Free Web NovelChapter 163: Chapter 148: Gone_2
The reason was simple, Yu Mi had figured it out, if Director Ding was really in a hurry, he would have charged up and called them down, and they likely wouldn’t have escaped a scolding.
But when the group turned around, Yu Mi couldn’t help but scream in shock, her gaze fixed on the end of the hallway, her body trembling like a sieve.
If it weren’t for Pei Qiuyu, who was closest to her, supporting her, she would have collapsed to the ground.
"What’s wrong?" Lu Ji was already extremely tense, and Yu Mi’s actions made sweat break out on his forehead.
He followed Yu Mi’s gaze, but apart from the dimly lit hallway, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
"You... you can’t see it?" Yu Mi was almost crying out, "Don’t scare me, you... can you really not see it?"
"Let’s run, run!" Yu Mi, as if she had lost her mind, actually broke free from Pei Qiuyu’s arm and started to dash downstairs.
"She’s here! Tang Cui is coming for me!" Yu Mi, blocked by Yang Xiao, cried out hysterically. After all that had happened, she finally broke down.
Downstairs, after hearing Yu Mi’s cries, Director Ding seemed invigorated, responding excitedly, "Quick, Yu Mi, come down first, what... what in the world is going on, come down! We’ll talk when you’re here!"
"Slap!"
Song Yan directly slapped Yu Mi across the face, and that settled her down; she collapsed onto the ground, much calmer than before.
"What did you see?" Lu Ji grabbed her collar in one go, lifting her entire body up, "I’m asking you one last time, or else... I’ll drag you over there, back to that classroom!"
"No!" Yu Mi struggled violently, "Tang Cui, she came out, can’t you see, she... she’s just standing there, at the end of the hallway, she crawled out of that classroom!"
"Where is she? Point her out to us!" Chu Xi was also seeking confirmation.
"Right there, right over there! She’s coming this way, she’s already... she’s already reached where the fuel was spilled!"
Yu Mi’s words tensely gripped everyone, according to what Yu Mi said, the invisible "Tang Cui" was already very close to them, less than 20 meters away.
"What should we do? Come up with something fast!" Lu Ji also panicked, not daring to make a rash decision when it came to life and death.
Song Yan’s brain was racing. There weren’t many paths to choose from; either run back and confront the "Tang Cui" that only Yu Mi could see head-on—which would very likely mean Yu Mi was done for, as for the others, it wasn’t certain—or they could rush downstairs to face "Director Ding," which would likely result in their gruesome deaths.
There couldn’t just be dead ends; there had to be a way out, but where... where was the way to survival?
"She’s coming, she’s coming!" Yu Mi was panicked and in disarray.
"Let’s hide in the bathroom for a while, if all else fails, we can jump out the window and escape, from the third floor, there’s still a chance." Pei Qiuyu showed remarkable courage at this moment, her expression resolute.
"Is the bathroom safe?" Lu Ji wasn’t so sure.
"Stop dawdling, I’ll go in and check first, it’s safe I’ll call you," Pei Qiuyu said before charging into the women’s bathroom, about 6 or 7 seconds later, she burst out again, signaling everyone, "Come quick, it’s safe inside!"
Upon receiving the signal, Yu Mi’s first reaction was to scuttle into the bathroom in a crawl, but she seemed to remember something and turned back habitually, seeking Song Yan’s opinion.
The next second, a relieved Song Yan, just taking a step, was held back by Yang Xiao.
"What are you dawdling for? Hurry up!" Pei Qiuyu stood on the threshold of the bathroom door, turning to glance towards the hallway, as if the invisible "Tang Cui" had already arrived next to her.
Seeing Yang Xiao and Song Yan stop, Lu Ji also hesitated. Yang Xiao pointed to the ground, and Song Yan nodded, their faces turning very pale.
There were traces on the ground from where they had stepped in paint that was stuck to the soles of their shoes, but at that moment, the footprints leading to the women’s bathroom were only from one person, the person who went to scout ahead, Pei Qiuyu.
The footprints were strange, the right footprints were normal, while the left were dragged on the ground, trailing all the way, as though broken off.
