The Law of Heaven

Chapter 2 Visitors in the Rain
Aihara stared at his portrait for a long time, lost in thought. At first, he thought his second uncle had only gone on an adventure to the Mist Mountain and had unfortunately met with disaster, but the current situation was a bit strange. It seemed that the old man had long been prepared not to come back.

He pulled up a chair in front of the counter, woke up the dormant laptop, and wanted to look up some clues left by his second uncle before his death.

But unexpectedly, the opening ceremony was struck by lightning as soon as the machine was turned on.

With a dark expression, he closed the pop-up pornographic video and instead opened his browser history, clicking on each link one by one, trying to find some clues about the accident.

However, Aihara underestimated his second uncle's nature. In half an hour, he opened hundreds of websites, all of which were pornographic.

However, Aihara did not come away empty-handed, because among the numerous pornographic websites, he finally found a forum that his second uncle frequently visited.

The forum is called Babel.

This forum brings together paranormal enthusiasts from all over the world and preserves a wealth of occult knowledge they have collected and organized. It's highly likely that my second uncle learned the geomancy and fortune-telling techniques he used to fool people over the years here.

A post on the Tower of Babel forum caught his attention.

"The Mysterious Incident in Fog Hill on April 12, 2025!"

Aihara thought he had found a clue, so he put in a few drops of eye drops and focused on opening the post.

"Brothers, do you know the secret behind the closure of Fog Mountain?"

"What's so surprising about that? Wasn't Wushan already closed off a week ago? The meteorological bureau even issued a warning; it seems like a typhoon is coming soon."

"Heh, you're so ignorant. The closure of Wushan was before the typhoon was detected. The reason for the closure is that a construction team had an accident in the mountains. They discovered something extraordinary while digging a tunnel."

"I live near Wushan. Maohai Industry has indeed been digging tunnels in the mountains recently. If the mountain is closed, could it be that they've unearthed an ancient tomb?"

"The guy upstairs is right, but things are far from that simple. An ancient tomb was indeed unearthed in Wushan, but the form of this tomb is quite bizarre. The construction team discovered the tomb complex in a sinkhole in a canyon, and it was located a hundred meters below a vertical shaft. The ancient tomb wasn't underground, but in a forest!"

"In the forest? That's nonsense. If the ancient tomb wasn't underground but in the forest, it would have weathered away and left nothing after hundreds of years. How could it possibly leave any traces?"

"This was the most eerie part. Those ancient coffins hung among the forest vines like hanging corpses. Twisted human figures were embedded in the towering ancient trees, some with faces clearly visible. The construction team was terrified, but on their return journey, a thick fog rolled in, and many lost their way. Of the eighteen people who went in, only four returned!"

"Holy crap, don't scare me in the middle of the night, I'm going to wet the bed!"

"The four survivors went crazy after they came back. The construction team boss even invited a master to come and take a look. Guess what the master said? He said that these people went to places they shouldn't have gone, and it was a miracle that they came back. After saying that, the master turned around and left, as if he had seen something terrifying and dared not linger for a moment."

"Later, this incident alarmed the authorities, who sent people to seal off Wushan and search for that strange burial site. But strangely, no matter how many people they sent, they never found the place again. It was as if the place never existed."

"It sounds a bit like 'The Peach Blossom Spring,' but that story isn't surprising at all."

"Don't disbelieve me, I have video proof! At the end of this video, there's something unexpected that will absolutely shock you!"

"Come, come, let's talk."

Aihara indeed found a video in the comments section of the post.

When he clicked on the video, he was quite surprised.

Because this video was shot from a first-person perspective, it's likely that someone mounted the camera on a helmet, making the footage very shaky, probably indicating that they were running.

The gloomy sky was obscured by the dense shadows of the trees, and the air was filled with bluish mist. The mist flowed like water, and there were also lush camphor trees in the mist. The abundant branches and leaves swayed in the wind, like the hem of a girl's skirt.

The muddy ground was covered with tattered gauze, resembling the shed skin of a giant python, as well as the bones of some unknown tree.

The vines, like spider webs, crisscrossed the forest, and there were actually dilapidated ancient coffins hanging from the withered vines, with sticky snake skins hanging on them, as if they had survived for thousands of years.

As the photographer fled, he noticed horrifying human figures embedded in the towering ancient trees, some blurred and broken, others clearly visible.

His breathing grew more rapid, his footsteps heavier, and the faint sound of the wind, like the low growl of a monster, echoed through the quiet forest.

The fog grew thicker and thicker, and two lights appeared in the deepest part of the fog.

