Not long after they ran out, they heard a cracking sound behind them.
The night pearl was broken and the museum returned to darkness.
"What should we do? Cao Yi..." Jing Tao asked as he ran, "Didn't they say she wouldn't mutate?"
The accumulated water on the ground made a splashing sound when stepped on, and the water splashed everywhere.
"Those who took the cultural relics would not disappear directly. But Cao Yi should not have touched them... Did she come into contact with some other dead end?" Yi Yun thought desperately.
"Now, where should we run to?" Jing Tao raised his head subconsciously, "Huh, she didn't chase us?"
The footsteps of the chase had already stopped, and without the pursuers running away, their panic just now seemed unnecessary.
The sound of water dripping became more frequent.
Lu Yanli heard hurried footsteps in the distance. Wang Pengfei also heard them and his face became solemn.
Ke Xiaoxue was still standing there, touching her cheek with an intoxicated look on her face. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but her face was changing little by little.
Wang Pengfei couldn't help but move closer, wanting to see more clearly.
A drop of water fell and dripped into his eyes. His vision blurred for a moment, and he immediately reached out to wipe it. When he opened his eyes again, Wang Pengfei's eyes suddenly widened.
Ke Xiaoxue is missing!
She disappeared right under his nose! The jade hairpin disappeared with her. In an instant, a chill ran up his spine, making his legs go weak.
Until now, he saw Lu Yanli standing quietly beside him. As if grabbing the last straw, Wang Pengfei rushed over: "Did you see her just now? Did you see her? She is not visible..."
Lu Yanli was also staring at her. The moment Ke Xiaoxue disappeared, a terrifying scene that he could not believe appeared before his eyes. But the horrifying scene only lasted for a short moment, so fast that it seemed like an illusion.
Really... is this an illusion
Lu Yanli shook his head: "I haven't seen it."
Now that he has been involved in the mission, he needs to keep these people alive longer so that the "normal" world can stay longer and allow him to complete the investigation of the tomb.
He hated that crazy world, and unless necessary, he would always find a way to make the taskers leave a survivor behind so that they could live longer.
Wang Pengfei still muttered to himself: "No, this is impossible... Where would she go?"
If the cultural relics will disappear after being taken, what if they really find the Pisces jade pendant, should they take it or not
The way out of the mission... Wang Pengfei always felt that it was not that simple.
Another drop of water fell from the ceiling and was about to fall on Lu Yanli, but the latter dodged.
In that brief moment just now, he saw everything! What he saw was clearly a scene close to purgatory. What was falling from the ceiling was not water at all, but blood!
The blood was too dense to avoid, and everyone was soaked, as if they were caught in a drizzle, their clothes stuck to their bodies, and the wind that came in from nowhere made them feel cold all over. Most of their cell phones were soaked and broken.
Lu Yanli could already imagine what they would look like in real life.
In addition, one after another gray-white shadows floated in the hall. Lu Yanli also saw that some shadows came out from the cultural relics and merged with the ghosts in the sky; some shadows turned around and went back into the glass cabinet.
There was already a thick layer of water on the ground. While Wang Pengfei was thinking, Yi Yun and Jing Tao returned to their original place and joined them.
The night-shining pearl used for lighting was gone, and the two NPCs who could explore the way were also gone... and they still hadn't really found the pattern of the ghosts killing people.
It seemed that another tourist had moved the cultural relics on his own initiative. Lightning brightened the entire sky and earth for a moment, and the scene in front of him became blurred again for a moment.
At this moment, Yi Yun also saw it! Suddenly, she was so frightened that her soul flew away and her whole body trembled.
"Oh my God... Didn't you see it?" Yi Yun hurriedly tried to avoid the water drops, but she couldn't avoid them at all and could only let the blood drip onto her body.
"What did you see?" Jing Tao asked.
Yi Yun wiped his face with a tissue angrily. His hair got wet and stuck to his face: "What the hell!"
She described what she had seen, and how could the others doubt her? They were just terrified and wanted to look at the ceiling, but they didn't dare. It was pitch black and they couldn't see anything clearly. They had no way to avoid the water drops.
Jing Tao was almost catching a cold from the cold, and coughed twice: "I have an idea." He looked up and said, "The museum has two floors, and the upstairs is not open to ordinary tourists. Should we... go up and take a look?"
After these words were spoken, there was only silence.