In the Nightmare World, the only person who knew about Yang Xiao’s injury in his left leg was that male teacher.
Seeing her identity exposed, "Pei Qiuyu" stiffly backed away, retreating into the women’s restroom, and the door to the restroom also "creaked" shut.
"Pei Qiuyu... was she, the ghost?" Yu Mi, a bit slow on the uptake, said, "She and Tang Cui were both taken away by the ghost, they are both dead!"
Luo Zhaoqing, Xiang Xiaolin, Tang Cui, Pei Qiuyu... In just two short days, they had lost four teammates in succession, leaving Yu Mi as the only remaining female team member.
"Look again, can you see Tang Cui?" Yang Xiao asked Yu Mi.
"No, I can’t see her," Yu Mi answered.
Song Yan also breathed a sigh of relief and gave Yang Xiao an appreciative glance, "It seems we were right, Tang Cui was just a distraction, trying to force us into this women’s restroom."
"Right, do you remember what Pei Qiuyu had mentioned before? She said that thing wanted to take them to the restroom to find that feeling of despair?" Lu Ji was now 80 percent certain that Pei Qiuyu had died in this women’s restroom.
Rationality urged them to go in and look, but after everything they had been through in such a short time, they all needed a moment to gather their thoughts. In the end, it was Song Yan who spoke up, "Let’s not go in for now. We’ll wait a bit and find Director Ding, have him step in and get someone from the school to take a look."
"Rustle, rustle..." ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
There were footsteps approaching from downstairs, and shortly after, a man’s probing voice came, "Is that Teacher Chu Xi?"
Yang Xiao, frightened by the earlier deception, did not dare utter a sound.
"Teacher Chu Xi? Teacher... Song Yan?" The man downstairs was not giving up, his voice creeping closer.
Finally, a slightly balding man appeared in their line of sight. Seeing everyone was there, his face brightened with joy, "I was wondering where you all were. You made quite a job for us looking for you!"
The man was a familiar face, Feng Qiang from the logistics team. This time, everyone reached a consensus on his identity.
Seeing the strange looks from the group as they sized him up and down, Feng Qiang became bewildered. He checked his own clothes but found nothing amiss.
Soon after, there were more footsteps from downstairs, and the crowd that arrived was led by none other than Director Ding. Director Ding looked upset and upon reaching them, began scolding loudly, "What are you all doing hiding here? Not filming anymore?"
"Film, of course we must film, but Tang Cui and Pei Qiuyu ran up to the second floor, so we were looking for them. But we haven’t found them yet," Song Yan smoothly replied, deliberately steering the topic towards the missing Tang Cui and Pei Qiuyu.
Unexpectedly, Director Ding scowled, "Nonsense! Pei Qiuyu has been with me all along. Pei Qiuyu! Pei Qiuyu!"
Yang Xiao and Song Yan: "??!"
Director Ding called out twice, then made a phone call. After hanging up, he cursed, "That Pei Qiuyu, she refuses to come up, says she sprained her ankle, wants us to go down to her."
Director Ding looked around and involuntarily tightened his collar, his expression strange as he said, "Let’s get out of here. Remember this, don’t come to this third floor anymore."
"Why?" Song Yan asked.
"Don’t ask so many questions. Knowing too much isn’t good for you either," Director Ding replied brusquely.
Outside the building, Yang Xiao and the rest saw Pei Qiuyu sunbathing. The color in her face was odd, and Yang Xiao knew immediately that something bad had happened to her.
But the woman was clever enough to escape after Tang Cui died.
And after she ran out, she didn’t go looking for them but went straight to Director Ding and his group instead.
"Pei Qiuyu, where’s Tang Cui who was with you?" Lu Ji seized the opportunity to ask.
At the question, Pei Qiuyu fiddled with her fingers, her tall frame and gaze filled with fear, she spoke in a low voice: "I... don’t know. She was taken away by Yong, said they were going to find a sense of despair, but... but I felt something was off. I sneaked a look and saw the two of them going upstairs."
"Afterward, I ran down to find Director Ding, only to realize that there was no one named Yong in the crew at all."
