New Times, New Hell

Chapter 127 - Nuo Mask

The mallgoers sped past. The sunlight outside the mall was bright, but the moment that Yu Zhengdu put on the mask, all of this changed.

In the blink of an eye, the mall had suddenly turned into ruins. The snow white walls had all turned into a burnt black. The clean floors were cracked, revealing the grey concrete underneath. The gaps between the escalator tracks were filled with broken rocks and dirt. The surrounding shops were completely empty. Only destroyed products remained strewn across the floors, as if the stores had suffered a ransacking.

There were also broken bricks and shattered glass continuously falling from the ceiling. Dust twirled in the air.

The air was the color of dusk. The glass walls were full of cracks and holes. Looking through them, the street outside the mall was yet another scene.

The either smiling or rushed figures on the streets suddenly turned a ghastly pale and greyish-purple. Sometimes, when they turned their heads, Yu Zhengdu could even see open wounds, rotting flesh, and blood incessantly flowing from their seven apertures. Their bright gazes had also become dull. Their arms dragged and their footsteps were slow. They seemed to be wandering ghosts who had no purpose.

They were offset by the background of a city that was incessantly collapsing.

The bright sunlight was blocked by layers of heavy clouds. The entire city was enveloped in a sudden eerie darkness. Everything looked mottled. The large architectural structures kept cracking, fragmenting, falling over, and sinking.

Cracked bricks, broken rebar, pieces of concrete, and modern industrial waste were strewn all over the streets.

The street lights were broken. The city’s power lines hung close to the ground like spiderwebs. Abandoned and dirty cars were stopped in the middle of the road. Their tires were already completely flat.

A gust of cold wind blew past. Round, yellow pieces of paper and square, white cloth pieces drifted through the air. Upon closer inspection, they were paper money and facial garments.

As the city slowly collapsed, booms and vibrations came from underneath. The ground cracked concentrically, becoming multiple little pieces. The earth writhed. And then, a dull, red, sticky liquid rushed out from those cracks.

Yu Zhengdu’s breathing suddenly became very rapid. Cold sweat uncontrollably appeared on his forehead. The sweat slid into his eyes, blurring the scene before him. He wanted to reach up and wipe the sweat away, but strangely, his hands seemed to have been held down by an enormous weight. They couldn’t move at all.

Through the twisted reflection of his sweat, he saw a boundless red.

A vast, endless, boiling ocean of blood.

What had once been a civilization living in a city now became a civilization submerged by the ocean, instantly becoming blood too.

In the boiling blood, innumerous bony and twisted arms reached out. Those arms were everywhere, as far as the naked eye could see. Accompanied by terrifying shrieks, they did their best to reach up into the sky, as if they wanted to grab something, but also as if they wanted to escape this vast ocean.

Those ghost arms struggled in vain. The blood ocean shifted and the vicious waves gradually subsided. Under the ocean’s surface, a brand new city slowly revealed its form.

Tall city walls, interconnected villages, and innumerous ghost lanterns drifting in midair. The lights faded into the stars, illuminating the scene inside the city.

Those were countless strangely shaped shadows. Ox-Headedghosts, Horse-Faced ghosts, ghosts of impermanence, yakshas…… There were even more greenish-purple ghosts wearing paper and hemp clothes. Horse carriages rolled past. There were strange creatures running and jumping in the streets: cats that were only skeletons, dogs whose intestines were dragging on the ground, rats with mouths open all the way down to their stomachs, and chickens and ducks whose heads had been cut off, staying on by only the thinnest layer of skin.

The enormous city was bustling. People passed to and fro, but strangely, there wasn’t a hint of life at all. Everything was silent and deathly still.

Goosebumps uncontrollably appeared on Yu Zhengdu’s arms. His heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed by those terrifying ghost hands. Each time the pressure increased, he would feel endless suffering and sorrow.

