"Four hundred seventy-nine, four hundred eighty, four hundred eighty-one, four hundred eighty-two..."
Su Jing woke up as if electrocuted. The grogginess disappeared instantaneously as this voice again gave her the heebie-jeebies. Without thinking, she adopted the same tactic - to stay unmoving and with her face down. Her chest and pelvis hurt because of the stones.
As she lay there, feeling overwhelmed and anxious, the ghost seemed to be completely at ease, floating leisurely above her stretched-out body. It was as if the ghost knew something she didn't and this thought only added to her stress.
But as the silence stretched on, Su Jing began to feel a growing sense of unease. The ghost's calmness was one thing, but the fact that it said nothing was even more unnerving.
"...four hundred eighty-four, four hundred eighty-five..."
He continued, leaving the scene, this time going up the stairs.
This "arriving and leaving" event kept happening over and over again, and with each time, Su Jing realized that the ghost couldn't care less about her presence. It went up and down endlessly, pausing a little when reaching her — but that was all. The ghost was more preoccupied with counting and being in his bubble.
At first, Su Jing was incapable of appreciating what he was doing, but after a few runnings back and forth, she could only assume that he was numbering the stairs! Why he wanted to go up and down repeatedly wasn't in her position to comprehend.
Thanks to him, Su Jing now knew she reached the 589th step.
That was way more than Su Jing hoped for. Getting out of this hell hole was closer than her initial thought.
Her excitement started to lie down, however, after all these happenings. What realm of the immortals? It felt more like a trip straight to the underworld! That ghost was a not-so-living and moving proof!
The elder mentioned something about being trapped between the realms. Maybe the man was a result of such a cause.
Su Jing put these thoughts away.
The crisp air was undoubtedly biting her throat when breathing, making the pain hard to ignore. She was sure her voice would be affected after a few hours. Albeit still tired, knowing that the ghost was constantly passing by - Su Jing couldn't sleep. The cold environment wasn't giving the best conditions for a comfortable sleep either.
However, with the daylight coming and colouring the sky in pinkish tones, she couldn't help but be happy. It was a well-known fact that ghosts feared the light. If she puts in a little effort, the test will be finished before the next nighttime. How could this not be a sigh of relief for her?
Having said so, Su Jing continued to walk without care. The dawn succeeded in boosting her confidence.
Unfortunately, as soon as she reached the goal of 600 steps, weird things appeared again.
Sculptures. A multitude of them.
Su Jing kneeled to observe them better. Some resembled small animals, like squirrels, rabbits or foxes, but there were also a few human looking. The creations had frightened expressions or arrogant - with the head off the stone body. A part of them were also crumpled as if thrown away.
Luckily, their size was small, enough to couple it in your palm. If not, Su Jing would have just assumed that a monster was lurking on this mountain.
Going up, she passed by more weird creations, even drawings on the wall stone with confusing war and festive scenes. The image depicted the chaos of the battle, how both sides only killed mindlessly or others with people dancing.
"..."
Just who is strangling my pitiful heart like this?
While Su Jing carried slowly on the path ahead, discarded rough-looking weapons also appeared all over. She stretched out her hand and took a half-buried dagger from the rocks, disputing whether to take it for self-defence. It had a beautiful flower model carving, showing how its creator was immensely talented.
Nevertheless, its effectiveness was still dependent on the user. Her ability to fight was quite laughable, even a rooster being able to win against her.
But still - Su Jing took it. It was deserted anyway.
When she reached the snow point, the coldness heartlessly embraced her. The landscape was frozen and beautiful, the high view making Su Jing dizzy and fearful of accidentally slipping.
Only now did Su Jing feel like walking towards the immortal realm. It felt like a gate closing itself from the mortals.
Entering through the mist nothing could be seen, hardly even her hands. She grasped the pointy rocks from the proximity, blind from all the whiteness. The beautiful sight from afar became strangely scary and dangerous up close.
Su Jing tried to calm down by shutting her eyes. Panicking would not help with anything.
A slight wind touched her back. By the next moment, she saw how the white mass shifted, dissipating and showing a different space.
All this occurred in a heartbeat.
"Am I in an illusion?" The space she was bought in slowly took the form of a small room, having a few items thrown around. It felt real, yet clearly full of cracks and blank openings. Even the smell was musty, this ticklish sensation making her want to sneeze.
She started looking around.
A vase of withered flowers looked fallen down the dressing table, but as if time had stopped, the droplets and plants only floated in the air, weightless. The rest of things were fragmented too, only half of the bed and chair being able to be seen before disappearing in the cracks.
What attracted Su Jing's attention more was the person staying with their back towards her.
Their dark hair was as beautiful as a painting, tangling around the flying mess in the air. Whoever the man or woman was, they looked in the middle of shattering the window glass, their expression difficult to get a hold of.
Su Jing tried to rise and go towards them. There didn't seem to be any other solution.
