The World Below Surface

[Hey, somebody copy pasted my translations on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on https://puukkiss.wixsite.com/inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won't be able to find it anywhere else.] The song's melody drifted through the dense forest, its childish tune unsettling in the eerie atmosphere. Earlier, Chu Xiu had suggested they split up, but now he found himself running into Lu Yan. After hesitating, Chu Xiu decided to take a chance and follow Lu Yan, hoping he had some excellent ideas.

Deep in thought, Lu Yan considered how to escape their predicament. He couldn't be sure that Chu Xiu wasn't some ghost in disguise, but he needed all the information he could get, even from a potential enemy. Besides, Lu Yan had already wished the deity for survival, so he felt confident that he would make it through the night.

"Do you have any ideas?" Chu Xiu asked, keeping a few paces behind him.

As they walked, Lu Yan responded, "What made you guys play this horror game in the first place? And what are the rules?"

Chu Xiu didn't hesitate to answer, "We have to reach the Yin—Ming Road and play a game of hide and seek for at least thirty minutes after midnight. We draw cards to choose one person to be the ghost, who must catch the others. If the ghost catches more than half of the players, they win."

At first glance, the rules seemed like any other game of hide and seek, which was why Nie Yun Zhen included more people. The more players, the harder it would be for the ghost to catch half of them. But he never could have imagined that this would lead them all down a path of no return.

"Thirty minutes long, is it?" Lu Yan pondered.

It sounded like a short enough time, but only if there was only one ghost, not eleven.

Lu Yan couldn't help but think about the twenty-four missing bodies from the police station. The test results showed that one of the skulls belonged to the same person, and he immediately thought of the danger they were all in due to that "wish" they had made to the deity.

Their wish had caused them to endlessly resurrect and fall into an infinite death trap, even leading to the strange phenomenon of two people appearing in the same space and time.

After pleading to God for a way out, he repeated the same events multiple times, but no matter his choice, he was met with a dead end. Ultimately, he had no other option but to start from the beginning and avoid Wen Qing and Yun Qian to continue his journey.

Now, there was another identical skull discovered. Could it be possible that some of them were also caught in this never-ending loop?

Who were the others?

Eleven students, plus Chu Xiu, Shi Yan, Nie Yun Zhen, and himself, were participating in a game of hide-and-seek, forming four groups. Despite their calculations, the numbers didn't add up.

Lu Yan speculated, and Chu Xiu racked his brain.

He had made several wishes and even played the Four Corners game at the abandoned Yin—Ming Road factory until he died. After pondering for a long time, this was the only solution he could come up with.

Who else was trapped in this cycle?

Being directly involved, they didn't bother to ask for the names of the other two students, subconsciously assuming that Wen Qing and Yun Qian were included among the eleven, which left them puzzled about the existence of twenty-four bones.

Whose remains were the other two?

The "dead" students' voices continued to echo around them, making it impossible to locate the source and causing them to wander blindly.

In another direction, Zhang Dan and her companions picked up their pace after parting ways.

"Don't come near me!" she screamed.

Although Yin—Ming Road was only one street, it covered a vast area. With his good memory, Zhang Dan recalled their path and kept running forward without looking back.

As he ran, he spotted someone wearing a school uniform standing nearby, which alarmed Zhang Dan. Uncertain of who it was, she immediately turned around and fled in the opposite direction.

The figure had also intended to escape, but upon seeing the other person running, he realized they were in the same situation, so he chased them and shouted, "Don't be afraid! It's me; I'm not a ghost."

[Hey, somebody copy pasted my translations on another site! Please show some love by liking my work on https://puukkiss.wixsite.com/inkydragon. Without it, I may think that nobody is reading my work and consider abandoning it, which means you won't be able to find it anywhere else.]

Recognizing his voice, Zhang Dan calmed down. He had been the loudest on the bus, and she didn't hear him scream just now, so... he probably wasn't a ghost, right?

