Chapter 611 - The Woman in the Tunnel and the Shadow of the Spider [3 in 1] (1/2)

Translator: Lonelytree  Editor: Millman97

Chen Ge had made the mental preparation that no matter what happened, he would never open his eyes. His body was swallowed up by darkness, and the noises around his eyes fell away. It felt as if he was walking slowly and alone deep into the ocean, departing from the familiar world, with the fear of the future unknown, and carrying with him an anticipation for the final destination. Many feelings blossomed in the man’s mind, like an octopus’ tentacles wrapping themselves around his shuddering heart.

“I’ve already experienced this sense of isolation many times before. To prevent this feeling from happening in real life, this time, I have to see this to its end,” Chen Ge mumbled to himself, not because he thought someone or something was listening but because he was trying to give himself words of encouragement.

About ten meters later, Chen Ge’s felt an emptiness underneath his fingers. On his third trail, the split finally appeared again. Without hesitation, he strode into the split.

The temperature around him dropped. Chen Ge had no idea whether his decision was the correct one or not—he had never been a particularly clever person. The reason that he had been able to survive thus far was dependent on his supernatural observational skill, decisive personality, and a courage that had been cultivated since he was young.

Touching the wet and slimy wall, Chen Ge emptied his mind, not allowing it to latch onto anything. The only sound echoing in his ears was his own footsteps, yet slowly but surely, the originally rhythmic sound was interrupted. Someone or something was following behind Chen Ge.

Don’t turn to look, don’t even think about it.

Not seeing meant nothing, and not thinking meant not existing. Chen Ge repeated that to himself in his mind, and that was how he kept himself from being distracted.

Many footsteps started to appear in the quiet tunnel. There seemed to be more than Chen Ge walking through the tunnel. The footsteps initially only came from behind Chen Ge, but slowly, other than the side where the wall was, the sound of footsteps came from everywhere.

Chen Ge’s heart was itchy like it was being scratched by a cat. He was incredibly curious, but he maintained enough self-control to not remove the simplified blindfold on his face. After going through so much, Chen Ge had a very strong adaptive ability. He soon regained control of himself and slowly got used to the echoes of footsteps around him. He cheered for himself internally, hypnotizing himself with the belief that the footsteps around him were not there to harm him. At least from what he was experiencing, it merely appeared that they just so happened to be on the same path that Chen Ge was travelling on.

Am I on a path that is only traversable by ghosts?

After several more seconds, Chen Ge discovered another problem. Other than the footsteps, there was a new sound, the sound of car tires crunching over items on the road.

Vehicles are passing me by?

Currently, there should only be one automobile in the tunnel, and that was the taxi driven in by the driver.

Who activated the car? Could it be that the driver has found his way back to his taxi? Or is he actually more than a normal taxi driver?

The driver that had driven Chen Ge to White Dragon Cave Tunnel was a random one that he had found on the street; the possibility that he was related to the tunnel was too much of a stretch. The possibility was so small that it could be ignored.

It shouldn’t be the driver. Does that mean there’s another thing driving the car?

Chen Ge was about to consider the line of thought when something even more incredible happened. He could hear clearly in both of his ears the humming of engines, plural. There was more than one car passing him by.

What on Earth is happening?

With his eyes blindfolded, Chen Ge had no idea what was going on—he could only picture the explanation with what he heard. The footsteps around him picked up pace, and they appeared to be rushing in a unified direction.

Something scarier is forcing him to run? Or has the thing that has been drawing them forward finally appeared?

Chen Ge was unsure whether he should follow them and run. With his eyes blindfolded, it was hard to make a decision. After a moment’s hesitation, he decided to maintain his current speed. He kept himself alert and careful with every move and used his remaining senses to slowly dissect this whole new ‘world’.

The slick feeling on the wall has disappeared, and what’s left is a cold hard surface. It feels much smoother and flatter to the hands, like it has been sanded down before.

Chen Ge desperately wanted to remove the blindfold to confirm his suspicion. Ever since he entered the split, the world had changed tremendously. The split led him to a completely different world.

