How...how could they have found her?!
The moment Ji He met Xiao Jiang Shihe's gaze, she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave, her entire body freezing.
When Xiao Jiang Shihe said those words, Ji He, who had been standing steadily in place, suddenly felt a downward pull and fell as if she had fallen.
Even more surprisingly, the scene before her eyes was like glass, starting from where Xiao Jiang Shihe was and spreading out like a spider web, and then Fengxian Village in Ji He's vision shattered into large pieces of fragments.
Within the fragments lies a deep black void, as if she exists within a dream filled with darkness and gloom. And after shattering—a tremendous sense of weightlessness washes over her.
Ji He couldn't control her falling, as if she had fallen into a bottomless abyss, crashing into the bottom layer of these illusions. Not only that, her body was becoming increasingly fainter and fainter.
After realizing this, Ji He's fear intensified. Looking at the darkness in her vision, she looked up as she fell, only to see Xiao Jiang Shihe's cold eyes.
'This is a trap!'
'This is Jiang Shihe's ghost realm, his dreams and memories. If he falls to the lowest level here...'
'I'm afraid I'll be completely lost in these past scenes, which means—I'm doomed!'
Ji He never expected that in this instance, simply uncovering the truth after seeing a clue once could lead to falling into the trap of a vengeful ghost, forcing her to step into the ghost realm and become nourishment for the vengeful ghost.
Her face turned pale. She suddenly remembered the iron photo frame she had been holding earlier. After it kept falling, Ji He took out the iron photo frame she always carried with her from her bag and smashed it to pieces!
As the iron picture frame shattered, a strange photo appeared on it, and the little boy in it screamed like a madman, his roar so loud it could shatter eardrums.
But Ji He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, because in the dark and cold dream world around her, a bright light suddenly appeared, and then Ji He was thrown out, as if she had been crushed.
When Ji He opened her eyes again, she was back at the police station. The computer screen still showed "No such person found," but nothing seemed amiss.
On the table in front of her was the iron photo frame that Ji He had broken in her dream. The photo inside showed a little boy with a mournful face, like a helpless and resentful ghost.
"Phew... As expected, it was him."
"Although I haven't seen all of Jiang Shihe's experiences, this should be enough. Next, all I need to do is kill him, and my goal will be achieved!"
Ji He's breathing quickened, and her eyes, which had been filled with fear because of Jiang Shihe's ghost domain, grew brighter and brighter. Her hands even trembled uncontrollably with excitement.
As for the objective of clearing the level, which is 'protecting Jiang Shihe', Ji He has completely given up on it. She didn't even finish watching the entire storyline, which is about the remaining events from Jiang Shihe's childhood.
Given the typical nature of global thrillers, it's virtually impossible to solve an incident without knowing the full picture. With so many players already dead, Ji He didn't believe she was confident she could find the truth.
Fortunately, she has an item that exempts her from the penalty of failing to complete the objective. As long as she can complete the achievement objective—'find and kill the serial killer'—then Ji Helai's goal in this instance will be achieved.
After taking one last look at the broken metal photo frame prop, Ji He made up her mind and quickly left the police station.
But as she left quickly, she didn't see outside the police station—the night was thick, the entire capital had become a ghost town, and there were no stars or moon in the night sky, only dark clouds.
In the pitch black, only the streetlights outside the police station emitted a faint, warm yellow glow. Ji He, rushing out, didn't notice what lay beyond the streetlights in the darkness—
A petite figure stood there, her leaden gray eyes suddenly fixed on the direction Ji He had left.
037: [Ancestor, why is the female lead in such a hurry to leave? What is she trying to do?]
"She's probably discovered some clues, which is why she's rushing off to do her mission, but..."
Ruan Qing'an paused, her eyes half-closed: "What exactly did she discover that made her so anxious? Is it a clue to passing the level?"
But as she pondered this, Ruan Qing'an felt something was amiss. She couldn't help but furrow her brows, as if sensing something. She raised her hand, with black threads wrapped around her fingertips.
Immediately afterwards, the increasingly thick black fog surged toward her. Ruan Qing'an made a hand seal with one hand, and following the method of controlling the power of the haunted house, the portrait ghost quickly appeared in front of her carrying the picture frame.
The portrait ghost was still as withered as a dead tree branch, and its mummified appearance was even more terrifying. But in front of Nguyen Thanh An, the portrait ghost looked more like a ghost behind him when it was holding the picture frame.
It transmitted everything it saw and heard to Ruan Qing'an's mind through the black mist and the black threads that circled her fingertips.
A moment later, Ruan Qing'an raised an eyebrow: "You mean, after Ji He entered the police station, you followed behind her the whole time."
"When you were in the archives, you hid in a corner, observing her every move?"
"And after entering the archives, she took something out, then slumped over the computer and fell unconscious, only just now regaining consciousness and then escaping?"
The ghost in the portrait seemed to understand, nodding repeatedly while holding the picture frame, and gesturing with its withered hands to indicate that it had been following Ji He closely.
Ruan Qing'an lowered her head in thought, then raised it. Her hand moved slightly, and as she raised it, large swaths of black mist surged out from the darkness behind her.
Immediately afterwards, she pointed her slender finger at the police station and the black mist surged in like a rising tide, instantly enveloping the entire police station and bringing the whole area under complete control.
After doing all this, Ruan Qingan strolled into the police station, with the portrait ghost holding a picture frame behind her, pointing the way with his withered finger.
When Ruan Qingan arrived at the archives, the entire archives remained exactly as Ji He had left it, with the bodies of police officers lying on the ground, a scene of utter devastation.
037 was taken aback: [Holy crap, what is the female lead doing?!]
"To her, these are just NPCs, just a piece of data, so why would she care?"
Ruan Qing'an spoke in a low voice, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of sarcasm. As she approached the computer in the archives, she immediately noticed the broken iron photo frame on the desktop.
God knows what circumstances led Ji He to do what she did, given the boost that global horror fascination provides to gamers.
Just then, 037 suddenly hesitated and said, "Ancestor, don't you think... this photo looks like someone?"
"who?"
[Male lead: Jiang Shihe.]
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