He could no longer fly.
Jiang Lin paused, glancing at the little girl in his arms, his expression turning peculiar.
Although he had heard of such situations, this was his first encounter.
This world was a manifestation of her spiritual realm.
Everything would change according to her will.
As long as she believed ordinary people couldn't fly, then no ordinary person in this place would be able to.
And when he had jumped off the building with her just now, she probably hadn't had time to react.
Now that she had come to her senses, he naturally ‘could not fly’ anymore.
His feet suddenly felt incredibly heavy.
Having been a ghost for hundreds of years, Jiang Lin had almost forgotten this sensation.
He started running towards the community entrance again, pondering how to change the little girl's mindset.
*Chirp, chirp, chirp—*
A faint sound came from the air.
It sounded like the collision of wings.
The little girl immediately tensed up, "I, let's go back quickly, it's very dangerous outside."
"We'll lose our lives!"
Jiang Lin knew it was bad.
As expected, in the next second, a pitch-black bat swooped out of the darkness.
Jiang Lin's eyes sharpened, he seized the opportunity and grabbed it.
*Splat!*
The bat exploded in his hand, leaving only a spray of blood.
*Chirp, chirp, chirp—*
*Chirp, chirp, chirp—*
From the surrounding dark buildings, continuous sounds arose.
Pairs of scarlet eyes appeared densely in the dark windows.
As the clouds in the sky shifted, illuminated by the blood moon.
Swarms of bats poured out from the floors, spreading their wings and baring their fangs.
Their scarlet eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light.
The little girl in his arms trembled more intensely, she shook Jiang Lin's arm and said urgently:
"Quick, go back inside, hide inside, and they won't find us."
"Don't be afraid, they can't hurt you."
Jiang Lin quickened his pace, dodging the bats while finding opportunities to speak to the girl.
"Bats are just animals, they can fly and emit sound waves. Nothing to be afraid of."
"One slap each, like swatting mosquitoes."
"Mosquitoes, you know them, right? Buzzing in the summer, you can kill them with insecticide..."
"No, it's different!" the girl interrupted, her voice turning sharp with fear:
"They drink blood, everyone will be drained dry!"
*Chirp, chirp, chirp—*
More and more bats flew out under the blood moon.
"Go back! Go back! Only by staying quietly inside can we survive!"
She muttered to herself, gradually immersing herself in her own world:
"Be good, don't make a sound, don't make a sound... yes, or you'll die."
As her words fell, the ground beneath them began to shake.
*Rumble—*
The road leading to the community gate started to disappear.
And where it vanished, bottomless black holes formed, swallowing everything on the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the black holes reached their feet.
The live stream screen went black.
...
"Holy crap, what's going on?! My scalp is crawling!"
"Where is this? What's happening?"
"Please, please, host, be safe!"
The viewers in the live stream were both tense and confused.
The scenes unfolding before them did not resemble the human world at all.
Yet the girl and the buildings had a human-like style.
Why couldn't the host fly anymore?
Where was the ghostly aura?
What was going on?
"Could this be a ghost realm? Only a ghost realm would have its own space and such strange phenomena?"
"This scene, it's somewhat similar to a nightmare I had before... it scared me awake directly."
"..."
Roland Community, Room 1502.
Shen Jie, huddled under his covers, watched the scene on his phone, a chill running down his spine.
"This, this community looks so much like..."
Except for being all Building Nine, the common areas inside were almost identical.
"It must be an illusion, an illusion, or just a coincidence."
"Yeah, it just looks the same, so many communities, maybe they're from the same designer."
He mumbled, taking a few deep breaths.
He quietly moved the blanket aside a crack and peeked out the bedroom window.
Outside the window, the moonlight was hazy.
The night wind blew, bringing a chill.
There was no blood moon at all.
Just then, a light suddenly appeared on the black screen of his phone.
Immediately after, the camera in the live stream changed, and a bedroom appeared on the screen.
And that light originated from the crack under the door.
In the confined space, tense and suppressed breathing could be heard.
Everything seemed to have returned to the beginning.
...
Jiang Lin stood before the sky-blue bed. Everything around him was as it had been before.
The off-white desk, the sky-blue curtains, the pink alarm clock on the bedside table...
Outside the door, there was the sound of heavy objects landing, followed by something being dragged into the kitchen.
The sound of chopping meat, *deng deng deng*, came from outside.
This time, Jiang Lin did not go directly to find the little girl.
Instead, he stood his ground, calmly reviewing the entire process from the last time.
Whether it was the swarms of bats or the suddenly disappearing ground, they posed no real threat.
The main reason was the little girl.
She was afraid to go out, afraid of being discovered.
Why?
What danger was outside?
Jiang Lin walked to the bedroom door and opened it a crack.
Outside the bedroom was the living room, and one side of the living room led to the kitchen.
From here, he could only see half of the kitchen door.
*Deng deng deng—!*
The piercing sound continued, and he could even hear the sound of blood splashing.
With the commotion in the kitchen, a large dark shadow appeared on the half-visible kitchen door.
The shadow was like a colossal beast, holding something and exerting force continuously.
Once, twice, thrice...
From time to time, something would splash onto that half-door.
The viewers in the live stream gasped at the sight:
"Midnight ghost stories are nothing compared to this..."
"Wuwuwu, why am I watching this so late at night."
"I'll tell you something scary, the host is also a ghost, and this is an underworld live stream."
After the initial scalp-crawling fear,
some viewers began to analyze based on the information they had gathered.
"From what we can see now, this should be a ghost realm, and there are many restrictions.
And that little girl, she should be some kind of core entity here?
As long as she believes in something, it will happen."
"So, as long as we control the little girl, won't that solve it?" a viewer replied.
"If only it were that simple. But no matter how you look at the previous scene, the host's choice was to protect the little girl."
To harm someone is simple.
But to protect, the difficulty level is much higher.
If it were that simple, they wouldn't be in this situation now.
...