Laughter

He put away the intelligence and launched a second lighting device. The light sphere rose into the air, illuminating an area of one kilometer as bright as day.

There are no living organisms.

"How strange," Gao Fu muttered to himself, "The five-person team disappeared, and the ghost story disappeared too?"

Gao Fu first confirmed with the Mutual Aid Association that the five people were still alive, and the ghost story "Smile" had not afflicted anyone else.

Gao Fu looked up at the distant crimson Blood Moon, then at the desolate empty space before him. After a moment's thought, he made a decision:

Withdraw.

His righteousness had reached this point. He had investigated and confirmed the team's location and surroundings where they had lost contact; nothing unusual was found. This in itself was unusual, but he was unwilling to investigate further. At worst, he would have the Mutual Aid Association assign a different task, leaving this to more professional people.

He turned around, preparing to return the way he came.

Just as he turned around—

What did I step on?

Gao Fu and low.

A puddle of water.

It was a very small puddle, no more than half a meter in diameter, lying Jingjing where he had just stood. The light from the lighting equipment shone down from above, making the surface of the water ripple slightly, so clear that you could see the soil underneath.

Gao Fu at the water's surface, his body slightly stiff.

The water reflected the sky, the glowing lights from the props, and his figure.

The man on the water is laughing.

The smile started from the corners of his mouth, as if someone was using their fingers to lift the flesh on both sides and push it upwards, little by little, until it reached his cheekbones and the creases at the corners of his eyes.

"This is the first time I've ever seen such an exaggerated smile."

Gao Fu sighed, his hand touching his face, feeling the twisted muscle fibers and exaggerated corners of his mouth.

The ghost story of the "Smile" has possessed you.

Gao Fu activated his items, and a talisman emitted a radiant glow, restoring his physical condition to what it was before he was entangled by the Silent Ghost Stories.

"Hehe."

The moment of Gao Fu was terrifying!

Someone is laughing!

It was from behind him.

Very close, right at the back of his head, almost touching his ear, someone chuckled softly, with a hint of satisfied pleasure.

Gao Fu suddenly turned around.

There was no one there.

But in the instant he turned his head, he caught a glimpse of the puddle out of the corner of his eye—

There was one more person on the water.

The person stood behind him, back to back, wearing the Mutual Aid Association's standard combat uniform, with a charred crack on his chest, and an exaggerated smile on his face, like a mask.

That was one of the five-person team members, the one who Fire Element Mastery.

The person on the water slowly raised their head, and Gao Fu saw his eyes.

Her eyes are crying.

Tears slid down her cheeks, dripping into the puddle and creating ripples, but her mouth stretched to her ears, her smile radiant.

Inside the mouth, the tongue twisted and wriggled, like a living thing controlled by an invisible hand, struggling to squeeze out indistinct syllables:

"Intelligence... Aside from... supernatural tales other than the Blood Moon... Fear... High temperature and high energy... Can... Try... High-powered weapons... Now... Report..."

Gao Fu had already dashed out the moment the Smile monster appeared, but a wisp of his consciousness still managed to etch these words into his mind.

"Okay! Got it. I'll report back as soon as I get back. I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already broken the sound barrier.

The air was torn apart, and a ring of white cone-shaped clouds exploded behind him. The ground beneath his feet receded rapidly, and the edge of the distant darkness was stretched into a blurred line.

He didn't look back at all, nor did he even intend to slow down.

Nobody would believe that.

If the other party is truly conscious, why would they use this method to transmit information? The Survival System's Personal Channel is right there; they could send out information with a single thought.

But if they're really still conscious, why don't they just send a message through the control panel?

The only explanation is: that thing is faking it.

Pretend to be a teammate who still has self-awareness, pretend to be a pitiful person struggling to pass on information, try to make him stop, try to make him get closer, try to make him pass on the wrong information.

Behind him, the "Smile man" saw Gao Fu disappear into the darkness without looking back. He paused for a moment, then realized that Gao Fu had seen through him. He stopped pretending and his body began to melt.

Like a candle, it flows downwards from the top of the head.

Skin, flesh, and bones transformed into a viscous, transparent liquid, gradually merging into the puddle of water.

But the Smile didn't melt away; Shedding and floated on the water's surface like a cut-off mask, bobbing up and down.

Then it began to spin, as if searching for something. When the spinning stopped, the Smile was facing the direction where the Gao Fu had disappeared.

Ripples spread across the surface of the water, one circle, two circles...

"Hehe."

A soft laugh rippled out from the center of the ripples in the water, traveling faster Gao Fu the speed of sound.

Here, as the speed of the Gao Fu continued to increase, a giant log suddenly appeared in front of him without warning.

The Gao Fu slowly came to a stop. Ahead, in what was once a vast expanse of darkness, a dense forest had somehow sprung up.

The trees are twisted and bizarre in shape. Some trunks are twisted into spirals like braids, some branches hang down but bend upwards, and some leaves have blurry human face outlines, standing Jingjing in the darkness like a group of silent Observer.

The captain who specializes in wood-based Spell.

Turning around, I saw three figures, with exaggerated Smiles on their faces, slowly approaching.

Gao Fu took a deep breath and glanced down at the [Sanity Monitoring Wristwatch] on his wrist.

On the dial, the numbers are slowly ticking: 88, 85, 84, 82...

The ghost stories didn't Corrosion his sanity; they only frightened Gao Fu himself.

"Well..."

As he began to stretch his muscles in the Gao Fu, a strange smile inexplicably appeared on his lips...

"The seventh ghost story— 'Smile,' appears to be a misnomer; it should be 'Laughing.' Its first stage manifests as an uncontrollable smile, the second as an uncontrollable laugh, and the third as assimilation into the ghost story... This is the information gathered so far."

Song Shige listened to the report and nodded.

Upon his return, he went straight to the Mutual Aid Association headquarters to learn about the situation on-site.

The current Song Shige is devoid of any murderous intent or bloodlust, resembling a cheerful boy next door. Only the Zhanmadao on his back is a deep, almost blackish red, with a faint, flowing blood-red light on its blade, like a solidified river of blood.

Standing before him were members of the Mutual Aid Association responsible for compiling and analyzing information on ghost stories.

"... The twelfth ghost story... A spoon. It has only been observed once so far, appearing as a spoon suspended in mid-air. Anyone who gets close will involuntarily tap their head against it until their skull shatters. The cause and trigger conditions are unknown."

"Is the report finished?" Song Shige looked up expressionlessly at the person who was reporting the information.

"Report complete, Chairman. Do you need the latest information on the Blood Moon? The monitoring team just updated the spectral analysis data; the Blood Moon's energy fluctuation curve is showing an anomaly."

Song Shige did not answer, but shook his head:

"Those who know me know that efficiency is important. Why didn't you just send me the information directly instead of giving me a live report? It's wasting my time and your own."

The reporter's smile froze for a moment.

"President, I just—"

"The disguise was terrible."

The Zhanmadao behind Song Shige didn't move. But the next second, the reporter's body split in two, falling to either side.