Chapter 1452: Chapter 896: Prying Eyes (Part 3)
After so much torment, Yang Xiao was exhausted. He found a chair, sat back against the wall to rest. He was unclear about the whereabouts of Wu Zhuo’s corpse. Maybe it lay in one of the rooms inside, possibly at the end of the hallway in the abandoned office hall, or perhaps somewhere else altogether. But none of it mattered now; Yang Xiao had no plans to search for it. He planned to hang on until daylight, hopefully waiting for Zhou Mingxiao to return.
"Mr. Zhou, may Buddha protect you, Amen." Yang Xiao raised his left hand as a gesture before him, while his right hand drew a sincere cross over his chest.
Not far above Yang Xiao’s head, a figure hid behind a huge office desk, lying flat on the ground without caring about the burnt ashes smearing onto his chin, tightly clutching his cellphone.
Zhou Mingxiao dared not utter a sound, he looked like he’d rolled through a coal pile, wholly covered in dark grime, drenched in black ashes and debris.
Only his eyes shone brightly, staring fixedly towards the door.
Right there, a bizarre and terrifying figure flashed past—a man with his torso broken at the waist, his legs rubbing against the floor as he advanced, while his upper body strained backward, his head nearly drooping to the ground, arms twisted in unnatural folds.
As his head swayed, those deep red Ghost Eyes emitted a chilling glow in the darkness, always searching for prey.
This guy was so dangerous, from afar you could only see a pair of legs; if not for the text alert from Jiang Qingluan, he’d be finished.
Jiang Qingluan was far away at home, naturally unaware of this ghost’s intel, so Yang Xiao must have informed him. This indicated Yang Xiao had successfully escaped, left the 18th floor, and returned to the office where a phone could reach the outside.
This also suggested Yang Xiao had encountered this Waist-breaking Ghost and successfully escaped, even finding a way to avoid the ghost.
"Really impressive, continuously dodging two ghosts’ pursuits..."
Previously, Yang Xiao had described to Zhou Mingxiao the female ghost haunting him, clearly different from this one, so Yang Xiao had shaken off at least two ghosts, greatly bolstering his impression in Zhou Mingxiao’s mind.
This is a remarkably capable and responsible teammate.
"Scritch—"
"Scritch—"
...
As the scraping sound faded, the Waist-breaking Ghost disappeared completely from Zhou Mingxiao’s view, leaving only minor sounds indicating its direction and location.
Frankly, this ghost wasn’t hard to handle; you just needed to lie low and reduce your height to escape its pursuit. Even if it passed right by, it wouldn’t notice.
But the prerequisite for all this was knowing this tidbit, which was incredibly difficult.
Because typically, once encountered, a person would be noticed and killed by the ghost without a chance to relay the message.
With the Waist-breaking Ghost’s departure, Zhou Mingxiao climbed up from the ground. He wasn’t there to escape; he intended to stay and search for clues.
This opportunity was hard-won with Yang Xiao risking his life, so Zhou couldn’t afford to waste it.
It’s not just a moral duty, but more crucially, he didn’t want to die, especially not as mysteriously as Chen Moting.
Tonight, even if they survived, lacking any valuable clues meant both Yang Xiao and himself would likely face death come dawn.
Returning empty-handed, he’d have no way to face Yang Xiao.
Fortune favors the bold; Zhou Mingxiao resolved to take a risk.
He followed the Waist-breaking Ghost’s footsteps, gradually advancing toward the center of the office area. During this period, besides the Waist-breaking Ghost, Zhou Mingxiao encountered other hazards, namely a few burnt ghosts, wandering aimlessly amidst the fire site, their eyes burnt away leaving dark hollow sockets.
Yet these figures, though outwardly frightening, posed far less danger than the Waist-breaking Ghost. As long as Zhou spotted them in advance, he could dodge each one.
With time, Zhou Mingxiao analyzed some patterns. Every time a burnt ghost was about to appear, there were signs, or rather, a pattern.
It was smoke.
Wearing a firefighter mask now, most smoke wasn’t much trouble for Zhou Mingxiao, visibility was still okay. But right before a burnt ghost appeared, thick smoke would manifest at the exact location, revealing a ghost shadow within.
Zhou roughly calculated the timing; about 5 seconds after the smoke emerged, a ghost shadow would appear, and in 6 to 7 seconds more, the shadow would walk out as a complete burnt ghost.
This felt like some random event in a game, where monsters refresh randomly on the map.
The burnt ghosts weren’t too hard to deal with, but were elusive, difficult to guard against, catching you unawares if not careful.
And once a ghost catches hold, regardless of whether it’s Source Ghost, Chang Ghost, or even the most ordinary ghost, the outcome for corporeal beings is always the same—death, with no chance of survival.
With the Waist-breaking Ghost’s appearance, Zhou Mingxiao made new discoveries. Around the Waist-breaking Ghost, or its passing path, there was no possibility of a burnt ghost refreshing any time soon, an extremely important find.
Hence, Zhou Mingxiao boldly followed the Waist-breaking Ghost at a safe distance, exploiting its presence to explore unknown areas and forge ahead into the center.