He continued moving forward, and the tunnel became even more crowded. He could just about make out people talking, and the more he moved forward, the louder the voices became. But the strange thing was, as loud as the person spoke and as sharp as the voices were, he was unable to perceive the meaning that was inherent in the words; he could only process the emotions behind the words—anxiety, anger, and a small inkling of fear.

What is happening out there?

Even though he was still inside the tunnel, the situation outside had completely changed. The footsteps, the screaming, the honking of cars, the tires grinding, and the humming of motors—it felt as if the tunnel was still in use.

If the tunnel hadn’t been sealed, it would be this active, I suppose…

Chen Ge had no idea where he was, but one thing was certain, everything that he was experiencing should have something to do with the actual owner of White Dragon Cave Tunnel, and it was probably leading him there on purpose.

The cacophony around Chen Ge grew louder, and more voices entered Chen Ge’s mind, making it nearly impossible for him to hear his own voice. The only thing that he could tell was that the footsteps were still moving in one particular direction, and after he paid them more attention, he realized that all the cars were moving that way as well.

Why are they moving that way?

The question was stuck in his mind. While Chen Ge was figuring out the answer, a different sound entered his left ear. The noises drowned out the voice for the most part, such that Chen Ge only managed to tell it was the voice of a child. It was crisp and intermittent, and it sounded like the child was injured.

Chen Ge shuffled another few steps forward along with the ‘crowd’, and the child’s voice appeared again.

“No, wait…” This time, Chen Ge stopped. He noticed something weird. The child’s voice was coming from behind his left ear. When all the ‘people’ and cars were moving forward, the owner of the voice stayed where they were; they had not moved.

Another person might not have noticed a detail as small as this, but Chen Ge was different. To break through this conundrum, he kept his focus sharp, making note of everything around him. He did not dare speak lest he revealed the fact that he was different from the ‘people’ around him.

“Save me, save me, save my mummy…” Several seconds later, the voice returned, and it came from the same spot as before.

This is strange. I can hear so many sounds, but for some reason, I can hear this soft voice the clearest.

He could read the despair in the person’s voice, and the feeling was hard to describe; it made Chen Ge feel comfortable, like the voice was reaching into his heart to squeeze on it.

Turning around, without knowing what kind of danger was coming from behind him, Chen Ge instinctively moved toward the source of the voice. He nudged his footsteps little by little, and like a blind person, Chen Ge slowly searched for his way.

As he got nearer the voice, suddenly, someone tapped him on his shoulder, and then it was followed by an urgent scream. The voice was loud, and it warned him to move faster. If he stayed, he would be in mortal danger.

These are probably the spirits that entered the tunnel with me. They are running for their lives, so the thing chasing after them is probably the owner of the tunnel!

The way Chen Ge thought was different from the ‘people’ inside the tunnel. He was very clear about his identity; he was a bait, waiting for the owner of the tunnel to show themself.

This was a very risky move, but that was the most direct and simplest way that Chen Ge could think of to tackle the issue at hand. He had always adopted the most straightforward solution to his problem—that was his style.

The ‘people’ in the tunnel seemed to misunderstand his action, and the voices around him sharpened to become clearer. The ‘people’ urged him to leave, telling him that if he dared stay any longer, he would really die!

Chen Ge was unfazed by the persuasion of the ‘people’ around him, and soon, his ears captured a different sound.

It sounded like liquid dripping.

Tik tok tik tok.

It was very close to him.

Seeing Chen Ge’s desire to stay, the ‘people’ that tried to persuade him abandoned him, and the tunnel became quiet again. The footsteps, the crunching of the tires, and the honking of the car disappeared like the tunnel was once again abandoned by ‘society and its people’.

“Save me, save me, save my mummy…” The location near the wall issued the child’s pleading again. Chen Ge went closer to it and slowly squatted down. His eyes were still blindfolded, and he did not dare to speak, afraid that it might cause some unknown and unbeneficial changes.