Escape from the Thriller World – Chapter 15

Volume One: The Old Corpse in the Mountain Village

Dangerous Situations Arise One After Another

【Tong Lau Side Quest About to Fail】

The old granny disappeared with a wisp of blue smoke, and the black cat ran downstairs and vanished.

            

In a daze, the floor changed from the 11th floor to the 23rd floor.

Shen Qingyou’s body trembled as she felt light all over, and when she rubbed her eyes again, she found herself on the 23rd floor!

Shen Qingyou saw a woman wearing a qipao waving at her ahead, and when she looked up, a familiar face appeared in her eyes!

            

The woman wore a blue and white porcelain qipao (referring to the distinctive blue-white pattern commonly seen on traditional Chinese porcelain), with a slender figure and beautiful features.

She muttered: “Qingyou, how have you been? Mom misses you so much.”

Tears in her eyes, Shen Qingyou said: “Mom, is it really you? It’s been so long since we last met.”

            

The woman’s lips moved as she spoke: “Mom knows you resent me in your heart, come here, let Mom take a good look at you.”

Ever since Shen Qingyou got into military academy and then became a special agent at the National Security Bureau, she had spent more time apart from her family than together. Getting caught up in this game world instance was something she never expected..,

Shen Qingyou was lost in the long-missed feeling of family affection, and she was about to step forward.

            

The woman’s face gradually began to tear apart, turning into a bloodless face with half of it burned away!

Shen Qingyou screamed: “No! You’re not!”

The terrified Shen Qingyou backed away, wanting to run upstairs back to the 18th floor, but she couldn’t escape this rooftop no matter what.

            

Ghost Wall! She encountered a Ghost Wall! (a supernatural phenomenon in Chinese folklore where spirits create an invisible maze, making people walk in circles)

That old granny she just saw wasn’t human at all, it was a ghost burning ghost money.

All Shen Qingyou could hear was that woman’s “hee hee hee” laughter, and before her eyes was a paper doll with rouge-red eyes and a centipede-like mouth.

            

The paper doll hopped and skipped to her front, took Shen Qingyou’s hand and said: “Big sister, come play with Jiajia.”

Jiajia bared her teeth, and spat out an eyeball from her mouth. She seemed to have more good things in her mouth that she wanted to spit out and share with Shen Qingyou.

Just as Shen Qingyou was trapped in the Ghost Wall, a Red Song came through the mist – it was our Chinese nation’s national anthem. (refers to patriotic songs from China’s revolutionary period)

            

Ning Lan held her phone in her palms, with its volume turned up to maximum.

They say when people encounter a Ghost Wall, playing the national anthem might break the spell.

Ning Lan’s timely arrival saved Shen Qingyou once again. When Shen Qingyou came to, she found herself standing in the hallway of the 11th floor.

            

Ning Lan shouted: “Don’t look back, run!”

Just as Ning Lan’s words fell, that “ghost” behind her pounced again, and the two humans and one ghost entered into another chase!

7th floor! They need to climb to the 7th floor!

            

Shen Qingyou, with her police officer background, naturally had much better physical fitness than Ning Lan. This time she gave the right of survival to Ning Lan, running behind her to guard the rear!

This time, Ning Lan who was running behind tripped and fell. Just as the ghost was about to catch up, Shen Qingyou pulled her up and said: “Run! To the 18th floor!”

“No, what about you!” Ning Lan said, catching her breath.

            

“I still have one Escape Talisman I can use, hurry and run!” Shen Qingyou pushed Ning Lan, who nodded at Shen Qingyou while gritting her teeth.

The ghost, that ghost was right behind Shen Qingyou. When Shen Qingyou saw that ghostly face, she shouted “Escape Talisman!” and it took effect.

Shen Qingyou was teleported to the 17th floor, but that ghost also sensed her presence and chased after her. Shen Qingyou was just one floor away from the 18th floor when the ghost grabbed her foot!

            

She couldn’t muster any strength in her entire body, while the ghost behind her laughed mockingly with a “jie jie jie” sound.

Shen Qingyou’s foot was pulled down, and she was like a broken puppet at the ghost’s mercy.

Her life value was rapidly decreasing, the game status bar reached a ‘down’ state, and her health bar dropped from full to 15%.

            

【Game System Notice】

【Tong Lau Side Quest About to Fail】

【Game Has Automatically Saved】

            

Game failure means all four of them would return to yesterday’s storyline, and the plot’s direction would change again!

Could it be? Was she going to die here?

Shen Qingyou watched as she was about to be torn apart by the ghost behind her!

            

She wasn’t afraid, she was just unwilling to accept it!

At the critical moment, Ning Lan appeared on the stairs of the 18th floor, and she resolutely tore off the Triangle Talisman from her neck and threw it at the female ghost.

The female ghost seemed to be burned by the talisman, her hand developing a circular hole, and she let out a painful cry.

            

The female ghost was temporarily controlled by the talisman, shrinking into a black shadow and drilling into the floor.

【Game System Notice】

【Triangle Talisman Damage Value: 15%】

            

The talisman from Xiao Qiang still had some use, but the number of times it could be used was limited, and it would become completely useless once the damage reached 100%.

Ning Lan picked up the Triangle Talisman and tucked it into her pocket.

Ning Lan pulled Shen Qingyou over and said: “Quick, come up! I don’t want to owe you anything!”

            

Shen Qingyou let out a long breath and said: “That was close, we almost had to restart the game.”

The two of them returned to the 18th floor residence, and Ning Lan turned on the living room lights, making everything bright.

Ning Lan sat on the sofa thinking about how to deal with that ghost, while Shen Qingyou poured a glass of water and took several big gulps.

