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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 177: Night Exploration of the Villa
When I arrived at Guo Yongjia's Villa, it was already past two in the early morning. There were a few streetlights illuminating the roads outside the Villa. As I approached the Iron Gate of the Villa, I looked inside and found it strange that there were no streetlights within Guo Yongjia's Villa, and there were no guards at the Iron Gate. Even the small pavilion next to the Main Entrance was unguarded.
Isn't it said that wealthy people are afraid of thieves? Doesn't Guo Yongjia worry about burglars sneaking into his home at night?
With my doubts, I slowly climbed over the Iron Gate. The entire process went smoothly, and I almost effortlessly entered the Villa.
Inside the Villa, there were green trees everywhere, along with some flowers and plants, including winter-blooming cannas that emitted a charming fragrance. The Main Entrance was about twenty meters away from the Main House. Due to the lack of streetlights, I could only proceed in the dark, moving toward the general outline of the Main House.
The roads on both sides were lush with trees. A distance of twenty meters could be crossed by an adult in just a few dozen seconds. After taking a deep breath, I slowly walked toward the Main House. At first, everything seemed normal. When I reached about halfway, I could see the general outline of the Main House right in front of me, and I was already starting to think about how to sneak inside.
However, something strange happened. The next ten meters seemed to stretch infinitely. I never stopped walking, but despite being so close to the Main House, I just couldn't reach it. Whether I slowed down or sped up my pace or even tried running, it looked like I was getting closer to the Main House, yet I could never actually get there.
What is going on?
After struggling for a while, I simply stood still and looked at the Main House that was so close yet so far away. Confused, I realized that although the Main House was less than ten meters away from me, I clearly remembered that I had been walking for over ten minutes. Yet my distance from the Main House seemed unchanged. When I turned back to look at the position of the Main Entrance, it appeared to be about ten meters away as well.
So does this mean that my ten minutes of walking was actually just treading in place?
A gentle breeze passed by, carrying the pleasant fragrance of cannas. Frowning slightly, I finally understood why there were no guards at the Villa at night; it was because an Illusion Array had been set up here.
I didn't understand much about Illusion Arrays or natural phenomena like Mirage. A Mirage is formed by light refraction; however, when a person walks toward it, they are still moving but can never actually reach it.
An Illusion Array creates endless fantasies. Once someone enters its focal point, they remain unaware but are actually deceived by the Illusion Array into thinking they are still walking when they are merely treading in place—similar to a profession in today's world: Hypnotist.
The conditions that trigger the Illusion Array can be many, but if I’m not mistaken, the current trigger for this Illusion Array is the fragrance of flowers filling the courtyard.
Thinking of this, I hurriedly pinched my nose and breathed through my mouth. At the same time, I closed my eyes and quietly listened to the sound of the wind and the rustling of the trees, repeatedly commanding myself to wake up, wake up!
After a while, I thought I had woken up and quickly opened my eyes. The first thing I did was pinch myself. I almost reflexively released my grip, thinking it would hurt, but in fact, I didn’t feel any pain at all.
This indicated that I hadn’t truly woken up.
For example, in foggy weather or in terrains similar to Bagua, once lost, it can be very difficult to find your way out. At such times, you need to choose a certain reference point. And at this moment, I was in the Illusion Array, where everything I saw and felt was almost like a dream. Choosing any reference point would be futile; what I needed to do was to wake myself up as soon as possible and stop smelling the fragrance of flowers.
But how does someone who is dreaming quickly wake up?
I believe many people have experienced this: when having a nightmare, you know you are dreaming, yet you cannot wake up. Sometimes you think you have woken up, but in reality, you still haven’t.
At this point, you must fully trust your willpower. Since you know you are dreaming, you must force yourself to wake up. A very simple way to determine whether you have truly woken up is to take a piece of paper and write a line of words on it. Then read it from start to finish. If you can take the paper, it means you haven’t really woken up because the true awake version of you wouldn’t take the paper.
However, if you write a line of words and for some reason cannot read them from start to finish, it indicates that you have fallen into deep sleep. At this time, regardless of whether someone calls you or not, you should imagine someone calling your name and then force yourself to wake up from the dream.
I kept my eyes closed and remained motionless while repeatedly telling myself to wake up. Unfortunately, it didn’t have much effect; I could even feel that despite pinching my nose, I could still smell the flowers.
Since that was the case, I simply gave up thinking and slowly began to step back without even considering a destination in my mind. If there were outsiders present, they would probably just think I was sleepwalking.
I don’t know if I was truly sleepwalking or not, but when my back bumped into something with a crisp sound, I couldn’t help but open my eyes again. Looking ahead, I found that my back was now against the Iron Gate, and I was still about twenty meters away from the master bedroom.
“Guo Yongjia, I underestimated you!” I murmured with a smile. After saying that, I raised my hand and pinched my cheek; feeling pain indicated that I had completely woken up.
However, when I raised my head again to look ahead, the scene before me had completely changed.
The road that could originally lead directly to the Main House had a coffin placed in the center about ten meters from the Iron Gate. At the same time, the entire Villa's outer courtyard was shrouded in mist, as if it were not early autumn but deep winter. Even the Little Tree in the flowerbed nearby had drops of water on it, and there was even white frost on the lawn.
