Recap
“Those things are called nightmare puppets, a type of nightmare. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be such a thing in the Three Realms Displacement. It should have been brought in by the class representative.” Mu Gesheng pushed the door of the utility room to open a crack, “The class representative probably had some kind of knot in her heart that was very heavy and unresolved for a long time, which led to the appearance of this Three Realms Displacement.”
“The knot in your heart is like a prison, imprisoning yourself and others. You said she hasn’t woken up yet. It seems that her soul was lost here. We’ll need to find her and bring her back.”
___
The method given by Mu Gesheng to find people, or souls, is very simple – by process of elimination. The plan was to walk from classroom to classroom like headless flies wandering around, at least they will definitely find her.
Anping’s name for Mu Gesheng has changed from “Classmate Mu” and “Big Brother” to “Half Immortal Brother”. He was seen holding a broom, shaking his head and saying: “Half, Half Immortal Brother, do we really just go out like this ah?”
It was only before that Mu Gesheng told him that there were a lot of filthy and unclean entities on the Three Realms Displacement, what can a broomstick do?
“If you’re really scared, An Ping’er, there’s a mop bucket here.” Mu Gesheng kicked his feet, “I can put it on your head for you.”
Negotiations were fruitless, and Anping cried mournfully with downcast eyes: “Then I beg you, please save my dog life!”*
*(idiom: lowly life)
“Okay. Give me money.”
Anping was immediately overjoyed. He was from a decent family and was more or less a rich second generation. Problems that could be solved with money were no problems at all. “Okay, how much do you charge?”
Mu Gesheng took out a handful of coins from his pocket and tossed them casually, “I did a little calculation when I came in just now. I figured out that the soul of the class representative is in the octagonal building. I calculated it for you. The whole building has eight floors. There are ninety-six classrooms in total, you can choose any classroom, I can help you calculate whether her soul is in there or not. It will cost you three thousand yuan at a time. Thank you for your patronage.”
Anping was not stupid and immediately noticed something fishy. “No… that’s… Can’t you just do a calculation and figure out which classroom her soul is in?”
“Okay. That’ll be 300,000 yuan. Have you decided?”
Anping staggered, pointing at the man and was speechless for a long time: “You, you, you…”
“I am a profiteer.” Mu Gesheng added the second half of the sentence in a calm manner.
A tree without its bark will definitely die, but a person without face* is invincible. Anping had no choice but to admit defeat, “Then I choose 103.”
*(idiom: person without face is used to describe a shameless person.)
“Okay.” Mu Gesheng flicked his finger and a coin flipped in mid-air, “Why did you choose room 103?”
“There’s no special reason.” Anping said, “103 is our freshman classroom.”
“Then, why do you want me to calculate? Since there are clues, we can go in if you want.”
Anping has the heart but not the courage. “No, no. If you’ve calculated that there’s nothing inside, then I won’t need to go in to face those spirits.”
The coin fell into his palm, Mu Gesheng looked at it and said with a smile: “A good start. There is something in 103 related to the class representative.”
“Is it her soul?” Anping looked forward to it.
“I can’t say for sure. It might be a nightmare puppet or something else, but it must be related to the class representative.” Mu Gesheng said with a smile: “I can do a more accurate reading,but that comes at another price.”
Anping was speechless when he heard the price and said, “Forget it, let’s go in and take a look first.”
The two walked out of the utility room. The sound of birds outside was loud. White bird droppings fell down and fell into the corridor from time to time. The whole space was filled with an indescribable smell, with a stifling dryness and a turbid fishy smell. The air was stagnant, but there was a foul coldness.
103 is located at the other end of the corridor, Mu Gesheng was taller than Anping. He covered the two of them with his school uniform and walked slowly to the opposite side. Anping was worried and wanted to run to the other side quickly, but he didn’t dare to go alone, so he had to grit his teeth and hold onto Mu Gesheng tightly, suffocating him like a jagged gourd.
Finally, they arrived at the door of 103. Mu Gesheng seemed to notice that Anping was feeling uneasy. He held the door handle, deciding whether to push it or not. Then, as if he was watching a show, he said: “Are you ready? Do we just go in now?”
“Ah ah ah ah, stop playing tricks on me!” The bird’s chirping outside was deafening, so Anping took the risk and shouted at the top of his lungs: “Hurry up and open the door and get in!”
