Escape from the Thriller World – Chapter 34
by Little PandaVolume One: The Old Corpse in the Mountain Village
Nanjing
Never forget national humiliation, remember history!
Watanabe Keiko, her leg injury not yet fully healed, relentlessly pursued Ning Lan.
Ning Lan had no time to look at the path ahead as she ran down the corridor towards the lower floors.
The tip of the Japanese military sword in Watanabe Keiko’s hand dragged along the ground, making a grating “zshhh” sound, as her footsteps gradually quickened.
Ning Lan cried out nervously: “I escaped from ghosts, and now I have to escape from Watanabe Keiko!”
Watanabe Keiko’s mental state was approaching madness, her eyes flashing with a fierce light as she revealed a sinister smile.
“You won’t escape this time! Shen Qingyou isn’t here to help you! Hahaha……” Watanabe Keiko dragged her sword, now right behind Ning Lan.
“Watanabe Keiko, are you asking for a beating?” Shen Qingyou’s cold voice suddenly came from in front of Ning Lan.
Ning Lan stumbled and felt herself crash into something soft, looking up to see Shen Qingyou’s delicate face.
Of all places to crash, she had to crash into the most inappropriate spot…..
Shen Qingyou’s face reddened to her ears as she said to Ning Lan: “You, get away.”
Ning Lan quickly ran behind her, saying: “Um… Qingyou, I didn’t mean to!”
Watanabe Keiko caught up and said: “Shen Qingyou, you’re like a lingering ghost following her around. Today, you can die together!”
Watanabe Keiko seemed to have forgotten who had caused her injuries, as she foolishly gripped the Japanese military sword and swung it at Shen Qingyou again.
Shen Qingyou executed a left whip kick to Watanabe Keiko’s abdomen, and as her left foot landed, she kicked the sword away, causing it to fall down the stairwell.
“Watanabe Keiko, today is your day of reckoning!” Shen Qingyou stepped forward and locked Watanabe Keiko’s arms behind her back while Watanabe Keiko glared at her viciously.
With Watanabe Keiko subdued, Ning Lan found a sturdy nylon rope from the toolbox on the 18th floor.
The two bound Watanabe Keiko, and Ning Lan looked her up and down before asking Shen Qingyou: “Qingyou, how should we deal with her?”
“Drown her in the water tank, then execute her by firing squad,” Shen Qingyou said expressionlessly.
“What does it matter if you kill me? Even if I die in the real world, I’ll be honored as a martyr. The Emperor will place my remains in Yasukuni Shrine [specifically commemorates Japanese military personnel who died in 1941-1945], hahaha,” Watanabe Keiko laughed uncontrollably.
“Watanabe Keiko, is your Emperor giving you too much face? You’re not worthy of Yasukuni Shrine!” Shen Qingyou turned and slapped Watanabe Keiko again.
Watanabe Keiko persisted stubbornly: “My ancestors were all excellent spies, the Emperor will do it, haha… The Watanabe family has supreme honor!”
Ning Lan dragged the bound Watanabe Keiko to the rooftop water tank, where Watanabe Keiko stood at its edge, staring coldly ahead.
One more step and Ning Lan would push her into the water tank. Shen Qingyou pulled out her gun [censored in original text] and said: “During the Nanjing Massacre [1937 mass murder of Chinese civilians by Japanese forces] of 1937, you Japanese used our Chinese compatriots as living targets. Today, I’ll use you as a living target.”
Shen Qingyou took several bullets from her pants and loaded them one by one into the magazine, ready to shoot.
Watanabe Keiko burst into loud laughter and said: “Are you talking about the killing contest between our two Japanese officers? 105 versus 106 people! Oh right, even your children and pregnant women couldn’t escape, hahaha……”
Watanabe Keiko brazenly spewed out all the historical atrocities committed by the Japanese army.
The true ugly face of the Japanese was indeed hideous and evil.
Speaking in detail, Watanabe Keiko’s background wasn’t so glamorous either.