This is something that shouldn't exist deep in the forest, but it actually exists. The light illuminates the fog and the people in the fog.

The man stopped running and didn't dare to take another step forward, because a huge black shadow appeared in the mist in front of him. The thing was like a dragon or snake coiled among the towering ancient trees. Its enchanting body was as rugged as a mountain ridge. The scales rubbed against the tree trunks and made a rumbling sound, like music.

In the hazy mist, a monster's face seemed to appear, looking down from above, so close, its bronze mask menacing and terrifying.

What an ancient and magnificent creature! The so-called light is actually its pupil!

The camera fell, inadvertently revealing the tiny worker standing in front of the monster.

The torrential rain made the scene resemble a pilgrimage.

The video ends abruptly here, accompanied by the poster's last reply.

"Do you see that? This is... a dragon's tomb!"

Aihara unconsciously let out a long sigh of relief. This was clearly a man-made video, probably a promotional video for a game or movie, but for some reason it was made to feel extremely oppressive, leaving him feeling somewhat dazed after watching it.

There were many replies below the video in the post, but none of them were meaningful.

Out of curiosity, Aihara searched for related information online, but he found nothing, so the story is most likely fabricated.

Although he had been exposed to metaphysics since childhood, he was still a staunch materialist at heart. He didn't believe in any ghosts or monsters. If dragons really existed in this world, he would eat the computer screen on the spot.

If my second uncle actually believed that, he must be out of his mind.

But for some reason, Aihara felt a little uneasy after reading the post. He didn't know if his second uncle's death was related to it, but the whole thing seemed far-fetched.

At that very moment, the phone in the store suddenly rang.

The sharp ringing of the bell was particularly jarring and jarring in the silence.

Aihara was startled, as if waking from a dream.

"Hello."

He answered the phone casually.

A clear, youthful female voice came through the phone: "Hello, are you the owner of Misty Tower?"

Aihara paused for a moment, then said, "I guess so."

The girl on the phone replied, "I'll be at the store in fifteen minutes."

Aihara was taken aback; a guest had arrived.

He hadn't expected to have to serve customers on his very first day in charge of the shop, and was momentarily at a loss. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "What is your surname?"

With a loud bang, lightning flashed and thunder roared.

The rain suddenly intensified, becoming torrential.

Amidst the roar of the storm, the voice on the phone was exceptionally clear.

“My surname is Ruan, and my name is Ruan Qi.”

·
·
Zhongfu Street seemed to be flooded by the torrential rain. A black taxi, like a cheetah, darted through the rain and came to a stop on the side of the road. The bright headlights illuminated the raindrops in the night and also faintly revealed the driver and Ruan Qi in the back seat. "It seems the legend is true. No wonder you can only find the legendary Mirage Tower if you have the token. It really is hidden in an unknown otherworld. Without the right guidance, it's impossible to find this place." Ruan Qi put down her phone. The wallpaper was a photo of herself taken at the beach, bathed in sunshine.

Her white hair was scattered like snowflakes, her face was delicate yet slightly childlike, the lines of her eyebrows and eyes were as graceful as willow leaves, her thick eyelashes were long and curled, and her dark pupils were surrounded by a pure white. She had skin with an icy texture even without makeup.

But now she's wearing a baseball cap and a mask, a long black trench coat paired with dark blue jeans, leather gloves on her hands, and muddy boots.

They looked travel-worn and were wrapped up very tightly.

"Miss, are you really planning to just go like this?"

The driver lowered his head and said, "I'm worried you might be in danger."

Ruan Qi scoffed, “The owner of Misty Tower is probably an oddball, and so am I. Why should I be afraid of him? I’m paying for his services, not taking advantage of him for free. Besides, the outside world is full of hunters. After escaping from Misty Mountain, I had no other choice.”

The driver's reply was rather somber: "Ever since you became like this, your personality has become extremely aggressive. I was just worried about you two getting into a conflict. Nobody knows who the owner of Misty Tower really is. What if you get caught up in it?"

He emphasized, "What's more, you were injured."

Ruan Qi glanced at the torrential rain outside the window, her pupils reflecting the cars rushing past on the long street. She snorted softly, "If I get caught in there, you'd better get as far away as possible, remember my story, and live on for me. Besides... even if I'm injured now, I'm not someone to be trifled with."

She got out of the car and opened a black umbrella.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and the rain poured down even harder.

"gone."

Ruan Qi walked into the alleyway, which was drenched in torrential rain. The winding path seemed to have no end, and he had no idea where it led.

"Good luck, miss."

The taxi's headlights were turned off.

