Although Lan Xingchen had inexplicably called himself a sinner and said he wanted to save people to atone for his sins, when Qiu Man tried to ask him why, he refused to say another word.
But at least he agreed to let the Qiu sisters and Su Bai go to Building 1 with him.
"Next time, you don't need to think so much." Lan Xingchen looked at Qiu Man, his tone gradually becoming as calm as if she were merely a passing stranger. "As long as you ask for help, I'll come to save you, whether you're an old acquaintance or someone I've never met."
"What if you die?" Although Qiu Man had no intention of appealing to his feelings again, she still couldn't understand the logic behind Lan Xingchen's actions.
"Die?" Lan Xingchen actually gave a bitter laugh. "That would be... wonderful."
Lan Xingchen turned and left, his retreating figure as heavy as a gravestone.
Su Bai kept a low profile at the rear of the group, but before leaving Building Two, he made a point of glancing at its large screen. The score between the supernatural entities and the human players had changed again-
95:100
The score brought a few details to Su Bai's attention. Since the game began, he alone had dealt with the ghostly figure in the elevator, the female ghost beneath the tree, the cat-keeping "her," and Mr. Lin Yongxian in the room next door. Lan Xingchen and the other players might also have confronted ghosts head-on, so eliminating five ghosts was perfectly reasonable.
But if Su Bai remembered correctly, "she" and those cats had devoured every supernatural entity on the fourth floor except Lin Yongxian. In other words, ghosts killed by other ghosts didn't count as lost points, much less as player kills.
That wasn't hard to understand. From another perspective, though, to ensure the game was fair, the number of ghosts in this game had to be far greater than a hundred.
An extremely dangerous thought even crossed Su Bai's mind-would players killed by other players still count as lost points?
Perhaps because Su Bai would never conduct an experiment that invited such trouble, he quickly pushed that dangerous thought aside. For now, he was more interested in the motives behind Lan Xingchen's actions.
The dangers of the Nightmare World could make time feel long and boring to some veteran players. So it wasn't just Su Bai; other veterans would also find their attention inadvertently drawn to interesting things.
Lan Xingchen was an exception, which naturally made him interesting.
With frail newcomers like the Qiu sisters and Su Bai in the group leaving Building Two, climbing walls and going through windows to enter Building 1 was out of the question. Never mind the newcomers-even Lan Xingchen himself probably couldn't move silently between the two buildings the way Su Bai had while borrowing the puzzle piece's power.
One careless move might cause an even bigger disturbance.
So after leaving through Building Two's glass doors, Lan Xingchen led the other three along the wall. First, he wanted to put as much distance as possible between their group and the Ghost Creatures sunbathing outside. Second, trees had been planted near the residential buildings, and their shadows should conceal the group.
Stepping on the grass made noise, and accidentally treading on a branch in the dark would make noise too. Aside from those unavoidable sounds, all four of them practically held their breath, afraid even an extra gasp might alert the rows of Ghost Creatures.
Although Su Bai had quite a few trump cards, he hadn't forgotten that he had started his life over. With his current strength, even using every trump card might only let him take these Ghost Creatures down with him, so he obediently held his breath along with the others.
Although most of the Ghost Creatures had their attention fixed on the Red Moon, Su Bai still noticed some movement among them as Lan Xingchen led the Qiu sisters forward.
Some Ghost Creatures had noticed their movements almost as soon as they stepped outside and had even looked their way. But perhaps the false memories of "Happiness Residential Complex" were still taking effect, because the Red Moon in the sky seemed to hold more appeal than Su Bai and his companions.
Two ghosts, however, began moving among the rows. They didn't merely turn to look toward Su Bai's group. Once the players approached Building 1, they left the moonbathing crowd and walked toward them.
One of the ghosts suddenly vanished as it approached, while the other trailed a short distance behind Su Bai and the others.
It was a ghost dressed like a butcher from a horror film, with a fierce, hulking build and a bloodstained butcher's knife in hand. It wore a long black waterproof apron and long gloves, and even its feet were encased in tall black waterproof rain boots. Every step it took in the darkness made a dull thud and left a bloody footprint.
The butcher's appearance was all too classic. Rather than a vengeful ghost driven by obsession and resentment, it seemed more like an evil ghost that delighted in slaughter.
Lan Xingchen quickened his pace, clearly unable to ignore the butcher's utterly undisguised footsteps behind them. They could already see the lights of Building 1's lobby nearby. Just a few more steps would get them there.
If the Butcher Ghost attacked before Su Bai and the others entered Building 1, the disturbance might rouse every ghost outside. At that point, Su Bai would at most be able to protect himself.
If the Butcher Ghost attacked after they entered Building 1, Lan Xingchen might be able to handle it himself, and Su Bai wouldn't mind lending a hand.
Of those two possibilities, Su Bai leaned toward the latter.
After all, the Butcher Ghost followed them step by step, as if watching prey already in its grasp take one final stroll before death. Despite its butcher's appearance, the ghost behind them clearly wasn't mindless.
If it attacked outside Building 1, the four delicious morsels that were Su Bai and his companions might have to be divided among over a hundred ghosts. Better to wait until they entered Building 1, when it could savor the taste of humans all by itself.
"Run!" With Building 1's lobby just ahead, Lan Xingchen grabbed Qiu Man's hand and broke into a sprint toward its glass doors. "You two behind us, keep up!"
Qiu Lei, the younger sister, and Su Bai quickly followed.
Just a few steps remained before they could rush through Building 1's entrance when the Butcher Ghost's footsteps behind them grew faster and faster.
Up ahead, Lan Xingchen had already pulled Qiu Man into Building 1. Su Bai matched his pace to Qiu Lei's and entered alongside her, letting Lan Xingchen time it precisely to shut the glass security door behind them and immediately lock it.
Mere glass couldn't stop an enraged evil ghost. When Su Bai saw Lan Xingchen standing guard beside the door with a grave expression, he knew the veteran understood that too. Like Su Bai, however, Lan Xingchen was gambling that the Butcher Ghost wouldn't want to smash the glass outright and alert the hundred-plus Ghost Creatures outside.
In a nightmare game, they had to buy as much time as they could.
"Get away from the glass door!" Su Bai suddenly noticed something wrong inside the ground-floor lobby and pushed Qiu Lei farther away. "Look at the wall beside the door!"
At Su Bai's warning, Lan Xingchen and the others looked toward the white wall beside the glass entrance.
In the light of the ground-floor lobby, a woman in a long dress appeared on the wall, poised on tiptoe. Her head hung low, and a rope suspended her by the neck. At a glance, she was unmistakably a hanged female ghost that had become a shadow!
Su Bai remembered that, outside, another ghost besides the Butcher Ghost had noticed them. But that female ghost had vanished as she walked.
Now it seemed she hadn't vanished at all. She had turned into a shadow and followed alongside them, even entering the building with them!
The Hanged Ghost's shadow began to move on the wall. Her left hand lengthened bit by bit, reaching toward the lock on the security door...
She was opening the door for the Butcher Ghost!
Before you continue