The Sacred Ruins Novel - Chapter 9

Although dawn was close at hand, the sky was still dark. A rarely seen fog had descended upon the mountain woods, enshrouding everything in a hazy white which greatly affected visibility.

The atmosphere was already somewhat strained but this young man’s scream pushed everyone past the limits of their tension.

“Ah…”

Two of the passengers who had come along with them fled in horror. They almost fell to the ground and couldn’t help but shout along in terror.

“What the hell are you screaming for? Are you trying to scare people to death?!” Zhou Quan glared at him. He had been badly startled with goosebumps all over his neck.

“What did you see?” Chu Feng asked. He and Zhou Quan were some distance from the group in front and it was difficult to see ahead due to the dense fog.

“Klack… klack…” The person’s teeth were chattering and his lips were trembling as pointed into the air some distance away. He’d also lost control of his legs.

“There’s a black shadow over there. I can see it!”

“What’s that?”

The two who were scared silly a while ago also raised their heads. At this point, they also began to tremble uncontrollably and proceeded to stumble back as fast as they could.

At this moment, tranquility had been lost in the carriage after hearing what was going on outside. Some ladies started screaming, adding to the chaos and panic.

The area was originally an ancient battlefield where supposedly no small amount of people had died. Add to that the sudden appearance of thick fog and the loss in reception of all communicators, people were naturally terrified.

Some people began to shout in panic.

“We haven’t even gotten a good look at it. Why is everyone screaming?! What’s there to fear?! Chu Feng roared.

He and Zhou Quan slowly walked towards the vague black shadow suspended in midair. The fog was interfering with their vision, preventing them from seeing clearly.

“Ah!”

The man from earlier screamed once again. He was almost right below the suspended shadowy figure. He lost all control, stumbled to the ground and began edging backwards in great terror.

“Blood, blood! I saw him!”

Initially, his legs had been frozen stiff and couldn’t move at all. But now he was somewhat able to move again perhaps due to the great stimulation. He rolled and crawled in a desperate attempt to get away from the source of his terror.

“Oh God, there’s blood on your face!”

The other two were also shocked after seeing the returning passenger. The whole place was so eerie that their scalps had all gone numb.

“It’s not mine. There… it’s dripping from his body!” Terror and shock were written all across the man’s face as he pointed toward the air.

“It does smell like blood!” Zhou Quan whispered.

Chu Feng rushed over in large strides and saw a shadowy figure in midair as if a person had been hung. It was dark and blurry with blood dripping down its body.

“A devil, a devil is suspended in the air!” The shocked person shouted loudly. He then crawled up and rushed back to the train with the other two following closely behind.

Fatty Zhou felt a chill down his back but he braced himself to follow Chu Feng to the front instead of running back. He did indeed have some courage.

“There really is a dead person here. Was he murdered?” Zhou Quan looked up.

There was a pool of blood on the ground and a black figure suspended above, swaying along with the wind. The corpse was still dripping fresh blood.

“How come he’s suspended in the air?” Chu Feng felt a chill run down his back. Even as a normally gutsy person, he couldn’t help but feel cold at the sight of this.

“Yeah, we’re still quite a distance from any trees. How come he’s suspended in midair?” Zhou Quan’s eyes were wide as he edged back slowly. He was already quite scared at this point.

The passengers on the train were even more frightened after hearing their conversation. Chaos ensued as some girls began to scream and while others started to cry.

“A devil… a devil is hovering mid-air!” The young man who had run back to the train previously was muttering. His deathly pale face was stained with blood drops and appeared somewhat sinister.

His presence somewhat worsened the panicked atmosphere in the train!

The train had stopped in the middle of a mountainous region where, supposedly, many people had died in the past. With such an eerie mist covering the region, who wouldn’t be alarmed?

“Don’t panic. It’s only a corpse. There’s no devil!” Chu Feng’s loud announcement somewhat calmed the crowd.

Zhou Quan had also calmed down after finding that there was no danger in the immediate vicinity. He shouted with great boldness, “Just toss him out of the car if he keeps shouting scary nonsense.”

In truth, the both of them weren’t so confident.

The corpse suspended in the air had long dense hair which covered its whole face, swaying gently with the wind. The scene was enough to cause one’s blood to run cold.

“Okay strong lads, let’s bring that body down and examine it so that we can see how he died. It’s just a corpse, right? What’s there to fear?” shouted Zhou Quan.

Actually, he called out to the others because was quite apprehensive.

The others became emboldened after seeing the two calm and fearless. They were no longer that terrified.

Before long, a few strong youngsters actually came down from the train and stood around the duo to observe the mysterious dark figure in the air.

Chu Feng climbed onto the roof of the carriage to get a better look. It was also the only way they could reach the corpse.

Chu Feng was somewhat startled after getting a closer look because the man’s apparel didn’t belong to the current era. He looked very much like an ancient.

The long hair covering his face added to the terrifying scene.

“Is this really a mysterious incident?” He felt worried at heart.

Zhou Quan had also climbed up with a few movements. He was quite nimble despite his fat stature and was not the least clumsy.

