Global Collapse-Chapter 714 - 679: Immersive Gugu Spirit_1

"Alright, enough talk." Wenqin Tan Jiu patted his trousers and stood up. They had been resting here for over ten minutes; it was time to leave.

"Let's keep riding," he said, righting the bike that had fallen by the roadside. The streetlamp stretched his shadow long. "Don't let the ghost catch up."

Jin Ye Bai and Hao Laoshi also got up, righting their own bikes.

The three of them remounted their bikes and continued into the dark night.

The road was deserted, the wide street occupied only by the three of them. There were no storefronts along the road either, just green belts on either side.

Jin Ye Bai spoke as he pedaled, "We've been riding for so long, we must have covered more than ten miles, huh?"

He had no clear concept of distance; this estimate was just a guess.

"That's too low," Wenqin Tan Jiu pondered. "It must be several dozen miles."

Hearing this, Jin Ye Bai felt slightly relieved. They had already ridden quite far; it would take the ghost some time to catch them. The thought filled him with a surge of energy, making him wish he could pedal a few dozen more miles.

"We've passed several crossroads and picked random directions. I wonder if the ghost might take a wrong turn trying to find us," Jin Ye Bai hypothesized.

Hao Laoshi, however, kept his attention divided, scanning their surroundings, afraid a ghost might leap out from the green belt at the roadside. He didn't see any ghosts jump out from the green belt, but he did notice more and more storefronts appearing on both sides of the road. The more they advanced, the more shops they saw on the roadside.

They seemed to be entering a busier part of the city. Most of these were snack shops, but they were all closed. It wasn't the time for snack shops to be open, after all.

As he was looking around, he heard Jin Ye Bai's voice call out from ahead, "There's another crossroads in front! Which way are we turning this time?"

Upon hearing this, Hao Laoshi also turned his head to look at the crossroads up ahead.

But at a single glance, he froze.

Something's not right… This crossroads… why does it feel so familiar?

Wenqin Tan Jiu also realized something was off. He slammed on his brakes, the tires screeching harshly against the ground.

Jin Ye Bai hadn't registered the gravity of the situation yet. He stopped beside Wenqin Tan Jiu and asked, "What's wrong?"

"No... Run! Turn back, now!" Wenqin Tan Jiu bit out the words, sharply turning his bike and pedaling away from the crossroads.

Cold sweat trickled down his cheeks.

As Wenqin Tan Jiu rushed away, he mumbled despairingly, "How is this…? How can this be? Why…why are we back here again…"

That crossroads was where the nine of them had separated! They had actually returned to that very spot! How is this possible…

Wenqin Tan Jiu ignored the sweat on his face. He pedaled forcefully, attempting to distance himself from that eerie crossroads.

Hao Laoshi was already pedaling furiously ahead; the instant he realized something was wrong, he was ready to flee.

Jin Ye Bai, stunned for a few seconds, finally reacted and quickly pedaled to catch up.

"What the hell is going on?!" Jin Ye Bai roared from behind. "Why are we back in this damned place?!"

"It's a ghost wall," Wenqin Tan Jiu said, his voice trembling. "The ghost has found us."

"Shit!" Jin Ye Bai cursed, pedaling even harder.

"Watch your surroundings!" Wenqin Tan Jiu's eyes darted around. "Don't get off your bikes! If you see any suspicious figures, turn and run immediately!"

He spoke while pedaling furiously, trying to escape.

At that moment, he noticed another crossroads ahead. He looked closely and realized it was the same crossroads they had just seen.

Jin Ye Bai also saw the crossroads ahead. "We're back again… How can this be… We definitely rode in the opposite direction…"

As he spoke, he looked back to see if the crossroads they had just left behind was still there. But all he saw was an opaque mist that obscured everything.

Suddenly, the three of them heard a hair-raising sound. Heavy footsteps reached their ears.

They anxiously glanced all around but couldn't see who or what was making the noise.

"Where is that noise coming from?" Jin Ye Bai clenched the handlebars so tightly that the front of the bike trembled. "I can't tell."

Hao Laoshi's face turned as white as a sheet. "Neither can I."

What should they do? What now? No matter which way they turned, the same crossroads appeared before them, and now, there were also those eerie footsteps.

Wenqin Tan Jiu gritted his teeth and said to the other two, "Follow me."

As soon as he finished speaking, he charged towards the crossroads up ahead. Jin Ye Bai and Hao Laoshi were startled, but then bravely followed. There was no other choice; this was the only path available. They could only charge into the crossroads and see if they could find another way out.

But no matter which path the three chose, the same crossroads would always appear before them.

This place was like an inescapable maze. What can we do? Wenqin Tan Jiu felt a wave of despair; it seemed they had reached a dead end.

Those terrifying footsteps echoed continuously in their ears, drawing nearer and nearer. But they couldn't even see where the ghost was.

At this point, Wenqin Tan Jiu suddenly turned to look at the Polaroid camera hanging from Jin Ye Bai's neck. "Quick, try taking pictures with it!"

If we can capture the ghost in a photo, maybe we can seal it back in the photo.

"I've thought about it too!" Jin Ye Bai gripped the handlebar tightly with one hand while the other held up his Polaroid camera. "But I can't take pictures while riding! And I don't dare stop."

