Chapter 53: Escape the Snack Shop!

Cannot leave through the main entrance? Ding Mo's gaze swept past rows of shelves, vaguely catching sight of the door he had just entered through.

That must be the main entrance.

But one cannot leave without purchasing snacks? What is the meaning of this?

"What on earth is this note about?" Ding Mo began to ponder.

Zhang Yunfan clutched the note,

"This might have been left by people from before; we had best not violate it."

"But," Ding Mo's expression tightened:

"I didn't bring any money. Do you have any?"

"I—I don't either." Zhang Yunfan's dark face turned somewhat pale.

In the Isolation Zone, there was no need for cash; besides, they were currently on a Task, and they had no way to produce money.

What to do?

The two realized they were at a temporary impasse.

If the content on the paper was credible, they had best not violate it lightly. But if they couldn't go out through the main entrance, how were they supposed to leave?

The shop had no windows... Could there be a back door? Ding Mo shared his thought with Zhang Yunfan.

"Hmm, let's look for one." Zhang Yunfan looked around.

A few minutes later.

After passing through rows of shelves, Ding Mo and his companion arrived at...

A space still filled with rows of shelves!

What was going on? It wasn't just Ding Mo; Zhang Yunfan also noticed something was wrong.

The two looked back toward the main entrance and discovered that even after walking for several minutes, they hadn't managed to put any distance between themselves and the door!

Is this... a ghost wall? The two exchanged a glance and continued forward.

But after row upon row of shelves, there were still more rows of shelves, as if they would never reach the end.

And every time they looked back, they would find the main entrance and the counter "waiting" for them not far away!

What is this? A sea of shelves without end, and turning back is the shore? Ding Mo complained inwardly, though his face revealed a rare solemnity.

If he had still been skeptical about the note's content earlier, he now believed it by a few points.

This counter was not normal! If they tried to walk out the main entrance, it certainly wouldn't be easy for them to leave!

"Damn it!" Zhang Yunfan drew his police baton, but he couldn't think of any good solution either.

After walking for a while longer, the situation remained exactly the same.

"..." Ding Mo took a deep breath and stopped in his tracks: "There's no other way."

Zhang Yunfan, whose forehead had broken out in cold sweat at some point, heard this and turned his head to look at him:

"What?"

"Let's go check the main entrance."

"Hey!" Zhang Yunfan was startled!

"Are you crazy? We have no idea what might be there!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Ding Mo's eyes flickered:

"We've been trapped here for nearly half an hour! This can't go on!"

"Have you forgotten how that guy Yan Yu died? If we follow the rules, that kind of thing won't happen!"

"Zhang Yunfan, listen to me! Think about it, we've been delayed here for so long; what if Gu Zixu and the others have already found the target?"

Zhang Yunfan was stunned.

Seeing this, Ding Mo continued to persuade him:

"If we keep delaying, and Gu Zixu finds the target and reaches the rendezvous point, but we don't return for a long time, what will happen?"

What would happen?

The high probability was that they would be presumed dead, and the others would leave this eerie city as soon as possible.

No one would come to save them, and once the Processing Bureau achieved its goal, it likely wouldn't care about them either; at that point, they would be left to fend for themselves—in this dangerous city.

"This, this..." Zhang Yunfan's demeanor was clearly persuaded.

"Alright, but we must be extremely careful. If anything feels wrong, we leave immediately!"

"Rest assured, I don't want to die either; I'll be careful."

Inside the warehouse.

Tang Chen and He Xiang worked together to pull open a warehouse valve.

Instantly, a heavy, musty odor rushed toward them!

This place was different from the others; it appeared extremely old and dilapidated, as if it hadn't been tended to for years, with a thick layer of dust accumulated on the floor.

He Xiang walked in first, her boots kicking up a cloud of dust as she stepped.

"Cough, cough! Why is it so dirty here? It's not like the other places?" She complained while coughing.

