C17 — Strange Tales By The Lakeside

Zhou Wu knocked on the door of the room with apprehension.

 

Those exorcists didn’t say too much to him, and he couldn’t get any information from the damn town mayor, and he didn’t even know what was in the wooden house now; it could be a person, or it could be a Yin corpse, or even the BOSS.

 

But the situation was stronger than what he could handle, he had no choice.

 

Zhou Wu swallowed his saliva; his heart was about to pop out of his throat, and he shouted in his heart, Don’t be the boss; don’t be the boss. If he saw that crocodile face again, he was afraid that it would be the end of him in this film.

 

 

The wooden door creaked and opened slightly.

 

 

Zhou Wu’s chills went straight to the sky, and a layer of sweat covered his body. Just as he subconsciously resigned himself to closing his eyes, what came out actually wasn’t the sound of a sharp blade’s breaking wind but a familiar voice.

 

 

“Zhou Wu?” Zhuo Yu smiled at him. “Last time you saw me and ran, I didn’t think we’d meet again.”

 

 

His heart sinking back into his stomach, Zhou Wu opened his eyes and realised that it was indeed that cripple; moreover, this cripple actually didn’t die!

 

It was simply unbelievable.

 

 

“Am I seeing a ghost, or is that this kid is blessed with a great life ……” Zhou Wu wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and murmured.

 

 

“You’re definitely not seeing a ghost.” Zhuo Yu asked him with a curious expression, “Where’s Mu Ying? You all survived, right? I only saw Li Mingfeng’s death broadcast.”

 

 

Zhou Wu had gone round and round in this world and met black hearted humans and Mu Ying was unable to communicate, when he finally saw such a normal person again, he felt a sudden extreme affinity towards him, he was holding back a bellyful of words that he wanted to say, but now wasn’t the time, he hadn’t forgotten the Exorcist’s instructions.

 

 

He sheepishly used the corner of his eyes to look at the priests hiding in the bushes, he was sure that these people were disappointed, after all what came out wasn’t the BOSS, it was just a waste of an actor.

 

 

“Let’s not talk so much first, come with me, it’s not safe here, let’s get in the car first.” Zhou Wu pulled Zhuo Yu’s hand and tried to yank him, but to his surprise, Zhuo Yu’s strength was much greater than expected, he easily broke free.

 

 

Zhuo Yu secretly frowned, somewhat disgusted, but this emotion was hidden from him and replaced with thoughtfulness, “Big Brother Zhou, I can do it myself, lead the way.”

 

 

Zhou Wu didn’t think that much; he turned and was about to head towards the pickup truck driven by an exorcist. Although he had abandoned Zhuo Yu before, this kid didn’t look like a person who held a grudge, and he was the only one Zhou Wu dared to communicate with at ease, so he intended to be kind and save the other party’s life.

 

However, the ambushing exorcists didn’t think so.

 

 

“Hooked, simple and easy~”

 

 

“See, I told you, that town mayor was too worried, he told me that Zhuo Yu was the most sinister and cunning evil spirit he had ever seen, but he was still cleaned up by our union.”

 

 

“He’s just an uneducated NPC, but Zhuo Yu is even more stupid, he still thinks Zhou Wu is his good teammate.”

 

 

“Hahaha, it’s a pity that the one who came out wasn’t Crocodile Man.”

 

 

“This kind of person who helps a villain do evil, should be sent back to the flame Source.”

 

 

Several people talked in low voices, their words filled with confidence and ambition.

 

 

Because as long as he took one step further, he’d meet the trap they had set up, no matter how powerful a spirit was, after being doused with the holy water, they would all fly away, no, in western terms, they would roll back to hell!

 

 

Zhuo Yu slowly rolled the wheelchair, now in the eyes of these hunters, he was just like a weak lamb, the most readily available prey.

 

 

The wheels finally pressed into the tripwire.

 

 

With a “pop” sound, the transparent fishing line pulled the piston, and the glass bottle filled with holy water exploded violently, splashing Zhuo Yu’s entire calf with the highly concentrated liquid.

 

However, the expected mournful wailing didn’t appear, Zhuo Yu just stared at the ground in slight confusion and asked Zhou Wu, “What is this?”

 

 

Zhou Wu slapped his thigh. “Damn it, I forgot to mention, the town mayor hired exorcists; everyone is an actor, so you don’t have to be afraid.”

 

 

He kicked the broken holy water bottle, “This thing will be used to ambush the BOSS, by the way, how did you escape from the BOSS?”

 

 

“The BOSS doesn’t like to ki-ll weak prey like me.” Zhuo Yu subtly smirked at him, “Only men with power like you deserve to be his prey.”

