Lu Guo

Chapter 28: Lu Guo

"Drip..."

Bai Yanliang paused, turned, and listened. It sounded like... another drip of water?

That direction... was the restroom in the staff lounge, wasn't it?

Bai Yanliang gave it a thoughtful glance, then turned away without expression and walked off without looking back.

Maybe someone had died.

But... Bai Yanliang remembered one thing clearly: this was the Mist Space. If someone died here, that meant... they were supposed to die at this moment in the past.

Bai Yanliang didn't know whether what Xu Zhi'an and the others had said was true or false, right or wrong.

Was this the past of the real timeline, or another strange branch of time? He couldn't yet tell. Nor could he know what effect interfering with the world of the Mist Space would have on reality.

Could it be... that the "purpose" of the Mist Gathering had always been to send them back to the past to change something?

There was too little information, and too much obscured by mist. He couldn't reach a conclusion.

As for whether the people here lived or died, that had nothing to do with him. After all, in Bai Yanliang's eyes, the few employees at the Ruyi Inn deserved to die.

That was also why he hadn't told Zhang Wen the truth. If she believed the ghost who "spoke" to her was her younger sister, then he would let her keep believing it.

Bai Yanliang knew perfectly well that Zhang Wen might be mentally ill, but she had taken part in a murder. That was a crime, plain and simple!

He entered the lobby on the first floor and glanced up at the time. It was half past five, almost six.

Bai Yanliang looked out at the sky, already beginning to darken, and said nothing.

Although the time limit was seven days, he had already made up his mind. He planned to... put an end to everything tonight. But before that... he would use this half hour before they regrouped to check out a place.

I can't find them. I can't find anyone!

Yu Hanzhou held his breath, hiding quietly inside the chimney above the fireplace.

It was hard to believe, but he had been wandering around a villa haunted by a ghost for an entire night!

And yet he hadn't run into a single person.

The villa was dead silent, and the sky was already beginning to grow pale.

If it were daytime, things might be much better. At least... he wouldn't be so frightened.

After all, people's fear of darkness was really just fear of the unknown.

Once the sun came up, everything would be clear, and the shadowy woods wouldn't seem so eerie.

I hope... they're all still alive...

Yu Hanzhou's thoughts went unheard by the others. Or rather... only three people were still alive now.

Yu Hanzhou, Lu Guo, and... Qi Nian.

Whether this woman was lucky or unlucky was hard to say. On her very first visit to the Mist Gathering, she had stumbled into the most terrifying survival mission.

And yet... how had she managed to survive this long through a mission so terrifying that even veterans with numerous missions under their belts had only the slimmest chance of survival?

Qi Nian herself felt a little lucky to have made it this far.

Thank goodness... the man beside her, Lu Guo, hadn't abandoned her.

At that moment, Lu Guo was slowly making his way toward the first floor, aided by the growing daylight.

That's right.

Back to the entrance, where it had all begun!

Lu Guo's idea was undeniably bold.

The ghost's taboos were mirrors and looking back. As long as he kept those two things in mind, he could spend a whole day keeping out of its sight and leading it around the villa. It wasn't impossible!

And Lu Guo's choice was to return to the living room on the first floor!

That was where everyone had woken up, and where "he" had entered!

The ghost had already passed through there. There was no reason for it to search there again. So... the most dangerous place was the safest!

"Come on!"

Lu Guo didn't turn around. He beckoned to Qi Nian behind him.

Qi Nian quickly bent down and followed, lightening her steps.

Watching Lu Guo's cautious figure, Qi Nian felt a strange stirring in her heart.

She thought... he was taking such good care of her because she was a beautiful woman.

If Lu Guo knew what she was thinking, she wondered what expression he'd make.

There was no love without a reason. Lu Guo was no exception.

He was indeed doing everything he could to help Qi Nian because of her face.

But... not for the reason Qi Nian imagined.

Lu Guo wasn't looking after her because he fancied her or thought she was beautiful. It was because Qi Nian's face looked remarkably like his younger sister, Lu Ran.

The girl who had opened the door with him and accidentally stumbled into the Mist Gathering.

The girl who had been chewed up by the ghost while saving him...

The girl who had screamed for him to run, right up until the very end...

Lu Guo clenched his fists. No matter what, he had to survive!

His life was no longer something he could treat as his own alone. It also carried the hopes of another beautiful soul.

And now, someone with a completely different personality but an astonishing resemblance to Lu Ran had appeared.

Only Lu Guo knew how overjoyed and disbelieving he had felt when he first saw Qi Nian.

He would do everything he could to protect her, but he wouldn't risk his own life for her. Qi Nian was Qi Nian, after all—not Lu Ran.

The sky grew brighter.

The two of them had made their way into the living room on the first floor.

Ma Zirong's corpse was still lying there, eyes wide open, his neck twisted at an impossible angle as he stared up at the ceiling.

To his dying breath, he hadn't understood why the ghost had killed him.

Looking at Ma Zirong's twisted corpse, Qi Nian trembled uncontrollably.

After all, until a day ago, she had been just an ordinary girl who was a little pretty and a little spoiled.

She instinctively wanted to grab Lu Guo's clothes, but he had just moved forward to look for somewhere to hide.

Qi Nian was about to follow him when suddenly... she caught a familiar smell!

Like rotting flesh mixed with the scent of jasmine...

It was here!

The ghost was here!

Qi Nian was horrified. She had no idea where it was, and didn't dare make a sound!

In a panic, she fearfully hid behind the curtains!

Meanwhile, Lu Guo was frowning as he searched for somewhere to hide.

There was no hiding place in the living room big enough for both of them. It looked like they would have to hide separately.

Just then, a strange, inexplicable smell drifted over.

Lu Guo's body stiffened. He felt as if all the blood in his body had suddenly frozen.

It was over.

It was here!

Lu Guo's mind went blank, and wave after wave of intense nausea surged through him!

Suddenly!

A pair of icy arms wrapped around his waist!

Clinging to his last hope, Lu Guo looked down. He wanted it to be Qi Nian playing a joke on him.

Though he knew... it was probably not Qi Nian playing this joke... but the ghost...

Sure enough... the arms in front of him were twisted in a grotesque way. There was no way they belonged to a human.

Lu Guo's face turned deathly pale, and despair surged through him.

So this was... the end for me, too?

He didn't dare look back. He thought of Lu Ran, and somehow, it made him feel a little better.

"Ran, your brother might... be coming to see you soon."