702 Han Fei's Ritual

 

“Is this all the surviving villagers in this town?” Han Fei looked at the nine elders gathered at the spa hotel and frowned deeply. He thought he could have some young blood to rely on, but it appeared like that was a dashed hope. Han Fei used Soul-Depth Touch to shake the elders’ hands. All the elders were troubled by nightmares. Their souls were filled with worry, regret, and fear of the curse.

“They aren’t lying.” Han Fei saw the elders’ real thoughts. They were not Dream’s allies but poor victims. If Dream planned to use endless people’s lives to complete its ritual, these elders were simply too old for its consideration.

“Are you really willing to risk your life to help us?” Guan Miao was the oldest there. He knew how scary the thing in the lake was. He knew getting to the island was a death trip.

“The city has changed too much. The sun might not come up again. The monsters in the lake will only get scarier.” Han Fei returned the old man his headscarf. “I know all of you are victims too, so I hope you can help me complete the ritual and save the other villagers. You should have friends and families among them too.”

“But we need an orphan and figurine to complete the ritual. There are many things to prepare too.” The old lady from the seafood restaurant was there too. She was not a bad person, but she was losing her mind. If she continued to be tormented by the nightmare, she’d one day jump into the lake to join her family.

“There is a figurine under the rental center boss’ bed, and I am an orphan. We have already satisfied the main conditions.” Han Fei was calm. He had made his decision. The elders looked at each other. They were the village’s oldest generation. They had participated in the ritual many times.

“Okay. Since you’re willing to help us, we’ll do our best to help you too.” Guan Miao communicated with the old lady from the seafood restaurant and then waved at Han Fei. “Come with me.” They walked past the spa hotel to a place not open to visitors. There was a very old ancestral hall there.

“I’ll help you invoke the Lake God.” Guan Miao didn’t look like a human anymore, but his soul still followed with his ancestor’s blood. “Light the incense and bring out the three sacrifices!”

After removing their headscarf, Guan Miao and the other elders knelt down to pray. Then, they poured the incense ash into the strange figurine of the Lake God. The village was about to die off, and the elders could barely look after themselves. Han Fei’s appearance gave them some hope, so after some quick discussion, they decided to help Han Fei. Everything was simple. After worshipping the ancestors, the elders worked together to haul out the figurine of the Lake God. Each of them held something for the ritual and sang some strange song. The elders moved the figurine from the ancestral hall to the boat rental center. They placed the figurine on a special wooden boat. The front of the boat was carved to resemble a fish head. The back was a fishtail, and the body was covered with blessings.

“Are we using this boat?”

“Wait a minute. We still have something to give you.” Guan Miao returned to the hotel and removed the lanterns from the door. “If the boat refuses to move, hang this lantern. The water ghosts in the lake will part for you when they see this ancestral lantern.”

Other than the lantern, the other elders also went home to grab some mementos. There were copper coins, children’s toys, clothes, and so on. The old lady from the restaurant gave Han Fei an album. It contained the pictures of visitors and their catches as well as her family pictures. “I have a lot of children, but they all died in the lake either due to greed, or they were trying to save others. If you run into them, show them the pictures, and maybe they’ll remember me.”

After everything was ready, Han Fei, Guan Miao, and the lifeguard got on the boat. “The boat must seat four people. If there’s an empty seat, the water ghost will take it.” Guan Miao wanted to get Lee Guo Er onto the boat, but Han Fei chose Yan Yue. “She’s still a child. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s fine.” Han Fei was cautious about Yan Yue’s mother. Until now, he had no idea what her power was. Han Fei didn’t feel good leaving her by the shore. The four rowed the paddles and moved towards the island at the center of the lake.

“Are we being too reckless?” The lifeguard didn’t expect things to go like this. One hour ago, he was in the neighborhood, but now he was going to meet water ghosts and monsters. “If we run into danger on the lake, we will have nowhere to run!”

“What’s the point of saying that now?” Han Fei sat at the front of the boat and looked at the dark lake water calmly. When Huang Yin first brought the skill books to the cryptic world, Han Fei had learned many skills like lock-picking, rock-climbing, diving, and so on. As his memory recovered, so did these skills.

The light of the vacation town faded away. Only the sound of water remained. The boat slowly entered the giant lake. Han Fei took a deep breath. He was quite good in the water but when he was out there in the dark lake, negative emotions grabbed at his heart. The boat swayed with the waves. His body felt like sinking.

Not only Han Fei but the lifeguard also felt the pull. He lowered his head and didn’t dare to look at the lake. When he was too afraid, he would glance at Han Fei. On the boat, Han Fei was a stabilizing presence. He was their compass.

The paddles created ripples. The vacation town disappeared down the distance. The island was still nowhere to be seen. They rowed for more than 20 minutes. The vacation town had fully disappeared. Other than water, there was only endless darkness.

“Leader Guan, how long more will it take?” The lifeguard’s hands that held the paddle were sweaty.

“We should be there soon.” Guan Miao said uncertainly. “Normally, we’ll reach there in less than thirty minutes.”

“Less than 30 minutes?” The lifeguard continued to row, but Han Fei suddenly stopped. The cat in his backpack growled too.

“Did you see something?” Yan Yue’s mother felt uneasy. Yan Yue’s face was white. She held the wound on her stomach, and she broke out in cold sweat.

“Prepare the lantern. We’ve been moving around in circles for a while already. There’s something under the boat.” Han Fei’s voice was soft, but his words scared the other three.

“Okay.” Guan Miao reached forward and hung the lantern at the head of the boat. The light flickered like it could go out at any moment.

“It does feel easier to row now.” The lifeguard was shocked. He glanced at the water lit up by the lantern. Several shadows scattered away from the light. They looked like big fishes.

“Don’t look.” Yan Yue’s mother controlled her daughter’s body and forced her to look down. “This lake is called Sea of Brain. Stare at it long enough, and you’d be sucked into it.”

“Okay.” The lifeguard was about to pull his gaze back when his paddle hit something hard.

Initially, he thought it was a reef, but why would there be a reef inside a lake? He glanced towards it subconsciously. The lifeguard saw a ball of black water weeds. They swayed in the water.

“But water weeds shouldn’t be so hard.” The paddle hung in mid-air. The lifeguard saw the weeds float towards him rapidly. He wanted to use the paddle to push the weeds away, but when the paddle parted the weeds, he saw the bloated eyes under the weeds.

“A human head!” The shock caused the lifeguard to knock Yan Yue. The wooden boat trembled.

“Don’t panic!” Han Fei tried his best to keep the boat balanced.

“In the water! There’s a human head inside the water! It’s not even dead!” The lifeguard knew that dead bodies would float horizontally and not stand vertically in the water. Han Fei pulled on the red strings. When his hand was covered in curses, he reached for the thing in the water.

“Don’t touch the water. You’re going to be pulled by them!” Guan Miao was shocked. He quickly stopped Han Fei. He took out a copper coin from his pocket, mumbled some local language, and tossed it at the human head. “Even money is useful at times like this. We better go.”

“People bully the kind. We can’t just let them bully us like this.” Han Fei saw the receding curses on his hand. “We can kill one to make an example. We’ll remove the lantern and hang a cursed human head instead.”

“We’re going to worship the Lake God, and it requires sincerity. We’re praying for the Lake God to help us resolve the tragedy, not to threaten him.” Guan Miao was shocked. The young man seemed to have misunderstood the ritual.

“You’ve prayed so sincerely since the tragedy, but did he hear you?” Han Fei glanced at the fish scales around Guan Miao’s neck. “I will respect him, but he shan’t push it.”