The World Below Surface

A lone figure sprinted down the empty street, his feet rapidly hitting the pavement with a sense of desperate urgency. He ran as if his very existence depended on it, because it did.

Someone was hunting him.

"Bang!"

A gunshot pierced the air, its sound barely distinguishable amidst his laboured breaths. Swiftly, he contorted his body, narrowly avoiding the bullet that ripped through a nearby tree, setting it ablaze.

Who wanted him dead?

On the roof of a nearby building, a shadowy figure pulled out a gun, crouched low, and moved swiftly. They assessed the distance and angle, then stood up to throw a makeshift bomb toward the street below, before continuing their pursuit.

The bomb exploded with a deafening roar, sending a wave of heat and debris in all directions. Trees were uprooted, cars were flipped, and windows shattered.

Lu Yan, who had been sprinting down the street, managed to dive into a small shop at the last moment. However, he was not unharmed. His face and left shoulder were covered in large gashes, with blood oozing from the wounds. Ignoring the terrified gaze of the shopkeeper, he went straight to the sink to wash his injuries and ask for some bandages.

He was polite, but the shopkeeper remained wary. Seeing the calm and resolute expression on the stranger's face, he fetched a first aid kit, hoping the stranger would soon leave. And he did. After tending to his wounds, Lu Yan expressed his gratitude and rose to leave.

A glimmer of steel.

A spray of crimson.

Lu Yan pulled his hood over his face, concealing his scars, took hold of the axe, and departed.

Knowing that he would meet his demise in the future, he made a wish to the god to be able to return to the past and alter his fate.

The god agreed.

And this time, they finally tallied up the cost of his previous wishes, demanding the lives of all the residents in the small town.

Lu Yan had become indifferent to these people, viewing them as nothing more than pawns in his game—not enemies, not friends, just obstacles.

They appeared to be ordinary people, but why couldn't they behave like ordinary people?

He agreed without hesitation. In the future he had envisioned, these people would perish regardless.

Besides, once he completed his mission, the people in Spirit Vale Town would come back to life in some other way.

He stepped out of the shop and glanced up in the direction from where the bomb had come. There was no sign of anyone; they were probably gone by now.

But...

From his wounded flesh, he pulled out a small knife and held it up against his own blade.

They were identical in every way.

One of them belonged to him, and the other had been wielded by his assailant.

He froze, scanning his surroundings.

There was no doubt; the one who had attacked him was his own doppelganger. He had no idea if it was a future version of himself or a parallel one from another timeline, nor what the motive and the means of the attack were.

He had noticed that these missions had begun to involve more and more time anomalies, ranging from subtle to blatant.

Lu Yan pocketed the knives and resumed his sprint.

He would not give up, even if he learned that his attacker was his future self, or for some other reason. He did not trust the vague notion of "his future self"; he only trusted his present self.

Another bomb screamed down from the sky, but Lu Yan was ready for it. He grabbed a jagged piece of metal from the rubble and hurled it at the missile, knocking it off course. It smashed into a nearby apartment building, sending glass and flames everywhere. Lu Yan ran for cover.

The air was thick with cries of pain, terror, and desperation... and in the far distance, the police sirens blared again.

On the other side of the town…

Lu Yan wasn't asleep; he was just resting his eyes. Barely.

He had guessed correctly; that thing... it was hiding in his eyeballs. That was why the bomber could not let him see a mirror, for then that thing would locate him through the reflection.

No one could sleep tonight, most likely. The town had been rocked by at least twenty explosions, and the death toll was unknown.

Another blast echoed, and Lu Yan turned his head towards the noise.

Far away, across two streets, a column of fire rose into the night.

It seemed his future self had no intention of killing him.

He could afford to take the risk of targeting his future self, knowing that he would still have a chance to live on after the mission was over. But what if his future self succeeded in killing his past self? Would he then vanish into thin air, or would he create a paradox that would tear apart the fabric of reality?

