Keke, her face grave, leaned in beside Gu Mian, listening to Wang Chuan's voice on the phone.
When she heard him ask about Zhao Shuang's whereabouts, an 'I knew it' expression crossed Keke's face.
At that mont, Wang Chuan was anxiously holding an advertisent flyer, his eyes fixed on the words "Specializing in Infertility Treatnts." He said to Gu Mian on the other end of the phone, "Here's the thing. I saw a fan with an advertisent printed on it in Zhao Shuang's dormitory, and I ca across the sa flyer distributor today…"
Gu Mian and the others had also run into this person, but none of them had paid attention to his small ads about infertility treatnts.
Wang Chuan's voice ca through the phone. "He said he's always been distributing flyers not far from the accident site. On October first, when those colleagues passed by him, a few got off the bus to get so air. He said he took the opportunity to hand them a whole stack of ads. The advertisent he gave out that day was printed on fans…"
The man hadn't ntioned taking the opportunity to hand out flyers.
But Gu Mian recalled that there were indeed a few fans with ads printed on them in the vehicle; Xia Jianren had even used one to fan himself.
"The key thing is the fan I found in Zhao Shuang's dorm," Wang Chuan said, continuously flipping the flyer in his hand. "That fan was given to our colleagues by this man on October first. He's always been distributing flyers near the incident site. Zhao Shuang got off at the base halfway up the mountain. So, on October first, she shouldn't have been able to get anything this man was handing out!"
Logically, by the ti the bus reached the flyer distribution spot, Zhao Shuang should have already alighted.
Yet sothing she supposedly couldn't have obtained appeared in her dorm room.
This ant Zhao Shuang had lied to them. That day, she hadn't gotten off halfway; she had followed the bus all the way up the mountain.
Everything that happened after that… Zhao Shuang was there for all of it…
"She lied to us?" Keke squinted.
Gu Mian, holding the phone, shook his head. "No. When she was found, she was at the base halfway up the mountain. I don't think she consciously lied to us."
He paused for two seconds before continuing, "She has amnesia.
"She's forgotten what happened on October first, forgotten the cause of the conflict. She was found at the base halfway up the mountain and just assud she'd gotten off midway. She believes… she's still alive."
This would explain everything: why the group of survivors didn't wait at the scene but instead fled—it was because they saw sothing terrifying.
They saw Zhao Shuang die on the spot and turn into a ghost. Then they fled in panic, even splitting up.
The reason the ghosts haven't killed anyone yet is that the danger in this instance doesn't lie with them; it lies with Zhao Shuang.
Gu Mian said, holding the phone, "Zhao Shuang doesn't rember what happened that day. If she recalls that she's dead, it will likely trigger a total annihilation scenario."
She was most likely responsible for the bus crash too.
This woman was such a handful when she was alive; one can only imagine how much more malevolent and resentful she'd be after death.
Wang Chuan clutched the phone, cold sweat beading on his forehead. So my initial idea with Cang Yue was completely wrong! Helping Zhao Shuang regain her mory will only trigger the annihilation scenario!
"I… I'll call them again! Tell them absolutely not to investigate any further!" Wang Chuan said, hanging up and quickly dialing Cang Yue's number from his contacts.
But there was no answer; he had no idea what she was doing.
anwhile, Keke, beside Gu Mian, was also trying to call Xia Jianren.
But she couldn't get through either.
At that mont, Xia Jianren was nervously clutching one end of a rope, his eyes fixed intently on the dark cave entrance before him. He paid no mind to his silenced phone.
The sa was true for Cang Yue, who had entered the cave.
The cave entrance was initially narrow and dark, forcing Cang Yue to bend over to proceed. However, the further she went, the more spacious it beca. Eventually, she could even stand upright, and it was wide enough for two people to walk side-by-side.
The damp earthen walls exuded a musty, unpleasant odor.
Cang Yue still hadn't seen any sign of Zhao Shuang. She walked on for so distance before vaguely spotting a figure standing ahead with its back to her.
Approaching cautiously, she confird it was indeed Zhao Shuang.
In front of Zhao Shuang was a solid wall; it seed this was the end of the cave.
Strangely, at the foot of this wall, a square piece of blue-and-white striped cloth, about three square ters in size, lay spread out. It bulged unevenly, as if covering sothing underneath.
Judging by the shape, I can guess what it is, Cang Yue thought. People. Corpses.
Taking a few more steps forward, she could sll a putrid stench assaulting her nostrils.
It seems the missing people are dead too, Cang Yue mused. I just don't know why this cloth is covering them.
Just then, she saw Zhao Shuang reach out, seemingly intending to lift the cloth.