Yi Yun and Wang Pengfei were both hesitating.
Of course, in previous missions, they sometimes had to risk their lives to survive, but it was not something that most people could do to move forward knowing that there was a ghost ahead.
Lu Yanli glanced at them, took a step forward and walked towards the stairs.
The "stagnant water" had already reached above my ankles, and the sound of leaking water became more and more frequent, from water drops to a continuous drizzle.
His voice startled the three of them. They were all a little surprised. Why did they always subconsciously ignore Lu Yanli? Although he was also present, the inexplicable affection and trust in their hearts made the three of them ask questions.
"Lu Yanli? Where are you going?"
"That's right. It's very dangerous in the museum right now. Let's all gather together."
Lu Yanli said: "I'll go to the second floor to check."
"But the second floor might be dangerous..."
"Haven't you noticed? The water level is rising faster and faster. If we don't take action, I'm afraid the accumulated water will directly submerge the entire first floor."
Yi Yun followed him up and said, "By the way, have you ever seen a jade pendant? It's called the Pisces Jade Pendant. As long as we can find it, we can solve the problem. So don't rush to the second floor."
The two Pisces jade pendants were in Lu Yanli's pocket. He remained calm and said, "No." But he still walked towards the stairs.
Another flash of lightning split the sky, and a few seconds later, a thunderclap dropped, seemingly tearing the entire museum apart.
Lu Yanli heard... other sounds mixed in with the sound of water drops and the noisy rainstorm.
He looked around alertly, the night was not a big obstacle for him. But no matter how hard he looked, he could not find the source of the sound.
Yi Yun was about to say something when he heard the sound of splashing water from afar. The person was walking hurriedly and breathing rapidly, as if he was being chased by something.
"Who?" Wang Pengfei asked.
Recognizing his voice, the man who ran over seemed to have found his backbone and shouted quickly: "It's me! It's Zhang Wenhao. I'm scared to death. There really is a ghost chasing me."
"Don't talk nonsense." As Zhang Wenhao spoke, he ran closer and Yi Yun stopped him.
"That's exactly what happened. I was just in a small exhibition hall, not doing anything, when a knife hanging on the wall came down on me and almost broke my neck."
"What happened next? Maybe the shelf was just not placed properly." Jing Tao said.
"What happened next? I almost lost my life. The exhibition hall I went to was a place dedicated to displaying weapons. Wow, all those weapons fell towards me. Some of the knives almost pierced me through." Zhang Wenhao was still frightened.
Starting with his, screams and shouts were heard in the other exhibition halls as well. People ran out of the small exhibition halls in panic and gathered in the main hall.
The task force was missing three people, and the tourists had lost more than half. Everyone now understood that those cultural relics could not be touched, otherwise their lives would be in danger. Now, they could not escape, and their phones were all damaged. If they continued to stay where they were, they would most likely be drowned by the rising water.
The approaching footsteps of death plunged everyone into deep despair and fear. What should they do to survive? Do they have to go to the second floor
The first floor was already so dangerous, what would happen on the second floor? They dared not imagine.
While everyone was discussing, Zhang Wenhao suddenly felt the urge to urinate. He looked around and tried to hold it back, but the urge was getting stronger and stronger. He had no choice but to find someone to accompany him to the toilet. He leaned close to Jing Tao and whispered, "Brother, how about going to the toilet with me? I can't go alone in your current condition."
Jing Tao glared at him: "If you don't dare to go, do you think I dare to go? When do you go to the toilet?" He really wanted to hit Zhang Wenhao on the head. Didn't this guy read the summary rules on the website and various horror movies? Toilets, elevators and other confined spaces are where strange things happen most often.
Zhang Wenhao continued: "I can't help it. I drank too much water and I really have to go."
His voice was heard by a young tourist, who was very enthusiastic and took the initiative to say: "You want to go to the toilet? I'll go with you."
Zhang Wenhao looked at the other person with gratitude. He remembered this person. He was the one who opposed taking the cultural relics at first. He thought this guy was a hindrance before, but now it seems that the NPC also has a sense of justice.
The two of them were traveling together, and when they saw them going, another tourist said, "Wait a minute, I want to go too."
In the end, five people gathered together to go to the bathroom.
Zhang Wenhao felt more at ease, and before leaving, he asked them not to leave so that he could find someone more easily. Then the five of them went to the bathroom in a mighty manner.
