taken by Ye Youya had piled up to twenty.”

“Hck!” Mao Xiaoli was astonished: “Killing maniac, huh? I can’t believe that Ye Youya, who is usually such a quiet and soft girl, has actually killed 20 people! Why does she kill people?”

Kou Xuanling: “I said before that Ye Youya’s adoptive father was a violent maniac with a history of pedophilic tendencies. Later, he adopted the two sisters from the Ye family. Between the ages of 13 to 16, her adoptive mother had taken her for an abortion several times.”

Mao Xiaoli’s face was filled with disgust, “Scum! It’s not enough for him to just die!” Even when she learned that Ye Youya might have killed her own adoptive father, she felt happy. The world would be cleaner with the death of that kind of scum! “Ye Youya’s adoptive mother just let her husband do such a thing?”

“Why do you think Ye Youya’s adoptive mother became mentally-ill? And why was she sent to a sanatorium? Of course it was for revenge. Her foster mother knew what kind of person her husband was, and she stayed by his side and even aided and abetted him. Not only that, but she was defending her husband. This kind of behavior of not doing evil but defending the evil is even more disgusting.”

Chen Yang sighed: “I would never have thought.” Indeed, he never thought that Ye Youya had such a sympathetic past. “So she killed people out of hatred and for revenge for her experiences?”

“The first group of people she killed were all men who had a history of molesting young children, sexual violence against women, and a tendency to serious abuse. She would use her own innocent and beautiful appearance to approach them. After gaining their trust, she began to set up the killings so that the relatives and friends of the deceased believed that the deceased was traveling or lost. Even when they died, no one would ever suspect her. The plan was very well thought out and detailed. If not for her latest mistake, I’m afraid the police would have never even suspected her.”

Chen Yang seized the key point: “You say the first group of people she killed? Does that mean the latter part of her revenge targets has changed, and may even be a mistake?”

Kou Xuanling was silent for a moment: “Yes.” The others waited for his answer, his expression was helpless: “I do not sympathize with some of the people she killed, because they are truly scums. But I also do not agree with her ways, no one is qualified to arbitrarily take others’ lives, especially when she boasts of being a messenger of justice.”

Mao Xiaoli couldn’t understand: “What are you trying to say?”

“Alas,” Kou Xuanling sighed, “the last person she killed had a history of molesting young girls, so he was tortured to death in a brutal way by Ye Youya. But, she killed the wrong person, that person was wrongly accused. Not only did he not have a history of molesting young girls, but he saved them from being molested and was framed.”

So not only did Ye Youya kill the wrong person, she killed a good person who had saved the girl who had the same experiences as herself. At this moment, Ye Youya still does not know about that, and was on the run. But if one day she learned the truth, what would happen?

Chen Yang: “She will crumble.”

The revelation would be enough to knock Ye Youya back down to despair and pain. She had lived in hell before, longing for someone to save her, and then she continued living with the sole belief of messianic punishment for the wicked. If she discovers that she has wrongly killed the light, she will be completely devastated.

Chen Yang: “It’s Ye Youya’s turn to be toyed with to death.”

She will die in despair.

Even Mao Xiaoli, who has a great deal of experience in criminal psychology shuddered at that moment: “The God of Peace is too adept at playing with people’s hearts, how can that thing run amok for so long in the human realm?”

Du Shuo: “The power of the Deity of Peace depends on the people’s incense and offerings. Normally, he will not have much power. If you want to maintain the incense, you have to ensure that the followers’ wishes are fulfilled. But the God of Peace is originally a capricious, narrow-minded sinful animal, so usually they would die off before they gain enough power. Later on, people were more willing to make offerings to the good Gods such as Guangsheng Dijun, so the God of Peace gradually disappeared.”

The God of Peace, who was now involved in a series of incidents, has been getting offerings in the name of the “Bodhisattva of Peace”, and on the other hand has been playing with people’s hearts. But this was done with great secrecy and care, only tempting people to do evil through their dreams. That’s why they have only been discovered right now after such a long time.

Chen Yang was puzzled: “Who is providing incense offerings for the God of Peace to begin with?”

Mao Xiaoli and the rest were stunned to find that they didn’t know who was providing incense and offerings for the God of Peace so far. They had contacted Ye Youya and Mr. Qian and found that although they had a fervent belief in the God of Peace, they had never built a shrine to worship it.

