Global Collapse-Chapter 565 - 533: Who are you? Why is this book updated?_1

"What's wrong?" Cang Yue straightened and looked at Zhao Shuang, who was staring into the distance.

Zhao Shuang had gotten out of the car at the mountainside base. Cang Yue hadn't expected her to remember anything in this unfamiliar place, but things weren't turning out as Cang Yue had anticipated.

"I feel... like there's something over there..." Zhao Shuang said, puzzled, her eyebrows knitted in concentration.

Psychic perception? Cang Yue wondered.

Some players with a certain level of Spiritual Value indeed possessed an eerily accurate sixth sense, but sadly, Attribute Points were rarely generated in instances...

Cang Yue interrupted her train of thought about Attribute Points and looked up at Zhao Shuang, who was still staring into the distance.

At this moment, Xia Jianren leaned over and said, "Isn't it always like this in horror movies and novels? If the main character senses something unusual in a certain place, there must be something there."

It wasn't surprising that Zhao Shuang suddenly had this feeling; it could be a clue from the instance.

Cang Yue, her fingers around the fruit knife in her pocket, said, "Well, let's go check that area."

If Zhao Shuang's premonition is accurate, there should be important clues there, Cang Yue thought. They might even find some of the missing people. If any of them are still alive, the truth could finally surface. Once the truth is clear, the way out will be right in front of them.

The two were somewhat excited.

But Cang Yue found it strange. The police searched here for days without finding anything. Could we find it so easily?

Meanwhile, Gu Mian and Keke had successfully climbed down from the main road and entered the dense, weed-filled forest. Amidst the greenery, they got their bearings and headed toward where the bus had crashed.

As Keke walked, she said, "I never thought Wang Chuan, taken by a ghost, would survive." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"From your tone, it sounds like you were hoping he would die."

"Not exactly," Keke replied, pushing aside the branches blocking their path. Many branches grew low here, forcing them to clear a way forward and slowing their progress considerably.

Gu Mian knew Keke had little interest in the fates of others; she only cared about the lives of those she was close to.

"It's just strange," Keke continued. "The ghost took Wang Chuan but didn't kill him. Instead, it sent him back to the staff dormitory to find all those clues about Zhao Shuang. It's as if they intentionally wanted us to find out about Sun Zihao and Jiang Mei. What good does that do them?"

Pausing, Keke added, "And the ghost didn't kill Wang Chuan. Could it be because they *can't* kill people? Or perhaps they can't kill *us*?"

Thinking back, ever since we entered this instance, it seems these ghosts have just been full of sound and fury, she reflected.

Whether it was the knocking, the footsteps, or the incidents at the company, none of it had caused them any real harm—only psychological distress.

Gu Mian stepped onto the tangled grass. "An instance is unlikely to pose no threat to players. In other words, if these ghosts aren't a threat, then something else in this instance must be capable of endangering players' lives."

It's like that taxi instance, Gu Mian recalled. The ghost posed no threat to players, but the driver, who wasn't a ghost, was incredibly deadly when he started killing.

Keke nodded thoughtfully. Something feels off, she thought, but I can't quite place it.

They continued onward but found nothing until Wang Chuan called.

By now, Wang Chuan had also reached Fenshan Mountain, out of breath. He hadn't found any clues beyond the connection between Sun Zihao and Jiang Mei.

Hearing the others were also at Fenshan Mountain, he had hurried over. He didn't dare take a taxi again, so he'd found a shared bike by the road and ridden it all the way up the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, he called Cang Yue, but her phone was likely on silent, as she didn't answer. So, he called Keke instead.

Keke told him that Cang Yue's group had separated from them (her and Gu Mian) at the bus crash site, and that he should go to the accident site first.

Wang Chuan rode his bicycle all the way up, passing several parked police cars.

When he arrived at the accident site, he saw a group of policemen in a heated discussion, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.

Listening in, he learned that the police had arrived earlier that day to find the bus missing. They were now asking around if any other precinct had towed it.

Wang Chuan knew Gu Mian had driven the bus away. Feeling a pang of guilt, he skirted the crowd, intending to find a secluded path down into the woods.

