The Space-Time Loop

Back in his room, Gao Tian opened the Jialan Society Chat Group and read through the ghosts' messages one by one.

Xu Yuan was highly efficient. He had already followed the trail and dug up the Zhao family's entire business empire. Zhao Qiang's parents had been involved in the underworld for years and, with guilty consciences, lived in a manor in the suburbs. Dozens of guards watched over the place inside and out, and every inch was covered with cameras.

But to ghosts, all that was as good as nothing. The basement they had built to defend against outside threats had somehow become a dungeon where the Zhao family was being interrogated. Xu Yuan posted a picture in the chat group. Blood and flesh were everywhere, the scene too gruesome to bear.

Several bloodied figures hung from iron shackles beneath the ceiling like strips of cured meat, enduring brutal torture. They barely looked human anymore.

Falling into the Jialan Society's hands was truly worse than dying outright.

But, strangely, the Zhao family members were tight-lipped. They still couldn't get them to reveal where the pot was, and their silence was almost absurd.

Ghost Infant and the others had been searching all over Shanghai City, but still hadn't found any sign of where Zhao Qiang had gone. Even the ghosts couldn't locate him. It was as if he'd vanished from the Human World.

Gao Tian knew they would never find Zhao Qiang. The real Zhao Qiang was already dead. The man wearing Zhao Qiang's face that day had actually been Gao Tian himself.

Starting from the wrong premise, Xu Yuan could search for the rest of his life and still never find the pot.

Meanwhile, a resident with the ID [Infinite Floors] had sent out another Black Packet. According to him, it contained a reconnaissance-type item that could be used to investigate the effects of other Supernatural Items. He was asking for 1.5 years of lifespan and putting it up to see how well it worked.

Gao Tian remembered Infinite Floors. He was an extremely unruly ghost who had questioned Xu Yuan's ability to lead the Jialan Society several times and threatened to replace him.

About three hours after the Black Packet was sent, no other ghosts had claimed it.

Should he claim this Black Packet?

If he did, he would have spent 2.5 years of his lifespan by now.

In reality, once you entered the Supernatural World, a few years of lifespan hardly mattered. He could die at any moment—on the next mission, or even with his next breath. It was pretty stupid to worry about whether he would live to eighty or eighty-two and a half.

There was another, more important reason. He could also use the Black Packet's ability to investigate the remnant photograph of the Little Girl that had been left inside the Shattered Face Ghost.

Maybe he could learn more about the Little Girl's life from it.

Gao Tian didn't hesitate any longer. He tapped the Black Packet.

[Are you sure you want to pay 1.5 years of lifespan?]

[Confirm]

[Obtained Item: Human Skin Gloves]

Effect: While wearing the Human Skin Gloves, touching any item related to the supernatural will cause as much information as possible about its hidden effects and origins to surface in the user's mind.

Please note that the Database is not yet complete, and it cannot guarantee that the effects of every Supernatural Item will be fully displayed.

More functions may be developed in the future, such as revealing a Vengeful Ghost's Killing Rule by touching it directly. (Not yet implemented)

About two minutes after he tapped the Black Packet, Gao Tian received another call from an unknown number. A low, hoarse voice came from the other end.

"Hello.

"Your package has arrived. I can't get into the apartment, so I left it by the entrance. Come down and pick it up."

At four in the morning, endless Gray Fog shrouded the streets of Shanghai City. The roads were nearly deserted. Every so often, a car's yellow headlights cut through the gloom as it hurried past without stopping.

An ominous atmosphere hung everywhere. As more and more Supernatural Events occurred, websites and news outlets had deleted much of the discussion, but ordinary people were still beginning to feel the biting chill of winter. If they could avoid going out, they stayed home.

Gao Tian, Su Jiu, Ling Feifei, and Zhou Yan had set out early and were waiting at the Bus Stop closest to the Living Person Apartment.

Gray Ticket Stubs had appeared out of nowhere in their rooms. Jiangyang had explained that if they held these stubs and waited at any Bus Stop at 4:44 a.m., the Bus 444 bound for a Supernatural Place would arrive. They just had to board it.

"Hubby, I'm so scared. If we run into danger, will you protect me?"

Ling Feifei clung to Zhou Yan, still making a show of acting cute.

Zhou Yan wrapped an arm tightly around his girlfriend and declared with grand confidence,

"Just sit beside me once we're on board. No matter what danger we run into, I'll protect you."

Su Jiu shivered and glanced at Gao Tian, edging a little closer to him.

As far as she was concerned, Gao Tian was the only person here she could rely on, even a little.

Gao Tian was thinking about a glimpse of the future he had seen in the Pot Prophecy.

In the end, only he and Su Jiu got off. The couple disappeared without a trace.

