IWBL: Chapter 112
Outside the hotel, the heavy rain had decreased into a moderate rain. The morning sun dried the streets and made the ground moist. The reincarnators didn’t have umbrellas and the reincarnators could only walk sideways under the eaves of the stores along the road to ensure that their bodies weren’t wet.
Xiao Li wrote about the past images he had seen in the coffin, causing the reincarnators to discuss it.
Shimizu wrote thoughtfully: [So, the silence in this village is related to the legacy of the grandfather of the old house’s owner. However, the mirror didn’t give any more information. It seems the key clue is still in the old house.]
[The costumes are very problematic…] Shimizu had years of watching horror films and his brain was filled with terrible images.
In the middle of the night, the moonlight was dim and a beautiful but weird costume was on the hangar. There was no one in the room, the doors and windows were closed tightly but the costume was calm.
The edges of the costume were originally drooping but suddenly, the sleeves arched up and an arm stretched out. It was like an invisible person put on the costume, thus opening the prelude to the silence.
A short distance away from the front of the hotel, Xiao Li turned back to look at the house opposite the hotel. The door of the house had been half closed when they first came out of the hotel but now it was closed. It seemed that the owner had come back from outside.
Xiao Li took a few steps back. He looked at the rain above his head. Looking back, he took the hotel’s small bench and covered his head with it. This might have prevented the rain hitting his head but it didn’t stop a portion of the rain from wetting his clothes.
Xiao Li came to the door of the old man’s house. He first pushed the door with his hand and found that the door had been bolted shut. However, the old man hadn’t entered the house. He stood behind the door like he expected the reincarnators to come back.
In this way, paper became easily wet. Thus, Xiao Li switched to his phone.
[Old man, why have you been following us?]
Shimizu followed and stood next to Xiao Li. He saw Xiao Li’s straightforward question and frowned. He thought that Sherlock didn’t seem to understand how to question people. The old man wouldn’t answer such a direct question.
The old man’s muddy eyes read the sentence and he slowly but firmly shook his head. This body language might be an answer or a refusal to talk but Xiao Li understood it was the former. It was denial.
The old man denied that he followed Xiao Li and the others but he clearly followed them. From the periphery of the old house last night to the street where the prophecy appeared today, the figure of the old man had been seen.
The only ones who appeared in these places were the reincarnators—
Xiao Li typed on the phone: [You aren’t following us. Is it that ghost?]
The moment he asked this, the old man responded. He was no longer a zombie. The muscles on his face were shaking uncontrollably.
The old man opened his mouth. It was a black hole like the hotel owner. He didn’t have a tongue. He mouthed silently: [I’m waiting for it…]
Wait for the ghost that would take away his voice and his face?
Xiao Li frowned. He wanted to continue asking the old man some details but since revealing this information, the old man gave a response. He seemed to think that talking had no meaning. He bent over and put away his umbrella, wanting to enter his house.
The moment the old man turned around, Xiao Li raised his mobile phone and waved silently. The old man looked back and saw words on the phone screen: [Do you have any extra umbrellas? We don’t have any umbrellas and it is hard to walk.]
The old man, “…”
It was the first time he had seen such relaxed outside asking him to borrow an umbrella. The old man didn’t have too much hostility to the reincarnators or he wouldn’t write a note to warn them the first time they meet. Thus, after entering the house, he found some umbrellas and handed them to Xiao Li.
[Thank you.] Xiao Li waved his mobile phone, turning back to put away the small bench and held up the umbrella. He gave the other umbrella to the reincarnators and went into the rain.
Shimizu covered his phone with his umbrella and quietly looked back at the house. Lance listened to Shimuz’s translation. The European or American man didn’t know well and wrote: [He is waiting for that ghost? Is that his faith?]
Shimizu: [Maybe the ‘it’ from his mouth is just a word and he means death. He’s had enough of this life and wants to be free…]
[However, are you sure the words of the hotel owner and old man are true? Didn’t they say that the other was dead?]
[If they are both right then they are now ghosts…] Shimizu speculated. [For some reason, they have something special and didn’t die directly. Instead, they became something like earthbound spirits. They have no malice to humans but have been bound to their place of death. Thus, they want to see liberation.]
Xiao Li watched their analysis but didn’t interject. He looked at the distant sky through the edge of the black umbrella. It was raining harder.
*******
At the old house, it was still raining outside the window and the sound of the rain was dull.
