Illusions, Lies, Truth V5C4: Home, Part 2—Pursuit

Illusions, Lies, Truth Volume 5: The Fallen, Jiu Ge, Part One

Original novel in Chinese by: 御 我 (Yu Wo)

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Chapter 4: Home, Part 2—Pursuit—translated by lucathia

“Mountain Forest Lodgings. Deliberately coming to such a desolate mountain, isn’t this the height of leisure?”

Fu Taiyi was rather frustrated. Even though there was a road, it was the lodging’s private road and not open to the public. Even halfway up a mountain, there were still people restricting road access. Several news reporting vans had also been stopped there and were only able to interview the person blocking them, to which they received the answer “no comment.” The news anchor came up with a bunch of conjectures and ended the segment.

Fu Taiyi couldn’t let it end just like that. Resigned, he parked his car to the side of the road and walked through a section of the mountain forest. He didn’t return to the road until he passed the restricted zone. The entire time, he had to make sure there were no hotel staff driving up from behind him.

If you really want to search, the Mountain Spirit, Shan Gui should be easier to find, right? Records say that she is a beautiful woman who lives on a forested mountain. Guo Shang and Li Hun are too difficult to find.

Fu Taiyi recalled Jiang Ziya’s words in detail. As soon as he had finished talking, the radio broadcast was interrupted with news that Mountain Forest Lodgings’ opening was postponed again.

This was the most obvious clue he had received recently. Climbing a deserted mountain was nothing. The location was even in Taiwan. In the past, some clues had had unclear locations. Cheng Xiang and her husband had to head out of the country at night just to make sure.

Fu Taiyi mumbled, “We found many people one after another. Even though it wasn’t easy, it wasn’t impossible either, making me believe that gathering all of Jiu Ge was but a matter of time. But now, several years have passed, and no more progress has been made. No wonder they have never been successfully gathered in the past… Sigh. Giving me hope and then spending so much time making me experience despair. Isn’t this too cruel?”

If not for Jiang Ziya, Fu Taiyi suspected that it might take a dozen more years before this clue would have surfaced. Under the torment of time, would he have been able to notice this fleeting clue?

No, after dozens of years, Fu Taiyi likely would have given up already. After all, Si Ming might not even have that many years left.

Thinking of Si Ming’s situation, Fu Taiyi couldn’t help his rising frustration. He was already in the mountains, so why was it still so hot? The higher he climbed, the stronger some sort of stench grew. Fu Taiyi was confused at first and was vigilant against this strange occurrence, but countless carcasses of animals that had been crushed to death appeared on the ground. Under the scorching summer sun, they rotted and stank. The stench grew stronger and stronger.

Fu Taiyi had no choice but to pay attention to his feet. If he stepped on anything, he might not be able to wash the stench away.

“The opening keeps getting postponed…”

He frowned. Does this have anything to do with Shan Gui?

Mountain Forest Lodgings was indeed remote. It wasn’t until evening that Fu Taiyi finally saw the lodgings. Of course, he hadn’t been able to pick up any speed since the mountain path was too high and steep.

Mountain Forest Lodgings was unlike regular hotels which were large buildings. Instead, it consisted of wooden cabins among the mountains. The meandering paths connected to each other and led to the main road. The lighting was dim. The trees around it weren’t native and were newly cultivated instead. Some were beautiful landscape trees, while some were bamboo. They were all neatly pruned.

The place was actually quite beautiful, but such a random, open area among the tall mountains and deep forests was odd. Yet such an oddity was exactly what people wanted. People weren’t actually spending money for a leisurely stay in the “forest mountains” with all the thickets and weeds. Just the mosquitos alone would bite customers away.

With the help of a tiny barrier dimension, Fu Taiyi successfully acquired an electronic card key to a room from the security guard. They believed that a relative of one of the guests had come for a trial stay. His personality was strange and reclusive. He didn’t want anyone to disturb him. He had no need of room service or meal deliveries. He would retrieve frozen meals to heat up on his own time.

After leaving the main building, Fu Taiyi walked to the cabin near the forest mountain. He allocated ten days for himself. If he really couldn’t find anything, then he could only accept it and head back. He could return in the future. Even though searching for companions was important, it was even more important not to lose his current companions.

Si Ming needed his bandages changed every two weeks, or he would be in pain. When he left, it had already been two days since the last time they were changed. To be safe, he should return with two days to spare.

Pushing down the worry in his heart, Fu Taiyi did not immediately enter the forest behind him. It was already late. The mountains at night weren’t safe. He could only wait for the next day to depart.

“Truly luxurious.”

Fu Taiyi lay comfortably on the soft sofa. He had spent a long time before he understood how to use the TV remote that had no buttons. It turned out that he had to “slide” it. He could also directly say, “turn on the TV.” Modern technology was amazing.