**

A hasty meeting was convened in a secluded room, attended by some of the most influential figures among this batch of mission participants: Di Ying, Xi Men Yuan, Jiang Yu, Ling Tong, and Tan Xu.

Ling Tong checked his watch with a frown and asked, "Did anyone bother to inform Shen Zhu? How come she hasn't shown up yet?"

Di Ying responded, "I did, but she seemed unwell today. Perhaps she's resting."

Jiang Yu interjected, "Well, in that case, let's not waste any more time waiting for her. Just give her a gentle reminder later." He then proceeded to lay out a hand-drawn map on the table, the result of his meticulous work with inputs from everyone. He also produced a set of small flags with bases and placed them strategically on the map.

"Take a good look, everyone. These are the locations where the explosions are going to happen tonight." He gestured at the map. "Do you notice anything odd?"

There were twenty-three spots in total, scattered randomly across the map, forming no discernible pattern or shape as one would expect from a typical suspense novel.

Di Ying wondered, "Are they mostly residential buildings?"

Indeed, apart from a library and a supermarket, all the other places marked with flags bore the label of residential buildings.

Residential buildings implied high population density, especially at night when people were sound asleep, making it harder to flee from the blast.

"That's not all. Look closer." The man pointed his finger at a specific spot.

That spot was none other than the building where they resided.

"Our residence is also a residential building with a high concentration of people. And since we are here on a mission, we should be more appealing to the ghosts. Why would they spare our building from the explosions?"

It made no sense, even if the explosions were unpredictable, that they would skip their building based on the trajectory they followed.

As for the idea that the mission was somehow "protecting" them? Ha, they would sooner trust science than that.

"A ghost killing could be done in a more subtle way, so I suspect human involvement."

The others nodded in agreement, their eyes darting around the dimly lit room. They wondered why the killer would avoid their residence.

Ling Tong broke the silence with a sigh. "But we shouldn't jump to conclusions. We'll have to wait and see if this has any repercussions for us in the next few days," he said, trying to sound optimistic.

"Speaking of human involvement, do you all remember Wang Shun De? The two who were guarding at the mouth of the tunnel," stroked his chin, deep in thought. "At first, we all assumed it was the work of ghosts. But later, we deduced that the likely culprit was Lu Yan. Do you think this explosion could also...?"

He trailed off, but everyone present understood his unspoken words.

"It's hard to say," Jiang Yu muttered, shaking his head.

If it was really Lu Yan, why hadn't he targeted them? Among the people who died in the explosion, there were hardly any taskers, mostly just local residents.

Furthermore, if it was really Lu Yan, why would he kill the people in town? Clearly, the townsfolk didn't know him, so it was unlikely he was a vengeful ghost seeking indiscriminate revenge, right?

Every task had a solution. Since it was clearly stated that Lu Yan must be killed, there must be a way to eliminate him.

No one could figure out his motive, even after thinking for a while.

Di Ying broke the silence, asking, "Any news from Lin Chu's side?"

Jiang Yu pointed to his ear, wearing a small earpiece. He said, "She's asleep."

"What do you think of her?" Di Ying frowned, finding it hard to believe that she could sleep so soundly in such a situation, but she didn't press further.

Xi Men Yuan said, "She's a suspicious character."

Ling Tong added, "I don't believe she's unaware, but she probably doesn't have other solutions like we speculated."

"Or maybe she has some other reason that we don't know about."

Dai Ying asked. "What about the man who's been helping her, called Yu Huai Yao?"

Jiang Yu nodded curtly. "He's also asleep. When we return to reality, everyone should investigate the identities of these people. I don't think Lin Chu is as simple as she seems," he added, lowering his voice. "She might be the most dangerous one among this group of newcomers."

His words sent a chill down everyone's spine.

If Jiang Yu, who had seen countless horrors and dangers, used such a word to describe her, she must be far from simple.

A hesitant voice spoke up. "Do you think it's possible that her task is different from ours?"

Ling Tong scoffed loudly. "How could that be?"

But then he faltered, as if realising the absurdity of his own question.

Indeed, why couldn't it be possible?

