Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Hidden beneath the coffin was a secret passage.

The three of them didn’t hesitate for long before descending into the tunnel.

Since they had made it this far and discovered something was wrong here, there was no way they were going to turn back now.

The passage led downward.

They had taken a candle from the bedroom, and by its flickering, weak light, they slowly made their way down. The tunnel was long, and it took them quite a while to reach the end.

Beyond the passage was a room covering about two or three hundred square meters.

A magnificent European-style chandelier hung from the ceiling, its lights currently blazing. It illuminated the entire room as if it were broad daylight, allowing Jian Fan and the others to see everything before them with perfect clarity.

The lighting was excellent, making everything in the room look bright and translucent. At first glance, it was actually quite beautiful; however, once they realized what they were looking at, any sense of wonder vanished, replaced by a cold, creeping horror.

On display here were rows upon rows of various Skin Sacks.

The room was filled with glass Display Cabinets, and inside those cabinets were these skins, each outfitted with clothing. There were men and women, young and old-an astonishing collection.

If they hadn’t already witnessed what remained after a Vampire was destroyed, they might have been able to tell themselves these were fakes, just realistic props.

But now, they couldn’t lie to themselves.

What stood before them was real human skin.

Qin Nan had to grit his teeth to keep from making a sound.

Mu Xin’s mouth fell open. After letting out a silent gasp of shock, she quietly moved closer to Qin Nan.

She was scared.

These weren’t artificial; these were real human skins with human faces. Because there was nothing to support the facial features, they were all wrinkled and collapsed together. Seeing them up close was truly terrifying.

Jian Fan was the most composed of the three.

He accepted the sight before him quite well. After an initial moment of being stunned, he began to walk forward, his gaze sweeping across the Display Cabinets.

He was carefully inspecting the Skin Sacks displayed inside.

Although Qin Nan was reluctant, he followed suit. After taking two steps, he thought for a moment and tugged at the corner of his own shirt, gesturing toward Mu Xin.

Mu Xin was startled, but then she gave Qin Nan a grateful smile. She was indeed terrified, so she didn’t refuse. She reached out and grabbed the corner of Qin Nan’s shirt; having something to hold onto gave her a small sense of security.

The two of them hadn’t made a sound, but Jian Fan, walking in front, acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head. He suddenly stopped and turned around, his gaze falling on Mu Xin’s hand gripping Qin Nan’s shirt.

Caught in Jian Fan’s stare, Qin Nan was momentarily confused and looked at Jian Fan with uncertainty.

Mu Xin, on the other hand, felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t even know where this guilt was coming from; she just felt that under Jian Fan’s gaze, her grabbing Qin Nan’s clothes seemed somehow inappropriate.

It felt like she was… cutting in? But weren’t they a team? As a girl, it wasn’t strange for Qin Nan to look after her a bit, was it?

Why did she feel like she was intruding, or even like she was coming between Qin Nan and Jian Fan?

Mu Xin silently and quickly pushed that ridiculous thought out of her head. No matter what, she was holding onto this shirt corner today.

Jian Fan didn’t say anything. He soon turned back and continued walking, with Qin Nan and Mu Xin hurrying to keep up.

After walking halfway through the room, Jian Fan suddenly stopped in front of a Display Cabinet. Qin Nan naturally followed his gaze, and upon seeing what was inside, Qin Nan froze as well.
The Skin Sack Jian Fan was looking at was all too familiar.

Wasn’t this the man from the photograph in the study-the same Bartender they had seen earlier at the Bar counter?

What was going on?

Qin Nan, drawing on a mind filled with countless melodramatic TV dramas, tried to connect the dots.

The bride was a Vampire. After her lover died, she kept his Skin Sack, occasionally wearing it herself to wander around as a way of expressing her longing? Or perhaps she let other Vampires wear her former lover’s Skin Sack so she could reminisce?

Qin Nan shuddered.

This was just too… interesting. It was so interesting he didn’t even know what words to use to describe it.

Mu Xin’s mind was also subconsciously making connections.

However, she believed the true Vampire was the Groom in the wedding photos.

The Groom married the bride, knew about her former lover, and kept that lover’s Skin Sack. Furthermore, this Skin Sack had appeared before them. Could it be that the Groom was wearing the Skin Sack of his bride’s former lover?

If they had initially assumed this was a love triangle, then in reality, the two men were the same person. Was the bride living her life married to the Groom while simultaneously having an affair with her own husband, who was disguised in her lover’s Skin Sack?

Or, even more outrageously, perhaps the person the bride had fallen in love with in the first place was just this Vampire wearing a layer of human skin.

Mu Xin blinked.

This melodrama was massive-and quite twisted.

No one knew the true direction of the story. After observing for a few moments, Jian Fan withdrew his gaze and continued forward.

Qin Nan and Mu Xin followed him.

When they reached the end, they were faced with a wall. Hanging on the wall was a mirror about two or three meters long and as tall as a person. Strangely, the mirror only reflected the displayed Skin Sacks; the three of them were nowhere to be seen.

Qin Nan purposefully moved around. He could see the Display Cabinets beside him in the mirror, but he truly could not see himself.

What was the deal?

Qin Nan looked at Jian Fan.

Jian Fan stood before the mirror, staring at it, his brow gradually furrowing.

Qin Nan signaled to Jian Fan repeatedly, but Jian Fan seemed completely unable to receive the messages he was sending. He kept staring at the strange mirror, his brow knit tight as he pondered something, his face a mask of gravity.

Qin Nan stepped forward and nudged Jian Fan’s arm, but Jian Fan still didn’t react. Filled with suspicion, Qin Nan turned his gaze back to the mirror.

The mirror was clearly strange, but for the life of him, Qin Nan couldn’t tell what Jian Fan was seeing in it. Seeing that Jian Fan wasn’t responding, he simply stood to the side and waited.

Once Jian Fan figured it out, he would speak up.

Jian Fan remained like that for a long time. After a while, his brow slowly relaxed, but even so, his expression remained grim.

He thought he finally understood the purpose of this mirror.

Going back to the very beginning, to the information Qin Nan had obtained-

The legend of Bloody Mary.

He had always thought that the result of summoning Bloody Mary was being obliterated by the Realm of Death, until he saw this mirror. The Bartender-or rather, the original Vampire who had been wearing the Bartender’s Skin Sack at the time-had told them the answer from the very start.

A successful summons allows one to foresee the future.

What he foresaw wasn’t just ‘the’ future, but the fact that they still had a future.