Global Collapse-Chapter 686 - 651: Those who are still reading novels at Qixi Festival definitely don’t have partners!_1

Sihuania died and turned into a ghost.

People who die in this world immediately turn into ghosts that may even attack other players.

The four of them quickly accepted this premise.

The Fortune-teller watched silently as Sihuania departed. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

She had just seen Sihuania's mangled body, as if something had gnawed on it. The expression on his face seemed frozen at the moment of death, filled with shock and resentment.

"The shadow you just saw, was it her?" the Fortune-teller asked 007, turning her head.

007 closed her eyes, her expression full of worry. "No, it was someone else. Not one of those three players."

"Let's get out of here," Chu Changge said, also looking in the direction Sihuania had gone. "Keep moving forward. We need to find Gu Mian as soon as possible."

He spoke as he started walking forward along the road.

The Fortune-teller clutched the long strip of cloth in her hand and followed.

007 still held the slightly decayed finger in her hand. She glanced at the pitch-black surroundings; this place was like a monster, its maw wide open, ready to devour them.

She didn't look for long before pulling Xiao Qiao, who was beside her, forward.

"This world is truly bizarre! Players who die here turn directly into ghosts. In all the instances I've been through, this is the first time I've seen such a thing," the Fortune-teller said, tightly gripping the cloth strip in her hand.

"And you've all encountered people you knew," she continued, looking at Chu Changge and 007. She saw that 007's face was clouded with worry, an expression she rarely showed.

And though Chu Changge maintained his usual deadpan expression, his quickened pace betrayed him.

"We'd better hurry," Chu Changge spoke again. "I feel like the protection is gradually weakening."

The Fortune-teller turned to look at Chu Changge, only to find him staring at her wrist.

Following his gaze, she looked down and saw five bluish-purple finger marks where Sihuania had touched her.

Seeing the finger marks on her wrist, her scalp tingled.

"This world has no concept of time." Chu Changge looked up at the sky. "Even though we've been here for several hours, the sky hasn't changed. It's still the same as when we entered the instance. I suspect the protection in this world is weakened, and its duration might be affected."

Hearing this, everyone quickened their pace.

The Fortune-teller clutched the finger marks on her wrist, feeling a numbness spreading from the spot.

Previously, under the protection's effect, ghosts couldn't harm them. But this time, Sihuania had left finger marks on her wrist.

This meant the protection's effect was gradually disappearing.

If they didn't find Gu Mian before the protection completely vanished, they would likely die on the spot.

In this world teeming with ghosts, surviving even half an hour without external protection would be a miracle.

"If the protection fails, we can't keep wandering outside; we'll be living targets," 007 said, looking around. "It's best to find a relatively high place to hide and wait for Gu Mian to find us. The view from a high place is also good; if Gu Mian is nearby, we'll easily spot him."

The Fortune-teller nodded in agreement. "I still have some special items on me. If ghosts discover us while we're hiding up high, these can hold them off and buy us time to escape."

007 knew Chu Changge's usual way of doing things; she knew he would most likely choose to keep moving forward in this situation. Chu Changge gave the impression of someone who didn't much cherish his own life.

But unexpectedly, Chu Changge actually agreed with their opinion. "Alright."

007 was stunned for a moment, not expecting Chu Changge to be so keen on surviving.

Having gotten his agreement, the Fortune-teller began to observe the nearby buildings.

The tallest building within sight was a high-rise of over ten stories far in the distance.

But that place was truly too far, so the Fortune-teller could only choose something nearby.

She casually tossed her small sticks and then said, "How about that one on the left? It's nine stories high, and there's no entrance security downstairs."

Just as she was speaking, she suddenly felt something strange on her shoulder. She subconsciously turned her head and met a pair of blood-red eyes.

"Run!" 007 grabbed the Fortune-teller and pulled her forward, breaking into a run.

Now there was no need to go to the tall building the Fortune-teller had chosen; they had to shake off this ghost first.

Fortunately, the Wildlife Protection Law hadn't completely failed; otherwise, the Fortune-teller might have been splattered on the spot.

The group ran frantically, only stopping to rest slightly after confirming the ghost wasn't pursuing them.

"Don't stand here," the Fortune-teller said, pulling herself together. She headed towards the nearest high-rise building beside them. "Let's find a place to hide first."

The other three also quickly approached the high-rise.

Just as they reached about five meters from the building, the Fortune-teller suddenly saw something lying on the ground at the building's entrance.

007 and Chu Changge, who were behind her, had clearly seen it too.

"Don't go over there!" their urgent voices came at the same time.

Then, the Fortune-teller was yanked back by 007.

As she was being pulled back, she saw two charred figures standing behind a window of the high-rise in front of them.

She stared blankly at the two figures behind the window, so shocked she almost stopped breathing.

