Yes, Bai Xiaoxiao had disappeared.
That morning, Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng knocked on her door together, but Bai Xiaoxiao never came to open it.
Puzzled, they assumed Bai Xiaoxiao had gotten up early and gone to eat first. But when they reached the Dining Hall, there was no sign of her there either.
Ning Qiushui asked the Dining Hall staff, but the elderly man serving the food told him he hadn't seen Bai Xiaoxiao.
Sensing something was wrong, the two hurried back to the Guesthouse and went to Bai Xiaoxiao's door.
A gentle turn of the handle was all it took to open the door.
There was no one inside.
The faint scent of Bai Xiaoxiao's shampoo still lingered in the room.
"This is bad..."
Liu Chengfeng murmured.
"Don't tell me Sister Bai ran into a ghost last night!"
Ning Qiushui checked the room, then shook his head, his expression grave.
"There are no signs of a fight or a struggle, and she took her backpack with her. Judging by those details, Sister Bai probably left her room of her own accord..."
Liu Chengfeng frowned.
"Of her own accord?"
Ning Qiushui replied:
"Yes."
"Sister Bai isn't reckless. If she took the risk of leaving alone, she must have discovered something extremely important last night!"
Ning Qiushui wasn't very confident himself.
The state of the room told him Bai Xiaoxiao had left voluntarily, but he wasn't sure she would return alive.
After all, this village was far too sinister!
Especially the Back Mountain beyond the woods in front of the Guesthouse.
They still hadn't been there.
In their judgment, that place was probably a forbidden area within this Blood Gate, far more dangerous than any of the other attractions!
Approaching it rashly could very well lead to something they couldn't foresee!
"Buddy, where do you think Sister Bai could have gone?"
Ning Qiushui shook his head at Liu Chengfeng's question.
He couldn't imagine what she had seen last night that could have driven the ever-cautious Bai Xiaoxiao to do something like this.
"Let's wait a little longer. We still have time. Don't rush."
"The most important thing now is to stay calm. Once we panic, things can easily go wrong!"
Liu Chengfeng nodded.
But their wait lasted an entire day.
By the time night fell again, Bai Xiaoxiao still hadn't returned.
Now, not only Liu Chengfeng but the other three were growing restless too.
"What? Bai Xiaoxiao is missing too?"
The bespectacled man was utterly shocked.
That morning, they had also discovered someone missing from their team.
-Luo Yan.
She had disappeared that morning too.
But Ning Qiushui and Liu Chengfeng had been so preoccupied with worrying about Bai Xiaoxiao's whereabouts that they hadn't known about it, and the two teams had barely spoken.
Only that evening did they realize that two people had gone missing the night before!
"In that case... could Sister Bai have followed Luo Yan out last night?"
Ning Qiushui nodded.
"It's possible."
"Are we going to do anything tonight, then?"
The bespectacled man looked nervous, his complexion poor.
They didn't have much time left.
A day seemed long, but it could slip away in the blink of an eye.
"We don't have any Ghost Artifacts to keep us alive. Moving around at night is far too dangerous. Let's wait until daylight tomorrow!"
After considering it for a moment, Ning Qiushui abandoned the idea of taking action that night.
In their previous Blood Gate, they had only acted at night because the rules had given them an explicit hint.
Bai Xiaoxiao had told them before that unless there were special circumstances, it was best not to wander around at night, because the worlds beyond the Blood Gates were usually extremely dangerous after dark!
Everyone checked their rooms again, making sure the Wooden Plaque wasn't there before locking their doors.
Only after everyone had gone into their rooms did Ning Qiushui quietly slip out of his own and enter Bai Xiaoxiao's room once more.
His search during the day had been rather cursory, and there were places he hadn't checked.
After thinking about it all day, Ning Qiushui felt that someone as cautious as Bai Xiaoxiao would never leave them nothing, even if she was acting alone.
So that night, he entered Bai Xiaoxiao's room again.
This time, beneath her pillow, he found the Bloodstained Bronze Mirror, its surface covered in cracks.
Ning Qiushui was familiar with this bronze mirror.
Earlier, at the Everlasting Well, Liu Chengfeng had nearly been dragged inside by the ghost at the bottom. Bai Xiaoxiao had saved him with this very mirror!
She deliberately left us a Ghost Artifact. Does that mean... she knew something might happen to her?
Holding the mirror, Ning Qiushui stood in Bai Xiaoxiao's room and looked at the figure reflected in it. Suddenly, he froze.
Although it was dark now, the moon outside the window was fairly bright. Even with the room's lights off, Ning Qiushui could see that the person in the cracked bronze mirror wasn't him.
It was a woman... with long, loose hair, dressed in bridal robes.
The sight was certainly unsettling, but Ning Qiushui knew the woman inside the bronze mirror wouldn't harm him.
The bronze mirror still has its supernatural power. It hasn't been sealed, which means Bai Xiaoxiao is still alive!
Ning Qiushui's eyes brightened slightly.
Even aside from the second letter he had received outside the gate, he didn't want Bai Xiaoxiao to die in this Blood Gate.
After all, Bai Xiaoxiao had entered this Blood Gate to guide them.
By rights, the dangerous tasks should have fallen to the two of them.
Ning Qiushui didn't like owing people favors.
I'd better wait until daylight... Even with a bronze mirror to protect me, going out at night is still a bad idea.
Ning Qiushui returned to his room and lay down to rest.
He couldn't settle his mind, constantly worrying about whether Bai Xiaoxiao would survive.
The second mysterious letter he had received outside said that Bai Xiaoxiao must not die in his second Blood Gate.
If Bai Xiaoxiao dies... what will happen?
Although Ning Qiushui didn't know who had sent him the mysterious letter, he could sense that the sender wouldn't harm him, at least not in the short term.
Otherwise, he could never have made it out of the first Blood Gate alive!
"Ugh..."
He lay in bed for a long time without falling asleep.
And so, in a restless haze, he watched the sky outside grow light.
The first rays of the morning sun fell into his room. Ning Qiushui sat up wearily, quickly washed up, then knocked on everyone's doors to wake them.
"Just say the word, buddy. Where are we going?"
Liu Chengfeng was his usual self.
After their experience in the first Blood Gate, he seemed to trust Ning Qiushui completely!
"I thought it over last night. There are only two places Bai Xiaoxiao would have gone."
"The first is the Back Mountain beyond the woods."
"The second is Spirit Medium Ruan's home!"
"The Back Mountain is far too dangerous. Let's find a way to search the Spirit Medium's home first."
The bespectacled man frowned.
"But that Spirit Medium is no pushover either. If she catches us, we'll be in serious trouble!"
Ning Qiushui nodded.
"We certainly can't just walk in, so we need to find a way to lure the Spirit Medium away first!"
P.S. Two more updates to come.
Before you continue