In the end, it felt like being in the dark of night; even shining the phone's flashlight could only illuminate a few inches ahead.
Although the great uncles reluctantly calmed down, they were obviously distracted by Chen Lusi's inquiries, with one of them even losing his temper.
At this moment, they were all huddled in a corner, including that absent-minded little cousin, each holding a phone, either making calls or texting.
This was also the only source of light.
A pitch-black ancestral hall.
The light from the phone screens shone on everyone's faces.
This made the already empty hall seem even stranger.
Chen Lusi also wanted to nestle in the corner and wait for the rain to stop because rationality told him that the rain would eventually cease.
But his experiences on the mountain made him uneasy, so he stood at the entrance of the hall, squinting to look outside.
He didn't know what he was doing either.
Perhaps trying to find the source, or the similarities between the rain and his experiences on the mountain.
Because it was really too strange.
"But how can you see clearly..."
Chen Lusi lowered his head, and as soon as he finished speaking, he noticed a vague human figure near the drying yard where they had just eaten beside the hall.
Even though the visibility was extremely low, Chen Lusi was certain there was truly a figure there.
It didn't seem tall.
Perhaps because of the distance, it looked like a child standing in the rain.
And once that thought emerged, he could almost hear the faint sound of crying mixed with the rain.
But logically, this made no sense.
Even a child, with such heavy rain, would find shelter, wouldn't they?
So Chen Lusi hesitated for half a second, then looked away.
But after looking away,
the hallucination-like crying not only didn't disappear, it became clearer and clearer.
And with time passing, it gradually intensified.
It started as a mere whisper.
But gradually, the crying grew sharp, eventually even drowning out the white noise of the torrential rain.
"..."
Listening to the gradually intensifying crying, Chen Lusi glanced back at the relatives huddled in the corner of the hall.
Although they were still uneasy, their anxiety hadn't increased, and they weren't shouting either.
As if they hadn't heard the crying.
Chen Lusi sighed, listened to the again intensifying crying, and looked back at the heavy rain outside the hall.
The petite figure still stood alone in the same place.
Standing alone in the rain, as if waiting for someone to come and rescue.
To be honest, Chen Lusi regretted it.
Why did you even come back for the ancestor ritual...
He took a deep breath, regretting while looking at the figure in the rain, and took a step forward.
Splash—
In less than half an hour.
The water outside the hall had already risen to ankle height.
So as soon as he stepped out, with the splash of water, Chen Lusi's shoes were soaked through.
Soon after, his whole body was drenched.
The sudden rain pounded on his face, causing significant pain.
"Cousin—"
A sudden call came from behind.
The little cousin noticed Chen Lusi's actions and anxiously called out to him.
Hearing the voice, Chen Lusi took another step, stood still, and turned his head intending to respond.
But turning around, there was no hall behind him.
Behind him was only the heavy rain curtain.
Chen Lusi was stunned, then looked around, the surrounding hall, the drying yard, the figure, even the crying, had all vanished.
All that remained around him was the heavy rain curtain.
Front, back, left, right.
Nothing but the rain curtain.
It felt like being trapped in a cage.
"..."
Chen Lusi wiped the rain off his face, lowered his head, feeling not so much regret as frustration.
If he'd known about encountering so much trouble both going up and down the mountain, he wouldn't have come back for the ancestor ritual.
Pa-da.
The sound of clear footsteps came.
It sounded like someone was walking barefoot in the rain, the sound even louder than the rainfall.
Chen Lusi looked up.
Ahead.
In the thick rain curtain.
A girl in a white dress was slowly approaching him, the same one Chen Lusi had encountered on his way down the mountain.
Although visibility was still very poor, the girl seemed to emit a faint glow, visible even through the heavy rain curtain.
Chen Lusi could still clearly see her.
Her expressionless, pretty face, long black hair cascading to her waist, an almost translucent white gown, and... the thin and bizarre red long sword in her hand.
The rain seemed to deliberately avoid her.
Untouched, she stopped about a meter away from Chen Lusi.
A stark contrast to Chen Lusi, who was drenched like a drowned rat.
"This is already considered torment... is it necessary?"
Chen Lusi wiped the rainwater from his face and couldn't help but ask.
Any ghost would do.
He just wanted to ask.
Is it necessary?
But the girl did not respond to Chen Lusi; she simply faced him, slowly raising the thin and bizarre red long sword in her hand.
Then, holding the hilt with both hands.
At the moment she gripped the hilt.
The sound of a wheelchair rolling echoed.
Then from the girl as the starting point, an invisible wave spread outward, the world began to lose color... The thin and bizarre red long sword in the girl's hand gradually lost its color.
The entire world seemed to be covered in a shadow.
Only black, white, and gray remained reflected in Chen Lusi's pupils.
And the rain stopped.
Or more accurately, the raindrops remained frozen in their falling state, suspended in mid-air.
And then.
Click.
The clear sound of a clock pendulum rang out.
The raindrops suspended in the air began to reverse, not just the raindrops, but also the water at his feet, even the water stains on Chen Lusi's body and head, were stripped away one by one, reverting to raindrops.
All the water, as if reversing, turned into raindrops falling from the sky, heading back up to the heavens.