Before he finished speaking, the door creaked open.
Anping didn’t dare to look, so he covered his eyes and asked Mu Gesheng, “Half Immortal Brother, what’s inside?”
Mu Gesheng’s voice came from the room, “There’s nothing here. Come in and take a look.”
Mu Gesheng’s nothing may not really mean nothing. Anping opened his eyes as if he was going to die in the next second, but he didn’t expect that it was indeed a very ordinary room as Mu Gesheng said.
Although it is the door to a classroom, the room beyond the door has changed. It is surrounded by dirty walls and there is a tattered bed in the corner.
Mu Gesheng stood in the middle of the room, looked around, and commented: “It’s a coffin room.”
“What did you say?” Before Anping could breathe a sigh of relief, his heart skipped a beat when he heard this, “Coffin room?”
“There are no windows on all sides, no ventilation and no lighting, and the ceiling is leaking.” Mu Gesheng pointed to the ceiling, “Doesn’t this seem like the insides of a coffin buried in the soil, rotting over the years to the point that water slowly started to leak from the gaps on the top…”
Anping’s brain was already racing towards the possibility of a mummy making an appearance and he felt a chill. “What does this room have to do with class representatives?”
“The class representative mistakenly entered the Three Realms Displacement because of a knot in her heart. The things in this room should be related to her inner turmoil.” Mu Gesheng looked around, suddenly walked to the bed, bent down and pulled something out from underneath the bed.
It was a plastic basin with a pile of black paste inside.
Anping’s brain circuit had gone to nowhere, “What is that? Internal organs? Dead baby? Human placenta?”
“You read a lot of novels, student committee member.” Mu Gesheng looked into the basin, “The ingredients in this are not that complicated.”
“What the hell is it?”
“Leftovers, excrement and vomit.” Mu Gesheng held the basin with a nonchalant expression, “It’s from the living, not the dead. Someone must have been imprisoned in this room. They ate, drank, and defecated in the same basin. This must be several days’ worth of waste.”
“Was it from the class representative?” Anping didn’t know what to think. “Was she kidnapped? Or was she sold into the mountains and gave birth to a stillborn baby?”
“If you have nothing to do, please don’t read out the shocking headlines word for word. If the class representative hears this, Anping’er, your dog life may be in jeopardy.”
“These are all trivial matters. The key is to rescue her first… What are you doing?” Anping’s voice suddenly rose an octave.
Mu Gesheng actually reached in and pinched something out from the basin.
“What is this?” Anping held back his nausea and leaned forward, “Is it really a still born baby?”
“Anping’er, why are you obsessed with stillbirths?” Mu Gesheng felt helpless, took out a pack of toilet paper, and slowly wiped the thing in his hand clean.
It is a teru teru bōzu.*
*(
A teru teru bōzu is a small traditional handmade doll that originated from the Edo period in Japan. This talisman is supposed to have magical powers to bring good weather and to stop or prevent a rainy day. Source: city.gm site)
“This is also a type of nightmare puppet. It is the same type as the ones upstairs, but it gives off less bad energy. It is a low-end version.” Mu Gesheng held the doll’s head and shook it, “It won’t attack people, Anping’er. No need to hide so far away.”
Anping wished he could retreat eight feet away but sadly the furthest he stood was only at the other end of the room, “What does this thing have to do with the class representative?”
“There is too little information to go on, so I can’t tell anything else from this yet.” Mu Gesheng took out another handful of coins, “Let’s continue, which room next?”
Anping thought for a while and said, “207, maybe. I remember that the class representative has a good friend whose class is in 207.”
There is indeed something in 207. After they opened the door, there was an office inside.
Anping’s electrocardiogram* went on a roller coaster several times before he finally calmed down a little, “This shouldn’t be the school’s office.”
*(
source: American heart association)
“Oh? Why do you say that?”
“I often go to the teachers’ office to ask questions. I have visited several teaching and research offices. No office is decorated like this.” Anping looked at the word “Chinese Studies” framed on the wall. “The school has no Chinese studies classes either.”
“Since you are the top student, and you have the final say on this matter.” Mu Gesheng turned around, his eyes stopped in front of a row of glass bookcases. The cabinets were very ordinary in style, but strangely they were filled with clocks and watches. The minute and hour hands had both stopped and pointed to different times.