Lightning flashed across the hall, and in an instant it was as bright as day.
Everyone else was busy looking around when the light came on, but Lu Yanli suddenly turned his head and headed in the direction where the group of people left.
There were clearly five of them, but the footsteps sounded like... only one person.
So, the other few people are all...
Lu Yanli's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't even noticed it just now.
Wait, why can’t he remember what those people looked like
His memory was very strong. He had memorized the faces of all the tourists before the incident. But those people just now... were they really the tourists who came to visit today
The other task participants were confused and did not notice anything unusual. Zhang Wenhao did not notice anything either. Having someone to accompany them gave them some courage. The group walked towards the bathroom. The water was getting deeper and deeper, gradually reaching their calves, but before it finally reached their calves, they found the bathroom.
There is a mirror outside the bathroom.
Lightning flashed, and Zhang Wenhao subconsciously looked into the mirror.
In the mirror, what was falling from the ceiling and surging on the ground was all thick blood. Even what was sliding down his hair and face was blood! The thick and sticky blood soaked his whole body. He now looked no different from a ghost. What frightened him even more was that in the mirror, there was nothing behind him. There was no reflection of the other four people at all!
Zhang Wenhao turned his head stiffly. Four dark figures were behind him, so close that he could seem to smell the earthy odor on them.
Another flash of lightning.
Seeing Zhang Wenhao looking back at them, the four of them smiled at him in unison.
A scream resounded throughout the space.
"No way, something bad would happen when five people went to the toilet together?" Jing Tao was stunned.
Wang Pengfei was also startled, but another tasker, Fei Hongsheng, was not surprised: "If there is a ghost in the toilet, even fifty people will be useless, right?"
"Now there is only Zhang Wenhao's voice, I wonder how the others are doing?"
At least one person can escape, right? Tell them about the toilet situation.
After waiting for a long time without any arrival, they realized that the four tourists had probably met with an accident.
The taskers couldn't help but feel annoyed.
"It's not a good idea to keep waiting here. I think everyone has explored the first floor almost completely. Why don't we discuss whether or not to go to the second floor?" Yi Jun suggested.
"Go ahead."
"Go ahead."
"Go ahead."
At first, Yi Yun was counting, but when she realized that these were several identical responses, she was shocked.
Who is answering
Yi Yun was confused and asked, "Who said that just now?"
Jing Tao shook his head: "No, I'm just thinking."
"Go, go..."
"Hehehe, go ahead..."
The voice was still answering! She heard it more clearly!
Lu Yanli asked: "What did you hear?"
"I heard... I heard a voice telling us to go over... to the second floor..." Yi Yun was so scared that she was shaking. She was terrified and completely in a state of panic. She kept biting her fingers. "Why me? Did you really not hear it? Am I the only one who heard it?"
"Tell me! You heard it too!" Yi Yun was almost going crazy. Biting his fingers didn't work. He grabbed his head with both hands and screamed, then rushed towards Jing Tao without caring about anything. "You heard it too, right? You were the one answering me just now!"
"Hehehe... come and accompany us..."
"Go, go..."
The sound continued, and Jing Tao was startled: "No, I really didn't hear it."
"Impossible!" Yi Jun yelled at him with all his strength, looking hysterical. It was not normal at all. "You must have heard it too... Not just me..."
Her anger suddenly became very strong, and Jing Tao couldn't control it by himself. Wang Pengfei came up to help and barely held her down.
Lu Yanli closed his eyes.
The sound of running water, the whispering of people, the sound of falling water drops...
Yes, what is it
Strange noises coming from the glass cabinet, the tinkling of jade objects, the crisp or powerful sounds of bronze objects being struck...
He opened his eyes: "I heard it too."
Yi Yun, who was roaring and struggling, suddenly stopped and turned to look at him. Although the other party might not be able to see clearly in the dark, Lu Yanli still felt that the other party was staring at him.
Lu Yanli repeated: "I see that, too."
Yi Jun stopped going crazy, and the two people holding him slowly loosened their hands. Yi Jun was very excited: "I knew I wasn't the only one who heard it."
What did they hear, anyway
Soon, Wang Pengfei and Jing Tao also heard it.
Strange noises came from various glass cabinets.
The hall was once again lit up by lightning.
They finally saw...
The moment the lightning flashed, several "tourists" turned into a wisp of gray-white smoke and disappeared.
