Global Collapse-Chapter 440 - 415: He Pressed Me Down_1

When Xiao Tuwan arrived, she happened to see Gu Mian and Xiao Qiao squatting on the ground, examining a condom.

The two were squatting, engrossed, a small box on the ground before them. Xiao Qiao was currently poking at an opened package on the ground, remarking seriously, "Two packets were taken, and one was opened. This one doesn’t look like it was opened long ago. The packaging was cut with scissors, but the contents inside were damaged."

Gu Mian was also staring at the ground. "Now I know where his gloves came from..."

Xiao Tuwan pursed her lips as she looked at them, taking a slight step back. Why do I feel like the teammates in this instance are so strange?

In the past, the most unreliable teammates had, at worst, just dragged her down or displayed questionable intelligence.

But these two... Xiao Tuwan’s face twitched; she was momentarily at a loss for words.

By then, Gu Mian had already stood up and was no longer looking at the items on the ground.

He circled the room a few times. In Chu Changge’s room, there was a desktop computer, and opposite it, a wardrobe holding few clothes. Gu Mian tried turning on the computer and found it didn’t require a password.

There was a folder on the desktop, newly created today by Chu Changge after he arrived in this instance;

Gu Mian opened it and saw it was filled with screenshots of various supernatural incidents. It seemed Chu Changge had been working on this last night.

Xiao Qiao glanced at the wall clock in the living room. "It’s almost noon. They should be coming soon, right?"

Hearing this, Xiao Tuwan asked curiously, "Are we hiding here because they’re afraid we’ll be caught by the police? And they’re not coming together because they’re worried about drawing too much attention?"

If Fatty were with them, they’d certainly be a conspicuous target.

"There might be other reasons," Gu Mian said, glancing at the box on the ground again. "We can’t show our faces right now; only they can move about freely."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Tuwan abruptly sat down on the living room sofa. "I’ve been in so many instances, but this is the first time I’ve been chased by the police... If we get caught, we won’t have anywhere to run when the ghost comes, will we?"

"You’re right," Gu Mian said, looking at her. "So, whatever you do, don’t get caught."

As he spoke, he walked into the bedroom and sat in front of the computer.

A guest today mentioned a serial murder case in the neighboring city. The killer was never found, and among the eight victims, several bodies remained unclaimed.

"Perhaps they were players from the previous group in this instance," Gu Mian mused, opening the browser. His fingers tapped on the keyboard. "Let’s search for the serial murder case in the neighboring city... What was its name again? Right, Ziyang City."

Muttering to himself, Gu Mian typed "Ziyang City Serial Murder Case" into the search bar.

Xiao Qiao also came over then, perching on the side of the bed. Resting her chin in her hand, she watched the screen. The old bed frame, seemingly in disrepair, let out a loud CREAK the moment she sat on it.

Xiao Tuwan was pacing in the living room, sometimes looking under the sofa, sometimes behind the bathroom door, always worried a ghost would crawl out.

As she paced, she suddenly heard a knock on the door.

Could it be the people from the coffee shop?

Chu Changge’s dilapidated front door lacked a peephole, so she couldn’t see outside. Xiao Tuwan approached the door and asked in a hushed voice, "Who is it?"

She was quite afraid that if she opened the door, the police would be standing there.

But the person outside didn’t answer. The knocking persisted. Besides the knocking, an eerie silence seemed to have fallen over the entire building.

At that moment, Xiao Tuwan felt her blood run cold. Something was very wrong.

"Who is it?"

She asked again, and still, no one answered.

The abrupt knocking continued for several more seconds before stopping. She froze for a moment, then quickly hurried to the room where Gu Mian and Xiao Qiao had been. But when she reached the doorway, she found the room empty. There was no one there.

Where did they go?! She was stunned.

The computer screen was still lit; Xiao Tuwan could vaguely make out the words "Serial Murder" on it. But the two people who had been in the room were gone!

Then, the knocking suddenly resumed, each terrifying THUD hammering at her heart.

It’s the ghost!

She stared at the door, the source of the incessant knocking, terror etched across her face.

Hide! I have to hide!

Xiao Tuwan frantically scanned the living room, but there was nowhere to hide.

