Witch’s Night: Chapter 24 Don’t Come In!
This standoff had lasted for quite a while.
The ghastly shadow with amber eyes in front of them was still silently watching Chris and Luo Yan, without making any further moves.
During this time, Luo Yan had tried using various powers on the shadow, but none of them worked. It was as if the shadow was truly just an ethereal phantom.
Chris also tried to use “Siren’s Song” to interfere with the surrounding ethereal melody, but the situation wasn’t as she imagined.
The two songs played simultaneously, without any interference.
And every time Luo Yan and Chris tried to cross the doorway and leave the residential building, the next moment they would be back to the moment they stepped inside.
After several failed attempts, there seemed to be only one path left for them.
“Go back?”
Luo Yan raised an eyebrow. All these signs indicated that they were trapped in some unknown barrier.
And the only way out of the barrier was to continue deeper into the corridor.
“…It seems we have no other choice.”
Chris sighed. This was the first time she had encountered a Calamity phenomenon that made her feel so powerless.
It wasn’t terror or power, but the fact that she couldn’t find a way to deal with it, not even a method to cope.
But there was one thing that had to be remembered when dealing with Calamity phenomena: never violate the rules within the Calamity phenomenon, no matter how unbelievable or inconceivable the rule.
Since all the circumstances within the Calamity phenomenon pointed towards the depths of the corridor, Luo Yan and Chris seemed to have no other choice.
So, Luo Yan and Chris immediately turned around, stepped back into the residential building, and continued walking towards the depths of the corridor.
In the spreading darkness, the dark corridor didn’t seem unusual. Except for the strange oil lamps and the continuous ethereal melody echoing in their ears, it seemed like an ordinary residential building.
There were different rooms on both sides of the corridor, and they could see the rooms through the windows.
A dining room, a study, a bathroom…
No different from an ordinary residence, and with many signs of life.
For example, the faucet in the kitchen wasn’t turned off completely, the towel hanging next to the bathroom was slightly dripping, and there were several open books in the study, along with a quill pen and a notebook for taking notes.
From these details, Luo Yan gradually pieced together a picture: an elderly person living alone, leading a lonely and simple life here, for an unknown amount of time.
This corridor wasn’t as long as it seemed from the outside. They walked for less than two minutes and reached the end, where there was a spiral staircase leading upwards.
The source of the ethereal melody had now moved above Luo Yan and Chris. They exchanged glances and understood that they were thinking the same thing.
This was probably the Calamity phenomenon guiding them to the second floor. At this point, it seemed they had no choice but to go up.
So, with Luo Yan leading the way and Chris staying vigilant, they stepped onto the stairs, one after the other, heading for the second floor.
The stairs were ordinary wooden stairs, and quite rickety.
Both Luo Yan and Chris were relatively light, but when they stepped on the stairs, they still creaked, making it hard not to wonder if they would suddenly collapse.
As they moved forward, the ethereal melody grew closer. Sure enough, at the top of the stairs, a pair of amber eyes stared at them faintly.
This silent, ghastly shadow only looked terrifying; it didn’t actually show any signs of attacking.
However, when Luo Yan and Chris reached the second floor and stood in front of the ghastly shadow, it instantly vanished.
At the same time, the ethereal melody in their ears disappeared, and Luo Yan and Chris found themselves in an ordinary house once again.
“…It seems we’ve left the barrier.”
Luo Yan exhaled. The feeling of the God’s Chosen aura permeating everywhere had disappeared, leaving only a faint residual trace.
“So the barrier only covered the first floor?” Chris’s face was full of bewilderment and confusion. “To trap uninvited guests? But why wasn’t there any aggression… just scaring people.”
And it only prevented visitors from leaving the residential building, but didn’t hinder them from going up to the second floor.
Or rather… was there something on the second floor blocking the barrier?
What appeared before Luo Yan and Chris was a corridor identical to the one on the first floor. The oil lamps on both sides still seemed to have some residual smoke, clearly lit not long ago.