The couple were so reckless that it was a miracle they'd made it to the Third Mission. Judging by Shata's conversation with them, it was possible that the other residents had been wiped out in their previous missions because the couple's baffling behavior had dragged the whole team down.

Ling Feifei hadn't looked like she was joking when she spoke at the meeting on the first floor.

There was no understanding the way fools thought.

But according to the Pot Prophecy, the two of them never got off the bus. Most likely, they finally managed to get themselves killed during the Third Mission.

He would take things as they came. If they ran into danger, Gao Tian would be more than happy to watch. He had no interest in saving them.

Creak, creak.

In the darkness in the distance, two halos of light appeared, like the eyes of a giant beast. As they drew nearer, they grew until they seemed ready to swallow the heavens and earth, their glare so bright it was hard to keep one's eyes open.

A rust-covered bus came to a stop. As the doors opened, a thick, sour stench hit them. Stepping inside felt like entering an old, decaying coffin.

From the outside, the bus looked as if it had been in service for decades. On normal routes, this model would have been retired and replaced long ago. Who knew where they'd dug up this antique?

While the others hesitated, Gao Tian was the first to step inside.

Every seat was stained with blood. Looking closely, he could see tiny white specks crawling across them. Under normal circumstances, no sane person would sit there even if their life depended on it.

The bus was completely empty except for the four new passengers. In the middle of the bus sat a Tall Male Corpse, its body badly decomposed. All that remained was a rotting outline of a human shape. Countless bugs had made their homes in the holes in its body, crawling in and out.

The corpse's back had fused with the seat. It looked as if he'd been dead on this bus for a long time. The only strange thing was that even in death, he had maintained a rigid, upright posture, clutching a rusted, battered long blade in his hands.

Just as the Pot Prophecy had shown.

Then Ling Feifei and the others climbed aboard, shuffling awkwardly. The moment she saw the corpse, Ling Feifei let out a scream and threw herself into Zhou Yan's arms. Behind them, Su Jiu covered her mouth and fought hard to keep from screaming.

Gao Tian noticed that the screen at the front of the bus displayed the passenger count in red text.

When he'd first boarded, the count had gone from one to two. After Zhou Yan and the others got on, it had jumped to five.

That meant the dead Male Corpse was also a passenger, recognized as such by the bus.

Once everyone was on board, the front and rear doors both let out a tortured creak as they shut. The bus rocked after a brief stop, preparing to set off again and enter the endless Gray Sea ahead.

Now it was time to choose seats.

The four residents should spread out as much as possible to avoid triggering the same Killing Rule and getting wiped out all at once.

The couple ignored that rule completely. They chose seats in the back row, as far away from the Male Corpse as possible.

It was Gao Tian's turn. He looked around the bus.

By conventional logic, the Male Corpse was probably the sleeping ghost. He should sit as far away from it as possible to avoid triggering some Killing Rule. That made perfect sense.

But in the Pot Prophecy, "Gao Tian" had done the opposite: he sat behind the Male Corpse, made some strange movements, and eventually took the rusty cleaver from its hands.

That rusty cleaver had to be an important Supernatural Item!

That was the only reason "Gao Tian" in the Pot Prophecy would risk being killed by a Vengeful Ghost to snatch the blade from the Male Corpse.

Gao Tian made up his mind. He chose the seat behind the Male Corpse.

His strange choice made the couple behind him whisper and giggle.

"Is this guy stupid? He's sitting right next to the ghost on purpose."

"And that seat is close to the exit, too. Any other ghost passengers who want to get off will have to pass right by him."

"Ugh, he doesn't even know the basics. He probably won't make it through this mission."

"Hubby, you picked the best seats."

"Of course. Just look at who your husband is."

Gao Tian heard them but paid no attention.

So what if they mocked him? Those two idiots had no idea he could see the future.

Su Jiu hesitated for a long time. She'd originally wanted to sit near Gao Tian, but she hadn't expected him to choose such a strange seat. She didn't dare go near the sinister-looking Tall Male Corpse either. After lingering for a while, she chose a seat near the front, diagonally across from Gao Tian.

The bus started slowly, carrying them into an unknown future.

Even after choosing his seat, Gao Tian still couldn't figure something out.

He had sat behind the Male Corpse in this timeline because he'd seen what "Gao Tian" in the previous timeline had done in the Pot.

But how had "Gao Tian" in the previous timeline known he could take the cleaver from the Male Corpse?

Had the Gao Tian from the timeline before that taught him?

That was a temporal paradox. It wasn't as if the Gao Tians in every timeline could pass the information along to the next one like runners in a relay.

If the cycle went on like that, it would never end.

How had the first Gao Tian to discover that the cleaver could be taken figured it out?

He couldn't work it out for now. But the cleaver in the hands of that rotting Male Corpse was most likely an extraordinary item. In every timeline, no matter the risk to his life, Gao Tian would have to get his hands on it.