“What does this mean?” Anping also noticed the cabinet full of watches and clocks. The situation in front of him seemed strange, “Is there anything wrong with these…?”
“I’m looking at the time on it.” Mu Gesheng knocked on the cabinet door, thoughtfully, “8:35, 9:30, 10:14, 11:07… Am Ping’er, do you know the timetable?”
Anping didn’t react, “Timetable? You mean the class schedule?”
“No.” Mu Gesheng hadn’t been to class for a while, so he couldn’t express what he wanted. “I mean the timings of work and rest, the time that each class starts and ends.”
“I know, what’s wrong?” Anping did a mental calculation, “There are five classes in the morning, the earliest class starts at 7:50, lunch break starts at 11:50…wait a minute.”
He looked up at the cabinet again, “I seem to understand.”
Mu Gesheng hummed, “You catch on fast.”
The clocks in front of him all pointed to the time before recess.
“This watch is not the one.” Mu Gesheng had already finished looking through the entire cabinet and took out a watch. “This watch points to class time after.” He looked at the thing in front of him and smiled, “Found it.”
Behind the watch was a glass jar filled with change.
Mu Gesheng took out the coin jar and shook it, revealing the head of a teru teru bōzu.
The doll’s facial features were painted with watercolor pens, half crying and half smiling, the corners of its grinning mouth looked a bit ferocious.
“Buried in the change?” Anping watched Mu Gesheng take out the doll, confused and horrified, “What does this mean? Can you summon a dragon by collecting all seven dolls?”
“After this watch, the time on the rest of the watches are messed up.” Mu Gesheng closed the glass cabinet, “Don’t mess with the time on the other watches.”
Anping’s hand immediately retracted, “Then what should we do next?”
Mu Gesheng took out a key ring from his pocket and strung the teru teru bōzus together like a string of keys, “Let’s go to the next room.”
Behind the third door was a kitchen. It was very large and looked like the school’s kitchen. Anping found a beheaded teru teru bōzu on the cutting board. Mu Gesheng took one look at it and said, “Let’s go, this room is worthless.”
Behind the fourth door was the toilet. The floor was filled with dirty water. Mu Gesheng removed the drain pipe and fished out a soaked teru teru bōzu from the pipe. “This one is clinging on, but it can probably be saved.”
Behind the fifth door is the canteen, with a teru teru bōzu in a leftover instant noodle cup; the sixth is the broadcast room, the seventh is the equipment room, the eighth is the waterhouse, the ninth, the tenth… …
The two went up from the first floor to the sixth floor. Mu Gesheng had a large number of teru teru bōzus hanging on his keychain. Anping probably understood something: “Are you collecting these dolls? Do they have any relations with the soul of the class representative?”
“Good thinking.” Mu Gesheng’s voice came from the front, “Guess?”
“There are too many possibilities, I can’t guess.” Anping shook his head: “Half Immortal Brother, please enlighten me.”
“It’s not a bad thing to have a big brain pit. Make bold guesses and verify each guess conscientiously.” Mu Gesheng stopped in front of a door. This was the room he had just calculated. “Anping’er, do you want to be enlightened? One sentence, one thousand. Thank you for your patronage. “
Anping turned around decisively and pushed the door open.
There was a computer in the middle of the room. Anping walked to the computer and had already reimagined hundreds of ghost movie scenarios that could happen, “Should I open it? There won’t be a female ghost crawling out of the computer, right?”
“Sadako crawled out of the TV. A computer probably isn’t the right size for her.” Mu Gesheng stepped forward and pressed the power button. “This is just a computer – as if.”
The screen lit up with a bang, and a piercing scream came from the computer, mixed with indistinct crying and laughter. On the screen were a bunch of teru teru bōzus, banging their heads in front of them crazily, as if struggling to get out of the computer.
The expressions of the teru teru bōzus all varied, ranging from madness to stupidity to resentment. Without exception, they stared at Anping and Mu Gesheng. What was even more terrifying was that these white heads could actually bleed, and the screen turned bright red in the blink of an eye.
Mu Gesheng looked at the terrified Anping, “You’re not leaving?”
“Wh-wh-wh-what?”
“They’ll be out soon.” Mu Gesheng pointed at the computer. Before he finished speaking, the screen made a “click” sound and several cracks suddenly appeared.