Tang Chen walked behind her and replied upon hearing this:

"This just goes to show that there is something different here; perhaps 'she' is right here."

"I hope it's her. The thing that made the noise inside earlier didn't sound like a little girl."

The two had come here precisely because they had heard some movement.

After adjusting to the dust for a moment, He Xiang began to survey her surroundings.

Inside the pitch-black, large warehouse, things were not clearly visible from a distance, and she could only vaguely see some objects placed in the corners.

He Xiang took a step forward.

Suddenly!

Crack, crack, crack!

A strange sound like a biscuit cracking came from overhead!

Startled, He Xiang looked up abruptly, only to see a rotting face magnifying in her eyes!

"Look out!"

In the moment of crisis, Tang Chen reacted extremely quickly and tackled her to the ground!

Bang!

The rotting face slammed hard onto the ground, its withered features splitting open.

This was actually a corpse!?

The two stared at the corpse, seeing it had no reaction and seemed to be just an ordinary rotten body,

so they subconsciously looked up at the swaying object above.

It was a straw rope, dangling clearly from the top of the warehouse, swaying to and fro in mid-air.

That corpse had likely been dead for many days, and with the stimulation of fresh air when the two opened the valve, it had undergone a change, split, and fallen.

Seeing nothing unusual, the two breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Only then did they realize that they were already tightly embraced, their bodies pressed closely together.

Whether startled by the thrill just now, or perhaps because the two were naturally so affectionate, He Xiang looked at Tang Chen and kissed him passionately.

Hot breath overlapped in the mist, and the electric-like sensation connected through the combined moisture.

After a deep exchange that left them almost breathless, He Xiang panted and said in a sweet voice:

"You saved me again."

Tang Chen gently helped her up and shook his head, saying: "That thing wasn't a threat."

"But if it were a threat, you would still do it without hesitation, right?"

Tang Chen smiled helplessly and wiped her flushed corners of the mouth:

"Don't talk about that, we are here to find someone."

"Mm." He Xiang nodded lightly, thinking to herself:

We must survive together.

She then looked at the withered, rotten corpse, and then looked at the rope above.

This person... was clearly a suicide.

This place was different from other areas that were clearly cleaned often; perhaps some secret was buried here... He Xiang approached the corpse and began to observe it carefully.

Meanwhile, Tang Chen stood by her side, staying alert to their surroundings.

In every terrifying day of the past, the two had survived just like this—relying on each other, entrusting each other, and trusting each other.

It was precisely because of this that they hadn't died in the terrifying Task of the "Typewriter," or turned into lunatics, perverts, or psychotics.

He Xiang observed for a while, but other than being able to tell from the uniform on its body that it was a warehouse worker while alive, she didn't see anything else.

So the two continued to explore deeper into the place.

In the slightly dark warehouse, it seemed even the lights had aged and broken, unable to be used.

However, walking step by step to a close enough distance, He Xiang and the other still saw what was buried in this warehouse.

It was very peculiar, yet very common.

It was person after person; to be precise, it was corpse after corpse.

They lay helter-skelter by the walls, beside the crates, and on the ground, and just like the person who hung themselves earlier, they had been dead for many years, with even their bones beginning to rot.

This scene was just like a group of people with nowhere to go, who could only wait desperately for their own death in this sunless warehouse.

"What on earth..." He Xiang covered her nose as she walked past them.

This thick despair that spanned across time enveloped her, like the damp, slimy tongue of some Guaishou, constantly licking her sensitive skin.

Unknowingly, He Xiang's breathing had become somewhat rapid, and her legs felt weak.

"What's wrong?" In the darkness, Tang Chen seemed to have sensed something.

He Xiang gritted her teeth, said "It's nothing," and endured the fear to continue forward.

The warehouse had been mostly explored; they couldn't fail at this point!

But just at this moment,

the warehouse door made a distinct, strange "clanging" sound, and then, in the astonished gaze of the two who turned around,

it began to close slowly!