 

 

Even if Zhou Wu was dull, he could still tell that Zhuo Yu’s words didn’t seem right, why did they sound so much like mockery?

 

 

But he didn’t have time to think about it carefully before he was interrupted.

 

 

“So it’s a human; we’ve offended you.” The old man came in a graceful manner; he was dressed in a priest’s robe and had a warm smile on his face. Looking at him made people want to befriend him and confess what they had done.

 

 

Ma Yuanan turned on his character skills, and his passive trait “Priest’s Compassion” was working.

 

 

“And you are?” Zhuo Yu politely nodded his head in greeting at Ma Yuanan.

 

 

“My character is an exorcist invited by the town mayor, the fact that the holy water didn’t hurt you means that you are innocent.” Ma Yuanan’s tone was filled with compassion, “I’m relieved, it’s good that you’re alright.”

 

 

The members of the Soul Hunters Union who were lying on the bushes and watching: vomit, the boss is starting to fool people again.

 

 

But it couldn’t be helped, the information was wrong, that damn mayor told them that the Golden Lake was occupied by two evil spirits, listening to the mayor’s description, they unanimously agreed that Zhuo Yu had taken the evil spirit role card, and was in cahoots with the BOSS, that was why they planned to use Zhuo Yu’s teammate as a decoy to trick him into coming out of the cabin so that he could be executed by the holy water, and if the one who was lured out was the BOSS, then that was even better.

 

 

 

However, the truth was completely different from what they thought.

 

 

Not only was Zhuo Yu not harmed by the holy water, he instead looked mild and gentle, not at all the same thing as what the town mayor said.

 

 

So it was only possible for Captain Ma to go out and round up the situation.

 

 

The captain’s ability to fool people could be quite profound; they had all seen it before; many people had died because they believed the captain’s words and were freely used by him.

 

Zhuo Yu looked young and would definitely fall for it.

 

 

“So, the mayor thinks I’m an evil spirit?” Zhuo Yu seemed to be truly touched by the priest’s accommodating attitude. “It’s not like that; I’m not an evil spirit! I merely have a past with the Golden Lake…”

 

 

Zhuo Yu’s vision was melancholic and deeply emotional as he looked at the lake with emotion, the nostalgia in his tone about to overflow.

 

 

Ma Yuanan’s heart was shaken, this kid’s mind was unstable, his mind was  overtaken by the role, and his brain wasn’t clear. Sure enough, he was a disabled person with no power, ah, he was so quickly affected by the character to such a point.

 

 

He smiled slightly. Wasn’t this a good time to pry for information?

 

 

“Don’t worry, on this film set, my duty is to be a priest. I will be responsible for eradicating the evil here; were you wrongly accused?” Ma Yuanan righteously asked.

 

 

“Mr Priest …… would you like to listen to a part of my past?” Zhuo Yu parted his hair behind his ear, revealing those eyes that seemed to belong to the past.

 

 

In a slightly hoarse and solemn narration, a tragic fate unfolded before Ma Yuanan.

 

 

Firstly, Zhuo Yu and Asha met, got to know each other, and depended on each other, and then they were so coveted that even their dignity to live was taken away.

 

 

“I dragged my broken legs, crawled on the grass, and followed the bloo-d trail to find Asha.” Zhuo Yu’s voice was trembling, and his sobbing statement made people sympathise from the bottom of their hearts: “The broken stones and branches pierced into my wounds, but I couldn’t feel the pain; my thoughts were all on Asha; I was afraid that he would have the same encounter as me; that child has suffered enough; I didn’t want his last moments in this world to be filled with the hatred of the ugly world.”

 

 

“My blo-od was almost dry, my flesh was almost worn out, I found Asha on the shore with my last hope, this child’s chest was stabbed with such a long dagger, how painful it must have been ……”

 

 

Zhuo Yu buried his face deeply in his palm, his slightly trembling shoulders proving that he was crying.

 

 

Ma Yuanan was also a little shaken at this moment, although he didn’t do anything. But when he heard such a tragic encounter, it was inevitable that some sense of justice would fluff up from within. Coupled with the influence of his character on him, Ma Yuanan had an urge to call the police to arrest the town mayor.

 

 

“But we still didn’t manage to escape; what awaited me wasn’t rescue, but the muzzle of a g-un.” Zhuo Yu stared at Ma Yuanan with crimson eyes. “I got a chance to start my life over again, but what about Asha? He’s been guarding this place for fifty years just to keep the mayor from getting away with it!”

