1TWITF[C Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The ringtone was exceptionally loud, coming from directly above them.

Feng Chuchu’s face changed drastically.

Why was Huang Wei’s ringtone… coming from upstairs?

What exactly did the neighbor upstairs, who had never shown his face, want to do?

Most importantly, how did Huang Wei get up there?

Was he still alive?

He had never been particularly brave. From the moment he entered the first alternate world and took on his first task, he had always relied on clinging to the coattails of others to survive. Because he was sensible, obedient, and not soft-hearted when it came to taking action, he had managed to live relatively safely until now.

He wanted to survive, but now that even Huang Wei, who had brought him this far, was dead, could he really survive?

He Lou and the Li sisters might help him out, considering that he was one of the few remaining team members, but would they really save him?

Perhaps… could they even survive?

After the phone rang four times, there was a “beep,” and it connected.

“Hello? Who is this?”

Feng Chuchu trembled all over, his face turning as white as a sheet in an instant.

This voice, this voice was Huang Wei’s.

If he had previously held onto a sliver of hope that Huang Wei was still alive, that last bit of hope vanished without a trace. Almost the instant he heard the voice on the phone, he hung up.

“Are you going to talk or not? Who are you? Who are you looking for?”

“Talk!”

Huang Wei’s questioning voice continued to come from the other end.

Why hadn’t it hung up?

Please, just hang up.

Hang up!!

What to do? What to do?

“Who are you? I’m coming to find you!”

Feng Chuchu rushed into the bathroom, threw the phone directly into the toilet, slammed the lid shut, and flushed.

“Who are you… I’m coming to find you…”

“I-I-I-I’m c-c-c-coming t-t-t-to f-f-f-find y-y-y-you…”

To Feng Chuchu’s despair, a sound like a rusty machine stuttering echoed in his ears, haunting him.

Why? Why was it still haunting him?! Why me?

I just made a phone call, why not look for Lu Yanli?

That’s right, why not look for Lu Yanli?

He was clearly there too.

“Tell him who you are.” Feng Chuchu didn’t dare to speak, he could only silently mouth the words, while raising the knife in his hand.

Lu Yanli stared in stunned shock, struggling incessantly.

But he couldn’t care less. Wouldn’t it be better if Lu Yanli was blind? He was just an NPC, they only needed to use them.

As long as Lu Yanli couldn’t help but make a sound, he could survive.

What clues, what remaining value, he was about to die, was it wrong to want to live?

“You…” Feng Chuchu didn’t dare to speak, his eyes filled with terror.

The malicious smile on Lu Yanli’s lips grew wider and wider. He grabbed Feng Chuchu’s wrist, who was looking at him in disbelief, and pushed him back forcefully. He was too strong. Feng Chuchu had no power to resist and was pushed to the ground.

Then, Lu Yanli approached him step by step.

At this moment, where was there even a trace of Lu Yanli’s usual good-natured demeanor?

He could be described as nothing less than a madman!

Lu Yanli carefully straightened Feng Chuchu’s collar, and finally, smiled at Feng Chuchu gently, mouthing silently.

“Go, die, now——”

In the next instant, the hand holding the knife was grabbed by Lu Yanli and stabbed hard into his own thigh.

“Ah——”

Feng Chuchu screamed, immediately realizing something was wrong.

“I’ve found you.”

…

What was going on? He had actually slept for so long?!

He Lou got up quickly, got dressed, and went out. Lu Yanli was sleeping soundly on the sofa. He opened the doors to the other two rooms, and Li Fangzhi and Li Fangwan were still fast asleep, while the other room… was empty.

What was going on? Where were the people?

A chill ran through He Lou’s heart. He turned and left the room, shaking Lu Yanli awake, who was sleeping on the sofa.

Lu Yanli opened his eyes groggily, his voice still hoarse with sleep: “What’s wrong?”

“Yes, they’re gone.” He Lou said, “And it’s already twelve noon.” Even if the noise upstairs last night made them sleep in a little later, it was impossible for them to only wake up now.

“H-How could this be?” Lu Yanli’s throat was dry. He didn’t know what he was thinking, but his face was as white as a sheet, “Where, where could they have gone?”

“Exactly, I wanted to ask you. You were sleeping in the living room, didn’t you hear anything?”

Lu Yanli shook his head blankly.

“Could they, could they have…” He didn’t dare say the word.

He Lou was silent, closing his eyes tightly, not answering.

What was wrong?

Where did the problem lie?

“What about, what about the two girls?” Lu Yanli asked quickly.

“They’re still sleeping in their room.”

Looking at his back, He Lou’s eyes showed a hint of scrutiny.

Did he have anything to do with it?

…

Today’s lunch was even more silent than the previous two days.

He Lou wasn’t a talkative person, Li Fangzhi was taciturn, and originally Li Fangwan would regulate the atmosphere at any time, but now she had also inexplicably become indifferent. Therefore, Lu Yanli was the only one on the dining table trying to ease the atmosphere, but after dryly saying a bunch of things without anyone responding, his voice grew lower and lower, and he slowly shut his mouth.

After lunch, Lu Yanli consciously cleared the table, and He Lou leaned against the kitchen door, carefully examining him.

Soft-hearted, cowardly, stupid… and yet he had the good fortune to live until now?

Lu Yanli felt a little uncomfortable being watched by him, and quickly washed the dishes before turning to ask him, “Brother Lou, is there anything I can help you with?”

“That’s good. After we finish eating, let’s go ask around this building. By the way, how many residents are there in this building?”

Lu Yanli didn’t object to the first half of the sentence, but the second half stumped him: “This, I’m not sure either.”

Lu Yanli nodded and agreed.

He Lou couldn’t help but be suspicious when he saw his somewhat foolish appearance, but there was no other way.

But anyway, they weren’t from the same world, so why should they sympathize with them? At most, they could only refrain from indiscriminate killing, because the dead might also turn into evil ghosts, but to ask them to consider the lives of NPCs, or even protect them, was simply impossible.

“Before we set off, tell us what you know.”

A building had nine floors, with four rooms on each floor. Li Fangzhi and Li Fangwan started their investigation from the top floor, responsible for floors nine to five. He Lou and Lu Yanli were responsible for floors one to four.

This was an extremely risky method. Their mission was to stay in the apartment for a week, which meant that the apartment was bound to have problems. But they had no other choice now. The number of people had been drastically reduced. If they still couldn’t find the reason, they would inevitably face total annihilation.

At around two o’clock in the afternoon, He Lou and Lu Yanli took the elevator down to the first floor and stood in front of the 101 room door, ready to knock.

She habitually counted seconds to calculate the time. After the elevator reached the top floor, Li Fangzhi stepped out of the elevator, feeling that something was wrong. She thought about it carefully, and suddenly widened her eyes—

It turned out that they had all overlooked a very important issue, and this issue was likely to be the key!