Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
Advance chapters available for patrons on Patreon. And a chapter can be sponsored by buying me a ko-fi.
Before Gu Wuji lay an ordinary neighborhood, seemingly unremarkable except for its age and dilapidated state.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, and Gu Wuji realized his body had shrunk to the size of his elementary school self. He took a few steps, a touch of nostalgia in his mind. “To dream of this time… it’s quite nostalgic.”
A group of children were playing in the neighborhood. Upon seeing Gu Wuji, their faces immediately contorted with terror, and they scattered, screaming. The adults, too, avoided him with complicated expressions.
Indeed, Gu Wuji’s home was in this neighborhood. Aside from his ghost-attracting constitution, in Gu Wuji’s memory, he was no different from any other child, except for the lack of living friends… As for those people avoiding him, wasn’t this convenient enough?
Even if other mischievous kids originally wanted to bully Gu Wuji, they would either be overwhelmed by his physical strength or be terrified by the dense yin energy surrounding him, leaving them with no courage to approach him afterward.
In fact, Gu Wuji was a legendary figure in this place; if he hadn’t been uninterested, he would probably have become the school bully long ago.
“I remember having a friend when I was little, so I didn’t care about other people’s business at all… Wait, why can’t I remember anything about him…”
Upon closer reflection, Gu Wuji realized that there were many missing parts in his memories, and many details were very blurry. Of course, he wouldn’t realize this unless he specifically thought about it.
“Then what is it…”
Gu Wuji knew that he definitely wouldn’t dream of this place for no reason; there must be something very important in his subconscious that he needed to know, which was why he dreamed of this place. Just like the dreams he had in other instances.
He followed the familiar path to the building where his home was located, which gave off a gloomy feeling just from the outside.
Upon entering the main gate, a chilling aura immediately hit him. The layout was poor, making it perpetually dark. Piles of black plastic bags surrounded the trash cans in the hallway, emitting a foul odor. The hallway lights had been broken for a long time and hadn’t been repaired, flickering only intermittently. The windows were tiny openings high in the walls, covered in dust, and blocked by neighboring buildings, letting in barely any light.
This scene could easily be mistaken for a haunted house.
“I hadn’t realized before, but my place looks like a scene from a horror movie,” Gu Wuji suddenly realized.
The building was old and lacked an elevator, so Gu Wuji had to climb the dark stairwell to reach his fourth-floor apartment.
Most people would have felt something was amiss and wouldn’t have the courage to continue, but Gu Wuji felt perfectly at ease. Without the eerie atmosphere, it felt quite strange.
He quickly reached the fifth floor. Along the way, Gu Wuji completely ignored everything: the sudden chill from the passageway, the eerie sounds emanating from the next room like someone walking on rotting wooden planks, the clanging of a cleaver…
“Perfect, I can see Mom and Dad. It’s been so long since I’ve been back to see them…”
Gu Wuji arrived at his front door, easily finding the key hanging around his neck, and opened the rusty door.
“I’m home.”
The house was eerily quiet, save for the dim light from the kitchen where a woman’s back was busy at work. The interior was sparsely furnished, far from cozy; things were cluttered, and plastic bags littered the floor.
While the atmosphere felt familiar, a strange feeling lingered. “Why… can’t I seem to remember what Mom and Dad look like at all…”
Even if he was an unfilial son, he couldn’t possibly be this unfilial!
Upon closer inspection, one would notice that the woman’s movements were extremely stiff, showing little change whatsoever. She didn’t even react to his return, simply continuing to busy herself in the kitchen. The stench of blood emanated from the kitchen, accompanied by the woman humming a tune.
Gu Wuji’s expression suddenly darkened. “What’s going on? This is too strange…”
Was this dream simply too eerie, or was it a warning, or perhaps his memory was completely wrong?
Gu Wuji strode forward, wanting to see clearly what she looked like, wanting to understand what was happening.