 

 

Ma Yuanan was shocked by his suddenly resentful words and subconsciously took a few steps back, and when he raised his eyes again, he slammed into a pair of black, bottomless pupils.

 

 

“Late justice is no longer justice; even if I say this to you, what’s the point? If God were really that fair, he wouldn’t have let this happen to me and Asha.”

 

 

Zhuo Yu probed and tugged at Ma Yuanan’s priestly robe. “What kind of saviors are you guys? Aren’t Asha and I God’s people?”

 

 

Ma Yuanan somehow felt more guilty the more he listened to Zhuo Yu.

 

 

His character was arranged directly from the debugger’s side; the compatibility wasn’t high, so he wasn’t afraid of being affected by his character when he used his skills, yet under Zhuo Yu’s few words, he could feel that his own instincts were urging him to help him repent to God.

 

 

Ma Yuanan said sheepishly, “No, it’s not like that; it’s not too late, as long as you…”

 

“It’s not too late.” Zhuo Yu laughed maniacally. “Because it is not you who died, and it is not you who was insulted; as a priest, you are bathed in the reverence of others; what are your qualifications to judge the people in the mire?”

 

“I- I’m not right; I-I am not a priest.”

 

 

“You’ve already denied your duty by shirking your responsibility!” Zhuo Yu’s voice got louder and his eyes looked fixedly at Ma Yuanan, the condemnation in them on the verge of congealing into substance. “Now you, not only have you not cleaned up his kingdom for God and swept away the evil man who is doing wrong, but instead, you have been entrusted by the evil man to k-ill us who are suffering. Is this what a priest should do?”

 

 

Ma Yuanan’s headache got worse; the more he denied it, the more he could feel the “priest’s” own soul shaking. Under Zhuo Yu’s forced gaze, he felt as if he were the one who had done something wrong.

 

 

“What if I really am a soul? Does God teach you to use power to obliterate good souls? Assuming that I hadn’t been reincarnated, I wouldn’t even have the chance to say this; I would have died under the holy water, and you guys would never know what had happened here and would only be able to aid and abet the evil, and after ki-lling two innocent souls, you would still have the peace of mind to think that you’re the greater good. Am I right or wrong?”

 

 

“Stop it, please stop it!!!” Ma Yuanan’s old face screwed up into a ball, only feeling that the character was fighting with him for dominance, his eyes filled with tears of remorse, his sanity crumbling more and more with the sight of Zhuo Yu.

 

 

 

“Heh, I see. The fact that you can be in cahoots with the town mayor means that you’re no good either, right, captain?”

 

 

Ma Yuanan was so stunned that he almost fell to his knees.

 

 

He was a far-famed priest in Florida who had spent his entire life doing good deeds, only seeking to return lost souls to the Lord’s embrace. He was a good man; how could he not be considered a good man? If a priest didn’t deserve to be called good, then he…

 

 

“You’ve been through film sets so many times and have so much experience in ki-lling demons. Ha, how righteous. But ask yourself, Are you really cleaning up those ghosts and monsters for God?”

 

 

Zhuo Yu’s tone treacherously rose as he began to blur Ma Yuanan’s and the priest’s personalities, conflating the two’s different memories, and his dark, ink-like eyes grew deeper and deeper, sparing no effort to instil his sight, pulling at the other’s wavering eyes like a vortex.

 

 

“As a priest, for the sake of profit, for the sake of your own body and family, you go on to cut down lives in the film without asking right and wrong, you’re disgracing the loving God and adding shame to the congregation that trusted you, you’re committing an unforgivable sin!”

 

 

Zhuo Yu’s voice was like thunder, making Ma Yuanan’s tears crackle and fall to the ground; his spirit was completely manipulated; at this moment, he was the priest; the priest was himself; he was a naughty and mischievous person who disregarded God’s teachings for the sake of money; his existence was bringing shame to the Lord.

 

 

Yes, he did evil—countless evils; he used actors and k-illed dozens of people. He was a firebrand who k-illed everyone, regardless of whether there was a hidden agenda or not.

 

 

This was a despicable crime that the “priest” couldn’t accept.

 

 

Ma Yuanan looked at the sky, murmuring in despair: “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy to enter heaven, I’m not worthy to be accepted by the Lord, I’m a sinner ……”.

 

 

Zhuo Yu revealed the same holy smile as Ma Yuanan’s earlier, and his tone was equally compassionate. “But you can still atone for your sins.”

 

He pointed to the holster under the priest’s robe.

 

“There, isn’t there a voucher for your atonement?”

 

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TN:

We stan a manipulative king 😌

See ya tomorrow ✌️