This sudden change frightened them all, but what surprised them even more was that the ground was shaking slightly.
No, not the ground.
All the display cabinets were shaking, and the water on the ground was trembling, creating circles of ripples.
"What happened? What happened?"
"Why are the cabinets moving?"
A strong wind blew, and the display stand that was originally welded to the ground suddenly loosened and slid straight towards Yi Yun. She dodged immediately, but another one hit her from behind. Just when she was about to be hit, a hand pulled her away with force, and the glass cabinet fell heavily to the ground. With a crash, the glass shattered all over the ground, splashing countless water.
Oops!
This thought flashed through everyone's mind. They had already discovered that once cultural relics were damaged, they were likely to mutate.
Before I had time to think about what to do, the other cabinets also started moving, making crackling noises.
It's as if... the artifacts locked in the cabinet are trying to escape.
Yi Yun almost laughed at her own imagination, but the next second, she couldn't laugh anymore.
A hairpin flew out from somewhere and stabbed straight at her. The hairpin was very small, and Yi Yun only vaguely heard a little bit of the sound of it breaking through the air. Before she could figure out where it came from, Lu Yanli pulled it away again.
The hairpin hit the wall and fell down.
This was the second time Lu Yanli saved her, and Yi Yun expressed her gratitude sincerely.
Lu Yanli didn't need her thanks. He dodged a bronze tripod nearly half a person's height that had moved behind him at some point and smashed down on him. A hidden sword fell from the top of the tripod, but he didn't dodge in time and it just brushed past his cheek, leaving a shallow cut.
The situation of others was not much better. During the day, the various cultural relics quietly displayed in the glass cabinets seemed to have souls at this moment, trying to break free and keep them... all here.
To make matters worse, heavy footsteps with metallic sounds could be heard from several exhibition halls.
Listening to the footsteps, they sound like soldiers wearing heavy armor from thousands of years ago.
Their guess was correct. With the occasional flashes of lightning, they saw a dozen men in armor, holding swords and shields, walking towards them step by step.
At first, their movements were a little awkward, but later on, the armors seemed to have greased their joints. They moved faster and faster. They raised their heavy swords high and chopped down at the invaders with all their might.
At the moment when Jing Tao was almost hit, Wang Pengfei rushed over and knocked him away. The two of them rolled and crawled away to escape. Behind them, the bodyless armor was chasing them closely.
Lu Yanli's situation is the worst.
Perhaps because he had the Pisces jade pendant on him, he had the most armored soldiers chasing him. Besides, he was also constantly attacked by other objects. Even though he was not too bothered by the darkness, he was still injured.
The museum was completely sealed off, but an unknown wind still blew in. A painting fluttered in the air and suddenly covered Lu Yanli's wet face.
His vision suddenly went dark and he could no longer see anything!
Lu Yanli had no choice but to reach out to uncover it, but the painting could not be torn off. Noises were heard again from all sides, and he knew that those things were coming to kill him.
The accumulated water had already reached his knees. After Lu Yanli dodged the attacks several times, he gradually felt the pain of lack of oxygen.
And that painting... still can't be torn off!
He couldn't destroy it actively, so he could only carefully reach out to uncover it. After many unsuccessful attempts, Lu Yanli hardened his heart, squatted down, and immersed himself in the "stagnant water".
The painting was soaked bit by bit, turned into pieces and scattered.
But Lu Yanli felt something was wrong.
A cold hand held his head tightly, preventing him from getting up.
Lu Yanli reached out to grab the hand and followed the feeling coming from his head, but he felt nothing.
How could that be
Lu Yanli held his breath and struggled to get up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift his head from the water.
The water was barely thigh-deep.
His consciousness gradually blurred, his lungs almost exploded, and he felt a burning pain. But he still held his breath, not letting himself drink the accumulated water, and tried to stand up.
Lightning flashed.
He opened his eyes wide in the water, and he saw the reflection behind him. It was a ghost whose face could not be seen clearly, with a pale face. It was floating on the ceiling, and its arms were very long, pressing him down.
Suddenly, a huge force came from the side and knocked Lu Yanli to the side.
Suddenly relieved, Lu Yanli stood up and gasped for air. On the other side, Yi Yun was also panting, wiping the water off his face, and said in a hoarse voice: "Are you okay?"
Lu Yanli shook his head: "It's okay, thank you."
