Chapter 83: The Agreement (Launching on Monday, Please Support with First-Time Subscriptions!!)

The axe was much sharper than imagined; with just one strike, it severed Su Tingting's knee. Fresh blood sprayed out as if it were worthless, and Su Tingting's head lolled to one side, fainting instantly from the pain.

That severed leg was instantly dragged into a puddle by a ghost hand, and Kuang Hongyi was loyal enough; he dragged Su Tingting onto his back and turned to run.

Running to that door, he kicked it open. Behind the door was filled with gray mist. Kuang Hongyi tossed the unconscious Su Tingting into the door, and the person disappeared directly.

Kuang Hongyi grabbed Yang Xiao, "Brother Chu, where do you live in Fengmen Town? Let's chat after we get out."

Kuang Hongyi was an old player, and Yang Xiao also wanted to learn more about the mysteries in this Nightmare World through him, but definitely not in Fengmen Town. He was unfamiliar with this place, and who knew if Kuang Hongyi had any other helpers? Once out, without mutual reliance, the possibility of turning hostile or even killing to silence him was not non-existent.

"There is a Yinzhe Cafe on Sinan Road in the western suburbs of Rong City. Let's meet there at 6 PM tomorrow." Yang Xiao gave his answer.

"Alright, I will definitely be there."

After saying this, Kuang Hongyi stepped into the door, and his figure vanished. Only then did Yang Xiao confirm that this door was safe and must be the correct way out. Given his personality, he would never have entered if he hadn't seen Kuang Hongyi walk through the door with his own eyes.

The moment he stepped into the door, Yang Xiao stepped into empty air. His whole body fell uncontrollably, accompanied by a strange sense of vertigo, and soon he knew nothing more.

After an unknown amount of time, he woke up groggily. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling his vision transition from blurry to clear bit by bit. The first thing he saw was an antique-style wooden bed, and not far from the foot of the bed was a square wooden table and two old benches.

Sunlight spilled in from outside the window, leaving patches of light on the floor. This was that guesthouse in Fengmen Town; he had really returned.

At this moment, Yang Xiao was lying on his side on the floor, his body a bit stiff. It felt as if he had been lying on the cold floor for an entire night.

Sitting up with difficulty, Yang Xiao confirmed that this was indeed the guesthouse where he was staying. His mobile phone, a few pieces of clothing, and his backpack containing his laptop were still tossed on the wooden bed.

He stood up and walked over to open the window. It had long been bright outside. Pedestrians occasionally came and went on the streets of the ancient town. The sunlight spilled onto his face, and that warm feeling could not be fake.

Yang Xiao couldn't help but take a deep breath. He finally understood the origin of the name "Nightmare World." Those previous experiences were indeed like a dream; once the dream woke, everything disappeared.

He raised his left hand; the injury on his hand had also disappeared. He was still wearing the clothes he had on when he arrived. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel dazed, not daring to be sure if everything before had truly happened, or if... it was just a dream.

After thinking for a moment, he planned to leave this place first. There weren't many guesthouses in this town, and since it was the off-season, there were very few out-of-town tourists. If someone were determined to search one by one, they would find him sooner or later. Yang Xiao was worried that Kuang Hongyi might have other helpers.

His phone was already fully charged. Yang Xiao changed into a different set of clothes, put on a baseball cap, stuffed the clothes he had taken off into his backpack, and prepared to leave with it on his back.

But just as he turned around, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of something red peeking out from under the quilt on the side of the bed near the wall.

He hadn't slept on the bed last night, and no one had touched the quilt; it was laid flat on the bed, neat and tidy, and at this moment, something with the texture of red cloth was exposed.

Yang Xiao went numb, not daring to even breathe loudly. He slowly, slowly reached out his hand, grabbed a corner of the quilt, and then suddenly flipped it open. To his horror, he saw a bright red Costume laid flat under the quilt, quiet and still, as if a person were lying on the bed.

Yang Xiao slammed the quilt back down and bolted. The moment he ran out the door, he didn't forget to slam it shut. The landlady of the guesthouse was lying on a recliner downstairs, happily gnawing on corn and sunning herself. Seeing Yang Xiao run down, she had just sat up, wanting to ask if he wanted breakfast—she knew a local breakfast shop with a lot of character and could get him a discount—but before she could even greet him, Yang Xiao had already rushed out.

"What is this person in such a rush for?" The landlady was experienced and guessed that he probably had a morning ride scheduled and ended up oversleeping.

It wasn't easy to encounter a guest during the off-season. The landlady truly hoped he could stay for a few more days, even if she gave him a further discount. The cooked duck had flown away, and even the corn in her hand didn't taste good anymore.

But who knew which deity heard her inner plea; not two minutes later, Yang Xiao actually returned.

"Landlady, I'll extend my stay for a few more days, just... just this room I'm in now." Yang Xiao didn't give the landlady a chance to speak at all and shoved three red bills into her hand. "I might not come back to stay for these three days, but you must keep the room for me. There are valuables inside; you don't need to go in to clean."

Seeing the money, the landlady agreed ten thousand times over, her mouth unable to close from joy. "How about this, handsome, I'll add another day for you, four days, how does that sound?"

Without wasting words with the landlady, the two exchanged WeChat contacts, and Yang Xiao left. The impact of the scene just now had been too great; he had only just recovered a little.

That was Chun Jie's Costume. He couldn't be mistaken; the gold thread stitching on the sleeves was the same as the sleeve on that rotten hand that had dragged away Su Tingting's severed leg.

Was he being haunted by a vengeful spirit? Could it be... could it be because he saved Su Tingting and ruined Chun Jie's plans that he was being held a grudge?

"I regret it. If I had known, I wouldn't have saved her." An absurd thought suddenly popped into Yang Xiao's mind. He wondered if he tied Su Tingting up and returned her, would the other party let him off the hook?

Fengmen Town only had one long-distance transport station. Going there now would easily lead to being blocked by Kuang Hongyi and his people. The ride-hailing app on his phone didn't work well here. After much deliberation, Yang Xiao contacted the guesthouse landlady via WeChat and asked her to help find a car to take him back.

After returning to Rong City, Yang Xiao immediately ran to a temple to burn Incense and pray to Buddha. Worried that the Buddha would blame him for not being sincere, he even painfully donated 100 yuan in Incense money. Then, without stopping, he ran to a Daoist temple. After a whole day of tossing and turning, he finally ate a quick meal and found a popular budget hotel on a pedestrian street to stay in.

The first thing he did after entering the hotel was to check under the quilt, the mattress, inside the wardrobe, and behind the sofa—in short, he checked every place that could possibly hide something. Only after finding nothing in the end did he settle in with peace of mind.

Now, the development of events was already out of control. Fortunately, tomorrow was the day he had agreed to meet Kuang Hongyi. He could ask him about this matter. That area was different from the remote Fengmen Town; the foot traffic was heavy, and Yang Xiao was familiar with it. He figured Kuang Hongyi wouldn't dare to act recklessly.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Yang Xiao opened his backpack, intending to take out his laptop to browse the forums, until he saw a flash of piercing red inside the backpack.