Cataclysm Chapter 86: Tomino’s Hell 04

Chapter 86: Tomino’s Hell 04

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Wei Jie’s features had always been decent, but due to years of poor sleep and nerve degeneration, his physiognomy had become somewhat fierce, unsmiling, and fatigued. When Wei Guangming asked him to come down and meet with Chen Yang and the others, Wei Jie’s attitude had been decent in front of his father. But once Wei Guangming left, he revealed a less than welcoming expression.

Wei Jie held a set of keys and said, “Let’s go. I’ll take you to the fifth floor to see the painting.” After speaking, he headed upstairs, warning as he walked, “You’d better not touch anything in the collection room on the fifth floor. Everything there is rare and precious. If something’s missing or damaged, it’ll be hard to get again.”

Chen Yang followed behind and directly asked, “Mr. Wei, it seems like you don’t like outsiders visiting the collection?”

“Just call me Wei Jie. No one likes greedy rats eyeing their belongings. As soon as people see the treasures in the collection room and realize their value, even fear quickly turns into greed,” Wei Jie seemed to recall the greedy faces of those who had come before, disdain and disgust in his expression. He continued, “I know that Old Wei asked you to come to solve the case of the security guard’s death, but to be honest, the security guard had it coming. He was after the stuff in the collection and even tried to steal the treasures!”

Chen Yang replied, “He died so strangely. It’s very likely that an evil spirit was involved.”

“That’s just something you can say. Who knows if it’s true. Ha, of course, you’re all Taoist priests, so your first suspect is naturally the evil spirits and monsters. But if it really was an evil spirit, how come none of us who go in and out of the collection every day have died yet? That painting has been hanging in the collection room for nearly a month, and nothing’s happened to us.” Wei Jie sneered as he stepped up the stairs to the third floor.

Chen Yang briefly glanced at the door to the third-floor collection room. The door was locked with a regular large padlock. But behind it was a second security door and an electronic lock, so even through the door, the collection inside couldn’t be seen. He turned his attention back and said, “I heard you often have auditory hallucinations.”

“It’s just the medication. The drugs for treating nerve degeneration can cause hallucinations,” he stopped, turning back to say, “Did Qi Yin tell you that?” Without waiting for an answer, he guessed, “She always likes to show off her ‘motherly’ side in front of outsiders. Tsk, she’s younger than me, but she’s in such a rush to be a stepmother. Did she describe me as a mentally ill patient who’s delusional, with that pitiful and innocent expression? I just have trouble sleeping. It has nothing to do with those supernatural events. She claims not to believe in ghosts or spirits, but she loves to play around with them.”

Wei Jie continued up the stairs, “The old man is all mystical mumbo-jumbo, and the two little brats are always playing tricks and trying to get attention. You’d better not be misled. You won’t find anything in the museum anyway.”

Kou Xuanling exchanged a glance with Chen Yang and asked, “Before we took the case, Mr. Wei, you mentioned that there had been many strange supernatural occurrences in the museum over the past month. Things that were originally placed properly suddenly fell or appeared elsewhere, and electrical devices that had been turned off unexpectedly turned on. Especially the security guard, whose death was so strange—don’t you find that suspicious?”

“Of course, I’m suspicious, but I don’t blame it on ghosts. I suspect people with bad intentions. Qi Yin manages the electrical devices at home, so whether they were turned off or not, it’s her word against ours. Who can know what’s true? As for things randomly falling or appearing elsewhere, that’s easy to explain. Wei Zhizhi is poorly brought up. It must have been her causing the trouble.”

Mao Xiaoli frowned. “Wei Zhizhi is still under five years old. Even if she was trying to cause trouble, she wouldn’t have the energy to do it every day.” She didn’t like how Wei Jie, due to personal feelings, was directing all the blame at Qi Yin and her child, especially without hesitation in accusing the five-year-old of causing the supernatural events.

Wei Jie glanced at Mao Xiaoli with an odd look before briefly smiling, the smile vanishing as quickly as it came. “With a mother like Qi Yin, Wei Zhizhi is smarter and more cunning than anyone.”

