On stage...
No one?
Du Yuyi furrowed her brows deeply as she looked again toward the stage where the four hooded figures all hid their faces beneath massive cowls, making it impossible to discern their features.
Their limb movents were sowhat stiff, but on the whole, nothing particularly strange stood out.
She judged in her mind, yet when she discovered through the tarot cards that these four were not human, the magic seed to exude a sinister charm no matter how she looked at it.
Capable of moving this heavy coffin...
Could they be robots?
Du Yuyi thought this and glanced at the stage’s set design.
The reddish-brown wooden hall was square on all four sides, supported by half-embedded wooden columns in the walls.
Above the main hall hung a plaque with three large characters "Chengde Hall," and right below the plaque was a black-and-white landscape painting. Similarly, the couplets on either side of the painting were also in black-and-white, which looked rather eerie.
These couplets...
They didn’t quite seem like couplets, but more like inscriptions on a tombstone.
Du Yuyi took a sip of water and narrowed her eyes to take in the whole stage.
Overall, this great hall gave off an inclination towards the audience seats, as if it were the gaping maw of a giant beast wanting to swoop forward and devour the seating area.
It was a style of architecture she had never seen before, yet unexpectedly, it possessed a rigorous and solemn elegance. However, placed here, coupled with the various paper figures as ornants, and the dim candlelight within the hall, it felt eerily oppressive.
Without a reason, Du Yuyi’s mind conjured images of herself inside a vast mansion with interconnected corridors, seeing neither daylight nor a way out.
She couldn’t help but shudder.
Wait, why did she think of that?
Du Yuyi recalled the images that had just popped into her mind, feeling odd, because they were scenes she had never seen before.
It’s impossible for people to imagine things they’ve never seen before, let alone such a unique architectural style.
Hmm?
"Screech—" Inside the hall on the stage, the wooden panel of the coffin slowly opened, and a figure erged, wearing a white, faceless mask, as he stood straight up from the coffin.
He dressed in a black Tang suit adorned with gold embroidery, the heaviness and restraint showcasing an air of luxurious atmosphere.
At the sa ti, Jiang Shu’s deep voice erged from the speakers, "In the past period of ti, due to a curiosity for the unknown, I embarked on a journey to the legendary Life Forbidden Zone."
"In that place, I saw many..."
"Many strange things."
The faceless man halted his movents as he turned to look at the four hooded figures.
At that mont, Jiang Shu’s voice rang out again.
"When mastered correctly, they can be the greatest of aids, but when mishandled, they beco a source of terror."
Jiang Shu’s voice paused for a mont, and all four hooded figures simultaneously twisted their necks three hundred sixty degrees, uniformly turning their gaze towards the faceless man.
Due to the large angle of their turn, the hoods lifted slightly to reveal the four figures’ faces.
They were four paper-white faces made of paper, with bright round blushes sared on the cheeks and small red blossoms tinting the lips.
The stark red and white were distinctive and striking.
They stared with bulging, round, goldfish eyes, expressionless as they quietly awaited the faceless man’s command.
At this shocking sight, the audience below couldn’t help but let out gasps of horror.
But the faceless man rely extended a hand and pointed to the inside of the hall, signaling for the four hooded Papern to leave through the corridor there.
The hooded Papern reached up to put on their cowls, then chanically walked towards the direction pointed out by the faceless man, step by step, their pace incredibly stiff, as if soone was controlling them in real ti.
"They... shrunk?"
"What’s going on?"
"The Papern have beco smaller?"
Suddenly, the audience below noticed a change in the hall; they murmured in soft exclamations.
The Papern, originally about one ter seventy in height, gradually diminished in size as they moved toward the corner of the hall, until they beca half their prior size by the ti they reached the spot designated by the faceless man, where they then stood motionless.
The four Papern lined up in a row, standing in the corner with their heads lowered.
"They’ve beco smaller?" Du Yuyi frowned once more, clearly sensing the shrinking process of the Papern, but...
Why?
She looked at the entire stage setup, feeling as though she had grasped at sothing, but at this mont she did not have the spare ti to scrutinize further, for the magic act was still ongoing.
"However, if you treat them as your friends, they can be your greatest helpers," Jiang Shu’s voice ca through, "They can help you do many things."
"Look."
As his words spread, the faceless man also stretched out a hand toward the coffin at the center of the hall.
A piece of white paper, which had appeared atop the coffin at an unknown ti, then stood up, slowly bending and swiftly folding itself into a Paperman that could firmly stand.
As if receiving a signal, a row of such Papern stood up and floated towards the faceless man, circling around him.
"For instance, today is a special day. Today, I can use a special thod to open the gate to another world."
"However, opening such a gate requires the sacrifice of precisely twelve people."
Reviews
All reviews (0)