The corridor was very clean, seemingly often cleaned by the owner of the house, and the air was quite fresh, almost devoid of any dust.
With the faint light coming in through the windows, they could barely see the surroundings. Luo Yan and Chris carefully walked along the corridor, gradually going deeper.
Soon, they reached the end of the narrow corridor and entered a small living room.
The living room was empty, with only two simple wooden chairs, one large and one small, and an old coffee table.
Further ahead was a small balcony, and next to the balcony was a high chair. Strangely, this high chair had a small ladder attached to it, which looked rather comical.
“This place is practically bare…”
Chris sighed. The owner of the house must be a very disciplined person. All the way here, she hadn’t seen a single useless item in the house.
Ordinary families would usually have some decorations or small ornaments in their homes, or at least some entertainment or hobby items.
But this house was so… plain and boring.
At this moment, Luo Yan stared at the small chair, lost in thought. Then she looked up at the high chair near the balcony, vaguely picturing a small figure clumsily climbing onto it.
“Miss Luo Yan?”
Chris was still trying to find some useful clues in the house when she saw Luo Yan suddenly walking towards the balcony with an indifferent expression.
She called out, but Luo Yan didn’t react at all, as if she hadn’t heard.
“Something’s wrong!”
Chris immediately became alert. She hadn’t relaxed her vigilance towards Luo Yan.
Now that this strange situation had occurred, Chris naturally couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
She no longer cared about being stealthy and quickly walked over, intending to grab Luo Yan’s hand.
Just then, Luo Yan stopped, slightly raised her head, and looked at the dazzling starry sky through the balcony window.
“I’m fine, Miss Chris.” She said softly. “I… just heard some different voices.”
“What voices?”
Chris was still nervous. At this time and place, Miss Luo Yan hearing some strange voices wasn’t good news.
Luo Yan pondered for a moment and pointed towards the sky,
“Up there, it seems like many people are calling me.”
“Up there?”
Chris frowned and looked up at the sky as well.
The usual dazzling starry sky; there was nothing unusual.
Since the New Era began, unless the weather was bad, no matter where you looked up, the starry sky was always clear and beautiful.
It was said that this kind of scenery wasn’t common in the Old Era, but people in the New Era had become accustomed to this starry sky over the past thousand years.
“But why did you say it was a different voice…”
Chris asked, puzzled.
“Because… it’s ‘True Names’,” Luo Yan whispered. “Countless voices are calling the same True Name. Although I don’t understand the meaning of this ‘True Name,’ my intuition tells me that it’s my ‘True Name’.”
“What true name or false name? Miss Luo Yan, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Isn’t your name ‘Luo Yan’?”
As a Saint candidate closest to becoming a Saint, Chris had never heard of such a concept, let alone understood it.
“I’m not too sure either, the concept of ‘True Names’ is difficult to explain to you,” Luo Yan sighed and continued, “Anyway, don’t worry, this kind of calling has happened before, even stronger than now… and I wasn’t affected.”
“…Why do I still feel this is very dangerous? How about trying Void Trav… no, forget it.”
Chris originally wanted to suggest using Void Traversal to leave this strange residential building, but then she thought that a flashback seemed far more dangerous.
“It’s just your illusion, Miss Chris.” Luo Yan said indifferently. “However, if you want to leave directly, the barrier here shouldn’t be able to stop Void Traversal, how about…”
“No! Don’t!”
Just as the two were chatting, a slight clanging sound suddenly came from the inner room, like something falling on the ground.
“Clang!”
Although it was a very, very faint sound, how could the perceptive Luo Yan and Chris miss it?
They both turned their heads towards the source of the sound, their pupils constricting,
“Someone’s there?”
After the series of strange events since they entered, and the God’s Chosen aura completely disappearing when they reached the second floor, Luo Yan and Chris subconsciously assumed that this was an empty house, or at least that the owner had temporarily left.
