Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 138 Rabbit Mask
Jiang Jin and the others are still alive!

After confirming this, Xu Yinqiu breathed a sigh of relief.

She immediately rushed into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and took out the cake that was still inside.

"Yinqiu, what's wrong?"

Miko walked over and asked in confusion.

"Hmm, I'm feeling hungry tonight, so I'm thinking of cutting two more slices of cake."

"Okay, then I'll get you the knife."

Xu Yinqiu suddenly asked, "Speaking of knives, where's that boning knife? Where did you put it?"

"It's been temporarily stored away..."

"Give them to me together, I want to see them."

Miko was stunned and said, "Why do you want to see the knife?"

"I feel like I've seen this knife somewhere before."

Meizi was very puzzled, but she still handed the wrapped boning knife to Xu Yinqiu.

After Meizi left, Xu Yinqiu used a cake knife to cut two pieces of cake evenly and put them into a food storage container.

Xu Yinqiu's fingers trembled slightly. She quickly put the food container and boning knife into a plastic bag, then walked into the corridor and carefully tied it around Deathstroke's battered neck.

The death knell emitted a low, mournful wail, and the ghostly blue flames gazed toward the basement, as if something there was something there that made them extremely uneasy.

"Wait a minute." She suddenly remembered something, took two white candles from her bosom and put them in the bag. "Give this to your master. Lighting this will stabilize your SAN value."

With his last strength, Deathstroke nodded, and the bronze runes beneath the fascia suddenly emitted a faint light.

It staggered back a few steps, its form once again passing through the wall.

It re-entered the Lost Layer.

Xu Yinqiu really wanted to follow it to find Jiang Jin and Liu Yan, but she knew that even with Deathstroke leading the way, a Level 2 Healer like herself might get lost in the Lost Layer. Ultimately, her role in the team was that of a healer. Deathstroke, on the other hand, was a vengeful hound that had devoured a shard of resentment; it would be very adept in the Lost Layer and could easily travel between the Mysterious Layer and the Lost Layer.

The room fell into dead silence again.

Jiang Jin said to be careful of the person wearing the rabbit mask and not to let him into the house!

In other words, the rabbit-masked man was not locked in the basement, but was wandering in the Lost Layer, just temporarily unable to find the direction of this house leading to the Mysterious Layer.

This is quite normal. Within the Lost Layer, the spatial dimensions of the Material Layer gradually become distorted and chaotic. Even if a building appears to be ten meters away to the naked eye, one cannot run inside even with all their might. This restricts both reincarnators and ghosts. Therefore, evil spirits from the Lost Layer find it difficult to easily reach the Mysterious Layer. And once in the Mysterious Layer, there is an even stronger barrier between it and the Material Layer. The closer one gets to the Material Layer, the less effective the resentment and curses of evil spirits become, because in the Material World, no idealistic will can directly influence matter.

Conversely, in the deeper layers of the Lost Realm, evil spirits with immense resentment become unbelievably powerful. Even with their numerous methods and trump cards, Jiang Jin and his wife will still fall into despair.

At the same time, Minghao sat by the window, unscrewed a can of beer, and started drinking.

Suddenly, his pupils dilated sharply—

A ferocious dog with no hair and exposed fascia was seen staggering around the yard outside, and soon ran out.

Minghao could see clearly that its eyes were burning with eerie blue flames, and a plastic bag was hanging around its neck, seemingly containing something.

"What the hell is that...?"

Minghao's heart pounded, and he quickly opened the door and ran out.

Ordinary people cannot see Death Toll when their SAN value is above 60%, but Minghao did not know that his SAN value had fallen below the critical point and he had fallen into the Lost Layer, which is why he could see Death Toll!

Minghao ran outside, almost bumping into Zhengyuan, then rushed out of Teacher Park's house and into the vast darkness outside.

A cold wind swept over him, sending chills down his spine. He kept his eyes fixed on the dog ahead and quickly ran towards it.

"Where is that dog going?"

The death knell ran very slowly, its right forepaw twisted, each step as if it were enduring immense pain.

Minghao followed cautiously behind, keeping his distance, until they reached the shore.

Soon, he discovered the dead rooster—its body was rotting, maggots were crawling around, and the stench could be smelled from a distance.

Minghao frowned and continued tracking Deathstroke.

However, after walking for less than five minutes, he suddenly stopped—he saw the dead chicken again!

The exact same pose and appearance, it's definitely the same chicken, even the position of the surrounding stones is exactly the same!
"How can this be?"

He was clearly moving in a straight line the whole time, wasn't he?

He quickened his pace and continued to track the death knell, but soon, a third, fourth, fifth time... he passed the same dead chicken again and again!
He was naturally unaware that the spatial dimensions of the Lost Layer would gradually distort, causing a "ghost wall" phenomenon, and Minghao could no longer use normal logic to determine the direction.

Finally, the figure of Deathstroke disappeared completely.

Minghao stood there, breathing rapidly.

He looked around and realized that he hadn't run very far at all.

He planned to go back and tell everyone about it, but after walking through the woods for a long time, he still couldn't find Teacher Park's house.

How is that possible? This is all familiar territory. How could we have walked for so long and still not arrived?

He took out his phone, but there was no signal. He dialed other numbers, but none of them went through.

Fear finally began to spread, and unbeknownst to him, his SAN value was also plummeting further.

"What's the matter?"

He continued walking through the woods, but after more than ten minutes, he still couldn't find his way out!
He was unaware that he was gradually sinking deeper into the Lost Layer.

