Free Web NovelChapter 662: Chapter 527: Yingwei_2
"He... he isn’t dead?" Lu Wencheng was shocked.
"He was supposed to die, but we’ve always been protecting him. The ghost has come for him a few times, but each time we saved him."
The silver-haired man’s casual remarks shocked both Yang Xiao and his companion. Not to mention the Source Ghost; even those Chang Ghosts were deadly to them. The last time the Source Ghost came, if it weren’t for the magnanimity of the inhabitant of apartment 437 in the same building, who took the injury for Yang Xiao, he wouldn’t be involved in any of this now.
If he weren’t worried about waking the memories of these three "people," Yang Xiao really wanted to give a fist salute and ask, "May I know your esteemed name and where you hail from?"
Now that they had Lu Wencheng, this radar, the man who should have died was useless. In the end, it was the young member who took action; following Lu Wencheng’s instructions, they slashed the man’s face and threw him upside down into the well, immediately sealing it with the well cover.
As everyone continued their search, the situation grew more complicated. There were an unusual number of sewer wells nearby. Within the marked perimeter, they found six in total. Excluding the first one, five remained.
With gritted teeth, Lu Wencheng pointed at the well underfoot. It was hidden behind a messy thicket, and the well cover, which hadn’t been opened for a long time, was overgrown with wild grass. If one didn’t look carefully, it would be impossible to find. This time, Lu Wencheng was pounding his chest with certainty, at least 90% sure that the body was down there.
The young girl lifted her small Western-style umbrella and poked Lu Wencheng’s backside with the tip, warning him with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, "You said you were 80% sure last time, and now it’s 90%. That means you have a 170% certainty when added together, right? So... this time it must work, yes?"
Lu Wencheng swallowed hard, humbly promising, "I swear on my ancestral lineage, it will work this time!"
But as the well cover was opened, Lu Wencheng was slapped in the face yet again. He panicked and sat down on the ground, fearing he would be thrown into the well. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Although being thrown into the well didn’t necessarily mean certain death, as long as they could quickly find where the ghost was hiding and return the half of the body to it, there was still a chance to live. However, for the current him, it was a no-win situation. With unpredictable conditions beneath the well, even if the Source Ghost wasn’t alarmed, encountering any Chang Ghost in such a confined space would result in dire consequences.
"What now?" the young team member said, holding the well cover and staring grimly at Lu Wencheng as if he’d throw him down at a moment’s disagreement.
Lu Wencheng proved himself to be a real man who could bend and stretch. He immediately knelt down and crawled to the feet of the silver-haired man, begging for another chance. But before he could wrap his arms around his legs, the silver-haired man lifted him by his clothes and said, "No need for that; you’ve already done your best. This time... we go."
Suddenly, both Lu Wencheng and Yang Xiao were stunned, and the young man dropped his mocking demeanor, shrugged nonchalantly, saying, "A grown man should show a little backbone. Where there’s us, there’s no chance for you guys to step up. Enough talk, I’m going down to hold the fort. Hurry up and finish the job. I gotta get home to my wife."
With these words, he leapt into the well, and a muffled, distant voice came up from below, "Don’t pick the wrong one next time, brother—it’s disgusting down here!"
After covering the well, Lu Wencheng’s feelings were a mix of emotions. He knew that regardless of his success, this would be his eternal farewell to the young man.
All three members of the Patrol Defense Office had died. Although they were a special kind of existence, they were essentially ghosts that existed dependent on the Nightmare World. Once their mission was over, these three "people" would also collapse along with this world and disappear.
Six wells, six answers. Now, with two gone, there were four left. And from these four, he had to find the one correct answer, at the lowest cost.
But as the next well was uncovered, Lu Wencheng collapsed again. He had made a mistake, meaning they would have to pay with another person’s life. This time the girl volunteered to step forward, no longer as domineering and haughty as before. She simply gave a bitter smile, complained about fearing filth, and reminded Lu Wencheng that her captain was a clean freak. She hoped he would be merciful; otherwise, when she came back, she wouldn’t let him off.
"Carry out the orders," said the silver-haired man with a slight tremble in his voice.
The girl took off her coat, wore it inside out, and wrapped herself tightly. Standing at the edge of the well, she sighed before jumping down. At the same time, a distant voice came from the well, as if separated by two worlds, "Captain, remember to come pick me up!"
As the well cover was secured, Yang Xiao noticed the silver-haired man’s palm trembling slightly as it hung down. But then he clenched it firmly and resolutely walked to another well.
"Is it this well?" the silver-haired man stood by the well’s edge, asking softly.
Lu Wencheng felt a heavy pressure in his chest that made it hard to breathe, though he knew these people had all been long dead, watching them lose their lives because of his mistake made him feel awful, "I’m sorry, I... I didn’t know."
The silver-haired man nodded and said softly, "Then it shall be this one."
"Shouldn’t we... maybe check the others?" Yang Xiao suggested.
Shaking his head, the Silver-haired Captain refused, "No need, my teammates are still waiting for me down there."
This ambiguous statement pierced deeply into Yang Xiao’s heart, and it was at this moment that he finally confirmed the Silver-haired Captain knew the truth, knew that him and his two teammates were already dead, dead in the Ghost World.
As the heavy well cover was lifted, Lu Wencheng’s eyes immediately turned red, another mistake, this Ghost seemed to be mocking him, he was so proficient as a Yin Yang Secretary, even the elder Qingmu had praised his talent, but with a 6-to-1 chance, he had made the wrong choice 4 times in a row, costing 4 people’s lives, and he found that hard to forgive himself for.
Grasping the Silver-haired Captain’s increasingly cold arm, Lu Wencheng wept like rain, "Sorry, I... I didn’t mean to choose wrong, I didn’t want this to happen, please forgive me, please..."
"It’s okay, don’t blame yourself, whether the path you chose was wrong or right, this is our destiny, we belong here, but you’re different, you must leave this place." Pausing, the Silver-haired Captain looked up at Yang Xiao, "Little brother, can you do me a favor?"
"If he makes the wrong choice again next time, then I’ll jump down." Yang Xiao answered solemnly, "I’ll make sure he gets out alive, he is hope."
The Silver-haired Captain suddenly smiled, nodding, "Thanks."
Just as the Silver-haired Captain was about to leap into the well, Yang Xiao suddenly rushed over, stopping him, "Senior, could you tell me your name?"
The silver-haired man paused to think, then still shook his head, "I can’t remember it anymore, but... it doesn’t matter now."
"What can you remember? Anything will do," Yang Xiao persisted.
Seconds later, the silver-haired man opened up his police uniform, revealing a suit vest underneath, embroidered with a logo on the chest—it was a blue flower, "I only remember that this is very important to me, more important than anything else..."
Lu Wencheng, with a keen understanding of flowers, recognized at a glance that it was a blue iris, embroidered over the silver-haired man’s heart, like a brand.
"Please finish the rest for me, thank you." With that, the silver-haired man stepped forward and plunged into the dark, seemingly endless well.
Together, Yang Xiao and Lu Wencheng proceeded to cover the well back up; they couldn’t save this man, nor his teammates, but they had to complete the unfinished mission of this elite Patrol Defense Office team.
For themselves, and for them.
With Lu Wencheng’s spirits low, Yang Xiao didn’t want to trouble him further, so he decided to choose a well himself. After all, only two were left; a 50-50 chance, he quickly made a decision and headed towards the well on his right.
But before he could get close, a hand pulled him back from behind, he turned, meeting Lu Wencheng’s swollen, red eyes.
"The left one," Lu Wencheng said hoarsely, "Trust me."