The moment he stepped into the kitchen, the woman suddenly turned around as if startled, but before her true face was revealed to Gu Wuji, the surrounding scene distorted and warped, quickly transforming from the kitchen into a darker, more secluded place.
“Did the scene change at such a crucial moment?” Gu Wuji was somewhat displeased, but the previous scene had already revealed too much information. “After work, I must go back and take a look. But where is this place?”
It vaguely resembled a factory, with windows boarded up, letting in only a sliver of light. The walls, peeling and covered in eerie graffiti, looked like several dark monsters ready to devour everyone.
Crying sounds came from the surroundings; it was some bound children, naturally terrified in this environment.
“I remember now.” Gu Wuji looked around. It was an abandoned factory near a residential area, often rumored to be haunted, and people would frequently go there to test their courage, but he wasn’t interested…
After all, his own home was more thrilling than this factory.
After that, it seemed a criminal gang had taken over, trying to abduct children from the area. They had kidnapped many children who came to test their courage, but because they acted so brazenly, they were quickly apprehended by the police, and the matter ended there.
Gu Wuji couldn’t remember why he was abducted back then. His most vivid memory was being trapped in such a place for a period of time.
“Someone actually tried to kidnap me? Didn’t it leave any psychological trauma?”
The clearest part of Gu Wuji’s memory was the place where he was rescued; other memories were very blurry.
“Why would I suddenly dream about this?” Gu Wuji frowned. “I remember this incident wasn’t very serious; even all the children were rescued, but…”
He suddenly realized that this place was strange.
“There isn’t a single ghost around.”
It’s normal for such places to have ghosts, but the ghosts before wouldn’t harm people; at most, they would scare the explorers. But now, there wasn’t a single ghost, which felt eerie.
“Could there be something I don’t know?” Gu Wuji had the idea to explore further, and immediately and easily untied the ropes binding him, gaining his freedom effortlessly.
The children around him looked at him with terrified eyes, but because they were already very afraid of Gu Wuji, none of them dared to say anything. Finally, a child spoke up timidly, “Don’t wander off! If they see you, they’ll definitely kill you!”
“Thank you.” Gu Wuji smiled at him, who immediately felt flattered. “But it’s alright, I’ll be fine. You all stay here and you can go home later without worry.”
These children, who had been on the verge of despair, felt inexplicably at ease after hearing Gu Wuji’s words. Even though he was only their age, the feeling he gave was completely different.
Immediately, some of the children who hadn’t planned to speak began to share what they knew.
“Those people were really strange, wearing strange clothes and masks…”
“I heard them talking about some kind of sacrifice.”
“I also saw several people drawing strange things in a room earlier. Are they planning to kill us all?”
Gu Wuji was suddenly startled. Was that really how it was? This seemed completely different from his memories.
“Although I don’t know what this dream is all about, it seems I still need to be careful.”
After all, considering what happened before he fell unconscious, this dream might be a test from the system, and he absolutely couldn’t let his guard down.
After calming the children, Gu Wuji began exploring the surroundings. The kidnappers, seemingly confident the children wouldn’t escape, hadn’t even locked the door, allowing Gu Wuji to walk out easily.
The children then began to whisper among themselves.
“Actually, Gu Wuji is quite nice! He was so cool just now. He’ll be alright, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve wanted to be friends with him for a while now.”
“It’s just that the guy behind him is terrifying. If he hadn’t gone with Gu Wuji this time, I wouldn’t have had the courage to say anything.”
Mentioning this, a subtle fear immediately appeared on everyone’s faces.
Guys, ads are my only source of revenue, so please do not turn on the AdBlock when you are accessing this website…. Thank you, this would be a great help…
You can buy me a ko-fi and sponsor a chapter on: https://ko-fi.com/midnightrambles
Or become a Patron or access advance chapters on: https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=45665005
If you support me, I would be able to provide more chapters….
Previous • Table of Contents• Next
