Chapter 528: A Conversation
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Boom!
The encompassing light rays fell through into another plane of existence.
The power of the curse had been activated, and the surrounding buildings were covered in blood-red light. It seemed like a thousand years had passed at that moment and the city was in a state of ruin and decay.
In the dimension, there were only the colours of black and white. The crowd had their mouths open in a perpetual state of horror. They had become statues.
Only Jiese and the other exorcists could move.
"Amituofo...our Lord Buddha. This is a terrible curse indeed…"
Jiese stared at the scene and he could not help but mutter a prayer.
"This…"
The present members of the Tantai Family felt a sense of fear creeping up their veins.
"The family curse..."
"No...this is the netherworld pulling us in. I don't want to go back there…"
Tantai Juelie crawled towards Fang Yuan.
"Save...me!"
Swop!
He had disappeared in a flash.
"Has he been sucked into the netherworld?"
Fang Yuan was bewildered. He did not feel any form of pulling force. It was as if the curse had given up on him and was focusing its efforts on the Tantai family members.
"Tantai Guihu...can you hang in there?'
He went over to Tantai Guihu and tied a chain around his waist.
"Yes, I can!"
Tantai Guihu's face was pale.
"This is the convergent point between the real world and the netherworld. If you cannot deal with the attractive force, you will be pulled down into the netherworld! Why are you not affected?"
"Who knows? Maybe it's because I'm still young!"
Fang Yuan did not, in fact, know what he was saying but Tantai Guihu nodded.
"That's right...the Tantai family curse only comes into play on a twenty-year cycle. For now, It is mostly the older ones who are targeted. Now it seems like I'll be in danger…..."
Swop!
Tantai Guihu had barely finished speaking before a black hole suddenly appeared behind him and swallowed him up.
"Tsk…"
Fang Yuan pulled the chain back towards himself.
Ping!
Two powerful forces were now in direct conflict with each other, and the chain was pulled taut.
"You cannot beat me, nor hope to take away those under my protection!"
An evil spirit resembling a frozen corpse materialised behind Fang Yuan. It took one side of the black hole while the formidable Paranormal Pawnshop took the other. Combining their forces, they inflicted curses on it.
Buzz!
The combined force of the two Strange Level curses caused a disturbance in the void and reduced the surrounding blood-red structures into ashes.
"Come...back!"
Following Fang Yuan's roar, a bedraggled figure was dragged out of the black hole. It was Tantai Guihu.
Ping!
The alternate dimension tore apart and the rays on the sun fell upon them. They were back in the real world.
"Finally...has it ended?"
Tantai Guihu was sweating profusely. He knew that if it was not for Fang Yuan, he would be dead by now. He was sincerely grateful.
"Mieming, thank you so much!"
"It was nothing. By the way, you should call me Fang Yuan!"
Fang Yuan shook his head and said.
"Amituofo...should we discuss how we should go about clearing up the place?"
Jiese walked forward and pointed at the devastation around them as the people around were taking photos. He laughed bitterly.
"Even though the Exorcists Alliance is secretly powerful, we cannot suppress news of such a calamitous event!"
"You don't have to worry about this!"
Fang Yuan shifted his gaze and began his large-scale operation to obliviate information.
He had already thought of this before he embarked on the rescue, or he would not have made such a high profile news-grabbing move.
It was thanks to this technique that the paranormal activity happening in the world remain largely unknown.
The surrounding people had begun to disperse under the influence of invisible oscillating waves. It was as if the huge mess around them were nothing out of the blue. They also ignored Fang Yuan and company entirely.
"Normal cameras are unable to capture spirits on photographs...don't worry, any intact photographs will disintegrate and everyone who was present will leave this place with no memory of the things we did. As for this place, it is but the scene of a terrible traffic accident!"
Fang Yuan shrugged.
"This...is the Mist? Only the Killer type of curses can influence society on such a large scale."
Tantai Guihu was dumbfounded.
Chen He and the rest were equally shocked. They had realised that this young man had power beyond their imagination.
"Alright! Let's go!"
Fang Yuan glanced at Tantai Guihu.
"It seems like there are many things we need to talk about, isn't that so?"
_________
When they had all returned to their apartment, Tantai Guihu led Fang Yuan to the living room.
"All right, we need to speak frankly to each other!"