Besides, the God of Peace would never let those people build a shrine for himself. After all, Mr. Qian and the others were not the God of Peace’s followers, but only its pawns and toys. The common ending for the pawns was death, so naturally he was not too involved with them, lest it would expose himself. After their analysis, they came to the conclusion that the God of Peace is really cautious and cunning; it was careful not to reveal his traces.

Du Shuo pinched Chen Yang’s neck, “I already sent people to investigate.”

Chen Yang asked: “People from the main office?”

Du Shuo replied: “From both.”

He means that both the Tianshis in the human realm and the Hell servitors in Fengdu have been mobilized. Then this seems to be a big deal, and should be related to the evil ghost that escaped from hell Du Shuo mentioned before. Chen Yang did not ask Du Shuo about this matter, but looked at Kou Xuanling and said, “I will go with you to see Ye Youyou, and if we could, the two of us will go to the Changhe Sanatorium with Zhou Qi.”

Zhang Qiudao frowned, “I want to go too.” Mao Xiaoli was standing on her tiptoes beside him, her expression also eager and full of expectations.

Chen Yang shook his head: “You guys shouldn’t go.”

Zhang Qiudao pointed at Mao Xiaoli: “Xiaoli is a rookie, I can understand not letting her go. But why can’t I go?” Mao Xiaoli almost jumped up to choke him.

Chen Yang replied, “Because the police need the help of Tianshis to arrest other believers of the God of Peace, those believers are more or less tempted to get their hands on human lives. Some may be like Mr. Qian. Yang Hong and other people might deploy powerful spirits to claim other people’s lives. I am worried that when the police arrest the culprits, they will anger the powerful spirits and be hurt by them so I need your help here.”

“Okay.” Zhang Qiudao compromised and agreed to work with Mao Xiaoli to assist the police in arresting the God of Peace’s believers.

When Chen Yang left, he said goodbye to Du Shuo and asked where Zhou Qi was. Du Shuo said, “He has already gone to the Changhe Sanatorium, if you call him, he will appear.”

Chen Yang asked, “How do I call him?”

Du Shuo smiled, “Didn’t you learn how to use the Fengdu General Summoning Seal? If that’s too much trouble, just take this talisman with you and use the half jade ring on your necklace to stamp the seal with red clay, then burn the talisman.² Zhuo Qi will also appear in front of you if you do that.”

Hearing this, Chen Yang pulled out the half of the jade ring he had, which was hanging on a piece of red string around his neck: “Our wedding ring?”

This is their wedding ring. At first, when Du Shuo gave the ring to him, he was very moved as he touched the jade ring. However, when he saw that other people’s wedding rings were made of silver, gold and exquisite gems, he…… he still liked their wedding rings very much. The red string around his neck was worn and not taken off for a long time. Now that he heard this, he took it off and put it in his hand to look at it. This is the first time he’s taken a close look at the jade ring, he noticed some grooves on it, looking closer it looked like a Taoist seal that had been cut in half.

When he was about to look more closely, the jade ring was taken away from his hand and brought back to his neck: “Wear it well, don’t lose it.”

Chen Yang subconsciously touched the jade ring and smiled, “I won’t lose it.”

Du Shuo smiled and kissed Chen Yang on the forehead, “No one can take it away unless you take it off with your own hands.” The Fengdu Emperor’s magic seal, except for his wife, no evil spirits or demons can dare to covet it. That leads to falling into a soul scattering end which is already a cheap end.

“Mm.” Chen Yang obediently responded, “Got it.”

After the kiss, Chen Yang was a little dizzy and had difficulty breathing. He was pushed to the car with a red face, and when he looked up halfway in the ride, he was almost shocked to see the rearview mirror. He was flushed, like he had just gotten out of bed.

Chen Yang reflexively looked sideways at Kou Xuanling, who did not look fazed and said solemnly, “A gentleman would not be affected by small things such as this.” After a pause, he added: “Then again, you are not as good-looking as my Zushiye.”

“……” Chen Yang saw him put forth a perfectly cut portrait of his ancestral master. Chen Yang instantly felt very frightened, “Aren’t you too fanatic? Even the most devout Tianshis are not as fanatical as you.”