By this time, they had reached the fifth floor. He stopped in front of the door and used the set of keys to open it. Then, with a smug tone, he used both fingerprint and facial recognition to open the electronic door before stepping inside. “Only the old man and I can use fingerprint and facial recognition to open the door to the fifth floor. Others can only access the third and fourth floors. Qi Yin doesn’t even have the right to step onto the third floor. She’s put in so much effort, but in the old man’s eyes, she’s nothing.”

Hearing him disparage Qi Yin so much, it was clear there was some bad blood between them. Chen Yang, trailing behind, whispered to the others, “What do you think… happened between them?”

“Cheating.”
“Being cucked.”
“Former lovers turned into stepmother and stepson.”
“Thinking they’re children, but turns out they’re siblings.”

Everyone’s responses were almost in unison, and Chen Yang high-fived them with a knowing smile.

They entered a three-meter long hallway with another door at the end. Wei Jie opened it and walked inside, and the others followed. The room was pitch dark. A loud click echoed as the lights turned on. Mao Xiaoli, seeing what was in front of her, took a step back in fright, unable to stop herself from muttering, “Damn!”

Chen Yang’s face didn’t look too good either. No wonder Mao Xiaoli had cursed—who wouldn’t lose their temper if they looked up and saw a soap corpse? In front of them was a two-meter-long, one-meter-high glass box, inside which was a soap female corpse. A sign outside the box explained the corpse’s origin and value.

The soap corpse was considered a type of mummy, its preservation almost perfect. The formation of a soap body required specific conditions: the right soil, humidity, and temperature. When the body decomposed, its fat and water combined to form corpse wax, which pushed out the body’s moisture and prevented the fungi responsible for decomposition from surviving, thus preserving the body. However, for a soap corpse to form, the entire body had to be covered in corpse wax, which meant the body needed to be fat—essentially, it had to be obese.

The soap female corpse in front of them had been dug up from a tomb and was over three hundred years old. The more widely known soap corpse, which had been stored in an American museum a hundred years ago, was only about two hundred years old according to the investigation.

Wei Jie said with pleasure, “This soap female corpse is the museum’s treasure. It was an unexpected find. Ten years ago, the old man went on a business trip to a remote mountain area, and the villagers there unearthed this soap corpse. They thought it was an omen and wanted to burn it, but luckily, the old man saved it in time, bought it, and brought it back to be displayed on the fifth floor. Every time the museum opens, people come to admire the soap corpse.”

The soap female corpse was completely covered in corpse wax, lying on her back in the glass box. Her mouth was wide open, her facial expression contorted in pain, as if she had been tortured before death. She was displayed in the museum’s glass case, and in the dim light and eerie atmosphere, the scene looked terrifying. But Wei Jie’s gaze was filled with admiration and fondness, and his words were full of praise, making it seem even more strange.

Zhang Qiudao wandered to a wall, which was covered in human face slices. He stood still for a moment before asking, “Are these all real?”

Wei Jie replied, “Of course they’re real. These are human face slices, over a hundred years old. I dare say no one’s collection can compare to ours—complete and well-preserved. These face slices come from men and women, old and young, from all different regions. They have significant research value, though if you don’t care about the research, you could use them as human face masks. They can make you look like a different person, no need for plastic surgery.” He walked to the other side of the wall, gazing at the face slices with a look of infatuation. “Here, we have ten face slices, all of beautiful women with captivating expressions.”

Mao Xiaoli shuddered and rubbed her arms. She frowned and asked, “I’m curious—this Wei family collection has only been established for fifteen years. Where did you get these face slices that are over a hundred years old?”

Wei Jie smiled, “The collection has only been around for fifteen years, but the Wei family has been collecting things like this for over a hundred years. Maybe it’s genetic, or maybe it’s because we’ve been immersed in this kind of hobby since we were young, but we’ve always loved collecting these strange and unusual items. Of course, to ordinary people, they look terrifying, and they’d probably think we’re all freaks. But we just enjoy having different tastes. You only see their horror, but we appreciate the hidden beauty in them.”

