Unfalsifiable Moonlight

Chapter 30 Escape

"Huff, huff, huff..." Old Zeng gasped for breath, still shaken. The burning sensation on his back had now turned into a sharp, intense pain.

He reached down and touched his back, which was now wet and sticky, with flesh and blood stuck to his torn clothes. He could also feel warm liquid flowing down his skin.

The pitch-black surroundings had vanished. Although the room was still very dark, the outlines of all the items on display were now faintly visible, and the previously broken workstations were now intact.

"It's over. What a cunning move." Looking around at the restored normal scene, Old Zeng let out a long sigh of relief, "Hiss—"

The pain in his back was intense. He leaned against the wall with one hand and slowly took off his shirt with the other, then slowly moved to the experimental area.

Fortunately, there were still some bandages and disinfectant alcohol on the shelves displaying medical supplies.

Although the crisis has been temporarily averted, there is no guarantee that something else might happen. It is not advisable to stay here for long. After a simple bandage, Old Zeng, leaning on a row of equipment, staggered toward the communication station.

Even though he was seriously injured, he was still concerned about Su Zixu's situation.

The button next to the screen, which belonged to the ninth floor, was also flashing red. Old Zeng tapped the screen lightly, and a notification page popped up after a few taps, showing that the information was passed down from the ninth floor and was signed by Su Zixu.

The message above is very concise, consisting of only one line: "There is a ghost named 'Doll,' which creates illusions. Its true form can also kill people. Run!"

What truly chilled Lao Zeng was the last half of the message. A sudden wave of dread washed over him, and a sense of crisis surged through him once more. Without further hesitation, Lao Zeng turned and ran.

On his way to the elevator, he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow crawling across the ceiling not far away. The thing was small and looked fleshy, but it was very fast, almost a flash.

But in just one or two seconds, Lao Zeng labeled this thing as extremely dangerous.

He slammed the glass door open, quickly slipped inside, and then slammed it shut again. Seeing the number "1" displayed on the elevator screen, Old Zeng frantically pressed the up button.

At the same time, a series of loud and frequent impacts were heard behind me, and the glass had cracked after several collisions.

"Ding—", the elevator doors slowly opened, and Lao Zeng slipped inside before the doors were fully open.

Immediately afterwards, he began frantically pressing the close button, large beads of sweat rolling down Lao Zeng's face, but the elevator continued to operate slowly and steadily according to its program.

With a sharp "bang," the glass door shattered. Old Zeng finally saw what it was: a naked baby with bluish-black skin.

At this moment, the baby who had smashed the glass door got up from the ground again, shook its head, and then pounced on the elevator with its hands and feet.

Old Zeng slowly backed away, staring blankly through the gradually closing elevator doors at the baby's red, cloudy eyes and mouth full of fangs—the kind of mouth densely packed with sharp teeth.

The baby's head was squeezed in the elevator doors the instant they closed, but fortunately, its head was stuck firmly in the doors and it was struggling violently.

Old Zeng pressed his back tightly against the elevator, staring intently at the baby ghost.

Once the baby ghost breaks free of its restraints or pries open the elevator door, he is prepared to kick it out of the elevator the instant it breaks free.

The elevator began to rise slowly, and with the force of the compression, the door frame above cleanly and decisively severed the baby ghost's head like a guillotine.

The head lost its connection to the neck, rolled around a few times, and finally came to Old Zeng's feet.

"bite--"

The elevator stopped on the first floor. Old Zeng carefully avoided the head by staying close to the elevator, and before the doors were fully open, he quickly darted out.

But when he saw the person standing in front of him, he stepped back. However, he was also afraid of the baby's head in the elevator, and for a moment he seemed a little at a loss.

When the two men standing opposite Lao Zeng saw him, they showed different expressions. One was full of vigilance, while the other's eyes lit up with a joyful smile.

But... Su Zixu wasn't wearing a mask. In this environment, it would be impossible to survive without a mask.

"Oh no..." At this moment, Old Zeng's face was full of fear, and his voice was trembling. He immediately pressed the close button, but Liu Runyu blocked the elevator door with his leg.

Upon witnessing this scene, Lao Zeng collapsed in despair inside the elevator.

"Brother Zeng, don't be afraid, I'm a human..." Liu Runyu said softly to Old Zeng, while gesturing with his hands as he tried to pull Old Zeng up, but Old Zeng slapped him away.

