Outside the old city area.
The man who had just opened the Forbidden Ruin sat on the edge of the signboard, turned his head and glanced at the half of the old city area that was still like a painting, shaking his head helplessly. He took out his phone from his pocket and started playing a game.
"Brother, why are you sitting here playing with your phone in the middle of the night? Aren't you afraid of catching a cold?"
Not long after, a pedestrian walked over from the opposite side of the road and burst into laughter when he saw the scene.
The man looked up at him, then lowered his head and continued operating his phone. "I have nothing to do, just bored."
The pedestrian smiled and took out a cigarette from his pocket, handing it to the man.
The man waved his hand and said seriously, "It's working hours, I don't smoke."
"Hey, you're sitting on the street playing with your phone, is that considered working?" The pedestrian laughed.
"Yeah."
"Alright." The pedestrian shrugged and stood up, walking towards the street behind the man.
"Where are you going?" The man suddenly spoke.
"Going home."
"You can't go back, at least not now."
The pedestrian raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"This road is closed now. You can only go back when it's open." The man pointed to the signboard behind him.
The pedestrian followed his finger and saw the inexplicable signboard standing in the middle of the road. Just as he was about to say something, the four words "No Entry Ahead" on the signboard flashed and disappeared.
The pedestrian's gaze suddenly became dull.
After a few seconds, he stiffly turned around and walked back step by step along the way he came, his eyes filled with confusion…
The man seemed completely unsurprised by this. Just as he was about to continue playing his game, the voice of another man suddenly came through his earphones.
"Zhao Kongcheng!!"
As soon as this voice sounded, the man sat up from the ground, the leisure and weariness on his face disappearing, replaced by absolute seriousness!
"Here! Captain, what's wrong?"
"There's a problem. One of the Ghost-Faced people in this group has been promoted to Ghost-Faced King. He severely injured Hong Ying and escaped from the Forbidden Ruin through the sewer while we were besieging the other Ghost-Faced people."
"Ghost-Faced King?" Zhao Kongcheng's face changed. "Which direction did he run? I'll intercept him!"
"No, Kongcheng, you're not good at fighting. You can't win against the Ghost-Faced King. I'll go after him."
Zhao Kongcheng was taken aback. "Then what should I…"
"After the Ghost-Faced King escaped, two more Ghost-Faced people took the opportunity to flee into the sewer. The others are busy dealing with the remaining Ghost-Faced people."
"Which direction?"
"Southeast."
"Alright."
A gleam of determination flashed in Zhao Kongcheng's eyes. He ran to the other end of the street and got into a black van, stepping on the accelerator and speeding away amidst a buzzing sound.
On the passenger seat beside him, a neatly folded black and red cloak and a sheathed straight sword were placed!
…
"Alright, I'm going to turn here. I'll go first."
Wang Shao stopped and turned around to the four people behind him.
Just then, Li Yifei seemed to suddenly remember something and spoke up, "Wang Shao, if I remember correctly, isn't your house near the old city area?"
"Yeah, what's up?"
"…Nothing, just be careful on your way back."
Wang Shao's mouth twitched slightly, he rolled his eyes and said, "If you have something to say, don't hold back halfway. It makes people feel uncomfortable."
Li Yifei hesitated for a moment. "I heard that the old city area has been restless recently, there's a serial killer!"
"A serial killer? Is it true?" Jiang Qian didn't believe it.
"Of course it's true!" Li Yifei looked around and lowered his voice. "You guys may not know about this, but there have been more than ten deaths in the old city area in the past few days."
"More than ten deaths? That's impossible. If there was such a big commotion, the news would have reported it long ago." Wang Shao shook his head.
"Hey, why is it impossible? Let me tell you, something strange is going on with this. Someone higher up forcibly suppressed the news. If it weren't for my dad working at the police station, I wouldn't have known about it either."
"Strange? What's strange?"
"It is said…" Li Yifei paused and lowered his voice even more.
"It is said that… the faces of those who died were completely peeled off, leaving only a bloody mass of flesh and protruding eyeballs. The method was extremely brutal!"
A cool evening breeze swept by, and when they heard these words, the four of them felt a chill from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads!
"Li Yifei! Are you crazy? Why are you talking about this in the middle of the night!" Jiang Qian's face turned pale, and she subconsciously looked around the quiet street, annoyed.
This place was already close to the old city area, a remote area of Cangnan City. It was almost ten o'clock after evening self-study, and there wasn't a single pedestrian on the road. Li Yifei's words, combined with the atmosphere, made people feel uneasy.
Not only her, even Wang Shao and Liu Yuan, the two big men, were a little scared. Wang Shao glanced at the narrow path he was about to take and suddenly felt a little guilty…
If Li Yifei's words only made people feel scared, then Lin Qiye's next words directly made their scalps tingle!
After pondering for a moment, Lin Qiye spoke softly, "Are you sure… these things were done by humans?"
"Qiye, you…" Jiang Qian's body trembled!
Wang Shao and Liu Yuan's mouths twitched slightly, and their gazes towards Lin Qiye suddenly became strange.
So, Lin Qiye, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, turned out to be the one hiding the deepest?
Li Yifei looked at Lin Qiye in surprise. "You think so too?""Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Jiang Qian couldn't stand it anymore, she fiercely twisted Li Yifei's arm, causing him to cry out in pain on the spot.
"Stop telling ghost stories in the middle of the night! I still have to go home later!"
Li Yifei, clutching his arm and grimacing in pain, muttered quietly to himself, "This isn't a ghost story…"
Wang Shao shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not going to waste my time with you guys. I don't believe in these ghosts and gods anyway. I'm leaving."
Wang Shao's figure gradually disappeared into the narrow alley.
Jiang Qian glared at Li Yifei again, walked a few steps forward, and suddenly stopped.
She sniffed hard, her eyebrows slightly furrowed,
A hint of confusion appeared in her eyes,
She turned her head and asked, "Do you guys smell something foul?"
"Foul smell?"
"It's like something rotting."
"I don't smell anything, Liu Yuan, do you?"
"I don't…ugh!! "
Before Liu Yuan and Li Yifei could finish their sentences, their faces suddenly changed. They quickly covered their noses, looking around in horror.
Just as Lin Qiye was about to say something, a nauseatingly foul smell suddenly filled his nostrils. It felt like a piece of meat that had been rotting for more than ten days was thrown into a cesspool, mixed with a dozen rotten eggs. Just one sniff made his stomach churn.
This was the foulest smell Lin Qiye had ever encountered in his life.
As for Jiang Qian, who had the most sensitive nose, she immediately squatted down and started vomiting.
"Damn it, what the hell smells so bad?!" Li Yifei shouted, covering his nose.
"I don't know." Lin Qiye's eyebrows furrowed slightly. After a moment, he pointed towards the alley where Wang Shao had left.
"But judging from the direction of the smell, it seems to be coming from there."
The next moment, a chilling scream echoed from not far away, reverberating in the silent night sky.