Free Web NovelChapter 374: Chapter 352: How Do You Know There’s Nothing Wrong With That Phone Call?
It was easy to imagine that if he were with people he wasn’t close to when danger struck,
Zou Baixuan would probably kick them away without a second thought,
just to buy himself more time to escape.
Such a selfish act was simply despicable.
"Don’t you talk nonsense."
Zou Baixuan’s eyes went wide with panic. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his eyes blazed with fury.
He had, of course, keenly sensed the shift in everyone’s attitude toward him.
Even the few rich kids who usually hung out with him all day,
friends who were as close as blood brothers, were now slowly distancing themselves from him.
In a dangerous situation like this, steeped in an air of terror,
being isolated was like being pushed to the edge of a cliff.
He knew all too well how dangerous it was—he could be plunged into a desperate situation at any moment.
"Talking nonsense? I think everyone here knows who’s really talking nonsense,"
Sun Canxing said with a look of utter contempt.
Her gaze was like two sharp swords,
stabbing straight at Zou Baixuan, making no effort to hide her disgust for him.
Perhaps it was because
the sound of their heated argument had disturbed the surrounding quiet,
but there was finally a stir from inside the last house.
With a CREAK,
the door was slowly pulled open from the inside.
The sound was particularly jarring in the silent night,
like a saw cutting into everyone’s frayed nerves.
Many of the young men and women flinched violently at the sudden noise.
Then, with a RUSH, they huddled together like a startled flock of sheep,
staring at the house with wide, terrified eyes,
as if something horrifying would burst out at any second.
"Who are you people?"
The door of the last house opened completely, and a dark, weathered face peeked out.
It was the face of a typical farmer, with deep lines etched by the years.
His rough skin and deep-set wrinkles
showed that he had spent his life toiling under the sun, working the land.
The man’s face was filled with obvious vigilance and caution.
He eyed them as if they were a group of dangerous people of unknown origin.
The slightest wrong move, and he would surely slam the door, shutting these uninvited guests out.
Zou Baixuan was also scared stiff. Like a frightened rat,
he quickly shrank back into the crowd, trying to hide.
He simply chose to ignore the mocking glances directed at him.
’What does losing face even matter at a time like this?’
In his mind, the most important thing right now was to save his own life.
Nothing else mattered. As long as he could survive, everything would be fine.
"We’re recent graduates who were at a graduation party."
"Some very strange things just happened, and none of our phones have a signal,"
"so we were hoping to find some help in the village."
Lai Yu Yao stepped forward calmly and took the initiative to explain the situation to the villager.
Her voice was clear and steady, giving everyone an inexplicable sense of reassurance in the tense atmosphere.
"Strange things? No cell signal?"
The man was stunned for a moment after hearing Lai Yu Yao’s words.
Then he retreated back into the house.
Not long after, he reemerged,
holding a cell phone with its screen lit up, looking especially bright in the darkness.
He held up the phone,
waving it at everyone present, and said, "It’s impossible. I have a signal on my phone."
Hearing this, everyone’s eyes immediately focused on the man’s phone screen.
On the screen, the signal was at full bars.
The small bars representing signal strength left everyone dumbfounded.
"That’s impossible! When we checked our phones just now, none of us had a signal. We couldn’t even make an emergency call,"
someone immediately exclaimed in disbelief,
their voice thick with confusion and a hint of imperceptible fear.
"Well, I don’t know about that,"
the villager said, frowning with an innocent look on his face.
He too seemed baffled by the strange situation.
"Hurry, make a call!"
a young woman shouted impatiently, then quickly pulled a phone from her pocket.
Her fingers trembled as she pressed a familiar number—
the number for the Haitong City Defense Team.
If the Defense Team could make it, they would be saved. They would finally be safe.
At this perilous moment, everyone knew that if they encountered danger,
the Defense Team would be the ones to rush to the front lines, not a group of powerless students like them.
That was their greatest guarantee of safety.
BEEP BEEP BEEP...
The monotonous dial tone rang just three times before the call connected.
"Hello."
"There are several hundred of us here. We’re all at a graduation party,"
"the party’s near the Mandarin Orange Manor."
the young woman said, speaking extremely quickly.
She was about to give their specific location when she suddenly froze.
Her mind went blank. She didn’t even know the name of this village!
’What do I do?’
Tiny beads of sweat formed on her forehead in her panic. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest,
feeling like it would leap out of her throat.
Just then, a security guard chimed in at the right moment, "This village is called Xia Shui Village."
The Mandarin Orange Manor was the farm-style venue for Lai Yu Yao’s graduation party.
Hearing the village’s name, she breathed a sigh of relief.
The young woman quickly continued,
her voice trembling with nervousness, "There are several hundred of us in Xia Shui Village right now."
"We’ve encountered a bizarre Evil Spirit, and... this village..."
"The people in this village aren’t normal..."
As she mentioned that the villagers weren’t normal,
the woman subconsciously shot a fearful glance at the villager, her eyes filled with terror.
She cupped her hand tightly over her mouth,
and whispered as if afraid of being overheard, "Please hurry. Someone has already died."
In the woman’s eyes, planting such strange and terrifying plants in one’s own yard
meant you were either mentally unstable, twisted and dark,
or had an inseparable connection to the supernatural.
"Alright, we understand. We will dispatch a Defense Team as soon as possible. Is there anything else?"
The voice on the other end of the line was steady.
The calm tone brought a sliver of comfort to the tense atmosphere.
"N-no, there’s nothing else,"
the young woman stammered.
After the call ended, everyone present let out a long sigh, as if a great weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
It felt as if, after fumbling in the dark for a long time,
they had finally seen a glimmer of dawn.
The Defense Team now knew about their situation,
which meant their chances of survival had increased.
It was as if the Death God’s cold scythe had moved slightly away from their necks.
"Where are you going?"
Lai Yu Yao suddenly asked, her voice raised in surprise.
Only then did everyone else snap out of their daze and realize that Chu He was walking with steady steps
deeper into the village. His figure, seen from behind, looked somewhat lonely yet incredibly resolute under the dim light.
"To investigate, of course,"
Chu He said without turning his head. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an undeniable strength.
"Investigate? The Defense Team will be here soon."
"Are you trying to be a hero? Biting off more than you can chew?"
"If you have a death wish, no one’s going to stop you,"
Zou Baixuan said mockingly,
a disdainful smirk on his face. He looked at Chu He as if he were a clown who didn’t know his own limits. "But don’t go trying to be clever, only to screw things up."
"You might attract some unspeakable, terrifying entity and end up getting all of us killed."
"And how do you know the Defense Team will be here soon?"
Chu He stopped and turned his head,
looking at Zou Baixuan as if he were an idiot, his eyes full of pity.
"Did you not hear that phone call just now, or are you deaf?"
Zou Baixuan reacted as if he’d just heard the most ridiculous joke in the world.
He let out a couple of laughs, the sound grating in the silent night.
"How do you know there was nothing wrong with that call?"
Chu He’s brow furrowed as he retorted, "If you don’t believe me, try calling back."
He stared intently at Zou Baixuan, his gaze holding a profound depth that seemed to see through everything.
