Chapter 645: Chapter 521: Ghost Knocks on the Door_3
"Of course!" Yang Xiao had no reason to refuse.
The man seemed confident in himself, and after speaking, he stretched out his ruler, aimed at the stiff-walking "Long Zi No. 41," and murmured softly, "Forward, 20 steps."
The next second, Yang Xiao’s eyes widened, as the man before him vanished instantly, only to reappear behind the ghost, swinging the black Heavy Ruler down fiercely.
"Bang!"
The head of Long Zi No. 41 burst open like a watermelon, with little blood spurting from the headless torso, which took two more steps before collapsing to the ground, powerless.
Those legs continued to twitch, and the connection between the upper and lower body became unstable, starting to leak viscera and the like. Yang Xiao pulled out the Human Bone Staff and struck the still-twitching lower body. After a couple of hits, the legs stopped moving, and the body split into two halves, rotting at a visible rate and dissolving into a disgusting pool of corpse fluid, seeping into the ground.
Seeing Yang Xiao’s Human Bone Staff, the man couldn’t help but praise, "Nice item!"
"Yours too isn’t bad." Putting away the Human Bone Staff, Yang Xiao stared at the black Heavy Ruler in the man’s hand, his admiration sincere.
The man wore a mask labeled Heavenly No.9. Although young, his strength was formidable, and his magic artifact was of the highest selection. From the fight just now, Yang Xiao judged that the man’s magic artifact shared a unique similarity with his own Soul-Capturing Mirror, except that he didn’t need a mirror surface or a pond as a medium for teleportation. His ruler could measure the distance to the enemy and teleport immediately. However, every benefit came with a drawback; this ruler’s teleportation distance must be short, and it presumably couldn’t open another relatively independent world within the mirror like his own Soul-Capturing Mirror.
"I owe you big time, brother. What’s your name?" Yang Xiao bowed with his hands clasped.
"You can drop the formalities. My surname is Lu, given name Wencheng. And you?" Lu Wencheng lifted his chin slightly, wiping the blood off the ruler with one hand, emitting a strong aura.
"Yang Xiao."
"Brother Yang, you react too slowly. Also, don’t you read the notices when you go out? Dare to wander around in the fog?" Lu Wencheng asked.
"What notice?" Yang Xiao came to realize, "No, I mean... what’s written on the notice?"
"Return home immediately upon fog; it’s written on the blackboards hanging in the security rooms. I live in building No. 5, and I’ve just been to building No. 4; both have it written in their security rooms," Lu Wencheng explained.
On hearing this, Yang Xiao gasped sharply. The blackboard in the security room of building No. 3, where he resided, also had words. But the most crucial first two words, "upon fog," had been erased, and it certainly wasn’t the work of the Patrol Defense Office people, it must have been done by someone else who lived in the same building, almost immediately, Yang Xiao thought of the code name 4037 mentioned in room owner’s notes.
"Is there some strange stuff in your room?" Yang Xiao asked cautiously.
"Indeed, and it’s a top-performing item with excellent results." Lu Wencheng stood straight to answer, and Yang Xiao couldn’t tell if it was an illusion, but he sensed pride in the man.
Yang Xiao nodded his head, confirming his suspicion. Both his identity and Lu Wencheng’s were subjects of trade, as was the man who died in room 5029 of building No. 2. By that reckoning, the 11 people who entered this time were all the same.
In other words, right now, building No. 4, room 4037, should also house a participant, the one who secretly erased the words on the blackboard and almost caused his death!
Channeling his spiritual power into the Ghost Lantern, as the green light dissipated the fog, Yang Xiao saw a mess of footprints underfoot. According to Lu Wencheng, he had seen Yang Xiao being deluded by the ghost, aimlessly wandering near here. In reality, Lu was just circling around and used his magic artifact to strike a rockery to alert him. But Yiiang mistakenly took him for a ghost.
"This ghost is too cunning; it seems able to read the memories of those it preys on," Yang Xiao suddenly said, recalling the ghost’s behavior earlier.
As the two men talked and walked, led by the Ghost Lantern, they finally emerged, with a few surrounding buildings gradually becoming clearer, "Lu, where do you live?" Yang Xiao asked before parting.
"Building No. 5, room 1607. And you?" Lu Wencheng asked.
"Building No. 3, room 1014," Yang Xiao answered.
After exchanging phone numbers, the two hurriedly departed, lingering near this foggy area felt unsafe, and it seemed there was some greater horror yet to emerge. Yang instinctively thought of the dark holes that had appeared on the ground.
If Lu Wencheng hadn’t come to his aid, he very likely would have fallen into one of those black holes. As for what awaited him inside, Yang Xiao had no idea.
Returning to his room cautiously, Yang Xiao remained alert all the way, holding the Human Bone Staff tight in his hand, worried about an ambush from the person in room 4037. It wasn’t the time to settle scores with him yet; he needed to focus on dealing with the ghost first.
Reaching the 10th floor, he stopped, raised his head, and saw a metal plate on the door, marked 1014. As Yang Xiao took out his key and turned around, he inserted the key into the lock of the room across from his, gently turning it and a latticed iron door opened.
Indeed, Yang Xiao’s real room was 1047, right across from 1014. Although Lu Wencheng had saved him, it was essential to maintain vigilance; this way, even if Lu came to find him, he would know and it wouldn’t delay anything.
There was also something else Lu Wencheng had made clear. His help wasn’t for nothing; he also appreciated the illusion-breaking ability of the Ghost Lantern. After all, it wasn’t just Yang Xiao trapped by the ghost fog but Lu Wencheng as well; saving him was also a means to save himself.