The reincarnators generally didn’t like heavy rain. Heavy rain meant it was dark and inconvenient to move. However, in this instance world, the sound of rain was a type of cover-up that would cover up many sounds.
After returning to the old house, AK47 originally wanted to find a bedroom to place Park Soojin in but Xiao Li chose the study. He put Park Soojin down and had her placed on a chair in the study. Then he found a rope to clearly tie up Park Soojini’s arms and back to the chair.
Xiao Li moved to the chair opposite Park Soojin, patiently waiting for Park Soojin to wake up. Shimizu and the others chose to go to the attic that appeared in the prophecy mirror for clues. The only two people left in the study were Xiao Li and AK47. In the process of waiting for Park Soojin to wake up, Xiao Li stared at the painting in the centre in a daze.
The lifelike painting of a peach tree occupied a large piece of paper. Just looking at the painting, the real scene of the backyard could be seen. He didn’t know how long it took but Park Soojin’s side showed movement. She frowned uneasily and then opened her eyes.
At first, she couldn’t react. She only felt that the back of her neck was very sore and she couldn’t move. Soon, her memories returned to her mind. She stared at Xiao Li with wide eyes and mouthed: [Have you broken the prophecy yet?]
Xiao Li shook his head. A prophecy wasn’t so easy to be broken. They could only delay the prophecy. However, as long as in the next few days, the reincarnators returned to that street again and Park Soojin died there, it could be corrected. Not surprisingly, the ghost would come for the second round.
Park Soojin saw something from his expression and her pale lips silently said: [That… what do we do next?]
Xiao Li looked away from Park Soojin’s face toward the painting. [It will be a bit hard for you. First, you will be kept tied up and we’ll see how it comes next time.]
Park Soojin didn’t want to accept this decision. This type of bait role was often played by a bait character and the death rate was very high. There was just no way. She had made a sound and broke the silence. If Xiao Li released her, she might fall back into the state of being haunted by a nightmare again and tear off her own face. Thus, she chose to accept and cooperate.
AK47 was responsible for her care, including but not limited to trivial things like hitting Park Soojin at critical times or feeding her peaches.
Towards the end of the evening, Shimizu and the others hurried back. Xiao Li was looking at the paintings when he felt the movement behind him and looked back.
Shimizu was carrying a leather package. He put the package in the corner and wrote: [There is nothing inside, everything is gone. Apart from some debris, the attic is empty. I saw this on the ground and brought it back.]
[We went to the attic and other parts of the old house but we didn’t find anything else.] Lance added.
Shimizu came to Park Soojin. [How are you feeling?]
Park Soojin had no hands and couldn’t write. She looked at Shimizu in front of her and could only say silently: [Everything else is good but my hands are becoming numb. Can you change it to another position?]
Shimizu didn’t see her meaning and reached out to touch Park Soojin’s shoulder. [Just persist.]
Park Soojin, “……”
Time passed and it was soon night. This time, the others didn’t choose to go back to their room to sleep. They chose to transfer the tied up Park Soojin to a larger bedroom while the others slept on bedding on the ground.
Since Park Soojin was the first victim of the prophecy, in theory, as long as she was alive then the people after her were safe for the time being. Thus, the others didn’t protest much. It was late at night and they took the method of taking turns to keep watch, changing people every two hours. Shimizu was the first to keep watch.
Xiao Li took the second watch. In the middle of the quiet night, the rain was the only sound in the world. The third watch after Xiao Li was Lance. The exorcist was awakened from his sleep and sat quietly in the room.
There was an oil lamp in the room, one of the spoils they had found in the old house. The fire of the oil lamp was small but it was better than nothing. It managed to light up half the bedroom, reflecting the rain outside and casting a faint shadow on the wall.
Lance had been woken up. He didn’t sleep much the night before and after half an hour, he was a bit sleepy. He was sleepy and struggled to pinch himself. Then he pulled a small bottle out of his pocket.
He unscrewed the cap, put it under his nose and sniffed it. It was a bottle of gas he prepared in advance. Smelling it was enough to stimulate his brain and make people wake up completely. Lance put away the small bottle, took a deep breath and looked around.
Other people were sleeping and their breathing was very quiet. It was the same with Park Soojin. Her head was resting on the pillar beside her. She wasn’t sleeping well but her breathing was stable.
There was the sound of rain and wind against the window and leaves occasionally fell down. Everything was very ordinary except—
The face on the window.
The rain on the window obscured the eyes of the face but he could see that it was lying against the window looking at the reincarnators.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Li: Peeping is something a good girl shouldn’t do.