But they didn’t expect… that there was actually someone else in the house?
Was it the owner?
It didn’t seem like it. If it were the owner, they should have appeared immediately. Being able to set up a barrier that even Luo Yan was trapped in, the owner’s strength was at least “Peril” level or higher.
Although having such strength wasn’t enough to dominate the world, crushing Luo Yan and Chris was still no problem.
Even though Luo Yan was special, her own strength was weak, relying only on demonic power and her special constitution, which wasn’t enough in front of a true “Peril” level ability user.
Unless… another possibility, a loss of control, but that didn’t need to be considered.
“Let’s go and take a look.”
Luo Yan and Chris didn’t hesitate for too long. Since they had discovered signs of someone’s presence, it was impossible not to go and check.
Although their actions were somewhat against Lannister law, trespassing in Lannister was a special crime that granted the homeowner unlimited self-defense rights.
In other words, if a trespasser was discovered by the homeowner and killed on the spot, Lannister law would pardon the homeowner’s act of killing.
However… the situation was special now, and they believed that Lannister law would still show some compassion.
Heh, it could only be said that it was already quite… compassionate.
Luo Yan and Chris tiptoed towards the source of the sound, a small, inconspicuous room in the corner.
A pink smiley face was painted on the closed door, along with a doodle of an old man with a beard, reaching out as if stroking the smiley face’s hair.
“Is this a child’s room?”
Luo Yan reached out and gently turned the doorknob.
Chris watched her, but a strange thought arose in her mind.
Why did it feel like they were… thieves?
No, that wasn’t right either. What kind of thief would continue to barge in after seeing someone? They were more like robbers!
But robbers and thieves were basically the same. Their current actions were undoubtedly criminal.
Before Chris could continue her random thoughts, Luo Yan had completely pushed open the door.
The room was pitch black; she couldn’t see her own hand in front of her face, let alone what was inside.
Luo Yan didn’t immediately walk in. She thought for a moment and asked softly,
“Excuse me, may I come in?”
“Pfft!”
Chris almost spat out water. Who asked for permission when robbing a house!
No, they weren’t robbing a house…
“No, don’t come in!”
In the darkness, a familiar pair of amber eyes lit up, but unlike before, these eyes were filled with terror and panic.
A childish voice trembled with a hint of crying, and the situation made Luo Yan and Chris freeze.
But they quickly snapped out of it. The amber eyes vanished the next moment, and when they lit up again, they were filled with coldness, just like the phantom before.
Then Luo Yan felt a stinging pain on her skin, as if warning her of something.
She immediately picked up Chris, retreated, and exited the room.
“Slash!”
A sharp, piercing sound tore through the air, and a fierce aura almost sliced Luo Yan’s throat.
If Luo Yan hadn’t dodged in advance, it wouldn’t have been just “almost.” There was a risk of direct decapitation.
Chris, caught off guard and held in Luo Yan’s arms, showed a look of panic.
But she was quickly startled by the scene behind Luo Yan and exclaimed,
“Behind you! Miss Luo Yan! There’s more behind—”
“Mm.”
Luo Yan responded, her hair taking on a hint of ice blue. Then a spatial rift opened and closed, swallowing the attack coming from behind.
Retreating all the way to the living room, the ubiquitous attacks seemed to follow them like shadows, constantly coming from all directions.
Luo Yan originally wanted to free a hand and put Chris down, but these attacks restricted her too much, so she could only maintain the current situation.
Finally, during a brief pause in the attacks, Luo Yan finally found an opportunity to put down Chris, whose face was completely flushed, and then looked seriously at the invisible thing in front of her, which had also stopped moving.
…The same ghastly shadow as the one from the barrier on the first floor.
“No, don’t come near Cecilia, go away, go away…”
A childish voice, trembling with sobs, came from the room, and the ghastly shadow’s eyes became even colder.
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