Camilla: I'm talking about you, sir. It's time to take off your mask.
Stranger: Really?
Cassilda: Really, it's time. Other than you, we've all taken off our disguises.
Stranger: I'm not wearing a mask.
Camilla: (Terrified, whispering to Cassilda): You're not wearing a mask? You're not wearing a mask!
— The King in Yellow, Act 1, Scene 2
Inside the quiet meeting room, Gu Jun flipped through the large book on the table silently.
He did not turn to the last chapter but started from the first chapter, The Man Who Fixed Reputations. In this chapter, he encountered 'Mr. Wang Erde', a sinister dwarf who conspired with the main character to destroy the United States and build the empire of the King in Yellow. The main character who had the bloodline of Hastur would be crowned as the King in Yellow …
These descriptions, the King in Yellow, the Yellow Talisman, Hastur, they were all part of the Yellow Brotherhood …
Then came the second chapter, The Mask. At the beginning, there was a passage from the script.
Gu Jun read very quickly. This was an English novel. His English was not good enough for him to read so fluently, but strangely enough, he could understand everything now.
The Mask had different protagonists and characters but there was one similarity with the first chapter. The protagonists lost their rationality and went mad after reading a forbidden book called the King in Yellow. In the end, they walked towards their own destruction.
Reading through the pages of the story, for some reason, Gu Jun could not help but take a deep breath. His head was swollen.
"Jim …" Sanders noticed the strange look on his face. He advised again, "That's all for now. You should rest for a few more days … "
"I'm fine." Gu Jun growled darkly. His head was swollen to the point of pain, but compared to the time in the altar space, compared to the many times he had experienced, this pain was nothing more than a scratch. In other words, it was no worse than a mosquito bite.
Many thoughts crossed his mind. There had to be some kind of force behind all this.
When he was at the sickroom, he noticed something. The ball of energy in his brain seemed to have disappeared.
Now, this book seemed to be inseparable from the King in Yellow …
However, this could also be a mockery from Nyarlathotep.
Gu Jun thought about it. Just like how he mocked the Yith, he was mocking humans by mimicry. During the final battle, both Phecda and Mysterium were summoning Byakee, Gu Jun and Yu Chi were summoning Nightingale, the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan and Nine Mysterium Arts were both powered by the King in Yellow …
How could it be a coincidence that he was reading the King in Yellow in his current situation?
'Did we win or lose that battle?'
Dirty-minded Yu, Yu Chi, Zi Xuan, Monitor, Ah Mei, Uncle Dan, Tong Ye, and everyone else …
Gu Jun flipped through the other chapters. In the end, he turned to the last chapter of the book, The Plague Doctor. The Plague Doctor.
This chapter took up most of the book, and the proportion was quite unbalanced, taking up about three-quarters of the book.
He then discovered that this chapter was further subdivided into different parts:
Mutated banyan, mutated dream, mutated cough, mutated scale, mutated locust
Reading these, many memories flashed before Gu Jun's eyes. He knew what these nouns represented.
His fingers rubbed against the paper, it felt coarse and grainy.
He stared at the list of chapters and did not open it for a long time. At the bottom of his heart, there was also a sense of hesitation towards this strange and unknown.
"Who is this Robert W. Chambers?" Gu Jun asked. He was the author of the King in Yellow.
"An unknown author," Sanders answered. Perry Saunders answered what he knew. "The book was published a few years ago. Only a thousand copies were printed, and there was no response. You borrowed it from the Missourian University library. You were surprised at how coincidental this chapter was with you. You shared it with your family and friends, but they thought it was just an anecdote, they didn't expect you to be so deeply involved … Jim, you have to understand, this is just a book, it's not real, the real thing is you. "
Gu Jun looked at the name, Robert W. Chambers. The book did not have the author's picture. Perhaps he would have the chance to meet this man …
Perhaps this was another incarnation of Nyarlathotep.
After a pause, Gu Jun finally flipped open the Mutated Banyan chapter and started to read.
Gu Jun, 8-year clinical medicine major at Eastern State University, orphan, brain stem tumor …
"…" Gu Jun's breathing became heavier. His brows were still creased. Reading the words, the past flashed before his eyes.
The book did not describe everything but the 'Gu Jun' in it was him, his experiences, his life …
After reading more than 10 pages, his head swelled. His heart felt like it was suffocating and his energy was slipping away.
Actually, Nyarlathotep was not needed. Even if it was the Yith, as long as they were observers and traveled back and forth between time and space, they would be able to know what had happened. They could then weave those events into stories and turn his words into lines. That was not impossible …
Was it Gu Jun who had arrived here?
Or did the parallel world Gu Jun see another Gu Jun?
Or did the other Gu Jun not exist and it was just a story …
"Jim, it's time to stop!" Sunders quickly called. "You don't look well. Don't force yourself. It's not necessary."
"Quiet …" Gu Jun suddenly stopped him. He glared at the man and mumbled, "How many times have I told you, I'm not crazy."
He flipped to the end of the Mutated Banyan chapter and saw the last sentence.
"I know what I've done." Gu Jun sat up straight and told them solemnly, "I'm saving people. I'm not crazy."
Gu Jun's head throbbed. That was in the interrogation room. His S value was only 51. The interrogators had to assess whether he was insane before they blew up the portal.
51, Wu Shiyu …
He shook his head to interrupt his thoughts. He continued to flip through the pages until he reached the ending of the Mutated Dreams chapter. "May everyone have a sweet dream."
These sentences that truly recorded the past slammed into Gu Jun's heart like a hammer. His mind started to waver …
He flipped through the book like a madman. He forced himself to calm down and slow down but he still reached the end of the book.
There was a prayer printed on the last line of this page.
"Ia! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Forest that gave birth to millions of descendants! "
And then, and then … Gu Jun took a deep breath as his fingers rubbed the page. There were still a few pages left in the King in Yellow.
He had no idea what was recorded or whether it was real or fake.
However, in this book, this chapter always had an ending.
Gu Jun slowly flipped to the next page and started reading again.
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