After Swapping Identities With My Archenemy - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: More Than Two Hundred Lost Souls

It wasn’t until the ringing in her ears faded that Jiang Huaiyi could hear their voices.

But on second thought, they hadn’t found an exit in this place, so it wasn’t surprising that they couldn’t get out.

At worst, she would just use her wall-passing spell to get out. After thinking of a way to deal with it, Jiang Huaiyi completely calmed down.

She took out the fine silk cloth, lit a candle to check, and the faint candlelight illuminated a large area in front of her. She found that the scroll’s location had become a little closer. She wondered if it was related to the recent collapse.

Jiang Huaiyi nudged Shen Wensi with her elbow, signaling for her to look.

But she found that she was not moving. Jiang Huaiyi turned her head and looked. The light was too weak just now, and she hadn’t seen the person in front of her clearly.

Now she saw that on Shen Wensi’s cheeks, a streak of red blood had fallen from her earlobe and congealed on her face.

She was shocked. It must have been a severe shock just now. She didn’t know if her eardrum was ruptured. It was actually bleeding.

Jiang Huaiyi no longer cared about the scroll. Instead, she moved the candle closer and shone it on her ear.

The entrance to her ear was already stained with a large amount of blood. The injury she had just sustained was not light, let alone Shen Wensi, who was so much taller than her.

She should be in more pain.

Jiang Huaiyi tried to slow down and lower her voice as much as possible, asking Shen Wensi softly, “Are you okay?”

Her tightly closed eyes opened instantly. A cold glint flashed in her eyes. Her gaze was as cold as ice, without a trace of emotion.

Jiang Huaiyi unconsciously rolled her throat and averted her sharp gaze.

She could barely hear Shen Wensi’s voice: “I’m fine. You’re yelling so loudly. My ears hurt.”

Only then did Jiang Huaiyi turn her head back and point to her ear: “Your ear is bleeding, so of course it hurts. I don’t even know if your eardrum is perforated.”

Shen Wensi heard that, took out a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped her ear.

She shook her head and said, “I’m fine. The sound was just a little loud. I happened to be here. Have you checked how far the scroll is from us?”

Jiang Huaiyi unfolded the fine silk cloth in her hand and pointed to the scroll on it: “It’s a little closer. I just don’t know where it is exactly. We didn’t see it on the way here. Could it be hidden in those boxes?”

Shen Wensi: “I don’t know. Let’s rest first.”

Jiang Huaiyi also felt a sharp pain in her head, so she sat down. The scroll was inside. It couldn’t run away. It was better to rest and then act.

The small cave they were in was illuminated by the candlelight. Only then did Jiang Huaiyi see that this square-shaped cave was more resistant to explosions than the ones outside.

The entire cave was only a little over a meter high. A normal person couldn’t stand straight inside and had to sit down.

With Shen Wensi’s height, she was even touching the top. She had to huddle her body to look a little better.

There were a total of seven people in the cave, including the two of them: three women, one man, and one child.

Their faces were so dirty that they were unrecognizable. Now that there was candlelight, everyone had calmed down.

Everyone sat quietly, but at least their expressions were not as numb as they were outside just now.

“Is the explosion over?” an older woman asked.

The others shook their heads and didn’t speak.

She sighed, took out a paper-wrapped package from her clothes, opened the food inside, and distributed it to the people around her.

This was obviously a family. Everyone quietly held the coarse steamed buns, whose raw materials were unrecognizable, and carefully nibbled on them one by one.

The woman glanced at the two of them, gritted her teeth, broke the large steamed bun into two portions, and handed it to Jiang Huaiyi.

Jiang Huaiyi was stunned and didn’t reach out to take it. She felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She didn’t know if it was a side effect of seeing the little boy just now or a reaction from her conscience twisting due to the kindness of the people in front of her.

The candlelight flickered, casting shadows on the horrifying faces of the people. The cave was quiet.

When the old woman saw that she didn’t take it, she forcefully pushed the steamed bun into her hand and said in a thick local accent, “Eat, child. We have to hide for a while.”

The steamed bun in her hand was a little hard and dry. The people in front of her had a sense of reality.

After coming down, she had always thought that the people down here were ghosts. Although she knew the “Enchantment” was in place, they would only repeat their actions from before they died. She just had to pretend they didn’t exist, just like at the New Min Villa.

But at this moment, the kindness of a stranger made her firm heart waver. They were truly ghosts, ghosts who didn’t know they had already died, and ghosts who were still suffering from the pain they had experienced in life.

She suddenly thought of the mother and daughter who had asked her for food before. She wondered how they were doing now. Perhaps the compassion she had felt at the time should not have been suppressed by that fear.

Even if she had only helped a deceased soul, she wouldn’t feel this kind of turmoil and a guilty conscience.

She looked at the dark steamed bun in her hand, always feeling an invisible hand tightly gripping her heart.

Shen Wensi next to her opened her eyes. As their eyes met, she handed the steamed bun to Shen Wensi and asked in a low voice, “Should we take out our food and share it with everyone?”

Shen Wensi was a little surprised. She looked at her serious eyes and swallowed the reminder that was about to come out of her mouth.

She silently handed the bag to her: “If you’re not afraid.”

Jiang Huaiyi frowned, not understanding what she meant.

Seeing that she had no objections, she patted the dust off the bag, pulled open the zipper, and inside were a lot of sandwiches, small breads, and some water.

She took some out and gave it to the old woman who had just given her the steamed bun. She also tore open the packaging.

The old woman looked at the fragrant food in surprise. She wiped her hands on her body, but her clothes were too dirty, and she couldn’t get them clean no matter what.

She stood there, feeling a little helpless. Jiang Huaiyi imitated her and forcefully pushed the food into her hand.

The old woman’s accent was from Rongcheng. Jiang Huaiyi had learned the dialect from her master and spoke it almost exactly like her. She replied, “Eat. If it’s not enough, I have more.”

The old woman quickly refused. The coarse, unappetizing steamed bun was obviously no match for the fine food.

The kind family didn’t dare to accept so many things. The little girl with pigtails looked at the food that was being pushed back and forth with a look of longing that was almost tangible.

Jiang Huaiyi didn’t give them a chance to refuse. Instead, she pushed the food into their hands, turned her head, and put the steamed bun she had just received into her pocket.

She didn’t look at them again. After a few “thank yous” in her ears, she heard the sound of chewing.

A pang of sadness rose in her heart. Weren’t the people trapped here her fellow citizens?

The bluish stone bricks were wet. She stared at them, not looking outside anymore.

Shen Wensi suddenly took her hand and led the candle to another direction.

As the light got closer, a few lines of words appeared on the stone bricks. They were carved to different depths, but one could roughly make out what they said. It read:

“In the spring of the fortieth year, two hundred and sixty-three people from Huaxiang Village were trapped in the air-raid shelter.”

Next to it were pitted chisel marks and large patches of dried black blood. When a person is suffocating, they cannot control their instincts and will try desperately to break a path, but all their efforts are in vain.

From the traces of their struggle, one could imagine how tragic the scene was at the time.

A little girl’s voice of thanks came from her side: “Sister, you should eat too.”

Jiang Huaiyi subconsciously turned her head. The few people who were normal just now had now become incomparably terrifying. Large patches of rigor mortis spots had appeared on their faces. The little girl’s smiling eyes had become murky, and her lips were completely rotted away. She was still holding the bread Jiang Huaiyi had given her and was gnawing on it.

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