The tasks nowadays were becoming increasingly bizarre, the way forward was harder to find, so what was strange about different tasks in the same world?

They had no idea what this world was planning, or what kind of game they were playing.

After some further discussion, everyone dispersed, leaving Jiang Yu alone in the room.

He muttered three names under his breath. "Lu Yan, Jiang Bai, Lin Chu..."

He pondered silently, his mind shrouded in a thick fog, unable to see the truth clearly.

If Jiang Bai was indeed Lu Yan, the first task could easily be completed, but where should they look for the missing person?

And what about Lin Chu? What was her role in all this?

**

Meanwhile, Lu Yan was still on the run, hunted by an unknown enemy.

The ruthless hunter, who had been tracking him with lethal weapons, had retreated into the shadows and even betrayed his whereabouts to the police. Now, a small squad of armed officers was hot on his trail.

To avoid interfering with his past self along this timeline, he had stashed the axe halfway and stumbled upon a motorcycle. After breaking the lock, he revved up the engine and sped away.

The motorcycle thundered down the street, leaving behind a trail of smoke and noise. If he could just get past this intersection, he could head towards the west of town, where the streets were busier and more chaotic, making it easier to escape. He could see the traffic lights ahead, turning green.

But...

Just as he was about to cross the intersection, Lu Yan slammed on the brakes. The tires squealed against the pavement, igniting sparks of fire. Without waiting for the motorcycle to come to a halt, he flung himself off, letting it crash into a tree at the roadside.

He rolled on the ground, shielding his head. Although he sustained minor injuries, he felt more relieved than anything. He had just dodged a bullet. Or rather, a wire.

The police car behind him failed to stop in time. The metal wires that had been strung across the road at high speed sliced through the car's roof and the heads of the four people inside, sending them flying into the air before being snagged and pulled down by the wires above.

The tyres were also cut in half, and the car, carrying four headless corpses, hurtled forward, smashing into a nearby shopfront - another blast followed.

Lu Yan gasped and crawled into the shadows.

He had not expected that his future self would have set up such a deadly trap at the intersection!

This way, no matter how he tried to escape, whether on foot, on a bike, or in a car, he would surely meet a gruesome end. If he had not leaped off the bike just then, he might have shared the same fate as those people.

Two more police cars closed in. They witnessed the horrific sight of their comrades, and the second car desperately hit the brakes. However, they were too late, and they too lost their roof and the heads of the two front-seat passengers.

The young constable in the back seat felt his chest convulse with violent spasms. He had barely registered the calamity that befell the car in front of them when he instinctively bellowed "Get down!" and hurled himself onto the seat.

The two in front, however, had no chance to react; they were already doomed...

As he crouched down to avoid the wire, his hand reached for the door and nudged it open a bit. The sudden stop almost flung him out of the car, his hand still gripping the handle, but he managed to anchor himself by hooking his feet around the seat.

He raised his head and caught a glimpse of the face of the person they had been pursuing all this time through the opened gap.

The person seemed oblivious to him, apparently desperate to escape. They pulled down their hood and walked away without looking back.

He clambered out of the car, turned around, and beheld the grisly scene: half of the car had smashed into a building, with flames devouring both the upper and lower parts. He saw several severed heads scattered on the ground, and... a motorcycle.

That was the culprit's escape vehicle.

The person had eluded them.

He hobbled over, intending to scour the car for any clues, and spotted a blood stained bandage.

It was better than nothing; it might reveal some information about the other person.

In the distance, he saw another group of teammates arriving. The young constable, whose surname was Yang, pocketed the bandage and waved to them from afar.

"Did you get a good look at him?"

He nodded and started to describe, "He had a refined appearance, quite tall, over six feet by my estimation, with a slender face, eyes..."

The artist's hand moved swiftly over the paper, capturing the features of a young man as Xiao Yang narrated them.

"See this cheek here?" Xiao Yang gestured to the left side of the face, from the brow to the jaw. "It's marred by burns. Not charred, but scraped raw, the skin torn and bleeding. A gruesome sight, hard to miss. The wound must have been at least three days old. I bet that gauze I found was meant to cover it up."

