Blood covered the entire screen.
A bloodshot eye grew out of the screen!
The eye stared fixedly at Su Wu, and "Huang Zhicheng's" voice came through the phone's speaker: "I see you!"
"I see you!"
A jolt of fear shot through Su Wu, and he hurled the phone far away.
The phone struck the brick wall and landed in the corner, kicking up a puff of dust.
The screen was still lit, but the blood covering it suddenly vanished without a trace.
Bracing his palms against the ground, Su Wu got up and walked to the corner to check his phone.
Apart from some scuffs on its edges, the phone was undamaged. The group chat was still displayed on the screen, and the last message in the Work Group was from "Huang Zhicheng": "I see you!"
"That's it?"
Frowning, he picked up the phone again, opened his personal settings for the Work Group, and left the group.
He waited quietly inside the Little Temple for a few minutes, phone in hand.
Nothing unusual happened to the phone.
Nor was he added back into the Work Group.
"It looks like this supernatural entity spreads through 'Huang Zhicheng's' social media account, or through that Work Group. It probably has nothing to do with the phone itself.
"But 'Huang Zhicheng' just said he saw me. Does that mean it'll target me?
"If it catches me, will it drag me back to work more overtime?
"And 'Huang Zhicheng' only made threats in the group instead of appearing on the spot to take me away. Is that because the Little Temple itself prevented or blocked it from capturing me?"
The thought stirred anger in Su Wu.
Even with things this bad, that damned thing still wanted to squeeze more work out of him!
Grrrr...
A rumble came from Su Wu's stomach.
He rubbed his belly and felt his hunger growing rapidly.
He had already felt a little hungry while browsing all that information. He hadn't expected the hunger to become almost unbearable in just ten-odd minutes.
Had my future self skipped dinner?
I'm getting hungry way too fast.
Still, this is a reminder to prepare some basic supplies in advance and find somewhere near this little temple to store them.
That'll save a lot of trouble when I actually start trying to escape in reality. And going outside less often will greatly reduce the chances of the Lantern Fiend killing me.
Su Wu left his phone in the Little Temple and walked outside, dragging the Fiend Hand beneath his right armpit.
The red lanterns filling the sky had just disappeared, leaving the street's neon lights flickering.
The moment he stepped out of the Little Temple, he set his sights on a small convenience store several dozen meters away and ran toward it.
Hunger burned like a fire in his belly.
After only five or six strides, Su Wu felt his limbs weaken and his heart pound.
It was as though every step he had just taken-even the short time he had spent standing in the temple-had consumed an enormous amount of his stored energy!
How could this be happening?
Something's seriously wrong!
Su Wu slowed down. His first thought was that the supernatural entity in "Huang Zhicheng's" Work Group was responsible.
But he immediately dismissed that possibility.
His hunger had been growing all along. It had already become noticeable before he opened his phone.
Then the culprit behind his rapid energy consumption had to be the Fiend Hand under his armpit!
It came with far too many drawbacks!
So far, Su Wu had yet to discover any benefit it offered.
Fortunately, this was a simulated future. If he died, he could start over.
If this were reality, the Fiend Hand would surely drag him to his death, and then it really would be the end.
The seventy or eighty meters felt to Su Wu like an entire mountain trail marathon.
A marathon run with his energy nearly depleted and no food to replenish it.
Wary of the Lantern Fiend's return, Su Wu kept up his pace as best he could.
By the time he reached the convenience store, he had almost exhausted all his energy. He sank to his knees in front of the freezer by the entrance and gasped several times before forcing himself to stand and enter.
An electronic voice sounded faintly at that moment: "You have acquired a temporary talent: Hunger Endurance (white)." "Hunger Endurance (white): You are among those ordinary people who can better endure hunger. When extremely hungry, you can maintain 40% of your normal capacity for action."
Su Wu had no time to pay attention to the notification in his ears. Instead, he surveyed the convenience store before him.
The store was situated in a passageway.
Diagonally across from it stood a nail salon with its lights on, but no one was visible inside.
The shop was tiny, with only a row of glass counters at the front and a row of shelves holding snacks behind them.
Between the counters and shelves was an aisle just wide enough for one person.
Normally, the owner probably stood in that aisle and turned around to fetch whatever a customer asked for.
The owner was absent now, and there was no telling where they had gone.
Perhaps they had already died somewhere.
"Is the owner here?"
"Anyone here?"
Su Wu called out from the entrance as he walked inside and picked up biscuits, milk, and assorted snacks.
He hadn't expected anyone to answer.
Yet just then, a series of thumps came from the dark little door at the end of the aisle, as though someone had heard Su Wu's calls and was banging on the door in response.
"Someone's there?"
He looked toward the pitch-black door at the end and approached slowly, asking as he walked, "Are you in there?"
The pounding from behind the door grew louder and louder, but no voice answered Su Wu.
Eventually, Su Wu stopped in front of the door. Gripping the handle with one hand, he said, "If you don't answer, I'm opening the door."
Perhaps there was no person inside, only a puppy or kitten.
Or perhaps there was no pet either, but a supernatural entity deliberately luring Su Wu into opening the door.
Still, opening it now would be like setting off a trap ahead of time.
If he triggered every trap once in the simulation, he could avoid many dangers in reality.
Bang, bang, bang!
The pounding grew urgent, as though someone were nodding over and over, urging Su Wu, "Open it! Hurry up and open the door!"
Su Wu hesitated no longer. He took a deep breath, turned the handle, and pulled the door open!
He pressed himself against the shelves. The open door concealed his body, leaving only his feet and ankles exposed.
Thud!
It was as though someone had been leaning against the door and, caught off guard when it opened, pitched headfirst onto the floor.
Half of the person's body lay limply across Su Wu's feet.
Su Wu could clearly feel the bones and flesh of the person lying on his feet. He tried shifting his feet to let the person know they were pinned underneath and prompt them to get up.
But the person didn't move.
Dead?
The thought flashed through his mind.
Hearing something spinning through the air, Su Wu instantly made a connection, and a drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
He clenched his teeth, keeping himself hidden behind the door, and stayed silent in that triangular space.
Rrrrrr-
The sound of something rolling outside suddenly swept across the door.
Su Wu tilted his head back.
Above him, he saw a middle-aged man's head staring at him in terror. The slightly plump face had a pair of glasses perched on its nose, and "his" lips moved. "Help me, help-"
Before the head could finish speaking, it transformed into a crimson blood lantern.
Su Wu's head flew up after it.
The two lanterns spun out of the aisle and rose high into the sky.
Inside the little convenience store, Su Wu's headless body released its grip. The door swung freely as his corpse toppled forward onto another headless body.
The blood lanterns in the sky are made from living people's heads!
Those heads think they're still alive. They retain their will to survive and call out to the living for help!
And the instant they see a living person, that person's head turns into a blood lantern along with theirs!
As those thoughts flashed through his mind, Su Wu's vision plunged into total darkness.
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