Beyond the ancient city.
A man who had just unfolded himself on the edge of the forbidden zone sat there, glancing back at the half-frozen ancient city like a canvas. With a helpless shake of his head, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and began playing a mobile game.
"Brother, why are you sitting here playing with your phone in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid of getting a cold bum?"
Not long after, a passerby walked over from the opposite side of the road, amused by the scene.
The man looked up at him, then lowered his head to continue playing. "Nothing to do, just killing time."
The passerby chuckled, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered it to the man.
The man waved his hand, serious. "It's working hours, no smoking."
"Hey, you're sitting on the road playing with your phone, is that considered working?" the passerby teased.
"Yeah."
"Fine." The passerby shrugged, stood up, and walked towards the street behind the man.
"Where are you going?" the man suddenly spoke.
"Home."
"You can't go back, at least not now."
The passerby raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"This road is blocked now. Wait until it's open, then you can go back." The man pointed to the sign behind him.
The passerby followed his finger and saw the inexplicable sign standing in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to say something, the four words "No Entry Ahead" flashed briefly.
The passerby's gaze suddenly became vacant.
A few seconds later, he stiffly turned around, step by step retracing his path back to where he came from, his eyes filled with confusion.
Seemingly unsurprised by this, the man was about to resume playing his game when another man's voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece.
"Zhao Kongcheng!"
The moment this voice rang out, the man abruptly sat up from the ground. The casual and weary expression on his face disappeared, replaced by absolute seriousness.
"Here, Captain. What's going on?"
"There's a problem. Among the ghosts we were surrounding, a Ghost Face King emerged. It took advantage of our siege to severely injure Hongying and escaped the forbidden zone through the sewer."
"Ghost Face King?" Zhao Kongcheng's face changed. "Which direction did he go? I'll intercept him!"
"No, Kongcheng, you're not good at combat. I'll go after the Ghost Face King."
Zhao Kongcheng was stunned, "Then what should I..."
"After the Ghost Face King escaped, two other Ghost Faces took the opportunity to flee into the sewer. The rest of the team is tied up dealing with the remaining Ghost Faces."
"In which direction?"
"Southeast."
"Alright."
Zhao Kongcheng's eyes sparkled, sprinting to the other end of the street, diving into a black van, and speeding away with a roar.
On the passenger seat next to him lay neatly folded a black and red cloak,
And a sheathed straight sword!
...
"Alright, I'm turning at this corner. I'm leaving first," Wang Shao stopped, turned to the four people behind him, and said.
Just then, Li Yifei seemed to remember something suddenly and spoke, "Wang Shao, if I'm not mistaken, isn't your house near the old city?"
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"...Nothing, just be careful on your way back."
Wang Shao's mouth twitched slightly, rolled his eyes, and said, "If you have something to say, don't hold back. It's weird to stop halfway and make people feel uncomfortable."
Li Yifei hesitated for a moment, "I heard that the old city has been restless recently, there's a maniacal murderer!"
"A maniacal murderer? Is it true?" Jiang Qian was skeptical.
"Of course, it's true!" Li Yifei looked around, lowered his voice, and continued, "You may not know about it, but in the past few days, more than a dozen people have died in the old city."
"More than a dozen people? Impossible, if there were such a big commotion, the news would have reported it long ago," Wang Shao shook his head.
"Hey, how is it impossible? Let me tell you, this matter is strange. Someone above forcibly suppressed the news. If it weren't for my dad working at the police station, I wouldn't know about it either."
"Strange? What's strange about it?"
"It is said..." Li Yifei paused, then lowered his voice even more.
"It is said that those who died had their entire faces peeled off, leaving only a bloody mass of flesh and protruding eyeballs. The method was extremely cruel!"
A chilly evening breeze swept by, and when they heard this sentence, the group felt a chill running from their feet to their heads!
"Li Yifei! Are you crazy? Why are you talking about these things late at night!" Jiang Qian's face turned pale, subconsciously looking around the quiet street. Irritated, she said.
This area is close to the old city and belongs to the remote area of Cangnan City. It's almost ten o'clock after the evening self-study, and there's not a single pedestrian on the road. Li Yifei's words, combined with the deserted atmosphere, really made people feel uneasy.
Not only her, even Wang Shao and Liu Yuan, the two big men, were a little scared. Wang Shao glanced at the narrow alley he was about to walk through, suddenly feeling a bit guilty...
If Li Yifei's words only made people a little scared, Lin Qiuye's next words directly made their scalps tingle!
