Chapter 12
Passing through the gatehouse, ravaged by fire, it felt like entering another world in an instant. A small path appeared before them, flanked by lush vegetation contained by bamboo fences, with only a few branches and leaves protruding. Every short distance, an exquisitely crafted bamboo wind lantern hung, its cleverly concealed bulb emitting a soft light, barely illuminating the path. In the near distance, the path ended, with a row of buildings faintly visible, perhaps two or three stories high, rising and falling unevenly. Looking back, the gatehouse had returned to its pristine state, the traces of the fire gone, and the two large red lanterns hanging from the eaves no longer held that strange, eerie feeling.
āIt doesnāt look scary at all,ā Jin Youqian muttered under his breath, closely following Luo Wenshu without missing a step.
Wenge also didn’t find it scary, and for some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity with the place, though he couldn’t quite place it.
“Because the change hasn’t started yet,” Luo Wenshu said.
This special area was like a small world, self-contained and completely disconnected from the outside. Everything was calm now; they were clearly in a relatively good time frame.
The four of them quickly walked down the path, arriving at a spacious clearing with many cars parked. Behind them stood a row of incongruous buildingsāmodern craftsmanship in an antique style.
“Would you like to eat?” a cheerful voice called from the side.
Jin Youqian jumped, instinctively turning to see a middle-aged woman with her hair up in a bun and wearing a cheongsam standing not far away, a radiant smile on her face as she looked at them. She looked like a normal person. But this place wasn’t normal, making even her normalcy feel out of place.
Jin Youqian instinctively looked at Luo Wenshu.
“Yes,” she nodded.
“How many people are there?” the woman asked again.
“Four,” Luo Wenshu said.
“Okay~~” the woman said, gesturing towards another direction. “Xiaoli, come and take the four guests to a private room~~”
As soon as she finished speaking, another person appearedāa young girl who looked to be in her early twenties, her long hair tied in a high ponytail, wearing a T-shirt with a print. The girl had a warm smile, a small dimple on her cheek, and a sweet voice. “Please follow me~~”
“Chaihuo Xiaoyuanā¦” Jin Youqian read the words aloud. “It feels so familiarā¦”
He frowned slightly.
“Guests?”
“I remember! Chaihuo Xiaoyuan in the southern suburbs!”
About a year ago, a friend had invited Jin Youqian to a newly opened farmhouse restaurant in the southern suburbs, boasting of the chef’s excellent cooking. Jin Youqian had declined due to some prior engagement; his friend, seemingly disheartened, hadn’t gone either. That evening, Jin Youqian received a call from his friend, excitedly telling him about a major fire at the restaurant that had burned it to the ground.
“Master, this placeā¦” Jin Youqian’s face was filled with terror. As he spoke, he noticed the waitress leading them, her smile seeming to have become sinister.
Jin Youqian’s expression froze.
“What’s wrong?” Luo Wenshu asked.
Jin Youqian awkwardly avoided the girl’s gaze, lowering his voice and whispering to Luo Wenshu, “This place had a fire a year agoā¦”
He paused. He had noticed the news report at the time, but because the incident was recent, there was little informationāonly that there had been a fire, the cause was unclear, and the number of casualties was still being counted. He hadn’t followed up on it.
Wenge, who hadn’t spoken until now, quietly continued, “The farmhouse restaurant was built at the foot of a mountain. The weather was dry at the time, and the surrounding area was ignited. The fire burned for a whole night. Many people were injured, but there were no fatalitiesā¦”
“What?!” Jin Youqian thought he had misheard. “But I remember the video; the fire was hugeā¦”
No deaths was obviously the best outcome, but Jin Youqian felt something was wrong. He remembered the time of the fireālate afternoon, when the place would have been busiest.
“That’s what the news reported,” Wenge affirmed.
Luo Wenshu, having only recently arrived, was unfamiliar with past events, but after being reminded, she recalled some details from the original owner’s memories, confirming Wenge’s account.
“Then this placeā¦” Jin Youqian looked around at the farmhouse restaurantāthe lights, the buildings, the cars, the guestsāeverything seemed so real. At any other time, in any other way, he wouldn’t have suspected anything.
