Chapter 50: There’s a Wooden Cabin

That figure was somewhat ethereal, but it still stood quietly behind the tree, half of its body exposed, motionless as it watched them.

“Who’s there?” Ou Yu asked curiously, shining the light over. There was absolutely no shadow at all.

He thought he had seen wrong and shifted the phone light back to his feet. That shadow slowly reappeared.

Ou Yu couldn’t help but pull the Little Kid back a step, vigilantly scanning the surroundings.

Gradually, the shadow became clearer. It was as if they could see its head, torso, and arms—the higher up it went, the more blurred and ethereal it became, impossible to make out.

But they could be sure: it was a person.

A person whose body seemed a bit larger than theirs.

This person was walking upside down, head first.

It wasn’t exactly walking, since its head wasn’t pressed right against the ground—it hovered about a dozen centimeters above the surface.

In other words, they were floating.

Then, Xiao Fen and the others noticed that in the dark areas beyond the phone light, more and more inverted shadows emerged—dozens of them, surrounding them from all directions, some far, some near. They had only been paying attention to the lit ground earlier and hadn’t noticed them. Now, they all appeared fully.

A stench wafted through the dim forest, like branches and rotting corpses fermenting. For a moment, they couldn’t tell if this was reality or a dream.

Those shadows wore modern clothes, yet like negatives on film, they left blurred, semi-transparent outlines in the dark forest.

They wandered back and forth here, all upside down, slamming their heads against the ground repeatedly, using this bizarre method of locomotion to shuttle through the jungle.

Each shadow acted naturally, going about its own business, unperturbed by the inverted walking or aware of this group of outsiders.

“This is…” Ou Yu’s mouth hung open for a long time, unable to utter a single word.

The viewer count in Xiao Fen’s trio’s Live Stream Chat skyrocketed once again.

【How come we always see these weird things whenever we’re with Brother Fen.】

【Are these people or ghosts?】

【Who doesn’t have a solid body?】

【LMAO, a line of small text appeared at the bottom of the live stream screen: This broadcast may contain feudal superstitions. Believe in science. Do not promote. Looks like no screen recording again.】

【Don’t even mention recording. Last time I tried uploading a photo and it got blocked. Evil reviewers.】

【Definitely a platform under the Lu Family, heh.】

【These days, eight out of ten phone apps are either Lu Family brands or Lu Family subsidiaries. Who else could it be?】

【We’re abroad now and they still won’t let it air? No need to be this strict.】

【Good thing it’s daytime here. Curtains open. I’m not scared, I’m not scared… Screw it, I’m heading to the Pursuit Team’s live stream for some positive energy.】

【Welcome to the Stepping Out of Science special segment.】

“Are we… trapped in the Mountain Nightmare?” Tang Qin Xin asked, her eyes full of horror. It didn’t look fake.

“What’s the Mountain Nightmare?” The Little Kid had been too scared to cry earlier, but now he huddled against Ou Yu’s side, full of curiosity about these mythical horrors that only existed in stories.

“Legend has it that the original settlers of the town and surrounding villages died out long ago. In ancient times, there was a famine here. Due to the town’s isolation, food couldn’t arrive in time. A madman, driven mad by hunger, secretly grabbed and ate the village kids. When his evil deeds were discovered, the villagers killed him—but then they ate him too.

“Once the human psychological bottom line was broken, it was like flipping a switch. They turned into beasts. Villagers killed and ate each other one after another until the last one starved to death, never waiting for relief supplies.”

“Not long after, people from H Country migrated here to escape the wars—it was common back then, so we in Y Country still speak some H Country dialect, though the accent has changed over the centuries. They found houses battered by storms filled with chopped-up human bones everywhere, proof of their cannibalism.”

“Later, people said ghostly figures would occasionally appear around the town and villages—flickering and indistinct, the original villagers. Killing and eating human flesh is the greatest sin, so they must suffer nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years of punishment in hell to atone before reincarnation.

“These people harbored immense resentment and grave sins. When they gathered in groups, they formed a nightmare. If living people stumbled in, they would easily get lost and never find their way out, eventually becoming one of them.

“I’ve heard the elders say this Guiwu Forest connects the yin and yang realms. Even noonday sunlight can’t penetrate the canopy—it’s extremely gloomy, a place of utmost yin, easy to encounter filthy things. See how they’re all floating, walking upside down? That’s because yin and yang are opposites. We walk on feet; they walk on heads.”

【Stop talking, I’m so scared!】

【Anyone there? Say something! Are those tens of millions online just dead?】

【Maybe they are, all dead people watching with you.】

【AHHHHHHHH STOP!】

【My closet just made a noise wuwuwuwu…】

【That bro who did the upside-down spinning shit earlier, you can start your performance. I believe you can do it now.】

【Thanks for remembering me. But seriously, if this isn’t a supernatural event, I’ll do the upside-down spinning shit for real.】

Xiao Fen speechlessly leaned close to Ou Yu’s ear. “This person’s watched too many TV dramas.”