She was born in 1995, the year when Japan experienced the Great Hanshin Earthquake [major earthquake that struck Kobe, Japan].
Her mother was one of the disaster victims, and some people’s brutal nature is hard to change – her father Watanabe Keiji was no exception.
When Watanabe Keiji returned to Japan after completing his espionage mission, he encountered the earthquake and was also trapped.
In the cramped shelter, Watanabe Keiji secretly watched women, his eyes gleaming with ill intent, until he spotted the delicate-featured Ito Hinata.
Ito Hinata was Watanabe Keiko’s biological mother.
After being assaulted by Watanabe Keiji, she couldn’t bear to abort the child, so she ended up marrying him as a matter of course.
It was truly unfortunate for Ito Hinata to marry Watanabe Keiji, as she already had someone else in her heart.
If not for becoming pregnant with Watanabe Keiko after the assault during the earthquake, they would never have been together.
After giving birth to Watanabe Keiko, Ito Hinata died from depression.
Watanabe Keiji would mention her mother with a smile, brushing it off: “I met your mother during the Great Hanshin Earthquake – true feelings emerge in disasters.”
Watanabe Keiko believed Watanabe Keiji’s words. He was determined to mold her into the most excellent female spy to serve the Japanese Emperor.
Watanabe Keiko looked at the water below and said: “Just kill me! I can face my mother with dignity now! I’m going to find my mother……”
Watanabe Keiko believed she was dying as a martyr for her country, and that even her plane crash in the real world would be remembered by the Emperor.
Watanabe Keiko closed her eyes, waiting for death to come.
Ning Lan, holding Watanabe Keiko bound, said: “Shen Qingyou, why waste words on her? Kill her and dump her in the water tank. The Devil won’t interfere!”
Without further words, Shen Qingyou raised her gun and aimed at Watanabe Keiko to shoot.
The bullets pierced through her brow, chest, and lower legs, blood spurting from the wounds in her body.
As Watanabe Keiko lost her balance, Ning Lan kicked her into the tank. Blood spread across the water, turning the tank red.
“You should have died long ago, Japanese spy!” Ning Lan glanced at the water tank.
【Game system notification: Dead players in the game will be automatically cleared by the system after 10 minutes. (This won’t affect other characters’ perception in the storyline) 】
The Devil, designer of the Hell Game, issued a reward.
【Game System Notice】
【You have received the Devil’s gift】
【Game player Watanabe Keiko eliminated】
【Reward obtained: Qin King Bone-Viewing Mirror】
The Qin King Bone-Viewing Mirror at the center of the ritual altar emitted light and with a “whoosh” entered Ning Lan’s inventory slot.
Ning Lan immediately clicked the gift function in the contact list to transfer the mirror to Shen Qingyou.
“You killed Watanabe Keiko yourself, this is rightfully yours,” Ning Lan said as she watched the mirror disappear from her inventory and transfer to Shen Qingyou’s.
“Ning Lan, I’m a native of Nanjing. I’ve never forgotten history. I won’t show mercy to spies like Watanabe Keiko,” Shen Qingyou said, smoothing her hair.
Shen Qingyou grew up hearing the older generation’s accounts of the Nanjing Massacre.
When her grandfather spoke of the massacre, his aged face told the story of Nanjing’s painful past.
Japanese swords pierced countless women and children; many bodies were thrown into the Yangtze River [China’s longest river] before being reburied. The death toll was recorded at 300,000.
Yet they never showed remorse, even printing colored leaflets showing a Japanese soldier holding a Chinese child, with the child’s mother at his feet, thanking them for rice.
Ironic, twisted, ugly.
Her grandfather told her: “Qingyou, never forget the crimes the Japanese committed in Nanjing. Remember, you are a Nanjing person!”
“I keep grandfather’s words in my heart,” Shen Qingyou realized, deciding in childhood to attend police academy to serve her country.
She succeeded in entering the police academy with excellent grades, gradually advancing to the National Security Department, becoming an outstanding officer.