He wanted to press on his own chest. However, his entire body seemed to have been tightly clasped by an invisible force. He couldn’t move in even the slightest.

Shang Que……

He did his best to try and shout out the name of the person next to him. Yet, even the slightest movement caused him to feel extremely tired. He felt like he had probably already opened his mouth, but he couldn’t make a sound.

Shang Que, help me take the mask off……

Unrelenting sadness covered him, causing him to fall into a pit of negative emotions that he couldn’t remove himself from.

He couldn’t make a sound, so could only try to lift his arm. He forcefully lowered his gaze to watch himself. And then he finally saw his hand slowly lifting.

Delight flashed by. Very quickly, though, it disappeared once again. Only to see that under his lifted arm, a hand still remained in the same motionless position.

What he had lifted up was only his soul that was separated from his body.

A freezing cold sensation erupted in Yu Zhengdu. In his daze, it felt like his throat was being tightly squeezed by an invisible head, rendering him unable to breathe.

The suffocating feeling spread out to the rest of his body. His vision started going black. At this time, he saw something even more astonishing.

Outside those vast city walls, where the ocean of blood had pulled back to, an enormous wave suddenly appeared. After, a gigantic – almost as big as a mountain – shadow climbed out of the ocean.

Yu Zhengdu felt like he was close to fainting. However, that shadow still made him shake uncontrollably. He tried his best to inhale a breath of air; his eyes forcefully blinked, trying to squeeze out the sweat that had rolled into them. This way, the scene in front of his eyes would be clearer.

But his attempts were futile.

He could only faintly see that those shadow-like hands were dragging long, heavy iron chains behind them. As the figure crawled out of the bottom of the ocean, he held both his hands up – akin to when beasts lifted their heads to howl at the sky. Then, he vigorously swung his hands forward. The enormous, incredibly heavy iron chains thus flew towards the silent city with great force.

At this time, Yu Zhengdu could finally see clearly. Those chains were glowing red. Sparks flew off of them as they swung through the air. The chains turned into enormous balls of fire and rolled towards the city.

Inside the city walls, the strangely shaped humans and animals seemed to be able to sense the danger. They all silently froze and slowly lifted their heads.

Hurry and run……

Yu Zhengdu wanted to shout. Yet, he couldn’t make a single noise.

Sparks, chains, and the giant’s footsteps. They covered his vision and fell towards that city——

“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Shang Que’s voice suddenly sounded out.

Following this, the mask was removed. The scene before his eyes instantly changed.

The mall was still the same mall: clean and bright. People passed to and fro. Outside the enormous glass walls, the sunlight was dazzling and the sky was clear. The crowds walking down the street were laughing and joking around, in a rush, or strolling past leisurely. Occasionally, a car horn would interrupt. The pedestrian lights changed color and large groups hurriedly crossed the crosswalks. Everything looked lively and worldly.

The suffocating feeling faded away too. Yu Zhengdu took in deep breaths, trying to catch his breath.

Only now did Shang Que realize that something was wrong. He hurriedly reached out to hold onto Yu Zhengdu. As soon as he did so, he realized that there was actually a thin layer of cold sweat covering Yu Zhengdu’s arms. Shang Que then reached over to feel Yu Zhengdu’s back. Belatedly, he discovered that the other’s shirt was already almost completely soaked through.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shang Que’s brows knit together. Just now, he had taken a picture of Yu Zhengdu as per the other’s request. After taking the picture, though, Yu Zhengdu hadn’t moved. He also hadn’t responded to Shang Que. Only then had Shang Que reached out to remove the mask. He hadn’t expected for such a situation to occur after removing the mask.

Yu Zhengdu’s entire body felt weak. Bending over slightly, he half-leaned against Shang Que. He only caught his breath after panting for a long time, after which he waved his hands around and placated, “Not a big deal.”

But his ghastly pale face was completely unconvincing. Shang Que’s arms were half wrapped around him, wiping away his sweat. “What happened?”