Escaping alone felt bad. Zhang Dan managed to hold on, but she believed having a partner would boost her confidence.

With that thought in mind, she slowed her pace.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the other person increased his speed and suggested, "How about we walk together?"

As he approached her, a sudden chill sent shivers down Zhang Dan's spine, and her heart started racing inexplicably. Without a second thought, she followed her intuition and sprinted forward, unaware of her surroundings. The distance between them widened once again.

"Hey, why are you running? I'm not a ghost! Wait for me!" the young man called out, chasing after her.

"Why are you shouting so loudly? Aren't you afraid they will find us?" Zhang Dan yelled back, slightly panicked.

The young man's voice immediately dropped. "I don't want to lose you. I got separated from my friends."

Zhang Dan couldn't shake off the strange feeling that lingered inside her. The young man didn't seem like a ghost, but she couldn't be sure. She signalled him to stop shouting as she waited for him. "Speak clearly. I'm listening."

"Okay." The young man jogged a few steps to catch up with her. "I must say, you're pretty brave. I don't think I could handle being alone."

In the dark, Zhang Dan could barely make out the young man's silhouette. His features became clearer as he drew closer, and her breathing hitched.

He was facing her with a grin, but his body below the neck twisted away from her!

It was as if a person's head had spun 180 degrees.

Could a normal person do that?

Zhang Dan's instincts screamed at her to run, but fear rooted her to the spot. She might have crumpled to the ground if she hadn't had a shred of consciousness left.

"You're too fast for me. I can't keep up," the young man chuckled, seemingly oblivious to the horror he had unleashed.

Suddenly, he turned around and faced her with the back of his head. Zhang Dan watched in terror as he used both hands to twist his head back to the front, his smile fading as his face turned deathly pale. Blood stains marred his school uniform.

"I found another one, hehe..." he whispered.

A bloodcurdling scream tore through the forest.

Chu Xiu's mood shifted instantly. "There's another one."

Lu Yan's expression darkened. "Have you seen those students?"

Chu Xiu shook his head. "I blacked out and didn't see them."

Nie Yun Zhen and Shi Yan must have observed the students and deemed them seemingly unremarkable. Otherwise, they wouldn't have extended an invitation to join. Countless possibilities ran through their minds. Perhaps the students' screams were a deception, a clever ploy to mislead them into thinking that they were human but haunted by ghosts, and to lure them towards the captive students, to safeguard them.

Chu Xiu nodded in agreement, contemplating the intricacies of their task. He couldn't resist suggesting, "There may be another option."

Lu Yan was intrigued, "What might that be?"

"To level the playing field, the deceased students scream to expose the location of a ghost and to indicate that their numbers have grown," replied Chu Xiu, recalling the equilibrium of previous missions.

Since ghosts multiplied by "killing" their peers, they must be weaker in other aspects. The game would be impossible if they could employ tactics like teleportation and mind-reading to outsmart the opposing team. Chu Xiu surmised that the ghosts' weakness was their inability to locate themselves like bona fide ghosts. Consequently, the team had to avoid all "students" to survive.

"Do we need to search for those students?" Chu Xiu inquired, implying that reducing the number of ghosts was their best chance.

Lu Yan pondered the query before responding, "Let's not take any risks. Who knows if the mechanism will trigger and jolt their memories?"

He gazed up at the sky, obscured by dense clouds. "How much time remains?"

"Eighteen minutes," Chu Xiu replied. Nevertheless, they remained apprehensive and vigilant, despite the waning time.

The ghosts could not exert their influence directly and could only search like ordinary people. But once the game ended, and the ghosts were no longer constrained by the rules, what then? Could they genuinely escape?

The remaining students quivered with fear on the opposite end of the woods. What could they do? Zhang Dan was dead, and they lamented playing this dangerous game of hide-and-seek. It felt like they had signed up for their own demise.

