Translator: CinderTL
"What puzzled him was that the officers were extremely tight-lipped about both the state and manner of his brother's death. They merely told him that his brother, Qiao Yu, had died in a remote location and asked him to come to the police station for further details."
"Of course, he went. The officer in charge first comforted him for a while, then asked if there had been any signs before his brother's accident, such as... whether he had developed any mental issues."
Hearing this, Wan Yuanning frowned slightly. It seemed the police had also noticed something unusual; otherwise, they wouldn't have asked such a question.
"As for his brother's condition, the man naturally didn't hide anything. But what struck him as odd was that the officer in charge only took notes and refused to reveal anything."
"After the man had spoken for a while, the officer even called in a few more people. They all looked at the man, with strange expressions flickering in their eyes from time to time."
"Later, after the man repeatedly insisted, he finally learned that his brother Qiao Yu had died in a small, secluded square."
"The officer then showed him some clothing and personal items for identification. The man was certain that the deceased was indeed his brother, Qiao Yu."
"Were there no photos of the deceased?" Wan Yuanning lowered her voice. Since the body had already been found, wouldn't photos of the deceased be more direct?
Unless the deceased's condition was so gruesome that their features were unrecognizable, or perhaps the police were trying to spare the family from the shock of seeing the body.
But Wan Yuanning judged that Qiao Yu's brother likely didn't fall into the latter category.
Liu Guo glanced at her but didn't directly answer her question. Instead, he continued, "Later, the officer took the man to another room. As soon as the man entered, he noticed a laptop on the table. It was the one he had bought for Qiao Yu on his 20th birthday."
"First, the officer gestured for the man to calm down, then sat in the chair beside him, took a deep breath, and looked at him very seriously, saying, 'No matter what you see next, I hope you can remain calm.'"
"The officer found one of the folders, opened it, and inside was a somewhat blurry video. The surroundings were dark, but not pitch black—there was still some light."
"The video seemed to have been shot handheld, as it was shaking quite a bit. The built-in speakers emitted the sound of howling wind and someone's rapid breathing."
"The man immediately recognized that the rapid breathing belonged to Qiao Yu," Liu Guo said.
"The camera slowly panned around. The person filming must have wanted those who would later watch the video to know where he was at that moment."
"Gradually, it became clear that the area was a small square, but it seemed rarely visited. From time to time, there were snack bags or mineral water bottle caps on the ground, indicating that the place was poorly maintained."
"A row of street lamps lined the square, but the light they emitted was weak—better than nothing. Now, the person holding the camera was standing under one of these lamps."
"Slowly, other sounds began to emerge in the video—Qiao Yu's voice. He sounded as if he was facing extreme terror."
"'It's here. It's right here,'" Liu Guo imitated the tone he had heard—fearful, with a suffocating sense of dread.
"Qiao Yu's camera shook even more violently. He said urgently, 'I can feel it. Footsteps... footsteps!'"
"It was like the ramblings of a madman. No one knew what he meant by 'footsteps.' The police also told the man that they had used professional equipment to reduce the noise in the audio, but they still couldn't hear anything. Apart from the natural sounds, there was only Qiao Yu talking to himself."
"The next second, the device shook violently, then pointed in a certain direction. Qiao Yu's breathing immediately became even more rapid, as if his lungs were about to burst."
"The direction was toward the street lamps. Qiao Yu was standing under one of them, and the camera was pointed toward the end of the row of lamps."
"There were about ten lamps, and the farthest one was nearly 100 meters away."
"But then, the farthest lamp suddenly began to flicker, and after a few seconds, it went out without a sound."
Hearing this, the sense of foreboding in everyone's hearts grew stronger. Liu Guo was a skilled storyteller, and he had perfectly captured the atmosphere.
The uneasy tension began to spread, and everyone unconsciously moved closer to each other.
Fatty pulled Chu Jiu over, letting her stand in front of him, leaning against his body.
"Then, the lamp next to the one that had gone out also began to flicker, and soon it too went out."
"One after another, the lamps began to go out, and the speed gradually increased. From the perspective of the person filming, it was as if something terrifying in the darkness was slowly approaching."
"But under the lamps... there was clearly nothing!"
"The light was being swallowed bit by bit. The video became increasingly unstable, and Qiao Yu's voice began to sound desperate. It seemed he no longer wanted to run, or... he knew it was useless."
"'I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please... please spare me,' Qiao Yu cried, his voice hoarse. 'It was them. It had nothing to do with me. I know I was wrong. Please, no, no...'"
"'Ahhh!'"
Everything came to an abrupt end.
Liu Guo took a deep breath. Recounting this incident was also very tense for him, and it even made his back feel cold.
After his emotions had calmed slightly, he continued.
He looked at Jiang Cheng, who was frowning slightly, and said, "As the screen shook violently, the entire video went black."
It was clear that Qiao Yu, who had been holding the device, was dead.
So the device naturally fell, and no one cared about it anymore.
For a long time after that, everyone was silent. It wasn't entirely because of the eeriness and fear, but more because they were thinking.
Thinking about the connections.
"Do you remember what the nurse said?" Banana Wolf stroked his chin and spoke.
Before Yu Youwei died, she had also said something similar. She knelt on the ground, crying and saying she was wrong, begging for mercy.
"And Li Maoshen," Wu's voice was flat and cold as he added, "Before he died, he also said he was wrong."
They all said they were wrong.
From the outcome, it seemed they had already known what was going to kill them, or at least they knew why it was killing them.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have said that.
Now, the most important thing was to figure out what exactly they had done wrong.
"It should be related to the video," Liu Guo suddenly said, raising his head. "They filmed something they shouldn't have."
"Reason?" Jiang Cheng looked at him and asked coldly.
"Before, we were always trying to find the connections between them, but now I think it's clear." He took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to Jiang Cheng.
It was a picture of several young people—two men and three women—smiling brightly.
Beneath the photo, the six red characters labeling them as the "Shenwei Paranormal Team" were glaringly prominent.
(End of the Chapter)
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