Chapter 146: Substitute
In the gap of thinking, another hand pressed against her.
Coldness, dead silence, decay, carrying an inescapable stickiness, firmly stuck to her back, like marking prey, or like having already found the prey, now trying to share her.
She sensed a hungry desire from the countless hands pressing close.
They craved to kill her, to get more human things from her.
No.
Those things cannot be given to the ghost.
Qin Wan instinctively felt fear.
If all her human things were taken by the ghost, what would she become?
An empty shell with nothing?
For some reason, she suddenly thought of the looks those passersby gave her when the ghost called while walking on the street earlier.
That indescribable discomfort, the gaze that only wanted to avoid.
Hollow, numb, soulless, yet carrying some hidden eagerness, thirst, excitement, and malice when looking at them.
Just like the greedy hands now sticking to her body one by one.
Qin Wan felt waves of scalp numbness, she had to make a sound: “I can’t go on like this, if I stay here any longer, I’ll die.”
She wasn’t deliberately talking to anyone, she was just stating her own plight, more like an oral diary.
“I want to leave here, but I’m afraid leaving is the wrong choice.”
“So many hands are sticking to my body, hands that don’t belong to me, I feel like they’re going to pull me into hell, if they succeed, the consequences are unimaginable.”
She wasn’t sure if Zhou Zimo and Lu Jinzhao would believe these words came from the real “Qin Wan”, but right now she had no choice, she could only inform her teammates of more information this way.
Not to help them, but to have them save her if conditions allowed.
Another hand pressed against her, this time, covering her mouth.
She lost the ability to speak again.
Then the next second, she heard the ghost hidden in the darkness continue speaking in a tone exactly the same as hers just now: “I must try, I don’t want to die.”
“I’m leaving, take care.”
No.
In the darkness, Qin Wan tried to open her mouth, wanting to say: No, I’m not leaving.
But she couldn’t speak.
The teammates probably wouldn’t be fooled into chasing the substitute away, so what was the meaning of the ghost doing this?
Qin Wan didn’t use the pocket watch immediately, but chose to wait first.
The next moment, the originally non-functional mobile phone screen suddenly recovered.
In the faint light, Lu Jinzhao and Zhou Zimo saw Qin Wan who was stuck to the ghost, clinging to her shoulder, turning to leave.
Zhou Zimo hadn’t planned to speak, but it was too obvious who the ghost was over there, the ghost’s neck was almost like a scarf wrapped around Qin Wan, looking weird and disgusting.
So Zhou Zimo hurriedly said: “Hey! There’s light, don’t go yet, let’s think of another method!”
Being alone isn’t a good thing, let alone Qin Wan was still suffering misfortune at this time.
After Zhou Zimo spoke, that figure preparing to leave did listen to him, stopped her steps, and turned around, it was Qin Wan with fear and fortunate on her face.
“Great, I was about to take a desperate gamble, but… what method could there be?”
“Can you help me… get rid of this thing stuck to my body?” Her speaking tone was trembling, like barely maintaining consciousness in extreme fear.
But… no.
Qin Wan in the darkness was shaking her head, no, this wasn’t right.
The substitutes increased.
Moreover, unknowingly, she had been moved from her original position by those hands grabbing her calf that were stuck to her body.
The ghost had replaced her, standing in place, pretending to be “possessed by a ghost”.
As the substitute talked to Zhou Zimo, Qin Wan felt her brain suddenly go blank again.
She immediately realized she couldn’t just watch anymore, she must use the pocket watch right away.
The ticking sound appeared, in her brain, the words Zhou Zimo had said seemed to be retracted, the palms that had covered half her body were also withdrawing one by one, and in front of Zhou Zimo, he saw a shocking scene.
The Qin Wan and substitute he thought were both, unexpectedly changed complexion for some reason, becoming chilling and ferocious, as if confronting something, but soon lost, retreating step by step, disappearing into the darkness.
This process lasted a full 18 seconds.
After it ended, the real Qin Wan slowly emerged from the darkness.
“Zhou Zimo, don’t talk to us anymore.” She said helplessly.
18 seconds, 54 days of lifespan, nearly two months, gone just like that!
“…Sorry, I, I don’t know what happened…”
Zhou Zimo was a bit at a loss, ever since coming out, he felt like his brain was missing something, he wasn’t smart to begin with, now even more so, as if he had lost the sharpness and vigilance cultivated from life-and-death experiences.
“But, where’s the ghost? Were both of you just now ghosts? Ghosts have this trick?” he asked.
“Seems like it.” Qin Wan took a deep breath, looking at Lu Jinzhao who hadn’t spoken a word since reminding them once: “There is indeed more than one substitute, just now many hands bound me, many of them, I don’t know if they can all turn into our substitutes.”
“Be careful, from now on, if not certain, absolutely don’t casually start conversations, if you must speak, try to only talk to yourself.”
She didn’t know what ideas Lu Jinzhao had now, what she was waiting for, or what she was observing?
She only knew that Lu Jinzhao absolutely wasn’t slacking off, she must be thinking.
Just didn’t know if her thinking could save her life.
The worst case… if Lu Jinzhao had no method, or didn’t want to save her, then she would have to spend a large amount, years of lifespan, to successfully leave this platform alive.
Thinking of this, Qin Wan’s heart filled with unwillingness.
“This can’t be, how many years of life do I have left?!”
One mission, spending years of lifespan, the price was too high, she couldn’t bear it.
She felt another hand in the darkness sticking to her back, soon, everything that happened just now would replay.
“Do you want to leave alive?” Suddenly, someone asked this in Qin Wan’s ear.
A chilling wind accompanied these words blowing into Qin Wan’s heart, she slightly turned her head, looked behind, and saw Lu Jinzhao standing in her shadow.
This is fake.
Qin Wan thought this in her heart, she just looked at the other, didn’t respond.
“I have a method to let you leave alive.”
That “substitute” said this.
“Very simple, as long as you call my name, keep calling, during the time you’re calling my name, you’re safe.”
Her voice wasn’t quiet, not only Qin Wan, even Zhou Zimo and the real Lu Jinzhao nearby heard it.
Its purpose was also very obvious.
It was just telling Qin Wan, as long as you abandon your teammates’ lives, you can get a chance to live a bit longer.
Qin Wan just lowered her eyes, didn’t speak, didn’t interact with it at all, clearly showing her attitude.
She didn’t believe it, so she wouldn’t do that.
But the next second, she felt her back start being crazily covered with numerous handprints!
As if her indifference angered the ghost, who wanted to give her death as punishment.
She hurriedly looked up, saw Substitute Lu Jinzhao’s calm expression as if it were the real one.
Qin Wan suddenly felt a wave of panic.
She realized, if as an enemy, even an imperfect Lu Jinzhao was so terrifying…
Actually, the ghost was also stumped a bit by Little Lu.
So pointing at the substitute Little Lu: Come, you, yes, you, go think of a method to deal with her.