“Known as the most luxurious hotel in all Taiwan, Mountain Forest Lodgings is about to welcome its first group of guests this weekend. The hotel is not open to the general public and is only available to special VIP guests.”

The news left Fu Taiyi with little choice. Weekend meant he only had five days left. He had originally planned to go out during the day and comfortably snuggle here to sleep at night. Those plans had gone down the drain.

Shower then sleep! I’ll set out bright and early tomorrow to try and find my companion within the five days and go home.

After climbing the mountain for most of the day, Fu Taiyi pretty much fell dead asleep after touching the bed, all the way until the middle of the night when he suddenly opened his eyes. He yawned widely before turning to look out the French window.

Yes, there was a one-sided French window right beside the bed. You could see out the window from within. The star speckled courtyard should be a romantic sight, and that was the original intention behind the hotel’s design.

Unless there was a figure standing below a tree in the courtyard, staring at you without moving.

A normal person would be so scared that they would jump up and call security. However, Fu Taiyi looked at the shadow and turned to his side instead, so he could stare directly at it. His nose twitched. An intermittent stench drifted in from outside, but the room was tightly shut, and the central air conditioning was on. If the stench could permeate even under those conditions, just how bad was it outside?

“Interesting. A hotel like this wishes to welcome its first batch of guests, heh.”

Fu Taiyi laughed lightly. Seeing that the shadow wasn’t moving at all, he paid it no further attention. He closed his eyes and continued sleeping.

When he woke up in the morning, he felt refreshed. The bed was very comfortable. If not for the most likely very outrageous price, he would definitely have wanted to bring Xiao Dong here to experience the joy of lazing around in bed all day long.

Before he headed out, Fu Taiyi deliberately walked around the tree where the shadow had appeared. Since he had slept there for free, he had thought that he could lend them a hand and conveniently get rid of this problem for them, but he didn’t see any oddities.

“Is it unrelated to location?” Fu Taiyi mumbled, “Then, it must be because it knew there was someone here, so it took the initiative to come here?”

This type was bad news.

Fu Taiyi thought it over. Five days was too pressing. There was no time to handle this kind of difficult matter. At most, he could help by contacting Lu Yang. The compensation that this kind of luxurious hotel would give should be able to sway even a passive worker like Lu Yang.

His initial day of searching bore no fruit except for sweat. Fu Taiyi didn’t even see anything that looked like spirits. Normally speaking, this kind of mountain wilderness naturally had mountain spirits from folktales. Unexpectedly, it was completely clear, as if spirits didn’t exist in this world.

If not for going too far and finally spotting a small spirit, Fu Taiyi was about to feel goosebumps rise. When something is wrong, there must be something illusory behind it… Ah, this phrase isn’t quite suitable to use here.

Fu Taiyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He mocked himself for misusing the phrase, suppressed his disappointment, and walked back to Mountain Forest Lodgings.

When he went to the main building to get his microwavable meal, his face was stone cold, a warning for strangers not to approach. But even then, the security guard still couldn’t help but ask, “Did you see anything at night?”

Fu Taiyi gave a sideways glance and deliberately asked in return, “It was so dark. What did you expect me to see?”

The security guard hesitated but finally said with a polite smile, “Nothing. Sometimes there are squirrels on the trees.”

Would any squirrels have such a death wish to come live on landscape trees that are pruned regularly? Fu Taiyi rolled his eyes. There were several animals crushed on the streets though… He abruptly thought of the stench that had accompanied that shadow.

“There’s a terrible smell here. Have you smelled it? Could a squirrel have died in here?” Fu Taiyi of course knew that wasn’t the case, but he figured it could be an excuse for figuring out whether the other person had also smelled it.

The security guard paled and said evasively, “P-Probably. Once the cleaners come, I will have them search carefully.”

Fu Taiyi nodded. When he exited, he didn’t leave immediately. He stood and listened to the security guards converse nervously inside.

“Why is there a smell again?”

“Haven’t we already gotten a great master to come take a look?”

“It was useless! It was only quiet for two days. I heard that the night shift wants to quit again. Who knows how many have quit already? The boss just keeps tricking new people into taking on the job, and they’ve all been scared away within a few days. The lad this time says that he always smells something when he walks outside, and he feels like someone is staring at him. Fortunately, he hasn’t seen anything like those before him, or else why would he so kindly bring up resigning, instead of directly running off like everyone else? They should at least call afterwards to tell us.”

“How scary! Weren’t there already plans to bring guests to test out how the business would do?”

“That’s just an excuse. The previous great master said everything was fine. We just have to bring some big-name guests with good fortune to squash the bad luck.”

