Chapter 66: Dead silent village
The sudden footsteps echoed from the corridor into the room. Even Liu Zining, who was lying on the bed, couldn’t help but frown upon hearing the sound. Her intuition told her that the person outside was likely not Liu Haoyu. But if not Liu Haoyu, then who could it be? Liu Zining considered a terrifying possibility. She got off the bed, motioned Qin Liu to be quiet, and tiptoed to the doorway. Although her ankle was injured, she could still move quietly to the door without issue. She peered through the door crack into the corridor outside. The approaching footsteps grew clearer, and Liu Zining stared intently outside. The footsteps almost synchronized with her own heartbeat. The sound made her increasingly nervous, causing her breathing to slow down. Finally, the footsteps stopped outside the door. Liu Zining’s pupils contracted slightly. Outside stood Yan Wenyi, the police officer they had encountered earlier. However, his police uniform now looked tattered, and he himself appeared like a walking corpse. In his hand, he held the butcher knife that had killed Wang Qinwen. Blood dripped continuously from the blade onto the ground, emitting a crisp ticking sound in the eerily quiet place. Perhaps it was due to Liu Zining’s gaze, or perhaps he had known beforehand that someone was there. Yan Wenyi walked towards the room step by step, his footsteps exuding a strong oppressive feeling. But the problem was that the candle Liu Zining held showed no reaction. If the person were a ghost, the candle should have ignited. However, it remained unlit; he was a living person. “Knock, knock, knock…” Yan Wenyi continuously pounded on the bedroom door from outside, the frantic knocking sounding as if he wanted to drag out the Liu Zining hiding inside and chop her into pieces. Under these circumstances, Liu Zining dared not think further and directly took out her handgun, firing at the thin door panel. “Bang, bang!!” After two gunshots, the man outside writhed in pain, his body twisting in an unrecognizable manner. Looking through the bullet holes, Liu Zining found that the police officer who had been standing outside had disappeared. She sat back on the bed and reloaded her handgun. The Special Task Force had not given her many bullets, and after the barrage of gunfire, she only had 4 bullets left. “What’s going on?” Seeing Liu Zining’s panic, Qin Liu seemed to understand something. “Was that the police officer we met earlier outside?” “Yes.” Liu Zining breathed a sigh of relief and said, “This place is too strange, we need to find a way to rendezvous with Liu Haoyu.” “But we don’t know if he’s arrived here yet.” Since this was a place similar to a different world, Qin Liu was unsure if Liu Haoyu could find them. The safest method was to hold out until daytime; once the sun rose, this place should return to normal. However, while Qin Liu could wait here, Liu Zining couldn’t. She could already feel the concentration of resentment within the room rapidly increasing. If they stayed there any longer, even without ghosts, the dense resentment could claim her life. She said to Qin Liu, “Let’s go check out the village.” “…Alright.” Entrusting professional matters to professionals, since Liu Zining had spoken, Qin Liu stopped saying anything more. The two returned to the first floor. The two corpses on the ground had disappeared, leaving only bloodstains everywhere. Passing through the living room, through the entrance, and opening the house door, the two managed to leave the house. However, there was no sign of Liu Haoyu along the way, as if Liu Zining and Qin Liu were the only ones who had entered the house from the beginning. Stepping outside, Qin Liu discovered that the previously faint mist had now turned into thick fog. As she and Liu Zining walked onto the streets of Gaze Village, they found no sign of life. All the lights were extinguished, with only the red lanterns hanging outside remaining. It was like a ghost town. Faced with such a strange situation, both Liu Zining and Qin Liu immediately became extremely alert. Just then, Liu Zining saw the police officer again. This time, however, he didn’t walk towards Liu Zining; instead, he headed deeper into the mist. Qin Liu and Liu Zining both noticed the figure. Although Liu Zining knew it was very dangerous, in the ghost exorcist profession, fear meant true perdition. Moreover, that man might be the perpetrator of all this. So, after exchanging glances, they tacitly decided to follow him. Liu Zining led the way, with Qin Liu watching their surroundings from behind. Following the police officer, the two soon entered an alley within the village. Here, the ground was covered with bloodstains, and unknown human or animal flesh. All of this made Qin Liu feel a deep sense of unease from the bottom of her heart. Although she believed Liu Haoyu’s strength would not falter, when it came to ghost exorcism, who could say for sure? What if…? The shroud of mist and the late hour, nearing midnight, made the village environment even more gloomy. This forced Qin Liu to take out her lantern for illumination. Accompanied by the dim glow of the lantern, the two finally saw the police officer continuously walking forward. His clothes were now pristine, like a newly changed uniform. However, compared to the clean and neat uniform, the blood all over his hands looked very incongruous. Liu Zining quietly approached him, but at this moment, the police officer suddenly started running. It was as if he had eyes on his back; his sudden flight caught Liu Zining off guard. Liu Zining rushed to chase after him. “Wait a moment!” Qin Liu tried to stop her, but she also knew that Liu Zining was always impatient and couldn’t be stopped when she was anxious. Having no choice, Qin Liu could only hurriedly follow behind her to ensure Liu Zining’s safety. However, no matter how hard Liu Zining tried to catch up, just around a corner, the man’s figure suddenly disappeared. The surrounding village became even more dilapidated. Even the commotion along the way did not attract any attention from any villagers, as if the entire village was left with only Liu Zining and Qin Liu. The night wind blew across their faces, making the red lanterns by the roadside sway slightly. The dead and silent village, the dilapidated environment, and the pervasive rot and the stench of blood made Liu Zining feel like she was stepping into hell step by step… Qin Liu stopped behind her and couldn’t help but advise, “Why don’t we try to find Liu Haoyu first?”