Ruan Qi continued forward and saw the rusty sign for No. 12 Zhongfu Street. A withered sycamore tree was teetering on the edge of a cliff. Along the way, there were some collapsed and abandoned shops with dilapidated signs buried in the mud, revealing only a corner of scarlet lettering.

She could smell a rotten odor in the damp air and faintly hear panicked screams coming from some unknown building.

There are more than a dozen residential buildings in the community, but even though it was already night, not a single household had their lights on. A dark shadow could be vaguely seen flashing by behind the dark windows, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing there, as if it were just an illusion.

The collapsed newsstand was completely rotten, the building arches in the alley were like bottomless black holes, the cracked walls were covered with black thorns, and there were bizarre graffiti everywhere, as if they were the work of a mental patient.

It's less like a residential area and more like a cemetery, yet it conforms to certain principles of feng shui and exudes an unusual aura.

"There is not a single living person here."

Ruan Qi couldn't tell when this alien side was formed; time seemed to have stopped flowing here, and she couldn't smell any signs of life.

This place is very abnormal.

The only place with light was a low building with a yard, which looked so warm and peaceful in the night, yet also had an indescribable eeriness.

Because it looks so ordinary, it seems out of place in this desolate tomb, and may not be a safe haven, but rather even more dangerous.

In an abnormal place, the more normal something is, the more abnormal it becomes!

At that very moment, the door was suddenly pushed open.

The room was decorated in an antique style, with a faint sandalwood fragrance in the air. Under the soft light, there were old-fashioned niches on all four sides, and all kinds of strange antiques seemed to be spirits covered in dust from the past, as if casting curious glances at her.

Inside the door, someone was gazing at her through the rain.

Perhaps this is the owner of Mirage Tower!

Ruan Qi finally saw the person she wanted to see, but she didn't step forward immediately. Instead, she raised her lowered eyes and held her breath.

She needed to determine whether the person in front of her was qualified to answer her questions, and also to demonstrate her own strength to avoid being eaten like prey.

The rain intensified, and the puddles reflected her eyes, with countless strands of crimson gathering deep within them, like a bottomless pool of blood spreading out, vaguely revealing a ghostly outline.

Boom!

Thunder and lightning.

This is a unique ability of hers; her eyes can unleash a powerful dragon's might, often capable of causing someone to collapse or faint with just a glance. Even those who hunt her dare not meet her gaze. This is an absolute crushing of life levels, like a dragon looking down on an ant.

But this time, things took an unexpected turn.

"Excuse me, are you Miss Ruan?"

In the warm light, someone spoke.

The other person was completely unaffected, and even took a step forward, making an inviting gesture, as if her protest was just childish play.

Her authority failed.

"It's raining heavily outside. This place must be hard to find. Please come in."

This seemed like an invitation that couldn't be refused. Ruan Qi walked into the store and saw the other person's face clearly, but felt a kind of horror she had never felt before, as if her heart had stopped.

Nowadays, she is well-traveled and rarely makes a fuss, but this legendary owner of the Mirage Tower has a strange face shrouded in black mist.

Like a ghost imprisoned in the past, with enigmatic eyes that are so profound that they are impossible to understand.

·
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In fact, Aihara didn't see anything clearly just now, because the rain was so heavy tonight, and everything in the rain was a white blur, as if it were flooded. His eyesight was also very poor, so he only saw a rough outline.

The customer was probably a young girl, staring blankly at him in the rain, not sure what she was looking at, maybe she'd never seen a handsome guy before.

He sighed inwardly, feeling a little regretful.

Although he inherited his second uncle's business, he felt from the bottom of his heart that metaphysics was just a bunch of deceptive tricks. Most of the seemingly mysterious fortune-telling methods could be applied to dogs and still have a lot of people who believed in them.

These kinds of people are often foolish and rich, like this big swindler in front of us.

Finding a mirage is considered bad luck.

He put on a warm and welcoming demeanor, offering towels and hot water, and said gently, "You are truly blessed to have come to Mirage Tower."

Aihara works in the service industry, but he is naturally aloof and doesn't like interacting with people. However, he has to show a sense of closeness in his words and actions because the customer is taking a long time to come in, perhaps because he is a little nervous.

It makes sense, considering how late it was and how remote the place was; a girl alone would obviously not feel safe.

Ruan Qi paused for a second, put away her wet umbrella, took the towel and hot water, and walked into the room with composure, silently listening to the sound of the door closing.

"Sorry for the late-night visit."

Throughout the entire ordeal, Ruan Qi's heart was pounding.

(End of this chapter)