The World Below Surface
Chapter 52: They were all bewitched by ghosts

At the very moment, those pale feet appeared, the car lights flickered and died, plunging the interior into an eerie darkness. The temperature plummeted. Shi Yan's heart sank. The previous ghosts' performance had lulled her into a false sense of security, but this crisis shattered any illusion of safety.

"What do we do? Is that Wen Qing?" Shi Yan's voice shook with trepidation, but the two individuals in the front seat remained silent.

They only had two skeletons, but who knew which one of them it might attack?

"Yes," a voice finally answered from the front.

However, Shi Yan sensed that something was awry. Whose voice was that?

Suddenly, everything spun around. When Shi Yan opened her eyes again, she gasped in shock. She was back in the same car from the previous night, yet with three ghastly white skeletons occupying the other seats. Meanwhile, glaring lights glared from the opposite direction.

She had, in fact, returned to the same situation from last night! On the opposite side, a mirror car careened toward them, neither vehicle demonstrating any desire to brake.

Shi Yan's mind spun out of control. She attempted to recall what Lu Yan did yesterday and tried to view the reflection on the opposite car's window. However, the luminous beams were blinding, and she couldn't discern anything clearly. Nonetheless, she felt that none of the four vehicles was fake. Shi Yan pushed aside the skeleton that had fallen onto her due to the bumps and forced open the car door, stunned to replace that it opened effortlessly.

A strong gust of wind buffeted her face, causing her to hesitate. If she jumped out at this speed...

Unbeknownst to her, Nie Yun Zhen sat in the driver's seat of the oncoming car; his hand was also on the door handle, his mind reeling with confusion and terror. Three skeletons occupied the other seats, and the dazzling lights obscured his vision.

The events transpired at a breakneck pace. Shi Yan, Chu Xiu, Lu Yan, and Nie Yun Zhen were all bewildered, struggling to comprehend the surreal situation. They had all been whisked away to four identical cars in an instant that hurtled towards each other at a catastrophic collision.

The gravity of the situation was amplified by the fact that all four of them found themselves in the driver's seats. A collision at such high speed would lead to certain death or severe injury.

Why...would this happen?

Despite their incomplete game of hide-and-seek, it made little sense for all four of them to return to the cars. Occupants sat in each of the four vehicles, and distinguishing the right direction proved challenging.

Abruptly, Lu Yan grasped something and was suddenly filled with dread.

This wasn't caused by Wen Qing's influence! The other ghosts in the hide-and-seek game only required the remains of one human being.

Lu Yan's fingers clenched around the door handle as he pushed with all his might. They hadn't seen through such a simple deception, or perhaps they were all bewitched by the ghosts, failing to sense something was amiss.

The accident at the intersection the day before had involved only two cars, one fake and one on their own, so why was there a third car now? Even the body count in the police station added up. The situation grew more perplexing when the body count didn't match the number of vehicles.

As it turned out, the third car was a death trap - a fact that became known only after the incident. Had they known earlier, they might have seen through the anomaly. But the die was cast, and it was too late.

When the door opened, a gust of chilly evening wind rushed in. Lu Yan unbuckled his seatbelt and, without hesitation, seized the skeleton on the passenger seat before darting into the back seat.

To Chu Xiu's astonishment, Lu Yan did not jump out of the car. He halted him in the motion of opening the door. In a flurry, he followed Lu Yan's lead and secured the skeleton in the back seat.

Now, Lu Yan clutched the cold bones, huddled in the back seat, anticipating his fate. He didn't know if the heavens intended to claim his life, but he had done everything possible to survive.

The four cars collided with a deafening crash in a moment of cataclysmic impact. The front of Lu Yan's car was flattened beyond recognition, sending him hurtling uncontrollably into the back seat, where he landed amidst a twisted pile of metal.

