Chapter 30

The sharp sound of the alarm echoed throughout the bedroom.

The alarm was set to ring continuously for three minutes each time, then sound again every five minutes. After ringing for about half an hour, An Ping finally opened his eyes.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t woken up, but that he couldn’t bring himself back to reality.

The sound of gunfire in his dream was deafening, leaving him dizzy and numb in his limbs. It took him a long time to realize he was awake. He forced himself to stand, but his legs gave way, and he knelt by the trash can, vomiting.

He had stayed up late studying the night before, falling asleep with his head on the desk. He caught a slight cold, and his stomach churned in knots. Memories flashed before his eyes like blood wrung from a rag—limbs flying, skies darkening, corpses strewn everywhere, gunfire and rain of bullets, rivers of blood.

After finally finishing vomiting, An Ping looked up and saw the history notes he had organized the night before—black ink on white paper, battles clearly listed one after another. His emotions surged, and he bent over to vomit again.

He really should have set the alarm earlier. Exhausted, An Ping crawled to the bathroom to wash up. There was an important exam today; otherwise, he wouldn’t have wanted to go to school at all.

All sorts of feelings surged through him in the dream.

Suddenly, he really wanted to see Mu Gesheng.

But Mu Gesheng hadn’t come to school, which wasn’t surprising. Although he hadn’t been taking sick leave much lately, he still copied homework whenever he could and skipped exams whenever possible. However, An Ping found himself less resentful about this today. Staring at the history test paper, he hadn’t written a word for a long time, suddenly overwhelmed by the urge to hand in a blank sheet.

Compared to experiencing things firsthand, black and white words on paper felt far too thin and insubstantial.

At noon after school, there were still two consecutive exams in the afternoon. An Ping simply didn’t go home. He bought a random stir-fry at the cafeteria, with tomato sauce poured over the rice, a bloody, glaring red puddle. Instantly, he lost his appetite and couldn’t eat no matter what.

“Class monitor, what’s wrong with you?” His deskmate, eating with him, noticed An Ping wasn’t himself. “Are you feeling unwell?”

An Ping put down his chopsticks and waved his hand. “I’m fine.”

“Fine my foot. I noticed you were off this morning too. I sent you a few signals to pass the answers, but you ignored me.” His deskmate wiped his mouth, stood up, and pulled An Ping to leave. “If you’re not feeling well, don’t push yourself. I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

"I'm really fine..."

"Hey, you! Such a great chance to skip the exam, and others would kill for it. I’m telling you, can you be a little smarter?" Without waiting for a response, my deskmate dragged An Ping out of the cafeteria. "You’re just too rigid..."

Before he finished, a loud "boom" echoed nearby, followed by the sound of bricks tumbling down one after another. The two of them froze on the spot as screams erupted all around. My deskmate was dumbfounded, muttering, "Holy crap, did the teaching building just collapse?"

They stared at each other for a long moment before my deskmate suddenly slapped his thigh and looked at An Ping. "So, does that mean we don’t have to take the exam?"

Anping: "......"

Soon, a teacher came out to maintain order. The campus was noisy and chaotic for a while. After much commotion, everyone gathered on the playground, and the school issued a general statement about the situation. The teaching building was old and dilapidated, and part of the ceiling on the top floor had collapsed. Fortunately, no one was injured. The school was temporarily closed, and the reopening date was to be determined.

"Damn, is this for real?" His deskmate pinched himself. "One of my childhood wishes was for the school to collapse—though is our school really built so shoddily? I hope we don’t have to attend classes with our hearts in our throats from now on..."

"It shouldn’t be." Anping stood on the playground for a long time, his head spinning. He forced himself to say, "City No.1 High is a century-old school. The accident happened in the old teaching building, which must be very old. The school would definitely prioritize maintenance. It shouldn’t just collapse like that..." Before he finished speaking, his vision darkened, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Damn! Class monitor! Deskmate?!... Are you okay...?”

In a daze, An Ping saw his deskmate’s face shouting loudly, his head splitting with pain. He could no longer hold on and finally fainted.