Ou Yu couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Once the laughter faded, he rubbed his burning ear tip.

With that, the terrifying atmosphere vanished instantly.

“What I said is all true.” Tang Qin Xin argued excitedly. “Look at that fog—why is it black? It’s infected by the resentful energy of evil ghosts. We can’t stay any longer. We need to head back to the village and find the Shaman.”

“The guy living in that Red Pillar Courtyard you mentioned?”

“Yes,” she said. “Without the Shaman exorcising us, even if we make it out, we’ll easily lose our souls—our bodies return to the yang world, but our souls stay trapped here. We’ll turn into walking corpses, demented and foolish, and our souls will be forever unable to reincarnate.”

The Little Kid was so scared he’d forgotten to cry and clung tightly to Ou Yu’s waist.

“If that’s the case, let’s hurry.” Xiao Fen said. “Miss Tang, please lead the way.”

“Okay.” Tang Qin Xin was somewhat surprised by Xiao Fen’s composure. Looking at Lu Jin and Ou Yu, their faces were calm, but their eyes betrayed some fear.

No one could say for sure about metaphysical matters.

This time, as if afraid of alerting the ghosts, they all unconsciously lightened their steps—even the Little Kid’s breathing grew quieter.

After walking some distance, they felt it: perhaps because of the phone lights, the ghosts didn’t approach or harm them. They just kept doing their own thing.

But no one let their guard down.

The black fog grew thicker, as if morphing into faceless human figures wandering around, covetous.

Seeing the Little Kid trembling in fear, Ou Yu took his hand and patiently explained, “I’ve heard of mirages over the sea before—there’s also mountain mirages. These are all illusions. Those so-called ‘ghost shadows’ are just scenes of normal people living elsewhere, reflected here through light refraction and reflection.”

“But there’s no light here.” The Little Kid said.

This was all primeval forest, pitch black—where was the light for refraction?

Ou Yu was stumped. “Anyway, that’s the gist. No matter what, it’s all fake.”

【Kids these days are hard to fool.】

【Any experts wanna analyze this? This scene is too terrifying. I need some science to protect me.】

【Mountain mirages don’t explain this. I’ve seen them—they’re in bright areas. How do shadows appear out of nowhere in this darkness?】

【They seem to pop right out of the ground. Don’t dare think about it.】

【This requires analyzing geology, soil, water sources, etc. Can’t conclude now. After the show, our geological research institute will team up with physics experts for an on-site investigation. This spectacle is rare, but definitely not some ghost market.】

【Experts speak, and I get even more scared.】

Though they didn’t know the cause, they were educated. After the initial fear, many realized it had to be some natural phenomenon—they absolutely wouldn’t buy into hell or ghosts.

After walking an unknown time, the group felt tired and thirsty. Prolonged exposure to the thick fog and darkness left Lu Jin and the others somewhat dazed.

Suddenly, Lu Jin felt his foot step on something.

He picked it up, brushed off the leaves—it was a brand-new little knife, the one the Little Kid had carried earlier, which Lu Jin had knocked to the ground.

“We… back to the starting point?” Tang Qin Xin’s pupils contracted slightly.

Xiao Fen looked around. The trees all looked the same; he couldn’t tell directions.

“Impossible. We were clearly walking straight ahead the whole time.” Ou Yu’s voice was low. “No way we looped.”

Lu Jin said, “My sense of direction is great. I could tell—we kept heading west.”

“West?” Xiao Fen paused.

“What’s wrong? Is there a problem?” Lu Jin asked.

“I remember my landlord saying the woods east of town are creepy. Is this what he meant?”

By orientation, woods on the left (east), town on the right (west).

“Could this be… a ghost wall?” Lu Jin’s arm muscles tensed involuntarily.

“Don’t scare yourself.” Ou Yu said. “We just got lost, that’s all.”

Lu Jin was confident in his sense of direction. They had gone straight without deviation.

He pulled out his phone, opened the compass to prove it—but the needle spun wildly, unable to find north.

This panicked Tang Qin Xin and the Little Kid even more.

“What do we do? I don’t wanna die here.” Tang Qin Xin broke down.

“You’ve walked this path before?” Xiao Fen asked.

“Yes. Once, someone led me.” She said. “Everything was normal then—no wandering ghosts, no getting lost. Out in under half an hour, right to town.”

“But we’ve been walking three or four hours now, right?” Ou Yu said.

Lu Jin shook his head and showed him the phone screen. “Only twenty minutes.”

“Less than half an hour?!” Ou Yu was shocked too. His legs and back ached like he’d trekked for hours; his stamina couldn’t drain that fast normally. “Were we entranced earlier, circling in place?”

