I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 226 - 226 225. The bell tolls_1

Chapter 226: 225. The bell tolls_1 Chapter 226: 225. The bell tolls_1 Beihan Town.

This was a city that should not exist in reality, only appearing in novels about the Ancient Capital.

According to the normal journey, Lu Ban and his group should have still had a day and a half before they could reach Hanxu to the north of the Abandoned Capital. Yet now, after almost a night of rushing, they had arrived at this small town.

Even Lu Ban’s knees knew there was a problem.

“There’s manuscript paper here.”

Shia handed the manuscript she had just found beneath the seat to the two people in front.

The manuscript was stained with dirt, engine oil, and Shia’s vomit. Lu Ban hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“You read it.”

“?”

Cui Siter looked at the paper mixed with the vomit of the beautiful girl, his face somewhat ugly.

“You’re a local, so you can better appreciate the author’s literary charm. Maybe you can even gain some insights from the novel’s text.”

Lu Ban explained seriously.

“What if there’s something horror-inducing in there that makes me lose my sanity and I go crazy and attack you?”

Cui Siter didn’t take the manuscript and glanced at the vomit on it.

“Then I will take the responsibility to knock you out. Rest assured!”

Lu Ban said righteously.

“You two…”

Shia glanced at the two useless men, had no choice but to take back the manuscript, and began to read it herself.

Although the writing of the Foreign Domain could be easily read after the translation through the Silent Lands, the contents on the manuscript still gave Shia an indescribable sense of weirdness.

It was clear the content of the manuscript picked up where the one they found in the house left off. The Detective and his companions set off towards Beihan Town. Along the way, their vehicle was attacked by a monster, saw strange phenomena, but eventually, they arrived at their destination, Beihan Town.

The architecture of Beihan Town had a very unique structure. Unlike the mostly modern-style buildings in the Abandoned Capital, this place looked like the medieval castles in knight novels, with pointed churches and towering walls. The people of the town wore dark suits and hats. Although their appearances were different, they all gave one the impression they were cast from the same mold.

At the end of this section, the detectives heard the church bells ringing in the town and saw a suspicious-looking group gather towards the church. The detectives decided to enter the church to find out what was really going on.

“The bell tolls…”

After a night of maintaining their posture, Cui Siter was a bit weary. He continued to drive, planning to find a place to park and then to ask the villagers about the town and the Ancient Capital.

As soon as they drove into the town, they saw the villagers.

Click—

Cui Siter’s heart skipped a beat, because those villagers were wearing black suits, hats, and carrying briefcases, just like ordinary office workers. However, their expressionless faces were like mannequins, causing a strong sense of discomfort.

These villagers were exactly like the people they had seen before they arrived here.

Lu Ban was finally able to understand what was meant by “although their appearances were different, they seemed to have been cast from the same mold.”

Because of such numb and indifferent appearances, no matter what you looked like, the impression you left was the same.

“Excuse me, is this Beihan Town?”

Lu Ban called out to one of them.

The person looked at Lu Ban with suspicion after hearing his inquiry and then left.

As he left, his eyes stayed fixed on Lu Ban, and his head seemed locked in the air, not moving an inch. Only his neck was turning, continuously turning, and then it twisted beyond ninety degrees, his entire neck twisted into a shape like Ma Hua, extremely chilling.

“He doesn’t seem very friendly.”

Lu Ban shrank back.

“…It’s not a matter of being friendly or not; his neck turned like that, that’s the biggest issue.”

Cui Siter retorted.

“They could probably all do that with the right exercise, right?”

Lu Ban said, twisting his head as he tried to move it past ninety degrees, but he quickly failed.

“Regrettable.”

“What’s there to regret, damn it, there’s something off about this town, we might have entered some strange place.”

Cui Siter murmured as if recalling something, continuing to drive.

“Legend has it that within the Abandoned Capital, some cities did not perish but were hidden away by some supreme beings. The structure of these cities, the citizens, all became distorted because of those supreme beings, eventually turning into one forbidden zone after another. Could this be one of them?”

“The way you put it, it’s as if we’re about to turn into ordinary office workers in black suits carrying briefcases.”

Just as Lu Ban said this, a certain sound interrupted him.

Clang—

It was the deep, resonant sound of heavy objects striking thick metal, inexplicably resonating with one’s heartbeat, causing palpitations.

Clang—

There it was again, and Lu Ban saw that more people had appeared on the streets.

Those clad in black suits, carrying briefcases, with expressions both indifferent and eerie “people” started to walk onto the streets, heading toward a tall house with a spire.

Along the way, their gazes lingered on the car, their necks twisted, each looking like a corpse with a snapped neck.

Their manner of walking was also peculiar, tiptoeing as if sneaking around, agile yet swift.

“Church?”

Shia remembered the descriptions from the novel.

“Shall we go take a look?”

Lu Ban opened the car door and mimicked the strangers’ way of walking for a few steps.

“?”

Cui Siter looked at Lu Ban’s perplexing behavior and then at Shia.

“There shouldn’t be any magic here that makes one’s brain go bad, right?”

Upon hearing this, Shia closed her eyes seriously for a moment before opening them to reply.

“There shouldn’t be.”

“…”

Cui Siter pulled out the car keys and also got out of the car, hesitating slightly before following Lu Ban with a normal walking manner.

Shia gathered up her manuscript and followed suit.

The townsfolk with their bizarre way of walking, continued forward; some crossed grasslands, others climbed over fences, and many more took quick, short steps on the road. Lu Ban stealthily imitated them.

All eyes sometimes rested on Cui Siter, sometimes on Shia, but they seemed to never look at Lu Ban.

“Could it be that by imitating them, we can hide ourselves?”

Cui Siter thought this idea was stupid, but seeing Lu Ban’s example, he also tried walking a few steps like those people.

To his surprise, the villagers’ gaze then focused solely on Shia.

Shia also started to mimic the townsfolk’s gait.

Suddenly, everyone’s heads turned back around, looking forward again.

“…It actually works. Does this signify that anyone not walking in this manner is an outsider?”

Cui Siter was puzzled. He saw that in front of the crowd was a grand church, with classic stained glass and spires, but the images depicted on that stained glass were of humans in agony, being tortured and even mutating into monsters.

“Church…”

He thought of the novel’s description.

Lu Ban had already followed the group of people into the church.