Flowers of the Departed Souls - Chapter 16

Chi Ziming did not accompany them to Bird Slope; instead, he paced anxiously on the inn’s rooftop.

Never before had Chi Ziming felt such a naked threat of death. He would never forget the bloody words on the window: The chill of hell will pursue you like a nightmare, no one can escape. Yes, who would be next, besides him?

Fate seemed to be playing a trick on him, neither big nor small. Originally, his purpose for coming here was to commit suicide. This was meant to be his last stop in life, because Cai Yilian once told him by the sea, “If we grow old, let’s live a peaceful life here. If you don’t want me one day, I want to spend my last days here.” But fate seemed to have played a cruel joke on him; she was the one who abandoned their love, not he. She left him so decisively, without even a backward glance.

But now, he hadn’t yet gone to the other world, yet he was witnessing the people around him die one by one. He felt confused and shocked. He wanted to know the reason. He wanted to catch the killer. They didn’t want to die; this was not right. However, he had tried to analyze, rushed around, exhausted every method, yet so far, there were no clues. And they all died so restlessly, so unpeacefully, so painfully and terrifyingly, so incredibly bizarrely, so mysteriously and incredibly cruelly.

No, I don’t want to die like this. I’d rather choose my own way of dying than have my eyes gouged out, my blood drained by Departed Soul Flowers, or any other cruel death. No, I don’t want to. He frantically shook his head, his heart filled with panic, fear, and despair. He wanted to jump off, but he remembered Xia Yimin and Zhong Dan. What difference would his death be from theirs? He didn’t want to die so horribly. He remembered that bottle of tranquilizers.

So Chi Ziming ran down from the rooftop, rushed to his room. Two police officers were guarding the door. “Can I go in? I want to get something.”

The two looked at each other and shook their heads. “Not now. Wait until they come back.”

“I, I have a bad heart. I must keep my medicine with me. I’ll be out immediately, I won’t touch anything else.” Chi Ziming pleaded with them.

They looked at each other. “Alright, just get your medicine and come out.”

Chi Ziming entered the room, glanced at Ge Jianliang’s dried, mummy-like corpse, as if freshly unearthed from a desert. Then he opened the drawer, took out the bottle of tranquilizers, and seeing the strange jade yue, he also stuffed that piece of jade into his pocket.

As Chi Ziming continued towards the rooftop, two thoughts appeared in his mind: Should he continue his suicide attempt, or should he leave this damned place? This question tormented him incessantly. No, he couldn’t escape it. That was the God of Death; how could he hide from the God of Death’s eyes and ears? No, he would rather choose death himself than let death come for him. When he thought of the tragic deaths of Xia Yimin, Zhong Dan, and Ge Jianliang, he shuddered with fear.

No, no, I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to die so painfully and terrifyingly, without even a complete body. I want to choose my own death. His hands trembling, he opened the bottle cap and poured the pills into his mouth.

After he swallowed the pills, his mind experienced a brief moment of clarity. He suddenly discovered an important, very obvious problem that he had overlooked: Why were the victims always guests, and not Luo Xiaofeng or other villagers? Why was it so precise?

If there truly was a God of Death, then the people he wanted to retaliate against should be the villagers, not outsiders. Outsiders had no grievances or connections with him. And the guests at the inn were all outsiders. This clearly didn’t make sense. If there really was a God of Death, he shouldn’t only target guests. He suddenly realized this was a conspiracy. He stumbled and crawled, wanting to go downstairs, wanting to tell them that there must be a huge conspiracy involved, but his weakening body only made it to the staircase. The strong medication had already begun to take effect. His consciousness was blurring. He tried desperately to shout, but ultimately, only a very faint sound, inaudible to anyone, escaped him.

He used the last bit of his strained willpower to reach the staircase on the second floor, then collapsed. At this moment, only a few words were in his mind: eternity, slumber.

However, this time, Chi Ziming once again entered that world of both truth and illusion.

Chi Ziming returned once more to this ancient, ruined city of Qingxu. That world was always as clear and eerie as just before dawn.

He lingered for a long time around the ancient city walls. Slippery moss grew from the weathered, broken remnants. In the sky, a moon hung emptily, expressionless like a cut-out piece of white paper. It seemed even it had grown numb to loneliness. What a profound sadness. And this time, was he truly dead? Why had he returned here again? Was this Realm of Qingxu truly his final resting place?

He suddenly thought of that woman, the one named Ke’er. He touched his pocket; the jade was still there. If all this was a dream, then where did this jade come from? If it was all real, then was the place he was in now truly existent?

He pinched his face; he seemed to feel no pain. It was over, he must be dead. At this moment, someone suddenly patted his shoulder. He was startled, turned around, and it was Ke’er, looking very cheerful. “We meet again.”

“Hey, tell me honestly, how did I get here?”

“Actually, this world exists in many layers of space. The reality you live in is a three-dimensional space plus one dimension of time. Ordinary people can only exist in three-dimensional space. We are now meeting in another layer of space. This is not just a coincidence.”

“I don’t understand what you mean. It’s like a sci-fi world.”

At this point, Ke’er’s eyes began to dim. “Only those who have inadvertently entered this space can easily come in. Do you remember, when you were little, under the grape trellis in your backyard, you thought you were asleep, but you actually entered a strange world? That is this world. So, when you came in, did it feel familiar?”

Chi Ziming thought for a moment. Indeed, when he was six years old, he had a very strange dream. He dreamt he came to a clear, ancient kingdom that had become ruins, very similar to this place. But it was very brief; he felt lost there for a moment, then immediately woke up. At the time, the memory was very clear, but with the passage of time and nothing special happening, he didn’t pay much attention to it then and slowly forgot about it. He never imagined that he had actually entered another world.