Mao Xiaoli murmured, “You appreciate their hidden beauty? Do they agree to be displayed like this?” Was it truly fulfilling to exhibit a corpse or a human face slice just to satisfy people’s curiosity or twisted tastes? It sounded nice to say they were uncovering their virtues and admiring their beauty, but at its core, it was about fulfilling one’s morbid interests.

“What did you say?” Wei Jie asked.

Mao Xiaoli replied nonchalantly, “Nothing.”

Perhaps noticing the disinterest in the expressions of those around, Wei Jie put away his showiness and pride, leading them to another area. “I’ll take you to see that painting now.”

The collection room also housed many bizarre items, including corpses, human bones, and a variety of bloodthirsty, violent items like a “sister drum” made from human skin, Thangkas, and skull bowls. But as they walked further, they reached a different section, filled with other kinds of collectibles—no more human specimens. When they passed the soap-wrapped corpse, Mao Xiaoli suddenly felt a chill run down her back. She spun around, looking carefully, but found nothing unusual.

The museum was eerily silent; there was no sound, not even footsteps, only a deep stillness. The floor was covered with a carpet, which Wei Jie explained was to avoid disturbing the items on display. Mao Xiaoli had originally mocked him, asking why he, who didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits, would still worry about disturbing the exhibits. Wei Jie responded that in his mind, these items were alive, full of charm.

His answer made Mao Xiaoli feel uneasy. She slowly turned around, trying to convince herself that it was just her imagination, and shook her head to catch up with Chen Yang and the others. She didn’t notice that as she turned, the head of the soap-wrapped corpse tilted to the left with a loud “crack,” just in time to watch them leave. The faces on the wall, cut from human skin, seemed to come alive in that moment, staring at Chen Yang and the others as they walked away.

After rounding a wall, they reached the east room of the collection, where they found the painting. It was called “Grotesque,” and it was said to be a self-portrait of the painter, a convicted murderer who had been executed, created with a mix of blood and paint. The figure in the self-portrait resembled a devil, with sharp, uneven teeth, its mouth open in a grotesque, blood-smeared grin, as if it had just eaten human flesh. The large, jagged ears and devilish eyes, combined with the bald head, gave it a terrifying, distorted appearance.

Just standing in front of the painting, even through the glass, the stench of blood was overwhelming. It was a typical ominous and cursed item—Wei Jie’s family actually dared to collect it! But then again, considering they also kept the soap-wrapped corpse and human-face slices, it wasn’t that surprising.

Wei Jie asked, “Well? Do you see anything unusual?”

Chen Yang pointed a finger at the glass and asked, “When did this drop of blood get there?”

“What blood?” Wei Jie leaned in to look, and saw a drop of crimson blood near the wide open mouth of the self-portrait. After a moment of confusion, he said, “It’s probably the painter’s own blood. This painting was made with his blood mixed into the paint, so finding bloodstains here is completely normal.”

He spoke with less confidence, and his eyes began to flicker. Since the painting was moved into the collection room, he had visited every few days, and he had already memorized its details. He had never seen this drop of blood before. Staring at the painting, he suddenly felt that the mouth of the figure seemed to open wider, the grin more sinister. Even the blood on its lips, once blackened, now appeared much brighter red, as if it would open its mouth at any moment and bite off someone’s head, slowly gnawing their body.

He shook his head, stepped back a few paces, and said, “I must have taken too much medicine and am hallucinating. There’s absolutely nothing supernatural here. This painting is just a regular painting.” Wei Jie was adamant, quickly convincing himself, “The blood was here before; there’s nothing strange about it.”

Chen Yang asked, “Is that so? Because it looks like it was added later to me.”

“It’s just your imagination,” Wei Jie suddenly snapped, his tone sharp. “You can’t just assume this painting will kill someone because the artist was a serial killer! In your minds, anything used by the dead is cursed, evil, and dangerous. If a house has had deaths, it’s considered haunted, but there are accidents all the time on the roads—does that mean you won’t drive down those streets?”

Chen Yang spoke calmly, “Don’t get too worked up. Calm down.” He suddenly met Wei Jie’s eyes, and in an instant, Wei Jie regained his composure but felt some regret for his outburst.

