The Ghost-faced Man

Outside the old district.

The man who had just activated the Forbidden Zone sat by the notice board, looked back at the half-old district frozen like a canvas, shook his head helplessly, and took out his phone from his pocket to play a match-3 game.

"Bro, why are you sitting here playing on your phone in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid your butt will get cold?"

Not long after, a pedestrian walked over from the opposite road and was amused by the sight.

The man glanced up at him, then looked back down to continue playing, "Nothing else to do, just bored."

The pedestrian smiled, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered it to the man.

The man waved his hand and said seriously, "I'm on duty, no smoking."

"Hey, you're squatting on the road playing on your phone, and you call that being on duty?" The pedestrian was amused.

"Mhm."

"Alright then." The pedestrian shrugged, stood up, and walked towards the street behind the man.

"Where are you going?" the man suddenly asked.

"Home."

"You can't go back, not yet."

The pedestrian raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"This road is blocked now. You can only go back when it's open again," the man said, pointing to the notice board behind him.

The pedestrian followed his gaze and saw the notice board inexplicably standing in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to say something, he saw a faint flicker of light on the four characters "Road Closed Ahead."

The pedestrian's gaze immediately became vacant.

A few seconds later, he stiffly turned around and walked back the way he came, step by step, his eyes filled with confusion...

The man seemed unsurprised by this. Just as he was about to continue playing his match-3 game, another man's voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece.

"Zhao Kongcheng!!"

The moment the voice sounded, the man shot up from the ground. The casual and sleepy look on his face vanished, replaced by absolute seriousness!

"Here! Captain, what's wrong?"

"We've got a problem. One of this batch of Ghost-faced Men has been promoted to a Ghost-faced King. While we were encircling the others, it launched a surprise attack and seriously injured Hong Ying, escaping the Forbidden Zone through the sewers."

"Ghost-faced King?" Zhao Kongcheng's expression changed, "Which direction did it run? I'll intercept it!"

"No, Kongcheng, you're not good at combat, you won't be able to defeat the Ghost-faced King. I'll go after it."

Zhao Kongcheng was stunned, "Then what about me..."

"After the Ghost-faced King escaped, two more Ghost-faced Men took the opportunity to flee into the sewers. The others are busy clearing out the remaining Ghost-faced Men and can't get away."

"Which direction?"

"Southeast."

"Got it."

A sharp glint flashed in Zhao Kongcheng's eyes. He quickly ran to the other end of the street, got into a black van, and sped away with a roar.

On the passenger seat, a black and red cloak was neatly folded, along with a sheathed straight sword!

"Alright, I need to turn here. I'm leaving first."

Wang Shao stopped and said to the four people behind him.

Just then, Li Yifei seemed to remember something and asked, "Wang Shao, if I remember correctly, doesn't your home happen to be near the old district?"

"Yeah, why?"

"...Nothing, just be careful on your way home."

Wang Shao's mouth twitched slightly, and he rolled his eyes, "If you have something to say, just say it. Don't stop halfway and make people feel uncomfortable."

Li Yifei hesitated for a moment, "I heard that things have been a bit unstable in the old district recently, there's a perverted serial killer!"

"A perverted serial killer? Is that true?" Jiang Qian didn't quite believe it.

"Of course it's true!" Li Yifei looked around and lowered his voice, "You guys might not know this, but more than a dozen people have died in the old district in the past few days."

"A dozen people? Impossible. If there was such a big commotion, the news would have reported it long ago." Wang Shao shook his head.

"Hey, how is it impossible? I'm telling you, this happened very strangely. Someone high up forcibly suppressed the news. If my dad didn't work in the police station, I wouldn't have known about it."

"Strangely? What's strange about it?"

"It is said..." Li Yifei paused, and lowered his voice a little more.

"It is said that the faces of those who died were all peeled off, leaving only a bloody mass of raw flesh and bulging eyeballs, with extremely brutal methods!"

A cool evening breeze blew, and upon hearing this, everyone felt a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads!

"Li Yifei! Are you sick, saying this late at night!" Jiang Qian's face turned pale, and she subconsciously looked around the quiet street, annoyed.

This area was close to the old town, a remote part of Cangnan City. With evening self-study ending close to ten o'clock, there wasn't even a single pedestrian on the road. Coupled with Li Yifei's words, it was truly unnerving.

It wasn't just her; even the two grown men, Wang Shao and Liu Yuan, were a little scared. Wang Shao glanced at the narrow path he was about to take and suddenly felt a pang of unease...

If Li Yifei's words had only made them a little scared, Lin Qiye's next words made their scalps tingle!

After a moment of thought, Lin Qiye spoke slowly, "Are you sure... these things were done by people?"

"Qiye, you..." Jiang Qian's delicate body trembled!

Wang Shao and Liu Yuan's mouths twitched slightly, and their gazes towards Lin Qiye immediately turned strange.

Well, well, Lin Qiye, with your honest face, who would have thought you were the one hiding the most?

Li Yifei looked at Lin Qiye in surprise, "You think so too?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Jiang Qian couldn't take it anymore. She reached out and twisted Li Yifei's arm fiercely, causing him to cry out in pain on the spot.

"Don't tell ghost stories in the middle of the night!! I still have to go home!"

Li Yifei clutched his arm, grimacing in pain, and muttered quietly to the side, "This isn't a ghost story..."

Wang Shao shrugged, "I'm not wasting my time here with you all. I don't believe in any of this superstitious nonsense. I'm leaving."

Wang Shao's figure gradually disappeared into the narrow alleyway.

Jiang Qian glared at Li Yifei again, took a few steps forward, and then suddenly stopped.

She sniffed forcefully, her brows furrowing slightly.

A hint of confusion appeared in her eyes.

Turning, she said, "Do you guys smell that stench?"

"Stench?"

"Like something rotting."

"I don't smell anything. Liu Yuan, how about you?"

"Me neither... Ugh!"

Before Liu Yuan and Li Yifei could finish their sentences, their expressions suddenly changed. They quickly covered their noses, looking around in terror.

Just as Lin Qiye was about to say something, an extremely nauseating stench suddenly flooded his nostrils. It felt like a piece of meat that had been rotting for over ten days was thrown into a septic tank and mixed with a dozen rotten eggs. Just a single whiff made his stomach churn violently.

This was the most putrid smell Lin Qiye had ever encountered in his life.

As for Jiang Qian, whose sense of smell was the most acute, she immediately crouched down and started vomiting.

"Damn it, what the hell is that stinking thing?!" Li Yifei yelled, covering his nose.

"I don't know." Lin Qiye's brow furrowed slightly. After a moment, he pointed towards the alley where Wang Shao had left.

"But judging by the direction the smell is coming from, it seems to be from there."

The next moment, a miserable scream echoed from not far away, reverberating through the silent night sky.