"If you drag us down, I'll leave you behind."
Zhang Jue, probably too scared to move alone, reluctantly agreed to stay with the group for now.
Huang Lianfang moved closer behind me, quietly clutching my clothes. I noticed her action but ultimately didn't push her away.
The four of us walked forward without any real sense of direction. We still had no idea what kind of situation we were dealing with, but moving forward felt better than staying put and doing nothing.
"Ye Cha, what do you think is going on?" I kept a calm face as I walked with the group, but inwardly, I was quietly asking her.
After showing up earlier to convince them of the existence of ghosts, Ye Cha had retreated back into the jade pendant. She seemed to dislike interacting with people.
"Ye Cha, Ye Cha—" I called her several times but received no response. Thinking she might be sulking, I gave up and stopped calling her.
As we walked, a vast sea of flowers suddenly appeared ahead. Seeing such an expanse of flowers in the middle of these desolate mountains was anything but normal.
I was about to warn the others about the strange flowers when I noticed that Mo Yun and Huang Lianfang didn't seem to see the flower field at all. They stared blankly ahead, their eyes hollow and lifeless, walking forward aimlessly. At some point, while I wasn't paying attention, they had all ended up in this state.
What's going on? Could it be that I'm the only one who can see the flowers?
I grabbed Huang Lianfang, who was closest to me, but she seemed trapped in some kind of nightmare. Her gaze was fixed on the flowers ahead, her face full of obsession. When I tried to pull her back, she dragged me forward instead. For someone who didn't look very strong, her strength was surprisingly overwhelming.
Turning to Mo Yun and Zhang Jue, I saw that their expressions weren't filled with obsession but fear. It seemed like some force was pulling them forward, and they couldn't resist it.
As I frantically searched for a way to respond, a seductive voice shattered the eerie silence, adding an even more chilling edge to the scene.
"Oh my, it's rare to meet someone who can resist the allure of my flowers. I wonder if you're truly free of desire or just pretending."
As the voice faded, everything went dark, and I passed out again.
Why do I keep fainting lately?
I thought I would lose consciousness completely and die in this sinister flower field. But when I opened my eyes, I saw myself—my body, walking forward like Mo Yun and the others, expressionless and heading toward the flower field.
Am I… out of my body? Is this an out-of-body experience?
I tried to return to my body, but some invisible force stopped me. Every time I approached, it repelled me.
If this is what happened to me, does it mean that Zhang Jue and the others are experiencing the same thing?
When I turned to check, I didn't see their souls outside their bodies like mine.
"What's going on?"
Unable to find any answers, I forced myself to calm down and think. Slowly approaching the edge of the flower field, I couldn't resist reaching out to touch it. As my finger brushed against the flowers, a thorn scratched me.
Why can these thorns injure my soul?
Before I could step back, the strange sea of flowers reacted violently. The plants suddenly grew several feet taller, towering over me by more than double my height. At the tops of the vines were large red blossoms, which began wilting rapidly, revealing what lay beneath.
For the first time, I saw something so grotesque and horrifying.
Beneath each flower was a human head. Even after all this time, their skin hadn't decayed, and they still wore the expressions they had in life—fear, anger, obsession, or, like me, a blank face.
Who knows how many people were buried in this vast flower field?
"Another one has arrived."
"And such a handsome young man too. We won't be lonely anymore."
…
These strange entities seemed to retain their memories. They could see us and began talking amongst themselves as our group approached the flowers.
I was panicking as I watched our four bodies nearing the center of the flower field, but I didn't know how to stop it.
Just as despair began to set in, Ye Cha finally appeared like a savior.
"Idiot, repeat after me: Su Xin Zheng Ming, Wei Nian Yi Cun, Si Fang Xie Sha, Wu Fan Qing Qing, Po!"
I didn't have time to question why Ye Cha hadn't appeared earlier or what was happening to me now. I quickly repeated her incantation. The feeling of powerlessness vanished, and when I came to, I was back in my body.
"Ye Cha, I'm back in my body!"
Before I could share my joy with Ye Cha, the sea of flowers went berserk, lashing out at me. My instinct was to turn and run, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Huang Lianfang, Mo Yun, and Zhang Jue still in their previous states, moving closer to the center of the flower field.
If they reach the center, I don't need to guess what will happen. The mastermind behind all this must be there, and their fate will likely be the same as the human heads under the flowers.
"What's this? Do you still want to save them? Don't forget, you can barely protect yourself!" Ye Cha's tone dripped with sarcasm. I didn't know if she was mocking their fate or my foolishness.
Even though I knew the risks of trying to save them, I couldn't bring myself to abandon them. If not for me, they might never have encountered this nightmare.
Clenching my teeth, I turned back to grab Mo Yun. After several attempts, he still didn't budge, but I ended up being dragged forward instead. In desperation, I delivered a sharp blow to his neck, knocking him unconscious, and carried him away.
After dragging Mo Yun a safe distance away, I turned back to Zhang Jue and Huang Lianfang. By then, they were completely entangled in vines, with only their heads exposed. It seemed the vines had anticipated my method and were preventing me from knocking them out.
"Why bother saving them? You know one of them is a vengeful ghost who will kill you eventually. By risking your life now, you're just keeping a ticking time bomb by your side. You don't even know when that ghost will strike."
"I may not know who the ghost is yet, and I might die at their hands someday, but right now, I can't just leave them to die. Help me think of a way to save them!"
With both of them cocooned in vines, I couldn't knock them out. Rescuing them from the vines felt impossible. My only hope was Ye Cha.