Nearly half the town’s residents had gathered, each with a grim expression, looking as if Jiang Liu and her group were heinous criminals they were responsible for apprehending.

    Zhao Ziming’s palms, gripping the handlebars, couldn’t help but sweat. He forced a stiff smile that looked more like he was about to cry.

    “What a coincidence, out for a stroll this late at night?”

    As they drew closer to the crowd, he offered a dry greeting, his face a mask of guilt.

    Was the commotion from their arson really that loud? How had it attracted people so quickly?

    Moreover, looking at the faces of the people in the front, they could only be described as ferocious. The resentment emanating from them was almost tangible. They no longer looked like living people, but rather like vengeful ghosts crawling up from the underworld.

    A night wind howled past, and Zhao Ziming couldn’t help but shiver.

    No one answered him. The atmosphere dropped to a freezing point. With a screech, the electric tricycle finally came to a stop in front of the crowd.

    The people on the tricycle were dumbfounded. Cheng Da’s face was on the verge of tears as he almost instinctively looked at Jiang Liu. “Wh-what do we do?”

    Almost at the same time, Jiang Liu slapped Zhao Ziming on the back of the head, her tone unusually urgent. “Who the hell goes for a stroll in the middle of the night? They’re obviously here to block us! Run!”

    It would take some effort for her to slip away alone, let alone break through the encirclement with a group of people.

    Zhao Ziming yelped in pain from her slap but had no time to argue. He twisted the throttle, preparing to charge forward, shouting to bolster his own courage, “Don’t come any closer! I’m not responsible if you get hit!”

    His shout seemed to flip a switch. The long-silent crowd finally moved—

    Men, women, old, and young all seemed to lose their minds, desperately throwing themselves forward to stop them from leaving. Some even threw themselves in front of the tricycle without a care for their lives.

    The vast crowd quickly surrounded them. Zhao Ziming’s hands hesitated on the controls, and he cried out in despair, “I can’t bring myself to do it!”

    He wouldn’t show any mercy to those monsters, but these were living, breathing people. Even if they were just mass-produced NPCs in an instance, he couldn’t bring himself to run them over.

    With a loud shout, a pair of hands suddenly landed on the handlebars. He looked down and was scared out of his wits.

    A little girl, half a person tall, was staring at him with wide eyes. Her red lips and white teeth made her look like a doll from a New Year’s painting. Under normal circumstances, Zhao Ziming might have leaned over to tease her.

    But in this scene, the little girl’s bright red lips looked as if they were stained with blood. She stared with her dark eyes and gave a forceful tug—

    “I’ll do it!”

    Seeing the handlebars being wrenched aside, Jiang Liu kicked the little girl away. With a strength that came from nowhere, she lifted Zhao Ziming and threw him into the back seat, then quickly jumped into the driver’s seat herself.

    “That was a child!” Zhao Ziming shouted, watching her actions in disbelief.

    Jiang Liu, furious, yelled back at him, “Open your eyes and take a good look! These aren’t normal people anymore!”

    Before, she had thought it was just a simple case of their arson being discovered, and that they could bluff their way out of it. But just now—

    She had personally seen that child float over!

    It wasn’t exactly floating. Where human legs should have been, there was a dense mass of vines, allowing her to appear in front of them in an instant.

    Startled by her shout, Zhao Ziming snapped back to reality. Only then did he notice the green glow in the crowd’s eyes. Their gazes were sinister and cold, like being surrounded by a pack of wolves, which scared him into a cry of alarm.

    “Damn it, what are these things!”

    Zhang Xiaochen was also scared to death. He swung his cleaver at a hand that was trying to climb on, and with a squelching sound… greenish liquid spurted from the wound, splattering all over his body and face.

    Looking at the severed hand, countless green fibers grew rapidly, and it returned to its original state in the blink of an eye.

    These people were not right.

    Jiang Liu had a vague clue, but it was not the time to linger. She had to temporarily suppress her thoughts and shouted, “Hold on tight!”

    As soon as she finished speaking, the electric tricycle shot forward like an arrow.

    Countless people threw themselves in front of her, but Jiang Liu remained unfazed. She suddenly wrenched the handlebars, and the screech of braking tires was particularly sharp in the silent night.

    A beautiful fishtail successfully knocked away the people beside them. Zhang Xiaochen and the others clung desperately to the side rails, nearly getting thrown off the vehicle.

    Jiang Liu smirked, aimed for a direction, and charged straight down a small path, the four or five steps of the staircase jolting them miserably.

    Using the momentum from going down the stairs, Jiang Liu twisted the throttle to the max and crashed straight into a flowerbed ahead.

    Zhao Ziming’s heart was about to fly out of his chest. He couldn’t stop shouting, “Stop, we’re going to crash!”

    This was just an electric tricycle he had stolen from an old lady’s house, not an off-road vehicle! It couldn’t withstand Jiang Liu’s reckless driving!

    His worries were unnecessary.

    Jiang Liu had excellent control. Just as they were about to crash, she slammed on the brakes and swerved, coming to an instant stop.

    Everyone was dizzy and disoriented, but she nimbly jumped off. “This way!”

    Xu Meng, her face pale, was pulled down by Jiang Liu and stumbled after her, asking breathlessly, “Is it safe to take the small path?”

    This area was surrounded by flowerbeds. What if the plants and the residents launched a pincer attack? Wouldn’t they be walking right into a death trap?

    “I checked. The plants returned to normal after the residents appeared,” Jiang Liu said, casually tearing off two leaves and handing them to her.

    Zhao Ziming, running behind her, couldn’t help but look upon hearing this, surprised. “They really did! What’s going on?”

