Chapter 1010: Chapter 707: Ren De Mental Hospital
"Boss Sun, you overpraise me. This time it was everyone’s united effort. I merely went along with it," Yang Xiao said with a calm smile, exuding the demeanor of an expert.
Xi Huijun ran forward, helping Qu Hong up. It was only at this moment that Yang Xiao noticed Dou Jie’s left hand was bleeding profusely, with his little finger and ring finger nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Yang Xiao’s gaze towards him, Dou Jie bit his teeth and explained, "I was shot... by that one shot from the Night Watchman."
The power of that shotgun was immense. In addition to Dou Jie losing two fingers, Yu Kai was also injured. His calf was wounded, but he could still manage to walk with some difficulty.
Later, everyone found some bandages and medicine in the Mountain Guardian’s basket. Yu Kai, being a doctor, treated his and Dou Jie’s wounds simply. They couldn’t afford to delay; they had to set off immediately for the city where the mental hospital was located.
Yang Xiao held a flashlight, leading the way. The group stumbled forward, finally exiting the Zi Dian 0134 cave. Their only trophy, the Geisha Face, was carried by Yu Kai, carefully stored in his backpack.
At this moment, the markers left by Qu Hong came into play. Following the markings, the group got out of the mountains, returning to the Mountain Guardian’s tin hut.
After a short rest, Boss Sun drove as the group headed towards Border Province Ning City. The sun was setting, and before long, it was completely dark.
To stay awake, and perhaps to calm his nerves, Boss Sun smoked one cigarette after another, the thick smoke causing Xi Huijun to cough incessantly.
Fortunately, the minivan’s interior was spacious enough, and it wasn’t cramped even with six people. Yang Xiao sat in the front passenger seat. The second row had split seats, occupied by Qu Hong and Xi Huijun, while the long seat in the back was for Yu Kai and Dou Jie.
Everyone was exhausted after such a prolonged ordeal. The van had half a box of Red Bull, and Yang Xiao opened a bottle, sipping slowly. He said he would keep an eye on the road, urging the others to seize the opportunity to rest.
What had happened earlier made the others aware of Yang Xiao’s capability. Instinctively, they obeyed his words. Before long, besides Boss Sun and Yang Xiao, everyone else in the van was asleep, their snores and teeth grinding echoing intermittently.
It was unclear how much time had passed when Yu Kai, who had fallen asleep tilted on the back seat, felt something hard under him. In a daze, he reached out to touch it, feeling something cold and metallic.
The object was round and smooth with no sharp edges. In the next second, as Yu Kai slowly opened his eyes and saw the small metal object in the dim light of the van, his hazy eyes suddenly became clear.
"What the...!"
This short exclamation startled everyone awake. "Stop the car! Stop the car!" Yu Kai shouted, pounding the front seat.
Boss Sun didn’t know what was happening, but under Yang Xiao’s direction, he pulled the car over to a relatively flat spot by the roadside.
Before the car even came to a complete stop, Yu Kai leapt out, throwing the bell he was holding several meters away onto the ground.
"It’s that bell!" Qu Hong, recognizing the object, was also shocked. "How did it end up in the car? Wasn’t it lost?"
Everyone looked at Dou Jie, since he and Xiao Yaqin had been on the last mission together. It was Dou Jie who had claimed the bell was on Xiao Yaqin, but it had disappeared in the end.
"I... I don’t know. Could it be... could it be that Xiao Yaqin accidentally dropped the bell on the car seat when she got off?" Dou Jie was still groggy from sleep, his mind not fully awake.
But soon, as everyone calmed down, they all clearly understood that this wasn’t a coincidence. The Ghost Bell had found its way back by itself.
Yu Kai walked forward alone, kicking the bell into the roadside ditch before quickly getting back into the car, urging sternly, "Go, drive faster!"
As they set off again, Yang Xiao keenly sensed the atmosphere in the van had changed. No one was sleepy anymore, their eyes wide open, especially Yu Kai, whose tense expression and tightly pressed lips were visible through the rearview mirror.
Yang Xiao understood Yu Kai’s concern, and he was almost certain that Yu Kai had been targeted by the Ghost Bell’s female ghost. Xiao Yaqin had been the last person to die, and at the time, she also had the Ghost Bell with her.
"Hurry up!" Yu Kai urged in a low voice.
Although Boss Sun didn’t know exactly what had happened, he could feel the tense atmosphere in the car. Clearly, something major was wrong. "Don’t... don’t rush me; the gas pedal is almost to the floor."
Watching Yu Kai through the rearview mirror, Yang Xiao’s peripheral vision caught Qu Hong’s eye. Qu Hong signaled Yang Xiao, who hesitated for a moment but then subtly shook his head. Qu Hong frowned but ultimately withdrew the dagger she had pressed under her wrist.
Yang Xiao knew that Qu Hong’s plan wasn’t wrong. With Yu Kai clearly marked by the ghost, gathering everyone together in a speeding van posed a significant risk if the fierce ghost appeared. The safest choice was to get Yu Kai out of the car immediately. Yang Xiao had considered it, but it wasn’t just out of compassion; Yu Kai was also sharp.
Since realizing he might have been targeted by the ghost, Yu Kai had been on guard, suspecting Yang Xiao and the others might turn on him.
At this moment, Yu Kai seemed harmless, clutching his backpack with one hand in front, the other hand hidden in the shadow behind the backpack.