Other people simp for idols, Kou Xuanling simped for his ancestor, he was simply…… very special. Hearing Chen Yang’s description, Kou Xuanling was very unhappy, “How can you compare those young simpletons with me? They change their idols almost every day, that’s called simping, it’s not true love. I’m different, I’ve been a sincere worshiper since I was eight years old and will continue to do so in the future.”

He used the word ‘true love’. Chen Yang thought silently, but said, “If you got married, will your partner have to make sincere offerings to your Zushiye as well?” 

“Of course, as partners we should share common hobbies and common topics, right?” Kou Xuanling said with seriousness.

Chen Yang felt that he was destined to be single. So the two of them fell into an awkward silence. When they got off the bus, Chen Yang turned back to him and said, “Come on, catch up with the common lovers of the Grand Master as soon as possible.”

Kou Xuanling to Chen Yang’s words in the middle of a deliberate pause table to silent protest, he believes he can find a like-minded ‘wife’.

The two of them entered the cafe that Ye Youyou had set up for them to meet. They looked around and found her. Walking over and sitting across from her, Chen Yang said straightforwardly, “Can you let us go into the Changhe Sanatorium right away?”

Ye Youyou was surprised, and then smiled bitterly: “You have already found out about the Changhe Sanatorium? You guys work fast, then you should know more than me already.”

Chen Yang said in a soft voice: “Not as much as you do.”

Kou Xuanling: “We don’t know your purpose.”

Ye Youyou looked like she was in pain: “I want to save my sister, I want to leave all these behind. It’s not that I don’t want to help you guys, I just can’t offer you guys anything of value. I am not allowed to reveal any information.”

For Ye Youyou, her only sister was about to die. Ye Youya was deep in the haze of the past, and still sinking deeper and deeper as they speak. Ye Youyou was unable to save her and could only hope for Chen Yang and others. But she didn’t know that her sister was already set on the path of despair that once she finds out the truth, everything would be over. The so-called “God of Peace” aimed to toy with Ye Youya till her death, so no matter what choices she made, she will eventually learn the truth.

Kou Xuanling opened his mouth to tell the truth, Chen Yang stopped him and shook his head slightly. He could see that Ye Youyou regarded her sister as a spiritual pillar, relying heavily on her sister while feeling guilty for it. While her adoptive father was still alive, it was Ye Youya who protected her from abuse. If Ye Youya died, Youyou will die with her.

So the God of Peace was really very good at playing with people’s hearts, a destruction of two people. The Ye family sisters once suffered and certainly deserved sympathy, the people they killed were less than innocent people, but they acted aggressively and implicated many people. To say that they are guilty is also not wrong.

Ye Youyou: “I will bring you into the sanatorium, you……can save my sister?”

Chen Yang is not willing to lie to her: “We can not save her.”

“You can.” Ye Youyou had strange emotional fluctuations in her eyes: “the God of Peace is very fond of you. As long as you approach it and kill it, my sister will be able to come to her senses.”

“The God of Peace knows me?”

“It has mentioned you in front of my sister and me, and I guess I should have mentioned you to other believers as well.” Ye Youyou’s expression was odd: “When it mentioned you, it seemed to really like you. It said you were clean, and it encouraged us to kill you. If anyone can kill you, they can become its personal disciple. But we can’t let it find out how we killed you, otherwise it will be angry and execute the person who killed you.”

Chen Yang now understood why Mr. Qian desperately wanted to kill him at the last minute: “Good, I also want to kill the God of Peace.” After saying that, he smiled and a layer of ice formed under his eyes. The word ‘clean’ somehow reminded him of the demons and ghosts he met before sixteen. They all wanted him dead.

“I can take you to Changhe Sanatorium and tell you some inside information, but I can’t say anything when it comes to the God of Peace.”

Chen Yang got two volunteer work cards, handed one to Kou Xuanling and said, “I know. It’s good enough to be able to go in, but can you still leave after you go in?”

Ye Youyou replied, “There is a room in the nursing home that was mine. When I go there, I hide in the room at night, then leave at dawn the next day. At night the sanatorium will become very scary, no matter what you hear you can not go out. You…… have no room in the sanatorium, and it is best to leave before sunset.”

“Can you still leave after sunset?”

Ye Youyou was silent for a long time: “No.” If she could, she would not have to stay in the sanatorium every time she went there for one night until the next day. The people who sneak in will be eaten by the monsters in the sanatorium since they don’t have their own rooms to hide their scent.