Yu Zhengdu shook his head. Everything he had seen just now seemed like an unreal illusion. In only the blink of an eye, only blurry memories remained. He hesitantly said, “I think I saw……something strange.”

Shang Que: “What?”

“I can’t remember too clearly.” Yu Zhengdu shook his head. The nerves in his brain were still pulled taut, but his memories were like those of someone still trapped in sleep in the morning after a nightmare. He could only faintly recall a few fragments. “I think there were dead people……a lot, a lot of dead people. And a strange city with a strange sea.”

The only thing he could be sure of: “Everyone was dead. There wasn’t any feeling of life…… It also seemed like I could, I could die at any moment.”

In tacit understanding, the two of them looked down together at the mask in Shang Que’s hand.

Shang Que’s gaze slightly darkened. “Nuo mask.”

In many ancient Huaxia rituals, masks generally carried a special sense of symbolism. When there were large sacrificial ceremonies in the mortal realm, the head priest – representing a god or ghost – needed to wear a mask to continue with the ceremony. And, the masks used in these ceremonies were often blessed with a godly energy. Normally, the person given the godly energy could see things through the eye holes in the mask that mortal eyes wouldn’t be able to see.

Before the disappearance of magical energy, the god of fortune dance had once been a classic Nuo dance ritual.

Only, neither of them had expected that on this day and at this time, using a Nuo mask, they would still be able to see things that mortals shouldn’t be able to see.

Though Yu Zhengdu couldn’t really remember what he had just seen anymore, his heart that was still pounding reminded him that what he had seen was definitely negative.

He asked Shang Que, “So what did I actually see?”

Shang Que’s gaze darkened. “The world after death.”

“The world after death?” Yu Zhengdu repeated in confusion.

Shang Que nodded.

The masks in Nuo dancing often represented the ghost or deity being enacted. This god of fortune dance performer had used a Zhong Kui mask. Thus, it was very likely that Yu Zhengdu had been viewing this world through the eyes of a ghost.

As such, it was possible that Yu Zhengdu’s unease could be explained. The world of ghosts would definitely cause a living person to feel uncomfortable. However, he also faintly felt that this wasn’t all. But no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t remember anything else.

Yu Zhengdu clenched his teeth together. Suddenly, he grabbed the mask out of Shang Que’s hands and put it on his face again.

“What are you doing?” Shang Que hurriedly reached out to try and steal the mask away once more.

Yu Zhengdu’s breathing had just evened out. His lips were still pale and colorless. There was also still sweat forming on his forehead. Shang Que naturally couldn’t let him continue to wear the mask.

“I want to get a clearer look of what I saw,” Yu Zhengdu said. “I feel like things aren’t so simple……I’ll just take one more look.”

Shang Que paused for a moment before slowly letting go. Yu Zhengdu put the mask on his face, but this time, nothing changed before his eyes.

It was still that mall, still that crowd of people. Yu Zhengdu waited for a moment to confirm that he really couldn’t see anything. Just as he was about to continue trying, Shang Que had already reached out to take the mask away. “So?”

Yu Zhengdu shook his head. “There was nothing.”

Shang Que glanced at the mask and said, “The godly power has disappeared.”

What was actually up with this mask?

Yu Zhengdu squeezed his hand into a fist. He said, “Let’s go find the person who performed the god of fortune dance.”

The two of them found a mall employee. They used the excuse that they liked this mask and hoped that they could ask the god of fortune dance performer about where to buy one. The employee didn’t think too much of it. Upon noticing that the two of them were quite handsome, he instantly passionately led them to the break room to find that performer.

Unfortunately, this performer was only an ordinary youth. He was completely clueless about the strange phenomenon linked with this mask. Additionally, he was rather shy, only saying that this had been his first time officially being responsible for the dance performance and that he had even been very worried about making a mistake.

