Translator: CinderTL
Shen Mengyun cast a complicated glance at Jiang Cheng as the sound of dripping water grew closer. "It must be this," she whispered. "Drop it and let's go."
Jiang Cheng seemed reluctant, which infuriated Gao Yan. "Brother Jiang, are you kidding me? We're in a life-or-death situation, and you're still hung up on these goggles?"
There was no doubt the goggles were the key. Otherwise, whatever was chasing them wouldn't be so relentless.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, even after discarding the goggles, the dripping sound persisted, and the entity showed no sign of letting up.
Drip...
Drip...
The sound grew closer, now emanating from the darkness directly behind them.
Whether it was tension playing tricks on his eyes, Gao Yan thought he glimpsed something standing around the corner during his last glance back. Only half of the figure was visible, the rest concealed behind the wall, almost blending into the darkness.
"Damn it," Gao Yan hissed through gritted teeth as he ran, shouting to Jiang Cheng and Shen Mengyun, "What the hell is going on? Why won't it leave us alone?"
"Does someone really have to die?" Gao Yan muttered, his gaze fixed on Jiang Cheng's back.
If the ghost insisted on taking a life to let them escape, Jiang Cheng would undoubtedly be the target. After all, he was the one who had taken the object, and he had largely been the one to uncover the clues.
As if sensing Gao Yan's scrutiny, Jiang Cheng suddenly turned around. Their eyes met briefly, but Gao Yan quickly averted his gaze.
Then, to the astonishment of Gao Yan and Shen Mengyun, Jiang Cheng pulled a rolled-up white garment from inside his coat—a doctor's lab coat. When he unfurled it, they saw a sculpting knife wrapped inside.
"Holy shit!" Gao Yan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "When did you take that? I didn't even notice!"
Jiang Cheng, clearly realizing he couldn't easily explain himself, rubbed his nose sheepishly and said, "If I was going to take one thing, might as well take a few more. We were already there."
"We were already there..." Gao Yan muttered, his lips twitching. He now fully understood why the ghost was pursuing them so relentlessly. If someone had ransacked his home, he'd chase them to the ends of the earth to make them pay.
"Against the wall," Shen Mengyun ordered Jiang Cheng. "Hands up."
Reluctantly, Jiang Cheng turned to face the wall, his back to Shen Mengyun, and raised his hands. "Be gentle," he whined, twisting uncomfortably. "I'm afraid it'll hurt."
"Just stand still!" Shen Mengyun sighed, exasperated. She decided a thorough search was necessary for her peace of mind. Who knew what else he might have stolen?
Fortunately, the upper-body search went quickly. Shen Mengyun ran her hands over his clothes, especially inside his pockets, and found nothing else.
Just then, Gao Yan, who had been standing guard, suddenly remembered something. "Swim goggles, a carving knife, a white lab coat, running shoes, and a notebook!"
As Shen Mengyun continued searching Jiang Cheng, her hand brushed against a hard object near his waist. "What's this?" she demanded.
"Tch," Jiang Cheng reluctantly pulled out a black-covered diary. His original plan had been to discard the items one by one, hoping one of them would appease the ghost.
Holding the still-warm notebook, Shen Mengyun gasped. "What exactly are you trying to do?" she demanded.
Jiang Cheng lowered his hand, turned around, and abandoned all pretense. "You saw it yourself. The ghost is after these things. That proves their value."
"But what good is value if we don't survive to use it?" Gao Yan cursed inwardly, filled with a thousand regrets. If only he had kept a closer eye on Jiang Cheng, none of this would have happened.
"How will we know if we don't try? At least we're certain these items are real and useful. They might even be the key to completing the mission," Jiang Cheng said calmly.
"Enough. This isn't the time for that," Shen Mengyun interrupted.
Jiang Cheng had originally planned to discard the items one by one, testing the ghost's limits. But Gao Yan vehemently opposed the idea, and Shen Mengyun persuaded him to abandon it.
After placing the notebook, sculpting knife, and lab coat on a nearby staircase, the relentless dripping sound that had been pursuing them vanished.
The group cautiously retraced their steps. Rounding a corner, they found a partially open door.
The door looked vaguely familiar. Pushing it open, they discovered a corridor bathed in a dim, grayish light.
"This is..." Gao Yan's eyebrow twitched slightly.
"This is the gate we came through," Jiang Cheng said, turning it around so everyone could clearly see the knife marks on its surface.
It was the warehouse gate, the very one they had just exited.
"Have we been wandering in circles inside this warehouse the whole time?" Shen Mengyun frowned. Although she had suspected as much, the confirmation still sent a chill down her spine.
Now that the gate had reappeared, the ghost wall must have vanished. Without lingering, they hurried to the staircase at the end of the corridor and fled.
Climbing out of the women's restroom window, they spotted several figures emerging from behind a cluster of trees about twenty meters away.
It was Fatty, Huai Yi, and the others.
Shen Mengyun approached them, ready to speak, but her gaze swept across the group, and her expression turned icy. "Where's Wang Qi?"
Shi Xiaoya, the woman who shared a room with her, replied quietly, "He said he was bored here and wanted to take a walk around."
Seeming anxious to avoid blame, Shi Xiaoya quickly added, "I tried to talk him out of it—we all did. But he wouldn't listen and nearly got into a fight with Mr. Huai."
Jiang Cheng turned to Huai Yi. "What happened?"
Huai Yi's face flushed with anger. "It's just like she said. Fatty and I were worried he'd cause trouble, so we told him to stay put. But he refused, claiming that staying here would be a slow death and insisted on exploring the area."
It was too late for recriminations. Finding Wang Qi was the priority, and judging by the grim expressions of Huai Yi and Fatty, they clearly hadn't gotten anywhere with him.
Even though Huai Yi had lost contact with his Gate, he was still quite skilled in combat. With Fatty backing him up, how had Wang Qi managed to slip away?
Jiang Cheng scanned the surrounding darkness, a sudden curiosity about Wang Qi rising within him.
"Did he mention where he was going?" Jiang Cheng asked, turning back.
Fatty and Huai Yi fell silent. Shi Xiaoya stammered, unable to provide any details. Finally, Wen Liangshan, ever eager to please, raised his hand obsequiously. "I... I might know something."
"If you know something, spit it out!" Gao Yan snapped, his mood foul. Wen Liangshan's sycophantic demeanor and outdated middle-parted hairstyle irritated him. "If this were decades ago, you'd be a traitorous informant!"
Wen Liangshan swallowed nervously. "I... I only overheard it by chance. Shortly after you left, Wang Qi hid behind a tree and mumbled to himself. He kept muttering things like, 'I followed it all the way here... How did it suddenly vanish?'"
(End of the Chapter)
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