Chapter 107: Raising Hands to the Moon

“Ah, damn it!”

The newcomer clutched his forehead, and the joy of seeing a familiar face instantly turned into a groan of pain as he approached Tongguan.

He sized him up and said awkwardly, “Looks like you’re not doing so well.”

Tongguan looked at the lively, joke-cracking youth before him and felt a genuine sense of relief.

“Yu Guo, how did you get here?”

The youth with the swollen forehead was none other than Yu Guo, who had been separated from them by the ghost after leaving South Mountain.

Like Tongguan, when he opened his eyes, he found himself trapped at the bottom of a well, smooth rock walls surrounding him, faint moonlight filtering in from above.

Over this time, he had tried to climb out several times, but, like Tongguan, had made no progress. So he focused on the nearby rock wall.

Unlike Tongguan, who had given up quickly, Yu Guo was relentless.

For reasons unknown, this jumpy, unpredictable youth carried a folding shovel in his backpack. The tool allowed him, in moments of boredom, to continually chip away at the rock.

At first, it seemed futile—sparks flew when the iron struck, but the surface remained unscathed. He realized this was due to supernatural forces.

Yet Yu Guo was convinced this was the way out and kept trying different approaches. His backpack was full of strange tools: the previous eavesdropping device, the folding shovel for tomb-raiding, gunpowder, fuses…

While others carried weapons or food, Yu Guo’s tools were unconventional, but now they proved useful.

Still, mere physical effort alone couldn’t move the rock, only turning the bottom of the well into a smoky mess.

The breakthrough came with timing.

Squatting in front of Tongguan, puffing on a cigarette with manic enthusiasm, Yu Guo looked almost like a lunatic, making Tongguan frown repeatedly.

“I discovered something. About every thirty minutes, moonlight shines straight into my well for roughly five minutes, then starts shifting to the right. While it moves, I realized the rock walls can be broken!”

Hearing this, Tongguan hurriedly stood, tiptoeing to look up at the sky. He recalled the timing, and indeed, when Yu Guo was digging, moonlight had been shining straight into his well.

In other words, Yu Guo and Tongguan were adjacent. When moonlight reached Tongguan’s well, Yu Guo could break the wall—revealing a pattern for escape.

Yu Guo grinned proudly. Despite his reckless, thrill-seeking nature, his abilities were undeniable, and luck often favored him.

Tongguan lingered, looked at the damaged wall to his left, and slowly extended his hand.

From his position, the gap appeared pitch-black, almost void-like. Yet as his palm approached, he felt tangible resistance, as if an invisible barrier blocked him.

It seemed only when the moonlight shifted to illuminate his well again could they break another wall and possibly reach the other trapped staff.

Tongguan patted Yu Guo’s shoulder with satisfaction. Previously, he had been unable to find a way to reunite with Chang Nian; now he had confirmation.

The staff were trapped in a void-like space, one well leading to another. By tracking the movement of the moonlight, they could navigate to adjacent wells within limited time.

Tongguan calmed himself, explaining his theory about the elderly woman being the real ghost to Yu Guo.

After pondering, Yu Guo nodded firmly. “Yes, this seems to align all the existing clues.”

But Tongguan’s brow furrowed again as he looked at the wall before him. “I still don’t understand… why did the ghost trap us without killing us?”

“Don’t overthink it. Let’s gather everyone first,” Yu Guo said, rising and readying his shovel.

Meanwhile, another male staff member trapped in a well remained unconscious.

His thick-rimmed glasses were gone, revealing his pale face in raw detail. His eyes were tightly shut, but beneath the lids, his pupils darted frantically.

It was as if some force forbade him from opening his eyes.

He curled up in the cold, damp well, shivering, hands wrapped around himself. The endless chill and dreamlike visions consumed his perception.

Since being pulled into the well by the ghost, he had remained in this state.

His mind stayed clear, aware of the oppressive cold below, instinctively holding himself for warmth—but he could not awaken.

This was not because the ghost prevented him, but because of something else within his own body…

On the man’s trembling left palm, the distinctive black eyeball tattoo had vanished.

But this did not mean it was gone—it signaled that it was about to awaken, about to break free.

The man saw the dream again. He was trapped in a pitch-black room, thick black fog pressing in from all sides.

The world had abandoned him. The only thing he could grasp in his palm was the remaining darkness.

Eyes…

Countless pairs of eyes were staring at him. In the darkness, he was pierced by tens of thousands of gazes.

He felt an overwhelming pressure, threatening to stop his heart. Half-kneeling, he refused to open his eyes.

He did not know the consequence of meeting those eyes, but some distant voice whispered:

Open your eyes, and you will no longer be yourself.

Yet another voice contradicted it:

Open your eyes, and you will meet a whole new you.

These two voices echoed in his skull, like drumsticks striking his taut nerves again and again, threatening to shatter them.

At that moment, in reality, his eyelashes twitched. A small insect crawled onto his cheek.

Near his eyelid, it bit back and forth, treating him as if he were already dead.

Under the unbearable itch and sting, he suddenly opened his eyes!

In reality, his eyes flung the insect away. In the dream, his gaze merged with those countless red eyes.

Scrape

The fabric of his clothes rubbed against the ground as he stood. The wound on his neck went unnoticed in that instant.

He slowly raised his left hand, lifting his head to the moonlight above.

On the back of his left hand, an eyeball had suddenly appeared, staring at the bright, full moon as intently as he did.