Tantai Guihu took down his mask and revealed a face that did not look that old.
"My name is Tantai Guihu. Although I belong to the 'Gui' generation, I am not yet forty years of age…"
"I am not interested in your age. Also, I am no longer Tantai Mieming!"
Fang Yuan leaned on the couch and clasped his hands.
"So, could you tell me everything regarding your betrayal of the family?"
"The truth is, I did not betray the family. I just did not return when they summoned me!"
Tantai Guihu's face had turned red.
To the Tantai family, a reasonably skilled family member who dared to defy a decree from the family was no different from a traitor, no matter how indignant Tantai Guihu might feel.
Also, Fang Yuan was well aware of the methods used by the Tantai family to control its members. They had their unpleasant ways of guaranteeing the loyalties of their members.
That Tantai Guihu could free himself from these bonds was a testament to his abilities.
"Then why not go back? The tribulation that comes about every twenty years can only be overcome by working together with the family and by relying on the defences of the Tantai residence. Everyone would then have a higher chance of survival…"
Fang Yuan was curious.
"Because my research had reached a vital stage!"
Tantai Guihu did not want to beat around the bush any longer.
"You know it. Tantai family members are afflicted by a blood curse. It is like a leech and we all want to get rid of it for the sake of future generations."
"Isn't the origin of the curse that door? Shouldn't you go into the netherworld if you want to investigate…"
Fang Yuan asked.
"No! I think that door isn't in the netherworld, but in the real world!"
Tantau Guihu went on confidently.
"After all...the ancestors of the Tantai family was mortal. How could they have gone deep into the netherworld and gotten cursed by a door in there?"
"You make sense!"
Fang Yuan somewhat remembered the things he saw when he first crossed through the worlds. Although his memories were blurry, the surrounding area of the door did seem like the real world rather than the netherworld.
"I've read through everything about the Tantai family, travelled the world and investigated all sorts of paranormal phenomena and curses. Now, I have come to a conclusion!"
Tantai Guihu's eyes gleamed.
"Our world...was once free of spirits and curses!"
"Oh?"
He was intelligent to be able to figure this out.
"Curses and spirits just suddenly appeared out of nowhere one day, and they have been spreading like a disease over the past few hundred years...Not only that, I have made a shocking discovery!"
Tantai Guihu became even more serious.
"The curse that afflicts the Tantai family, is probably from the earliest batch!"
"The earliest batch?"
Fang Yuan believed him instantly.
After all, he was much more well-informed than Tantai Guihu.
Additionally, he knew that the appearance of that door was the key and source as to how the whole world got cursed!
"That's right. I've been working hard to find out the location where our ancestor received the curse, and now, I do have a better idea where it is…"
The Tantai family did not use to stay in their current residence but had migrated from a place far away.
These events were ancient and the records were no longer complete. Tantai Guihu could only try his best to piece together the disembodied information and verify them one by one.
"I now know that our ancestor came from a little village in the mountains and was cursed over there!"
Tantai Guihu radiated self-belief.
"If we deal with the source of the troubles over there, we might be able to release the family from the curse…"
'You're too naive!'
Fang Yuan looked upon Tantai Guihu with pity but was unwilling to tell him the truth.
Even though the curse had an origin, once it had been activated, how could it still have chinks in its armour? How could it be stopped?
This was Tantai Guihu's last hope, and Fang Yuan did not want to destroy it.
However, Fang Yuan's interest had been aroused.
"This village...interesting. Where is it?"
"I have already travelled all over our country and marked out some potential spots. Now, I have already narrowed them down to a few."
Tantai Guihu went on.
"Before meeting you, I had just eliminated one spot and was going towards another."
"Interesting!"
Fang Yuan was silent for a moment before he spoke again.
"I want to join your team. Let's go look for the origin of the Tantai family together!"
"It'll be great if you are willing to join us!"
Tantai Guihu could barely conceal his excitement and continued to explain.
"Based on my conjecture, the village might contain some kind of threat...after all, why would our ancestors leave the place if a disaster had not happened?"
"That is true. But to me, the greater the threat, the better!"
Fang Yuan spoke with nonchalance. He went on to ask a question.
"Right, so what is the name of this village?"
"Ghost Sealing Village!"
Tantai Guihu shivered involuntarily.