Unexpected

Unexpected

Mist Gathering.

Above the gray, mist-shrouded sky still hung two narrow red moons, like a pair of... crimson eyes.

The thirty unlucky souls trapped deep within the curse had not left. Instead, they waited silently here, occasionally glancing at the names that seemed ready to drip blood.

It was not because their bonds ran particularly deep. In fact, everyone had tacitly chosen to keep things superficial. After all, if death was inevitable, the grief of losing someone they barely knew was better than losing a beloved friend or lover.

But the fundamental reason they all remained was that Mist Gathering could not be left until everyone who was still alive had emerged.

Even stranger was the time here; it flowed at an entirely different rate from the outside world.

Even if they went without food, water, sleep, or rest in Mist Gathering for months, they would not feel hungry or tired in the slightest.

Because in reality, only a few brief moments had passed for each of them.

Du Shangjing often wondered whether he could still be considered alive.

Yet before he could dwell on it, a sudden uproar and cries of alarm erupted in Mist Gathering.

Du Shangjing frowned slightly and instinctively looked toward Li Mu.

Li Mu's expression was extremely grim as he stared at the blood-red names filling the sky.

Following his gaze, Du Shangjing froze, then felt a profound terror well up inside him.

"Why did this happen? What exactly happened?"

Du Shangjing's murmur was filled with fear and disbelief.

It was not just him. Everyone present had fallen into extreme panic and shock.

In the first group, six names had vanished instantly from the Past World where Wei Xiu had been chosen as the Grudge-Bound!

Wei Xiu, Qin Siqiao, Yuan Pengfei, Jin Wen, Lv Shuang, and... Shen Changrong, the newcomer who had just entered—their names had already turned into clusters of gray mist and melted into this mysterious void.

This meant the first group had been wiped out!

"Damn it, how could this happen?"

"Who remembers the first group's clue?"

Voices rose one after another throughout Mist Gathering.

"I wrote it down. The first group's clue was... hide from the moon in the mountains, retrieve a coffin from beneath the water."

"Hide from the moon in the mountains, retrieve a coffin from beneath the water..." Du Shangjing quietly repeated the clue. How could this have happened... What kind of place was that? Did Wei Xiu and the others need to go underwater and retrieve a coffin?

"Li Mu, does this mean..." someone asked as they looked at Li Mu, their trembling voice full of fear.

Everyone else turned to him as well. Li Mu looked at the six names that had completely dissipated. This meant six people... had died completely in the past and would never return.

Turning to face everyone's gazes, Li Mu nodded in confirmation. "Yes. The 'hide from the moon in the mountains, retrieve a coffin from beneath the water' scenario will become the mission for everyone here in six months."

Looking at the violently trembling pupils around him, Li Mu silently swallowed the rest of his words: If everyone was still alive six months from now...

With Li Mu's confirmation, Mist Gathering fell silent once more.

Only ragged breathing, quiet sobs, and helpless curses sounded from time to time.

Du Shangjing could not help but tense up as well.

He had not arrived in Mist Gathering particularly late, but he had never experienced anything like this. In fact, it seemed that only Li Mu had ever encountered such an event.

The others had merely heard rumors of it.

It was said that whenever a Mist Gathering mission contained a point in time where everyone had been wiped out, the scenario existing at that point in time would become everyone's cursed mission six months later.

And because no one had survived until the time limit ended during the previous wipeout, no one had found the ghost's sole weakness before the deadline arrived.

So next time, it would become a truly unsolvable ghost.

There would no longer be any effective means of restraining it.

The only thing that might be useful was the information conveyed by the clue...

Hide from the moon in the mountains, retrieve a coffin from beneath the water...

What sort of place was that...

Naturally, those in the Past World knew nothing of what was happening in Mist Gathering.

In fact, nearly everyone was currently steeped in panic and fear.

But Bai Yanliang was an exception, though he truly wanted to experience what extreme fear felt like.

He walked down the corridor and turned the corner. Just as he was about to enter the first-floor lobby, he ran straight into a pale face.

Fortunately, it was him. Anyone else would have screamed in fright.

"Bai Yanliang?"

Xu Zhi'an cried out in surprise, then seemed to think of something and hurriedly reached for Bai Yanliang's wrist.

"Come with me, quickly!"

"What happened?" Bai Yanliang's gaze sharpened slightly. He deftly avoided Xu Zhi'an's grasping hand and stepped back, widening the distance between them as he asked in confusion.

Unexpectedly, after hearing Bai Yanliang's question, Xu Zhi'an's face turned even paler. His hair was completely soaked with sweat, strands clinging together across his forehead, no longer carrying any trace of its previous neatness.

"Ghosts! That waitress is a ghost! Zhang Wen! And there's another man—I don't know who he is. There are two ghosts! There are two ghosts in this Ruyi Inn!"

Xu Zhi'an was somewhat hysterical. It was clear he had been terribly frightened.

This time, Bai Yanliang did not avoid his tugging, allowing Xu Zhi'an to lead him toward the first-floor lobby.

He raised his head and checked the time.

Ten fifty-five.

They had agreed to meet in the lobby at eleven. He wondered how many would make it.

Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhi'an sat on the sofa from earlier and quietly waited for the other three.

In truth, only Bai Yanliang was quiet.

Xu Zhi'an seemed as if he were sitting on a hot stove, unable to stay still. He kept looking around, occasionally casting wary glances at Bai Yanliang.

Bai Yanliang sighed inwardly. He did not know what Xu Zhi'an had encountered, but after only a few hours apart, this seemingly shrewd young office worker now had sunken eyes and a haggard face, as though he had suddenly aged many years.

At that moment, two people stepped out of the elevator.

Li Yuejun and Jiang Li exited one after the other, their eyes immediately meeting Bai Yanliang's and Xu Zhi'an's.

The two were also curious about Xu Zhi'an's condition, though they could guess that he must have encountered something terrifying.

"What did you find?"

Jiang Li sat cross-legged on the sofa without taking off her shoes, completely at ease.

Though she was asking both of them, her gaze was fixed solely on Bai Yanliang.

Bai Yanliang remained completely unruffled, as if he had not noticed her interest in him.

"A few things. Let's wait until Mr. Feng arrives, then we can discuss them together."

The moment Bai Yanliang finished speaking, Feng Xinghan's voice came from beside the lobby entrance.

"Young people these days are quite punctual."

All four turned toward Feng Xinghan in unison.

Xu Zhi'an's gaze was especially strange. He stared fixedly at Feng Xinghan, his face twisted with both fear and ferocity.

Feng Xinghan had just taken a step toward them when he suddenly froze. A look of horror appeared in his eyes.

Pointing toward the stairwell of the first-floor emergency exit, his eyes wide, he said in a trembling voice, "Why is there another Jiang Li over there?"