The 1937 Nanjing Massacre was an atrocity committed by the Japanese army, and as Chinese people with pride, they must never forget the massacre.
No Chinese person can forget this history, and the ancestors of history won’t forgive on their behalf.
After killing Watanabe Keiko, Shen Qingyou felt relieved.
【New Game System Notice】
【Exchange points at Pawnshop No. 8 NPC】
【Find Xiaoqiang at the Paper Offering Shop in Kowloon, Hong Kong】
【Trigger Yellow Mountain Village storyline of the Old Corpse in the Mountain Village】
“The game system never stops, giving us missions……” Ning Lan pressed her death watch to acknowledge receipt.
They returned to the room on the 18th floor.
Shen Qingyou sat on the sofa, unable to calm her heart, placing her gun on the living room coffee table.
“Qingyou, what’s wrong? We’ve cleared the game side quest, let me cook some noodles to celebrate,” Ning Lan said, noticing Shen Qingyou’s mood.
Shen Qingyou’s eyes were clear and gentle as she said: “I miss Nanjing, I miss the honey-glazed lotus roots from 378 Alley [famous food street in Nanjing].”
“That’s not available in 1970s Hong Kong, but I’ll take you out tomorrow to clear your mind,” Ning Lan said from the kitchen, putting on an apron.
Ning Lan put a pot of water on to boil, waiting quietly for it to heat up.
She took two eggs from the refrigerator, planning to add them to the noodles.
With practiced skill, she cracked the eggs into a bowl, ready to add them and the thin noodles [fine wheat noodles] once the water boiled.
Shen Qingyou stood at the kitchen doorway watching her and said: “I’ll prepare the seasonings.”
The long night continued as the two cheerfully made steaming hot noodles in the kitchen.
In the Tong Lau, those trapped in nightmares regained consciousness, and a five-year-old child was found crying at the doorway.
An elderly resident on the 20th floor heard the child crying, got up and opened her door to find her grandchild clutching a marble, crying out: “Paper doll, paper doll……”
The elderly woman picked up the child and comforted him: “Don’t cry, Haohao, grandmother will help you sleep……”
“You should keep a close eye on the child at this late hour, it would be terrible if something happened,” the patrolling security guard said, holding his flashlight.
The elderly woman nodded drowsily and said: “I went to bed early tonight, my head feels heavy and my body too.”
“Take care of yourself, ma’am. We’re going to patrol the lower floors,” the security guard nodded and said.
Only the security guards with their flashlights continued patrolling the building.
They seemed deaf to what happened on the rooftop, neither hearing nor seeing anything.
Because the rooftop was a restricted area of the building, once game players entered, the other residents couldn’t perceive it – the rooftop became another dimension.
The two Taoist priests were story trigger characters. (They weren’t included in this restriction.)
LP:
Hey everyone! After careful consideration, I’ve decided to stop translating this one. I wanted to be transparent about my reasons for this decision:
- Length: The novel is currently at 546 chapters and still ongoing. That’s… a lot longer than I initially anticipated when I started. While I knew it was 400+ chapters when I started, the author updates incredibly frequently (sometimes twice daily), making it difficult to keep up with translations.
- Political Content: While I don’t usually shy away from politics in novels I translate, the author’s approach is becoming increasingly heavy-handed. The intensity of certain viewpoints is getting a bit too much for me to handle comfortably. This isn’t a criticism of anyone’s views – it’s simply not something I feel comfortable continuing to translate.
- Genre Expectations: This was one of the winners from our translation poll, and I (along with many readers) went in expecting more yuri content. However, the story has taken a different direction that doesn’t really deliver on that front. Looking at the readership statistics, it seems many others might have had similar expectations.
I want to thank everyone who’s been following these translations. I know it’s disappointing when a series you’re reading gets dropped, but I believe it’s better to be honest about this now rather than letting it drag on.
Anyone interested is welcome to pick up this translation – no need to contact me first. The chapters I’ve translated will remain available.
Thanks for understanding! 🙂
I’m really sorry! But it’s getting really long and the author is still updating it