The World Below Surface - Chapter 5

Lu Yan’s eyes, exposed outside his mask, curved, “Luckily, the blood mist disappeared. Do you know what happened?”

Although Huang Mao didn’t like his personality, he was an important candidate for the mission. He gave the latter an equally kind smile, “I’d like to know too, but I guess it was something Lou did.”

“You guys are awesome.” Lu Yan let out a sincere sigh, “I usually have enough of a headache when I encounter individual psychic incidents. Do you guys encounter things like this often?” He seemed tired of running and coughed twice, his voice a little hoarse.

“Yeah, there’s no way around it. It’s our destiny.”

As he said this, the yellow-haired young man had a numb look.

He looked left and right to see no one there and said quietly, “What happened to that neighbour of yours that you didn’t finish on the underground earlier? Tell me first.”

“Tell you first?”

“Yes.” The yellow-haired young man nodded, “I’m an experienced person, so I might be able to help you analyse what’s going on. We’ll brainstorm together when they arrive.”

Lu Yan didn’t doubt it, “Okay, I’ll think about where to start.”

He spoke slowly, “It also starts with the day my neighbour moved ……”

“The upstairs of my house had been empty before. Originally an old couple lived there, then their son went abroad, so they moved with them, which was empty for a long time. Until last month, when a new neighbour moved in.”

“It’s strange to say that I’ve never seen that neighbour until now. All I know is that someone moved in, or maybe it was a family? Not sure. Anyway, the building manager says someone had moved in, and it feels like it’s getting popular. There’s usually some noisy renovation noises……” said Lu Yan, scratching his head, “It’s not their problem either. They all choose weekdays for renovations. I hear it purely because I took the day off, which is why I found it annoying.”

“You know, people in the city don’t have good neighbourly relations nowadays, but I thought they were new neighbours after all. They may be new to the city, so I wanted to ask around and see if there was anything I could do. Afraid of disturbing them, I even picked a weekday afternoon to go over when most people should be at home ……”

“I made some roast meat and brought it over to them. But I knocked on the door for a long time that day, and no one opened the door inside. But I clearly heard the sound of the renovation inside. I don’t know if it was because the sound of their construction was so loud that they didn’t hear the knocking. Still, in any case, I didn’t see anyone that day, and the roast meat was brought to a young couple of neighbours downstairs to eat ……”

This is very much in line with the character Lu Yan has shown, soft-hearted and abrasive. The yellow-haired young man did not suspect that he was listening patiently but gradually became impatient. Lu Yan pulled many things together and could not get to the point. Still, he could not let him speak faster to avoid missing the details. Just when he could not resist saying, Li Fang Zhi arrived with Li Fang Yu on her back.

“What are you talking about?”

“Nothing ……” The yellow-haired youth was just about to speak when he saw Lu Yan happily get up and walk over to him, “You’re finally here. Thankfully, you survived.”

Li Fang Zhi hmmed coldly and asked that question again, “What were you talking about?”

Lu Yan looked slightly defensive and said, “Talking about my neighbours.”

Li Fang Zhi’s eyes coldly swept over the yellow-haired young man, her heart clear. For the first time in her life, she gave Lu Yan a slightly softer expression: “Everyone wants to help you, so don’t you have to explain one by one when they come later? We might as well wait until everyone is here.”

She had always been cold-faced towards everyone and could not help but speak in a commanding manner regularly. Li Fang Zhi was not a fool. She knew she could usually maintain the status quo because she had her own sister. She only needed to protect her sister. She would naturally tell her all the information.

Now that Li Fang Yu was in a coma, it was her turn to gather information. Of course, she would not be foolish enough to ask questions in a tone that would easily arouse Lu Yan’s disgust.

Lu Yan was already displaying a soft-hearted character, and since Li Fang Zhi had said so, he nodded: “It’s fine.”

Secretly, Li Fang Zhi gazed at the yellow-haired youth with an icy look again.

The latter was very uneasy.

Sister Li Fang Yu had always been willing to partner with He Lou. Three intelligent people came together, even if they tacitly agreed to use the other team members as cannon fodder and stepping stones. But at least there was still hope of completing the mission by following them. They have a tacit agreement that unless only three of them were left, they would make it a prerequisite to saving each other in a pinch and never fight among themselves.

Looking at the way Li Fang Zhi looked, she would probably tell He Lou.

The yellow-haired young man was angry and scared, but he knew how powerful Li Fang Zhi was, and he …… couldn’t beat him. Even if the other party now had a person on his back, he couldn’t fight.

He could almost imagine the scene where he was godlessly killed by the ghosts and monsters as He Lou and the Li sisters were used as stepping stones.

Li Fang Zhi could not afford to hate, nor did she dare to, so it was only Lu Yan who was an excellent bully and did not belong to the same world as him, so he should just go to hell!

Are you a fool? Why did you tell her?

Lu Yan was still wearing his mask and hat. His expression had not changed. He was pure and innocent, as if he did not know that he had just offended the young man with yellow hair.

Huang Mao was indignant but did not dare to do anything to Lu Yan.

Shortly afterwards, a man came slowly from a distance, and that man was He Lou.

Li Fang Zhi said, “Lu Yan, can you please bring him here?”

Lu Yan didn’t say anything and went up. Li Fang Zhi was initially sitting on the ground, resting her sister on her lap. Seeing him leave, Li Fang Zhi stood up and held Li Fang Yu, lowering her voice to the yellow-haired youth and saying, “Just this once, it won’t happen again.”

Her eyes were beautiful and sharp: “If you dare to do such a thing again, you don’t have to wait for He Lou. I will dispose of you first.”