The other youngsters also climbed up one after another. They felt reassured as a group and were no longer afraid.

“This… does he work at the theatre? What the heck is he wearing?!” Fatty Zhou almost started swearing after seeing the corpse clearly.

“Who… who is he? Why is he dressed like that?!” A youngster exclaimed with an unnatural expression.

“I feel like he’s an ancient. Don’t tell me he was one of those buried under the battleground. How come he’s suspended in the air?” Another spoke.

“Are those chains on his body? They’re hanging down from high above. This shouldn’t be possible!”

Fatty Zhou could no longer keep his calm and tugged on Chu Feng’s sleeves, “Brother, I don’t think we can afford to deal with this matter. This thing is inexplicable; let’s leave quickly!”

The mist was extremely dense and visibility was blurry at best.

One could very vaguely make out several chains as thick as an arm hanging down from the skies. The corpse, suspended upon these chains, appeared like someone suffering infernal torture.

The expressions of the others who heard fatty Zhou swiftly changed. They wanted to immediately turn around and jump off the car because this place truly made one feel uneasy. They all felt their hair stand on end.

“Don’t worry. Those are vines, not chains.” Chu Feng’s timely words shook everyone.

“How are mountain vines growing here?” Fatty Zhou was puzzled. He observed closely and found that there were leaf-like parts on the chain.

“It does look like a vine.” Another person nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

“I’m guessing this person fell down from the mountain. This actor sure is devoted, he’d even given his life for the cause.” A certain strong youth shook his head and sighed.

Chu Feng removed his coat, grabbed onto one of the sleeves and whipped it towards the vine whereupon, the other end of the coat tied itself around the vine. He pulled hard on it and brought the whole vine close to them.

The corpse also moved along with the momentum and swung close to them.

“Ah…” Some others were badly startled.

“I say, brother, you’re too adventurous! Such a reckless move!” Fatty Zhou was scared out of his wits and rushed over to help.

“Come over quickly and help out!” Zhou Quan summoned the nearby people.

The other’s steeled their nerves and came over. They weren’t too willing to touch the corpse.

Chu Feng was somewhat startled because as the vine swung toward him, he noticed a simple but astonishing piece of equipment.

It was a dagger. The body was completely black and completely devoid of luster as if it was refined from black gold. The weapon was grasped firmly in the corpse’s lifeless hand even after death.

They worked together to clear the vines and retrieve the corpse.

“There’s a blade in his hand.” The others were quite surprised.

Chu Feng opened the man’s hand and freed the dagger. He was inwardly astonished because it was quite heavy despite being a mere 30 centimeters in length.

“Hey, let me see!” Fatty Zhou snatched the dagger from Chu Feng but his hand trembled and almost dropped the blade, “Why is it so heavy?!”

The others were focused on the corpse and wanted nothing to do with the dagger.

“Let’s bring it to level ground.” Zhou Quan returned the dagger to Chu Feng and urged the others to move the corpse.

Before long, some people had emerged from the carriage and crowded around the corpse. They all felt alarmed and puzzled in equal measures.

It was a tall man whose apparel was obviously incompatible with the current era. There was a lethal fist-sized wound on his chest which pierced right through to his back with blood still dripping out from it.

“It looks like he was penetrated by a large weapon which fractured all the ribs along its path, leaving a huge gaping hole.” A passenger whispered.

The scene was so horrifying that some ladies didn’t dare look.

“Brother, why haven’t you come down yet?” Zhou Quan shouted suspiciously at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng waved at the latter, indicating him to come up.

Fatty climbed up once again and followed Chu Feng along the roof of the train.

“Look!” Chu Feng pointed.

There they saw strand after strand of thick vines hanging down from high above—so close that they could almost reach out to grab them.

“Why are there so many mountain vines here? Where are they growing from? At this rate, the train will never be able to pass through.” Zhou Quan grumbled.

“These aren’t mountain vines because, when the car stopped yesterday, I clearly saw that the mountains were quite a distance away from us. There’s no way these vines can hang down so vertically.” Chu Feng gazed up into the sky.

Zhou Quan’s eyes suddenly went wide and replied in astonishment, “If these aren’t mountain vines, do you mean that they’re hanging down from above?!”

He raised his head swiftly and similarly gazed upwards.

But they couldn’t see anything because the thick mist had shrouded everything in a hazy white.

Chu Feng pushed aside the low hanging vines with the black dagger in his hand and continued onwards.

Suddenly he halted his steps and was frozen in place. His pupils contracted and his body suddenly tensed up due to the great shock.

“Why aren’t you moving anymore?” Fatty Zhou caught up from behind.

Suddenly he was petrified but eventually, he couldn’t help but swear loudly.

“F*ck! Is this the thing that smashed into us late last night and shook the whole train?!” He couldn’t believe his eyes and kept on gazing ahead.

The thing was tangled up with vines and had fallen onto the roof of the carriage.

Zhou Quan looked up and spoke as if he was sleep talking, “This… this is a satellite! It appears to have been tangled up by the vines and pulled down to earth.”

He could hardly believe this outrageous scene before him.

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Retranslated by ALSEY – 2018/JAN