After pondering for a moment, Lin Qiuye softly spoke, "Are you sure... these things are done by humans?"
"Qiuye, you..." Jiang Qian trembled!
Wang Shao and Liu Yuan twitched the corners of their mouths, looking at Lin Qiuye with strange eyes.
So you, the one with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are the one who hides the deepest?
Li Yifei looked at Lin Qiuye in surprise, "Do you also think so?"
"Shut up shut up shut up!" Jiang Qian couldn't stand it anymore, reached out and pinched Li Yifei's arm fiercely, making him cry out in pain.
"It's late at night, don't tell ghost stories! I still have to go home later!"
Li Yifei covered his arm, in pain, muttering, "This is not a ghost story..."
Wang Shao shrugged, "I don't want to mess around with you guys here. I don't believe in these supernatural things anyway. I'm leaving."
Wang Shao's figure gradually disappeared into the narrow alley.
Jiang Qian glared at Li Yifei again, took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped.
She sniffed forcefully, her brows slightly furrowed,
A trace of doubt appeared in her eyes,
Turning around, she said, "Did you guys smell something unpleasant?"
"Unpleasant smell?"
"It's like the kind of smell when something is rotten."
"I didn't smell it, did you, Liu Yuan?"
"I didn't... oh!" Liu Yuan hadn't finished speaking when his face suddenly
changed. He covered his nose abruptly, looking around in horror.
Lin Qiuye was just about to say something when an extremely nauseating stench suddenly poured into her nostrils. This feeling was like throwing a piece of rotten meat that had been left in the septic tank for more than ten days, mixed with a dozen rotten eggs, and just a whiff made her stomach churn violently.
This is the most unpleasant smell Lin Qiuye has ever smelled in her life.
As for the most sensitive nose of Jiang Qian, she directly squatted down and began to vomit.
"Damn, what the hell is this thing so stinky?!" Li Yifei covered his nose and shouted.
"I don't know." Lin Qiuye's brows furrowed slightly, and after a while, she pointed to the narrow alley where Wang Shao had left.
"But judging from the direction of the smell, it seems to be coming from there."
The next moment, a miserable scream echoed not far away, reverberating in the silent night.
Beyond the ancient city.
A man who had just unfolded himself on the edge of the forbidden zone sat there, glancing back at the half-frozen ancient city like a canvas. With a helpless shake of his head, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and began playing a mobile game.
"Brother, why are you sitting here playing with your phone in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid of getting a cold bum?"
Not long after, a passerby walked over from the opposite side of the road, amused by the scene.
The man looked up at him, then lowered his head to continue playing. "Nothing to do, just killing time."
The passerby chuckled, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered it to the man.
The man waved his hand, serious. "It's working hours, no smoking."
"Hey, you're sitting on the road playing with your phone, is that considered working?" the passerby teased.
"Yeah."
"Fine." The passerby shrugged, stood up, and walked towards the street behind the man.
"Where are you going?" the man suddenly spoke.
"Home."
"You can't go back, at least not now."
The passerby raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"This road is blocked now. Wait until it's open, then you can go back." The man pointed to the sign behind him.
The passerby followed his finger and saw the inexplicable sign standing in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to say something, the four words "No Entry Ahead" flashed briefly.
The passerby's gaze suddenly became vacant.
A few seconds later, he stiffly turned around, step by step retracing his path back to where he came from, his eyes filled with confusion.
Seemingly unsurprised by this, the man was about to resume playing his game when another man's voice suddenly sounded in his earpiece.
"Zhao Kongcheng!"
The moment this voice rang out, the man abruptly sat up from the ground. The casual and weary expression on his face disappeared, replaced by absolute seriousness.
"Here, Captain. What's going on?"
"There's a problem. Among the ghosts we were surrounding, a Ghost Face King emerged. It took advantage of our siege to severely injure Hongying and escaped the forbidden zone through the sewer."
"Ghost Face King?" Zhao Kongcheng's face changed. "Which direction did he go? I'll intercept him!"
"No, Kongcheng, you're not good at combat. I'll go after the Ghost Face King."
Zhao Kongcheng was stunned, "Then what should I..."
"After the Ghost Face King escaped, two other Ghost Faces took the opportunity to flee into the sewer. The rest of the team is tied up dealing with the remaining Ghost Faces."
"In which direction?"
"Southeast."
"Alright."
Zhao Kongcheng's eyes sparkled, sprinting to the other end of the street, diving into a black van, and speeding away with a roar.
