Chapter 106: Three Selves

I let out an instinctive grunt.

I lifted my feet and rushed past the iron gate that had already been opened, but at that moment, a bizarre feeling took hold of me. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I felt as if I had realized something. The instant my feet crossed the threshold of the iron gate, I felt lightheaded, as if I had suddenly come down with a fever, and I could barely keep my balance. It felt less like a physical illness, however, and more like an assault on my soul.

"Yang Dong, get out of here quickly, or our plan will be completely ruined!"

A surge of inexplicable, manic rage boiled up within me. I didn't even know this innkeeper, let alone have any partnership or plan with him. What the hell was going on?

As I stood at the edge of the iron gate, my mind was suddenly flooded with memories that didn't belong to me, yet they felt as if I were simply recalling them at that very moment. I saw Huamei Village again, with its countless roads laid out according to the principles of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. Every house was positioned to correspond with the Eight Trigrams. This entire layout of Huamei Village appeared in my mind, but I couldn't care less. I only wanted to know where these memories came from and why they were in my head.

No! No! It was impossible. I saw a figure, and it was me. But in this vision, I was holding an axe, hacking down at my parents, severing their heads and placing them on the table... and those heads were grinning at me.

No! I don't know where I found the strength, but I turned around and sprinted back toward my room. I didn't pay any attention to my surroundings; I just rushed back, driven by sheer madness. I had promised Xiyue that I would wait for her at this inn, and I knew she would come. I sat in the room, trembling all over. The scenes I had just witnessed kept flashing through my mind. Wait—Feng Yang?

Feng Yang was still in the backyard. I felt a wave of misery wash over me. In my sudden panic earlier, I had abandoned him to run away. Compared to that innkeeper, I trusted Feng Yang much more. I pulled myself together, turned, and ran back downstairs. This time, I didn't care about anything. As I passed the front desk, I glanced at the register again. My name remained bright red, like fresh blood, while Feng Yang’s name remained dim and gray.

By the time I reached the backyard, the struggle had ended. I saw a shadow in the small shed, and I was certain it wasn't Feng Yang’s—it was the innkeeper’s. A surge of overwhelming curiosity drove me forward. I crept past the iron gate very carefully, and to my surprise, nothing happened this time. I let out a soft breath of relief and hid behind the shed, where I could see everything inside through a gap in the wall.

I peered through with one eye, wanting to see what the innkeeper was up to. To my astonishment, the first person I saw was the waiter, standing before the innkeeper with a blank, expressionless face, his eyes as dead as a fish's.

"Sigh, you say you're doing this for the grand plan, but the guy who showed up this time seems to have some issues," the innkeeper said.

Confused, I watched intently. As the innkeeper spoke, he slowly flipped over a neatly folded piece of paper. I nearly died of fright at what I saw: a man was pinned to the board beneath that paper by steel needles the size of thumbs. He was wearing a wine-red robe, and most importantly, his face was identical to mine. I was left completely stunned.

"Sigh, I don't know if something went wrong somewhere. Do you think he'll kill us when he comes this time?" the innkeeper asked the expressionless waiter. "By the way, I killed someone today—a geomancer. His techniques weren't bad; I nearly got stabbed by his sword. Oh, and that woman you mentioned before you died, the one called... what was it, Yue? Why hasn't she arrived yet? Wasn't she supposed to come with Yang Dong?"

As he spoke, the innkeeper tore the robe off the man pinned to the board. I stared in horror; the body was exactly like mine. Why?

The innkeeper reached out and tore open the chest of Feng Yang’s corpse lying nearby, pulling out his heart. He then used the thick, fresh blood to smear the body of the man on the board. The sight made me tremble violently. What was going on?

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you—this Yang Dong seems a bit strange. I saw things on him that shouldn't be there," the innkeeper muttered. "Heh, I wonder if someone interfered."

The more I heard, the more confused I became. I couldn't bear to watch anymore.

"Alright, that’s enough heart-smearing for today. If you get any omens, be sure to tell me. I’m going to check on that kid in his room. He ran back there because I was trying to kill that geomancer."

The innkeeper spoke to the corpse as if it were alive. Anyone else would have thought he was talking to a person, but I could clearly sense that the man pinned by the needles had no life left in him. I didn't know why the body hadn't rotted or smelled, perhaps it was due to the heart-blood ritual, but I couldn't be sure.

After placing the heart back into Feng Yang’s chest, the innkeeper licked his blood-stained palm before flipping the board back over. I seized the moment and scrambled back to my room. If he came to check on me and I wasn't there, I would be in serious trouble. Besides, the fact that he had killed Feng Yang so quickly proved he was powerful—I was no match for him.

*Knock, knock, knock, knock.*

Just as I sat down on the bed, my door was rapped. I knew it could only be the innkeeper. What was meant to happen would happen. I stood up, took a deep breath, walked to the door, and opened it.

Ah!

The moment the door swung open, I let out a gasp of sheer terror at the person standing before me.