He heard faint laughter.

Very soft, like the fuzz on a cat’s paw, scratching his heart gently, again and again.

"...Why is this person here again?"

"This time, I’m afraid we won’t get out..."

Anping felt dizzy and confused. He tried to open his eyes and saw nothing but darkness all around, with a faint red glow shimmering.

Where is this place?

He sat up and found himself lying on the concrete floor, his hands and feet icy cold, but a warmth spread across his chest, as if something was radiating heat. He bent down to look—it was the protective jade button.

The jade button stained with Mu Gesheng’s blood.

This jade button was bought by Anping’s mother at an auction, said to be an antique that offered protection and safety. He had worn it since childhood. Except for the time he accidentally crossed into the Three Paths, the button hadn’t really done much. Even after it was stained with Mu Gesheng’s blood, it only caused him to have dreams, with no other abnormalities.

Now the jade button was faintly warm, truly seeming like some kind of protection.

Anping stood up, took out the jade pendant, and held it before him. The warm, lustrous jade emitted a soft glow, faintly illuminating the darkness around them.

When he clearly saw what was before him, An Ping immediately froze in place, then his scalp tingled, and cold sweat broke out all over his body.

Although the scene had changed drastically, he would not mistake it.

This is the Sanzu River!

The air was thick with a stifling dryness and a murky metallic scent, exuding a biting coldness. The smell was exactly the same as the last time he came, only much stronger. An Ping was first stunned into silence, then quickly realized—why was he here?

This is not a dream. Anping clearly sensed the difference in atmosphere from a dream; he had truly returned to the Three Paths Realm once again. Forcing himself to calm down, Anping began to quickly recall everything he had experienced before—the exam, the collapse of the teaching building, then he seemed to have fainted, and upon waking, he found himself in the Three Paths Realm...

The collapse of the teaching building—Anping instinctively felt this must be connected to the Three Paths Realm somehow. City No.1 High School was a key institution; the school was not short of funds, and the administration would never neglect maintenance and repairs. Suddenly, he remembered what Mu Gesheng had said earlier: "The old district has a history of over a hundred years, and there are many ancient buildings near City No.1 High. This area was bustling with people back in the Republic era. Likewise, it was where the most people died during the war."

"We’ve probably just stumbled into one of those half-yin, half-yang places. These rifts are also called the 'Three Paths Realm,' located between heaven, earth, and the underworld—a no-man’s land abandoned by gods and ghosts alike, inhabited by things neither fully dead nor alive, neither human nor ghost."

"The appearance of the Three Paths Realm in the human world is no small matter. The slackers in Fengdu were quite frightened and are now scrambling anxiously to find the cause."

The battlefield, the Sanzu River, Fengdu.

It was as if an invisible thread connected everything together.

Anping suddenly had a chilling suspicion: what connection did the current Sanzu River have with the Yin-Yang Ladder from back then?

Could the ancient southeastern city from those days be the very city he now lived in?

There was also the inexplicable collapse of the teaching building. Anping instinctively associated it with the collapse of Guanshan Yue in his dream—the cause being a rebellion of the shadow soldiers.

Recalling everything before, Muge Sheng had said he was a dead man. So how exactly did they resolve the shadow soldiers' calamity a hundred years ago? If the shadow soldiers had completely vanished, why would Fengdu be so alarmed by the appearance of the living world in the Three Paths?

Anping dared not think further. Right now, he had only one thought—survive and get out, then immediately find Muge Sheng.

Anping raised the jade buckle to light his way, boldly moving forward. The scenery in the Three Paths was completely different from last time; it was no longer the teaching building from years ago but had turned into a chaotic void. Only the staircase beneath his feet stretched endlessly, while faint, elusive laughter floated around, as if someone was watching his every move. The more Anping walked, the more terrified he became, cold sweat soaking him through, unable even to care about his headache—for one reason: this place was far too much like the Yin-Yang Ladder from back then!

He was a bit hesitant to go any further. If he kept going deeper like this, was he really heading to Fengdu? Besides, the Yin-Yang stairs were incredibly long, and at his pace, he might starve to death halfway through.