Instinctively feeling sothing was wrong, Cang Yue imdiately moved to stop Zhao Shuang's hand. "Don't touch it."
I'm afraid it might trigger so taboo.
Zhao Shuang turned to look at Cang Yue, who was holding back her hand. In the dim, shifting light, Zhao Shuang's face looked sowhat unsettling.
Gazing at the unsettling face before her, a peculiar sensation welled up in Cang Yue's heart.
"Alright," Zhao Shuang said, withdrawing her hand.
Cang Yue stared at her. "It's not very safe in here. How about we go out and wait for the others to arrive before coming back in?"
Zhao Shuang nodded and repeated the sa word as before, "Okay."
With that, she turned and started walking back the way they had co.
Seeing Zhao Shuang head back, Cang Yue finally breathed a sigh of relief. She glanced at the peculiar blue-and-white striped cloth behind her, planning to co back and investigate it with Gu Mian and Keke later.
But suddenly, a hand reached out from behind Cang Yue and abruptly yanked away the cloth.
Cang Yue looked back in surprise. It was Zhao Shuang, who had only pretended to leave and had now returned. Perhaps Zhao Shuang never actually intended to agree to my suggestion at all.
As the cloth was pulled away, what lay beneath was revealed.
Underneath, as expected, were corpses, lying haphazardly.
But Cang Yue hadn't expected to find *that* among them…
She had tried to stop Zhao Shuang from lifting the cloth only because she feared accidentally triggering so taboo. She never imagined there would be such an unexpected corpse underneath.
A female corpse, its features grotesquely twisted, lay sprawled on top of the other bodies.
Her limbs were bizarrely contorted, even elongated, spread out over the corpses beneath as if to prevent them from escaping.
And that face…
...was precisely Zhao Shuang's!
So, she was dead all along!
"AH."
Beside Cang Yue, Zhao Shuang suddenly twisted her head a full ninety degrees, an eerie face now directly confronting Cang Yue. "Ah, now I rember. I've been dead all along."
Cang Yue stumbled back several large steps, desperately pressing a button on her belt.
But to her dismay, after several seconds, she hadn't moved an inch. Zhao Shuang's mouth split into a grotesque grin. Cang Yue saw her raise a twisted hand, which was now clutching the rope that led out of the cave entrance.
"Gotcha," Zhao Shuang rasped.
「Outside the cave」
Xia Jianren was waiting, his anxiety mounting. There had been no sound or movent from the two who had gone inside, making him so antsy he felt like blisters were about to erupt on his lips.
Just then, he felt the rope in his hand twitch, followed by the sound of sothing being rapidly dragged out from the cave entrance before him.
His eyes widened as he stared at the vibrating rope. Did they run into danger? Otherwise, they wouldn't use this rope to co out.
He took two steps back, anxiously waiting for Cang Yue to erge so he could ask what was inside.
This special item was fast. In no ti, Xia Jianren felt the object on the other end reach the cave mouth. Two seconds later, he vaguely saw sothing being dragged out.
Then, the object was pulled by the rope right to his side.
Xia Jianren focused his gaze, only to see that the other end of the rope was no longer attached to Cang Yue, but to a severed lower torso.
He yelped, dropping the rope, and collapsed to the ground, trembling violently as he stared at the bloody ss at his feet.
Blood was still gushing from it, leaving a crimson trail all the way.
He recognized the clothing on the severed torso.
White sneakers, jeans, and the safety harness still tightly buckled around the waist—but the upper body was gone.
That's Cang Yue's outfit! She's dead!
He no longer cared about Zhao Shuang, who was still in the cave. Scrambling to his feet, he turned and fled, trembling, back the way he had co.
As he bolted, he heard rustling sounds from the cave behind him.
He dared to glance back once and saw a deathly pale face erge from the darkness, grinning at him.
It's Zhao Shuang! She's a ghost!
Xia Jianren couldn't care less why Zhao Shuang had beco a ghost; he just ran for his life, desperately hoping to run into Gu Mian.
But in his panic, he couldn't find the way back. After running for a while, he realized he was lost.
Fortunately, the ghost didn't seem to be chasing him.
His heart still pounding with fear, he cowered in a corner, staring at the bloodstains on his hand—splattered there when Cang Yue's lower half had been pulled out.
Just as he took a few deep breaths, preparing to run again, he noticed his phone screen lighting up in his pocket. It looked like soone was calling him.
That's right, my phone! I need to call Gu Mian and tell him to co quickly!
With this thought, he fumbled for his phone. The lit screen showed an incoming call.
It was a call from Cang Yue.
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