After Anping realized the situation he was in, he ran out of the room in an instant, howling at the top of his lungs.
“The tune just now was good, it sounded like a mourning.” Mu Gesheng followed Anping and closed the door, “Anping’er, do you have anything for self-defense?”
“What kind of self-defense item?” Anping was shocked, “Will those dolls still come out?”
“We’ve already provoked it. This door probably won’t be able to block them for long.” Mu Gesheng locked the classroom from the outside and suddenly said: “The birds have stopped chirping.”
The chirping of birds had stopped at some point, but the hysterical screams still came from behind the door, making a strange echo in the corridor.
Mu Gesheng blinked: “This building is about to wake up.”
“What do you mean by ‘about to wake up’?!?!”
Before Anping finished speaking, a series of clanging sounds came from far deep in the corridor, “It’s those nightmare puppets. There may also be something else. They were awakened.” Mu Gesheng looked not far away, “Oh, So majestic, look, they even copied the other guy.”
Anping looked back and saw a bunch of white shadows approaching in the distance. It was the bunch of white paper figures he had just seen in the classroom. Some paper figures held something like a ruler in their hands, knocking on the door of every classroom they came across. Then the door opened and more white paper figures came out, faster and faster. Suddenly, a paper man suddenly rushed forward, jumped high, opened a bright red mouth in mid-air, and rushed directly towards Anping——
“Let’s go -” Mu Gesheng picked up Anping’s collar and threw him into the air while tossing a handful of coins back with his other hand. The paper man was hit by the coins and fell down. At the same time, Anping was thrown directly upstairs, “Classroom 707, open the door and see what’s inside!” Mu Gesheng’s voice came from downstairs.
The throw was so powerful that Anping smashed into a door before he could even land, making him dizzy. When he finally got up from the ground, he ran to the nearest door and found that this classroom happened to be 707.
“Are you okay?!” Anping stretched his neck to look downstairs, but was hit back by a coin. “Don’t be distracted!” Mu Gesheng’s voice came from downstairs, “See what’s in the classroom first!”
Anping shouted back at the top of his lungs, like a wolf howling mournfully: “They are all dolls!”
A room full of teru teru bōzus.
One was hanging on the ceiling.
Another was pinned to the wall by a nail,
The ground was covered with rags, stained a bloody red, as if they had been quartered by five horses.
Before he finished speaking, Mu Gesheng also flipped up the stairs and took a look into the classroom. “Everyone who can be rescued has been found. It seems that all the dead ones are here.”
Anping was in a state of confusion, “What can be saved? What can be completely dead?”
“Don’t be busy confusing yourself, put this away.” Mu Gesheng handed the key ring to Anping, “The soul of the class representative is here. I will throw you towards the exit, you can take them out.” And grabbed onto Anping’s collar.
“Wait a minute!” Anping was kicking in the air, “I’ll add more money! More money! Please explain clearly what’s going on!”
“How much more?”
“You can decide!”
“Ten thousand?”
“Deal!”
“Thirty thousand, then. Thank you for your patronage.”
Mu Gesheng still held Anping’s collar, but did not throw him out. Instead, he dragged him all the way, “This Three Realms Displacement is not big. The class representative has been unconscious for too long, and her mind has almost merged with the entire space. Those rooms we just opened are her memories, or in other words, her inner turmoil.”
“Those things in the room are her memories?”
“Yes, the class representative has almost been digested in the past three days. It is very difficult to piece together her consciousness from inside. Just now I was actually calculating where the class representative’s remaining consciousness is.”
Mu Gesheng said while running: “Each doll is a part of the mind and consciousness of the class representative. Every time one is destroyed, a little part of her soul is devoured by the Three Realms Displacement, until she is eaten away completely and transforms into a Three Realms Displacement puppet.”
“So 707 is full of the dead consciousnesses of class representatives?” Anping said in disbelief: “After so many deaths, can her soul be saved?”
“You get what you pay for, don’t worry, boss.” Mu Gesheng said: “The ones we just found that are still alive are enough. I promise that I’ll deliver the entire person to you intact.”
Anping quickly put away the key ring, “Then where are we going now?”
“Running for our lives. The Nightmare Puppet is the transformation of the dead dolls. We just woke the entire building up. This thing grows very fast. I estimate that it will catch up soon.”