It was almost an instantaneous feeling of going from hell to heaven. The yellow-haired youth’s legs went weak: “You, you won’t tell them?”

Li Fang Zhi sneered, “I’ll let you off first.” Saying this, she carefully picked up Li Fang Yu and left with giant strides.

She didn’t seem worried about the yellow-haired youth attacking from behind. Behind her, Huang Mao’s eyes flickered. He gritted his teeth and followed, “Many thanks.”

He was outwardly respectful to He Lou, but if He Lou knew that he had a small mind, he was afraid that the next time He Lou had any news, he would not tell himself.

He Lou had brought back good news.

He had found four tickets.

“Tickets?”He Lou handed one of the tickets to Lu Yan: “Take a look.”

Lu Yan took the ticket and was shocked: “This is the ticket that leads to my home.”

“Are you sure?”

Lu Yan’s eyes, exposed outside his mask, curved, “I’m sure the address is correct.”

“Brother Lou, where did you find it?”

He Lou said, “Since it’s a bus station and there’s a ticket office, where is the car? I tried to go to the ticket window and found that I could buy a ticket.”

As for what he paid to “buy” the ticket ……

Just now, he was confused by the blood mist, and someone was trying to kill him. To protect himself, of course, he had to choose to fight back.

He used the man to “buy” four tickets at the ticket window.

He didn’t finish the rest of his sentence, but the others had already understood his meaning.

He Lou said, “What about Wang Wen Tao’s (王文涛) body? If you didn’t take it with you, you could exchange it for one more or less.”

Wang Wen Tao was the tall, thin man who had unfortunately turned into a zombie and was later burnt to death. At that, the yellow-haired young man wondered, “I don’t know, I didn’t see it when I first arrived.”

Lu Yan nodded after him, “Me too.”

“I don’t know if there are others. Let’s wait.” Huang Mao looked at the four tickets in He Lou’s hand, his eyes twinkling.

Needless to say, it must have been the four of them who split them.

Lu Yan …… this fool, what gives?!

But now, all three of them were present. Li Fang Zhi was already quietly standing beside Lu Yan with Li Fang Yu on her back, meaning very clearly.

With He Lou and Li Fang Zhi protecting him, it would be impossible for him to snatch Lu Yan’s ticket. What’s more, even if they grabbed the ticket, they would only be able to complete their mission with Lu Yan.

Damn it …… was there anyone else? Was there anyone left?

Five people were left: Lu Yan, He Lou, the Li sisters, and Huang Mao himself.

Where was he going to find a ticket?!!!

As if hearing the call in his heart, three more members came running in the distance, and as soon as they saw them, those three dropped their hearts and greeted from afar, “Finally, we found you.”

Yellow Hair greeted them happily, “You guys are finally here. Brother Lou has found a way to leave. Come on!”

Apart from the unconscious Li Fang Yu, the remaining three kept a subtle silence. Lu Yan seemed intolerant and turned away with his head bowed somewhat sadly.

Not long after, only a scream was heard, and in the next instant, the yellow-haired youth dragged a man by his feet and came towards them.

The other two were still outside the situation, not yet reacting. Seeing that He Lou did not stop them, they followed him with some alarm, separated by most of a metre so they could be ready to run away at any moment. Yellow Hair wiped the blood splattered on his face and asked cheerfully, “Brother Lou, how did you buy the tickets just now?”

He bit off the word “buy tickets”, and the two remaining men heard what was going on and followed behind Huang Mao in silence as a sign of obedience.

He Lou said indifferently, “Buy it directly, tell it you want to buy a ticket first, and then hand over the stuff.”

At that, Yellow Hair happily dragged the man’s foot towards the ticket hall. At the same time, the other survivor had long since followed. One dragged a foot, and the other, seeing that their “ticket” was about to wake up, squatted down, pulled the man’s head to the ground, and knocked it hard.

Two hands dragged across the ground, his head knocked out blood …… his chest heaving slightly.

The man was still alive.

A short while later, there was the sound of a woman cackling and chewing, and Yellow Hair, clutching four tickets in his hand, excitedly rejoined them.

A car’s horn sounded in the distance, followed by a car in disrepair, not knowing if it would fall apart next, slowly driving from afar.

“Get in.” He Lou smiled kindly at Lu Yan and handed him a ticket.

Li Fang Zhi took two.

The remaining two, Feng Chu Chu and the other Mo Yun (莫云), had talked their way out of it and finally managed to get one from the yellow hair.

The car slowly stopped past them, and in the driver’s seat was a figure whose face could not be seen. He Lou nodded at them as he checked the number plate against the car.

They pushed Feng Chu Chu out and were the first to get into the car. He gritted his teeth and stepped up, and the driver turned his head, his eyes hidden in the shadows, grim and cold, his voice hoarse as he asked, “Ticket?”

Feng Chu Chu trembled and handed over the ticket.

The driver seemed a little disappointed and waved his hand to let him go.

Seeing that Feng Chu Chu was fine, the crowd filed in. I don’t know if it was intentional, but Lu Yan was the first to get on the bus before Li Fang Zhi, and he stood not far from the driver, quietly looking at the Li sisters.

The driver also looked at Li Fang Zhi …… or, to be precise, at Li Fang Yu on her back. Somehow, Li Fang Zhi always felt that the shadow revealed a smile full of malice.

“Sit tight.”

This was the last thing the driver said.

At those words, Lu Yan obediently returned to his seat, his hands in his pockets, his head lowered as he wondered what he was thinking.

In his pockets, his hands were clutching a total of four tickets.