As Zhang Dan screamed, the boy gently tapped her head. Suddenly, Zhang Dan's head detached from her neck and rolled into the darkness, clattering as it went. Despite losing her head, Zhang Dan walked alongside the boy, humming a tune. They switched to another nursery rhyme and began to sing joyfully.

On the other end, Ling Wei Wei heard the scream, and her legs weakened with fear. She collapsed onto a nearby tree, her tears streaming down her face. "When will this end?" she sobbed. "Why is this happening?"

Although Huang Yuan Wang was fond of Ling Wei Wei, he realized that his survival was paramount. Besides, his affection for her was nothing more than a teenage infatuation brought about by her beauty. He couldn't have genuine feelings for her. Huang Yuan Wang's own fear and anxiety were heightened by Ling Wei Wei's crying.

"Stop crying," he said impatiently. "We have to go. No one else can help us at this point."

"But... Zhang Dan is dead," Ling Wei Wei cried.

"If you miss her, you can stay behind and keep her company," Huang Yuan Wang muttered, turning to leave.

Huang Yuan Wang found it bizarre that the ghosts could sing. The tune that seemed harmless before now sent chills down his spine. He tried to think of other things to bolster his courage, but as he took a few steps, he came upon another tree and realized something was wrong.

The singing seemed to be coming from above. Was something in the tree? He looked up, and a pale head grinned at him before falling to the ground with a thud.

"Run! Run quickly!" Huang Yuan Wang's mind raced as he pulled Ling Wei Wei along. He didn't understand why, but he instinctively grabbed her hand, even though his initial plan was to save himself.

Ling Wei Wei also recognized the gravity of the situation and ran, wiping away her tears as they fled. The singing continued to emanate from nearby.

The runners were sprinting through the chilly night, their breaths heavy and laboured, as the gusts of wind hurled themselves past them. Ling Wei Wei was on the verge of collapsing, but she could not stop. She was terrified that if she paused for a moment, she would be confronted with the gruesome sight of the severed head trailing her.

After running for what seemed like an eternity, the singing faded away, and Huang Yuan Wang's energy ebbed away, reducing them both to a slow and torturous pace. Their chests heaved as they struggled to push forward.

"They won't chase us anymore, will they?" Ling Wei Wei gasped, feeling her throat parched and raw. She would have tumbled to the ground if it hadn't been for Huang Yuan Wang's support.

Huang Yuan Wang was still trembling. "They won't, right?" He turned to glance at Ling Wei Wei, and his heart skipped a beat as he observed her posture.

Ling Wei Wei was bent over, trying to catch her breath, but in that position, Huang Yuan Wang could clearly see... Zhang Dan's head! It was attached to her back. Strangely, she was oblivious to this fact and continued to gasp for air while periodically checking behind them.

In the instant that Ling Wei Wei turned around, Zhang Dan's head swivelled to face him, grinning wickedly.

Then, Huang Yuan Wang realized why they had not heard the singing again. Zhang Dan had clamped down on Ling Wei Wei's hair with her mouth and was suspended behind her without uttering a sound.

Huang Yuan Wang's breath caught in his throat, and his skin broke out in goosebumps, his muscles constricting in response. He called out Ling Wei Wei's name in a shaky voice, and she swivelled around in confusion. Without hesitation, Huang Yuan Wang shoved her to the ground and took off, heedless of the danger ahead.

"What are you doing? Wait for me!" Ling Wei Wei attempted to rise, but she had twisted her ankle. She was furious and anxious, tears cascading down her cheeks.

The eerie singing started up once more in the background.

"Searching for friends, searching, searching for a good friend..."

Ling Wei Wei's body went rigid. That voice, no, it was right beside her! She spun her head, and on her shoulder was a bluish-white, grotesque head bearing a malevolent grin that met her gaze.

A piercing shriek resonated through the woods.

Chu Xiu furrowed his brow as he did the math. "Another one died," he announced. Lu Yan fell silent, deep in thought, trying to devise a solution. Turning a corner, they were stunned to run into Shi Yan.