Ke’er continued, “Actually, there’s one other person who entered this space. However, the reason I chose you is because you are closest to death. Only those who wander uncertainly on the edge of life and death can more easily enter this layer of space. You know why I sought you out?”

Chi Ziming shook his head.

“I hope you can take me away from here. I don’t want to stay here anymore. I’ve been in this damned place for over four thousand years. Do you know how I’ve spent these four thousand years?”

Chi Ziming shook his head. “Thank you, I really don’t want to know. And besides, I don’t even know how to get out of this cursed place. How can I take you with me?”

“This requires a price. I don’t know if you’ll do it for me, because it could also take your life.”

Chi Ziming grew even more confused. “What exactly do I have to do?”

“How many times have you seen me?”

“Twice.”

“Then, both times, under what circumstances?”

Chi Ziming thought for a moment. The first time he met her was after collapsing in Illusion Cliff, almost losing his life. And this time, he swallowed pills to commit suicide. Could it be that only in such a near-death state could he see her?

Ke’er seemed to read his thoughts and nodded. “Only when you are in a comatose state near death can your soul temporarily leave your body, and only then can you enter this space, this Liangzhu ruin with five thousand years of culture. And I am sealed here, wandering lonely every day in this clear and cold space. I’ve had enough. Please, help me, okay?”

“Wait, this is the Liangzhu ruin? And how were you sealed?”

“Yes.” Ke’er’s gaze drifted to a very distant place, as if she was trying hard to recall those distant past events. Looking at her solemn expression, it truly seemed as if she was remembering events from thousands of years ago.

“Over four thousand years ago, Liangzhu was prosperous, valuing jade and various precious artifacts. My father was a jade craftsman, and our family lived a busy yet healthy life. But when I was eighteen, that terrifying flood changed everything. My mother and younger brother both drowned. Only my father and I survived. However, my father still couldn’t escape the plague that followed the flood. Before he died, he brought me to this place. He said Liangzhu was about to become a ruin, and the plague would claim everyone’s lives. He locked me here with the light of a divine jade, so I would be immune to all poisons and would not experience aging, sickness, or death. But I’ve had enough. I’d rather age, get sick, and die like a normal person than stay in this cold, boundless ruined city. I can no longer bear the boundless loneliness and desolation here. Please, take me away from here. I will adapt to the real world.”

Chi Ziming thought for a moment. “So, tell me, how can I take you away from here?”

“Only after you experience your third near-death experience can you pass through this divine jade light and then take me away from here. But you’ll only have thirty minutes. If you exceed that time, I will become a corpse, and you will die too. There’s also a possibility that you won’t be able to recover from your near-death state, and it’s not every time you are about to die that you are lucky enough to survive. After thirty minutes, if your soul cannot return to your body, then it can only dissipate forever. You need to think carefully.”

Chi Ziming suddenly thought of something. “Does that mean I can only wait for the God of Death to come upon me, wait for him to kill me?”

Ke’er looked at him puzzled. “God of Death?”

“It should be a serial killer named after the God of Death, Thanatos. Everyone he has killed has died in a very strange way, and all of it has happened inside the only inn in Luoyang Village. The victims are all guests; two committed suicide after their eyes were gouged out, and another died from blood being sucked by Departed Soul Flowers. I am the last guest. I don’t know what kind of cruel death awaits me now: eye-gouging, blood-sucking, or an even more terrifying and cruel death? No, I don’t want to die like that. No, I’d rather stay here. I don’t want to go back to that terrifying world. I’ll stay here with you, and then you won’t be lonely, and I won’t have to endure that chaotic and absurd world anymore.”

Ke’er pondered for a moment. “You said, Departed Soul Flowers suck blood?”

Chi Ziming nodded. “Yes, like the blood-red Departed Soul Flowers blooming by the city walls in this ancient city.”

Ke’er’s face suddenly turned very grim. “Could it be?”

“What?”

Ke’er pursed her lips deeply, unable to utter a word. After a moment, she finally squeezed out a few words, “Are you sure those flowers are the same as these flowers?”

Chi Ziming nodded. “I’m sure, exactly the same. I even saw with my own eyes how they drained my roommate’s blood. And I wasn’t the only one who saw it.”

Ke’er murmured, “These flowers, they originally don’t suck human blood. I will investigate this thoroughly.”

Investigate? Could this really be related to this ancient city? However, Chi Ziming didn’t want to ask more. Perhaps asking would be useless. He only hoped Ke’er would voluntarily tell him the reason.

“Your time is up. You should go back quickly. I’ll send you back.”

Chi Ziming really didn’t want to return to that world. “Can’t I stay here forever? I like it here, and I can endure this world of ruins. I really don’t want to go back.”

“No, you can’t. You must help me. You are the only one who can help me. You see, that divine jade on your body has already absorbed your spiritual energy. It is already slowly receiving your aura, and it will unconsciously protect you. You know, if not for it, you might not have survived these two times. So, even as repayment, please, you must help me, okay?”

Ke’er looked at him with pitiful, mournful, and plaintive eyes. When he woke up, that sentence kept echoing in his mind: You must help me, please.

As he looked at the pristine white walls and bedsheets, and the nurses in white uniforms coming and going in the hospital, he knew he had survived once more.

Having experienced two deaths, neither successful, was this fate, or was God intentionally playing a cruel joke on him, relentlessly?

The first time, he returned from Illusion Cliff. This time, he had his stomach pumped after taking tranquilizers. Touching his uncomfortable and empty stomach, he suddenly felt all his old accumulated grievances and malice were thoroughly purged, like waste from his digestive system. Although he was very weak, he felt a sense of rebirth.

He began to feel that life was actually beautiful, but now, he was waiting for a third death, when he no longer wanted to die.

He didn’t know what kind of cruel death awaited him.