Escape from the Lake

She was smiling, but Qin Manjiang heard something else beneath her words.

This Tenth Seat was not quite what he had first imagined. He had already noticed hints of that back in Xianyang Village.

For Zhong Xueran, ghost stories did not seem to be anything particularly frightening. She had shown almost no fear of death or ghosts.

Only now did Qin Manjiang begin to understand where that attitude came from.

It was not her courage or sunny disposition.

Rather... this Tenth Seat, who always seemed so cheerful, appeared to have self-destructive tendencies.

Perhaps she was not the only one.

Qin Manjiang glanced at Chen Zhiyuan, who was driving.

What sort of psychological problems might this seemingly friendly, mild-mannered Mr. Chen have?

They spent so long struggling between life and death, constantly moving between reality and the Game. They were all human. How could they possibly come through it unscathed?

Ironically, the person with the fewest problems in this car was Miss Xin.

Guanyin Lake lay in a remote mountain region in eastern Fu City.

After more than three hours on the road, the four of them finally arrived.

Before they even approached the reservoir, Qin Manjiang's heartbeat was already quickening.

The sky hung low, a dark, oppressive mass. Heavy rain would come soon.

Whether the dim lake water was reflecting the sky or not, it was too black to see the bottom.

The chilly breeze by the lake slipped through gaps in the leaves and brushed their faces like an icy hand, making them shiver involuntarily.

They got out of the car. Everything around them was silent.

Qin Manjiang and the other two could clearly see a blood-red line encircling the entire lake, but Xin Danchen could see nothing.

Her emotions had remained relatively steady. Even knowing she was about to enter another eerie world had not left her particularly panicked.

"Miss Xin, we're counting on you."

Chen Zhiyuan took an inflatable dinghy from the trunk as he spoke to her.

Xin Danchen gave a slight nod. That was what she had come for.

Her older brother had died under unexplained circumstances. Until she got to the bottom of it, she would never have peace of mind.

Yet just as they finished preparing everything and were about to send Xin Danchen onto Guanyin Lake, something unexpected happened.

Qin Manjiang, Zhong Xueran, and Chen Zhiyuan simultaneously felt a suffocating sensation, as though they were drowning.

All three immediately realized what had happened. They took out their phones and looked at the screens.

[Game over.]

[Exploration progress: one tenth.]

The next moment, the blood-red line of light abruptly vanished. At the very instant it disappeared, a figure emerged on the dark surface of the lake!

"Yang!"

Chen Zhiyuan recognized the figure. With the red line no longer blocking his way, he immediately rushed toward the shore.

But what happened next made everyone's scalp prickle with horror!

Yang was swimming desperately toward shore. Hearing Chen Zhiyuan's voice, he shouted, "Go! Get out of here!"

As soon as he shouted, Qin Manjiang and the others saw... a dense mass of deathly pale arms reaching up from the lakebed, grabbing at Yang!

The horrific sight left Xin Danchen frozen in terror. Zhong Xueran grabbed her and hurried away from the lake. Qin Manjiang was retreating too, but Chen Zhiyuan pushed the dinghy onto the water, jumped aboard, and paddled toward Yang.

But...

Despite his frantic paddling, no matter how hard he tried, the dinghy would not move at all!

It was simply... too bizarre.

Seeing this, Chen Zhiyuan jumped into the water without hesitation and swam toward Yang.

Only once he entered the water did he understand what Yang was enduring...

So many... so many people... a teeming mass of restless spirits!

Chen Zhiyuan glanced down into the water. It was filled with pallid corpses!

As the Fifth Seat, he had been through many rounds of the Ghost Story Game and witnessed plenty of terrifying, bizarre phenomena. Yet none of them had ever frightened him as much as what he was seeing now.

The dead beneath the water... were all watching him silently. Chen Zhiyuan felt as though his very soul were freezing solid.

"Chen Zhiyuan!"

Yang called Chen Zhiyuan's name as he swam desperately toward shore.

"Get back on land! You can't help me down here!"

He had almost shouted himself hoarse.

His friendship with Chen Zhiyuan had been forged through repeated brushes with death. They had saved each other from near-certain death so many times that neither could count who owed whom anymore.

On shore, Zhong Xueran was also stunned by the dense mass of corpses beneath the water. Still, she gritted her teeth, shoved the dumbstruck Xin Danchen into the back seat, and took an emergency rescue rope from the trunk. "Qin Manjiang! Throw them the rope and have them grab it! I'll use the car to pull them ashore!"

"Okay."

Qin Manjiang nodded and went over to take the rescue rope. It was designed to tow stranded vehicles and was extremely tough, so there was no danger of anyone snapping it.

Carrying the rope to the shore, Qin Manjiang assessed the situation. Chen Zhiyuan was closer to land, while Yang was still struggling desperately and in more immediate danger.

One end of the rope was weighted, making it easier to throw.

"Grab the rope!"

Qin Manjiang shouted from the shore.

Yang had no time to answer. His strength was almost exhausted, so he could only show through his actions that he had heard.

"Here it comes!"

At Qin Manjiang's shout, the rescue rope sailed over the lake and landed two or three meters in front of Yang.

Yang mustered every last bit of strength and kicked hard with both legs!

He kicked away a deathly pale ghostly hand and caught the rope by the narrowest of margins!

"Pull!"

Qin Manjiang turned and shouted to Zhong Xueran.

Zhong Xueran immediately started the vehicle. The SUV's powerful engine dragged Yang swiftly toward shore.

At last, Qin Manjiang caught hold of Yang and hauled him onto land.

Without even a moment to catch his breath, he hurriedly threw the rescue rope to Chen Zhiyuan.

Chen Zhiyuan had already been swimming back. Despite the scare, he caught the rope securely and was pulled ashore without further incident.

None of the three spoke. They turned and ran for the SUV.

Bang!

As soon as the door shut, Yang said, "Go!"

Zhong Xueran immediately floored the accelerator, and they sped away from the shores of Guanyin Lake.

A silvery-white chain appeared beneath the low, gloomy sky.

Rumble-

A muffled clap of thunder followed close behind.

Rain came pouring down in an instant.

Yang slumped beside the window in the back seat, raising an arm to cover his eyes. His chest kept heaving as he gasped for breath.

He was soaked through. Though the body beneath his clothes was strong and muscular, healthy and beautiful as a sculpture, he had clearly reached his limit.

The car was silent apart from his panting. No one spoke.

Only after they reached the highway back to the city did Xin Danchen ask in a trembling voice:

"My brother and all of you... were playing games with those things?"

Zhong Xueran glanced in the rearview mirror. "There's more to it than that, Miss Xin. Even though you know about us, my advice is... stay as far away from us as you can."

"We... bring misfortune."

Xin Danchen said nothing more.

The downpour seemed to foreshadow something.

Qin Manjiang glanced at Yang from time to time, then at Chen Zhiyuan.

Yang was a little younger than he had imagined.

He had thought the man would be at least in his thirties, nearing forty.

He had not expected to meet a young man in his twenties today.

After a long while, Yang lowered his arm. His eyes were tired but clear. "Thank you for what you did back there, Qin Manjiang."

Qin Manjiang shook his head without speaking.

Chen Zhiyuan finally recovered his breath as well. "I can't even imagine how you survived all these days..."

Yang shook his head. After a moment's thought, he said, "It was that ghost... it's different."

He looked at Qin Manjiang again.

"I think it has something to say to you."

(End of chapter)