Just as An Ping’s thoughts were swirling, laughter suddenly broke out, and something patted him on the shoulder.

An Ping’s hair stood on end instantly. Having read plenty of novels, he was no stranger to the scene of a ghost patting one’s shoulder at midnight. He absolutely could not turn around. Terrified, he took off running. Yet the laughter seemed to chase after him, always faint and elusive. Whenever An Ping stopped to catch his breath, something would immediately pat his shoulder again, cold and bone-chilling, making him too afraid to pause. He kept descending along the stairs without hesitation.

He didn’t know how long had passed before he simply couldn’t run anymore and had to slow down. But before he could even catch his breath, the sound of nails scratching came from below the stairs, accompanied by a giggling laugh. Something was climbing up, mumbling indistinctly: "...You’ve finally come..."

Using the corner of his eye, An Ping clearly saw the thing climbing up—it was a nightmare puppet, exactly like the one he had seen in the Three Paths before. Afterward, Mu Gesheng had stayed behind to clear the area; it seemed the old man’s failing eyesight had caused him to miss some, leaving a few stragglers behind.

Mu Gesheng’s poor eyesight had caused him great trouble. An Ping now realized that the laughter that had been chasing him just now was coming from this nightmare puppet! This thing, using some unknown method, had led him all the way here—right into its trap! He was practically rushing to his own death!

An Ping glared at the nightmare puppet on the ground, terrified, and stumbled back several steps before tripping and falling on the stairs. What terrible luck—no, worse than terrible luck. The nightmare puppet suddenly let out a sharp, piercing laugh, sprang up from the ground, and lunged at An Ping. He shut his eyes and screamed in fear, thinking to himself that death was inevitable anyway! He had seen enough in recent times; at worst, he could go to the King of Hell’s palace and ask someone to find Mu Gesheng!

Before he could finish his thought, a flash of a blade shot up from below, instantly cleaving the nightmare puppet in two. The residual force snapped the red string around An Ping’s neck, and the jade pendant fell to the ground with a “clack,” its light extinguishing as darkness once again enveloped the surroundings.

Anping hadn’t yet processed what had happened when footsteps came from downstairs. Someone picked up the jade button from the floor, hesitated, and asked, “Is this yours?”

It was impossible to tell if the person was alive or dead, but at least they seemed reasonable. Anping closed his eyes and nodded repeatedly. “Yes, it’s mine.” After a pause, he added, “The antique appraisal certificate is still at my home.”

“Sorry, I broke your red string.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Anping couldn’t figure out who the other person was. In the pitch dark, unable to see their face, he was so frightened he blurted out, “I’ll just go buy another one at the City God Temple stall later.”

The other party said nothing, stepped forward, and placed the jade clasp into his hand. "Keep it safe."

Then grabbing the back of his collar, he said, "Sorry for the trouble."

Anping hadn’t yet reacted when he suddenly felt a strong force from behind. The other person actually lifted him up, spun him around on the spot, and threw him out directly.

The jade clasp returned to Anping’s hand, glowing once more. In the faint afterglow, Anping vaguely saw a red long knife.

He suddenly felt that the other person's voice was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

"…Class monitor! Deskmate!"

When An Ping woke up, he found himself lying in the infirmary.

"You’re finally awake!" his deskmate exclaimed, rushing over, "You just fainted out of nowhere, you scared the hell out of me!"

Anping closed his eyes, a bit confused. "What happened?" Wasn't he in the Sanzu River realm? How did he suddenly come back? And in the infirmary?

"You still ask! You fainted on the playground before you could finish your sentence. Luckily, the teachers were all there and carried you straight to the infirmary," his deskmate said. "You scared me to death. You owe me a milk tea to calm my nerves, got it?"

"Sure thing." Anping rubbed his temples. "I owe you a milk tea. I'll make it up to you later."

"Forget the milk tea, you young people these days don’t know how to take care of yourselves." The medical staff in a white coat came to the bedside. "You caught a chill, have a low-grade fever, and your heart rate is unstable—did you stay up late last night?"

