CHAPTER 361: CHAPTER 361: SHUTTLE

The Eighteenth Middle School.

After watching Bai Yanliang swallow the pill, Bai Yanren turned his gaze away.

From the earlier incident, he had already discovered the true entrance of the "door"—the mirror.

"Is it done?"

Bai Yanren glanced back at Bai Yanliang.

"Yes."

"Alright, let’s go." Bai Yanren wasted no more time and decisively approached the washbasin, reaching his hand... into the mirror.

Under Bai Yanliang’s gaze, Bai Yanren seemed to submerge into water, quickly swallowed by the mirror’s surface, and instantly vanished.

Bai Yanliang focused his gaze and mimicked Bai Yanren’s actions, also reaching his hand towards the mirror.

The soft touch accompanied by a powerful suction made it hard to break free.

However, Bai Yanliang had no intention of breaking free; he followed the pull of the mirror’s surface and suddenly disappeared in front of it as well...

This place is...

When his vision cleared again, even Bai Yanliang’s pupils contracted.

Undoubtedly, this was still the Eighteenth Middle School.

However... everything here was blood-red.

Blood-red walls, blood-red floors, blood-red everything, along with Bai Yanren standing not far in front of him.

If it were merely a sea of red, it wouldn’t have been enough to tighten Bai Yanliang’s nerves.

Truly, this world was too bizarre.

Everything seemed to have become alive.

The ground beneath him felt like flesh underfoot, and pressing harder would cause blood to ooze out from the surface.

Surrounding walls were bulging with dark red veins, within which some liquid seemed to flow eerily.

Bloodstained everywhere, it was as if this building itself was bleeding...

"We’re too late."

Bai Yanren’s voice echoed.

"What?"

It was Bai Yanliang’s first time stepping into such a place; he didn’t know what Bai Yanren’s words implied.

"This door is already dead."

Because of the medication, Bai Yanren’s tone appeared extremely cold, but Bai Yanliang could still detect a hint of regret.

"Dead, what does that mean?"

"A door can have a host." Bai Yanren turned to look at Bai Yanliang.

"The host of this door has died, and so, it has too," Bai Yanren glanced around, "But... very strange, given the residual aura, the host should have just died, so why hadn’t we heard any disturbance previously?"

At that moment, a dreadful speculation suddenly sprang into Bai Yanliang’s mind.

"Zhang Yun, Zhang Yun?"

Bai Yanliang called out her name in his heart.

"Zhang Yun?"

After calling out again, Bai Yanliang fell silent.

It was indeed her.

She was dead...

Zhang Yun didn’t escape misfortune by just going to the bathroom.

It was because... she was the host of the "door."

Bai Yanliang’s unusual behavior immediately caught Bai Yanren’s attention.

Only by standing next to him could one sense the indescribable feeling; at that moment, Bai Yanliang was like a silent volcano, incredibly intimidating.

The moment Zhang Yun died should have been the moment when her consciousness voluntarily retreated, and he occupied it.

He had killed her consciousness.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Bai Yanren asked in confusion.

This little girl suddenly turned gloomy, and the aura around her made people unwilling to approach.

"Nothing." Bai Yanliang didn’t know how he uttered these two words.

All he knew was that at this moment, he had truly become a murderer.

Although he killed the person who would have died in the original history.

"Then let’s get out."

Bai Yanren did not linger any longer.

Since the condition of the door’s ’death’ had been confirmed, there was no need to continue other tasks.

The two retraced their steps, leaving was much easier than entering.

"Phew..."

Bai Yanren ingested another pill, and his expression quickly relaxed.

"What a pity, the host should have been a student of the Eighteenth Middle School, recently deceased, and this door died along with them, but thankfully, from its scale, it was only a subordinate door. It will coalesce again with time after dispersing." Bai Yanren said while moving his limbs.

"Subordinate door?" Bai Yanliang heard the concept for the first time.

"Yes, you know keys and should know keys have primary and secondary distinctions. Only blood-red keys can be called main keys and open main doors. Other colors are sub-keys that can only open sub-doors." Bai Yanren mentioned another concept unfamiliar to Bai Yanliang.