Before he finished speaking, the surroundings shook, and the entire ceiling crashed down. A large number of nightmare puppets rushed towards the two of them, grinning in a terrible way. Mu Gesheng simply used the Anping in his hand as a weapon, swung him around, and opened up an open space.
Anping was in a mess, and his shoes were chewed off by a paper man. Before he could recover, he was faced with another white face, with crooked eyebrows and squinting eyes. “I have never been more happy to see a friend who came from a faraway land!”
Anping: What on earth is this thing talking about?!?!
“Hey, you are quite educated.” Mu Gesheng laughed, turned over and jumped down to the next floor. He was facing the broadcast room. He kicked the paper man wrapped around him into the room, and locked the door from the outside. The door shook and there was the sharp sound of fingernails scratching.
Before Anping could breathe a sigh of relief, deafening music rang in the building, “The second set of national radio gymnastics for primary and secondary school students – the times are calling!”*
*(A video of the set of exercises they do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuMIomW9wwg if anyone wants to see haha)
Anping almost couldn’t catch his breath, “Can’t you have kicked it anywhere else? Do you have to kick it into the broadcast room?”
“The City No. 1 High School’s exercises are really tacky.” Mu Gesheng sighed, “But be content with it. At least they didn’t play the music for the national anthem. The background music for our school’s awards every year is Zhu Bajie carrying his wife.”*
*(Here is a version of it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz8Sw_cLJIg )
Anping: “…”
More room doors opened, and more and more paper figures gathered around. Mu Gesheng used Anping to clear the way. The background music was impassioned radio gymnastics, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, two, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, the two of them fought all the way to the third floor. Mu Gesheng kicked open the classroom door and eliminated the paper figures that popped up inside. “Look for sauerkraut beef instant noodles.”
Only then did Anping realize that they had entered the canteen. He found a bag from the shelf and asked, “What are you doing with this?”
“Don’t use the packs, look for the cups.” Mu Gesheng blocked the door, “Unless you want to use plastic bags to make noodles.”
“How long has it been and you still want to eat?”
“The class representative accidentally ate sauerkraut noodles when she entered the Three Realms Displacement. We also ate sauerkraut noodles when we came in. This thing is a guide to the outside world. You can only go out after eating it.” Mu Gesheng raised his foot and kicked a paper man eight feet away. “Hurry up, my feet are sore.”
“I’ll do it right away.” Anping quickly sped up his movements after hearing this, “Isn’t your coin very useful? Why do you have to fight with your hand?”
“I want to save money.”
“…Pretend as if I didn’t say anything.”
Anping finally took out a cup of sauerkraut beef instant noodles. Mu Gesheng took him to the waterhouse to fetch water, and then threw him into another room. “Wait for the noodles to soak. Then eat as much as you can. Wait a minute longer and you can probably go back out soon.”
Anping looked around, “…Why should I eat it here?”
“The yin and yang are at odds with each other on the Three Realms Displacement. The yin here is the heaviest and the most unstable. It is easier to leave.” Mu Gesheng said: “It will take a while for the noodles to boil. An Ping’er, do you have anything to use for self-defense??”
Anping looked around and asked, “Can I use a rubber plunger?”
“Don’t use a stick, with that body of yours, you won’t survive a swing. Amulets and the like, it’s best to ward off evil spirits.”
Anping took out a piece of red rope from his clothes, with a jade pendant tied at the end, “Is this okay?”
“Okay.” Mu Gesheng bit his finger, smeared the blood on the jade pendant, and then stuffed it into Anping’s mouth, “Just hold it in your mouth, don’t spit it out or swallow it, if something suddenly appears, it won’t be able to get close to you.”
Anping murmured: “What about you?”
“Those things outside need to be cleared away. This Three Realms Displacement is very unstable. I have to prevent anything from escaping out again.” Mu Gesheng walked out, “When the noodles are cooked, leave a bite for me. I will be back later.”. Then, he closed the door.
Anping was still a little worried. Just when he wanted to chase him out, he found that the door was locked from outside. Then he realized a problem. He had a jade pendant in his mouth. How does one swallow the noodles without swallowing it as well?
And he was in the women’s restroom.
___
T/N: From what I understand, the ml has not appeared yet.
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Update: Every weekend~
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