"Yes." An Ping nodded, his nasal passages a bit blocked. "Didn't sleep well."

"I know you guys have a lot of pressure from studying, finishing homework late at night and still playing on your phones, often staying up all night." The medical staff snorted. "I've prescribed some medicine for you. Remember to take it when you leave. The school is closed for maintenance, so go home and rest properly. Where are your parents? When you get home, eat something light—don’t go heavy on oil and spice just for the taste."

Mentioning parents, his deskmate glanced at him and whispered, "Have your mom and dad come back yet?"

"Not yet, probably not until the New Year." An Ping shook his head. "It's okay, I can take care of myself."

"Do you want me to go to your house?" The deskmate looked at him with some concern. "Just copy my homework later."

Before he finished speaking, the door to the infirmary was suddenly kicked open, and someone walked in. "I'm his guardian."

An Ping was stunned; the person who came was actually Wubi You.

"You're his guardian?" The medical staff looked at the boy in front of them with suspicion. "Are you an adult?"

Wubi didn’t respond at all. He walked straight up to An Ping, scowled, and looked down at him. “Come with me.”

“Who’s this guy? Your brother? I didn’t know you had a brother,” the classmate sitting next to An Ping leaned in and whispered, “You look awful—did you owe him money or something?”

An Ping thought to himself, I don’t owe him money, but with Mu Gesheng, you never know.

Still, he knew Wubi showing up at City No.1 High School at this moment was no coincidence. The boy looked sullen and irritable, probably sent by Mu Gesheng. An Ping had experienced Wubi’s temper before, so he didn’t say much. He stood up and said, “Let’s go.”

The deskmate was worried, but Wubi You’s expression looked truly terrifying. Not daring to intervene, he could only secretly text Anping: If anything happens, remember to call me. If not, call the police.

Don’t worry. Anping replied: He’s a city enforcement officer; he won’t break the law.

Wubi You really did come looking for him with a trailer pulled by a city enforcement vehicle. The tricycle swaggered to a stop in front of City No. 1 High School, the keys still in the ignition, and the horn blared a deafening “Happy Birthday.” A large crowd nearby craned their necks to watch. Wubi You yanked a shared bike off the trailer and tossed it to Anping. “That old bastard’s looking for you. Go deal with him yourself at the City God Temple.”

“What’s going on?” Anping stopped Wubi You. This guy rarely listened to Mu Gesheng, but now he had come to pick him up from school—something must have happened over at Mu Gesheng’s place.

“I’ve brought the message, so why all the nonsense?” Wubi clicked his tongue impatiently, pushed past Anping, got into the car, and closed the door. “Go ask him yourself.” With that, he hit the gas and drove off.

Anping stood where he was, glanced at the shared bike beside him, decisively parked it by the roadside, and took a taxi to the City God Temple.

This time, the scalper at the entrance didn’t stop Anping from buying a ticket. Instead, he waved him through, as if aware of his purpose, and reminded him, “He’s inside the courtyard. If you can’t see him, go call him from the side room.”

As soon as Anping entered, he saw Mu Gesheng standing under the ginkgo tree, still dressed in pajamas with the air of a porcelain basin. Holding a copper coin between his fingers, he turned his head at the sound, smiled at him, and said, “You’re here.”

Anping stepped forward, about to say something, but Muge Sheng handed him the enamel cup instead. "Drink this."

The enamel cup was warm, emitting a faint medicinal scent. Anping sniffed it. "What is this?"

"Brown sugar water with osmanthus, to nourish qi and replenish blood, specially for women."

Great, Anping rolled his eyes and drank the contents of the enamel cup. He felt warmth spread through his body, and his head was no longer so dizzy. "You knew I was sick?"

“I roughly know what you’ve been dreaming about.” Mu Gesheng rubbed the coin in his hand. “The collapse of City No. 1 High?”

“Yes.” An Ping nodded. “Did you calculate it?”