The artist nodded, adding the scars to the sketch with his pencil.

"That's him, alright. No doubt about it." Xiao Yang confirmed, his eyes scanning the image.

The newly minted portrait of the suspect was soon distributed within the police station. It was printed and ready to be plastered as a wanted poster the following day.

The next morning, the taskers were greeted by a familiar face on every wall and corner of the streets and alleys, even below their own residence.

"Isn't this Jiang Bai?" Xi Men Yuan asked, snapping a photo of the poster and scrutinising the resemblance.

The only difference was the scar.

Across the street, Lu Yan stepped out of the building where he had spent the night.

He looked weary, having barely slept, but his expression was composed, betraying no sign of awareness that a group of people were scheming to end his life.

Some of the taskers were still around, and as the prime suspect emerged, they all fixed their gaze on him.

The resemblance was uncanny...

Yet, there was a glaring discrepancy. The face on the wanted poster bore a large, ugly wound, while Jiang Bai's face was immaculate, without a hint of injury.

"Jiang Bai" greeted them with a friendly smile, his slightly pallid face giving him a fragile appearance. "Good morning. What are you all staring at?"

Xi Men Yuan said nothing, his eyes scanning Jiang Bai from head to foot.

He seemed weary, as if he had hardly slept, but he was spotless... Xi Men Yuan sniffed, but he detected no trace of gunpowder on the other man.

Was it possible that there were two people who looked so alike?

"You'll find out soon enough."

Lu Yan approached them, his gaze falling on the face on the wanted poster. He halted, his hand flying to his own face. "How can this be? This person..." He shook his head vehemently. "It's not me. I swear... I was in my room resting all night long."

"So, Mr. Jiang Bai, do you have a twin brother?" Jiang Yu inquired.

"Jiang Bai" shook his head, his expression bewildered.

"You don't look like a local. What brought you here? This Spirit Vale Town is quite isolated, and very few outsiders venture in."

Lu Yan was about to divulge his previous motives when his eyelids flickered, and he cut himself off.

His current identity was Jiang Bai. What if they demanded to see his press credentials? He couldn't afford to expose any of his documents now.

"I heard that the town is hosting a traditional cultural festival, and I came to seek some inspiration," Lu Yan said. "Truth be told, I'm an artist, planning to hold an art exhibition when I go back. I never anticipated to stumble upon something like this as soon as I arrived..."

"A traditional cultural festival?"

The others exchanged puzzled looks. How come they had no clue about it?

"Yes, a traditional cultural festival." Lu Yan produced a flyer from his pocket and showed it to them.

It was the same one he had obtained earlier from the clown girl.

The flyer had transformed, the masks on it still intact, but now accompanied by several lines of blood-red text, announcing the time and location of the cultural festival.

And the cultural festival was slated for the end of this month!

"I suppose you're all outsiders, come here for the festival," Jiang Bai said, fishing for information.

Confronted by Jiang Bai's query, Xi Men Yuan responded, "We've never heard of the Cultural Festival, just heard the scenery was splendid, so we decided to explore it."

"So, are you lot planning to join this Cultural Festival?" Jiang Bai asked.

All of a sudden, Lu Yan concocted a daring idea.

His gaze grew gradually malicious, boring into everyone, a cold smile curling his lips. "Are you planning to join this Cultural Festival?"

At that moment, he was indistinguishable from an ordinary person possessed by a ghost, making the closest tasker recoil in terror. "You..." His words were cut off as Jiang Yu swiftly intervened, shaking his head mutely.

Would taunting a ghost be courting death?

"Are you... going... to the Cultural Festival?"

"Jiang Bai" looked decidedly unhinged, glaring at them fiercely, his face twisted in a snarl, producing an almost inhuman, spine-chilling hiss from his throat.

"You must come after seeing the flyer..."

