Forgotten Photo Studio

Chapter 87 Hunger and Love

"But I can't control myself. You know I like her, right?"

“I thought time could dilute things, but time only makes people more clear-headed. So clear-headed that I know her eyes never belonged to me.” “From the first time I saw her in the central hall, she hid behind you like a frightened deer… When she woke up in the ghost realm, the first thing she looked for was your direction… At that moment, I knew I was doomed to lose, I didn’t even have the right to sit at the table.”

Rainwater slid down the building and hit the broken lampshade with a crisp 'thud'.

"Azhe..."

"No, don't say it!" Ah Zhe suddenly laughed, his laughter hoarse like a broken bellows. "I've tried, I really have. I told myself to focus on my research, to take it easy... but damn it, emotions are like that, the more you suppress them, the crazier they get. Now I can only hear about her injury from you..."

The rain grew heavier, pounding against the metal roof of the overpass with a dense drumbeat.

Xu Yan listened quietly, without interrupting this belated, desperate confession.

Ah Zhe's voice was twisted with a smile tinged with tears: "I don't want your pity... Xu Yan, you fucking have to live well. If you die, I won't even have anyone to hate."

Silence fell on both ends of the phone call, with only the sound of rain filling the empty space.

Xu Yan raised his hand and wiped the rain off his face. The touch was cold, yet strangely burning.

Xu Yan slowly exhaled, and the white mist instantly dissipated in the cold rain. "Don't worry, I'm not planning to die."

"You always say that!" Ah Zhe smiled wryly, "But every time you rush into the most dangerous place!"

"that is because……"

Xu Yan raised his head, his gaze piercing through the rain curtain, locking onto the massive complex of buildings sprawling in the darkness.

They resemble the silent remains of prehistoric behemoths, exuding an ominous aura.

A huge iron gate was half-open, from which a visible amount of cold white air escaped, evaporating into eerie mist in the rain.

"Some truths, you will never know why you live unless you witness them with your own eyes."

Just then, amidst the sound of rain, a very discordant noise seeped in.

crunch--

Like rusty hinges, or heavy iron chains, they were being slowly dragged away deep inside the warehouse by someone or something.

"Brother Yan? What's that sound over there?" A-Zhe immediately became alert.

"fine."

Xu Yan lowered his voice even further, pressed his body against the cold wall, and scanned the darkness ahead like a hawk.

"You still want to go in? Damn! That place is a restricted area, the signal interference is ridiculously strong..."

"Sector-07".

Xu Yan muttered to himself, as if confirming a destination that had been predetermined.

"……What did you say?"

Ah Zhe's voice abruptly stopped, as if an invisible hand had choked him.

Xu Yan didn't say anything more.

He abruptly ended the call and stuffed the terminal back into his pocket.

Raindrops pounded on the massive metal door, producing a dull, rhythmic "thump-thump," like the heartbeat of some enormous creature.

He stretched out his hands and pressed them against the cold, slippery iron door—

The communication signal buzzed in my ears, like countless tiny metal insects burrowing into my skull.

The air smelled different; even the rainwater had a faint metallic rust smell.

"Squeak... Clang!"

The door hinges emitted a teeth-grinding, silence-ripping roar as they slowly opened.

A chilling aura, exceeding physical temperature and capable of freezing the soul, swept over us.

In that instant, Xu Yan felt as if his lungs were filled with ice shards, and even his thoughts seemed to be frozen.

He had to pause for half a second to allow his body to adjust to the inhuman cold.

His hearing began to layer: the sound of rain and heartbeat from the outside world, and whispers from deeper within, like those from the earth, all blended into a chaotic wave.

The warehouse's lighting system was not turned on; the only light source was the faint, flickering light emanating from the lens of the camera on his chest, like the light of his own breath.

A low-frequency vibration slowly emanated from the metal floor beneath my feet.

It resembled breathing, or perhaps the beating of a heart awakening.

The ground was covered with a thick, carpet-like layer of dust, but many messy, brand-new footprints were clearly imprinted on it. The traces of his possession of Zhou Wenbin's body not long ago overlapped with his own footprints at this moment.

Everything before my eyes is pushing the limits of my understanding.

The warehouse was surprisingly spacious, with dozens of huge cylindrical glass storage tanks suspended in mid-air by thick pipes and chains.

The tank was filled with a dark green, viscous liquid.

And what was soaking in it was not any known cargo.

It is a "person".

Or rather, it's the outline of a person.

Dozens of translucent spirits, like failed specimens, floated in a ghostly green halo.

Their heads drooped, their facial features dissolved, leaving only blurry, distorted shadows.

Their arms swung unconsciously, stirring up slow bubbles in the viscous liquid.

The moment each bubble bursts, it releases a desperate spiritual scream that can only be captured by a highly sensitive spiritual sense.

A sudden, intense physiological spasm occurred in my stomach.

This is not a warehouse at all.

This is a cage.

A mass-produced prison specifically designed for souls.

From the bottom of all the storage tanks, pale white filaments of light extended out, like extracted bone marrow, converging towards the central area of ​​the warehouse.

There, an enormous vertical eye, composed of some kind of dark metal and writhing crimson runes, was slowly opening.

The vertical pupil was a bottomless vortex of eerie green, frantically devouring the gathering pale light threads.

On the surface of its metallic white eye, a human face, in extreme pain, would occasionally appear in relief, struggle, and then be mercilessly swallowed up, in an endless cycle.

Before he could suppress the shock in his heart, a sudden heat surged from the depths of his mind.

First a little, then a little, like needles piercing consciousness.

Then, an invisible beast stirred up waves in the depths of the soul, roaring as it pounded against the chains.

That was the whisper of the Abyss: "Let me out...eat them..."

The sound was both distant and intimate, as if the entire warehouse was trembling slightly with its breath.

The spirits in each storage tank seemed to be awakened, their eyes glowing with a ghostly green light, as if they were silently begging for mercy, or as if they were yearning to be devoured.

at this time--

The jade cicada on her chest suddenly trembled slightly.

The vibration was extremely subtle, yet it pierced through the cold air, carrying a trace of "emotion" that was impossible to ignore.

It was neither fear nor resistance.

Yes, I like it.

A very simple, almost childlike fondness.

It showed a strange curiosity and closeness to these trapped, wronged souls, as if they were its own kind whom it was born with.

Xu Yan looked down at the faint light on the surface of the jade cicada.

It didn't shine; it just had a faint, damp texture in the rain and the dim light of the warehouse, as if it had been awakened by a breath.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a strange chill.

It wasn't because it had become dangerous, but because he realized that the protective item left behind by Chen Zhiwei might not just be a protective item.

It has its own "preferences," and it is even easier for it to approach the dead than it is for itself.

Meanwhile, the restlessness of "Abyss" intensified, as if stimulated by some unseen emotion, becoming even more thirsty.

The air pressure in the warehouse suddenly dropped, and the spiritual pressure surged.

He could almost hear the two desires overlapping and displaced in the air.

A calm and quiet "like";
A kind of intense, devouring "hunger".

(End of this chapter)