The collision was a violent force, but Lu Yan felt the skeleton beneath him absorb the brunt of the impact, shielding him from the sharp metal frames that threatened to impale him. The car's roof was also critically damaged, dangerously close to piercing his back.

The fuel tank hissed and leaked. A small flame flickered to life, a harbinger of the inferno that could consume him at any moment. Trapped amidst the destruction, Lu Yan was encircled by the twisted wreckage and unable to escape.

Yet, he remained alive.

With excruciating pain surging through his body, Lu Yan struggled to catch his breath, gasping for air. His voice was a whisper, as if he had to convince himself of his existence. "I am still alive."

After taking a deep breath, he composed himself and regained his composure. His upper body was tightly squeezed between the skeleton and car parts, making it challenging to reach out. He attempted to press the door handle with his toes, and after a few tries, a satisfying "click" was heard. He then violently kicked the door open and quickly scurried out of the car.

As Lu Yan prepared to depart, cries for help erupted from the opposite side. Chu Xiu was in the same predicament as he was stuck and unable to open the car door. Observing someone else escaping through a small gap, Chu Xiu shouted for assistance.

Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan had opted to leap out of the car, with the former now lying on the ground, soaked in blood, uncertain of their fate. The latter had softened the impact with a skeleton and was in better shape, able to stand and walk. She heard Chu Xiu's cries for help and hobbled over.

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Just as she straightened her body, a hemp rope suddenly descended from a nearby tree branch. The dark sky made it difficult to see. She was unaware as she approached the loop of the rope, which ultimately caught her chin.

The hemp rope instantly constricted, snapping her neck upward. Shi Yan didn't even have time to call for help before her body hung from the tree. Upon closer inspection, the supposed hemp rope was, in reality, a cold and slippery arm.

The hand that held Shi Yan's neck contracted slightly. She hung her head limply, motionless.

"Found another one," a cold, raspy voice reverberated from nowhere, and then the arm transformed into blue smoke. Shi Yan's body fell to the ground.

Lu Yan glanced briefly but quickly averted his gaze, sprinting towards Chu Xiu.

As he had suspected, even if Shi Yan survived the car accident, some other accident would have taken her life.

Chu Xiu was in better condition than Nie Yun Zhen, who lay on the ground, bathed in blood. At least his upper body was free, but his leg was entrapped, and he couldn't free himself. Lu Yan paid no heed and removed a gun from Chu Xiu's body, disengaged the safety catch, fired two shots at the sealed car door, and then pulled it with force, eventually revealing Chu Xiu's situation.

One of the skeletons had broken into pieces, lodging a bone in Chu Xiu's leg, and the white bones that had pierced his calf were wedged in the car door's crevice. Lu Yan's rough pulling motion twisted the bone, exacerbating the wound.

However, Lu Yan paid no attention; he violently yanked out the bone, causing crimson blood to splatter like a fresh fountain. Even though Chu Xiu's muffled groans of agony pierced the air, Lu Yan paid no heed to his discomfort and instructed him to endure the torment. Lu Yan then went to the other side of the car to drag out Chu Xiu and quickly left.

Chu Xiu did not protest despite the rough handling as he was dragged along the rough terrain. Observing that Lu Yan was also wounded, he realized he was fortunate enough to accompany him. He endured the pain stoically, leaving a long, bloody trail in his wake, obediently playing the part of a mere sack.

Fortunately, Lu Yan didn't linger in the vicinity. After pulling them about twenty or thirty meters away, all four cars erupted simultaneously, engulfing the suburbs in a blaze of an inferno. The conflagration illuminated half of the suburb, and the seismic shockwave generated a scorching blast that ignited numerous trees.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Yan realized that his prayer to the divine beings had been heard, and he was still alive.

"Bloody hell! We must flee this place immediately!" Chu Xiu exclaimed frantically. Wildfire was nothing to scoff at. Chu Xiu clung to Lu Yan and pleaded, "You must have driven here, right? Please help us."