When he finished speaking, though, the lion dance performers next to him started laughing and teasing, “He’s just like this. Too humble. He’s the most hardworking member in this cohort at our agency. His moves are the most accurate. Even the old masters praise his performance for being the best.”

As soon as they started teasing him, the youth could only scratch his head in embarrassment.

Yu Zhengdu asked a few more questions to confirm that this person was really just a normal performance guest. Then, he could only turn to look at Shang Que in confusion.

Shang Que was deep in thought. “The magical energy of the Heavens and Hell are recovering.”

This was only a short sentence, but Yu Zhengdu instantly understood.

The magical energy of the Heavens and Hell were recovering. As such, many phenomena that should have completely vanished were appearing once more. For example, the drought demon and mountain full of zombies at Si Mountain Ridge. Or, the resurrected Wuqi citizen and Hu Xiaoyue who had become a demon after the founding of the new nation.

Modern Nuo dancing should’ve originally only been a performance with implications of blessings. However, perhaps this youth’s moves had been extra accurate, or, this mask itself was abnormal. Thus, after the god of fortune dance performance, this mask had temporarily gained a godly nature that it originally shouldn’t have.

After understanding this, Yu Zhengdu seemingly nonchalantly turned to ask the youth, “May I ask where you bought this mask?”

“I didn’t buy it. It’s from our agency,” the youth explained. “Our agency specializes in this field. We’ve used this mask for a very long time. When my master’s master performed, he also used this mask.”

Yu Zhengdu froze for a moment. As such, things could be explained. If this mask had been used for a rather long time, perhaps it had coagulated a special form of energy itself?

He thought about it before asking, “Can you sell this mask to me?”

“Ah?” The youth was slightly confused. “What do you want this mask for?”

Yu Zhengdu naturally couldn’t tell the truth. He could only vaguely say that he liked it a lot. Additionally, he took the initiative to mention that he was willing to buy it at a high price – not to trick the youth, but because given his understanding of the youth from just now, the youth didn’t know anything about these deeper meanings at all. The strange mask phenomenon had only been accidentally produced.

The youth scratched his head again. He seemed incapable of making up his mind. “This belongs to our agency. I can’t call the shots.”

Instead, it was his coworker standing nearby who started drooling after hearing the price. He very excitedly expressed that he was willing to call their company and ask.

Their agency specially performed for grand openings or celebrations. Nuo dancing was only one of their many performance styles. It didn’t actually hold any special meaning. There were also plenty of similar masks. They weren’t valuable at all. This mask had only been used for an exceptionally long time. Upon hearing that someone wanted to buy it at a high price, they immediately agreed with no hesitation.

Yu Zhengdu transferred the money over on the spot. The young god of fortune dance performer seemed a bit reluctant to part with the mask. However, he only reminded, “This mask has been in use since my master’s master’s era. Please take good care of it.”

Yu Zhengdu nodded. “Of course.”

After bidding farewell to the youth, they exited the break room. There was still an indescribable stifling sensation in Yu Zhengdu’s heart.

He glanced at that mask and offhandedly said, “As expected, Zhong Kui is very terrifying.”

Shang Que scanned the mask too. “It’s alright. In person, he’s even uglier.”

“You know Zhong Kui?” The desire to gossip about famous historical figures and ghosts caused Yu Zhengdu’s sorrowful mood to instantly disappear. His entire person buzzed with excitement. He asked Shang Que, “So? Is his actual person, ah no, is his actual ghost as magnificent and impressive as they say in the stories?”

“Just so-so, I guess.” Shang Que’s tone was filled with faint disdain. “He’s never defeated me in a fight.”

Upon hearing this, Yu Zhengdu fell silent for a moment. “You guys often fight?”

“Un,” Shang Que replied. “That ghost has a bad temperament. Whenever he loses an argument, he wants to start a physical fight.”

Yu Zhengdu: “……”

So, Boss had already started arguing with people way back then?

The author has something to say:

Xiao Kui: I have yet to encounter a formidable opponent.