There were broken glass all over the ground and he was stabbed a lot, but these were minor wounds compared to the risk of death.
Where is the museum nowadays as quiet as it was during the day? There are fallen exhibition stands and large objects everywhere, and the color of the stagnant water is slowly turning red, or in other words, its disguise is gradually fading away.
A grayish-white ghost with a long tail floated and laughed in the empty hall.
"Go... Go..."
“Hehehehe…”
They were still laughing and trying to persuade a few people to go upstairs to sleep.
What's upstairs
Although the four of them had some injuries, they were not serious and did not greatly affect their movements.
"Let's go to the second floor to check, otherwise, we can't leave." Lu Yanli suggested.
They have nowhere to go.
The blood falling from the ceiling could almost be described as a rainstorm. The accumulated water would soon rise to their waists. Their armors were not affected, but they were not. They slowed down a lot and narrowly avoided the attack.
"Hurry! Find the stairs!" Jing Tao gritted his teeth and walked towards the wall.
Others also tried to find it. The museum's furnishings had all changed, and the layout of the stairs was also different from before. Not long after, Wang Pengfei said in surprise: "Come on! The stairs are here!"
The blood had already overflowed to his waist, and it was emitting a thick, bloody smell without restraint, which was pungent and nauseating.
But there was no way, it was almost impossible to walk. They all knew how to swim, so they had to endure the nausea and swing their arms to swim across.
Outside the stairs was a pool of blood.
The stairwell was clean and empty. There was an emergency exit sign on the corner, emitting a bright green light in the darkness.
Instead, they hesitated.
Behind them, a dozen men in armor lined up neatly, attacking them with swords raised. The four had no other way to retreat, so they had to take a strong step and step into the stairs.
Strangely enough, all the blood on their bodies disappeared, their clothes were dry, and only the wounds on their bodies bore witness to their embarrassing escape.
Compared with the eerie lobby on the first floor, the second floor looked so normal. There were even a few rays of light leaking down from above, allowing them to see each other clearly.
"That's normal. I actually... don't dare to go up." Yi Yun looked up worriedly.
"But, we have come to this point. We have no way to escape now." Jing Tao wiped his face. "Just now I passed by a window and wanted to jump out, but when I leaned out, I found that there were dozens of floors below. I would definitely die if I jumped down."
"This museum is meant to trap us here!" Wang Pengfei also said.
He exchanged a glance with Jing Tao obliquely and pursed his lips. The latter moved closer to Lu Yanli and whispered to him again about the appearance and importance of the Pisces jade pendant.
"As long as we find it, we can end this!"
They didn't want to go up, but they also knew that they had to go up.
As long as... As long as you find the Pisces Jade Pendant, you can complete the mission.
Will the jade pendant be on the second floor
"Since we are going to the second floor, let's go up early." Lu Yanli calmed his breathing and walked up the stairs first.
The Pisces jade pendant seemed more important than he had imagined.
Well, now that it's in his hands, there's absolutely no way he'll hand it over.
Seeing him walking in front, the other three felt more at ease and hurried to follow.
It was just two ordinary flights of stairs, and I finished them quickly.
In the corridor, the door was ajar, and warm yellow light shone through the gap.
Lu Yanli stretched out his hand and pushed gently.
The door is open.
Inside the door is...
"Teacher Yu, what are you busy with?" A colleague passed by and saw Yu Huaiyao still busy in front of the computer. A picture of cultural relic restoration was displayed on the screen, so he greeted him.
The latter said, "You go first, I'll take care of it later."
"Okay, Teacher Yu, take care of yourself." The colleague did not doubt him and left with a smile.
After his colleagues left, he was the only one left in the huge research institute.
Yu Huaiyao was busy for a long time, and finally, the ringing of the phone interrupted his work.
"Xiao Huai, are you busy?" It was his mother calling.
Yu Huaiyao responded: "What's the matter?"
"It's about that matter. Your brother Xiaohuan's funeral will be held in two days. You have to come, right?"
He circled the calendar on his desk: "I know."
His voice still showed no emotion, but after hanging up the phone, he stared at the date for a long, long time.
"Brother, do you believe that there are ghosts in this world?"
In his mind, the scene of the two talking to each other when they met a year ago emerged.
At that time, he shook his head and asked him to believe in science.
Yu Huan said nothing more.
Later... they didn't contact each other for a long time.
Later, I received the news of his death.