Thriller Zone: From the Mental Hospital to the Ghostly World

Chapter 529 [Domain - Second Gate] Hunger

"Reading Companion Park..."

After confirming that the paper figure hadn't followed, Bai Shaohua slowed his pace and looked at the address Fei'er had sent.

He checked and found it was very close, a small park about half a kilometer away.

It's only a short walk of two blocks.

The surroundings are still quiet, with no pedestrians around, but the smell of ashes has faded slightly.

“They are probably the closest Realm Entrants to us at this stage,” Bai Shaohua said, his tone devoid of emotion. “However, I don’t plan to go looking for them.”

His thinking was simple: why bother looking for it?

The paper figures appeared briefly but haven't pursued them, which suggests they might have been mistakenly implicated.

Going to meet up with Chen Ji would only greatly increase the chances of them being captured by the paper figures.

Moreover, he is more concerned about something else right now.

That text message.

I'm so hungry

Feng Yao and Huang Yue had already mentioned in the group chat that they encountered two ghosts in the Splendid Garden; while Chen Ji encountered paper figures, and each team of entrants was assigned to different areas.

This only proves that the ghosts they encounter are different for each team, and the timing will not be exactly the same.

It seems that the ghost that he and Liu Zi are about to encounter is the one that uttered the phrase "I'm so hungry."

"If I were to create more trouble for myself after receiving text messages from ghosts, I'd be out of my mind."

Bai Shaohua calmly stated that he was prepared to separate from Liu Zi.

But to his surprise...

Liu Zi didn't refute, he just stared at his phone.

His gaze lingered on the two text messages Fei'er had sent in quick succession. He frowned slightly, and after a few seconds, he abruptly turned off the screen.

"can."

Liu Zi said, "What do we do now? Find a place to hide?"

“If we go back to the crossroads, we’ll most likely run into that hungry ghost.”

“...Uh, let me think.” Bai Shaohua was surprised that he changed his attitude so quickly.

He had anticipated that Liu Zi would definitely go to the park to find Chen Ji.

"Is there a problem?" Bai Shaohua asked as the two walked forward.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Liu Zi didn't hide anything and said directly, "If the ghost's target is them, Chen Ji won't let me go over there now."

"And the timing is wrong too. Unless the paper figure was with them before, they wouldn't have waited until now to send a text message, but that doesn't fit their current location."

Bai Shaohua seemed to be deep in thought.

He didn't press further. In any case, the two of them had now agreed to ignore those text messages, and their positions were aligned.

They quickened their pace and walked away from the park area.

After a while.

Buildings gradually appeared around them, and as a car sped around the corner, they knew they were far from the ghostly area.

"We'd better find a place to spend the night."

Bai Shaohua said, "It's best to stay away from similar intersections; they could be trigger points—"

But just then, his voice was interrupted by a sudden phone ring.

A call came in from an unknown number.

Bai Shaohua hung up immediately without even thinking.

But almost at the same second he hung up, a new text message popped up on his and Liu Zi's phones.

The two looked down and were shocked to find that it was exactly the same content as before!

I'm so hungry.....

“I’m so hungry!”

At the same time, a resentful voice rang out behind them.

Liu Zi's heart tightened immediately!

He glanced behind him out of the corner of his eye and saw a figure slowly emerge from the shadow of the streetlamp, holding a cell phone in his hand—

He complained, "Working overtime until this late again, my boss is fucking insane!"

He was a man carrying a briefcase, looking exhausted, and eating a steamed bun he bought from a convenience store.

He looked like he was starving, wolfing down his food. He finished the bun in a few seconds and tossed the wrapper aside.

While continuing to complain to his girlfriend on the other end of the phone, the man walked past Bai Shaohua and Liu Zi and gradually disappeared into the distance.

"..."

The two looked at each other, neither of them believing it was a coincidence.

Is it reasonable that I received a text message and then a stranger said this right afterward?

But the man really didn't do anything; after finishing the steamed bun, he hailed a taxi and left.

"Walk."

Bai Shaohua's growing unease was growing stronger. Even though he had already entered a residential area, he felt that it was even more eerie than the previous crossroads.

That's when.

A night breeze blew by, rustling the leaves and sending the packaging bag the man had just thrown away flying into the air.