Shi Yan's first instinct was to run, but Chu Xiu stopped her. "Don't run. We're all human. We need you to explain what happened in detail. Otherwise, we won't figure out what to do."

Shi Yan knew that the game had become more difficult because of her and Nie Yun Zhen. She couldn't tell if they were dealing with a human or a ghost, but she recognized the tone and reluctantly began to tell her story.

Chu Xiu listened intently. "So, you gave each of them a playing card, right?" he pondered.

Neither Chu Xiu nor Lu Yan had a playing card. Chu Xiu asked again, "Where's your card?"

Shi Yan hesitated before taking it out of her pocket and handing it over, biting her lip. "I tried to throw it away, but I couldn't. I couldn't even tear it up. I buried it in the ground and ran away for a while, but it returned to me somehow."

Lu Yan suddenly interrupted, "Did you see those things now?"

Shi Yan nodded.

She had also guessed that if those classmates hadn't died, they wouldn't have realized they were ghosts too. So, she tricked someone into taking her place.

"That makes sense," Chu Xiu said. "But if we walk with Shi Yan and her playing card, we might encounter those things."

Shi Yan shook her head. "No, that's not right. If you don't have a card, then you're not playing the game." They all knew what terrible punishment awaited those who failed to complete the task.

Chu Xiu frowned. "Did you give me a card?" He searched his pockets as he spoke, and Shi Yan shook her head again. "No, I only gave out thirteen cards." When she finished speaking, Chu Xiu pulled out a playing card from his pocket.

Shi Yan's eyes widened. "What? How is this possible? I didn't give you a card!"

Chu Xiu tried to tear it up, but just as Shi Yan said it was indestructible. "Maybe it's a supply from the game," he said offhandedly.

Perhaps it was the card that attracted the ghosts?

Lu Yan searched himself and, fortunately, found nothing. Watching the two others distressed about the card, something suddenly occurred to him. "Wait, can you repeat the rules again?" he asked.

Shi Yan quickly recounted the rules. When she mentioned, "The person who is caught must willingly hand over the playing card," her eyes lit up. Glancing at Chu Xiu, she felt relieved. Perhaps this was their way out.

"The question is, how do we hand over the playing cards to those ghosts? Would they take them without killing us?"

This question troubled them. Lu Yan thought about the 24 missing bodies at the police station. He remembered two crucial individuals and asked, "You chose Yun Qian as the ghost, but what about Wen Qing?"

"Wen Qing? Who is Wen Qing? There's no one named Wen Qing among the students," Shi Yan wondered.

This sentence surprised them both.

"You don't know Wen Qing?!" Chu Xiu asked, incredulous.

"I don't know," Shi Yan answered honestly.

"Who else is on the student list? Tell us," Lu Yan and Chu Xiu exchanged glances as she recounted the student list. They both saw doubt in each other's eyes.

Did Wen Qing not show up?

Half an hour passed.

The ghosts could no longer wait, and their screams echoed through the dense forest. The students killed by their classmates had turned into pale and stiff ghosts, searching for others.

As Wen Qing darted through the winding forest path, she couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something was closing in on her. Even though she was usually fearless, the thought of being pursued by a dozen ghosts, who were once her classmates, left her trembling with fear.

Her mind raced with questions: what should she do? Was she the last living person in the game?

Desperate for a solution, an idea suddenly struck her. Her classmates had mentioned two individuals who were too frightened to play, forcing them to tag along. Who were those two people, and could they still be alive?

Driven by this glimmer of hope, Wen Qing resolved to find those two individuals. She scanned the forest frantically as she ran, unaware that her former classmates were doing the same.

Unbeknownst to her, the massacre in the forest had reached its climactic finale. Wen Qing was the only one left alive, alongside four others.

Eleven ghosts had assembled, with their sights firmly set on Wen Qing. They longed to reunite the last survivor with herself.

