Arc 3: Luodong Village
Chapter 31: Lin Fengque
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
At the instant she was about to fall from the pull of inertia, Qin Dongwan’s hand was suddenly grabbed by Lin Fengque who rushed over. The opposing forces nearly tore her apart, every inch of her bones screaming in pain.
The female ghost sitting by the well was completely enraged. Her water-soaked hair spread out like slick, glistening black algae, and her nails, sharp and sunken into her flesh, pointed straight at the meddlesome Lin Fengque.
The young man seemed prepared. He leaned back to dodge the strike, the foul wind whistling past his face. The ghost swiftly crawled up along the smooth wall of the well!
“Run!”
Lin Fengque wasn’t a strong man who could fight well. Facing the fast-moving ghost, the two of them had no chance at all, so they turned and ran in separate directions.
Qin Dongwan barely escaped with her life and had no will to fight. Seeing the ghost enter the building, she couldn’t run right under its nose, so she turned and hid inside a room with its door left open.
It was an empty room. The bed frame was not too low, just enough for her to crawl under. Qin Dongwan slipped in without hesitation, but the dust hit her face so hard that she almost coughed out loud, tears forcing their way out of her eyes.
The door was slightly closed, as if to deliberately hide something.
The ghost that drifted into the building had lost its sense of direction, but when it saw this door, it suddenly stopped. Though its hollow eye sockets had no eyeballs, an eerie curve lifted where its eyes should have been.
The old wooden floor was covered in thick dust, and now it bore messy footprints from someone’s panicked steps. The ghost’s pale bare feet slowly followed over those prints, the grin in its empty eyes growing deeper, full of confidence as if it already had its prey.
The room was empty.
A faint, annoyed sigh echoed, and the ghost turned to leave. But just as it neared the door, it suddenly crouched down. Beneath its tangled black hair was a swollen, pale face. Those hollow sockets stared straight into the space under the bed. There were no normal features on that face, only a chilling malice crawling over it, inch by inch searching for life to strangle.
Still, her senses found nothing but emptiness.
The ghost flew into a rage. Its thin claws swung wildly, tearing through the space, but after a while, it found nothing. Finally, full of bitter resentment, it left unwillingly.
When the sound of movement grew farther and farther away, Qin Dongwan, who had been hiding in the corner holding her breath, finally crawled out. She quietly took off her shoes and crept toward the stairs.
She didn’t know where Lin Fengque had gone, but it was clearly unwise to search blindly now. Running around like a headless fly would only make it easier for the ghost to catch her.
The window rattled in the wind. The old staircase that connected the three floors was bathed in a dim silver light, dust floating faintly in the air. The way ahead looked endless.
A chill wind began to spread upward from her feet. Qin Dongwan instinctively reached for the stair railing, only to find it slick like a fish, slipping easily from her grasp.
The wind licking at her exposed ankles grew colder and colder, danger closing in without a sound. Holding her sneakers, Qin Dongwan took a deep breath and ran faster up the stairs.
Thud, thud, thud.
Dust rose high, and the wooden staircase began to shake violently, step by step, without warning. She lost her balance and almost tumbled down.
Something unseen was climbing upward rapidly, getting closer and closer. The chill seeped deep into her bones, making autumn feel like the dead of winter.
With a long stride, Qin Dongwan used every bit of strength she had in her twenty-some years and dashed to the top of the stairs. Just as her foot landed on the last step, a gray, lifeless face suddenly appeared from the darkness to greet her.
In the abyss-like sockets was endless cold, and the ghost’s claw, thick with death, lunged toward her fragile eyes. Qin Dongwan couldn’t stop in time and quickly tilted her head to the side to dodge. Her sweat-soaked arm trembled as her nerves tightened to the limit, grabbing the railing beside her. She twisted her body, ready to jump down.
A streak of light flashed through the darkness like the curve of a scythe, but death’s strike missed. The ghost grew angrier, its heavy body pressing down on the stair railing, making the entire staircase tremble as if it would collapse.
Just as the ghost’s claws were about to strike again, a light suddenly flicked on, and it froze, pulling back at once.
The old kerosene lamp burned a faint spark in the darkness. Hope and despair pulled against each other, but in the end, hope won for now. The ghost, unwilling and resentful, quickly retreated, soon swallowed by the deep, dark night, never to be seen again.
Watching the direction where the ghost vanished, Qin Dongwan who was still shaken, didn’t have the confidence to chase after it. The slippery stair railing in her hand had turned dry again, and she pulled herself up with effort.
The dim flame flickered, reflecting faint shadows in Luo Shu’s bright purple eyes.
Having barely escaped, Qin Dongwan finally steadied her breath. When she saw Luo Shu open her mouth as if to speak, she only shook her head, pulling her back into the room before placing the kerosene lamp on the table. Her nerves, which had been stretched to the limit, finally relaxed a little, and only then did she feel the soreness left in her muscles after that burst of strength.