“Sorry, I’ve been having some personal issues lately, and my mood has been unstable,” Wei Jie said as he stepped aside to calm himself. As he leaned against the wall, he suddenly heard someone call out, “Move left.” Reflexively, he took a step to the left, and in the next moment, he heard a soft “thud” sound. He turned to see a candle holder that had been hanging on the wall had fallen and was now sticking into the floor.

If no one had warned him, the sharp tip of the candle holder would have pierced his skull. Wei Jie stared at the candleholder on the floor, and a wave of panic spread from his chest to his throat, choking him and making him feel as if he couldn’t breathe. He vaguely remembered similar situations happening several times within the month. Even his second sister and her husband had been unable to bear the constant sense of danger and had moved out of the collection room yesterday.

Wei Jie fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a calming pill, and swallowed one. After a deep breath, he gradually suppressed the suffocating panic. Then he looked at the person who had warned him—it was a handsome young man who didn’t usually stand out in the crowd but had a good rapport with another young man. After giving the warning, he turned his back and whispered something to the other young man.

Wei Jie pondered for a moment, then moved closer to Lu Xiuzhi and tried to get on their good side. Chen Yang and Kou Xuanling exchanged a glance and silently made a hand gesture, signaling “It’s your turn,” before quietly motioning for Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli to step aside for a conversation.

Chen Yang said to them, “Wei Jie’s mental state isn’t stable. He often appears dazed. He seems to have experienced situations like what just happened before. Though he appears frightened, he strangely remains calm. But he insists that all the supernatural events are caused by human interference, blaming Qi Yin for everything. But he’s not important. The negative energy in this collection room is heavier than in any other part of the museum. The bodies, the human face slices, and the human-skin drums, Thangkas—they all carry vengeful spirits. But the most terrifying thing is that painting. The executed serial killer might have truly used blood and the painting as a medium to hide inside and escape the grasp of the underworld. Xiaoli, see if you can find any information on the previous owner of this painting.”

Mao Xiaoli said, “No problem.”

“Qiudao, keep an eye on Wei Zhizhi.”

Zhang Qiudao asked, “What about Qi Yin?”

Chen Yang shook his head, “She doesn’t matter. Her thoughts, her schemes, have nothing to do with us, including her relationship with Wei Jie. The conflicts within the Wei family are none of our business. Just stay out of it.”

Their goal was to capture the evil spirits causing trouble in the collection room, not to solve the Wei family’s problems.

“Understood.”

After giving his orders, Chen Yang went back to look at the painting. The more he stared at it, the more he felt that it was evil. He knew there was something wrong with the painting, but he couldn’t just solve it with force. For the Wei family, they likely hoped to capture the evil spirit without damaging the painting. Given this, he could only wait for the evil spirit inside the painting to emerge on its own for a complete resolution.

As he thought this, Chen Yang absentmindedly glanced at a glass display case next to the painting. Inside the case, there was a parchment scroll. The scroll was covered in crimson text, and upon closer inspection, Chen Yang realized the characters were in Japanese. The plaque in front of the display case read: “Tomino’s Hell,” with a brief description stating that it was a terrifying song that, if recited from beginning to end, would lead the person to hell.

Chen Yang didn’t know Japanese, so even if he wanted to, he couldn’t pronounce it. Wei Jie, who had followed Lu Xiuzhi into the room, saw Chen Yang standing next to the scroll and said, “It’s just a frightening song, nothing more than a rumor. Even if you recite it from start to finish, nothing will happen.”

Hearing this, Chen Yang looked up and asked, “Have you recited it before?”

“Of course. I understand Japanese.” Wei Jie replied, then proceeded to recite it once more. After finishing, he said, “See? Nothing happened. The value of the scroll lies in the human skin it’s made from. I heard it’s the skin from a boy named Tomino, who was murdered by his father. His back skin was flayed and used to make this scroll. The background of the terrifying song might be true, but the curse doesn’t hold.”

“Do you think all the murders you encounter are just accidents? Isn’t your constant fear itself a form of being in hell?” A sudden childish voice came from behind them. They turned to find Wei Zhizhi standing there.