Fu Taiyi had just been wondering how they could open under these kinds of circumstances. If they had truly taken care of it, then finding people to squash the bad luck would be somewhat useful. People with good fortune never ran into spirits much in the first place. Bringing guests like that to prove that things were fine would allow the hotel owner to relax.

But as things were, they were not handled. No matter how lucky those guests were, they would not be able to suppress a spirit whose stench could be smelled so easily. Smell was usually never the first choice spirits used to confuse people.

Unless the big-name guest was Lu Yang, then perhaps there was still a chance to suppress the bad luck.

The second night, Fu Taiyi woke up in the middle of the night as usual. Outside the French window, the shadow walked out from below the tree—a woman with disheveled hair, whose appearance couldn’t be made out. Her dress seemed wet, clinging to her legs.

The third night, the woman moved around half of the courtyard and stopped by the fake hill. Her head was drooping, and her body muddy. Even her long, black hair had mud stuck to it, forming a clump. It was like she had rolled around several times in mud. But although she was mostly covered in mud, it was still possible to make out the numerous, bloody slashes on her body.

Fu Taiyi was a bit disappointed. He had gotten nothing out of his search outside. He had originally thought that perhaps this woman was a clue, too. He had even hoped that maybe this was his Shan Gui, so he had let her be.

But this couldn’t possibly be Shan Gui.

Shan Gui was the goddess of the mountain forest. She would never look like this.

The fourth night, Fu Taiyi opened his eyes and immediately saw the woman standing outside the window. She lifted her head slightly. The lower half of her face that had been covered by her black hair was littered with horizontal slashes. It was a frightening sight, seeing how her flesh and skin were torn apart.

Fu Taiyi did not continue sleeping this time. He got up and walked to the window. The slashes on the woman were not just concentrated on her face. They were across her entire body, just hidden by the mud. It was bound to be a tragic sight.

“What happened?”

Seeing the “ghost’s” terrible condition, Fu Taiyi couldn’t help but sigh. The ghost’s terrible state might not necessarily be injuries she had sustained before death. The countless injuries couldn’t actually be real either, or else the news would have broadcasted this all month long.

Therefore, are these injuries of the heart?

Fu Taiyi gently said, “Tomorrow, you’ll enter the building, right? Tomorrow is also my last day here. Should I take you away with me?”

Fu Taiyi inwardly hoped that he could bring two women back with him tomorrow.

On the final day, Fu Taiyi was reluctant to give up. He kept searching until the sun went down. The mountain at night made figuring out his location difficult. He almost couldn’t make his way back to Mountain Forest Lodgings and nearly had to camp outside. Fortunately, it was “almost.” Otherwise, Fu Taiyi suspected he would be extremely ill once he returned home.

Could it really have been a coincidence and not a clue? After all, what Jiang Ziya had was the truth-seeing eye. It might not be of any help with searching for someone.

Fu Taiyi couldn’t help but feel disappointed. After cleaning up the mess from the day, he still didn’t feel sleepy at all despite how tired his body was. He simply huddled on the sofa to organize his thoughts. Or perhaps he was just spacing out.

Drip, drip…

There was a constant sound of water dripping on the floor, as if something wet had entered the room, approaching closer and closer.

The dripping grew louder and louder…

It was only when the sound was right beside him that Fu Taiyi returned to his senses and lazily said, “You’re here?”

Cold hands slowly grabbed his neck.

Heh. Fu Taiyi chuckled. This woman had seemed so pitiful. She had merely stood outside for four days to scare him. He had thought that she was the type of pitiful spirit who only scared people and wouldn’t actually lay a hand on him. Evidently, he had assumed wrong again.

The more pitiful a spirit was, the more dangerous.

He jabbed his elbow back and jumped up from the sofa. As he did so, he took his glasses off. As he straightened, his original, depressed temperament disappeared without a trace. He was like a completely different person. If Jiang Ziya had been present, he would once again see the graceful God of the Eastern Sky, Dong Huang Taiyi.

“In the name of the God of the Eastern Sky, I command thee to reveal thy true self. Thou art to be pitied, and assistance shalt be given to reconstruct thy body. Thou shalt no longer be trapped in pain.”

The woman abruptly lifted her head. There were at least a dozen slashes on her face and nearly no unblemished skin. Even with such a frightening face that made one want to look away, she possessed a pair of clear eyes. She said in a raspy voice, “Dong…”

Suddenly, a huge shadow shattered the French window and rushed forward to grab the woman, sending the sofa flying with a kick at the same time. Fu Taiyi was stunned. He dropped to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding getting rammed by the sofa.

The window had thick glass, and the sofa was heavy. Just who possesses such strength?

Fu Taiyi was shocked. He wanted to run to his bag and take out the mottled mask, but the figure had already rushed toward him. In an instant, it was right in front of him.

There was no way to escape…