Just as he was about to ride on, his peripheral vision caught an older man by the roadside fanning himself with an advertising flyer. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Cang Yue and Xia Jianren had followed Zhao Shuang for quite a distance, covering about two kilometers along the ditch.

Upon reaching a spot where the weeds were somewhat sparser, Zhao Shuang suddenly halted.

"There should be something nearby. I remember this place from a dream I had last night... it felt like there was a cave..." Zhao Shuang said, looking around.

She scanned the area, then abruptly crouched and slid into the earthen ditch below. The other two looked down and saw Zhao Shuang reaching to clear a patch of thick weeds. After about thirty seconds, she actually uncovered a cave entrance.

The cave entrance was about one and a half meters high and just wide enough for one person to pass through, offering barely enough room to turn around inside.

The two observers were left speechless at the sight.

So, the missing people came in here? they both wondered.

Cang Yue and Xia Jianren exchanged peculiar glances.

No wonder the police couldn't find the missing people, Cang Yue mused. This place is so far from the incident site and so well hidden. Survivors wouldn't normally retreat to such a concealed spot, so it's unlikely anyone would have thoroughly searched through these weeds.

"You dreamt this?" Cang Yue asked Zhao Shuang, her expression skeptical.

Zhao Shuang's expression was also unsettled. "A few days ago, I had a nightmare that I think was set here. I dreamt they hid in here, terrified."

Her voice grew firmer as she spoke, "They're definitely in here!"

Cang Yue frowned, reaching for her phone to contact Gu Mian. "Let's wait for Gu Mian and Keke before going in…"

Unexpectedly, Zhao Shuang, standing before the cave, had no intention of listening. Clutching her head as if a memory had struck her, she suddenly bolted into the entrance.

This startled Xia Jianren. "Wait!"

But Zhao Shuang didn't stop; her silhouette vanished into the darkness.

"What do we do now?" Xia Jianren stared, dumbfounded, at the pitch-black opening.

Cang Yue also frowned deeply. This cave might be a crucial point in the instance, she thought. Zhao Shuang running off isn't the main concern. Who knows what's in there? The real fear is that her recklessness will trigger a dead end and doom us all.

She quickly produced a rope, its end connected to a safety harness. Swiftly buckling the harness around her waist, she handed the other end to Xia Jianren. "This is a special item. Just hold this end and don't move. If I run into trouble, it can pull me out instantly."

The device resembled a retractable tape measure, with the release mechanism on the harness Cang Yue wore. One press, and it would pull her back from this end to the other.

Without wasting another word, Cang Yue swiftly disappeared into the darkness.

Xia Jianren remained at the entrance, nervously staring into the dark little cave.

Meanwhile, Gu Mian and Keke had detoured to avoid the bus crash site. The police were already there, and it would be hard to explain if they were seen emerging from the nearby woods.

Keke navigated through the dense forest. "If we continue this way, we should meet Cang Yue's group soon, provided they haven't gone too far."

Gu Mian nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "By the way, what were you going to tell me back at the bus crash site?"

"What?" Keke was taken aback.

"It was about what the doll said, 'Run quickly!' You mentioned that besides a hit-and-run, there's another situation where people say that. The guy handing out flyers interrupted you before you could finish."

"Ah," Keke remembered. "You probably figured it out. Besides a hit-and-run, people also shout 'Run quickly!' when they're fleeing danger."

Indeed, Gu Mian had often heard players yell those two words in dangerous instances.

Most people instinctively yell "Run quickly!" when chased by a ghost.

"In that case," Gu Mian stroked his chin, "those survivors might have been fleeing something, dragging their severely injured bodies in a desperate escape. And splitting up... isn't that what we often do when ghosts are chasing us?"

Keke's expression changed, a realization dawning on her.

Then she noticed a light glowing from Gu Mian's pocket.

"You're getting a call," she reminded him.

Gu Mian pulled out his phone and saw it was a call from Wang Chuan.

As he answered, Wang Chuan's anxious voice came through, "Did you just say Zhao Shuang went with Cang Yue and Xia Jianren?"