Late Night Bookstore - Chapter 2

Cold. 

So cold… 

Zhou Ze didn’t understand why it was so cold here.

He walked along a narrow, dimly lit path with flowers blooming on both sides. Yet, there was not a hint of romantic beauty. The flowers were vibrant, like mocking taunts, as if they were spectators watching him.

Flowers bloom on the other side, the departed journey to the afterlife.

Zhou Ze remembered that his last memory was of fire—great fire, terrifying flames that completely engulfed him, the palpitating heat turned him to ash. But in the blink of an eye, he found himself here.

The path was crowded with people. There were elderly folk, children, young adults, and middle-aged men and women, all dressed differently. Some wore simple clothes, while others were adorned in brightly colored garments, with overdone makeup.

No one spoke, no sounds were made, except for the occasional soft scrape, scrape, scrape of shoe soles rubbing against the ground. Zhou Ze, numb and confused, followed the crowd, sometimes glancing around, sometimes looking back. Gradually, he realized where he was: he was dead, and this… was Hell.

The realm of the dead, the final resting place of the departed.

In the end, he still died.

He didn’t know what to do or what choices to make. He didn’t want to die. After all, no one wants to die. But in this place, he had no idea what to do next. He felt lost and helpless.

“Eeeeeeeeee…”

A chilling melody drifted from afar.

Zhou Ze turned his head and saw bright red figures approaching from a distance, while the others around him remained oblivious, continuing to walk forward on their toes in a daze.

As they got closer, Zhou Ze saw that it was a procession of women holding peach blossom paper umbrellas, walking gracefully towards him.

They were tall and had a striking physique, all dressed in purple qipaos. As they moved, their thighs occasionally revealed a hint of skin, an alluring sight that made one’s heart race. The women had their hair styled in neat buns and their steps were synchronized, as if they were the finest dance troupe in the world, having rehearsed for over a hundred years.

They walked.

They advanced.

From one end of the path to the other.

Coincidentally, passing right in front of Zhou Ze.

With exquisite makeup and snow-white skin combined with the ethereal melody they hummed, created a hazy atmosphere reminiscent of old Shanghai in a misty drizzle. Each woman wore bracelets of varying colors and sizes on their wrists, accentuating their fair, delicate arms, making it hard to look away.

Unfortunately, they were not walking in the commercial pedestrian area of South Street, nor were they in a luxurious high-end club with golden splendor. They walked the path of the underworld, sweeping past a sea of otherworldly flowers. Their gaze was fixed straight ahead, their steps unbroken, and their leader’s eyes were hollow and vacant.

As the last woman passed by Zhou Ze, she suddenly turned her head and looked at him. From the woman’s bright and enchanting eyes, several maggots were crawling out, while the tail ends of earthworms swayed from her nostrils. From her ears, centipede legs dangled, twitching grotesquely. The pinnacle of beauty had transformed into a nightmare.

Was it terrifying?

Of course, it was terrifying!

Disgusting?

Of course, it was disgusting!

But Zhou Ze was already a dead man. People could be scared to death, but what about ghosts?

The woman looked at Zhou Ze and Zhou Ze looked back at her. Their gazes briefly met and then the woman continued to walk forward, her figure swaying and her silhouette graceful. The tight qipao accentuating her beautiful form to perfection.

“Where are you all going?”

Zhou Ze instinctively followed the group of women, leaving the original line. The others paid no attention to him, their minds seemingly devoid of thought or awareness, while Zhou Ze appeared to be the odd one among them.

The group of women walked forward, leaving a trail of smoke with each step, whispering a tune that felt both mournful and chilling. The originally oppressive atmosphere became more desolate with their presence.

Zhou Ze continued to walk, following them. Then, he saw them one by one stepping into the pond ahead. The pond was not large, resembling a mirror. Their entry seemed to shatter the tranquility, sending ripples spreading across the surface. The first few women had already submerged their heads beneath the water, while the others continued to follow.

Zhou Ze reached the edge of the pool but he did not follow them in and merely stood by, watching. Everything here was utterly unfamiliar to him. Every person has only one chance to enter in their lifetime and once inside, there was no way to leave.

In the center of the pool, something surfaced— a pair of hands, pale and delicate, with crimson nails. Dancing gracefully in the water, dreamlike and ethereal, instantly capturing his gaze, making it impossible to look away.

