IWBL: Chapter 202
Xiao Li was awakened from a dream.
Last night, he returned to his room after coming out of Shen Chenzhi’s room. The original effect of the coffee had dissipated due to the numbness spreading from the muscles and skin behind his neck. He laid down in bed and felt sleepy. Then he fell asleep without thinking too much about other things.
He had a long dream. He dreamed of the sea. The sea was blue and the sun shining on the sea spread like fine diamonds along with the sea’s ups and downs. It appeared to be sparkling. From time to time, fish would jump out and splash water. The distant sea and sky were magnificent and vast.
In the dream, Xiao Li clearly knew he was dreaming and could even control his own actions. He stood on the shore and stared at the sea in the distance for a moment. Then he turned around and found a group of islands behind him.
There was a large island in the centre while the rest of the small islands were regularly arranged in concentric circles around the middle. There were many buildings on the island in the middle, the tallest of which was a temple. It stood on a tall mountain and was very conspicuous. It formed a triangle with two small temples on the left and right.
On both sides of the temple, there were two soldier statues. They wore helmets and held a weapon in their hands like they were guarding the things inside the temple. Both the soldiers and the temple were well constructed and had an exceptionally harmonious beauty. It could be seen even from a distance. In addition to the temple in the middle, the other two smaller temples were each guarded by a sphinx statue.
Xiao Li stood in the westernmost part of this group of islands. Xiao Li was silent for a moment as he watched the buildings in front of him. The name mentioned in the task description came to mind. “Atlantis?”
He turned around to walk towards the central island. At this moment, there was a quick knocking on the door that woke him up.
The person who knocked on the door should be very anxious. They knocked more than a dozen times in a row. At the same time, there was a constant noise coming from outside the door. “Sherlock, Sherlock?”
Xiao Li opened his eyes and looked dazed for a moment. Then he heard the knockings and his mind returned. He got up from the bed and opened the door. “What is it?”
It was Wen Wenwen knocking on his door. Wen Wenwen had lost the smile on his face and he looked solemn. He saw that Xiao Li was safe and sighed with relief. “He Tian is dead.”
He told Xiao Li what had happened. In the morning, Bruce was the first to wake up. He came to the living room and found that Xu Jiaheng was still asleep. The quilt was on the ground and the little boy’s belly was exposed. Bruce chose to wake Xu Jiaheng and as the little boy looked confused, he chatted with Xu Jiaheng for a while about the situation in this mysterious town, hoping to get more information.
After that, time passed. Kesia, Wen Wenwen and the others also woke up. In the end, only Xiao Li and He Tian were still in their rooms. Wen Wenwen went to knock on He Tian’s door but no one answered.
He immediately became nervous. He didn’t have much contact with He Tian but he knew roughly what type of person the other party was. He Tian definitely wouldn’t take the unusual path like Sherlock.
After calling out for a long time, he chose to break in directly and found that He Tian was already dead on the bed.
Xiao Li followed Wen Wenwen upstairs. He Tian’s room was surrounded by a circle of people. Xu Jiaheng was among them. His face was pale and he was shaking constantly as he looked at He Tian on the bed.
he Tian’s body was covered with a white cloth by Jin Handong. After his death, he looked astonished like he had seen something he couldn’t believe.
Wen Wenwen said, “Maybe it is the figure that came out of the movie or maybe it is the creature who was peeing at us. However, this isn’t what worries me the most. It was that when He Tian died, he was holding onto his life-saving item.”
He pointed to the net-like object on the table.
“This is a fairly expensive life-saving item in the mall. The purchase is limited to once every month. As long as it is taken out, the user’s life can be guaranteed for a certain limited time.” Jin Handong explained. “It will automatically disappear into the air when it is used up.”
Now that this item was clearly placed on the table, indicating that it was useless against the thing that killed He Tian. This made the reincarnators remember their own items.
Sometimes, the veterans daring to take risks wasn’t just about ‘seeking a survival path in danger.’ It was also because most of them had a few life-saving items. Now these items lost their usefulness and they couldn’t help panicking.
“Assuming that it was the throat-cutting figure who killed He Tian, does that mean our items are useless because he is a ghost who came from a movie?” Wen Wenwen tried to stabilize his emotions and told himself not to panic. He calmly analyzed it. “If this is the case…”
He couldn’t continue speaking at this point. Xiao Li stood at the door, his eyes flashing as he heard these words. He saw Xu Jiaheng lower his head and bite his fingers with his teeth while Kesia checked the inside of He Tian’s room.
The task this time was really complicated. It didn’t stipulate a specific time limit such as the usual survive for seven days. It simply had the reincarnators find a way out. This implied to some extent that they would soon die if they couldn’t find a way out.
In addition, why was He Tian the first to die? Was it random or did he do something to trigger the ghost to kill him first?
There was no immediate answer.
***
The sudden death of He Tian made the others extra wary.
