Chapter 596: Suicide Ritual

Liu Qingyan stood frozen in place.

"Cough, cough, cough... ugh, cough, cough..."

The weak kerosene lamp flickered in the hallway. A rough, pained coughing sound came from behind the door next to hers. It was a man's voice, but the tone was unlike that of a normal person—it sounded like something primitive, and even the floor beneath her feet trembled slightly.

Liu Qingyan frowned involuntarily. She glanced at the half-ajar door, but instead of approaching, she let out a soft sigh and opened her own door to enter her room.

It was a cheap inn, after all; the room was narrow and dilapidated, with only a hard bed sitting lonely in the center, flanked by some aged, old-fashioned tables and cabinets. The soundproofing was abysmal; even with the door closed, she could still hear the coughing and heavy wheezing from next door.

Liu Qingyan scanned the room and casually placed the kerosene lamp on the table, which creaked under the weight.

She walked straight to the small, closed window, pulled the latch, and pushed it outward. A light evening breeze rolled into the room, causing her black hair to fly upward...

Liu Qingyan stood behind the dim inn window, facing the brightly lit opera house across the way. The faint light brushed against her cheeks like a dreamlike reflection.

A melodious operatic tune drifted out from the opera house.

"...The children have gone to scout the military situation, yet there is no news~ Alone in the painted hall, I ponder in secret,

I only fear the treacherous officials will stir up trouble again, tarnishing the glorious reputation of my Yang family for generations..."

Hearing this, Liu Qingyan was slightly stunned. She hadn't expected Chen Ling to actually be able to sing opera, and to sing it so well... She had heard others perform this piece, "Mu Guiying Takes Command," before, but compared to Chen Ling, it was like the difference between heaven and earth.

The crowd gathered outside the opera house also fell silent immediately, sitting by the roadside, mesmerized by the melodious singing. They could only hear the voice, not see the person, but it didn't dampen their enthusiasm in the slightest.

After Chen Ling finished, another performer's voice joined in. Liu Qingyan found it somewhat familiar, and after a moment of recollection, she remembered the appearance of Li Qingshan, whom she had met in Liu Town.

Gradually, Liu Qingyan became intoxicated by it. She stood by the window, her eyes gazing deeply at the brightly lit opera house, lost in thought.

"Ugh, cough, cough, cough!!! Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!!"

A sharp, rough coughing fit came from next door again, interrupting Liu Qingyan's immersion. She frowned at the pale wall, her eyes filled with displeasure.

It wasn't just her; the coughing was so loud that even the pedestrians below the inn could hear it, and they looked up involuntarily, gazing in confusion at the rows of small, dark windows above.

Fortunately, this coughing fit lasted only a few seconds before stopping. Liu Qingyan finally heard the sounds from the opera house clearly again... She took a deep breath and continued to gaze in the direction of the opera house, seemingly wanting to immerse herself once more.

"It is not that I stand idly by in the face of national crisis, but seeing the commander's seal stirs up so many past memories.

The Yang family sacrificed themselves, forgetting their home to secure the nation; while they returned in triumph, others received favor, and I added new graves..."

"Ugh, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!!!!!"

Before Liu Qingyan could finish the line, the hysterical coughing erupted again, this time accompanied by the harsh sound of fingernails scratching wood and some strange, heavy thumping.

Thump—thump—thump—

The floor beneath Liu Qingyan's feet trembled; the bed, cabinets, and tables in her room creaked as if they were about to collapse at any moment.

Her expression turned grim instantly, her brow furrowing into a deep crease. After a brief moment of hesitation, she picked up the kerosene lamp and walked straight out of her room into the dim corridor.

Without the walls to muffle the sound, the noise in the hallway was significantly louder. All sorts of strange movements came from behind the half-ajar door next door, while the other doors remained tightly shut, as if they were the only two guests here.

As soon as Liu Qingyan grabbed the door handle next door, it fell to the floor with a thud, just like her own, shattering into pieces.

Seeing this, a sense of foreboding rose in Liu Qingyan's heart.

One broken door handle could be attributed to age and disrepair, but two in a row shattering at a touch was suspicious... Coupled with the inhuman coughing and wheezing coming from inside, Liu Qingyan became instantly alert!

She gripped the edge of the half-ajar door and slowly pushed it open. By the dim light of the kerosene lamp, she finally saw the scene inside.

In the narrow, dim room, a figure draped in a red robe was kneeling on the floor. Beneath the robe was a completely naked body, now stained entirely red with blood, especially around the lungs, where something had sliced open a bloody wound!

He was holding a sharp blade in one hand, cutting through the flesh of his left chest, while the other hand held a blood-soaked hammer, smashing at his pale ribs. With the final blow, the second rib snapped with a crack!

Yet, as if he couldn't feel the pain, he knelt on the ground, grinning hideously. Beneath the flesh and broken bones of his left chest, a lung lobe was exposed to the air.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!!!"

Violent coughing accompanied by mouthfuls of scarlet blood splattered the floor. He caught a glimpse of the flickering kerosene lamp and slowly raised his head... his eyes, devoid of whites, were eerily sinister.

"So, I've been caught..."

He saw Liu Qingyan standing outside the door, seemingly frozen in shock, and the grin on his face grew even more savage.

"Too bad... you're too late... the suicide ritual is nearing completion... the 'Wilderness of Sighs' is about to descend... everything here will be buried in the Gray Realm!

The world shall return to the primordial."

As he finished speaking, he reached one hand into his broken ribs, grabbed the lung lobe that was heaving like a broken bellows, and prepared to rip it from his body!

But the next moment, a hand like an iron vice clamped onto his arm.

He froze...

He tried to struggle, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move his arm even an inch!

He raised his head in a daze, only to see Liu Qingyan, who had been scared stiff outside the door just a moment ago, now standing before him. There was no fear in her eyes at the bloody scene, nor did she scream like an ordinary person; she simply looked at him quietly...

In her eyes, there was no fear, only confusion.

Although the scene before her was extremely bizarre and bloody, it wasn't much worse than the live skinning of Zong Wen, so Liu Qingyan wasn't particularly frightened; she was just wondering what kind of lunatic this person was.

"You... let go of me!" the man roared in anger.

"Let go of you?" Liu Qingyan looked into his eyes, her voice as soft as water. "But aren't you performing some kind of ritual? And you're going to bury everything here in the Gray Realm? So why would I let you go?"

Jiangtian Cultist: ...