Chapter 120 I've Found You
Glass shards clattered against the black mist barrier erected by Fu Qinghuai like a gust of wind, producing a teeth-grinding clanging sound.
Each shard of shattered glass that fell to the ground would quickly melt into a pool of dark red viscous liquid, emitting a sweet, rotten odor identical to that of the lanterns in the hot pot restaurant.
"Oh no, the lanterns are controlling them!"
Xie Xun immediately recognized the aura: "These child spirits and female ghosts have all been corrupted and controlled by the Liu family's lanterns!"
Before the words were even finished, the trail of wet little footprints outside the window suddenly sped up!
Eight figures, their silhouettes trailing long lines in the night, resembled eight water snakes ready to devour their prey, rushing straight towards the security room!
"The barrier won't hold for long!"
Fu Qinghuai's eyes were filled with disgust. "These filth are polluting my soul power!"
"Retreat! Move into the laboratory building!"
Xie Xun immediately made a decision: "The lantern itself is inside the building; it dares not completely detonate these vengeful spirits here!"
"But that's its lair!" Ah-chan cried out, his voice trembling with tears.
That's why there's still a glimmer of hope!
Lin Huairou had already thrown out several yellow talismans to temporarily reinforce the glass windows, saying, "We're just targets outside!"
Zhou Wei scooped up the trembling Director Wang and said, "Let's go!"
Fu Qinghuai suddenly withdrew his force, and in the instant the black energy barrier receded like a tide, he pushed forward with his backhand.
The surging black mist shot out like a cannonball, colliding violently with the eight rushing water streaks!
"Pfft—"
Like a red-hot iron block falling into ice water, a piercing corrosive sound exploded with a shrill scream!
The eight watermarks were temporarily forced back, but quickly wriggled and reformed, vaguely forming the outlines of eight children holding hands, their empty eye sockets staring intently at them.
"Run!" Fu Qinghuai grabbed Xie Xun and rushed towards the back door of the security room.
The group scrambled towards the laboratory building in a disheveled state.
The shrieking sound from behind drew closer again, and the air became damp, cold, and sticky, as if we were in deep water, with each breath carrying a strong, fishy smell.
The heavy wooden door of the laboratory building was now wide open, like a gaping maw ready to devour anyone.
Just as Zhou Wei, who was at the very front, was about to step into the building.
"Crack".
A soft sound, like the click of a switch.
Inside the laboratory building, all the lights.
The corridor lights, classroom lights, and emergency lights all went out at the same moment.
The pitch-black darkness swallowed everything.
Immediately afterwards, a faint green light appeared deep within the lobby on the first floor.
It was a lantern.
The ancient bamboo frame and the pale white skin with faintly visible twisted embroidery patterns are exactly the same as the one in the hot pot restaurant, but with a deeper and more profound aura.
The flickering green light cast an eerie glow over a small area around it.
Beneath the lantern, eight wet figures stood silently.
A female ghost with the same name as Lin Huairou stood at the front, black water flowing from the cracks in her cheeks, and she held the hands of seven pale-faced children with empty eyes.
They all looked up at the crowd at the door, their lips curling into identical, eerie smiles.
"Welcome...home..."
Eight voices overlapped, some of them boys, some girls, some young women, all hoarse and sinister.
Then, the green light from the lantern suddenly surged!
Like the sound of a signal flare, the eight figures moved instantly!
They didn't rush over; instead, they... melted.
It transformed into eight viscous black waves, sweeping towards everyone from all directions!
Wherever the water waves passed, the ground and walls corroded rapidly, emitting pungent white smoke.
"Scatter!" Zhou Wei roared, shoving Director Wang toward the left corridor.
"Don't separate!" Xie Xun shouted urgently, but it was too late.
The black waves, as if alive, precisely split into several streams.
One force entangled Zhou Wei and Director Wang, another rushed towards Lin Huairou and Liu Xiuyuan, and the largest force went straight for Xie Xun and Fu Qinghuai!
Ah-chan screamed as a stream of water grabbed his ankle and dragged him into the darkness!
"Ah Chan!"
Liu Xiuyuan's eyes were bloodshot with rage. He tried to pull her away, but Lin Huairou held him back: "Old Liu! Protect yourself first!"
In the chaos, Xie Xun suddenly felt his feet sink into the ground, and the water waves actually corroded the floor!
He and Fu Qinghuai fell downwards at the same time!
In the instant of his fall, the last thing he saw was Lin Huairou slowly raising her hand and pointing upwards under the dim green lantern.
There, on the wall of the stairwell, blood was slowly seeping out, outlining crooked and distorted words, like the instructions for some cruel game:
"Hide and seek, let's begin!"
"Count to one hundred."
"Hide well."
"If they are found..."
Before the ink had dried, Xie Xun had already fallen into the boundless darkness below.
The last thing I heard was a countdown with eight overlapping voices, as cheerful as a child's game:
"One hundred, ninety-nine, ninety-eight..."
The icy, bone-chilling sewage instantly submerged his mouth and nose.
...
After a while, the two of them struggled out of the water and fell onto the concrete ground, coughing and choking.
This place is like an underground boiler room, pitch black, with rusted pipes and abandoned machinery everywhere.
Xie Xun wiped the dirty water off his face. The water was fishy and smelly, and it also smelled like burning paper money.
Fu Qinghuai propped himself up and spat, "This water is filthy."
The countdown was still ringing overhead, its echoes seeming to emanate from every crack and crevice.
"Seventy-seven, seventy-six..."
The sounds were like children playing, but in this place, they only felt eerie.
Xie Xun was about to get up when he suddenly heard the sound of water beside him.
He turned his head and saw it was Ah-Can.
Ah-chan squatted by the pool they had climbed out of, head down, his fingers darting around in the water, seemingly drawing something.
He was soaked to the bone, his hair plastered to his face, dripping water.
"Ah Can?" Xie Xun called out.
Ah-chan slowly raised his head.
Xie Xun's heart skipped a beat.
Ah-chan is smiling.
His mouth was stretched so wide it almost reached his ears, exactly the same smile as the female ghost Lin Huairou in the surveillance footage.
But his eyes were lifeless, empty.
"Found you all," Ah-Can said, his voice strange, like several people talking at the same time, men, women, and children.
On his neck, a dark bluish mark was slowly rising, as if he were being strangled by some invisible rope.
The marks went down, seeping into his soaked clothes, and disappeared somewhere.
Fu Qinghuai pulled Xie Xun back and stared at A-Can: "He's been possessed."
Ah-chan stood up unsteadily, his movements stiff.
He raised his hand, pointed at Xie Xun, then at Fu Qinghuai, and gurgling sounds came from his split mouth:
"One...two..."
He is counting.
Just like in the surveillance footage, the female ghost Lin Huairou counted the steps.
"Run!" Xie Xun shouted, pulling Fu Qinghuai and running deeper into the boiler room.
Behind them came the giggling of Ah-Can, or rather, the giggling of the thing attached to Ah-Can, along with wet footsteps, which followed slowly.
The countdown continues:
"Seventy...sixty-nine..."
With each count, the footsteps drew closer.
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