Chapter 10 Being Targeted

A buzzing sound rang out, and with it, their souls seemed to tremble.

It was the sound of the door appearing.

It came from the direction of the attic.

At the same time, the boat slowly retreated, then quickly sped towards the shore. Fatty's hand was still frozen in mid-air until, after a moment, he seemed to return to himself.

He slowly squatted down, his large frame huddled together, looking from behind like a stray dog with no home to return to.

The shadows of the group were reflected in the water, rising and falling with the waves, sometimes clear, sometimes blurred.

The boat bumped against the shore. The iron door's existence was limited, so everyone quickly jumped off the boat and ran towards the attic.

But no one noticed that one shadow in the water did not leave with its master, but remained in the water.

The shadow turned its head, staring intently at the backs of the others.

On the lake's surface, An Xuan's face became increasingly venomous, and finally slowly disappeared.

"Huff... huff..."

The group's speed gradually slowed down. Even Fatty sensed that something was wrong. They had been to Huang Shao's attic more than once, but never like this...

"What's going on?" Chen Qiang said, panting heavily. He stared at the top of the attic visible to the northwest, a puzzled look in his eyes.

They had been running for at least ten minutes, and each time they thought they were close, a glance up revealed that the distance to the attic had barely changed.

It seemed they had been running in vain.

The buzzing sound was already showing signs of dissipating.

Jiang Cheng turned his head, looking at An Xuan, who had been following at the end of the group without saying a word, his eyes eerily calm.

The next second, Xia Meng seemed to realize something as well, making the same movement as Jiang Cheng, but her eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

The situation was now clear.

An Xuan was being targeted by a ghost, and that ghost... didn't want to let him leave.

The original ghost in the instance had already dissipated. The one targeting An Xuan was You Qi, whom he had personally tortured to death.

He had violated the rules.

This was the consequence.

To be fair, Xia Meng didn't want An Xuan to die, but some things were beyond her control. Moreover, time was of the essence, and the door was about to collapse.

If they delayed any longer, none of them would be able to leave.

She had discussed the issue of the door with Uncle Gong before. She was curious about what would happen if someone didn't leave through the door in time, but also wasn't killed by a ghost... what would happen in the end?

The reliable and doting middle-aged man had been uncharacteristically silent, she clearly remembered Uncle Gong raising his eyes and saying faintly, "They'll be erased by the rules, or..."

Widening her eyes, Xia Meng asked curiously, "Or what?"

"Or fall into an even deeper despair."

"How... how do you know?" Xia Meng was curious about this answer.

After a moment, her gaze towards Uncle Gong changed, and she said in surprise, "Could it be... someone experienced this and came back alive?"

Being entangled with ghosts in a nightmare was suffocating enough. She couldn't imagine the despair of being left in another time and space.

Moreover, that distorted time and space... still had ghosts in it.

After a moment, Uncle Gong looked away. "I don't know, it's just my guess," he continued, "Just listen to it casually."

Just listen to it casually...

These words struck Xia Meng even more strongly than Uncle Gong's strange analysis of nightmares.

In her mind, words with ambiguous attributes like "casually," "maybe," or "probably" were rarely spoken by the man in front of her.

In comparison, his calm tone was more like it was born to state facts.

"Little girl."

Xia Meng was startled.

"Promise me," the middle-aged man raised his eyes and looked at her, saying, "In a nightmare, never be the one who gets left behind."

"No matter what method you use," he paused, "Don't get left behind."

Compared to Xia Meng, An Xuan's expression was much calmer. "You guys go first," he said, "I'll be there shortly."

Although he didn't understand the rules here, Chen Qiang also sensed that there was something sinister nearby...

He wasn't sure what it was, but he knew that his group seemed to be trapped in a ghost wall, and that thing was the cause.

"Goodbye," Jiang Cheng nodded and immediately ran towards the attic, dragging Fatty, who was staring at An Xuan in a daze.

Swallowing, Chen Qiang also turned and chased after them.

Only Xia Meng and An Xuan, who was standing still, remained.

"Is it really... impossible to leave?" Frowning, Xia Meng pursed her lips, looked at him, and said, "If you need it, I can..."

"Be careful of Jiang Cheng," after a moment, An Xuan looked at the figures of the others, who were now just distant silhouettes, then turned his gaze to Xia Meng's eyes.

Xia Meng was startled.

Even at a time like this, he still had the mind to worry about others. In her opinion, the members of the night watchman were not exactly normal.

She seemed to want to say something, but An Xuan smiled at her and then made a gesture of lifting his clothes.

The next second, Xia Meng immediately took a step back, her face changing.

She saw that An Xuan's right foot was standing in a puddle of water, and a hand stretched out from the puddle, firmly grabbing his foot.

The puddle was very shallow, less than a centimeter deep. In the puddle, the blurry reflection of a person could be seen.

That person's face was covered in blood and had no eyes.

The two eye sockets were empty, and blood was still seeping out.

The nose, ears, and lips... had been cruelly cut off, and the large head was round like a blood gourd.

There were still hideous knife marks on it.

Immediately afterward, Xia Meng no longer hesitated and turned to run.

Rain was falling from the sky, and her shoes splashed water as she stepped in shallow puddles.

Jiang Cheng and the others had already rushed out of the rain.

Xia Meng was the last one.

Standing in front of the attic, Chen Qiang looked back. Just a few steps away, it was raining, but where they were standing was completely dry.

More precisely, the rain... only enveloped An Xuan's head.

After leaving An Xuan, they quickly rushed out of the rain.

And then found the attic.

Quickly climbing the decaying stairs to the second floor, the screen depicting the opera women was moved aside, and on the wall next to the human-skin drum stood a black iron door.

Mist swirled in front of the door, a gray mist.

Looking at it for too long, it seemed to have a life of its own.

"Mengmeng," Jiang Cheng called out affectionately, "I want you to go first."

Xia Meng glanced at him and stepped into the door first.

The next one was Fatty.

When Chen Qiang came over, Jiang Cheng stopped him.

Chen Qiang seemed to know what the other person was going to ask. He glanced at the iron door and hurriedly said, "Everything I said is true, my name, address, school, and phone number are all true, please believe me."

After a pause, he continued, "I would never lie to you!"