Lu Guo

Chapter 28 Lu Guo

"Drip..."

Bai Yanliang paused slightly, turning his head to listen. It seemed... there was the sound of dripping water again?

Was that direction... the restroom in the staff break area?

Bai Yanliang glanced toward it thoughtfully, then turned away with an expressionless face and walked off without looking back.

Perhaps someone had died.

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

Bai Yanliang did not know if the claims made by Xu Zhi'an and the others were true or false, right or wrong.

Was this truly the past of the real timeline, or merely another bizarre tributary of time? He could not yet judge, nor could he know what impact intervening in the world of the Mist Space would have on reality.

Could it be... that the "purpose" of the Mist Gathering was to have people like them return to the past to change something?

There was too little information, and the fog was too thick; it was impossible to judge.

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

This was also the reason he didn't tell Zhang Wen the truth. Since she believed the ghost "talking" to her was her younger sister, then let her continue to believe it.

Bai Yanliang knew very well that although Zhang Wen had mental issues, she had participated in a murder—that was a crime, plain and simple!

Walking into the first-floor lobby, he looked up at the time: 5:30. It was almost six o'clock.

Bai Yanliang looked at the sky outside the inn, which was beginning to darken, and remained silent.

Although the time limit was seven days, he already had a plan in mind. He intended to... resolve everything completely tonight. But before that... he wanted to take advantage of this half-hour window to go check a certain place.

He couldn't find them, he couldn't find them at all!

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

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

Yet, he hadn't encountered a single person.

The villa was deathly silent, and the sky was beginning to turn pale.

If it were daytime, the situation might be much better; at least... the psychological terror wouldn't be quite as intense.

After all, human fear of the dark was more accurately a fear of the unknown.

Once the sky brightened, everything would be clearly visible, and the shadowy, looming woods would no longer seem so eerie.

He hoped... they were all still alive.

Yu Hanzhou's inner thoughts were not heard by anyone else, or rather... there were only three people left alive now.

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

It was hard to say whether this woman was lucky or unlucky; her first time entering the Mist Gathering, she had run straight into the most terrifying survival mission.

But... for such extreme terror, a mission so deadly that even veterans who had experienced many tasks would have a slim chance of survival, how had she managed to stay alive until now?

Qi Nian herself felt a sliver of relief.

Fortunately... the man named Lu Guo beside her hadn't abandoned her.

And at this moment, Lu Guo was using the gradually brightening daylight to slowly scout toward the first floor.

That's right.

Back to the entrance, the very place where they started!

It had to be said that Lu Guo's idea was extremely bold.

The taboo of this vengeful ghost was mirrors and looking back. As long as one was careful about these two points, it was not entirely impossible to circle around this villa for a day without being discovered by it!

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

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

Logically speaking, the vengeful ghost had already passed through there, so there was no reason for it to search it again. Therefore... the most dangerous place was the safest place!

"Come over!"

Lu Guo didn't look back, waving his hand at the person behind him to call for Qi Nian.

Qi Nian hurriedly bent her waist and followed with light steps.

Watching Lu Guo's cautious back, a strange feeling welled up in Qi Nian's heart.

She thought... that Lu Guo was taking such good care of her because she was a beautiful woman.

If Lu Guo knew what she was thinking, it was hard to say what kind of expression he would have.

There is no love without a reason in this world, and Lu Guo was no exception.

He would do his best to help Qi Nian, and it was indeed because of that face of hers.

But... it wasn't quite what Qi Nian imagined.

Lu Guo did not look after Qi Nian because he fancied her or thought she was beautiful; it was because her face looked exactly like his younger sister's... Lu Ran.

The girl who had opened the door with him and inadvertently stepped into the Mist Gathering.

The girl who had been devoured by a malicious ghost in order to save him...

The girl who, until the very last moment of her life, had desperately screamed for him to run.

Lu Guo clenched his fists; no matter what, he had to survive!

This life was no longer something he could treat lightly; it carried the hopes of another beautiful soul.

And now, a person with a completely different personality but a shockingly similar appearance to Lu Ran had appeared.

Only Lu Guo knew how pleasantly surprised and incredulous he had felt the moment he first laid eyes on Qi Nian.

He would do his best to protect her, but he would not risk his own life for her sake; after all, Qi Nian was ultimately Qi Nian, not Lu Ran.

The sky began to brighten.

The two of them had already groped their way to the living room on the first floor.

Ma Zirong's corpse was still lying there, eyes wide open, his neck twisted at a bizarre angle toward the ceiling.

Until his death, he never understood why he had been killed by the ghost.

Looking at Ma Zirong's twisted corpse, Qi Nian could not stop herself from trembling.

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

She instinctively wanted to grab Lu Guo's clothes, but Lu Guo moved just then, heading forward to find a hiding spot.

Just as Qi Nian prepared to follow him, suddenly... she smelled a very familiar scent!

It was like... rotting flesh mixed with the fragrance of jasmine...

It's here!

The ghost has come!

Qi Nian was terrified beyond measure; not knowing where it was, she dared not make a single sound!

In her desperation, she hid behind the curtains, trembling with fear!

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

There was simply no hiding spot in the living room that could accommodate two people; it seemed they would have to hide separately.

At that moment, an inexplicably strange odor drifted over.

Lu Guo's body stiffened, and he felt the blood in his veins suddenly freeze.

It's over.

It's here!

Lu Guo's mind was a chaotic mess, and waves of intense nausea surged from the depths of his heart!

Suddenly!

A pair of icy arms wrapped around his waist!

Holding onto a final shred of hope, Lu Guo looked down, wishing it were Qi Nian playing a prank on him.

Although he knew... this prank was likely not played by Qi Nian... but by the malicious ghost...

Sure enough... the arms that met his eyes were twisted in a grotesque manner; these... were definitely not human hands.

Lu Guo's face turned deathly pale, and a sense of despair suddenly welled up.

Is this... where it ends for me too?

He dared not turn his head, but as he thought of Lu Ran's face, he felt strangely at peace.

"Xiao Ran, Big Brother might... be coming to see you now."