"Give the poker cards to the ghosts...let them have them..." Lu Yan muttered, deep in thought.

Handing over the cards was the only way to emerge alive, but facing the ghosts was practically a death sentence. Once time ran out and the game rules dissolved, the ghosts would be free to strike without any constraints.

What was the way out? As he pondered this question, 'twenty-four victims' echoed silently in his mind.

Lu Yan's head snapped as he fixed his gaze on Chu Xiu. "Do you remember the Four Corners Game?"

Chu Xiu nodded, quickly realizing what Lu Yan was getting at. The factory where they had played the game still existed. If everything went as planned, the Chu Xiu who played the game might still be inside.

Shi Yan furrowed her eyebrows, "What Four Corners Game? Didn't we already play it?"

Lu Yan brushed Shi Yan's question aside, "Never mind that, let's go find that factory. Perhaps we'll find some clues."

Shi Yan didn't object, and the trio jogged towards the factory, their urgency evident.

"Do you think it's possible to replace ourselves with another version of ourselves from inside?" Chu Xiu's mind raced with wild ideas. "I know myself well and would fight back to the death."

"Then kill him," Lu Yan said without batting an eyelid. "Oh, and make sure you kill a few more and replace us too."

As they sprinted forward, a figure appeared, running towards them from the opposite direction. It was Wen Qing!

Wen Qing saw the three people on the other side and didn't know whether they were human or ghosts. She tightened the protective talisman on her body and ran over to ask, "Excuse me, are you guys playing hide-and-seek?"

Shi Yan replied, "Yes, who are you?"

"My name is Wen Qing, and I'm looking for my classmates." Wen Qing had finally stopped running and, panting, waved her hand, "You guys should be more careful. All my classmates are dead." She took a deep breath, sadness filling her eyes, "You shouldn't have come to this place called Yin-Ming Road. You should go back quickly."

Lu Yan checked his watch; time was running out, and they had only a few minutes left until half an hour. He didn't have the patience to beat around the bush, so he went straight up to Wen Qing and looked into her eyes, "Don't panic; tell me, what did you see just now?"

His voice was a soothing melody, its cadence smooth as silk. His eyes fixed intently on Wen Qing, and in their depths, a beguiling charm stirred that was impossible to articulate.

Wen Qing fell under his spell, confessing all she had seen without hesitation.

"Twelve sets of bones, each with playing cards laid upon them," she revealed.

A sense of relief washed over Lu Yan, and finally, a clue to follow.

"Lead us to where you saw them," he urged.

Wen Qing nodded, still in a daze. "Alright."

Surprisingly, they encountered no apparitions on their way there. These ghosts seemed to be waiting for the right moment to make their presence known.

Soon, they arrived at the spot where Wen Qing had discovered the macabre display. Before they even drew near, she reached for the playing cards she had taken, only to find them missing. Instead, she produced a fresh deck from her pocket.

"This...this is..." she stammered, "I didn't lie. I really took out four cards a moment ago."

"We know," Lu Yan replied.

In the centre of each bleached white skeleton lay eleven neatly arranged playing cards.

One was missing.

Twelve sets of bones belonging to twelve students accounted for.

But where were the remaining four?

Perhaps another Chu Xiu was playing games amidst the chaos of the factory's twisting, turning corridors. But where were the others?

Chu Xiu pondered the question, unwilling to face the possibility of their deaths. While he had to come to terms with the potential demise of his comrades, he did not wish Lu Yan, a unique presence in this mission realm, to meet the same fate. Unbeknownst to him, Chu Xiu's thoughts were influenced by Lu Yan's hypnotism.

With only three minutes left before the half-hour deadline, an idea struck Lu Yan. He pivoted on his heel, his gaze locking on the crossroads. He recalled seeing an identical off-road vehicle, one containing four sets of bones.

The numbers matched. This was their lifeline.

"Hurry, to the crossroads!" he cried.