Chapter 123 Stay with us forever

At that moment, all the lights in the entire laboratory building turned a soft green.

The eerie green light, like will-o'-the-wisps, illuminated the entire laboratory building, making it resemble a deep-sea aquarium—a truly terrifying and sinister sight.

"The devil catches people..."

Lin Huairou coughed and stood up, leaning on the filing cabinet for support. There were still marks on her face from the straps. "This damn thing really knows how to play."

Liu Xiuyuan, panting heavily, touched his neck: "That chain...it didn't seem like a solid object..."

“It’s a mixture of resentment and yin energy.” Xie Xun quickly checked Director Wang’s condition.

The bluish-black marks on Director Wang's neck had faded somewhat, but his breathing remained weak and his eyes were unfocused, clearly indicating that his soul had been shaken.

"We must get him out of here as soon as possible."

"It's too difficult."

Zhou Wei picked up the mangled wreckage of a pistol from the ground, his face ashen: "We're trapped."

The countdown above my head is counting down at a leisurely pace:

"Forty-six...forty-five..."

Fu Qinghuai stood beside the broken chalk pattern, his gaze sweeping over the "students" who were temporarily frozen by the formation.

They were like puppets without electricity, motionless, but the cold, bound resentment within them was surging wildly under the suppression of the black energy.

"Searching,"

He suddenly spoke, his tone unusually serious, "That big lantern down there... is going up."

Xie Xun felt a chill run down his spine.

He sensed it too.

A heavy, sticky, and pungent chill, reeking of fishy sweetness, was slowly rising from the depths of the floor beneath our feet, like a tide.

That was the resentment and filth accumulated in the Nourishing Pool for fifteen years, a collection of seven child souls and countless "nourishments".

Worse still, as the countdown begins, the spatial structure of the entire building is undergoing bizarre changes.

The door to the archives room has disappeared.

It wasn't blocked up; it disappeared literally, becoming a complete, moldy wall.

The window is still there, but the view outside is no longer the campus night scene, but an impenetrable darkness. Occasionally, a pale hand will slap against the glass and then quickly slide down.

"It's shrinking the space, drawing us closer to it."

Xie Xun understood the lantern's strategy: "It's like a bear trap to catch a net."

Countdown: "Forty...thirty-nine..."

"We cannot sit idly by and wait to die."

Zhou Wei gritted his teeth and said, "Go up! To the top floor! At least the view is better!"

"No."

Xie Xun shook his head, pointing to the stiff "students," "As long as they're still in this 'classroom,' the lanterns can pinpoint our location precisely. We must... destroy this 'point.'"

He walked to the cracked chalk pattern in the center, squatted down, and ran his fingers over the copper coin.

The blood-stained copper coin had turned black and its surface was covered with fine cracks.

"This formation won't withstand the next attack."

Fu Qinghuai said, "To destroy this spot, we have to..."

"To help them find peace."

Xie Xun continued, his gaze falling on the overlapping and changing faces of those "students," his voice low, "At least, let those remnant souls that have been forcibly bound and have not yet been completely corrupted be freed."

Countdown: "Thirty-five... thirty-four..."

Time is of the essence.

Xie Xun sat down cross-legged and placed the ancient jade fragment in his palm.

The warm white light shone again, faint yet steadily dispelling the surrounding gloomy green.

"Liu Xiuyuan, Lin Huairou, protect me. Fu Qinghuai, Captain Zhou, be on guard against possible attacks from the lantern itself."

He closed his eyes and began to recite scriptures to purify the mind and dispel impurities.

The sound was not loud, but it carried a peculiar rhythm, struggling to spread through the thick, yin energy.

The stiff "students" began to tremble violently!

Countless overlapping faces flashed wildly, emitting silent screams.

On several young, even immature, faces, pain and struggle were evident, and tears mixed with black fluid welled up from their eyes.

They are resisting the lantern's control!

In an instant, more viscous black water gushed out from the cracks in the floor, attempting to pollute the white light of the ancient jade and interrupt the reading of the scriptures.

Fu Qinghuai snorted coldly, stomped his foot, and an even denser black aura spread out from him, rivaling the eerie green light and forcibly creating an area.

Lin Huairou and Liu Xiuyuan stood guard on either side of Xie Xun, watching the surrounding walls warily.

Zhou Wei shielded the unconscious Director Wang behind him, gripping his baton tightly.

Although they knew the ghosts were useless against them, they still adopted a defensive stance.

Countdown: "Thirty...twenty-nine..."

The chanting grew increasingly urgent, and the white light from the ancient jade began to seep into the bodies of those "students."

In the front row, a blurry-faced, middle-aged man in overalls let out a sigh of relief, his figure gradually fading and disappearing into the air.

Next came an old woman, then a boy...

With each one that dissipates, the crack in the central chalk pattern widens, and the surrounding eerie green light dims.

But the lanterns also launched a counterattack!

"Giggle giggle..." Sharp children's laughter rang out from all directions.

Suddenly, countless wet strands of hair cascaded down from the ceiling, like a black waterfall, wrapping around Xie Xun!

On the floor, the black liquid condensed into tiny hands, reaching for his ankles!

"Get out of my way!" Lin Huairou threw out the last few yellow talismans, the flames igniting her hair and emitting a burnt smell.

Liu Xiuyuan desperately stomped on those little hands with his feet.

Just as Fu Qinghuai was about to make a move, his expression suddenly changed.

He sensed that the enormous creature at the bottom of the water had already reached the next level!

The heavy sense of oppression caused the entire floor to tremble slightly.

And what's even more terrifying is...

Among the remaining souls of the "students" who were about to be exorcised and dissipated, the parts belonging to Liu Xiaoyue and the seven child souls suddenly began to struggle violently.

Instead of showing any signs of liberation, the eerie green lantern light in their eyes intensified, and they began to devour the other dissipating remnant souls around them!

They are absorbing their own kind to strengthen themselves!

Xie Xun groaned, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The forced reversal of the exorcism had caused him to suffer a backlash.

At this moment, the countdown suddenly and strangely accelerated:

"Twenty! Nineteen! Eighteen!..."

The eerie green lights flickered wildly, illuminating the grotesque, distorted figures of the "students."

Liu Xiaoyue's face stood out among countless others, her gaping mouth stretching almost to her ears. She opened her mouth and let out a wild, shrill laugh in eight different voices:

Run!

"If you don't run now!!"

"Stay with us forever!!!"

The ceiling suddenly cracked open, flipping open like a mollusk to reveal a dark, vertical passageway above.

Deep within the passage, a faint green light, like the eye of a colossal abyss beast, slowly rose.