At this critical moment, a cold figure flashed through Xin Nan's mind for no reason.
If I die, will she be sad? Then she'll truly be all alone from now on.
Putting the thought away, Xin Nan let out a low shout:
"Run!"
Without further hesitation, he seized Yan Yu's hand and rushed towards the exit!
The waiters blocking their path were indeed "falling" as before. Without their master's control, they simply stood there blankly, easily pushed aside by Xin Nan!
"What are you waiting for! Run!"
Old Li and the other person also got up almost simultaneously, frantically pushing past the still-falling waiters and diners, fleeing for their lives.
Although the monster in the kitchen was immersed in pleasure, "it" still sensed this scene!
"It" never expected anyone to discover its little perversion.
But even with the overwhelming pain binding it, it reacted immediately.
The red threads on its body strained, and then it issued commands to the stiff waiters and diners.
Instantly, those surrounding the tables went mad, crashing into tables, and running wildly even as scalding soup spilled over them without a trace of feeling.
Too fast!
Brother Li's eyes widened.
In the hot pot restaurant, the four of them sat at the four corners of the tables. Xin Nan and Yan Yu arrived first, so they instinctively sat closest to the door. Xiao Wang was in the middle, and he sat in the innermost position.
Now, as they ran, he inevitably fell to the back. Hearing the commotion behind him, his survival instinct made him involuntarily glance at the window next to the third floor. He didn't run alone; instead, he shouted to Xin Nan and the other two:
"It's faster here, and there's no stairs. Jumping down is the only way to survive!"
Xin Nan's expression changed drastically: "No! It's more terrifying outside!"
Outside that window, the night seemed exactly the same. He could even see a building opposite, covered in lights.
But in Xin Nan's eyes, it was a scene of indescribable, profound darkness, filled with drifting particles of mist. His intuition told him that it was more terrifying than the hot pot restaurant!
Seeing they were about to be caught, Old Li glanced at the three in front of him, then at his companion. With a sigh of despair, he suddenly turned and blocked the charging diners and the monster.
"Brother Li!!"
"Run! Protect the students."
Yan Yu, still wearing the school uniform of Yangcheng Second Experimental Middle School, suddenly had her eyes redden.
Old Li, now in his forties and no longer as robust, drew the police baton from his waist and struck a diner hard on the head. But there were too many of them, and each one was as strong as a monster. They quickly submerged Old Li. Many other possessed diners and waiters bypassed him and charged forward.
Xiao Wang looked back and saw that the two monsters charging the fastest were less than a meter away, and they were still at least five meters from the hot pot restaurant's great door.
If this continued, they would be caught soon.
Fear still enveloped Xiao Wang's face. He was still young, having only joined the force less than a year ago. How could he not be afraid of death?
I don't want to die!
Shouting this in his heart, Xiao Wang's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a diner leaping into the air, lunging towards Xin Nan and Yan Yu in front of him.
His body moved faster than his thoughts.
Wearing his police uniform, he instinctively leaped up and struck the diner with his elbow.
It's over!
Lying on the ground with the diner, Xiao Wang gave a bitter smile, watching Xin Nan and Yan Yu's retreating figures.
What choice did I have? I'm a police officer.
At this moment, another fast-running waiter was about to pass in front of Xiao Wang and charge towards the two.
Xiao Wang struggled with all his might to break free from the diner's grip. Though he could only free one hand, he resolutely grabbed the female waiter's pant leg.
With a rip!
Under the immense force, the pants were torn directly, causing the waiter to stumble and fall, tripping several other diners.
Xiao Wang felt a sharp pain as his arm, which he had used to pull the waiter, was dislocated. His face instantly turned pale, but he bit his lip, the only sound he made being:
"Run! Run! Don't look back!"
Yan Yu's tears finally fell, and she could no longer hold back, saying, "Xin Nan!"
Perhaps she was hoping Xin Nan would bring some miracle.
But unfortunately, this was reality, not some fairy tale novel.
"Run! Stop talking nonsense."
Thus, of the four innocent victims, only Xin Nan and Yan Yu reached the doorway.