It was an ordinary plastic bag, the cheapest kind, transparent; there was nothing inside, but...

It was covered with a lot of crumbs that looked like food scraps.

It seems to have leaked out while eating steamed buns.

When the wind blew, the dust drifted out, standing out conspicuously under the streetlights.

and many more.

When their gazes settled on the tiny fragments that danced in the light like flying insects, a chill ran down their spines.

That's not food scraps.

A shard the size of a fingernail floated onto Liu Zi.

He picked it up and saw that it was paper, paper that had been burned and twisted.

These are the ashes left after burning paper!

If it appeared in the packaging, there's only one possibility: the man wasn't eating a steamed bun at all.

It's the ashes left over from burning paper.

The two men looked extremely pale; it was clear that the hungry ghost was already lurking among them.

crossroads......

Why am I still affected even though I'm far away from it?

Looking around, Bai Shaohua suddenly realized that there was a problem at the next intersection!

That's a crossroads too!

It was just blocked by the protruding building, and at first glance it looked like a T-junction.

Liu Zi also noticed the problem, his expression changed slightly, and he immediately took out his phone to check the nearby map.

"...Stop, don't go any further."

His voice sounded very serious: "I don't know if it's our problem or if there's something wrong with the city planning."

He handed the phone to Bai Shaohua.

The map is very clear.

Like a centipede curled up on the ground, its symmetrical legs wriggle out segment by segment, stretching outwards, further and further ahead, into the distance...

They're all intersections.

There wasn't even a small road that could lead to another place.

“Let’s go back,” Bai Shaohua said immediately. “We can’t take the main road anymore. There was a small path just now. Let’s go through it.”

To be precise, it wasn't even a narrow path; it was just a narrow gap between two buildings. But given the current situation, it was their only option.

Countless intersections turned their street into a straight line without beginning or end.

Without saying anything more, the two turned and left. Soon, they arrived at the dark path, which seemed like a dead end.

But in this situation, a dead end is better than an open crossroads.

They turned on their flashlights and cautiously probed forward, only to be met with a nauseating smell of swill.

The ground was filthy, and there were huge black garbage bags all around. This must be the alley where the shop next door disposed of its garbage.

go to the end.

A narrow gap can be seen between the two buildings, through which a sliver of light shines.

Do you think the two of us can squeeze out?

Bai Shaohua observed the width.

"You can give it a try." Liu Zi shook his head: "I feel it's a stretch."

"That's not even a road, it's just a gap between houses."

"Never mind," Bai Shaohua sighed, giving up on the idea of ​​going out.

He squatted at the end of this dead-end road, reached into his pocket, and pulled out the number eight ball.

The numbers above are still the same as when I first entered the second door; there is no difference.

This means that, at least for him, he hasn't found any clues that could improve his chances of survival...

He glanced heavily at ball number eight, and was about to put the strange object back into his pocket when his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Just a moment ago, the numbers moved.

but......

It's not an increase.

Instead, it's about reducing.

His heart sank. He immediately looked around. Based on his past experience, this often meant that he was in danger but had not realized it!

"What's going on?" Liu Zi noticed the change in his expression.

The two men held up their flashlights and turned to shine them back the way they had come, but there was nothing there.

Contrary to Bai Shaohua's expectations, no figure emerged from the darkness.

So where exactly did the problem lie?

Both sides?

The flashlight moved slowly, shining on both sides of the path...

Liu Zi looked at the wall to their right and saw a staircase leading down to the basement.

How many roads are there now?

Suddenly, he heard Bai Shaohua ask softly.

They came from the same road.

That narrow gap that you can't get through... should it count as one too?

If you add the downward staircase on the right, that makes three...

"Three."

Liu Zi said uncertainly, turning around.

On the left, there are garbage bags, garbage cans, and...

He raised the flashlight upwards.

A sudden chill rushed to his head the moment he saw the door on the left.

That's a back door for throwing out the trash.

It's not perfectly symmetrical to the stairs on the right... so nobody noticed.

The door was ajar.

There was a corridor behind the door.

Front, back, left, right.

Everything is complete.

This is also a crossroads.

And they were standing right in the middle of this road.

At the very moment they realized this, a strange rustling sound suddenly rang in their ears.

It was very fast, accompanied by a crunching sound.

It's the sound of chewing.