Wei Zhizhi, holding a clown doll, stared expressionlessly at the human skin scroll in the display case. Upon hearing her words, Wei Jie’s face grew angry, and his flesh twitched with irritation. He yelled louder and louder, “Wei Zhizhi, are you done with your constant sarcasm? Who taught you to say things like that? Was it Qi Yin? Was it her?!”

Wei Zhizhi suddenly broke into a smile and stuck out her tongue at Wei Jie. “Hee hee hee.” Wei Jie, enraged, moved to strike her, but she quickly ran away. He angrily chased after her. After leaving the collection room, Wei Zhizhi popped out from behind a corner and laughed, taunting Wei Jie by calling him a fool. She then ran up to Chen Yang and seriously said, “Although you told me adults shouldn’t play hide-and-seek, I still like you.”

Chen Yang crouched down. “Why do you like me?”

“Huh? Don’t you want to ask who taught me to say that? Whenever they hear me saying weird things, they always ask.” Wei Zhizhi tilted her head in confusion, her expression innocent. But the words that came out of her mouth felt much colder. “But even if they ask, I won’t tell them.”

“You won’t tell me?” Chen Yang asked.

Wei Zhizhi gave a troubled expression. “Should I ask them instead?”

“No need.” Chen Yang had already figured out who had taught her those eerie words. He patted Wei Zhizhi’s head and smiled. “Zhizhi is very well-behaved and very good.”

Wei Zhizhi widened her eyes and suddenly turned to run out. She accidentally bumped into Wei Jie, who grabbed her to stop her from running. Wei Zhizhi struggled and cried, but Wei Jie was determined to teach her a lesson. He grabbed her arm and asked Chen Yang and the others to leave the collection room so he could lock the door.

Chen Yang walked over, picked up Wei Zhizhi, and with a calm, yet commanding gaze, forced Wei Jie to unconsciously release his grip. “Zhizhi is only five years old. It’s natural for her to play. Mr. Wei, as an adult, there’s no need to take your personal grievances out on a child.”

Wei Zhizhi hugged Chen Yang and softly whispered, “It hurts.” Her arm had bruises where it had been pinched.

Wei Jie said, “You’re being tricked by her. She’s just like her mother, the best at deceiving people.” Wei Zhizhi, scared, nestled into Chen Yang’s arms, her face buried in his neck, silently.

“I can’t control you, let the old man teach you a lesson himself,” Wei Jie said, then started walking downstairs, likely in a hurry to inform Wei Guangming.

Chen Yang gently comforted her, saying, “It’s okay, don’t be scared.”

Wei Zhizhi whispered, “I didn’t mean it, I was just reminding him.”

“I know.”

Wei Zhizhi’s voice was so soft that only she could hear it, “It really was a reminder, but too bad he didn’t listen…”

When Chen Yang and the others reached the first floor, they found the downstairs in chaos, with shouts and wails mixed together. They also heard Wei Guangming yelling at Qi Yin, “Who told you to call an ambulance? Call my personal doctor right now, quickly, get him to come!”

Qi Yin meekly hung up the ambulance phone and dialed Wei Guangming’s personal doctor instead. When Wei Guangming saw Chen Yang and the others coming downstairs, his gaze briefly lingered on Wei Zhizhi, becoming somewhat complicated, but he quickly regained his composure and invited them to the living room.

Chen Yang asked, “Mr. Wei, what happened?”

“It’s nothing, Ah Jie just accidentally fell from upstairs and got a minor injury,” Wei Guangming downplayed the situation, though it was much more serious than his casual words suggested.

Later, they learned that when Wei Jie tripped on the third floor, in an attempt to break his fall, he grabbed a nearby decorative item. The item fell, and when Wei Jie tumbled down the stairs, his leg landed on it, piercing through his body.

The author’s note:
“Tomino’s Hell” is a terrifying song, and it is said that anyone who recites it will be cursed. Its backstory is fictional, as there is very little reliable information about the song, essentially none. Therefore, a fabricated background is included. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Tomino%27s_Hell 

 

 

 

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