Just as Xiao Wang and Old Li bought them this little bit of time, leaving them two meters from the great door, the two vermilion doors, as if mocking them, began to slowly close.
"Heh!"
Xin Nan sneered. At some point, he took out a transparent bubble bag from his pocket, retrieved a moon-white crystal, and forcefully smashed it against the great door in front of him.
"Crouch down and cover your ears!"
Yan Yu immediately complied.
The monster in the hot pot restaurant probably never expected Xin Nan to have this trick up his sleeve.
With a boom!
The mercury fulminate salt, provided by a classmate who wishes to remain anonymous for now, exploded.
Night, 9:30 PM.
A young man in a grey suit walked up to the third floor and looked at the antique-style hot pot restaurant.
He walked to the entrance of the hot pot restaurant. Through the screen, he could see the nearly full diners wolfing down food in the hall, waves of fragrance continuously spreading with their eating.
Everything appeared very harmonious and... enticing.
However, the young man frowned, staring deeply.
After ten seconds, the young man was surprised. In the void behind him, something seemed to flash and disappear, and then the scene in the hot pot restaurant before him abruptly changed.
First, a young man and a young woman entered the hot pot restaurant, and then the scene abruptly shifted to them eating hot pot, with two police officers sitting beside them.
After that, the two police officers disappeared, replaced by the young man and woman sitting at the table. The girl among them rolled her eyes and then fainted onto the table.
Various scenes, as if cut from the chain of time, leaving only memory-like images constantly flashing and changing.
A certain essence was finally revealed at this moment.
"A node formed a field in the spiritual world?"
"A scene like this, such a weird atmosphere, someone is performing a Sublimation Ritual here?"
The young man in the grey suit felt an unprecedented trouble.
"At least a Third Order status..."
He tentatively took a step forward. The great door of the hot pot restaurant was right there, and he did indeed step into some "place."
But he knew that no matter what place he stepped into, it was not the hot pot restaurant.
The young man retracted his foot, rubbed his forehead, took out his telephone, found a number, and dialed it.
Soon, the call was answered, and a woman's voice came from the other end.
"Ye Lan, are you in trouble? Why do you have time to call me?"
"Minister, I've encountered a ritual in progress. It has attracted a projection from the spiritual world. Now, two children and two police officers are trapped inside. The situation is very critical, but I cannot enter."
The tone on the other end of the line became much more serious, and she said decisively:
"Leave! Retreat to within a one-kilometer radius. I will immediately have the police cooperate to evacuate the crowd!"
"Even you can't do anything?"
"A ritual attracting a projection from the spiritual world is completely illusory at this moment. Although it's only separated from the material world by a thin barrier, touching it inevitably requires sufficient force from both sides. Penetrate with spirit from the material world, and penetrate with matter from the spiritual world!"
"You can provide the spiritual power needed to penetrate the barrier from the material world, but the two children and police officers you mentioned probably cannot provide such force. Therefore, the success of the ritual is already a certainty!"
"Regardless of whether the ritualist loses control in the end, a Fourth Order existence will appear. That is a status you cannot resist. I will gather others."
"...Alright."
The young man in the grey suit, named Ye Lan, nodded. Although he was reluctant to admit it, their job often involved encountering matters that were difficult, or even impossible, to handle.
No matter how much he wanted to save the people inside, retreating and evacuating the crowd was the necessary course of action at this moment.
Taking a deep breath, he turned to leave.
But just then, a sound like an explosion seemed to occur by his ear, and strong ripples continuously emerged from the illusory scene before him.
Go in or not go in?
Under any circumstances, entering an unknown ritual is irrational and dangerous.
Ye Lan couldn't help but hesitate.
Immediately after, his gaze became firm, and he resolutely rushed to the great door of the hot pot restaurant.
He couldn't just turn and leave.
Because it must be them, they are still alive!
Thinking this, he forcefully thrust his hands into the void.
With a tearing sound.
An invisible barrier broke open in response. The secret ritual, not yet successful, was at this moment abruptly illuminated by reality.
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