Epilogue ②
Time came to the evening.
Because they had to operate discreetly, neither Liu Haoyu nor Raven wore their police uniforms.
There was no moon tonight, and the small car the two were driving silently slipped into the shadows of Jiangliu City’s old town.
There were fewer and fewer vehicles on the road, and around midnight, at about eleven-thirty, the car stopped by the roadside.
“Something’s not right.”
Raven’s magnetic, cold voice sounded.
“Even at eleven at night, there are too few cars here.”
At this moment, Liu Haoyu opened his eyes. He got up and looked outside. Indeed, as Raven had said, the world outside had become too quiet.
It was as if the entire world had completely died.
Especially the strangely eerie game store, which sent a shiver down one’s spine.
“Peregrine, should we continue inside?”
Liu Haoyu knew that Raven was always a cautious person, so he would remain highly vigilant in any situation.
Compared to his own bolder nature, it was hard to say whether this cautious personality was good or bad.
“No need to be so nervous, it’ll break your spirit.”
“Better safe than sorry.”
As he spoke, Raven hung the few grenades he had, less than ten in total, on his waist, and picked up the shotgun from the back seat.
“Wait, wait… wait a moment!”
Liu Haoyu looked at Raven’s stance. Anyone who knew him might understand he was here to investigate, but an outsider might think he was here to rob the place.
“Calm down, Raven knows these weapons aren’t very useful against ghosts and monsters.”
“Better safe than sorry like I said.”
Raven repeated his previous sentence like a broken record.
“Sigh, young people these days… why can’t you be as steady as me?”
As he spoke, Liu Haoyu stuffed the fire axe and a large handful of Zhenlei talismans from the back seat into his jacket and took a few grenades from Raven’s pocket.
Raven: “…”
The two pretended to be ordinary customers and pushed open the glass door.
The electronic bell then let out a shrill sound.
“Welcome.”
The lights in the store were dim, and the display shelves were piled high with secondhand game cartridges and some next-generation game consoles.
That is, game helmets.
Liu Haoyu pretended to be looking for merchandise, constantly scanning the display shelves.
But his gaze never left the owner.
Since entering the store, he had noticed that the owner was quietly bowing his head, counting something by bending his fingers.
“That person is a bit off.”
Liu Haoyu signaled to Raven beside him.
“I’ll go and test him. You cover me.”
“Okay.”
The two had been partners for a long time, so Raven understood Liu Haoyu’s intentions perfectly.
Thus, he continued to browse the game cartridges, but his peripheral vision was fixed on Liu Haoyu’s position.
He remained vigilant for any sudden move the owner might make.
Liu Haoyu walked to the counter and asked the owner, who was still bowing his head and bending his fingers.
“Boss, are there any fun, popular games recently?”
However, the owner did not respond at all. He continued to bend his fingers, emitting crisp “click-click” sounds from time to time.
The old radio on the counter was also crackling.
“Attention all citizens… a typhoon is expected to land in Jiangliu City tonight…”
“Reminder to all citizens, please close your doors and windows tightly, and do not open the door for strangers…”
The radio’s voice kept repeating, and the owner still did not respond.
“Boss?”
Liu Haoyu asked again, while also quietly gripping the fire axe inside his jacket.
The owner seemed to have heard Liu Haoyu’s voice and began to mumble.
“‘Yog-Sothoth’s Backyard’, a very healing game…”
“Try it…”
“Try it, try it, try it…”
The owner’s voice repeated the three words incessantly, then slowly distorted, eventually becoming an indescribable shriek.
Under Liu Haoyu’s gaze, it finally raised its head.
The expression on its face was unlike anything a human could make!
And under Liu Haoyu’s gaze, its face quickly split into three parts.
“Bang!”
A gunshot interrupted the owner’s crazy muttering.
Raven, who had appeared behind Liu Haoyu at some point, held a short-barreled shotgun, which was now emitting smoke.
The owner’s head was blown off by the shot, and then he swayed and fell down.
“You reacted quickly.”
“You’re not slow either.”
Raven glanced at the owner lying on the ground. His body had been cut in half, and he hadn’t even seen when Liu Haoyu made his move.
“Was this guy affected by ‘Phantom’?”
Liu Haoyu looked at the corpse on the ground and marveled.
“To be honest, it doesn’t look like a ghost.”
“These things are not ghosts.”
Hearing Raven’s words, Liu Haoyu stood up and said.
“Let’s check this place out. Since the aura was felt here, there might be some clues.”
“Let’s stick together, don’t split up.”
As mentioned earlier, Raven was always a very cautious person.
“Okay.”
Thus, the two began to head upstairs.
The radio on the counter was still broadcasting the news of the typhoon’s landing over and over again. It had also started to rain heavily outside, but this did not matter to the two members of the Special Task Force.
The two cautiously went to the second floor and carefully checked each room.
Time slowly passed. About ten minutes later, they arrived at the door of a room.
This room should have been a bedroom, but the door was very strange.
The door handle was wrapped with layer upon layer of chains, as if something terrifying was locked inside.
Seeing these chains, Liu Haoyu and Raven understood something. After exchanging glances, Liu Haoyu took the lead, with Raven providing support from behind.
After the chains on the door were unfastened, Liu Haoyu pushed the door open with force.
The chains clinked and rattled, but what appeared before the two was countless entwined people!
But the problem was that these people looked exactly like the owner downstairs. They had creepy, strange smiles on their faces and were staring intently at Liu Haoyu outside the door.
Moreover, they were not wearing any clothes. These pale naked bodies piled together looked like a giant bubble.
Just looking at this mass made one feel an urge to go mad.
And after discovering prey, these “owners” began to struggle and shake their bodies. They were like fish on land, their mouths open but their throats constantly repeating the same sound.
“Wel…come…”
“Wel…come…”
“Wel…come…”
Looking at these weird existences, Liu Haoyu’s mouth twitched, and he slowly began to close the door, saying, “My apologies, I’m disturbing you.”