On the passenger seat next to him lay neatly folded a black and red cloak,
And a sheathed straight sword!
...
"Alright, I'm turning at this corner. I'm leaving first," Wang Shao stopped, turned to the four people behind him, and said.
Just then, Li Yifei seemed to remember something suddenly and spoke, "Wang Shao, if I'm not mistaken, isn't your house near the old city?"
"Yes, what's the matter?"
"...Nothing, just be careful on your way back."
Wang Shao's mouth twitched slightly, rolled his eyes, and said, "If you have something to say, don't hold back. It's weird to stop halfway and make people feel uncomfortable."
Li Yifei hesitated for a moment, "I heard that the old city has been restless recently, there's a maniacal murderer!"
"A maniacal murderer? Is it true?" Jiang Qian was skeptical.
"Of course, it's true!" Li Yifei looked around, lowered his voice, and continued, "You may not know about it, but in the past few days, more than a dozen people have died in the old city."
"More than a dozen people? Impossible, if there were such a big commotion, the news would have reported it long ago," Wang Shao shook his head.
"Hey, how is it impossible? Let me tell you, this matter is strange. Someone above forcibly suppressed the news. If it weren't for my dad working at the police station, I wouldn't know about it either."
"Strange? What's strange about it?"
"It is said..." Li Yifei paused, then lowered his voice even more.
"It is said that those who died had their entire faces peeled off, leaving only a bloody mass of flesh and protruding eyeballs. The method was extremely cruel!"
A chilly evening breeze swept by, and when they heard this sentence, the group felt a chill running from their feet to their heads!
"Li Yifei! Are you crazy? Why are you talking about these things late at night!" Jiang Qian's face turned pale, subconsciously looking around the quiet street. Irritated, she said.
This area is close to the old city and belongs to the remote area of Cangnan City. It's almost ten o'clock after the evening self-study, and there's not a single pedestrian on the road. Li Yifei's words, combined with the deserted atmosphere, really made people feel uneasy.
Not only her, even Wang Shao and Liu Yuan, the two big men, were a little scared. Wang Shao glanced at the narrow alley he was about to walk through, suddenly feeling a bit guilty...
If Li Yifei's words only made people a little scared, Lin Qiuye's next words directly made their scalps tingle!
After pondering for a moment, Lin Qiuye softly spoke, "Are you sure... these things are done by humans?"
"Qiuye, you..." Jiang Qian trembled!
Wang Shao and Liu Yuan twitched the corners of their mouths, looking at Lin Qiuye with strange eyes.
So you, the one with thick eyebrows and big eyes, are the one who hides the deepest?
Li Yifei looked at Lin Qiuye in surprise, "Do you also think so?"
"Shut up shut up shut up!" Jiang Qian couldn't stand it anymore, reached out and pinched Li Yifei's arm fiercely, making him cry out in pain.
"It's late at night, don't tell ghost stories! I still have to go home later!"
Li Yifei covered his arm, in pain, muttering, "This is not a ghost story..."
Wang Shao shrugged, "I don't want to mess around with you guys here. I don't believe in these supernatural things anyway. I'm leaving."
Wang Shao's figure gradually disappeared into the narrow alley.
Jiang Qian glared at Li Yifei again, took a few steps forward, then suddenly stopped.
She sniffed forcefully, her brows slightly furrowed,
A trace of doubt appeared in her eyes,
Turning around, she said, "Did you guys smell something unpleasant?"
"Unpleasant smell?"
"It's like the kind of smell when something is rotten."
"I didn't smell it, did you, Liu Yuan?"
"I didn't... oh!" Liu Yuan hadn't finished speaking when his face suddenly
changed. He covered his nose abruptly, looking around in horror.
Lin Qiuye was just about to say something when an extremely nauseating stench suddenly poured into her nostrils. This feeling was like throwing a piece of rotten meat that had been left in the septic tank for more than ten days, mixed with a dozen rotten eggs, and just a whiff made her stomach churn violently.
This is the most unpleasant smell Lin Qiuye has ever smelled in her life.
As for the most sensitive nose of Jiang Qian, she directly squatted down and began to vomit.
"Damn, what the hell is this thing so stinky?!" Li Yifei covered his nose and shouted.
"I don't know." Lin Qiuye's brows furrowed slightly, and after a while, she pointed to the narrow alley where Wang Shao had left.
"But judging from the direction of the smell, it seems to be coming from there."
The next moment, a miserable scream echoed not far away, reverberating in the silent night.