When dealing with ordinary people, negotiation was still feasible, but when faced with someone inexplicably possessed, the taskers didn't instantly flee, perhaps overestimating their psychological fortitude.

No sooner had the words left his lips than Jiang Bai's eyes rolled back in his head, his body going limp as if he were about to collapse. Jiang Yu, who was nearest to him, swiftly reached out to catch him, but in the next instant, Jiang Bai regained his balance, lifting his head with a bewildered expression.

Jiang Bai pressed his hand to his forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply. He managed to compose himself after a few moments, and flashed a casual smile at the others, apologising for his sudden spell. He said he wanted to go back to his room and rest, and asked them not to mention his name to the police, or he would be in trouble.

As soon as he ascended the stairs, the others resumed their conversation.

"He just now..." someone attempted to bring up Jiang Bai's strange behaviour, but was quickly silenced by a significant look, and changed the subject instead.

They all knew, even if they did not say it out loud, that he was possessed by a ghost.

"A cultural festival? How come I haven't heard anyone else talk about it? And the town seems unaware of it."

"Maybe it's because of the explosion case; everyone's focused on that. This cultural festival might not even happen."

Jiang Yu kept his eyes on Jiang Bai's figure until he vanished down the hallway. Then he said, "Let Lin Chu go and investigate this 'Jiang Bai.'"

Fang Tu nodded slightly, hiding his disappointment, and signalled his agreement.

His gaze had also been riveted on Jiang Bai.

People like him... they would be more interesting if they were ghosts. Cutting them open would be quite a thrill.

Would NPCs possessed by ghosts show any noticeable differences?

Jiang Yu shot him a warning look, "We don't know how dangerous he is yet. Don't get carried away."

With a casual nod and a flourish of his coat, Fang Tu departed.

He reached the door of Lin Chu's room, and without waiting for a reply, barged in. He flashed a sly smile at Lin Chu, who was sitting by the window and jerked her head around in fear. "You have a crush on that NPC, don't you? Well, this is your lucky day."

Lin Chu gasped. "What are you talking about?"

Fang Tu sauntered over and untied the rope from her wrist. His skin was icy, and his soft, slender fingers crept along Lin Chu's skin like a serpent.

He was like a snake slithering in the dark, hissing poison at his quivering victim. "You better know what to say and what not to say."

Lin Chu shuddered. "I... I know, I won't say anything wrong."

Fang Tu escorted Lin Chu to Jiang Bai's residence. He concealed himself at the stairwell, observing Lin Chu knock on the door before leaving with a sigh of relief.

On the other side of the town,

A man cloaked in black sat in a deserted building, with various materials spread out before him. He was rapidly finishing the task at hand.

He knew that his past self would die in this mission, on the day of the Cultural Festival.

So, his self who died at the Cultural Festival came back to the past through a wish, which was now the present. But wishes from the gods were always unreliable, and this wish might result in even more horrific and chaotic outcomes.

He had to stop his past self this time! And he had to survive this Cultural Festival!

With this thought in mind, Lu Yan's movements hastened, and soon, several homemade explosives were once again arranged on the table.

The daylight poured in, casting a faint glow on the cut scars that marred his left cheek, already crusted over and soon to fade.

On the table before him lay a wanted poster, bearing a face identical to his own, except for the scars. Next to it rested a bunch of recently extinguished gunpowder tubes, forged from metal, still emanating heat.

He reached out, pressing the gunpowder tubes against his face.

A searing, scorching pain coursed through him, accompanied by the stench of charred flesh. Lu Yan endured it, slowly recreating the scars.

This time... he had to survive.

In another world.

After bidding farewell to An Ru, Chu Xiu returned to his dwelling.

He had been cohabiting with that idol for over a month now. He should have gotten rid of it swiftly, but all of a sudden, he felt reluctant to do so.

This was a god... How could he desecrate it?

Chu Xiu saw nothing wrong with his actions. With reverence, he polished the idol and placed it on the altar.

(TN: Finally, I reached the 100 chapter!!! Yahoo! And there are too many Lu Yan’s to keep track of.)