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Chapter 5: Way To Survive

Meanwhile, back in Shishen Apartment.

Tang Ye froze, still with his hand outstretched in midair. "Hmm?" He blinked once, twice, and abruptly snapped back to his senses. He looked around for Jin Jiuchi\'s missing figure. "Wait... where is Brother Yang?!"

Xinxin tremblingly pointed at the direction where Old Guan had gone with a weird look on her face. Even the ever silent man surnamed Zhi was stunned.

Sister Hong quickly schooled her features and wiped the shock away. Jin Jiuchi had moved so quickly that she could not track his movement with her eyes alone. Her lips twisted in displeasure. "Don\'t tell me we have two cowardly newbies..."

Alas, not even one second after her words settled in the air, they heard a faint exuberant cry echoing in the far distance. "Woo-hoo...!!"

Everyone: "..."

No matter from which angle one inspected it, that did not sound like a cry of terror!

What was up with that man?! Was... was he really a newbie? If he wasn\'t, then there was no way he wouldn\'t know about the infinity road, but if he was... why didn\'t he show an ounce of fear like normal people would?!

By any chance... was he really a ghost in disguise?!

As the five people were still stupefied on the spot, Jin Jiuchi soon emerged from the opposite road. He had no idea how long he had been running. It could be five seconds or five minutes for all he cared. All he knew was that he really enjoyed the sensation of coldness that stuck to his overheated skin. He was so happy that he couldn\'t resist another peal of deep laughter from his throat.

His eyes lit up once the fog receded to reveal the familiar old apartment again. So what Tang Ye said was true. This road really led to nowhere! Just now, he had clearly left the apartment behind him, but now it showed up again in front of his eyes.

How... exciting!

He skidded to a halt in front of the apartment, still grinning bright enough to light up the whole city. "I\'m back!"

"B–Brother Yang..." Tang Ye forced the question out of his mouth with much difficulty. "What are you doing..."

Why did he look kinda constipated? Confused, Jin Jiuchi tilted his head and answered in a matter-of-fact tone. "Checking out the new environment, of course! You guys knew it already. Even Old Guan had done it twice. Wouldn\'t it be totally unfair if I\'m the only one kept in the dark?!" His argument sounded extremely valid and righteous, even giving off the impression of being wronged.

But why did it sound like something was not quite right? Tang Ye scratched his hair but could not pinpoint what was exactly off about Jin Jiuchi\'s sentence. In the end, he could only switch the topic. "Okay, let\'s wait for Old Guan and enter the apartment. We should really get inside before it gets totally dark."

"Otherwise...?" Jin Jiuchi prompted.

Again, Tang Ye shot him a deep look and answered solemnly, "I assure you, Brother Yang. You don\'t want to be left outside after nightfall."

Jin Jiuchi licked his gum, feeling out the sharp canines along his teeth. The corner of his lips were curved into a careless smile. When Tang Ye put it like that, it made him want to... stay outside all the more... just to see what would happen...

"Don\'t even think about it," the jade doll suddenly spoke up as if they had clearly guessed the line of Jin Jiuchi\'s thoughts. "I don\'t know where you come from and what you do, but here, it\'s totally different from the normal world. You can\'t bring your logic here and expect that they will work. Foolishness, carelessness, rebellion, excessive curiosity... all of them will only result in death. And the only way to survive is to proceed with utmost caution and follow the rules set by the Nightmare."

"Oh, what should I do?" Jin Jiuchi gasped and put on an extremely troubled look. "I\'ve never been good at following rules. And most importantly... what is the normal world you\'re talking about?" He asked with genuine curiosity.

At first, he thought that the world had changed so much since the last time he saw it – wait, when was this \'last time\' again? He could no longer remember – but it seemed like... this world was abnormal either? Did he somehow get lost? It seemed like there were so many things he had to learn all over again...

The jade doll\'s exquisite face hardened, and their voice was steely as they shot him a cold glare. "If you\'re here just to play around, then let me give you a warning, newbie. I can make sure that you will not even know how you die."

It took Jin Jiuchi a while to realize that the jade doll had misunderstood, thinking that Jin Jiuchi was teasing them again with his question. He couldn\'t help but feel a bit aggrieved. He was really not joking this time!

Moreover, have children become so mature nowadays? Talking about killing someone without even batting an eyelid... what a bad kiddo!

Jin Jiuchi had just wanted to open his mouth and rebuke the child when he heard Tang Ye cry out, "Brother Zhi!"

He raised his head and saw that the man surnamed Zhi had taken the lead to enter the apartment, following closely behind him were Sister Hong and Xinxin. It turned out, Old Guan had staggered out from the opposite road, looking utterly exhausted and worse to wear. His legs trembled once he caught sight of the apartment again, despair thick in his eyes.

Tang Ye called out, "Hurry, Brother Yang, Old Guan!" As soon as he said it, he jogged to follow the three people in.

Jin Jiuchi turned to the jade doll. Yet before he could even open his mouth, they briskly strode forward and left him behind. Geez, such a bad tempered kiddo...

"You..." Old Guan stuttered out, his voice weak and shaky. "You\'re going to... enter that place...?"

Jin Jiuchi tilted his head and offered the man a toothy grin once their eyes met, earning him a full body shiver from the other. He singsong-ed, "A beautiful jade doll told me that I have to follow the rules if I want to survive. Well, now that I\'m here, I may as well heed their words?" He shrugged, shoved his hands into the pocket and sauntered into the dark and creepy apartment, whistling a random tune.

Old Guan was left flabbergasted behind. J–J–Jade doll? Who... who the hell was he talking about? It couldn\'t be a ghost friend of his, right?!

Just in time, a cold breeze blew by, sending prickles of goosebumps across his sweaty skin. He gulped and looked around nervously. The more he looked at the dim surroundings, the more terrified he was. In the end, he scrambled toward the dark entrance of the apartment like his life depended on it,

"W–Wait for me...!"

What all of them did not know was, after they entered the apartment, the faces of people on the bus\' poster illustration began to change. Six people – five adults, one child.

It was the players\' faces... except for Jin Jiuchi.