After all, Gu Mian was a doctor, so he was able to determine the general direction of the heart based on the density and pathways of these blood vessel-like lines.
"Looking at the density distribution..." Gu Mian pointed in a certain direction. "It should be over there."
Fatty looked in the direction Gu Mian was pointing. Is that the location of the event's heart? "Doctor," he asked, "are you thinking of going over there to take a look?"
If the Doctor really went over there, he wouldn't just be taking a look, Fatty suspected. He'd definitely do sothing.
Gu Mian stroked his chin. "I'm guessing this event relies entirely on the heart to sustain itself. If the heart is damaged, the whole event will collapse with it."
That's all the more reason not to go!
Fatty rembered they were still in the real world. If the event collapsed, it would an the ghosts within it couldn't return to the instance world.
What a terrifying thought!
"Hear out," Gu Mian said, lowering his hand. "The event's heart is crucial, so the ghosts guarding it must be extraordinarily powerful."
Fatty, clutching his lantern, nodded in understanding.
"Therefore, the rewards for the lantern riddles around the heart are likely to be much higher."
Hearing Gu Mian's words, Fatty responded, "In theory, that makes sense, but I wonder if sothing unexpected will happen if we go there…"
Gu Mian understood Fatty's concerns.
He glanced at Chu Changge beside him. "Anyway, if an accident is ant to happen, it can happen anywhere."
There seed to be so truth to those words.
If the event was destined to collapse, it would collapse one way or another; that was the gist of it.
"Let's go," Gu Mian said, then started walking in that direction.
Chu Changge said nothing and followed.
Fatty, still sowhat worried, glanced towards Mr. Green. Mr. Green seed unaware that Gu Mian was heading towards the event's heart, his face a picture of serenity.
I hope this tranquility can last, Fatty prayed silently, then followed Gu Mian as well.
It was now past ten o'clock. The event had been ongoing for over three hours, and the group noticed they were encountering fewer and fewer players as ti went on.
Before, they could still spot players hurrying past in the distance, but now, they could walk a long way without seeing a single person.
Fatty felt a little dazed, as if they were in a deserted city.
"There must have been many casualties," Chu Changge said, his gaze on the ground.
Gu Mian recalled the large number of people who had entered the event. He wondered how many would leave it still standing.
"Speaking of which," Fatty said, looking around curiously, "I saw a lot of military personnel coming in earlier; how co we've only encountered those few, like Han Shan and his team, so far?"
Gu Mian shook his head. "Perhaps they grouped up and went elsewhere, and we just haven't crossed paths."
Hengdian had many scenic areas. Gu Mian and the others had been walking for hours and hadn't even finished exploring one, so not encountering others wasn't particularly strange.
The night wind whistled, blowing through the rows of pale lanterns hanging overhead. The lanterns swayed, bumping into each other and producing faint clinking sounds.
Fatty suddenly spoke up, "Right, Doctor, do you rember that Bai Wuchang we t earlier? The one nad Xie Bi'an."
"I rember," Gu Mian rubbed his chin. "He said soone was following us... and it seems the person following us is also being followed by sothing."
Fatty asked curiously, "But Doctor, you don't seem very concerned about who's following us."
"That's because I've already observed our surroundings," Gu Mian replied matter-of-factly. "Apart from that skittish green fellow, there's no one else. I'm also curious where this person he ntioned, the one supposedly following us, actually is." Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveIＦire
Fatty tilted his head. "Ah, there were quite a few tricksters before this ga started. Maybe that person was just trying to ss with us for fun?"
Gu Mian replied, "If so, he certainly has a lot of ti on his hands."
Just then, Chu Changge, who was beside them, suddenly stopped. "I don't think so."
Fatty looked at him, puzzled.
Chu Changge continued, "Doesn't this person sound familiar to you?"
Familiar?
Fatty was a bit puzzled. He'd only ever heard of people being 'familiar-looking,' not 'familiar-sounding.'
Chu Changge's voice went on, "The description of this person: completely covered up, not a single bit of skin showing, and a very pleasant voice..."
As Chu Changge described them, a mory surfaced for Fatty. "I rember when we were staying at the inn, wasn't there soone across from us who never left their room?"
The innkeeper had used those exact phrases: 'completely covered up' and 'an especially pleasant voice.'
This description... it sounds like the sa person...
A gust of night wind blew past, and Fatty couldn't help but shudder.
This person... they were nearby when we stayed at the inn, and now, even after entering the event, they're still hauntingly close.
"This person couldn't be a ghost, could they?" Fatty wanted to rub his arm where goosebumps had ford, but his clothes were too thick to feel them.
"Their na is strange too, taking the na of a ghost ssenger," Fatty muttered. "They can't actually be a ghost ssenger, can they?"
Chu Changge spoke up again, "In any case, it's best to be careful around this person. Try to avoid contact with them as much as possible in the future."
Fatty looked at Chu Changge in confusion. Was Chu Changge implying they would encounter this person again in the future?
With no external disturbances, the three of them made good ti.
Before long, Fatty heard the Doctor, who was leading, suddenly stop and then speak: "Judging by the direction of these lines, if we continue along this path, we should reach the heart in about five minutes."
Fatty craned his neck to look ahead. "Then let's keep going..."
Mid-sentence, he suddenly realized sothing and glanced at the ti. Damn, it was already 10:34 PM! Less than a minute until the next ghost wave.
When he saw the ti, Fatty's heart leaped. He quickly scanned their surroundings and spotted a row of small, two-story buildings not far away.
He imdiately dropped the lantern he was holding and pulled Gu Mian towards those buildings. Halfway there, the three of them suddenly heard a familiar voice.
They looked up to see a pale face peering out from a second-floor window of one of the buildings.
If they hadn't already heard movent from up there, the sight of that face would have scared most people half to death.
"Damn!" Fatty cursed. "Trying to scare people to death!"
Gu Mian imdiately took a closer look at the pale face above. It looked familiar—the face of a soldier they had encountered not long ago. Gu Mian rembered his na was Angry Guiguzi.
But the last ti I saw him, this fellow's complexion wasn't so pallid, Gu Mian thought. Did sothing happen to him?
"Hurry up and co up!" The pale face by the window spoke, his voice sowhat weak and not quite sounding like his own.
Fatty stared at the pale face, hesitating for a few seconds. Could the person up there really be human? he wondered. Or is it a ghost in disguise? Especially given how bizarre this situation is.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Fatty turned to Gu Mian and Chu Changge, as if wanting them to make the decision.
Chu Changge didn't hesitate and said imdiately, "Let's go to the building next to theirs."
Hearing this, Fatty imdiately started running towards the adjacent two-story building.
Ti was running out; if they delayed any longer, they might run straight into a ghost.
It didn't take long for the three of them to enter the building. As they did, they could hear Guigu's increasingly frantic voice from next door.
Even after they had climbed to the second floor of this building, they could still hear Guigu muttering curses from the building next door.
Gu Mian went to the window. From there, he had a clear view of the building opposite them and imdiately spotted Guigu's frantic face behind its window.
"You guys need to co over here! That house isn't safe!" The person opposite them, though clearly agitated, still tried to keep his voice down.
Guigu took a deep breath. "They're searching thoroughly! Hurry and co over, there's still ti!"
But just as he finished speaking, a rustling sound ca from outside.
The dangerous five minutes had begun.
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