They had already photographed the ghost, so why did Jin Ye Bai still die? Wenqin Tan Jiu couldn't figure it out. Could their earlier deductions have been wrong? Did they have to discard their previous conclusions and begin anew? A deep sense of despair filled him. But now he couldn't afford to be lancholy. The ghost was right behind them! All Wenqin Tan Jiu could do was frantically pedal the bike, trying to get as far away as possible from the place where Jin Ye Bai had died.
The ghost barriers had disappeared. The two of them pedaled furiously, not stopping until they had rushed through several intersections.
Hao Laoshi was so exhausted he was practically frothing at the mouth. He stopped by the roadside, leaning on a tree and coughing violently. He continued to look warily around him as he coughed, even pricking his ears to listen to the surrounding sounds. Only after confirming there were no anomalies did he relax.
Wenqin Tan Jiu wasn't in good shape either. The pain in his waist hadn't lessened, and the effort of pedaling the bike pulled on his waist muscles, making him grimace in pain. Eventually, he couldn't help but swear out loud, "Damn it, how the hell did this happen!"
The ghost was invisible. The photographs couldn't hold the ghost. All their previous assumptions were invalid.
Thinking of Jin Ye Bai's expression as he died, Wenqin Tan Jiu shivered. He really wanted to grieve for his friend, but the current situation didn't permit that. He had to focus on escaping, on finding a way to survive. Otherwise, he would end up like Jin Ye Bai, dead inside this horrifying instance.
"What do we do now..." Hao Laoshi coughed a few tis. "Should we keep fleeing?"
"Forget it," said Wenqin Tan Jiu, tightening his grip on the handlebars. "No matter how far we run, the ghost barriers will just bring us back. There's no point in futile efforts."
He touched his arm, which was covered in goosebumps. "Let's go find the others and see if we can co up with a viable plan."
He didn't sound very confident as he spoke. Wenqin Tan Jiu had witnessed the horror of this ghost. He wasn't sure how many people the ghost had killed before it got to Jin Ye Bai.
"There might be other players who have died." He took a deep breath. "I don't know how many are still alive."
Seven? Five? Three? Or were they the only two left?
A terrifying sense of isolation spread through the night, causing Wenqin Tan Jiu to shudder. He didn't dare to contemplate further.
"Let's get going," he said. "Since the ghost has brought us back here, I think the others might have experienced the sa thing... If we look around, we might find other surviving players nearby."
Wenqin Tan Jiu thought of the unreliable trio of doctors, of Ningng Busuan and Yu Ji, and of the lone wolf player, Su Lian. He wondered how many of them were still alive.
What he didn't know was that Gu Mian and his group had not fled at all; they had even gone back to rummage through the garbage can where they had discarded the photographs.
Ningng Busuan had also returned here. She hadn't encountered a ghost barrier; she had returned of her own volition.
Ningng Busuan limped alone down the empty street. There wasn't a soul around at this ti of night, save for her, hobbling along.
"Only the Polaroid cara can capture the invisible ghost. I must find Jin Ye Bai... I need to tell everyone that the ghost is invisible so they can be careful," she muttered to herself as she looked around, trying to find a place that sold phones.
She wanted to test if her phone's cara could capture the ghost. It's the middle of the night, and the shops are empty. I could just use a brick to break the glass and steal one, she mused.
She wasn't worried about being apprehended by the police but was slightly worried that she might not be able to break the glass of the phone store. That made Ningng Busuan think of the big guitar the doctor carried on his back. If she used that guitar to smash the glass, she would surely be able to break in easily, right?
After walking a considerable distance, she realized she needn't have worried. Because she hadn't co across a single phone store. Just her luck...
She was too tired to go on. Ningng Busuan had no choice but to stop and rest on the steps by the roadside.
She looked at the intersection not far in front of her. That was where the nine players had parted ways. She had chosen the road on the right. Wenqin Tan Jiu and his group had taken the more lively route on the left. The group of three doctors and Su Lian had both chosen to go straight ahead.
"I should go and find Wenqin Tan Jiu's group first; if I follow that road, I might run into them." Ningng Busuan knew in her heart it would be difficult to find anyone, but she had to try.
As she thought this, she pushed herself up on her legs, intending to continue onward. But then she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps behind her.
Ningng Busuan's spine chilled, and she imdiately started running forward without looking back. Oddly enough, the footsteps didn't follow.
After running a distance, she plucked up her courage to look back, only to see that it wasn't a ghost standing behind her, but Su Lian, notebook in hand. Su Lian just stood there silently, watching her.
"You... why are you here?" Ningng Busuan was sowhat shocked. She didn't expect to run into another player here.
Her shock quickly turned into caution. She stepped back a few paces, sowhat doubting whether the person in front of her was really Su Lian. She knew the ghost had been invisible when it killed Yu Ji, but who knows if the ghost might have other forms?
They were too far apart to check each other's player panels, so Ningng Busuan cautiously opened her mouth to verify. "How many players are listed on the ga's bounty board?"
If Gu Mian happened to be passing by, he would certainly be rendered speechless by her way of verification.
It seed Su Lian was also rendered sowhat speechless. She was quiet for two seconds before answering, "One."
Even though the answer was right, Ningng Busuan was still unsure. "How much is the current worth of this player?"
"One hundred thousand." Su Lian's eyebrows twitched as if afraid that the other would continue to ask questions pieceal. She added, "Gu Shiwan, who has seen his value increase multiple tis and has been brutally dealt with in instances like The Haunted High School, The Driving Exam for Spirit Cars, and Crazy Guessing Words..."
The situation was sowhat bizarre. In the middle of a horror instance, the two female players were engaged in a friendly ga of question and answer, with Su Lian even volunteering additional information.
Only after hearing the chain of responses from Su Lian did Ningng Busuan relax.
"Why are you here? Did you leave only to return?" Ningng Busuan moved forward a few steps and checked Su Lian's player panel.
"No, I've been around here the whole ti," Su Lian answered succinctly.
"You didn't leave?" Ningng Busuan was slightly startled. "Aren't you going to run?"
Su Lian didn't answer her question, only turned to look at her. "Your friend, you've separated?"
Hearing this, Ningng Busuan's expression dimd. "She's dead... You're right. We did run, but we couldn't escape the ghost."
Thinking of Yu Ji's death, Ningng Busuan wrinkled her brows at Su Lian. "Actually, the reason I ca back was to tell you, the ghost is invisible. Only the Polaroid cara can capture its image."
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