“No need to calculate, it’s just time.” Mu Gesheng noticed An Ping’s gaze and handed him the copper coin. “Mountain Ghost coins—you must have seen plenty of them in your dreams.”

An Ping had indeed often seen these copper coins in his dreams. The Tiansuan Sect’s forty-nine authentic Mountain Ghost coins, ancient copper pieces covered with a patina that showed their age. “Why aren’t you using your steel coins today?” An Ping suddenly realized that in reality, he had never seen Mu Gesheng use the Mountain Ghost coins.

“I woke up this morning feeling something was off, so I cast a divination.” Mu Gesheng said, “It shows you’re going to have some trouble, but there’s too much tangled between us. Ordinary coins won’t give an accurate reading; we have to use the Mountain Ghost’s money.”

He glanced at An Ping as he spoke, a statement rather than a question, “You’ve fallen into the Three Paths again.”

“Right.” An Ping suddenly remembered the urgent matter and fired off a barrage of questions, “What does the school landslide have to do with the Three Paths? Is it connected to the ghost soldiers from back then? Is the Three Paths some kind of yin-yang staircase? Oh, and I was saved by someone—who was that?”

“Slow down, one at a time. Getting old, memory’s not what it used to be.” Mu Gesheng waved his hand as he listened. “There are things you should have realized by now—this is the very city where I lived back then.”

As expected.

“When the ghost soldiers rebelled back then, we forcibly suppressed them, but the cost was great, and my memory has gaps,” Mu Gesheng said. “You probably realized this in your dreams too; some crucial parts are blurry.”

An Ping was momentarily stunned, then asked, “So how much do you still remember?”

“I only know some clues—back then, the forced extermination of the ghost soldiers resulted in heavy casualties. But there were still lingering grudges that couldn’t be completely eradicated. I used a Mountain Ghost Flower to reseal them,” Mu Gesheng said slowly. “The Three Paths isn’t a yin-yang ladder, but it’s a space formed by the venting of grudges from the yin-yang ladder. The grudges were sealed within the yin-yang ladder for a hundred years, but the suppression loosened. City High School One was built on the ley line, which is why the sudden landslide happened.”

Anping shuddered, "You mean—the ghost soldiers from back then are going to come out again?" The nightmare was vivid in his mind; every time he closed his eyes, he saw a sky filled with blood. The ghost soldiers had been suppressed at an enormous cost, and if they were to return, he dared not imagine the consequences.

"Don't worry, I'm here." Mu Gesheng looked at Anping's expression and smiled. "Do you know what this street outside the City God Temple is called?"

"Chengxi Street..." Anping suddenly realized, "What does this have to do with Chengxi Pass?"

"Many people think Chengxi Street is named because it lies at the western edge of the old city. But that's not the case. The end of this street is where the Yin-Yang Staircase was sealed long ago. I've lived near the City God Temple for a long time, precisely to guard this place." Mu Gesheng patted Anping on the shoulder. "With me here, this is Chengxi Pass, and the ghost soldiers cannot come out."

Anping looked at Muge Sheng, momentarily at a loss for words.

“You’ve been through the Three Paths and absorbed its aura. The earth’s veins have been unstable lately, making it easy to fall back in.” Muge Sheng led Anping into a side room. “Tonight, you’ll stay here. Once the rain passes and the sky clears, all will be well.”

“Rain passes and sky clears?” Anping looked up at the sky, which was cloudless. “The weather forecast said it’s going to be sunny for a while.”

“The weather forecast is unreliable.” Muge Sheng tossed a coin in his hand. “There will be heavy rain tonight.”

“Don’t be afraid if you hear any noises at night. My daughter will come. Young people may have a bit of a temper, but their hearts aren’t dark.” Mu Gesheng said leisurely, “It wasn’t me who sent him to pick you up. When he saw my divination, his face changed, and he rushed off to City No. 1 High School to save someone.”

This caught An Ping by surprise. “Then, in the realm between life and death, who saved me?”

“An old friend from back then.” Mu Gesheng smiled calmly. “Don’t worry, in time you will come to know.”