Her gaze immediately shot to the bedroom, fixing on the large wardrobe opposite the computer. Without hesitation, she dashed into the room and scrambled inside.

The wardrobe, likely belonging to a boy, contained very few clothes. It was mostly empty and smelled of wood shavings.

Xiao Tuwan curled up inside. The wardrobe door wouldn’t close completely, leaving a half-centimeter gap. By angling herself just right in her cramped position, she could see the bedroom doorway.

If anything comes in, I’ll see it immediately!

The knocking outside grew louder and more insistent. Just as her heart was pounding in sync with the thuds, the noise abruptly stopped.

Then, she heard a CREAK from outside—

It’s inside.

THUD... THUD... THUD...

Footsteps. Slow, heavy footsteps.

Shivering, Xiao Tuwan peered through the gap and saw a figure slowly pass the bedroom doorway.

It’s Wang Xin!

Wang Xin... who died last night...

It still looked the same as last night: mouth agape, eyes bulging.

Just then, the figure abruptly turned toward the bedroom doorway. Its head snapped grotesquely toward the entrance, its terrifyingly wide eyes fixing rigidly on the crack in the wardrobe door.

I’ve been spotted!

Xiao Tuwan shivered violently. Her mouth fell slightly open as she tried to shrink back, but there was nowhere to retreat.

It’s coming closer...

It’s right in front of the wardrobe...

Xiao Tuwan, rigid with fear, tilted her head up, looking through the half-centimeter gap. That horrifying face was pressed against the crack, staring in at her.

This is it, she thought, so terrified she squeezed her eyes shut.

But just then, an unusual sound suddenly reached her ears.

"HEY! YOU FOUL BEAST WHO SULLIES THE INNOCENT!" — Is that the voice of the doctor in green?

Xiao Tuwan immediately opened her eyes and peered out again.

Gu Mian was struggling to crawl out from under the bed but got stuck for a moment. He saw Xiao Qiao next to him also trying to crawl out, her head right beside his hand.

"Let me borrow your head," Gu Mian muttered guiltily, pressing down on Xiao Qiao’s nearby head for leverage to pull himself out. He then quickly lunged at Wang Xin.

Xiao Qiao, whose head had just been pushed down, emerged from under the bed with her face caked in dust. She looked utterly bewildered when she lifted her head.

From inside the wardrobe, Xiao Tuwan trembled as she watched the celebrity’s head get shoved into the dusty floor. When Xiao Qiao lifted her head, her expression was one of complete bafflement.

And that doctor, ever so unreliable, had lunged directly at Wang Xin. The man and the corpse crashed heavily against the wardrobe, the loud THUD making Xiao Tuwan shudder violently.

Is he trying to take it down with him?!

Sure enough, a moment later, a figure collapsed. As it hit the floor, Xiao Tuwan shuddered again, only to see that it wasn’t the doctor who had fallen, but the horrifying form of Wang Xin!

Did it turn back into just a corpse? Xiao Tuwan wondered. The doctor squatted beside Wang Xin, yanking her half-upright by her long hair. "All that time waiting under the bed... what a waste."

Watching the scene unfold, Xiao Tuwan’s mind reeled, stuck on three questions: Who am I? Where am I? And what in the world are *they* doing?

Gu Mian, still squatting, glanced to the side. Xiao Qiao was still mostly under the bed, her face grimy with dust, but her eyes sparkled as she looked at him.

"COUGH. COUGH." Gu Mian fanned away the dust he’d stirred up from under the bed, then reached out, pulled Xiao Qiao out, and said guiltily, "Come on, let’s get your face cleaned up."

When Fatty and the others returned to Chu Changge’s house, the first thing they saw was the peculiar expression on Xiao Tuwan’s face as she opened the door.

Then they noticed the torn-open condom on the floor.

Looking further inside, they saw Gu Mian and Xiao Qiao on the sofa. Gu Mian was gently wiping Xiao Qiao’s face with a towel. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Xiao Qiao nodded honestly. "Yes."

Fatty clutched his jacket tighter, his voice laced with trepidation. "What... what did you two... do?"

Xiao Qiao looked at the newcomers at the door and stated, once again with complete honesty, "He pressed down on me."