Beauty is alluring and this kind of beauty was soul-stirring. Zhou Ze’s eyes slowly revealed a look of intoxication and he was unaware that he had begun to move forward involuntarily. First, his feet, then his knees, then his waist—until finally, the water enveloped his neck and his entire body was submerged.

The water in the pond was not cold; in fact, it was quite warm. The surface of the water was clear with high visibility. Once inside, there was no sensation of suffocation.

Beneath the surface, the women with their umbrellas were still walking, their graceful figures moving forward. The woman closest to him wore a red dress. Though her body was beneath the water, her hands continued to dance above the surface, mesmerizing him.

Zhou Ze began to approach this woman in red, not because of her beauty, nor due to any other illusory influence, but because there seemed to be an indescribable magic about her that drew him closer, that made him want to be near her, that made him unable to resist.

Finally, Zhou Ze got closer to her and her hands slowly withdrew from the water’s surface.

The woman’s hair was long and thick, flowing and rippling in the water, obscuring her face.

“Finally… I’ve waited… for someone like you…”

The woman’s voice was crisp, sweet and soft, enchanting to the heart.

Her beautiful hands reached out and rested on Zhou Ze’s shoulders in an intimate gesture.

“You… come keep me company…”

The next moment, the woman’s hair began to spread out, strands of dark silk brushing against Zhou Ze’s face.

The caress of a beautiful woman seemed like a romantic thing but soon after, her hair transformed into the strongest steel cables in the world, tightening around Zhou Ze’s neck.

“You come… keep me company…”

Her hair fell loose, no longer concealing her features and the woman’s face finally revealed itself.

She had no face. Her face was flat, without waves or wrinkles. It was a perfectly smooth face, enough to make countless women jealous and envious. But she had no nose, no mouth, no eyes and certainly no ears.

A faceless woman.

Zhou Ze felt himself unable to breathe, his chest about to explode and at the same time, his body seemed on the verge of collapse.

The laughter of the faceless woman remained crisp and ethereal but to Zhou Ze’s ears at that moment, it sounded like a haunting melody.

Zhou Ze regained his senses.  He didn’t know what it meant to be entangled in this way in this place. But in any case, it wouldn’t lead to a good ending.

“You are here… to accompany me…!”

The faceless woman continued to laugh, her hair dancing wildly.

Zhou Ze instinctively reached out to grab the hair that was wrapped around his neck, trying desperately to free himself.

The faceless woman found his futile struggle amusing.

“You can’t break free. Stop struggling. Those who can come this far have a spirit. Once I’ve consumed enough spirits, I will have the chance to return! You are destined to become my sacrifice!”

But just as she finished speaking, the faceless woman let out a gasp, “How can this be… impossible…”

Zhou Ze’s fingernails began to slowly grow longer, a pitch-black translucent color that shimmered with an unusual brilliance in the water. The color of these nails was exactly the same as that of the old man’s nails he had treated before his death.

Zizi Zizi Zizi… Zizi Zizi Zizi… 

The sound of water hitting hot oil echoed.

The faceless woman’s hair melted and broke upon contact with Zhou Ze’s nails. Zhou Ze’s figure began to retreat, breaking free from the faceless woman’s grasp.

“It’s impossible… impossible… this can’t be happening… why! How can you escape! Why can you leave while I can’t! Why! Why! This isn’t fair! Not fair!”

The faceless woman reached out to stop Zhou Ze. As he tried to break free, his nails touched her hand and her originally flawless jade-like hand was instantly burned through, creating a hole.

“Ahhh!!!” The faceless woman screamed in agony, her figure retreating and she lost control over Zhou Ze.

Zhou Ze’s body began to rise, about to break the surface of the water.

“You can’t escape… you will be… you will be brought back! Here, is the final resting place of the dead! You, you and them, even if they leave, they will ultimately be brought back!”

The faceless woman shrieked hysterically, filled with jealousy, envy and madness!

Meanwhile, Zhou Ze, who was continuously rising, slowly began to lose his consciousness.

The path of the underworld,

The dazzling flowers from the other side,

The roar of the faceless woman,

The grace of the qipao women,

Everything,

Seemed to be gradually drifting away from him…