What was going on? Was it really this cold in early autumn? Frost had already started forming?
Impossible!
It must be related to that coffin in the center of the road.
I was very clear that my current situation was not good. The fact that frost could form here only indicated that the Yin Qi was heavy. However, Guo Yongjia was also human; after all, he was Liu Lao Er's disciple and certainly knew the consequences of living beings inhaling too much Yin Qi. He wouldn't allow either himself or Yan Shan Shan to have the opportunity to inhale too much Yin Qi. In other words, Guo Yongjia must have control over when this Yin Qi would emerge, when it would spread to its maximum extent, and what range it would cover.
Since that was the case, I smiled slightly and looked at the coffin ten meters ahead, saying, "Humans, ghosts, corpses, beasts, demons, monsters? Master again, do you dare to act recklessly?"
As soon as I finished speaking, the coffin that had been lying flat on the ground suddenly creaked. Then, within my line of sight, the coffin lid slowly began to open with a creaking sound. After sliding down a short distance, the coffin that had been lying flat on the ground suddenly stood upright with a loud bang. Following that, the Coffin Lid fell to the ground with a thud, and countless white mist instantly surged out from within the pitch-black coffin, rapidly spreading around it.
At this moment, if I had to describe it, it was as if a white mist enveloped a coffin that had fallen from the sky onto the ground—very eerie.
Everyone knows that after a person dies and is placed in a coffin before burial, they must nail down the coffin lid. In other words, even a living person inside a coffin could never directly push open the lid, let alone stand up the coffin.
At this moment, I took out the Six-Sided Yellow Flag from my Bloodstained Bag and held it in my hand. I pointed towards where the coffin was located and said, "Paper Effigy Maker, Pan Shenbao, I borrow your path for use; if obstructed, I will kill those who block me—be they human or Buddha!"
In that instant, dense white mist slowly emerged from inside the coffin. Then, a 'person' jumped directly out of the coffin. Upon seeing me, he let out a loud roar and opened his mouth wide to reveal two sharp fangs.
A Zombie!
I was slightly taken aback; what surprised me wasn't encountering a Zombie—after all, Guo Yongjia claimed to be Liu Lao Er's disciple and Liu Lao Er had a deep understanding of Yin Yang in the paper-making industry. It wasn't strange for Guo Yongjia to create a Zombie. However, what was strange was that this Zombie looked exactly like Guo Yang whom I met at the Paper Shop.
How could this be?
Isn't Guo Yang's corpse supposed to have been dismembered by Liu Yiyi? And I heard from Captain Wang that Guo Yang's parents have already cremated Guo Yang's corpse and buried it! If that's the case, how could Guo Yang's corpse be standing right in front of me as a zombie?
There is only one answer: the Guo Yang before me, although it might be possessed by Guo Yang's Yin Ghost, is definitely not a real flesh-and-blood body but rather made of Paper Craft.
An excellent Paper Effigy Maker can create a person out of Paper Craft, apply appropriate makeup, and dress them up so that they look almost indistinguishable from a real person. Right now, I hurriedly focused my gaze on Guo Yang not far away. Since I was leaning against the Main Entrance, there was no light inside the Villa, while outside there was light. Looking from the illuminated area into the darkness made it impossible to see clearly, so I couldn't determine if he was a Paper Figurine.
To know whether someone is a Paper Figurine or not, the best method is to get close and take a good look. No matter how realistic a Paper Figurine may be, at the end of the day, it is just a Paper Figurine. The facial features of a Paper Figurine are usually painted on with ink; however, painted features cannot achieve true realism. For absolute realism, the features must be crafted.
For example, for the eyes, a small knife would be used to cut out an eye shape, then a prepared eyeball would be placed inside. After drawing the pupil on the eyeball with a pen, this Paper Figurine could come to life.
However realistic a Paper Figurine may be, its features are still crafted. The junctions where Bamboo Sticks connect with paper inevitably show some lines. To distinguish whether someone is a real person or a Paper Figurine, the best method is to check for these junction lines on their face.
Unfortunately, at the moment, I was too far from Guo Yang to see clearly; I could only make out a rough outline and couldn't discern if there were any junction lines on his face.
He stood motionless on the Coffin Lid, merely opening his mouth wide and glaring at me. Perhaps it was because there was light behind me or perhaps there were some special limitations when he was created by Guo Yang.
"Guo Yang!" I said calmly while looking at him not far away. "I don't care if you can still understand my words; I need to tell you that whether you are a ghost or a corpse today, I will take you down. You may seem pitiful now, but I am even more pitiful than you!"
After saying this, I waved my hand casually, sending the Six-Sided Yellow Flag flying toward Guo Yang's direction. In just ten meters, the Small Yellow Flag spun and flew directly over. At the same time, I took down the Copper Coin Sword from my waist.
When dealing with ghosts and other intangible entities, the Peach Wood Sword is more effective than the Copper Coin Sword. However, for Guo Yang before me—whether he is a Paper Figurine or truly has a corpse—the Copper Coin Sword is definitely more effective than the Peach Wood Sword.
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