Chu Xiu sensed that he could be useful to Lu Yan, and as long as he could preserve himself, Lu Yan wouldn't hesitate to lend a hand.

Lu Yan responded, "But I cannot drag the two of you."

The implication was that Chu Xiu should give up on the unconscious Nie Yun Zhen. Lu Yan was forcing him to make a choice. He wouldn't tell Chu Xiu that his wish to the so-called gods was not to die until he found out the truth. That was why he only suffered minor injuries, the vehicles delayed their explosion, and he came alone to pick them up. The wildfire was unlikely to occur.

Chu Xiu was silent for a few moments before nodding resolutely. The supernatural game had only one day left, and this final challenge required just a few participants.

Without glancing at Nie Yun Zhen, who had put his life on the line with them only a few days ago, Chu Xiu barely supported himself as he declared, "I am relying on you. Whatever your demand is, I will do my best to fulfil it."

"Very well, I shall keep my promise," Lu Yan heaved Chu Xiu onto his shoulder and dashed towards his car.

Lu Yan slowed his pace as he recalled the location of the car. After a few minutes of jogging, he spotted it and helped Chu Xiu into the front passenger seat. With urgency in his actions, he quickly hopped in the driver's seat and revved the engine.

"Are you injured?" Chu Xiu asked, finally replaceing his voice after being jostled around during their escape. He felt deceived because he could still move with him on his back.

Lu Yan coughed up blood as soon as he spoke but wiped it away nonchalantly. "Just internal injuries," he said, disregarding the gravity of the situation.

Chu Xiu was grateful and could not replace the words to express his gratitude.

Lu Yan sighed heavily, "I don't know if the group of corpse beetles is still following us." He stepped on the accelerator.

"I have a question," Chu Xiu began. "Earlier, you said the police lost twenty-four corpses, twelve students. The remaining twelve had identical test results. They might be us. But on the night of the accident, when four cars collided, one of which was fake, we left in the car we were supposed to. Why were there still three cars at the scene?"

It was a simple question, yet they could not replace an answer. No one noticed it before, so their simple hide-and-seek game became something abnormal.

Thinking of this, Chu Xiu shuddered.

Was this the horror of their mission? It confuses their minds while they are unaware. They said the mission required replaceing a way out, but it blinded them to the exit.

Lu Yan spoke, "In fact, I only recently discovered that something was amiss. When did the extra car and the corpses appear? I don't know either."

Lu Yan spoke the truth. The strange things usually have no logic but reveal hints when logic crumbles. That's the genuine challenge. Because you never know which strange things have rules behind them and which appear randomly.

Chu Xiu wanted to inquire again, but the scene in the rearview mirror made him forget what he wanted to say.

Behind them, the inferno surged skyward with a deafening boom, illuminating half the night with a searing red blaze. The flames soared high above the heavens.

Lu Yan crushed the accelerator with all his might and hurtled toward the exit. Merely a few dozen meters behind the vehicle, a sea of fire swept through dead trees on either side. The speed of the spread multiplied, and the flames nearly licked the car's rear.

The duo inside the vehicle could feel the blistering air outside, and the car's velocity surged to the maximum with no restrictions. Luckily, they didn't crash, nor were they engulfed in flames. A small car bolted out just before the inferno consumed the Yin—Yang Road area.

Thereafter, they saw that the surging flames were as though they were encased in an invisible glass dome within the confines of the woods as if the massive wave could only thrash about within a certain range.

Chu Xiu was at a loss, unable to comprehend the reason behind the bizarre events, and could only temporarily attribute them to the mission.

Lu Yan observed everything unfolding through the rearview mirror with a slightly frigid stare. He knew that this was the doing of that "deity." He didn't speak a word, slowed down, and drove through the dark and tranquil night. Underneath the collar concealing his collarbone was a fresh scarlet mark, a reversed cross and a seven-pointed star, crimson as though it could drip blood.

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