Chapter 105: The Wind Is Free, and So Are You
Shen Yu didn’t dare witness another year of Yun Han’s suffering.
Silently, he lowered his head and turned another page of the diary.
Fresh handwriting slowly came into view.
Winter, 1986
My broken ankle seems to be getting better.
My fever is gone too.
Mom... Dad...
Han Han is very independent now.
You don’t have to worry about me anymore.
The New Year is coming again.
Did you buy my favorite milk candies this year?
I miss you so much.
I’ll definitely come home this year.
The ink had already turned dark brown with dried blood.
As Shen Yu finished reading...
The world around him distorted once again.
A new scene unfolded.
Snow covered the mountain path.
Yun Han was desperately struggling toward the village entrance.
Dozens of villagers grabbed her tiny body.
She kicked.
She screamed.
She bit their hands.
She refused to give up.
Yet...
She was dragged back once again.
Shen Yu quietly watched.
A sigh escaped his lips.
"You knew it was impossible..."
"...yet you still tried."
"So this..."
"...was your obsession."
"Going home."
Another page turned.
Autumn, 1987
The wheat in the village has ripened.
The flowers at the entrance have bloomed...
...and withered again.
Looking at the haystacks...
I keep thinking of graves.
Mom...
Dad...
Can Han Han still escape?
I think...
I’ve forgotten the road back to the city.
Maybe...
After Han Han dies...
I’ll finally see Mom and Dad again.
Another page.
Summer, 1988
Today I saw a little boy celebrating his birthday.
He even had a small cake.
How wonderful.
I’ve forgotten what candy tastes like.
I hope...
I can eat a little more tonight.
Mom...
Dad...
I miss you so much.
Page after page...
Year after year...
Like rings carved into a tree.
Every diary entry recorded another year of Yun Han’s imprisonment.
Every page carried another desperate attempt to escape.
Another beating.
Another disappointment.
Another lonely birthday.
Ten years.
Ten diary entries.
Ten shattered hopes.
Ten failed escapes.
Each time...
Shen Yu watched Yun Han run toward freedom.
Each time...
He watched her dragged back.
Covered in blood.
Covered in bruises.
Yet...
She never stopped trying.
His fingers trembled as he opened the final page.
Rainy Night, 1995
Cough...
Cough...
Failed again.
This time...
I probably don’t have another chance.
I smashed open their coffin.
My head hurts...
But...
I finally saw the chefs.
I saw the sky outside the village.
It was so beautiful.
So wide.
Mom...
Dad...
Can I finally come home?
The instant Shen Yu finished reading—
Everything blurred.
He appeared once again...
At the very end of the timeline.
Rain poured relentlessly.
Thunder roared overhead.
The kitchen burned fiercely.
The broken coffin lay overturned.
Not far away...
The middle-aged villagers laughed and chatted as though nothing had happened.
BOOM!
Lightning split the heavens.
Yet this time...
The timeline did not reset.
Instead...
It continued moving forward.
Faster.
Faster.
Even faster.
Years flashed by like flowing water.
Within the Wang family’s courtyard...
New scenes continuously appeared.
"Huh?"
"You heard?"
"Old Wang and his wife died from heart attacks."
"Serves them right."
"At least the whole family is reunited underground."
Another scene.
"Old Li’s son died in a car accident while working outside."
"The two old folks couldn’t bear the shock."
"They followed him that same night."
Another.
"Old Zhao’s child poisoned the family meal."
"Nobody survived."
One tragedy after another.
One cursed death after another.
Every household in Harmony Burial Village gradually disappeared.
Every courtyard eventually raised a black tombstone.
The village...
Was dying.
Rain continued falling.
The entire village had become silent.
Not a single living villager remained.
Black tombstones stood everywhere.
Rainwater streamed over them like endless tears.
Shen Yu stood quietly in the Wang family’s courtyard.
The old diary rested in his hand.
His gaze settled upon the enormous tombstone standing in the center.
He smiled faintly.
"...It’s finally over."
"Whether this is divine punishment..."
"...or Yun Han’s revenge..."
"A village like this..."
"Never deserved to exist."
Upon the gigantic joint-burial tombstone...
Several names were carved.
Wang Jinchan.
Li Hong.
Wang Jia.
Yun Han.
A family...
Buried together forever.
"What timeline is this?"
Luxian stepped out from the small room.
She looked around at the lifeless village.
Then grinned.
"So refreshing."
"Everyone’s dead."
She walked beside Shen Yu.
