“Chen Qiang probably thinks the same!” Jiang Cheng said excitedly.
The night deepened. Looking out through the gap, the sky looked like a pool of ink. It was extremely silent. One could hear even a pin drop. You Qi hesitated and said, “How much longer will it take? I feel like it is already San Geng.”
Everyone ignored him. For the missions, humans would be late, but never the ghosts. Regardless, You Qi’s words brought life back to the quiet room. Eventually, someone else spoke. Zuo Qing stared at the door. “At San Geng, the first drumbeat represents the mission starts. Then, the team has to find the ghost’s corpse before the second drumbeat. After that, the corpse has to be delivered back here before the third drumbeat. The fourth drumbeat signifies the end of the mission.” These were the rules given by the middle-aged woman. Zuo Qing repeated them to jog everyone’s memory.
“I… wonder if the most dangerous moment will be when the corpse is being carried back.” You Qi continued, “After all, we’ll all be there. No matter whom the ghost wants to kill…” He stopped talking because he noticed a lot of eyes on him.
An Xuan nodded and helped him, “That’s possible, but I don’t think it’s likely.” He sighed, “I still think the attack will happen when we’re on the lake.”
Fatty’s face paled, and Chen Qiang frowned. Xia Meng didn’t react much. “Hopefully, we’ll all be fine.” Looking at the three who would join him, An Xuan said sincerely.
“Listen!” Shi Liaozhi, who had been silent, sounded excited. The room instantly quieted down. Then, a slow but incredibly powerful drumbeat travelled over.
It… was time. The show was starting.
Zuo Qing looked calm. She sat at the table and appeared at ease. The costume suited her. If she came to Jiang Cheng’s workplace, he’d give her a discount. Compared to her, You Qi and Shi Liaozhi were visibly more nervous.
You Qi could at least appear calm on the surface. The same couldn’t be said for Shi Liaozhi. Perhaps the incident in the morning affected him. He couldn’t sit or stand still. He even lay on Fatty’s bed. His face was dark as he looked around. His eyes kept lingering on the windows and door.
The strange mist returned. Everything at the shore became blurry. It wouldn’t be surprising if monsters were hidden in the mist. With the group watching, a small boat cut through the mist. The boat was empty.
Xia Meng frowned. “Where is there only one boat?” Based on the mission description, there should be two. Fatty and Chen Qiang, who’d dive into the lake, would have one boat. The other team would have another. Plus… this boat was similar to the ones they took during the previous play. It couldn’t possibly fit the four of them… or five.
“What is this?” An Xuan, who jumped onto the boat, picked up something at the stern. It appeared to be a rope. As he pulled, Fatty widened his eyes. He saw white water lines on the lake’s surface. At the same time, An Xuan felt resistance from the other end of the rope. The rope was connected… to something in the lake… No… Something in the mist!
The rope slowly lifted into the air. An Xuan discovered with shock that the force pulling from the other end was not weak. Something was fighting him in the mist. This discovery drained the colours from his face.
“Help me!” He quickly turned back to shout. By then, the boat under his feet had already been slowly pulled into the mist. Xia Meng instantly joined him to share in the pressure. Fatty and Chen Qiang stayed on the shore and helped to pull the rope. Even so, the boat was still slowly being dragged away. As the boat was about to be pulled away from the shore, Chen Qiang hopped onto the boat. Then, he turned to shout at Fatty, “Come on!”
The premise of this task was for them to get on the boat. If they didn’t do that, something bad might happen… especially if he were to stay on the shore alone.
Fatty hesitated. Then, he took several steps back. With a running start, he jumped. Fatty showcased agility that didn’t match his size. No one expected that. After a twirl in the air, he landed on the bow with a thud.
The other three on the boat quickly rushed to the other side to ensure the boat’s balance. Fatty, who was drenched, quickly lowered his body. His blinking eyes looked around.
They had already been pulled by the mysterious force into the mist. The visibility was very low.
Strangely enough, once they were yanked into the mist, the force on the other side of the rope disappeared. The previously taut rope floated limply on the lake’s surface. Xia Meng tried to calm down. Then, she ordered An Xuan, “Pull the rope up.”
“Okay.” Without the aid from Fatty and Chen Qiang, they slowly rolled the rope back onto the boat. The rope had curled several rounds on the stern. Xia Meng gritted her teeth with consternation.
An indescribable fear appeared in Chen Qiang’s eyes because the rope was pulled taut again. There had to be something in the mist and it was quite large.
Slowly, they could hear something approaching from the mist.
Chen Qiang swallowed nervously. It sounded like something was rowing through the water!