            

Ning Lan teased: “No way, Officer Shen. Are you that scared already?”

Shen Qingyou shook her head and said: “That woman suddenly transformed into my mother, I wasn’t prepared for that…”

Ning Lan continued asking: “Officer Shen, are you homesick?”

            

Shen Qingyou held her glass of water and nodded: “After graduating from police academy, I transferred to the National Security Bureau and rarely kept in touch with family, my work is absolutely confidential.”

Shen Qingyou’s thoughts drifted far away, as if she was still that female soldier at military academy, passionately sweating in the military camp.

Ning Lan suddenly understood Shen Qingyou a bit better – their work was full of dangers, walking the line between life and death.

            

“Let’s all make it out alive, if possible,” Ning Lan said with a deep breath.

The words “if possible” were spoken with a trembling voice.

In this horror game world, they didn’t know how long they could survive, would they die like the others?

            

Ning Lan was different from Shen Qingyou – she came from a merchant family, never lacking money, and her parents supported her through three years of university.

Ning Lan’s grades weren’t particularly outstanding, and after entering society, she just worked at an ordinary advertising company.

The family that Ning Lan tried everything to escape from was perhaps what Shen Qingyou had always wanted to have.

            

People are always so unsatisfied; perhaps what we have right now is actually the best.

After experiencing this night’s brush with death, Ning Lan’s thoughts grew heavy. She calmly said those words and then got up to go wash up in the bathroom.

The remaining Shen Qingyou also fell silent – this horror game wasn’t as easy to clear as they had imagined.

            

Both of them seemed a bit down tonight. After washing up, Ning Lan closed the bathroom door and said to her: “Let’s sleep, that ghost is injured and won’t come for a while.”

They could get a brief rest tonight.

Ning Lan changed into her pajamas and sat in the bedroom, applying a face mask while looking in the mirror. As she was putting it on, she felt her face in the mirror transform into that female ghost…

            

Her distorted features grinned at her with bared teeth: “You can’t escape, none of you can escape!”

The mirror’s surface was instantly covered with bloody handprints, and that ghost’s hand reached out from the mirror, grabbing her neck!

Ning Lan was choked and couldn’t speak. She instinctively reached for the yellow talisman in her pocket, and only after a flash of yellow light did that hand retract!

            

Ning Lan was startled and tore off her face mask, and the mirror returned to normal.

She flipped the mirror face-down, realizing now that they couldn’t directly look at anything reflective.

If they looked directly into mirrors, that ghost’s illusion would appear, and they would be pulled in!

            

Ning Lan wanted to tell this information to Shen Qingyou, but not wanting to disturb her, she just sent her a text message.

Shen Qingyou replied with one word: Okay.

That night, both of them slept until dawn.

            

They needed to find more clues during the daytime. As soon as Ning Lan went downstairs, she saw Xu Sanduo calling several security guards to carry Wei Jinye into a car.

Wei Jinye couldn’t move his limbs and was foaming at the mouth, as if he had been possessed by something evil.

Ning Lan asked Xu Sanduo: “So early in the morning, what’s going on?”

            

Xu Sanduo sighed “Ah” and said: “Don’t mention it, ever since you all spoke with Master Wei, he went crazy last night.”

Master Wei seemed possessed by some evil spirit, jumping up and down in his rest room like a monkey.

He was muttering strange words, as if cursing someone.

            

Ning Lan shook her head and said: “If he had told us the truth earlier, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.”

Xu Sanduo said in great shock: “You don’t even know – this Master Wei was singing Little Soldier Zhang Ga at home, and then he even cooked and ate his Labrador.” (” Little Soldier Zhang Ga” is a famous Chinese revolutionary opera about a young boy soldier fighting against Japanese invaders)

Xu Sanduo couldn’t bear to recall the scene when the security guards went in – the Labrador’s head was hanging from the ceiling by Master Wei, and parts of its body were still stewing in the pressure cooker.

            

Master Wei had a piece of dog meat in his mouth, declaring emphatically: “Fresh! Delicious! Want more!”

“Master Wei, that was your most beloved dog!” Xu Sanduo said in shock.

Master Wei’s horrifying behavior was completely not that of a normal person!

            

“Hurry and take him to the hospital, see what’s going on,” Ning Lan said, waving her hand.

Without much thought, Master Wei’s god-like behavior must be the work of that female ghost upstairs.

He hadn’t finished telling the truth, so the female ghost came for him.

            

【Game System Notice】

【Received a Clue Hint】

【Address: Hong Kong Library】

            

The other three people in the Tong Lau received it at the same time. They also came down shortly after, and all four gathered together again, with helpless looks on their faces.

Both sides were in different positions, but due to the game’s restrictions, they had no choice but to cooperate in this game.

The four people made their way to the Hong Kong Library, where the staff handed them the library rules.

            

Ning Lan took the rules book, which read:

Welcome friends who have come to browse books, please follow the rules below.

1. Library operating hours: 7:00-22:00

            

2. Speaking loudly for more than three minutes in the library is prohibited, you will be immediately escorted out by staff!

3. If you see staff members wearing red clothes, please stay away. All our staff members wear X-marked work badges.

4. Library sections are: Mystery Novel Section, Romance Novel Section, History-Politics-Geography Section, Astronomy Enthusiast Section. (Leave immediately if you enter other sections.)

            

5. If you feel hungry while reading, you can purchase snacks and drinks from the administrator on the first floor. (If the administrator sells lunch boxes or pastries, please do not buy them!)

6. The book 《Escape from the Thriller World》 is not on the shelves in the Mystery Novel Section, if you see it, please return it to the administrator immediately!

7. You can trust the words of library staff members who wear X-marked badges on their chest.

            

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