Puzzle Pieces

Only when Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng were back aboard the driverless bus did they truly breathe a sigh of relief.

"We... we made it out alive, right?"

Liu Chengfeng, the man with the bushy beard, panted heavily. Through the window, he watched the terrifying, lanky female ghost enter the distant villa, and only then realized his legs had turned to jelly.

"Yes."

Ning Qiushui gave a brief reply.

After that, neither of them spoke again.

Five days had passed. Of the seven people who had originally boarded this bus, only two remained.

Liu Chengfeng felt an inexplicable emptiness inside.

He had hardly been close to the others, but watching them die such miserable deaths before his eyes inevitably left him grieving for people whose fate could so easily have been his own.

After all, he too had come that close to death.

Without Ning Qiushui, he would most likely have met the same end as the others.

Shortly after the two boarded, the bus closed its doors and slowly pulled away.

Before long, they passed through the curtain of rain and entered the mist once more.

Drowsy and dazed, they fell asleep on the bus.

When they woke again, it was already early the next morning.

Ning Qiushui shifted his stiff body and looked outside.

They had already arrived outside the courtyard of the black villa.

"Hey, big guy. Wake up."

Ning Qiushui nudged Liu Chengfeng, who jolted awake and shouted:

"A ghost! The ghost is here!"

"Run!"

Ning Qiushui watched speechlessly as Liu Chengfeng flailed around. Poor bastard. Being hunted by ghosts during a Blood Gate mission wasn't enough-he even had to work overtime in his dreams.

Only after confirming that the person beside him was Ning Qiushui did Liu Chengfeng wipe the sweat off his face and gasp:

"You scared me half to death, buddy!"

Ning Qiushui pointed at the black courtyard outside.

"Let's get off. We're here."

They got off one after the other and walked into the black villa.

When they entered the hall again, they found only one person there.

It was the exceptionally beautiful teenage boy.

He looked like a porcelain doll, with rosy, fair skin and a small, slender frame. If he hadn't spoken, almost no one would have guessed he was a boy.

"Why are you here alone?"

Liu Chengfeng frowned.

Seeing the two return alive from beyond the Blood Gate, the boy was noticeably warmer toward them than before.

"Uncle Yan had something to take care of, so he went back to our old world. Sister Xiaoxiao went to guide some newcomers through a Blood Gate, and the other person's cooking in the kitchen."

Ning Qiushui's eyes flickered.

"We can still go back to our old world?"

The boy poked at the coals in the stove.

"Why wouldn't we?"

"If we can come here by bus, naturally we can take the bus back."

"Ugh..."

As he spoke, he sighed and rubbed his long hair.

"I hate this part the most. Every time newcomers arrive, I have to explain so, so much that my mouth goes dry... What's worse, sometimes I explain the rules to them today, and they're dead the next week."

"But at least you two made it out of the Blood Gate alive. If you have any questions, ask them now."

The two exchanged glances. After a moment's thought, Ning Qiushui asked:

"What's the deal with the Blood Gates and the mist?"

The boy replied:

"It's a curse."

"We're all cursed. The mist is a separate world, cut off from the world outside. You can only enter or leave by taking a bus in the Mist World."

"This villa and its courtyard are called a Haunted Lodge. There are lots of Haunted Lodges like ours in the Mist World, and likewise, there are lots of Blood Gates."

"Every so often, we have to enter the terrifying worlds beyond the Blood Gates and complete the missions written on them. While doing everything we can to survive, we also have to collect as many Puzzle Pieces as possible."

"Once we've gathered twelve Puzzle Pieces, we can take the completed puzzle aboard a bus and travel to the end of the Mist World."

As he spoke, the boy pointed at a picture frame high up in the hall.

The two looked over. Half the puzzle in the frame had already been assembled.

The picture appeared to depict a rotting human head.

There was also an eye-like hole in its forehead, oozing blood. It looked utterly grotesque!

"What's at the end of the Mist World?"

Ning Qiushui asked, and the boy shrugged.

"That, I don't know."

"None of us have ever been there, after all."

"Also, don't blame us for being so cold before... As you know, death is commonplace in this world. If you made a truly close friend, only for them to die in a world beyond a Blood Gate, you'd be devastated."

At this point, the boy's expression grew subdued.

"Did something happen here before...?"

Ning Qiushui seemed to understand something, but before he could finish his question, the boy nodded.

"About half a month before you arrived, Uncle Yan's best friend, Uncle Mang... died beyond a Blood Gate."

"And Sister Xiaoxiao's best friend, Zhizi... took her own life to join him."

"So everyone has been in a pretty bad mood."

The two recalled the heavy atmosphere in the hall when they first entered the Haunted Lodge. Now they could understand it.

"All right, it's almost time to eat. Afterward, if you don't want to stay here, you can wait for the bus at the stop outside the villa."

"In a week, when it's time for you to enter a Blood Gate for your second mission, the bus will come pick you up in advance..."

The four sat across from one another at the dining table, silently digging into their food.

"To be honest, your cooking really isn't that great..."

After a few bites, Liu Chengfeng couldn't resist complaining.

Meng Jun, who had cooked the meal, looked up and gave Liu Chengfeng a cold stare.

"If you don't like it, throw it away. Or cook for yourself."

Liu Chengfeng was an outspoken man with a temper of his own. He had been about to snap back, but when his eyes met Meng Jun's, he shrank back instead.

Meng Jun's gaze was terrifying.

For an instant, Liu Chengfeng actually felt as though a knife were pressed against his throat!

He was almost certain that this man named Meng Jun... had killed before!

Still, Liu Chengfeng wasn't one to take things lying down. Stiffening his neck, he declared:

"Fine, I'll cook for myself!"

"Let me make this clear. Starting today, I, Liu Chengfeng, am the head chef here. From now on, as long as I'm around, none of you are allowed in the kitchen. Whatever you want to eat, I'll make it!"

He delivered the most spineless words in the toughest tone.

Ning Qiushui couldn't help chuckling.

Over the meal, he learned that four veterans remained in this Haunted Lodge. Liang Yan was its leader, and had been the first to arrive.

The boy's name was Tian Xun. He was an orphan who had only his younger sister to rely on, just as she had only him.

Meng Jun was Liang Yan's close friend from the outside world. He had once been a soldier and had seen combat on the border.

The only woman, the alluring beauty Bai Xiaoxiao, was shrouded in mystery. No one knew much about her background, only that in the outside world... she was a formidable figure.

During the meal, Ning Qiushui also brought up the Red-Clothed Female Ghost from their first Blood Gate. To his surprise, after hearing about her, Meng Jun and Tian Xun said nothing.

"Hey... why aren't you saying anything?"

Seeing the two fall so silent, Liu Chengfeng couldn't help demanding an answer.

No sooner had he spoken than Meng Jun picked up his plate and headed for the kitchen.

"I'm full."

He said it flatly.

But both of them could sense the change in Meng Jun's attitude toward them.

The shift was jarringly abrupt...

It was as though spring had only just begun to warm up, only to plunge suddenly back into the depths of winter.