Chapter 282
Chapter 282
Fang Kang left the courtyard.
He continued down the main road.
He had no idea how long he had been walking when he spotted a residence up ahead.
It was completely different from the houses he had seen earlier. This was a proper traditional courtyard residence. A plaque hung above the entrance, bearing two boldly calligraphed words: “Xie Residence.” Two stone lions stood on either side of the gate.
No… that wasn’t right.
They weren’t stone lions.
Fang Kang stepped closer and studied each stone statue with a slight frown.
They definitely weren’t lions, but he couldn’t tell what they were. They had a strange appearance, like some rare and bizarre kind of beast.
Still, Fang Kang didn’t give them much thought.
He swept his gaze over the area. The main road continued farther ahead, but this residence was clearly unusual. After a moment’s consideration, Fang Kang decided to investigate it first.
Once he had looked around, he could always return to the road and keep going.
Fang Kang climbed the steps and approached the entrance.
The crimson double doors were tightly shut. For some reason, a sudden knot of tension formed in his chest.
He clenched and unclenched his hand several times before finally reaching out and pushing the door open.
He opened it only a crack, just wide enough for one person to slip through.
Then he entered the residence.
Beyond the gate lay a large courtyard. Unlike outside, red lanterns hung everywhere, and the courtyard was packed with tables and chairs, as though a grand banquet was about to begin. Strangely, however, there wasn’t a single person in sight.
Fang Kang’s mind brimmed with questions.
He scanned his surroundings. Only after finding no immediate danger did he take a few steps forward.
A short flight of steps led down into the courtyard proper.
Just as Fang Kang stepped down, a loud bang came from behind him.
He flinched and instinctively spun toward the entrance.
The doors had closed. The noise he had just heard was the sound of them slamming shut.
The wind must have blown them closed, right?
That was what Fang Kang told himself, but the creeping unease in his heart only grew stronger.
He looked at the closed doors, then at the unmistakably eerie residence, and gritted his teeth.
Instead of turning back, he headed toward the tables and chairs in the courtyard.
They were packed closely together. The moment Fang Kang entered the area, something strange happened. Although there was clearly no one around, he could hear the lively buzz of conversation. People called out to one another over drinks, and bursts of cheering rose and fell around him.
Fang Kang froze.
He turned and searched his surroundings, trying to find the source of the voices. But there was nothing. The courtyard was utterly deserted, yet the clamor echoed clearly in his ears.
Panic began to rise inside him.
This place was trouble. He might have made a mistake. He should never have entered this courtyard.
With that thought, Fang Kang decided to leave.
The more anxious he became, the more flustered his movements grew. As he turned to go, he accidentally knocked into a chair beside him.
The instant he bumped it, every voice in his ears abruptly stopped, as though someone had pressed pause.
The courtyard should have been silent. There was no one there, after all. Yet at that moment, the silence felt especially chilling. Fang Kang was so frightened that he froze on the spot, not daring to move a muscle.
Only after a long while did he turn his stiff neck and look around.
The courtyard was still deserted, but terror suddenly twisted Fang Kang’s face. His eyes widened slightly, yet his pupils reflected nothing at all. The darkness in his eyes began to spread, rapidly swallowing the whites.
In the end, his eyes became completely black.
“Ah!”
Fang Kang let out a piercing scream.
Agonizing pain tore through his eyes. Worse still, it felt as though countless things were clawing at his body, their sharp feelers scraping across his skin. The pain drained the color from his face. Screaming all the while, Fang Kang charged toward the gate.
There was clearly no one else there, yet it felt as though a crowd of people was dragging him back, making every step a struggle. Still, he refused to give up.
He fought his way toward the gate.
Just as he was about to reach it, he suddenly stumbled. Though nothing had happened, he pitched forward and crashed to the ground.
Then Fang Kang’s entire body began sliding backward, as if someone had seized him by the ankles and was slowly dragging him back into the courtyard.
“Help… Save me.” Fang Kang began crying out for help.
No one answered.
Fang Kang’s bloodcurdling screams soon rang through the courtyard, but before long, the residence fell silent once more. The courtyard remained deserted, while the tables and chairs filling it seemed to foreshadow the lively gathering soon to take place. A cool breeze swept through, gently swaying the red lanterns hanging in the courtyard. For some inexplicable reason, the scene took on an eerie air.
No one knew what had happened there.
Jian Fan and the others were still in the small courtyard.
“Did any of you hear someone screaming?” Lu Jing suddenly asked.
Qin Weiyi shook his head.
He had heard nothing, but Lu Jing had always been more alert than the rest of them. Qin Weiyi did not think he had imagined it. Instead, he wondered whether something had happened.
Qin Nan shook his head as well. “No. What did you hear?”
Lu Jing did not answer. He turned to Yang Zhen and asked, “Did you hear it?”
Yang Zhen sounded uncertain. “I think I did, but I can’t be sure.”
“What did you hear?” Jian Fan asked.
Yang Zhen’s uncertainty, coupled with Lu Jing raising the question, made Jian Fan realize something. Something must have happened here without them noticing.
“A scream,” Lu Jing replied. “There was a sudden burst of screaming just now, but it stopped almost immediately. I’m not entirely sure either because it disappeared so quickly, but…”
Lu Jing left the sentence unfinished, but everyone understood what he meant.
Lu Jing would never dismiss it as his imagination. He had only asked the others because he wanted confirmation. He clearly suspected that something they knew nothing about had already happened in this world.
“Maybe something happened to Fang Kang,” Jian Fan said.
Everyone froze.
Zhou Jingying reacted most strongly. “Fang Kang?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Jian Fan replied.
He said nothing more after that.
It was only a guess. He could not be certain what Fang Kang might have encountered. Even so, this undoubtedly proved one thing: there was something deeply wrong with this world.
“From now on, don’t split up. We should stay together whenever possible,” Jian Fan instructed.
Naturally, everyone agreed.
Zhou Jingying agreed as well, though her feelings were complicated.