See the Law of Deception

Chapter 144 The Substitute

Chapter 144 The Substitute (18)

The last half hour was particularly difficult to endure; time seemed to be slowed down, and even though nothing unexpected happened, it still made people feel restless.

They were positioned closest to the station, but due to some restrictions, they couldn't go directly to where they got off; they always had to maintain a distance from each other.

The sky was like a curtain hanging above, obscuring the stars and the moon, not casting down a single ray of light. The city, which should have shone brightly at night, seemed to be silenced, everything swallowed by darkness. In this vast world, only three faint beams of light, like ants, illuminated the edge of the city.

But these three ants were already teetering on the brink of death.

Qin Wan's phone suddenly got hot, but she wasn't a novice. Even though the phone was as hot as a red-hot iron, she didn't let go of it at all.

However, the anomaly didn't stop just because she didn't let go. Perhaps this "accident" didn't give the ghost the result it wanted. In just three or four seconds, the next accident occurred.

Qin Wan's phone flashlight stopped working.

The phone can still be turned on, but the flashlight is not working.

Next up were Zhou Ziming and Lu Jinzhao.

Three faint beams of light vanished into the darkness one after another, leaving only the negligible glow emanating from the phone screen.

"coming."

Zhou Ziming's voice was particularly clear in the darkness, and Lu Jinzhao followed up with, "Try not to wander around."

She remembered the positions of the others. The dark environment was clearly disadvantageous for them. If someone wandered off, she would no longer be able to confirm whether the person appearing in the darkness was a teammate.

In ordinary darkness, even the faint light from a mobile phone screen could slightly illuminate the environment ahead, but now, the light source penetrates no more than a meter and is extremely dim.

Why didn't the ghost turn off the phone screen's light completely?

The moment the question popped into Lu Jinzhao's mind, the answer came to her.

Ghosts need them to avoid being completely enveloped in darkness; they need them so that they can at least recognize the faces and voices of their companions.

"Lu Jinzhao." She heard someone call her name.

It was Qin Wan's voice.

However, the sound did not originate from where Qin Wan should be, so she did not respond.

But the next second, another voice of Qin Wan called her name, but the location was neither the same as the previous voice nor the same as Qin Wan herself!

Lu Jinzhao's heart sank. Two fake Qin Wans?
Or did Qin Wan really disobey her and wander around?
But she didn't hear any obvious footsteps. At that distance, with the person right next to her, she shouldn't have missed them.
But she didn't hear any footsteps approaching the ghost.

Before these stand-ins were exposed, they were no different from humans. Their footsteps, shadows, voices, and even body temperatures were normal. But now, things have changed.

"Is it because they've already been exposed, or because time is running out?"

While Lu Jinzhao was still pondering, he heard Qin Wan's voice once again, and this time, it came from the place where the real Qin Wan should be.

"Oh no, my bad luck has come."

Qin Wan couldn't precisely plan the timing of misfortune as she could when she borrowed good fortune, because she wasn't strong enough.

In her perception, the misfortune would only last about five minutes. Five minutes is not short, but it's not long either. If she timed it right, she might be able to get through it safely.
Just twenty more minutes and the train would have arrived, but of all times, misfortune struck.

This is the worst possible time.

"Don't panic, don't move. By the way, did you hear that? Is someone calling our names?"

Should we move closer together?

Although the three of them were not far apart originally, after the phone flashlights went out, the not-so-distant distance seemed to be covered by an invisible hood, and they could no longer see each other at all.

“Okay.” Lu Jinzhao agreed first, but then she said, “You two don’t move, I’m coming closer to you.”

She couldn't trust her teammates; she could only trust herself.

As she spoke, she shifted her position to ensure her teammates could hear her changes and confirm her identity. In such darkness, once they confused who was real and who was fake, it became truly difficult to tell the difference.

Fortunately, the three of them were not far apart, just a few steps away. Lu Jinzhao walked between Zhou Ziming and Qin Wan, and the faint light from their phone screens was finally able to illuminate each other.

"Let's get a little closer," Qin Wan said nervously. After confirming that they could see each other, she took a few steps forward.

At this moment, she was undoubtedly the most worried. After misfortune strikes, anything is possible. Just as Du Yu could fall flat on her face, so could she, and it might even be more serious.

She slowly walked to a position a little in front of Lu Jinzhao and Zhou Ziming. Now, the three of them formed a close triangle, facing each other. The faint light from the phone screen was enough to illuminate them, and they wouldn't get separated.

The premise is that, as always, the ghost does not use physical means to attack.

Half a minute had passed since Qin Wan's misfortune struck.

Apart from the phone flashlight suddenly malfunctioning and the ghosts appearing, nothing worse has happened except for the fact that I'm just calling their names for some reason.

"Four and a half minutes left"

Qin Wan's heart pounded. If she had to pinpoint the most tense and fearful moment when she entered the platform, it would be when misfortune struck.

In these situations, she has to do everything she can to survive. Several times, she wouldn't have made it out of the woods if it weren't for her teammates' help.

Misfortune is truly terrifying.

"I hope I can survive this time too. As long as I can maintain this state, I should be fine."

Qin Wan prayed silently.

She looked at the composed faces of her two teammates and watched the time tick by on her phone screen.
"Oh, you're all here?"

A playful, grinning voice suddenly came from her shoulder.

Qin Wan felt a chill run through her body.

She felt a hand land on her shoulder, like a friend holding onto her shoulder. Then, the person's head popped in, between the three of them, with its neck stretched out unnaturally to allow it to squeeze in.

She was smiling, but her smile was so strange. Her downturned eyes and the exaggerated upward curve of her mouth made her look like a bizarre and terrifying portrait.

What made Qin Wan even more uncomfortable was that this person, with a face exactly like hers, was making such a strange expression.

Then, another familiar voice came from her other shoulder, in Lu Jinzhao's voice: "What are you doing?"

Then, Zhou Ziming's voice squeezed in through the last gap.

"Is it a game? Why don't you let us play together?"

"Want to play?"

The stand-ins began to talk to each other.

Do you want to play?

"I want to play."

Do you want to play?

"I want to play it, it looks like a lot of fun."

"Let's play a game."

"bring it on."