"We’d better leave here, the door has been destroyed, and ghosts within have already flooded out; the Eighteenth Middle School will definitely become a ghost domain. We should leave quickly while the door’s power hasn’t completely dissipated, spreading to the first-floor area." Bai Yanren advised.

Bai Yanliang fell silent.

Leave?

He had promised Zhang Yun that he would take her out, and now she died because of him. Was he supposed to return to her home with this body?

"Zhang Yun?"

Bai Yanliang called her name once more.

However, there was still no response.

She was truly dead, at least... her consciousness was gone.

I’m sorry...

Bai Yanliang knew that apologies were meaningless, but it was indeed an unintentional mistake.

He couldn’t continue living in Zhang Yun’s body in this time fragment.

"Let’s go." Bai Yanliang spoke.

Bai Yanren looked at him with slight curiosity but eventually didn’t ask any further questions.

It was still raining outside.

Clearly, neither had brought an umbrella, and the pitch-black curtain of rain seemed full of mystery and danger.

"Goodbye, Sister Zhang!"

Bai Yanren waved with a smile, saying goodbye.

Bai Yanliang stared at him dazedly, somewhat absent-minded.

"Goodbye."

Before he had a chance to wave, Bai Yanren had already dashed into the rain and soon disappeared from sight.

"Goodbye..."

Bai Yanliang’s voice was low and melancholic; unlike the tasks in Fog Gathering, this eerie temporal journey was like a dream, without a mission target or compulsory tasks.

Though he hadn’t gained much insight by entering the door, he had already figured out the intricacies within.

On this day ten years ago, no guardian spirit named "Bai Yanliang" existed.

So, Zhang Yun would not die.

After Bai Yanren entered the "door" alone, he would have faced a living door.

Perhaps that was the reason for his mysterious death two days later.

But in this time fragment, everything changed because of Bai Yanliang’s presence.

Bai Yanren discovered nothing, and Zhang Yun inexplicably died.

In front of the dark school building, Bai Yanliang looked up at the fine raindrops.

Now... how could he return to the original world?

Since there was no task, there was no question of completion, naturally ’Fog Gathering’ wouldn’t send him back to his original world.

Perhaps... leaving the vicinity of the Eighteenth Middle School would be enough?

He had high hopes.

His bizarre soul travel occurred within the Eighteenth Middle School area, and its coverage wasn’t extensive.

As long as he left this area or went further away, he should be able to escape this abnormality.

However, after stepping into the rain, his entire body instantly stiffened.

A vast tearing sensation engulfed him, as if trying to split him in half.

What’s going on... Am I... returning?

Amid tremendous pain, Bai Yanliang took another step forward.

He was skilled at enduring hardship, even if he was only a soul.

The raindrops struck his body, white water splashes arcing back toward the sky; he didn’t know how long he walked before the rain suddenly stopped.

Have I returned...?

The first thing Bai Yanliang saw was his own hand, the outline of a key in his palm affirmed it was indeed his own body.

Allen Allan Poe?

Bai Yanliang looked around.

But that glance made his whole body freeze.

He was certain he had just stepped out of the Eighteenth Middle School’s area, but... the unfamiliar surroundings gave him a terrible feeling.

Is this still... Ye City Suburb?

Bright daylight, a bustling crowd, crisscrossing highways, and densely packed buildings.

Bai Yanliang turned around, his pupils shrinking immediately.

At the location that once hosted the Eighteenth Middle School, there was now nothing...

He stood in amazement at everything before him, stopping a young girl passing by.

"Excuse me, what is today’s date?"

The young girl was startled at first, but upon seeing Bai Yanliang’s face, she shyly smiled: "September nineteenth."

September nineteenth... Three months have passed?

No, that’s not right!

Instinctively, he grabbed the girl’s hand and asked: "The year?"

This time, the girl was genuinely frightened, stammering: "It’s... 2029."

Bai Yanliang, as if electrically shocked, released his grip, muttering:

"2029... ten years later..."