Only after being pulled to another hidden spot did the Fortune-teller come back to her senses. Her mouth half-open, she looked at 007. "People who die in this instance turn into ghosts, right?"

「At this moment, Gu Mian was dragging a smaller ghost down the road.」

The previous female ghost's throat was ruined; she couldn't scream anymore.

So, he'd spent some effort finding a smaller ghost, one that wouldn't take too much energy to drag along.

This was an underage ghost.

Kids are just so full of spirit. A couple of punches to the face, and it'll scream for two hours straight, Gu Mian mused.

Its voice was even louder than the previous female ghost's.

He saw a high-rise building of more than ten stories in the distance and thought about going up there to take a look.

A ten-plus-story building offered a view of a great distance; perhaps he could spot Chu Changge and the others.

Thinking of the figure he'd seen earlier, Gu Mian quickened his pace.

And just then, he suddenly heard a discordant sound.

It was the roar of a car engine.

He heard the sound of tires rolling over the ground drawing nearer. In the blink of an eye, it went from the distance to right behind him, followed by a harsh screech of brakes.

What the hell? Ghosts can't drive, can they? Could it be Chu Changge and the others? Have they found them so quickly?

But Gu Mian didn't recall seeing any vehicles in this place.

He looked back in surprise, but before he could clearly see who was behind him, he heard a familiar form of address—"Doctor!"

I must be hearing things, Gu Mian thought. Otherwise, how could I be hearing Fatty's voice here?

By then, he had turned around completely. The first thing he saw was Fatty, cleaver in hand, getting out of the car and running towards him, tears streaming down his face.

"Doctor!" Fatty wailed as he ran over. "I thought you'd been dragged into a different instance! I figured if no one was going to save Brother Chu and the others, that would be terrible. So, I steeled myself, put my name on the Dungeon Entry Ticket, and entered the Train instance. I wanted to find them. I was even thinking, if I died here, I'd have to trouble you, Doctor, to dig a couple of small graves for Brother Chu and me. No need to make them too big, wouldn't want to tire you out..."

Gu Mian silently turned his head to look at Coach Che, who sat in the driver's seat with a face full of despair. "So, in the Train instance, you ran into Coach Che, who was looking for a new job."

Fatty, while still sniffling, didn't forget to praise Gu Mian. "Doctor, you're truly prescient! I begged Coach Che for ages, but he wouldn't agree to come with me."

So how did he end up here then? Gu Mian wondered.

Fatty continued to explain, "After the train stopped, the conductor kicked him out, yelling something like, 'You unlucky oaf, don't stay on my train!'"

"So I asked Coach Che to drive his Spirit Car to find Brother Chu and the others. I'd borrowed Miss Xiao Qiao's Big Data Search before to find some clothes Xiao Hong had hidden, and I forgot to return it to her. After I got in here, I used the Big Data Search to find Brother Chu—it showed he was in this direction, so I headed this way."

"When I got nearby, I suddenly heard a ghost screaming. I thought, could the Doctor be here too? So I rushed over to check, and it really was you, Doctor!"

The Big Data Search was a special item of Miss Xiao Qiao's that Fatty often borrowed to find Gu Mian's clothes, which had a habit of vanishing into thin air.

"Is the train station very close to here?" Gu Mian grasped the key point; otherwise, Fatty couldn't have arrived in just a few hours.

Fatty shook his head. "Not very close. We floored it and drove for about two hours to get here. Luckily, there are no traffic police, or we'd have a car full of tickets."

"Keke and Miss Liu Ruyan wanted to come with me too," Fatty said, brandishing the cleaver in his hand. "But I have a Ghost Card, so ghosts generally don't notice me. I was afraid they'd be in danger if they came. If we not only failed to save anyone but ended up losing two more, that would be awful, so I didn't write their names."

What a good Fatty, Gu Mian thought, affectionately patting Fatty's head.

"Doctor," Fatty said, his expression turning grave despite the head pat, "there's something I have to tell you."

As he spoke, he took out something that closely resembled a mobile phone—it was Miss Xiao Qiao's special item, the Big Data Search.

Fatty frowned deeply. "I entered Brother Chu's name on this... Doctor, you know this thing doesn't give an exact location, just an arrow pointing in the direction you need to search. After I entered Brother Chu's name... Doctor, you should see for yourself."

He handed the Big Data Search to Gu Mian as he spoke.

Gu Mian took it and looked at the screen.

At the bottom of the screen was a name field where "Chu Changge" had been entered.

Above it was a map with arrows.

When used to find something unique, the screen should only display one arrow, indicating the direction of the item to be found.

Searching for Chu Changge should also only show one arrow.

But, on the screen Gu Mian was looking at...

It was densely packed with arrows.