Wenqin Tan Jiu urged anxiously, "You can do it! Just try..."

As he urged Jin Ye Bai on, he suddenly felt a tightness around his waist. He looked down only to find nothing there. Then, he felt a chill on his back, as if something had pressed against it.

Wenqin Tan Jiu's scalp tingled, and his limbs turned icy. His bicycle had a rear seat. He knew something was sitting on his rear seat. And it was something invisible.

An invisible ghost…

He hadn't considered before that this ghost could be invisible.

Shortly after, he felt the pressure on his waist intensify, nearly suffocating him. Wenqin Tan Jiu lost control of his bicycle and crashed by the roadside.

The sudden incident startled the other two.

Wenqin Tan Jiu gasped, his mouth wide open. The immense pressure on his waist made his eyes bulge, and he felt as if the contents of his stomach were about to be squeezed out. Nausea welled up, and he wanted to vomit.

The ghost wants to snap me in half! No... I don't want to die... That's right, I can still use that!

Wenqin Tan Jiu struggled to pull something out and hurled it into the distance. The observant Hao Laoshi saw it was a bowl of white rice.

After throwing the white rice, Wenqin Tan Jiu felt the pressure around his waist suddenly disappear. Ignoring the pain, he immediately scrambled up and ran towards Jin Ye Bai.

"Quick! Take a picture of where the rice landed! The ghost is invisible, and it's eating. Once the rice is gone, it'll come after us again!" He grabbed Jin Ye Bai, who had just stopped his bicycle, and pointed towards the white rice. "Take the picture quickly! Capture the ghost in it!"

"Okay, okay..." Jin Ye Bai said, his hands shaking as he fumbled with the Polaroid camera. "Turn on, turn on, quick!"

Hao Laoshi had stopped his bike a short distance away. He watched as the rice in the bowl rapidly diminished, vanishing in seconds. Only then did the Polaroid camera in Jin Ye Bai's hands finally power on.

"Hurry up!" Wenqin Tan Jiu exclaimed, instinctively backing away as he watched the rice disappear. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

This Polaroid camera didn't have a screen on the back, so Jin Ye Bai had to peer through the tiny viewfinder to aim. Just as Jin Ye Bai was looking through the viewfinder to locate the spot with the rice, Wenqin Tan Jiu saw the bowl was already empty.

Then, the empty bowl was slammed down. He heard something pounce towards them.

It's over…

At that moment, a blinding white light flashed before their eyes. Jin Ye Bai had pressed the shutter!

Jin Ye Bai, holding the Polaroid camera, collapsed to the ground afterward. He was terrified. It had taken immense courage for him to stand there and take the picture, knowing the ghost was lunging towards them.

Wenqin Tan Jiu was still holding his breath; for a moment, no one spoke.

One second, two seconds... Even after ten seconds, there was no sound or movement. The ghost hadn't attacked again.

"Did we... succeed?" Jin Ye Bai turned to look at the other two.

"So, taking a picture of the ghost really is the way to survive." Wenqin Tan Jiu finally relaxed, the fear subsiding. He clutched his stomach and bent over, trying to ease the pain. "Let's find the others and tell them about this way out."

Jin Ye Bai, who was sitting on the ground, nodded.

By then, the photo had slid out from the Polaroid camera. He took it, placed it on the ground, and looked at the image. Because the picture was taken at night, the background was almost pitch black. But the figure standing in the middle was very clear. It was bowing its head, as if looking at something.

This is the ghost.

Jin Ye Bai looked at the ghost in the picture and still felt a lingering fear. "Should we burn it?"

If we don't burn it, it might crawl out of the picture again.

Wenqin Tan Jiu straightened up. "No... I have another theory now. If a photo can seal a ghost, could it be the ghost's prison? Were we wrong to burn the photos before?"

"You mean the ghost couldn't crawl out of the photo originally, but because we burned the photos, it was able to manifest?" Jin Ye Bai pushed himself up from the ground, edging away from the photo.

"But the photos we burned weren't the group photo with the ghost in it," Jin Ye Bai mused. "We burned other photos."

Wenqin Tan Jiu was also puzzled. He glanced at the ghost's photo on the ground. "Let's get out of here first. It's still dangerous."

He went to retrieve his fallen bicycle.

Hao Laoshi, patting his chest, asked, "Should we go find the others?"

"Yes," Wenqin Tan Jiu agreed, swinging onto his bike. "We need to tell them the Polaroid camera is the way to survive."

"Right, don't forget to bring the Polaroid camera..." he said, turning back to look at Jin Ye Bai.

But just as he was turning his head, he heard something thud to the ground.

By the time he fully turned around, he saw Jin Ye Bai on the ground, back to him, struggling violently. It was as if something had grabbed his head and was forcefully twisting it backward. He thrashed about but couldn't make a sound.

Two seconds later, with a sickening CRACK, all struggling ceased. Jin Ye Bai's head had been twisted a full 180 degrees, his face now staring silently in the same direction as his back in the dark night.

Why… Wenqin Tan Jiu stared in disbelief at the scene before him. Why can the ghost still kill?!

"Run!" Hao Laoshi's voice rang out.

Only then did Wenqin Tan Jiu snap back to reality, pedaling his bicycle away as fast as he could.