"It seems I guessed correctly."
"To clear this looping dungeon..."
"There was only one absolute condition."
"Fulfill Yun Han’s wishes."
She raised two fingers.
"First..."
"Bring the keepsake she treasured..."
"Back to her parents."
"Only after resolving their regret could the first condition be completed."
"Second..."
Her eyes landed on the massive tombstone.
BOOM!
Shen Yu kicked it without warning.
The gigantic stone monument collapsed.
Earth flew everywhere.
Beneath it...
A shallow pit appeared.
Inside lay a massive crimson coffin.
Luxian slowly approached.
"So..."
"Her final wish..."
"Was simply..."
"To go home."
She placed both hands on the coffin lid.
"If we take her ashes away..."
"Leave this cursed village..."
"Wouldn’t the dungeon end?"
BANG!
The coffin suddenly shook violently.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
Cracks spread across the lid.
The next second—
BOOM!!
The entire coffin exploded apart.
Stone fragments scattered everywhere.
Two pitch-black arms burst through the shattered lid.
Then another pair.
Then another.
Something...
Forced itself out.
Luxian instinctively stepped backward.
"Is..."
"Is that..."
"The Tombstone Guardian?"
Every courtyard throughout the village erupted simultaneously.
One tombstone after another collapsed.
Stone hands reached out from beneath buried coffins.
Something beneath the entire village...
Was awakening.
The crimson coffin continued opening.
Luxian hesitated.
Then reached forward.
"Shen Yu..."
"If Yun Han’s ashes are inside..."
"We should take them now."
"Stop."
Shen Yu’s voice rang out sharply.
She froze.
"What?"
"If we open it now..."
"And take her remains..."
"We’ll only have to face the guardian from this household."
"We still have a chance to escape."
"If we wait..."
"We’ll face the guardians of the entire village."
Shen Yu slowly shook his head.
"No."
"This tombstone..."
"...was deliberately left here."
"It’s bait."
"They wanted someone to open it."
Memories surfaced inside his mind.
"Even after death..."
"She’ll stay beside my son forever."
"She’ll remain his slave."
The next instant—
BOOM!!
The coffin lid completely exploded.
A grotesque monster slowly stood up.
It wore a tattered black funeral robe.
Its swollen body looked like two corpses fused together.
Its exposed flesh was pitch-black.
Two heads protruded from a single neck.
They were...
Old Wang...
...and his wife.
Four arms.
Four legs.
A hideous monster stitched together through joint burial.
Luxian’s face turned pale.
"...Is this..."
"...the final boss?"
"How are we supposed to fight something like this?"
Shen Yu ignored the monster.
His eyes remained fixed on the coffin.
There were no ashes.
No urn.
Nothing.
His pupils contracted.
"So that’s it..."
"Yun Han’s ashes..."
"Were never buried here."
"This coffin..."
"Really was nothing but a trap."
The fused monster slowly turned toward them.
Its two heads twisted unnaturally.
"You..."
"Dare disturb..."
"The eternal rest..."
"Of the Wang family?"
THUD!
THUD!
Every step shook the ground.
Before Lucian could react...
The creature charged.
BOOM!!
Its massive body slammed directly into Shen Yu.
The impact was like being struck by a speeding truck.
Blood exploded from his mouth.
He flew dozens of meters.
Wooden tables.
Chairs.
Walls.
Everything shattered.
He finally crashed into the manor.
"Cough..."
"Cough..."
Blood continuously poured from his lips.
His chest had caved inward.
Even breathing became agonizing.
"...Still..."
"...too weak."
"My body..."
"Can’t withstand it."
The monster slowly approached.
Its two heads laughed together.
"You crashed into my son back then..."
"So now..."
"I’ll return the favor."
"You deceived us..."
"Claiming you were selling people."
"So now..."
"We’ll deceive you too."
"Yun Han’s ashes..."
"Were never here."
Shen Yu looked at the grotesque creature.
His lips twitched helplessly.
"...Seriously?"
"You’ve been holding a grudge..."
"...for over ten years?"
"You cannot leave."
"Harmony Burial Village..."
"Has always welcomed outsiders..."
"...only to bury them."
"You..."
"...will be no exception."
The monster drew closer.
Meanwhile...
Luxian desperately shook the hand drum.
Dong!
Dong!
Dong!
Her voice echoed through the rain.
"Han Han..."
"Han Han..."
"Han Han..."
"Ten years have passed..."
"But your parents..."
"Never stopped waiting for you..."