Girl Doesn’t Die in Fairytale Town: Chapter 24 – The Bell
“Huff… huff…”
After fleeing the Natalie Manor for a considerable distance and climbing a nearby hill, Hua Qiling finally stopped, catching her breath.
Fortunately, Luo Yan was very light, much lighter than she appeared, otherwise, with Hua Qiling’s current injuries, escaping would have been much more difficult.
Soul-related injuries were the most troublesome. Even in Yan City, complete recovery required assistance from the Free Federation, let alone in “Ghost Town.”
Luo Yan leaned quietly against Hua Qiling’s back, silent throughout their escape.
“Sorry, the situation was urgent…”
Hua Qiling thought Luo Yan might be upset about her presumptuous actions, but Luo Yan shook her head and said,
“No, Miss Hua Qiling, there’s nothing to apologize for. I should be thanking you.”
Luo Yan slid down from Hua Qiling’s back and looked towards the Natalie Manor, a lingering sadness in her calm expression.
Although she had mentally prepared herself, when the truth was laid bare before her, it was still difficult to comprehend, even more difficult to accept.
The townspeople who had treated her with kindness and charity, the manor servants she interacted with every day, and little Tini… The real town was actually like this.
Anyone who experienced such a thing would struggle to remain calm.
“Based on my speculation, Miss Luo Yan, perhaps the peaceful town we saw did exist, but because of something that happened, it became what it is now…”
Hua Qiling trailed off, seeing Luo Yan’s expression.
This kind and mysterious girl seemed to be more perceptive than she had imagined. She had already grasped the truth.
“Little Tini is real, and everyone else is real, but they’re all living in the town’s past,” Luo Yan continued Hua Qiling’s thought. “Mrs. Natalie is doing everything she can to maintain all of this, even using me…”
At this point, Luo Yan finally understood what Mrs. Natalie had said.
“Yes, it was me… who saved everyone.”
Mrs. Natalie had used Luo Yan’s soul consciousness to construct the spiritual domain “Ghost Town,” recreating the happy times of the past within it, attempting to make it last forever.
Even though the happy residents of the town, outside the spiritual domain, had become twisted monsters clinging to their last vestiges of obsession.
“Can such a result… truly be called salvation?” Luo Yan murmured softly.
This happy dream had shattered when Luo Yan, after Mrs. Natalie’s attempt to keep her within it failed, realized the truth and awakened.
“Has the outside world also been damaged because of the town’s existence?”
Luo Yan suddenly looked at Hua Qiling and asked seriously.
“…Yes.”
Meeting those innocent yet terrifying eyes, Hua Qiling felt a chill down her spine, but she didn’t hide the truth about the outside world from Luo Yan any longer.
“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault,” Luo Yan lowered her head slightly and said softly. “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but now… perhaps a choice has to be made.”
Eternal happiness obtained in this way shouldn’t exist.
Hua Qiling wanted to say something, but a sudden bell toll interrupted her.
“Dong… dong…”
A deep, resonant bell tolled, echoing throughout the town.
The bell didn’t seem particularly loud, even carrying a slightly broken tone, but it was clearly audible throughout the town.
“Where is that bell coming from?”
Hua Qiling’s expression turned serious. She looked around, trying to find the source of the sound.
But the strange bell seemed to resonate around everyone, making it impossible to pinpoint its direction.
“It’s the church.”
Luo Yan turned slightly, her gaze fixed on the only towering building in the town.
After the dream shattered, the entire town appeared to have been abandoned for centuries, but the church hadn’t.
Moreover, this ancient, spire-topped church, in the real town, exuded an unimaginable sense of weight, pressing down on everyone who saw it.
The source of this inexplicable pressure…
Hua Qiling shifted her gaze upwards slightly, her pupils constricting.
At the very top of the church, a strange stone eye appeared, devoid of color, yet seemingly looking down on everyone.
Meeting its gaze, Hua Qiling’s expression gradually became vacant, her mind sinking.
“Don’t look at it,” Luo Yan quickly covered Hua Qiling’s eyes and said gravely, “That church worships the ‘Lord’ the townspeople believe in. Although I don’t know which god it is, now that I think about it, it’s probably not something good.”
The monthly prayers were all pleas for this god to forgive the sins of its followers, at any cost, including, but not limited to, offering their souls.
Even when she was still immersed in the town, Luo Yan had felt something was amiss, but she hadn’t investigated further due to the environment’s influence.
Forced by Luo Yan to break eye contact with the stone eye, Hua Qiling finally regained her senses, feeling a wave of fear wash over her.
If she had continued looking, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
Now, Hua Qiling felt more and more that the “Ghost Town” incident had been greatly underestimated. This couldn’t possibly be the level of terror a “Ruin” level event could achieve. Perhaps even Yan City didn’t have the power to resolve this incident alone.
But at this point, she could only press on.
The bell continued to toll. Luo Yan looked down at the town, seeing numerous black dots swarming towards the church.
Roars and howls filled the air as the monsters, once townspeople, rushed towards the source of the bell, like drowning people clinging to the last straw.
“Let’s go,” Luo Yan said resolutely. She had made up her mind. “No matter what, we have to go to the church now.”
…
Even though the spiritual domain had collapsed, the one-armed man still managed to find Ling Qi, following the aura he had locked onto earlier.
There were several other outsiders with Ling Qi, all of them dazed, mechanically repeating certain actions.
“Ling Qi!”
The one-armed man shouted at Ling Qi, but she seemed not to hear him, her hands mimicking the motion of chopping meat with a knife.
“Damn it, the sudden collapse of the spiritual domain has left their souls trapped in that virtual world…”
The one-armed man’s heart sank, but even so, he had to bring Ling Qi back to answer to Mister.
As he approached, attempting to forcibly take Ling Qi away, the bell tolled.
All the monsters and dazed outsiders froze, their gazes turning towards the church.
“The Lord said, we are all sinners.”
“Only through atonement can we obtain happiness.”
“Those who are happy… shall be eternally happy.”
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