“The truth isn’t what the news reported; otherwise, this area wouldn’t exist,” Luo Wenshu narrowed her eyes. Many others likely questioned the “no deaths” report, and the official wouldn’t have fabricated such an obvious lie. There had to be some hidden truth.
During this conversation, the girl leading them remained silent, standing a few steps away, still smiling but stiffly, her eyes lacking the initial sparkle, appearing dull. Suddenly, chaotic noises erupted from inside the farmhouse restaurant. People were running out of the private rooms, panicked.
“What happened?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Run! It’s on fire!!”
Luo Wenshu picked up the key detail from the commotion, then checked her phone. The digital clock had changed; the date was a year ago, the time was around 6 pm.
“The change has begun,” she said, looking up. The sky above seemed to be lit by firelight, accompanied by black smoke. Unlike in reality, the fire spread incredibly fast. Screams and cries filled the air.
“Come with me,” she took Luo Xingyu’s hand and calmly walked towards the exit of the farmhouse restaurant. The wind howled, intensifying the fire. Blazing flames swept in from all directions, and the buildings within the farmhouse restaurant began to collapse.
Jin Youqian was terrified, but soon realized that an invisible barrier surrounded them, shielding them from the flames.
“BOOMā”
A loud explosionāa nearby car had caught fire and exploded. Then more cars exploded. The explosions were deafening.
“Isā¦ is this what actually happened then?” Jin Youqian asked.
“More or less,” Luo Wenshu said, though she hadn’t personally experienced it, the environment within the area was essentially recreating past events.
They quickly reached the outside of the farmhouse restaurant. The path was blocked by cars, horns blaring frantically, with angry shouts coming from inside. But it was useless; the road was too narrow, easily congested in emergencies.
“BOOMā” Another car exploded in the fire. Jin Youqian witnessed a man fleeing the restaurant being thrown into the air by the blast, crashing heavily to the ground. His clothes were torn, his exposed skin bloody and mangled; he lay motionless.
“Heā¦ he’s dead, right?” Jin Youqian asked uncertainly. Even setting aside the grimness, there were undoubtedly still people trapped inside, as faint cries for help could be heard. This made Jin Youqian question the “no deaths” report. Were the bodies completely incinerated? That didn’t make sense in a modern age where such details would be easily verified.
Suddenly, the scene changed. The raging fire disappeared, replaced by a vast expanse of charred ruins, stretching as far as the eye could see. Many people suddenly appeared beside themāmostly firefighters in uniforms and equipment, along with officials overseeing the scene and journalists.
“ā¦Many people are injured, some very seriouslyā¦”
“Get the injured to the hospital immediatelyā¦”
There were too many voices; Jin Youqian couldn’t distinguish who was speaking.
“Get out of the way!” someone shouted from behind.
Jin Youqian instinctively moved aside and looked back. Hospital staff in white coats rushed past carrying stretchers. He caught a glimpse of someone on a stretcher who resembled the man thrown by the explosion, but he couldn’t be sure.
Jin Youqian saw the injured man open his eyes, their gazes meeting briefly. He was alive, but his eyes were lifeless, giving Jin Youqian an unsettling feeling.
“Come with me,” Luo Wenshu’s voice suddenly rang out. Jin Youqian quickly followed. In the blink of an eye, they had passed through the crowd and reached the edge of the burnt land. The area was filled with cars, fire trucks, ambulances, and TV news vans. Medical tents had been set up for triage and emergency treatment before transporting the injured to hospitals.
Luo Wenshu held Luo Xingyu’s hand. She had earlier performed a special treatment on his eyes; he was seeing things differently from others. Jin Youqian and Wenge followed closely behind. They wandered around, encountering many seriously injured patients, each with an eerie feeling. They seemed less like living people and more like soulless puppets.
Luo Wenshu raised her hand, preparing to use incantations to see what lay beneath the surface illusion. She suddenly noticed a white figure amongst the crowd, emanating the same aura she had been tracking. The figure seemed to notice her too; their eyes met briefly, and then the figure fled without hesitation.
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