【In our hometown, there’s a tale about black-mist forests you can’t enter—that’s corpse gas and grudges from rotting bodies. Breathe too much, and ghosts blind you. You walk forever without escape. Time inside flows differently from outside. Someone we knew tested it, barely escaped, then fell ill despite being healthy—bedridden half a year before walking.】

【That spooky? What about them? Program Crew doing nothing? This is dangerous—if something happens…】

【Forgot? They signed life-or-death waivers. But if lives are truly at risk, Program Crew will intervene, right?】

At that moment, the Program Crew contacted them, suggesting they forfeit this episode and surrender.

Xiao Fen refused outright.

Ou Yu glanced at him and refused too.

Lu Jin naturally declined.

Tang Qin Xin saw them seemingly talking to someone without equipment, so she pretended and refused as well.

【This fake is such a poser. You got earphones?】

【Obvious ulterior motives. She led the bros into this forest. No wonder.】

【Brother Fen refused Program Crew aid so decisively—think he already has a solution?】

【Yeah, now that you say it. Hope he cracks the black fog mystery. My hometown stories have me spooked. Never dared enter a forest.】

【As long as Brother Fen’s there, I feel inexplicably safe.】

The viewers saw Xiao Fen take the Protective Bracelet from the Little Kid’s wrist and tie it to a protruding branch by the path.

“Let’s keep walking and see.” He said to Tang Qin Xin.

Tang Qin Xin nodded in fear and trepidation, continuing to lead the way ahead.

About ten minutes later, everyone saw a small wooden cabin.

The wooden cabin naturally couldn’t have grown out of this forest—it meant there were people!

Everyone grew excited and quickened their pace. At the same time, they noticed those ghostly shadows had vanished long ago, no one knew when.

Xiao Fen shone his phone light on the wooden cabin and looked around.

The wooden cabin looked like it had been built two or three years ago. The triangular roof hadn’t been cleaned much and was covered in fallen leaves. The door was locked with no windows, so no one knew what was inside.

It appeared to be just over twenty square meters or so.

“Hey, are you okay?” Ou Yu had just circled to the back of the wooden cabin with the little kid when his anxious shout rang out.

Xiao Fen and the others hurriedly ran to the back of the wooden cabin. It was still sealed tight, but a pole stood erect behind the cabin, a hairless animal skin pierced through the top of the pole.

Before they could look closely, Ou Yu’s anxious voice rang out again.

“The kid fainted! What do we do? Is it life-threatening? Program Crew?”

A voice came through the earpiece.

“Please wait a moment, we…” Hissing static came from the earpiece. “Don’t know… where the road is… please wait a moment…”

The signal wasn’t good.

“What do we do?” Tang Qin Xin was on the verge of tears. “I didn’t mean for this… We’re gonna die…”

【What an unreliable show! I’ve been cursing you guys since the First Episode. Can’t you treat the guests like actual people?】

【You think the program crew will change or just play dead? Brother Fen’s live stream chat already has 120 million viewers now. Movie Emperor Ou and Boss Lu both have nearly 100 million viewers too.】

【If anything happens to them, I’ll sue them straight up.】

【Relax, the Crown Prince is here. It’ll definitely be fine.】

“We need to get out of here fast,” Ou Yu said.

The atmosphere here was far too weird.

Lu Jin scratched his head. “Let’s just head straight forward. I don’t believe this forest has no end.”

“What if we run into another ghost wall?” Tang Qin Xin said. “Our stamina is limited.”

“Ghost walls happen because all the trees in the woods look the same, overgrown with weeds—everything in sight is identical. It’s easy to get lost inside, and with anxiety kicking in, judgment fails easily. Nothing strange about it.” After Xiao Fen finished speaking, he had Lu Jin carry the unconscious little kid. “We can get out now.”

“Why? Did the kid’s protective talisman bracelet work earlier?” Tang Qin Xin asked.

“Not that.” Xiao Fen raised his phone flashlight and illuminated the weeds ahead. “Look.”

“Look at what?” Everyone was baffled.

Xiao Fen was speechless. “Look carefully.”

They shook their heads, still unable to see it.

“Didn’t you notice the small path?”

Ou Yu looked closely. Under Xiao Fen’s light, the weeds there differed from elsewhere—the ones in the middle grew straight and neat.

Clearly, someone parted them from time to time, preventing the weeds from growing wild and crisscrossing.

“Over there, those grasses…” He excitedly tried to speak but didn’t know how, so he just pointed.

No cleared path had been hoed out, but one existed indeed.

“Though the wooden cabin looks rundown with cobwebs outside, the keyhole isn’t clogged with rust, which means it’s not abandoned,” Xiao Fen said approvingly. “This is the path the cabin’s owner takes frequently.”

Those neat weeds gave them hope of escaping the dense forest.