Free Web NovelChapter 255: Chapter 216: I am a Police Officer
He didn’t know how long it had been when Yang Xiao groggily awoke, his head spinning as if he had been fiercely clubbed with a big stick.
The ghost that had dragged him in wasn’t usually this rough, and he wondered if his resistance this time had angered it.
He wouldn’t dare do it again.
His dizzy and blurred vision made it hard for Yang Xiao to see clearly, only sensing a beam of light swinging back and forth, his ears buzzing with the sound of a voice talking—though mostly, he heard the pitter-patter like rain on a plastic bag.
The ground beneath him was hard and somewhat damp. Struggling with the headache, Yang Xiao slowly sat up, and someone else noticed the abnormality here.
"Someone’s awake!"
He didn’t know who shouted, but then footsteps approached, with several silhouettes flickering in the wavering light.
Finally, Yang Xiao made out that the oscillating light was an old-fashioned flashlight, cylindrical and encased in a silver-white metal shell.
"How are you?" A man with a mustache crouched beside him, looking to be in his early 40s, dressed in an awkward Zhongshan suit, the flashlight in his hand. free𝑤ebnovel.com
Seeing that Yang Xiao was only observing and not speaking, the man nodded as if he understood, "Good, it seems you’re not a newbie."
But the next second, an irate voice erupted from the darkness, "What newbie or oldie, you bunch of swindlers, how long are you going to deceive me?"
"I’m telling you, this is illegal detention, and I’m going to sue you! I’ll get you all thrown in jail and make you serve time!!"
The voice belonged to a man, sounding quite old, at least in his late 40s, his trembling voice betraying his inner panic.
Following the flashlight’s beam, Yang Xiao also saw the shouting man; he was wearing only a tattered white tank top with the faded imprint of some machinery factory, his hair unkempt, his expression panicked, cowering in a corner of the room, loudly yelling at the others, waving a screwdriver in his hand as if fearful of being harmed.
"Mr. Chen, I’ll tell you again, no one wants to hurt you. We’re all trapped in this damn place. Only by working together to unravel the secrets of this world can we go home," a young woman in blue homespun clothes persuaded. "If you don’t believe me, ask them. Many people here have gone through the same phase as you, receiving a strange script box. It’s the same for everyone."
"Get lost! Get away from me!" The man still didn’t believe, flailing wildly with the screwdriver to keep others at a distance.
Yang Xiao squinted; he noticed a dragon tattooed on the man’s exposed chest and on the arm that grasped the screwdriver, a python with its tongue flicked out.
The python coiled around the entirety of his arm, its tail pointing towards the heart, the scarlet tongue extending down to his wrist, and most bizarrely, the python’s tail seemed to merge with that of the dragon. Yang Xiao had never seen such a tattoo before.
The unity of the dragon and the snake, he wondered what it signified.
Not caring to deal with the madman, Yang Xiao, upon regaining his senses, began to survey his surroundings. They were in a small tin room, like the kind temporarily constructed on construction sites, the roof so thin that the rain made a tat-tat-tat sound upon it.
Water occasionally leaked through the cracks, and the howling wind outside shook the poor-quality tin room so fiercely that Yang Xiao worried it might collapse.
"Look over here!" someone suddenly spoke.
The rest crowded around, squeezing at the room’s only small window to peer outside. Yang Xiao joined them, and through the pouring rain, they could make out a massive building in the dim visibility.
Moments later, a flash of lightning tore through the night sky, and in the momentary glare, everyone saw clearly four dark golden characters adorning the building’s entrance—Dongzhou Apartment.
"Why the surprise?" Yang Xiao pressed his temples, trying to stave off the headache, and asked, "Didn’t you... didn’t you see that building just now?"
"No, earlier there was dense fog outside, nothing was visible," the man with the flashlight responded, his demeanor still amicable.
Suddenly, the man looked over Yang Xiao’s shoulder, and the next second, the door was pushed open, the howling night wind rushed in, carrying rainwater. The man who had been crouching in the corner seized the moment of distraction to slip out and open the door.
"Don’t go out!" someone warned.
But the man didn’t believe it, he opened the door and, in an instant, rushed out, not toward Dongzhou Apartment but in the opposite direction, shrouded in a gray fog.
The man’s figure soon vanished into the mist, and the atmosphere within the room became oppressive. Someone closed the door, and the remaining people gathered by the window, all focusing on the direction in which the man had disappeared, as if waiting for something to happen.
About half a minute later, a heart-wrenching scream echoed from the fog, but it lasted less than three seconds before abruptly stopping.
As the scream faded away, it became eerily quiet outside, even the sound of the wind and rain seemed to diminish.
"Huh—" The man dressed in a Zhongshan suit with stubble sighed and leaned against the wall, shaking his head, "Good advice is wasted on the damned."
"Someone’s dead; we should be safe for a while," said a woman dressed in sequins, her attire resembling that of a dancer, speaking indifferently.
Taking advantage of the moment, someone suggested everyone introduce themselves.
Yang Xiao counted; there were now nine people left, including himself, and with the one who acted recklessly, the numbers matched perfectly; all the players had arrived.
"I’ll start," the man in the Zhongshan suit with stubble stepped forward, "Fu Changxue, I’m a private bodyguard, mostly overseas."
"Tong Han, dance performer," the woman in the sequined dress said with the same indifferent demeanor.
"Mo Daidai, university student, majoring in computer science... I don’t study very well," a boy in a shirt said, scratching his head, looking not very bright.
"Wang Longhui, I’m a chef," said a man in a leather jacket, his accent was quite thick.
"Xu Xinyi, I am a tour guide," the small-framed girl on the edge spoke up, and when everyone looked at her, she added softly, "I... I’m still an intern."
"Qu Yi, I teach physics," a woman around 25, dressed in blue cloth, said dejectedly. She had been the one to try to calm down the man who died.
"Cheng Ya, I... I don’t have a job. I take care of the kids at home, cook, and do the house chores; I’m good at these." Seemingly worried about being looked down upon, the woman spoke faster and faster, but soon realized that no one really cared.
Everyone was introducing themselves in a circle, and then it was Yang Xiao’s turn. He was almost certain that among these people was an Evil Cultivator, "Chu Xi, I’m a police officer, a criminal detective."
As soon as Yang Xiao spoke, the rest of the people looked at him with surprise, seemingly not expecting this clean-cut young man to be a criminal detective. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"A police officer?" There was a sparkle in Xu Xinyi’s dim eyes, "That’s great, you have to help us all!"
"I will do my best, and I ask for everyone’s cooperation," Yang Xiao said with a steady voice, exuding an aura of righteousness.
Finally, it was the last person’s turn, a man in his early twenties, not very fair-skinned, with a sturdy build and above-average height, seemingly fond of fitness. But Yang Xiao didn’t care about that; what he truly cared about was that this man had been watching him from the start.
After being discovered, he sneaked peeks, changing angles to watch, and his gaze was very strange.
"Li Qingxuan, I’m a Supernatural Explorer Blogger, uh... don’t overthink it, it’s just my job, I actually don’t know anything, and I’ve never seen a Ghost," the man introduced somewhat humorously.
Having noticed Li Qingxuan sneaking looks at him, Yang Xiao’s first suspicion was that he was the Evil Cultivator, but... but after observing repeatedly, it didn’t seem likely, and moreover, would an Evil Cultivator be so blatant about staring at him?
And the strangest part was the way this man looked at him, intently, which made him uncomfortable, as if... as if he knew him.