Liu Runyu had just opened his mouth when Su Zixu interrupted him, saying with a stern face, "Calm down, we are human beings."

Old Zeng was stunned for a moment, then calmed down a bit. He felt that if it was a ghost, there was no need to waste so much breath on it; he could just kill it directly.

"Tell me, how many slices of bread did I eat this morning?" Su Zixu asked in a deep voice.

Old Zeng immediately understood Su Zixu's intention, but his expression was very troubled: "How much bread did you eat... I really don't remember."

Hearing Lao Zeng's reply, Su Zixu's tense expression finally relaxed, and he said, "It seems you really are still alive. I don't know if you saw the message I sent you. Liu Runyu and I waited for a long time on the first floor, but you didn't come up. We thought you were gone."

"Yes, we've been waiting for you for a long time. We were about to leave, but Brother Su saw the numbers on the elevator display screen move, so we didn't leave," Liu Runyu added.

"When you sent me the message, I had already been pulled into an illusion by this ghost."

Fortunately, after breaking through the illusion, I saw the message you sent me, which allowed me to escape.” Old Zeng recalled the perilous situation he had just escaped with lingering fear.

If it weren't for the message Su Zixu sent him, he probably would have been killed by the ghost's true form long ago.

"What's going on? Liu Runyu...you're still alive? How is that possible? Your number has been erased." Old Zeng looked at Liu Runyu in disbelief.

Then she looked at Su Zixu and asked, "Why did you take off your mask? How did Liu Runyu survive without a mask?"

"Let's talk about these things when we get out of here. It's not safe to stay here any longer. Old Zeng, you can take off your mask now. I just went upstairs and found that the situation upstairs is much better than downstairs."

"I took it off after things gradually returned to normal upstairs. The situation on the first and second floors was a bit worse than upstairs, but it's back to normal now too." Su Zixu said, raising the mask in his hand and waving it.

He was too nervous to notice earlier, but after looking around, Lao Zeng realized that the first floor seemed different from when he first arrived.

Although the walls were still dilapidated, the mold on them had all disappeared.

"This is..." Old Zeng was curious, but he was interrupted by Liu Runyu in a hurry before he could speak. "Let's leave here first. There's plenty of time outside."

At this moment, all three of them had a lot to say, but unfortunately, this was not the place to talk.

So the three of them turned around and walked backwards toward the door. The most excited person at this moment was naturally Liu Runyu, whose eyes were filled with tears.

"Wait, have you found the keys to these cells?" Just as the three of them were only three or four steps away from the door, Old Zeng suddenly stopped them.

"Found it, but we can't take it. There's someone upstairs... 'something' might be a more accurate description. In short, we can't find an opportunity to steal it." As if he had thought of something, Su Zixu's expression turned somewhat grim, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Let's go, gentlemen!" Liu Runyu grabbed one of them with each hand, making a move to drag them toward the door. He couldn't stay a second longer.

"Stop! Don't do anything rash! Walk backwards." Su Zixu grabbed Liu Runyu's arm and pulled him back.

Seeing that Liu Runyu still wanted to ask something, Su Zixu interrupted him first, saying, "I'll explain to you outside."

As he spoke, he turned around, his back to Liu Runyu, and said, "Just stay in your current position and don't turn around. When you open the door, make sure your back is to the door as well."

"Okay." Trusting his teammate, Liu Runyu didn't ask any more questions. "Then I'll step back."

"Um."

As Liu Runyu took his first step, Lao Zeng and Su Zixu also began to retreat, and Su Zixu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Although they failed to explore the second basement level and the prison cells, Liu Runyu is still alive, Lao Zeng also came out alive, and everyone is still alive, which is already a great gain.

In addition, he also received a lot of paper materials. Su Zixu couldn't understand these foreign languages, so he thought he would take them back tonight and have everyone take a look together.

Light shone in from behind, and the door behind them was slowly opened as Liu Runyu spoke and laughed excitedly. Old Zeng also slowly exhaled.

Although it wasn't sunshine, the two felt very warm. "Don't get excited, let's be happy when we're really out," Su Zixu said, but a smile involuntarily crept onto his lips.

Only after his body was completely out of the three zones did Su Zixu dare to slowly turn around, only to find a stark white, empty hall.