Chapter Five: At a Loss

  "The voice barrier is divided into two types, one is ear barrier. The ear barrier mainly seals people's ears and makes them unable to hear, making them live in a silent world. Because of the sudden transition from sound to silence, most people's brains cannot adapt to this change in time, resulting in hallucinations and neurological disorders. What we couldn't hear just now was an ear barrier." Liu Ping took a deep breath, "And the heart barrier is even more severe than the voice barrier. We are currently in the midst of a heart barrier. The heart barrier is different from the ear barrier, you can still hear, speak, and think, but you will be trapped in a closed space. This space is actually created by our brain being controlled by ghosts and monsters, it's a space that doesn't exist in reality. Although we are physically in the hotel lobby, the actual situation is not in the lobby, but rather in a non-existent space that our brain has imagined. We will be trapped alive in this space."

  "Th...". Fat Chen took a deep breath and sat down on the ground, refusing to get up. But he still wouldn't give up, "How can you be so sure this is heart barrier?"

  Liu Ping walked towards the back of the cashier's counter again, "One try will tell." As he spoke, he lifted the red cloth covering the Buddha statue on the counter.

  A red light flashed a few times, then dimmed down. Hong Jun rubbed his eyes and saw that the Buddha in the niche was Sakyamuni Buddha. At this time, the golden surface was flashing with a faint red light.

  "This Buddha statue has not been consecrated and its effect is limited, but it still reacted to the heart barrier." Liu Ping sighed.

  "How can a Buddha statue for worship by a Buddhist not be consecrated?" Fat Chen shouted.

  "There's a story behind this, I'll tell you later when we have the chance, that is if we don't die here," said Liu Ping.

  "Is there really no way out?" Hong Jun asked.

  "Uh, the place we are in now is an illusion of the inn. There are just the five of us here, and no one else will come in. Even if my master were to come now, he may not have the ability to enter this illusion." Liu Ping said.

  "Illusion?" The muscles on Fat Chen's face began to twitch.

  "Yes, the virtual fantasy created by our brains, we've locked ourselves in it. Now we're facing three possible outcomes: one is to be killed directly by ghosts and monsters, the second is to die of thirst and starvation in this virtual space without water or food, and the third is that the part of our brain controlled by heart barriers will stop imagining this space, and when that happens, we'll disappear along with it. The result is death either way." Everyone realized the severity of the problem.

  "Are we really going to be trapped here to death?" Fat Chen asked in despair, but his question did not receive any response. Now, even the most insightful Liu Ping had lost confidence, let alone the rest of them who were as useful as "straw bags" in the face of paranormal events.

  "It won't work downstairs, but maybe it will upstairs." Xu Ming suddenly thought of something and said.

  "There's no upstairs now, only this small space left." Liu Ping said, gesturing for everyone to turn back and look. The original staircase was replaced by a grayish-black mist. "Can't go past, if you touch that mist, you're dead for sure." Liu Ping warned Xu Ming, who had wanted to walk over and take a closer look. Xu Ming immediately stopped in his tracks.

  Everyone sat down on the ground in a dejected manner. After a long while, Xu Ming spoke up: "Hong Jun, what exactly is this thing? How did you provoke it?"

  "I don't know either, it's inexplicable. It started from this afternoon when we picked up that small coffin together. At first, I was just like you, there was nothing unusual about my life. I don't know what kind of bad luck we encountered, but suddenly we got entangled in this matter." Hong Jun scratched his head and replied.

  "According to what you said, the one you saw was a woman wearing a Japanese military uniform, and she also mentioned something about sixty years or so. You're only in your twenties, so it's unlikely that you would have any grudges with her. The only possibility is that your previous life had a feud with this woman sixty years ago, and after she died, her vengeful spirit didn't disperse. Since time has passed and she couldn't find your previous life, she could only become an evil ghost and come to you in this life." Liu Ping said out loud his thoughts.

  "What's with that? Still haunting, still past life and next life, you think this world has ghosts?" Fat Chen retorted.

  "Do you think there are no ghosts in this world? How can we explain what's happening now, is it something that humans can do?" Liu Ping asked back. Fat Chen rolled his eyes and didn't say anything. Indeed, the current situation couldn't help but make people think of the old saying about ghosts and monsters causing trouble. However, even though they had received a good modern education, several of them were unwilling to admit what their own eyes saw as reality.

  "Alright, stop arguing and think of a way out." Hong Jun interrupted with a sentence, immediately, everyone fell silent. Hong Jun glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already midnight.