However, as if a force was forcefully breaking the space between them, Su Jing didn't have time to distinguish the person's features closely.
One crack was suddenly enlarging itself more and more, capturing one of her legs. The feeling of slipping and falling just made Su Jing's heart go out of her chest, feeling way too real this time to ignore.
She screamed, her voice echoing through the void.
Like the glass scattered, the illusion disappeared bringing her back to the mountain scenery. Su Jing felt her heart beating wildly. At the same time, an uncomfortable feeling rose in her stomach.
Grasping the memory better and how she was in a third-party perspective, Su Jing started to believe that it was hinted towards a person she once knew.
Rather than being relieved at finally discovering a piece of her past, Su Jing felt tormented and shaken. She couldn't explain this feeling.
it was like she felt "their" emotions.
Loneliness. Loathness. Anger.
"These aren't your memories. Don't tangle too deep into them."
A low voice suddenly spoke - It got Su Jing almost salt in the air from fear.
Grasping again where she was, Su Jing first saw the majestic snowy peaks, which had the impression of floating above the sea of clouds. Her head turned fast around. She was searching for the source of the unwelcome voice.
And in front of all this breathtaking sight was no one but the ghost from before.
The man was in a relaxed position, his hand propping up his head as if watching a play. Su Jing couldn't help but be choked up when she saw him.
A moment of intense staring at each other came next, Su Jing feeling more drained each time she saw his eyelashes fluttering.
The ghost possessed an exquisite and peerless face, contrasting with his long hair cascading down his shoulders and the mountain stones.
A golden huadian was also striking on the forehead, accentuating the rest of the sharp features and making his deep eyes more charming. Maybe it was because of his ghost characteristics, but they looked faded, almost disappearing.
Her fingers were tightly grasping her dress as she pondered how to address him, afraid of further carelessly offending this big Buddha. He looked old enough to be a brother, but his noble temperament and his ghostly look were signs her neck would fly if she called him like that.
With anxiety, she tried to form a short phrase.
"I ...deeply apologize, senior. It was not my intention to offend you."
The scene in the mist still affected her, and now with the ghost too, she felt pressured uncomfortably from two sides.
While that illusion's scope felt unclear for her to discern, Su Jing was curious about the motive why it was shown to her. The mysterious individual was unfamiliar, and they neither looked like a previous version of herself, making her wonder whether the man was the one with a connection to it...
Thinking about him, Su Jing noticed how he was way too silent after hearing her reply. She lifted her head, attempting to identify the issue.
He was staring.
"Is something the matter, senior?" Su Jing finally broke the silence.
He continued to gaze at her, seemingly lost in thought.
After a rather awkward silent period, he spoke.
"As I said, the memory you saw wasn't yours and dwelling into it will only take upon your divine sense. Didn't you hear me?"
He totally ignored her apologies.
His expression was giving boredom vibes as if he had to explain this thousands of times. However, when he locked his eyes on Su Jing's face, he raised his eyebrows, judging her shamelessly.
"Ah, no wonder..." he whispered loud enough for Su Jing to hear, while he scrutinized her, "you are more gullible now than I look closer at you."
"..."
Su Jing just bit her tongue slightly, not being able to counter him with a good reply. Gullible regarding what? Why was he only throwing rude words left and right without explaining them?
Seeing that she was the one who didn't answer this time, the ghost tilted his head a bit, confused.
"What? You really didn't know that? You were throwing yourself off the mountain, yet you expect to roam safely the realm?"
Hearing this Su Jing's heart trembled. So that sensation was real after all! She was slipping down in that illusion!
She tightened her lips, reconsidering all the happenings she passed through. There could be just one possibility.
"Were you the one who saved me?"
The ethereal man only half raised the corners of his mouth when he heard her, conveying some sort of complex emotions.
With that, Su Jing understood that her hypothesis was right. The force shattering the memory and bringing her here was his. This clarification made her mind in turmoil, confusing her views about him - why did he view her existence as worth saving when he didn't even know her?
"Thank you for saving me," she said with a respectful bow of her head.
Her mouth felt dry, not knowing what others thing to say to not make it awkward.
"Truly gullible." the ghost only repeated this, not caring about her thanks either, "Are you actually aware of the situation you're in?"
"That..."
Of course not.
Su Jing was more and more like a headless fly with each stair she took up. She didn't remember her origins, so whatever the situation was, Su Jing felt like a parallel line to it.
After all, instead of investigating and keeping going, what else was she supposed to do?
Her rushy thoughts were interrupted by a sudden gust of wind, which made Su Jing's hair go all over the place.
Strangely, the man looked untouched by the current, all his long hair and clothes lying motionless. Su Jing stared at him through her messy strands, seeing how he smiled slightly in response.
"You're so contradicting," he murmured, "I can't even discern your presence with my divine sense."
The man passed his fingers through his hair, making it cascade beautifully.