“However, to his confusion, both his brother’s state of death and way of death couldn’t be explained clearly. The officers were being very vague. They merely said that Qiao Yu died at a secluded point. They wanted him to go to the station.
“He went with them. The investigator consoled him and then asked if his younger brother showed any symptoms before he died… like was there a problem with his mental state.”
Wan Xiaoning frowned. It seemed that the police had discovered some abnormalities, or else they wouldn’t have asked such questions.
“The man didn’t hide anything about his brother. However, the investigator took down his notes but refused to tell him anything. After a while, the investigator called a few officers in. They all stared at the man strangely.
“With the man’s request, he found out Qiao Yu died in a secluded field. The officer showed the man some clothes and personal items. The man confirmed that the victim was his younger brother.”
“Was there no picture of the victim?” Wan Xiaoning lowered her voice. Since the body had been found, wouldn’t it be easier to use the picture of the victim? Unless the victim died horribly and couldn’t be recognised, or if the family was too weak to see the picture, the police would always use the picture of the victim. Wan Xiaoning believed that Qiao Yu’s big brother did not belong to the second category.
Liu Guo glanced at her. He didn’t answer her, but continued, “The investigator led the man to another room. Once the man entered, he noticed a laptop on the table. He bought it for Qiao Yu when the latter was 20.
“The investigator told him to calm down and sat beside him. He gave a long sigh and looked at him formally. He told him that no matter what he saw, he needed to be calm.
“The police found a folder in the laptop. The folder contained a lot of blurry videos taken in the dark. They were not fully dark. There was some light. The videos should be taken on a phone or a camera. The shaking was very noticeable. The videos contained the heavy breathing of a man. The brother could tell that the breathing belonged to Qiao Yu,” Liu Guo said.
“There was a row of streetlights that lined the field. The light was weak, but it was better than none. The person taking the video was standing under one of the lights. Slowly, other sounds could be heard. It was Qiao Yu’s voice. He was in extreme fear.
“It is here,” Liu Guo tried to mimic it. The tone was thick with fear. “Qiao Yu’s hands trembled harder. He whispered quickly that he could hear footsteps!
“No one knew what he was talking about. The investigator told the man that they had used professional programs to reduce the white noise. They couldn’t hear anything. Qiao Yu was mumbling to himself.
“The next second, the device shook harder. Then, it focused on one point. Qiao Yu’s breathing quickened. It sounded like his lungs were about to explode. Qiao Yu aimed the camera at the streetlight at the end of the row. There were about ten streetlights. The furthest was at least 100 metres away.
“However, the furthest lamp suddenly flickered. Then, it extinguished.”
At this point, everyone had a bad feeling. Liu Guo was a good storyteller. The anxiety festered. Everyone subconsciously huddled closer. Fatty pulled Chu Jiu over so he could protect her.
“Then, the streetlights went out one after another, from the furthest to the closest. The speed of extinguishment became faster and faster. From the cameraman’s angle, it felt like something extremely scary was approaching in the dark.
“But… there was nothing under the streetlights!
“The stability of the video worsened. Qiao Yu’s voice became deep with despair. He didn’t want to run anymore. He knew it was pointless.
“I’m sorry. Please… let me go, Qiao Yu cried. His voice was coarse. They made me do it. It had nothing to do with me. I know I was wrong. No. No. AHHHH!”
Liu Guo took a deep breath. Retelling the story caused him to feel a chill run down his spine. When he calmed down, he continued as he looked at the frowning Jiang Cheng, “The screen shook one last time before the video ended with a black screen.”
Qiao Yu, who held the camera, was dead. Therefore, the device was not used anymore.
For a long time, the travellers were silent. Not everyone was scared. Some were deep in thought, especially about the connection.
“Do you remember what the nurse said?” Banana Wolf scratched his chin. Yu Youwei said something similar before she died. She knelt on the ground, crying that she was wrong. She wanted someone to let her go. ȑáŊȎ฿Ès̩
“The same goes for Lee Maoshen.” Wu’s voice was even and cold. He added, “He said the same thing before he died.” They all claimed that they were wrong. From the results, they should know what killed them or at least why. Therefore, the thing the travellers needed to do was to figure out the why. What did the victims do wrong?
“It should be related to the videos.” Liu Guo suddenly asked, “They have taken videos of something they shouldn’t.”
“Why would you say that?” Jiang Cheng asked coolly.
“We’ve been looking for their connections. I think I’ve figured it out.” He took out a picture and handed it to Jiang Cheng.
It was a group picture of a few youths. There were two males and three females. They smiled brightly.
The picture labelled them as the Shen Wei Supernatural Exploration Team in red.