At this moment, about ten meters behind him...

A pale hand reached out from behind a tree...

"Xiba!"

Minghao grew increasingly impatient and kicked over the stone at his feet.

How could he not be able to get out? This is a place we come to every year for the teacher's birthday!
At this moment——

“Rustle…rustle…”

Slow footsteps echoed from deep within the woods. Minghao abruptly turned his head, his pupils contracting sharply.

A figure emerged from behind the trees.

That person was wearing a green sweater with a rabbit pattern, and on their face...

He was wearing a rabbit mask!
The figure was walking towards him step by step.

Minghao was all too familiar with that person's mask and clothes.

That was the rabbit mask that Youngmin always wore when he was alive!
That green sweater was the same one Young-min wore when he was murdered!

Minghao had collected a large number of reports on Yingmin's case, and even made them into clippings. He had a deep memory of the photos of the body at the crime scene.

As the man in the rabbit mask drew closer, Minghao noticed that his fingers were deformed, with his thumb being much thinner than his other four swollen fingers—exactly the same deformity as Yingmin's when he was alive!
Even more terrifying, he was holding a knife, the tip of which was dripping some kind of dark red liquid...

Fear nearly caused Minghao to lose all reason, and he turned and ran!
Yingmin is long dead! Even his body was cremated! That rabbit mask was burned too!

So... who is this person?

At this moment, Minghao didn't have time to think about any of this; he could only keep running!

The footsteps behind them grew closer and closer, unhurried, as if they were enjoying the chase.

"Don't come any closer...don't come any closer!!"

He stumbled and staggered through the woods, but just like before, he couldn't escape!

……

Miko pushed open Masamoto's door and walked in with a serious expression.

"Zhengyuan, I think there's something wrong with Xu Yinqiu."

She lowered her voice, her eyes scanning the door warily: "She kept asking me where I put the boning knife, and she kept pacing around the basement door."

Zheng Yuan frowned: "Why is she asking about the knife?"

“She said she thought she’d seen that knife before, but I doubt it…” Miko bit her lip:

"That rooster that was tortured to death, she might have done it! That knife might even be hers!"

Zheng Yuan was stunned and said, "This... does she have a penchant for animal cruelty?"

"I can't really explain it, but it gives me the creeps. Some people who abuse animals have a dark side."

Zheng Yuan still couldn't recall anything about Xu Yinqiu. At most, he vaguely remembered that there was such a person as her, but he had no other impression of her.

"This matter... I think maybe I should talk to the teacher? What did she want to do by asking you for a knife?"

"Sigh, I regret it now. Why did I tell her where the knife was? And why does she seem interested in the basement? Did the rules on the invitation make her rebellious?"

Zhengyuan was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Miko, do you know why the teacher doesn't allow anyone into the basement? The teacher has never explained this."

Miko was taken aback: "Huh? This... I don't know either."

"What's inside?" Zheng Yuan stared directly at her.

Miko shook her head: "Nothing special. I go down to clean all the time. I checked it again before midnight yesterday. It's just some old furniture, junk boxes, and some old books, courseware, and textbooks from when the teachers were teaching."

Zheng Yuan seemed to be deep in thought.

Is the teacher forbidding everyone from entering the basement simply because Yingmin used to live there? But wouldn't locking the basement be enough? Was it really necessary to specify this on the invitation? And even the windows were sealed off, as if they were afraid someone would see them.

"I'll go take a look first." Zheng Yuan wanted to ask Xu Yinqiu what she planned to do with the knife.

When she arrived at the living room, she saw Minghao walk in.

"Minghao?" Zhengyuan asked in confusion, "Where did you go? I saw you rushing out just now."

Minghao looked bewildered: "Huh? I just went out to the beach for a smoke."

"Are you... alright?" Miko asked cautiously. "Why is your face covered in sweat?"

"Nothing's wrong, I just went for a run outside and got some exercise. What's up?" Minghao chuckled and scratched his head. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Zhengyuan and Meizi exchanged a glance, but neither of them asked any further questions.

However, when Xu Yinqiu entered the living room and saw Minghao, her pupils suddenly contracted.

“You…” Xu Yinqiu stared at Minghao with her Zhuyou Eyes and asked, “Minghao, where did you go?”

Minghao still had that bewildered expression: "I just smoked a cigarette. What's wrong with you all?"

Her eyes were fixed on Minghao's face, as if there was something there that ordinary people couldn't see.

"What's wrong, Yinqiu?" Meizi asked tentatively.

Xu Yinqiu took a deep breath and forced a smile: "It's nothing... I just think it's best for everyone to stay in their rooms and not wander around."

Her gaze lingered on Minghao for a final second before she quickly walked away.

An eerie silence fell over the room.

Zheng Yuan looked at Ming Hao, whose expression remained relaxed and natural; he even hummed a little tune.

But for some reason, he always felt... something was not quite right.

"Yinqiu, where's that knife?" Meizi walked up and asked.

“It’s gone,” Xu Yinqiu replied. “It looks creepy.”

"Ah You……"

But Miko couldn't say anything, since she wasn't the owner of the knife.

"Alright, everyone, let's go upstairs and rest first," Zheng Yuan said. "Meizi, you must be tired after a long day."

Then, everyone went back to their rooms upstairs and turned off the lights.

And after a long time...

In the darkness, a terrifying figure slowly approached and headed towards... the stairs!

(End of this chapter)