The man expressionlessly withdrew his blade; blood sprayed, and Jiang Mingran collapsed.
The man walked in, swept his gaze across the room, and looked at Shao Lan.
Shao Lan, who had multiple comminuted fractures all over his body, was completely incapable of fighting back.
The man squatted down in front of him. In the dim light, Shao Lan could see the man’s sunken cheekbones and the dark circles with wrinkles beneath his eyes—a face of extreme gloom and utter exhaustion.
The man looked at Shao Lan: “Where is she?”
Shao Lan did not answer; instead, he retorted, “Who?”
Before his voice trailed off, the man had already raised his knife and heavily stabbed it into Shao Lan’s shoulder.
The hilt twisted within the flesh and blood, and blood splattered onto the man’s face. The man muttered numbly and in a low voice: “Is she dead?”
Shao Lan spat out a mouthful of blood and said through gritted teeth, “If you go downstairs right now, she might still be saved.”
He wanted to distract the man, but the man merely dazed for a moment, seemingly pondering some question: “Saved?”
He shook his head: “No, she was beyond saving long ago.”
The man pulled out the blade, raised it high, and thrust it toward Shao Lan’s heart.
This blow would mean certain death, and Shao Lan had no strength left to block it. He watched helplessly as that cold glare descended—
In a flash, a figure lunged from behind the man.
It was Jiang Mingran.
The dying young man had crawled up from the ground, using his remaining strength to tackle the man to the floor.
The man’s head struck the floor, his grip loosened, and the knife flew away.
Shao Lan lay flat on the ground, crawling forward bit by bit toward the knife.
Jiang Mingran gripped the man’s neck with all his might, blood constantly streaming from his mouth, yet he refused to let go.
Using every ounce of his strength, the man kicked Jiang Mingran away, rolled over to pin him down, and struck a fierce blow to his face.
“You…”
The man opened his mouth, but blood spilled out from it instead.
He lowered his head and saw the tip of a blade protruding from his chest.
Shao Lan pulled out the knife, and the man collapsed like a blood-spurting ragdoll.
“Brother…”
Shao Lan pushed the man’s corpse aside, revealing Jiang Mingran’s blood-stained face.
He looked at Shao Lan, blood welling from his mouth with every single word he uttered: “Brother… is there… is there still a way?”
This time, with one dead and the other injured, they had barely managed to drive the woman away.
Yet it resulted in the appearance of a fake policeman who likewise intended to kill them.
What kind of game was this anyway? Was there truly a way to survive?
Despair and fear gripped Jiang Mingran’s heart as he stared fixedly into Shao Lan’s eyes.
Shao Lan said, “There is. Trust me, there definitely is.”
Jiang Mingran nodded, then his pupils slowly dilated, and his gaze lost focus.
He died.
That final surge of strength just moments before had merely been a final flash of clarity before death.
Shao Lan slumped onto the floor. He too had exhausted all his strength, his vision blurring until the sounds around him grew noisy and footsteps echoed in the corridor.
“Report, abnormality found on the 13th floor! Suspected crime scene!”
“Bloodstains found in the hallway!”
Shao Lan struggled to support his body, turning his head sideways to listen.
It wasn’t an illusion; the police had truly arrived.
Using his last remaining strength, he pulled open the security door and collapsed.
“Report! The crime scene is 1301, three dead, one injured!”
“No suspect found!”
Shao Lan’s vision was already blurred from blood loss; he could only see figures in white coats moving in front of him.
“Sir, wake up! Can you hear me?”
He was saved. The medical personnel were confirming his injuries, preparing to lift him onto a stretcher.
But…
Shao Lan turned his head. On the floor not far away, a white chalk line had been drawn, and in the center of the line lay Jiang Mingran’s body.
If he were taken away by the medical personnel like this, Shao Lan would survive, but that would mean the end of the cycle, and Jiang Mingran and Uncle Bing would be left behind here forever.
Just a few minutes prior, Jiang Mingran had promised Shao Lan that if Shao Lan died, he would commit suicide to trigger the next cycle.
Yet, in truth, Shao Lan hadn’t completely believed him.
Human nature is inherently selfish. With only one cycle left, if you can survive this one, why enter another to gamble with your life?
Moreover, the situation was intensely perilous. This round had featured fake police officers that had never appeared before; who knew what would emerge next time, and who could guarantee survival?
If he simply lay there motionless, the doctor would take him away, and the cycle would end.
However…
Shao Lan picked up the knife from the floor and thrust it into his own chest.
“Sir!”
The surrounding people rushed forward. Shao Lan twisted the blade handle, using his final strength to pull the knife out.
Blood splattered everywhere. As his consciousness drifted away, Shao Lan closed his eyes.
The chaotic clues in his mind gradually converged, like a river shimmering with fluorescent light, and all he had to do was flow downstream to reach the terminal point of truth.
The diary. The husband and wife. The woman’s belly. The suddenly appearing fake policeman.
The recorded phone calls. The failure to call the police. The severed corpse parts discovered all across the city. The sounds of doors opening and closing.
And that rule carved into the floor: “Owls are birds that are good at camouflage; do not trust owls.”
Wait, so that’s how it was.
So that’s how it was…
So that’s how it was
…
“Tick-tock, tick-tock.”
Jiang Mingran opened his eyes amidst the sound of dripping water.
He was lying on the folding cot in the small bedroom, everything before him entirely familiar.
The mourning hall, the solitary remaining goldfish, the owl grandfather clock.
It was currently 03:58 AM, and they had one final chance remaining.
If they failed to escape this time, true death awaited them.
Jiang Mingran slapped his head hard to keep himself awake.
It was the last chance. They had to be cautious, think through every single step, and avoid making any mistakes…
“Jiang Mingran! Go to the kitchen and get a knife!”
A loud roar suddenly came from outside.
Jiang Mingran froze completely.
It was Shao Lan’s voice.
What on earth was going on? Was Shao Lan fighting that monster directly?! How could they possibly defeat that monster
His legs moved faster than his brain. Though dazed, Jiang Mingran’s legs had already bolted out.
He grabbed a knife and rushed into the living room, only to discover that the person fighting Shao Lan wasn’t a monster, but a man wearing an old jacket.
It was the fake policeman who had appeared at the very end of the previous round!
At that moment, Shao Lan had his arm locked tightly around the man’s neck from behind. The man was struggling desperately like a trapped beast, kicking over the living room table and scattering various debris all across the floor.
Jiang Mingran hurriedly rushed over, though his foot tripped on something, causing Jiang Mingran’s body to lunge forward as if he was about to take a heavy tumble.
At that critical juncture, he threw the knife in his hand: “Brother Lan!”
Shao Lan pinned the man with one arm while catching the knife cleanly with the other hand, securely gripping the hilt and laying the blade across the man’s neck.
“Don’t move,” Shao Lan said calmly, looking ahead. “If you move, I’ll kill him.”
Jiang Mingran scrambled up awkwardly from the debris-littered floor. The door to the other bedroom also opened, and Uncle Bing leaned against the frame, staring in shock along with Jiang Mingran toward the space opposite Shao Lan.
The bathroom door slowly pulled open, and the monster-like woman stood inside.