Chapter 1664 - 1665: Three Origins River
"Nonsense, it’s just a building, we’ll be out in a few minutes," Du Yanan scoffed.
"Let me ask again, are you sure you want to go?"
"Of course!" Du Yanan affirmed.
"Alright then, please write your current life’s name on this paper, because once you cross over, your identities will be forgotten, and you’ll just be who you are." The middle-aged man pulled out a notebook from nearby and handed it to you, standing at the forefront, and it had to be written with a brush.
You silently picked up the brush and elegantly wrote down three characters: "Zhangu City."
The other couple wrote their QQ nicknames, Du Yanan directly wrote her name, Liang Xinyue wrote Xiao Xiao, and Wei Yingyue glanced at you as she was writing. Even though you tried to avoid her gaze, she still saw your face and immediately frowned with Liu Mei, saying, "Aren’t you Uncle Li’s grandson, Li Muyun?"
Du Yanan knew you but hadn’t noticed until Wei Yingyue mentioned it. She immediately turned to look at you, and upon seeing your face, laughed and said, "Oh, it’s you! Wow, you sure have guts, coming to the Ghost City alone."
Since they recognized you, you decided not to hide anymore. After all, it’s better to be identified right away than to be constantly watched from behind.
Besides, you noticed that Liang Xinyue seemed very afraid. Getting to know them might help you take care of Liang Xinyue later, as you still care about this sister.
"Miss, please write your name."
Wei Yingyue sketched two characters in cursive: Li Jiu.
You glanced sideways, sighing in your heart, "Sigh!"
"Good, now that we’re set, please follow me."
Saying that, the middle-aged man slowly stood up and picked up the candlestick on the table. However, what he did next startled the couple, making them squeak in fright because the middle-aged man moved without using his legs, his body simply drifted over.
"Follow." You said to the five people behind you as you trailed after the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man soon stopped, and that’s when you heard the sound of water.
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"Huh, why is there a sound of water?"
"And the sound of waves."
The young couple each commented, after which the middle-aged man addressed all six of you, "Ladies and gentlemen, your guide will arrive shortly; please wait patiently."
Then, the middle-aged man placed the candlestick on a wooden stump beside him, and after securing it, his body eerily drifted back to where he had been, where, unbeknownst to anyone, another identical candlestick had appeared. With no one else arriving, the middle-aged man slowly lowered his head, as if he had fallen asleep.
It was only then that you all realized you were standing at the edge of a pier, and by the dim candlelight, you saw a pool of water about a meter in front of you - a flowing pool of water.
The ground beneath your feet was no longer paved with blue bricks but was instead a muddy, grassy bank beside a river.
Seeing this scene, you couldn’t help but marvel, "They’ve crafted this setting so intricately, the production team behind this is remarkable."
Actually, you’ve been following closely behind the middle-aged man, matching every move meticulously, but you couldn’t detect any rollers on the ground nor any automated mechanisms. You never figured out how the middle-aged man managed to move as though gliding like a ghost.
This world is predetermined, logically there shouldn’t be any ghosts, differing from the original world.
The five people said nothing, their eyes all captivated by the faint candlelight before them.
At that moment, you noticed a faint glimmer about tens of meters ahead or perhaps further. That gleaming was slowly approaching you.
While the distance between the light and the six of you felt immense, it was unclear whether it moved slowly or simply that time seemed to pass slowly. When the light transformed into candlelight, you saw a small, worn-out boat ahead, with a candlestick glowing faintly at the bow.
At the stern stood a figure, also donned in a bamboo hat and straw coat, head lowered to obscure their face.
"Come aboard, all of you."
You didn’t hesitate because you started feeling intrigued by this place.
Although you initially came in only to avoid Wei Yingyue, now you’re thrilled by the next unexplored world.
Using the wooden platform from the dock, you were the first to step onto the weathered wooden boat. As your trailing foot left the platform, you felt a slight daze, which quickly cleared. Then the five others followed onto the boat, and you heard the girl of the young couple say to her boyfriend, "I kind of felt disoriented just now."
"Yeah, me too, almost fell into the water."
"Stay seated, if you fall in, there’s truly no return."
When the one steering spoke, everyone was startled, because it was the voice of the guiding middle-aged man!
Sure enough, he slowly raised his head, revealing the familiar and pale face. When you turned back to look at the pavilion, you found that the candlelight there still flickered, but the middle-aged man’s figure had vanished.
Moreover, at that moment, including yourself, your eyes seemed veiled by a layer of black fog. Before you knew it, the thatched pavilion and table candlelight disappeared into the darkness.
Upon blinking again, you saw an endless dark water expanse behind you. You stretched out your right hand overboard but couldn’t even make out your own hand, truly unable to see your fingers in front of you!
"M-mister, are you a magician? How did you stand here in just a blink of an eye?" the girl from the couple timidly asked the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man didn’t answer, only letting out a low, eerie laugh.
"This isn’t really anything," said Du Yanan, the criminal police officer, maintaining her composed demeanor, "The pavilion is roughly thirty meters from where we are. Because it’s so dark, our vision is pretty limited. After sitting back in the pavilion, this guy kept his head down; he likely slipped into the dark while we weren’t looking, then maneuvered the boat around to us."
People trained in criminal investigation generally don’t believe in Divine and Ghost Studies.
Yet, you couldn’t shake off your unease. While Du Yanan’s analysis wasn’t wrong, there seemed to be other unexplained elements, such as the middle-aged man’s ghost-like movement technique and the seemingly vast stretch of water before you.