Chen Yang looked at the time, it was almost 12 o’clock. So he got up: “Then let’s go now.”

The three of them drove together to the suburban town of Changhe, which was surrounded by a circle of dilapidated houses overgrown with weeds. It was desolate and cold. The car drove along a stone path that ran through the middle of the lake and ended at the nursing home. The car stopped outside and the three of them got out. 

Chen Yang looked at the time, 2:17 PM, it took more than two hours for them to get there. He took a few steps forward and suddenly heard a sound from behind him and looked back to see a large pond. The water level of the pond was very high, it almost reached land. The pond water was dark and heavy. If you looked at it for a long time, you would feel fear and trepidation, as if the pond water hid a monster to choose people and devour them.

Ye Youyou looked at the surface of the water, she had a faint shiver: “That pond, the water level has never changed before. Every time I pass through here, I’m afraid to stay. It’s as if something is staring at you from the bottom.”

Kou Xuanling curiously asked: “Is there really something inside then?”

Ye Youyou swiped the card at the door, heard a ‘beep’ sound after signaling them to hurry inside. After stepping inside, she said: “Yes, there really is. A man was bold and wanted to swim in the lake, but the water was too dark and looked dirty. So, he dismissed the idea of going into the water, but squatted on the ground near the lake to stare at. Gradually, as if possessed, his body leaned forward more and more, his face was about to stick to the water, he was going to fall. I originally wanted to remind him, and also got curious to glance at the water, that was when I saw a pair of eyes.”

She swallowed hard, remembering that image was terrifying. She continued: “I was so scared that I took several steps back, and at the next moment I realized that the person in front of me had disappeared. The lake surface only slightly rippled, and not far from my feet there were black water marks. I do not know how the watermark got there, but if I had stood a little closer, I might have also been dragged into the bottom of the lake.”

The three of them walked into the sanatorium while talking. The sanatorium was built with an old style, four stories high, forming an eight-trigram structure. Walking through the corridor and into the main entrance, you could see the hall, which used to be the place where the coffins were placed. Now it has become an outpatient hall, with only one nurse at the counter. The nurse was standing still with her head down.

Ye Youyou walked over and said, “Register for new volunteers.”

After a long time, the nurse looked up, her face was pale, her lips were painted red, and her eyes were stiff. She turned her eyes and glanced at Chen Yang behind Ye Youyou and fixed her gaze on Chen Yang, unable to move away: “Registration is ready. The available rooms are not enough, so you two can rest together in the doctor’s office for one night tonight.”

She took out the nameplate and gave it to Ye Youyou, and also took out a set of keys and handed it to Chen Yang. After Chen Yang took it, she showed a stiff smile: “Welcome.”

She said, “There are four floors and nine doctors. Two doctors and a nurse on the first floor, three doctors and a nurse on the second and third floor, and only one doctor and a few nurses on the fourth floor. You can stay in the doctor’s office on the fourth floor.”

Because of the special structure of the nursing home, they could see what was going on across the hall from any angle they stood. The nursing home was very quiet, and they could not hear the patients’ voices nor see them. When they reached the third floor, Kou Xuanling suddenly stopped, he saw white shadows standing in the same position on the third and second floors opposite to them, staring straight at them.

Chen Yang also looked back and said, “Ever since we came in, that thing has been staring at us, trying to follow us.”

Kou Xuanling asked, “Is everything in this nursing home lurking and secretly monitoring us?” Chen Yang didn’t say anything, but his expression said it all. Kou Xuanling: “Seriously? Are they seeing us as food?”

“Most likely.” Chen Yang stopped.

Ye Youyou stopped at the door of an office, she took out the nameplate from her pocket and hung it on the door, then said, “Those things will not come into the doors with a nameplate.”

Chen Yang opened the door. Inside the facilities were quite complete and there were two folding beds. At this time, footsteps came from behind him, he looked back and saw a doctor and nurse in white coats walking towards this side. When they got closer and Kou Xuanling saw the appearance of the doctor, his eyes showed astonishment.

The doctor and nurse walked past them without looking at each other, Chen Yang looked at their backs and asked Kou Xuanling behind him, “What did you notice?”

Kou Xuanling: “They reminded me of the doctor who died from starvation and became a skinclad skeleton.”

The doctor who walked by just now was thin, he looked like nothing but bones, he was almost nothing but a skeleton, it was extremely scary.

 

 

 

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