Nowadays, most of these latch locks are in a locked state because they have not been maintained for years. The tal latches are rusted shut, making each compartnt like an iron coffin.
And at this mont, Kato Shinjiro noticed that not far from them, there was a latch on an iron door that was unlocked.
The door hadn’t been opened; only the latch was unlocked.
Kato Shinjiro cautiously walked over, noticing the latch looked as if soone had unlocked it recently, with fresh marks and rust peeled off in front of the door.
The first thing Kato Shinjiro thought of was Yamamoto Chunai, who ventured into the Underground City alone last night; it seed she had been here.
"Mr. Katou, that thing is catching up to us. What... What should we do?" Sakai Misaki was just an ordinary person; faced with such a predicant, she almost lost her ability to think, placing all her hopes on Kato Shinjiro, hoping he could lead them to survive.
Faced with such desperation, Kato Shinjiro did not hesitate and imdiately called Sakai Misaki to push the door together. But as the door opened and the dust mixed with a decayed sll hadn’t yet dispersed, a sound inside startled both of them.
"Mr. Katou! It’s you!"
This voice nearly frightened Sakai Misaki into fainting. As she fixed her gaze, she saw a figure lying on the ground behind the iron door; it was Yamamoto Chunai, who was chased off the bus last night.
At this mont, Yamamoto Chunai was curled up on the ground in a strange posture. From her angle, only half of Yamamoto Chunai’s face was visible, as she tried her best to look at them.
"Ahh!!" Suddenly, Sakai Misaki let out a piercing scream when she inadvertently saw a figure deep in the room.
A naked, blurry humanoid creature lay in the dark corner, like it had been lted by strong acid, its form stuck to the ground, half of its face fused with the floor.
The most terrifying thing was, the eyes of the humanoid were still fixedly staring at their location.
"Clap"
"Clap"
The sound of clapping hands was getting closer and closer. Kato Shinjiro tried to move Yamamoto Chunai, but as their bodies touched, the Fierce Ghost seed to detect sothing, and the clapping sound suddenly sped up.
"You... You better run! This ghost can locate people through the clapping sound; hiding won’t work!"
"Anyone caught by it won’t die but will be trapped here forever!"
Last night, Yamamoto Chunai was caught by this Clapping Ghost, and her body felt as if it was injected with an excessive amount of anesthetic, paralyzed and unable to move.
Only her consciousness remained clear, which was the most horrifying part.
Sakai Misaki looked towards the corner at that human silhouette. Its broken mouth was still moving, emitting sounds unlike any human voice, this dreadful scene nearly drove her to collapse.
The clapping sound was increasingly close. Kato Shinjiro no longer hesitated, withdrawing from the room with Sakai Misaki, but they had been cornered in a dead-end alley, leaving no route of escape.
"Mr. Katou, what do we do now?" asked the deeply panicked Sakai Misaki.
"Miss Zuo Bo, calm down! We have two options now."
"The first one is we charge out from the front, gambling that the ghost’s movents aren’t fast; at least one of us can survive."
"The second option is to try climbing onto the roofs of these houses and leave from above."
"You choose."
Kato Shinjiro spoke quickly, maintaining composure.
"I choose the second option. Let’s take the second route!" Sakai Misaki said excitedly.
This was a decision she didn’t need to consider, as she definitely lacked the courage to face the Source Ghost directly; just a glimpse would scare her to death.
She was always timid, barely ever walking alone at night.
Moreover, she feared Kato Shinjiro might sell her out, since the first option sounded unreliable, like setting a trap for escaping quietly as a golden cicada sheds its shell.
"Alright, let’s hope your choice was right; help climb up first, and then I’ll pull you up," Kato Shinjiro said.
"No, please help up first. I... I’m scared; my hands and feet are too weak. I’m afraid I won’t be able to support you," pleaded Sakai Misaki, on the verge of tears.
Ti was pressing, so Kato Shinjiro didn’t waste any words. He picked a position, squatted down first, and let Sakai Misaki step on his shoulder, steadying herself against the wall, then he slowly exerted his strength, pushing her up.
This thod was truly dangerous, difficult to stay balanced, and the chance of success in reality was very low. But perhaps boosted by a survival instinct, Sakai Misaki managed to do it on the first try.
Using her hands and feet, she finally climbed onto the roof of a one-story building, panting heavily with exhaustion, while the clapping sound had reached nearby, seeming to echo from the alley entrance.
"Miss Zuo Bo, give a hand! Quickly pull up!" Kato Shinjiro stretched his arm upward as far as possible, urging repeatedly.
But after climbing up, Sakai Misaki rely glanced down at him, then looked towards the direction of the clapping sound, full of terror, and in the next mont, sprinted away:
"Sorry, Mr. Katou!"
Sakai Misaki abandoned Kato Shinjiro, fleeing alone, knowing full well that the Clapping Ghost would not cease its chase until it killed soone.
If she saved Kato Shinjiro this ti, even if they survived now, they would face continuous pursuit by the Clapping Ghost.
And next ti, her luck and opportunity wouldn’t be as favorable; next ti, she would definitely be the one to die.
Her fondness for Kato Shinjiro was genuine; he was an outstanding man, soone she admired. In the outside world, if such a man cared for her with tenderness, she would undoubtedly embrace him.
But here, it wouldn’t work. She was clear-headed enough to know how to weigh love and life, and well aware that in this harsh reality, there’s no reason for such a splendid man to fall in love with her. Envisioning such a romance was sheer delusion; he surely had ulterior motives.
Kato Shinjiro’s expression in the dark tunnel had confird it all, she was likely his prepared pathfinder, a Substitute Death.
As Sakai Misaki ran so distance away, she suddenly halted; there was nowhere left to go.
A barbed-wire fence encircled her, completely sealing off her movable area.
Because previously it had been Kato Shinjiro leading the way, carrying her on his back, she hadn’t noticed this.
And when she turned back, she saw Kato Shinjiro appear on another rooftop; he moved with excellent technique and speed, nothing like the fatigued state he portrayed before.
She watched as Kato Shinjiro ran to the side of the large iron door blocking their escape route, skirted around it, jumped off the roof, and vanished.
There were no fences around that side of the rooftop, just a few guard post-like observation points; the rest lay open.
At that mont, Sakai Misaki understood everything: it was all Kato Shinjiro’s calculation. He had anticipated she would abandon him and escape alone.
He wanted precisely this outco, for her to willingly lead the Fierce Ghost away so that he could flee.
Unfortunately, she realized it too late. No wonder Kato Shinjiro kept poring over the map; he was finding her burial ground.
Now, Sakai Misaki couldn’t utter a word; it was she who left him behind first.
"Clap"
"Clap"
The clap interrupted her thoughts, pulling her back to reality. She didn’t want to end up like Yamamoto Chunai, holding onto consciousness but trapped forever in this terrifying, forgotten underground world.
The clapping was closing in, clearly targeting her, and no matter how Sakai Misaki tried to flee, escape was impossible.
Desperately, Sakai Misaki had no choice but to jump down from the roof, breaking her right leg, unable to stand.
"Ahhh!!" Sakai Misaki clutched her broken leg, screaming in agony until the clapping ca near her.
"Clap"
"Clap"
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