Chapter 68: He Xiang? What's wrong with you?

Dong—!

The melodious tolling of the bell rang out right on time.

At the base of the ancient, slender Clock Tower, two figures appeared.

It was He Xiang and "Tang Chen"!

At this moment, "Tang Chen" had already been treated; white Bandages were wrapped around his body and face, and coupled with his intermittent "hoarse" cries, he was a living mummy!

"Ahhh!!" he roared dryly, his eyes staring straight at He Xiang's shoulder.

"I understand, if your throat is injured, just speak less." He Xiang carried him on her back, her pretty face covered in sweat.

"We've arrived."

She gritted her teeth, bracing her sore, weak legs, and opened the doors to the Clock Tower.

The door was not locked.

But just as she stepped inside, a familiar smell rushed into He Xiang's nose.

This is... He Xiang's expression changed!

His pale face faced the inside of the building.

It was a floor full of corpses!

In circles, in layers, piled one on top of another!

Some people hung from the ceiling, ropes wrapped around their necks, their tongues lolling out long; others had simply collapsed on the ground, and beside their slashed wrists were large, large patches of dried black blood!

On their faces, all revealed a twisted despair.

Suicide!

Only this word popped into He Xiang's mind.

Just like everyone who had hidden in the warehouse back then,

all of them were suicides!

The immense, desperate reality made He Xiang almost collapse to the ground. Although she held on, her body still swayed for a moment.

"Uh-uh...!" This movement provoked a low, hoarse roar from "Tang Chen." His eyeballs rotated irregularly, like a "globe" that could be spun at will.

"Tang Chen?" He Xiang came back to her senses at this moment and glanced at him, but for some reason, a trace of terror welled up in her heart.

She could understand that Tang Chen was foolish due to his head injury. But could this lead to his eyeballs moving in such a bizarre way?

Tang Chen's eyeballs sometimes even rolled back into the sockets!

"No, no... concentrate."

Do not find excuses for your own cowardice!

In the past, it was always Tang Chen who saved her at all costs; now that it was her turn, how could she abandon him?

"We promised, we are going to survive together."

Courage welled up in her heart once again—Tang Chen had always been the source of her courage.

He Xiang took a deep breath, placed Tang Chen by the wall, and began to explore the corpse-filled Clock Tower by herself.

"Is there anything that can provide help..."

Before long, having gone up to the second floor, He Xiang found a crumpled note on an old corpse covered in corpse spots.

She opened the note and discovered the following content:

【Identification criteria for "Imitators"—

1. Pay attention to those who have disappeared for a period of time; do not trust them!

2. Note, if those who have disappeared return with injuries that leave them mentally incapacitated, do not hesitate, execute them immediately! Repeat, execute them immediately! You must completely destroy their physiological structure!

3. Do not attempt to use the "Salt Grains" they bring back; the "Salt Grain" factories in the city fell long ago. All "Salt Grains" are fake!

】

The more He Xiang read, the greater the terror in her eyes grew.

【3. Remember, remember! Before execution, absolutely, absolutely do not let them disappear from your sight again!】

This description... why, the more she looked at it, the more it seemed to be talking about "Tang Chen" right now?

This third point seemed to have been written in great fear, as even the strokes were quite distorted. The deceased seemed to be very afraid of this situation occurring!

"... No, no! Tang Chen must just be injured... that can't be!" He Xiang put away the note and turned to head downstairs.

Thump, thump, thump!

Yet her heart could not stop beating violently.

Perhaps it was the cowardice in her heart at work—the more she thought about it, the more it seemed to be the case!

Otherwise, why had Tang Chen seemed like a completely different person along this journey? She remembered that what Tang Chen loved most was hugging her,

and even when sleeping, he would subconsciously respond to her embrace. But along this journey, Tang Chen had completely ignored her hugs.

If he were just foolish, he shouldn't have forgotten a habit cultivated day and night so completely!

Thinking of this, He Xiang's feet felt as if they were filled with lead, and she froze on the stairs.

"No... no..." she murmured, when suddenly she lowered her head and caught sight of a figure.

"He Xiang?" Tang Chen stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at her with some confusion:

"What's wrong with you?"

The familiar voice rang in her ears, and He Xiang was both surprised and dazed.

Her face first lit up with joy, and she was just about to go downstairs and throw herself into his arms,

but she hesitated slightly.

She knew very well how severely Tang Chen was injured; how could he be fine in the blink of an eye?

The Tang Chen below asked again, confused: "He Xiang? What's wrong with you?"

As he spoke, he walked toward the upstairs.

"You! Don't come over yet! What was the birthday gift you gave me last time?" He Xiang asked nervously.

She believed that even if appearance and voice could be imitated, memories should be impossible.

And Tang Chen, upon hearing this,

still asked suspiciously:

"He Xiang? What's wrong with you?"

He repeated this sentence, even the tone was exactly the same, walking over without a moment's pause!

Seeing this, He Xiang stumbled, and as she realized the truth, an expression of disbelief appeared on her face,

followed by overwhelming despair!

"No..."

As if her spine had been removed, she lost all her strength and slumped limply against the stairwell wall.

And the "thing" disguised as Tang Chen no longer hid it!

Without moving its neck, it turned its body around, its four limbs touching the ground with joints reversed, and crawled toward her like a spider.

"He Xiang? What's wrong with you?" On its twisted, grotesque body sat a human-like face.

But watching the "creature" approach, spitting out that same sentence every few seconds, He Xiang, in her despair,

discovered that her own body was moving involuntarily?

Why... why.

So, I am still this cowardly... He Xiang desperately and tremblingly crawled and inched slowly in the opposite direction of the stairs.

Although she, having lost Tang Chen, had long since lost her courage, the cowardice in her heart still made her unable to stop wanting to escape!

"He Xiang? What's wrong with you?" It drew closer, its tone remaining unchanged.

The strengthless He Xiang was still struggling to crawl, until a cold hand grabbed her leg,

and that voice said right against her ear:

"He Xiang? What's wrong with you?"

In the vast, boundless sky, the afternoon sun was obscured by the "Fog Sea," casting boundless shadows onto the earth.

The high-rises stuck upside down in the Fog Sea made this realm seem like a dream, both real and illusory.

The strong wind at high altitude blew the hem of Ding Mo's clothes; he carefully stepped onto the slanted windowsill and descended with the others.

The Fog Sea in the distance churned continuously, and the Mist seemed to be growing thicker and thicker.

In fact, it was not just the Fog Sea; even the urban land below was almost shrouded by the Mist, bottomless and unfathomable.

This likely means something... Ding Mo thought to himself.

Once the Mist completely shrouds this area, even more unimaginable things will likely happen.

And just as he was thinking this.

"Look, everyone." Someone in the group let out an exclamation.

Ding Mo looked in the direction of the voice and saw the real Tang Chen, who was staring at a corner of the sky with a face full of surprise.

There, a patch of swirling Mist shrouded all the high-rises stuck upside down.

Subsequently, Ding Mo blinked his eyes and discovered...

It was gone.

That patch of Fog Sea, along with the buildings and streets within it, had just vanished into thin air!

No, it wasn't just that patch; on the land where the Mist swirled, the urban area was also disappearing piece by piece, with a section of land turning into a blank void almost every few minutes!

Leaving behind only a stretch of land that looked as if it had been plowed.

The Fog Sea was gone, and the hot afternoon sun shone down on them.

Yet, for no reason, everyone felt a chill.

Especially when they looked at the "first floor" of the building they were in, at the Mist that kept surging up,

the originally harmless Mist had already become a death warrant in everyone's eyes!