Time

He glanced out the window. The sunlight was a little harsh, but he knew that according to their previous calculations, the daytime would only last for another three hours at most. Half of that time had already passed.

Once night fell again, the world they were in would enter eternal darkness.

"Time is running out. Let's split up and search," Jiang Cheng said, turning to look around. "Fan Li, you're on your own. Fatty, you're with me. Let's be as quick as possible. Pay special attention to things like keys. The iron door on the third floor might have clues, but I tried. Without a key, we can't open it with the tools we have."

"Okay."

Without further ado, the two groups separated.

Jiang Cheng's group, having an extra person, was responsible for searching the larger first floor, leaving the second floor to Fan Li.

The search quickly yielded results. Jiang Cheng found a rope in an inconspicuous corner behind the stairs. The rope was tied to the corner of the second-floor corridor near the stairs, with the other end hanging down.

Jiang Cheng ran upstairs and found the other end of the rope tied on the second floor.

That was where he and Fatty had hidden last night, but there had been no rope here then.

Hearing them come upstairs, Fan Li also ran out of the study. "What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng pointed at the rope.

After a while, they returned downstairs and followed the direction where the rope had been hanging, walking towards the other side of the living room. The door to the small room where firewood was stored was ajar and opened with a push.

Fan Li's expression suddenly changed. "Yesterday, I tied the doorknob to a nail next to the door with a rope. Why is the rope gone?"

Fatty, with sharp eyes, walked into the room and picked up a rope from behind a pile of firewood.

The rope was broken into two pieces, and the cuts were very neat.

Fan Li took it and felt the break. He looked up and confirmed, "It was cut with a tool like a dagger."

Behind the firewood storage room was another door. The firewood in front of it had been moved, clearing a space.

Jiang Cheng walked over and pushed it, but it didn't open.

He looked out through the glass in the door. This was the back of the villa.

There weren't many fallen leaves on the ground. It had rained earlier, so the ground was still wet and muddy.

On the muddy ground, several clear tire tracks were left.

"Those are from that large bus," Fatty said in surprise.

But strangely, the area was surrounded by forest, and there was no road for a bus to enter.

However, that was no longer important. What mattered was that they now understood how Sister Nuan and the other person had left.

Fatty, mimicking Jiang Cheng, shook the door in front of him vigorously, but it didn't budge.

"Stop shaking it," Jiang Cheng said. "You won't be able to open it."

Fatty stopped shaking the door but still asked, "If this door can't be opened, how did they leave?"

Fan Li, standing behind them, suddenly spoke, "It was time."

"Time?"

"Yes," Fan Li said, looking at the confused Fatty and nodding. "It was the wrong time. Only at a specific time would that bus appear, and then the door could be opened."

"3:07 AM," Jiang Cheng said.

Fan Li looked at him with some surprise and nodded. "You thought of it too."

"What are you talking about?" Fatty blinked. "What 3:07 AM?"

"Do you remember when Xie Yu died?" Jiang Cheng asked. "I looked at my watch then, and it showed 3:07 AM."

Fatty asked in surprise, "But in this world, the time shown on watches isn't accurate?"

Fan Li continued, "It's not accurate, but at a certain specific time, it becomes accurate again. The night Xie Yu died, when I heard the strange sounds, I also looked at the time." He took out his pocket watch and dangled it in front of Fatty. "It also showed 3:07 AM."

"But not long ago, I just checked the time, and it showed 6:00. This means that the time displayed on all timekeeping devices will suddenly synchronize to 3:07 AM at a certain moment."

Fatty's pupils suddenly contracted. Then, as if he suddenly thought of something, he looked at Jiang Cheng. "So last night in the study, you were waiting for your watch to show 3:07 AM! Because that's when the ghost would appear!"

Jiang Cheng's expression was unreadable, but Fatty continued, "When the time came, the ghost didn't find us, so you went to test Sister Nuan. And the first moment you realized Sister Nuan was still alive, you told her that Fan Li had already..."

He stopped there.

After all, Fan Li was standing there, perfectly fine.

The rest was much simpler. The three returned to the living room. Jiang Cheng sat on the sofa, Fan Li stayed by the fireplace, warming himself, and Fatty was still lost in thought.

Fan Li mentioned that he had counted six tire tracks on the ground behind the villa, meaning the bus had come three times. And they had coincidentally spent three nights in the villa.

Darkness completely enveloped the area. Fan Li clutched his pocket watch, glancing at the time occasionally.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Fatty's head was starting to spin and he was feeling drowsy, Jiang Cheng suddenly said, "It's time!"

Fan Li also stood up at the same moment, putting his pocket watch back in his pocket.

They all walked towards the storage room in the corner of the living room. Along the way, Jiang Cheng and Fan Li were very cautious, as the mission was in its final moments, and no one knew when the ghost might suddenly appear.

Just as they entered the firewood storage room, a light suddenly appeared in the open space behind the villa.

A large bus drove over from not far away and then slowly stopped about 20 meters from the villa.

Fan Li took a deep breath, placed his hand on the door in front of him, and gently pushed.

The door opened.

Fatty's face was filled with excitement, almost to the point of tears.

Fan Li was the first to step out, followed by Fatty, and then Jiang Cheng.

They had been in a warm environment inside the villa, and the sudden cold outside was a bit of a shock.

Fan Li raised the collar of his leather jacket, Jiang Cheng tightened the coat around him, while Fatty could only hug himself.

The bus door slowly opened, and the three walked over.

The same people were on the bus: the couple, and the mother and son, all sitting obediently in their seats.

The tour guide, who claimed his surname was Zheng, stood on the bus, still with his overly enthusiastic demeanor. "Dear travelers, thank you for waiting! We are now departing for home."

Home—what a tempting word. Fatty couldn't help but want to get on the bus immediately, but a discordant voice interrupted him.

"Back off!"

Fatty turned his head and saw Fan Li staring at them with a sinister expression, the boning knife in his hand glinting coldly under the moonlight.

"I told you to back off!" Fatty, his face full of coarse flesh, waved the knife at the two of them. They had no choice but to step back a few paces, clearing the doorway.

Fan Li was the first to rush onto the bus.

Just as Fatty was about to pull Jiang Cheng onto the bus, he noticed Jiang Cheng hadn't moved at all.

Fatty looked at him, confused.

Jiang Cheng's gaze slowly swept across the bus before finally fixing on Guide Zheng's face.

"Traveler, don't you want to go home?" Guide Zheng smiled sweetly, bowing slightly and revealing a slender wrist with a beautiful rose tattoo. "It'll be too late if you don't hurry."