Wen Wenwen secretly pulled Kesia and the others over. He once again suggested in a low voice about isolating Xu Jiaheng. He said that since items weren’t available, it was better to be safe. What if the ghost was attached to the plot character? It was better to rent a house to settle the little boy in.
No one objected this time. It was the default agreement.
Once the reincarnators decided to do something, their efficiency was very high. they prepared to go out to inquire about any information while also renting a house along the way. At the intersection in the middle, Xiao Li separated from them.
Wen Wenwen stopped him. “What are you doing?”
Xiao Li answered, “I’m going to meet Xu Jiaheng’s mother.”
The rest of the people, “……”
Fortunately, Xu Jiaheng wasn’t here or he might cause trouble if he heard it.
Wen Wenwen wondered, “However, what if Xu Jiaheng’s mother is possessed?”
Xiao Li thought about it. “It is also possible to hear another version of the story. I like to listen to stories.”
He didn’t intend to act with the team so he waved to Wen Wenwen.
By the time Xiao Li arrived at Xu Jiaheng’s house, the car repair store had already opened. Xu Jiaheng’s mother was wearing a floral checkered shirt and cotton pants with her pants rolled up. She was crouched down in front of a bicycle and tinkering with the parts.
Xiao Li tried to say hello. “Aunt… Xu?”
Mother Xu raised her head and glanced at him. Her hands kept moving while she muttered, “Outsider.”
Xiao Li directly admitted it. “Yes, I just came in from the outside.”
“Are you looking for me?” Mother Xu asked coldly.
Seeing that Mother Xu didn’t seem easy to communicate with, Xiao Li tried to start from Xu Jiaheng. He directly asked, “Aunt Xu, have you found that your son is acting a bit strange lately?”
The mention of Xu Jiaheng caused Mother Xu to finally stand up and place the screwdriver on the stool next to her.
“Do you know Ah Heng?”
“I don’t know him.” Xiao Li replied. “I just reluctantly helped him.”
“Help him? What can you help him with?”
Xiao Li pondered on it for a moment. “…To live?”
Mother Xu immediately stared at him with crazy eyes. It was as if she would take out a broom and drive him away in the next second. In order to avoid this from coming true, Xiao Li sped up his words. “Your son said something to me. He said that you have become different from before and this makes him feel terrified.”
He kept talking while observing the other person’s reaction. He thought that Mother Xu would be surprised but he didn’t expect Mother Xu to completely change. She quietly raised her gaze. “He said this to you?”
“Yes, Aunt Xu. Do you have another version of the story that you want to tell me?”
Mother Xu leaned back and pointed to the house behind the car repair store. “Do you want to come in and talk?”
“No, I don’t like to enter other people’s homes casually.” Xiao Li looked around as he spoke and then he discovered something.
The houses to the left and right of the Xu house had windows facing this way. At this time, there were half faces in these two windows, peeping at him through the glass. The half faces looked human. It could be seen that they were different but they all stared at him. As for the windows in the back, there were slight movements but it was too far away to be seen clearly with the naked eye.
“Are you sure?” Mother Xu stood in place as if waiting for Xiao Li to change his mind.
Xiao Li retracted his gaze and didn’t think for too long. “Yes, just say it here.”
Mother Xu hadn’t expected this answer. She stared at Xiao Li before opening her mouth. Her voice was hollow as she spoke. It didn’t contact the slightest anger but there was a faint light in her eyes. “He broke the rules. I have to look at him. I have to keep watching him.”
Xiao Li paused and gave her time to continue.
Mother Xu’s eyes glanced at the teenager in front of her. Her sullen eyes were very unkind and the wrinkled layered on top of each other like a circle of tattoos. Her entire body seemed to swell a lot. “You also broke the rules. You outsiders, we have to…”
“Look at you.”
“Watch you run away, struggle and die.”
“Peeping is everywhere.”
“You can’t escape.”
It was silent. It was a long silence. Mother Xu stood in front of Xiao Li. She turned her head and moved her body, but her eyes remained motionless like they were firmly nailed to her eye sockets.
Xiao Li listened for a while and bathed in the other person’s gaze. Then he finally opened his mouth to respond. “That’s it?”
“They are just weak threats over and over again. I thought I could hear a different story.”
He raised his volume a bit. “I will write a script for you. Listen, from your perspective, Xu Jiaheng is a bad boy. He skips class every day and is often mischievous. The teacher called you many times to file a complaint and you can’t bear it anymore.”
“Recently, he has become even worse. He has been making a fuss about ghosts. You clearly didn’t see anything but he keeps saying that you have a problem.”
“He said that you are a ghost and you are very strange. At the same time, Xu Jiaheng’s behaviour has become stranger. He often stares at the window at night, saying there is hair outside. He curls up under the quilt and isn’t willing to come out, let alone be with you”
“In desperation, you can only watch him secretly at night for fear that he will do something. However, he grabbed you and said you are peeping on him at night.”
“I think this story is a bit more dramatic, don’t you agree?”
Proofreader: Tofu