Chapter 42

Where is this place? It's the entrance to the ancient tomb, and the tomb's door is wide open. So, what can be used for defense here?

It's impossible to station troops here all the time. Of course, it's not impossible to station troops on the ground above, and perhaps the Qing Dynasty once stationed troops here, which was considered a place of great importance. However, the Qing Dynasty has fallen, and the remaining old officials and their descendants have lost their influence after multiple political changes. It's clearly unrealistic to expect them to send people to guard this place again. And in ordinary graveyards, would there be such a large platform at the entrance?

The purpose of this place is to serve as the first line of defense for the ancient tomb. This platform, similar to an altar, is used for rituals. The dozen or so women hanging with their feet suspended and the young boys and girls buried with the wealthy landowners serve a similar purpose.

However, the ancients were very particular when designing the altar. The designer would not have made all the sculptures on both sides of the altar steps eunuchs, and there would not be a large eunuch holding an imperial edict standing there. What does this mean?

It seems that only eunuchs can control this kind of thing. Because eunuchs, with their neither male nor female physical characteristics, have a neutral aura that can suppress this kind of thing, keeping it at the entrance of the tomb to guard it.

Zhao Zhu, of course, could not castrate himself at this moment. First, he didn't have the ability to cut himself in such a frozen state. Second, even if he could move, he would never do such a thing.

In fact, through his interactions with Zhu Jianping and Xiong Zhiqi, Zhao Zhu had gained a deeper understanding of the existence of ghosts. Ghosts sense the living mainly through their aura, such as yang energy or yin energy, which can be abstractly described as a magnetic field.

Therefore, Zhao Zhu wanted to try something very dangerous. He planned to hypnotize himself to believe that he was a eunuch. Since this thing fears or dislikes eunuchs, he would make himself believe he was a eunuch. This might be even more effective than directly castrating himself. Even eunuchs, after being castrated, become less masculine due to physiological changes, but they still consider themselves men. Even if their bodies change, their consciousness doesn't easily shift.

Hypnotizing oneself is actually quite simple for a hypnotist, much easier than hypnotizing a patient. However, it is also very dangerous. Once hypnotized, one will enter a state of unconsciousness for a period of time. The main consciousness will be hypnotized and anesthetized, while the subconscious will be completely hidden. It's like being asleep, but the body is still active, similar to sleepwalking but more advanced and realistic.

So, once hypnotized, no matter what happens, one will be unable to respond, leaving it to fate. This hypnotized state won't last too long, as there won't be another hypnotist to extend it through verbal and psychological suggestions. It will last at most 15 minutes.

Zhao Zhu closed his eyes, let down all his guard, and began to hypnotize himself. He wanted to make himself believe that he was a eunuch, a real eunuch, a man without his manhood.

Gradually, Zhao Zhu lost consciousness.

...

It felt like a nightmare or a very uncomfortable sleep. This feeling was very unpleasant. Zhao Zhu opened his eyes groggily and found himself lying in a place. This was not the original altar but a flat ground with a warm and humid atmosphere.

Zhao Zhu rolled over and then frowned sharply. He realized where he was lying. Under him was a red, grass-like plant that emitted a medicinal smell. When he touched the ground, he could feel its pulse and a temperature similar to a human body.

Although he was a psychiatrist, he had studied medicine. This plant, which Zhao Zhu had seen recorded, was a herb from the South American rainforest that thrives on the decomposition and consumption of animal corpses. The red color comes from the pigments in the animal's blood.

Zhao Zhu quickly got up and touched his body. Fortunately, he hadn't been lying there for too long. Apart from some itching, he had no other discomfort. The grass hadn't had time to digest him yet.

However, Zhao Zhu looked around and found himself in a narrow corridor. The ground was covered with red grass, and the walls were cold stone. The altar, the eunuch sculptures, and those ghostly things were nowhere to be seen. Even more puzzling, Zhao Zhu himself didn't know where he was.

Clearly, the hypnotic effect should have lasted only 15 minutes. In such a short time, how did he end up here? Where was that thing? Did he shake it off?

Zhao Zhu felt a headache and some body aches. He had to sit down away from the red grass and take out some compressed biscuits from his bag to eat. However, he inexplicably pulled out a sachet with a faint fragrance.

"Damn it."

Zhao Zhu was too tired to care why the sachet was in his backpack. He was already numb. Since entering this task world, his body and mind had been pushed to the limit. Fortunately, he still had a strong will to survive.

He ate some food and drank some water, then continued forward. He couldn't determine the direction, so he chose one side of the corridor and kept walking. After about a few hundred meters, Zhao Zhu saw a corner where the corridor became even narrower. He had to bend over to move forward. After several turns, when Zhao Zhu himself was feeling a bit dizzy, he suddenly found his vision opening up. It felt like he had reached a high place, similar to a balcony. Standing there, he could see a woman hanging above, at eye level. Her neck was strangled, her face was blue, and her eyes were wide open, but she seemed to be staring at Zhao Zhu with a sinister smile.

However, the woman was clearly dead. Whether it was lucky or unlucky, she hadn't turned into that ghostly thing. Zhao Zhu didn't find it scary to look at her corpse; instead, he felt calm. At that moment, several figures in the corner below were walking toward the position of the large eunuch on the altar, the place where Zhao Zhu had hypnotized himself.