    No one could answer his question at that moment. Zhang Xiaochen, panting heavily, cursed, “If you still have the energy, come and help carry him. Stop cosplaying ‘100,000 Whys’.”

    Zhao Ziming immediately retorted, “I didn’t see you helping when I was digging the pit!”

    Despite his words, he fell half a step behind Jiang Liu and reached out to help carry Cheng Ji.

    With the crowd in hot pursuit behind them and these two finding the energy to bicker while running for their lives, Cheng Da couldn’t help but lower his head and mumble, “It’s all my fault…”

    If he hadn’t agreed to the bellflower’s deal, Jiang Liu and the others wouldn’t have been dragged into this mess.

    Cheng Da’s eyes reddened. He hated that he wasn’t strong enough to carry his brother back himself.

    Jiang Liu spoke up suddenly, “No one is blaming you. If you know you were wrong, then focus on finding the clues to clear the level. Leaving is what matters.”

    Cheng Da was stunned. He wiped his eyes and nodded forcefully.

    Zhao Ziming sneered from the side. “Full survival doubles the points. I’m not doing this for you.”

    If this were the first day they met, perhaps Cheng Da would have believed him.

    But now, they were all covered in dirt and mostly injured, yet no one had suggested leaving anyone behind. Cheng Da already understood their attitude.

    He took a deep breath and couldn’t help but quicken his pace.

    They had escaped from those demonic plants; what else was impossible?

    Cheng Da adjusted his mindset, unaware that the expression on Jiang Liu’s face, who was leading the way, was growing more and more solemn.

    This garden occupied nearly half the town. It was vast, with numerous and complex small paths that they hadn’t had time to fully explore.

    She could only rely on her sense of direction to run towards the house. At first, she could determine the direction, but now…

    Jiang Liu slowly came to a stop, steadying a weak-kneed Xu Meng as she squinted to observe her surroundings.

    A layer of fog had risen at some point. The sound of footsteps chasing them from behind had disappeared, and they were surrounded by identical flowerbeds, making it impossible to tell which way to go.

    She took out her phone. The compass needle was spinning wildly, with no fixed point.

    “Are we lost?” Zhang Xiaochen asked in a hoarse voice, putting down Cheng Ji and wiping the sweat from his forehead.

    “What do we do?” Zhao Ziming looked at Jiang Liu.

    The fog grew thicker. A series of high-pitched laughs came from somewhere, chilling them to the bone in the dark night.

    “Hee hee hee hee…”

    Xu Meng turned around, trembling, and stared into the darkness behind her, clenching her fists. “Wh-who’s talking?”

    Sweeping the area with a flashlight revealed only the vague outlines of flowerbeds. Visibility was extremely low. Jiang Liu took out a rope from her pocket and gestured for everyone to tie it around their waists.

    “I’m in so much pain…”

    The high-pitched cry continued, rustling from all directions. Jiang Liu’s hands and feet grew cold, and she gripped her phone tightly, defensively scanning her surroundings.

    The unseen unknown is the most terrifying, because you never know what you’re facing. Your imagination alone can break a healthy person.

    When facing the chaotic dance of the plants or the eerie crowd, everyone still had the courage to fight back.

    But now—

    Jiang Liu looked down at Zhao Ziming’s trembling hand, feeling inexplicably irritated.

    “Who are you?” Zhang Xiaochen, the most impatient, roared out.

    The voice continued to laugh, like a helpless child, whimpering about how much it hurt.

    In the mist, Jiang Liu’s phone suddenly vibrated.

    “Bzz…”

    With just one vibration, Cheng Da, behind her, nearly collapsed to the ground, looking around helplessly. “Who? What was that sound?”

    Looking at the text message that popped up on her phone, Jiang Liu’s heart pounded so hard she almost forgot to offer words of comfort.

    The fog was spreading quickly. Looking down, she could no longer see her own feet. In the darkness, only the faint glow of the screen was visible. The interface simply displayed one word.

    “Right.”

    Sender: Xiao Si.

    Time: One minute ago.

    She hesitated for only a moment before unhesitatingly dashing to her right. The rope suddenly tightened, causing Xu Meng to let out a cry of surprise.

    “Keep up!”

    Jiang Liu shouted, and the people behind her followed in a line, like a game of eagle catching chicks.

    “Hee hee hee hee… you can’t escape…”

    The high-pitched, eerie voice was tinged with schadenfreude. It had no intention of capturing them itself, instead letting them run around like headless chickens.

    Jiang Liu didn’t speak, just buried her head and charged forward. After who knows how long, her phone vibrated again.

    This time, the instruction was “Back.”

    Without a moment’s hesitation, she turned around and led the team back the way they came.

    Although she couldn’t explain why, a voice deep inside her kept telling her to trust Xiao Si.

    A scene suddenly flashed before her eyes. Jiang Liu gripped her phone tightly, unable to ignore her own racing heart.

    Who exactly was Yang Caisi? Did they… know each other before?

    The faster she ran, the more frequently the messages came. Jiang Liu was full of questions she didn’t know how to ask, and could only use her frantic pace to cover up her turbulent emotions.

    Finally—

    “We’re out!”

    Zhao Ziming, half-dead from dragging Cheng Ji, burst out laughing just as he was about to collapse from exhaustion.

    Right in front of them was a familiar street, and not far away was the house where they were temporarily staying. The fog had vanished at some point, and all the noise from behind had disappeared. The townspeople were sleeping soundly, and everything was just as it was before they left.

    A cool breeze blew past, carrying with it the damp smell of earth—it was raining.

    Having survived the ordeal, everyone celebrated joyfully. Only Jiang Liu didn’t stop, quickly cutting the rope and dashing towards the house.

    She had to find Xiao Si and get some answers!

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