  "I'm hungry." Lin Jie suddenly said in a low voice, breaking the silence and also bringing Chen's scolding: "What time is it now, still talking about being hungry or not?" Hong Jun suddenly found that this girl had too strong an ability to withstand setbacks. On the verge of death, she wasn't crying hysterically but was still thinking about eating.

  "Sorry everyone, it's me who dragged you all down." Hong Jun smiled bitterly.

  "What's the use of saying this? Life and death are destined, wealth and honor are in heaven. Since heaven wants us to die here, even if this thing hadn't happened, our outcome would still be the same. Don't blame yourself." Liu Ping comforted Hong Jun.

  "Liu Ge, as far as you know, is there any way out in a situation like this?" Hong Jun still didn't give up.

  "This...". Liu Ping pondered for a long time, "As far as I know, there is a way to get out in this situation."

  "Really?" Fat Chen suddenly regained his spirit, hearing that there was a way to escape death, anyone would be extremely happy. "Why didn't you say so earlier."

  "But even if there was a way, it would be useless." Liu Ping's next sentence almost made Fat Chen cry.

  "Anyway, you can't go out now, just say what's the plan, it won't hurt to listen." Hong Jun held onto a glimmer of hope.

  "Alright, as far as I know, there are three ways to get out of this situation." Liu Ping said, his tone laced with uncertainty: "The first method is simple, just have a deeply cultivated Buddhist or Taoist disciple use their magic to open the door. However, people who can break through this heart barrier, my master once said, are scarce in the world, only three to five people, and even my master cannot do it. The second method is for the caster herself to lift the spell, but after sixty years, she still found you to take revenge, I reckon there's no chance of her leaving voluntarily. And the third method, it only exists in theory, if there's someone out there who shares the same fate and destiny as Hong Jun, they could break through this barrier from the outside, but where can we find such a person? Even twins have different fates and destinies."

  After Liu Ping finished speaking, everyone felt that it would be better not to say anything. Hong Jun fell silent, but Chen Qing slowly got up and charged at the two glass doors that were less than 2 cm thick with his nearly 300 kg body, only to be bounced back like a mountain and fall to the ground, causing the floor to shake violently.

  Outside the glass door, just like the stairs behind him, the same grayish-black fog, the neon lights and pedestrian traffic outside were all invisible now. Liu Ping was right, they were now in a different dimension.

  After realizing their predicament, everyone was in a state of despair. Although they hadn't felt any danger yet except for being unable to leave, the hidden dangers were the most terrifying because no one could predict how the danger would occur. At this moment, everyone was like waiting for the lottery results, equally tense, but different from the fact that the lottery results determined whether you became rich overnight, whereas now it was about whether they could continue to survive.

  Cannot be mentioned on the same day.

  "You say that since this thing is going to put me to death, why not take action now?" Hong Jun asked Liu Ping, also to let everyone's tense mood relax a bit.

  "I don't know, maybe she's treating you like a toy in her hand, just like a cat playing with a mouse. She'll play with you until she's had enough, let you taste enough despair and fear before making her move," said Liu Ping. "Or perhaps, she thinks that since you've fallen into this mental trap, there's no need for her to take action herself."

  "Abominable." Hong Jun gritted his teeth in anger, but was also helpless. He was like a fish on the chopping board, and even if he had the heart to struggle, there was no way to do so.

  "Have you ever encountered such a strange thing before?" Liu Ping asked.

  "No, this is the first time in my life that I've encountered such a thing. I used to hear the old folks in the village talk about ghosts and gods, but I never believed it. It seems that the stories of ghosts and gods aren't just rumors after all." Hong Jun sighed.

  "This is strange, if your previous life and this female ghost have a deep grudge, why did she only find you today? What reason made her unable to take revenge back then and wait for sixty years, and what kind of hatred is worth making her not let go of even the reincarnation of her enemy after sixty years?"

  Hong Jun shook his head, speechless, but in his heart he began to resent the so-called past life that had brought him such great trouble for no reason. But was there really such a thing as reincarnation? Hong Jun didn't dare to be certain.

  Liu Ping didn't say another word, but suddenly thought of something in his heart - who was the one who shouted "retreat"? He realized that he hadn't been serious enough about studying Buddhism for over a decade. As the saying goes, "the Buddhist scriptures are boundless", if he had followed his master's teachings diligently, he wouldn't be trapped here today and many mysteries would have been solved. If he could get out alive, he would close down this inn and focus on studying Buddhism with his master.

  "There is still a way for everyone to get out." Hong Jun suddenly raised his head, his words firm and resolute.

  "Is there still a way? Really?" Several people heard him say this and excitedly gathered around. Hong Jun nodded slightly: "The female ghost isn't looking for me, is she? If I die, it will naturally retreat, you all..."