Just a little more, and she would’ve fallen into that ghost’s hands, probably the first to die that night.
“It’s…the ghost from the well.”
Qin Dongwan wanted to say that Lin Fengque had saved her, but when she recalled Luo Shu’s strange anger earlier, she swallowed her words.
That guy was indeed handsome, but when it came to life and death, even if he were Pan An* reborn, she couldn’t possibly have any girlish thoughts about him.
*Pan An (潘安) was a prominent Chinese fu poet in the Western Jin dynasty. He is popularly referred to as and was well known for his good looks from a young age. "Pan An" has become the Chinese byword for handsome men.
What’s more, even though Lin Fengque seemed easy to get along with, he actually carried the sharp and calculating air unique to businessmen.
From the questions he asked the NPC Pingping at the very start, it was clear he was skilled at coaxing information. First, he shared small, harmless details to seem friendly, and later, when danger came, he saved them, each move carefully measuring their worth and ability.
He had been observing from the beginning. If Qin Dongwan had recklessly sought death on her own, he wouldn’t have stepped in to save someone doomed to die soon. But when the right chance came, he rescued her, then split up to escape separately. This way, most of the ghost’s attention would likely fall on Qin Dongwan. If she could survive that chase, it would prove she was capable enough to work with.
Even so, he did save her life, so Qin Dongwan couldn’t bring herself to dislike him. He wasn’t the type to take advantage without giving back, he also took real action to show his value.
In a place this dangerous, showing kindness for no reason would only raise suspicion. Lin Fengque had found a perfect balance between two extremes, not scheming too much, yet not acting rashly to the point of losing his life.
He was a man as clever as Hua Qingjiu.
Snapping out of her thoughts, Qin Dongwan noticed Luo Shu still staring at her, listening patiently for once.
“The ghost’s face had no features, only hollow sockets without eyeballs. It kept attacking my eyes. I think it wanted to dig my eyeballs out and stick them into its own sockets.”
When the ghost attacked her, it always aimed straight for her eyes, never once touching her neck or heart where a single hit could kill. Thinking about those terrifying empty sockets, that was the only explanation Qin Dongwan could come up with.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but when that family of three came in earlier, only two of them had shadows. The father is taller, so we can rule him out first. Pingping and her mom are about the same height, but they were walking too fast to see clearly which one had no shadow.
I woke up because I heard some noise. When I opened my eyes, I saw someone sitting by the well, combing her hair in the reflection. I stared at the ghost for a while and was then lured downstairs to the well. As for this kerosene lamp—”
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
While speaking, Qin Dongwan glanced at the lamp and saw the wick burning down fast, the flame dimming by the second. It looked like it would burn out completely soon. That ghost seemed to have a natural fear of this kind of light, but the kerosene lamp wouldn’t last long, at most saving them once.
Things were getting tricky, Qin Dongwan frowned.
“Forget the lamp for now. Judging by its size, that ghost looks a bit like Pingping. She’s short, with long hair. Remember to stay alert during the day.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a gust of wind blew past and the kerosene lamp went out. The room, once warm and bright, was now left with only the cold glow of the moon. The warmth on their bodies seemed to fade away with it. Qin Dongwan hurriedly climbed back onto the bed, no longer daring to look toward the window.
Cold air rushed into the bed, chilling the very parts of Luo Shu's body that she had managed to warm up. Meanwhile, the girl next to her, obnoxiously snuggled herself closer. A strand of her bangs fell softly, and her clear eyes showed helpless fear.
“A’Shu, I’m scared.”
Qin Dongwan’s voice matched her gentle, non-aggressive beauty. It carried a bit of girlish sweetness mixed with a low, magnetic softness. Now, with a touch of pleading in her tone, her curved eyes glimmered with a hint of couquettishness and playfulness, quietly opening a crack in Luo Shu’s guarded heart.
Their bodies touched, warmth slowly blending together. After all the exhaustion, the comfort of the soft bed made Qin Dongwan forget her doubts. The messy thoughts in her head gradually faded away. Drowsiness returned, and this time, she slept soundly until morning.
They were awakened by Pingping’s mother. The woman knocked and entered the room, her face full of regret.
“Your tour guide has some business tonight, so he won’t be able to join you at the bonfire party.”
“…Mom, did that sister really die? Is the tour guide uncle going to her funeral?”
The crisp voice came from outside the door. The woman, whose expression had been calm a moment ago, suddenly froze, then turned around quickly to cover her child’s mouth.
Author's Note:
Qin Dongwan: If I hadn't been lucky and ran fast, the first sister to die would’ve been me. Sigh.
The reason she could hide under the bed from the ghost was that the ghost didn’t sense Qin Dongwan’s breath.
Since it had no eyeballs, its vision was very limited.
