Chapter 89: Falling into Hell

“Although our escape wasn’t exactly reckless, it was far too easy. Using the flaming blade to break the cocoon had nothing to do with us.”

After a brief assessment, Tongguan shared his thoughts.

The two of them were still sprinting in one direction; too much had happened tonight.

Chang Nian considered it and nodded slightly. In truth, their survival had little to do with themselves.

Tongguan had already realized this and turned to her. “Why were you attacked in the first place?”

Chang Nian seemed to have anticipated the question. Without hesitation, she replied:

“The first time I was attacked, I asked how this ghost came into existence. Xiao Lan’s answer was vague, and didn’t really answer my question.

The second attack occurred just as Xiao Lan was about to reveal a deeper clue—maybe that was the important hint.”

“What?”

“She said this ghost comes from among us, and also leaves among us.

Xiao Lan seemed to feel guilty, as if she owed something to that female ghost…”

By now, the meaning was clear. From Xiao Lan’s words, it could be inferred that tonight’s target wasn’t the hotel staff—but Xiao Lan herself.

Or another way to see it: the red cloth cocoon wasn’t meant to kill Chang Nian, but to trap her.

Because once Chang Nian was restrained, Tongguan would be delayed as well. And Xiao Lan, at this point, was the most important source of information.

She was fleeing alone into an unknown darkness.

Tongguan had realized this the moment Chang Nian had been ensnared by the red cloth. He estimated she wasn’t in immediate danger, but he couldn’t gamble. The cocoon could only be broken from the outside.

He knew the ghost’s intentions but still had to be outmaneuvered. Now, all he hoped for was to extract some useful information from Xiao Lan before she met her death.

Whether she could be saved was no longer his concern.

“She’s still moving, which means she hasn’t perished yet. At least she’s alive—we still have a chance!” Tongguan held the radar in one hand and the knife in the other.

The darkness ahead was unfamiliar—a street he had never walked before. Surrounding buildings thinned out, resembling a road leading out of town. Tongguan wondered why Xiao Lan would flee here.

Or perhaps—what was she running from?

From her previous words, the female ghost wasn’t malicious toward her. If she wasn’t hiding from the ghost, then she wasn’t avoiding Tongguan and Chang Nian either—they’d barely even met.

“She’s avoiding the Li Mansion?”

That seemed likely. From their first encounter, Tongguan had suspected the Li Mansion could control the living. Perhaps the maids had been poisoned as well.

If Xiao Lan was determined to die, simply to escape the Li Mansion, then after burning paper offerings for the female ghost tonight, she carried the resolve to meet her end.

Tongguan realized the root of the tragedy lay with the Li Mansion. Perhaps Xiao Lan had overheard or glimpsed some secret information and concealed it, causing even greater misfortune. It may also explain why the mansion now had so few people present.

“So she’s trying to commit suicide…”

The radar confirmed it—Xiao Lan had stopped moving, somewhere just ahead!

Tongguan’s heart raced. Tonight had been a preplanned operation, meant to yield a breakthrough, but if Xiao Lan died now, they would only have vague, incomplete information. Such an outcome was unacceptable.

“Move! Only twenty meters!”

Tongguan and Chang Nian understood the gravity of the situation. Their only option was to rush forward, hoping to extract whatever information they could from Xiao Lan in her final moments.

They were now at the outskirts of the town, near the back hills.

White ceremonial objects from frequent funerals littered the area. Tongguan glanced at them, linking them to the Li Mansion’s constant funeral activities.

Wind blew the white silk ribbons from the tree branches, creating a rustling, whistling sound.

Suppressing his unease, Tongguan gripped the knife tightly, searching for Xiao Lan’s exact location.

“The radar shows she’s right nearby.”

Yet despite circling the forest within ten steps twice, neither Tongguan nor Chang Nian could spot her.

The paper offerings had mixed with fallen leaves, evidence of the Li Mansion’s frequent funeral rituals.

Tongguan’s expression tightened. The radar showed Xiao Lan close, but after so many rounds, she was nowhere to be seen.

Had the ghost killed her instead of her committing suicide?

He shook his head to clear his foggy thoughts, stepped back two paces, leaning against a sturdy tree, deep in contemplation.

Then he suddenly heard a faint sound above…

The sound was faint, like something lightly striking a tree trunk. If Tongguan hadn’t been leaning against the solid wood, transmitting the sound through it, he would never have noticed.

He slowly lifted his head, tilting it upward to look directly above him.

What met his eyes were a pair of feet swaying in the air.

Tongguan’s scalp went numb. He hunched his neck back, squinting carefully—and realized it was a hanging body.

The owner of those pink shoes was Xiao Lan.

Suddenly, everything made sense. That’s why he had never been able to locate her—she had been right above them all along.

He hurriedly reached for her ankles, checking for warmth. Relief spread across his face.

She was still warm. Xiao Lan was half-dead, but alive.

Overjoyed, Tongguan quickly called Chang Nian over. Together, they cut the rope and gently lowered Xiao Lan.

Cradling her, they began emergency treatment. After several attempts, her color improved.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Tongguan’s anxious face, tense with the fear of missing critical clues.

Weakly, but with a flicker of excitement, she whispered: “Brother… is that you?”

Tongguan froze, exchanging a glance with Chang Nian.

Chang Nian frowned and quietly said, “It’s likely a near-death hallucination—she’s mistaking you for her brother.”

“Don’t… don’t drink the water from the mansion…”

Xiao Lan’s voice was thin, barely audible, broken and fragmented. Tongguan and Chang Nian strained to hear, about to ask again when suddenly…

Tongguan noticed in Xiao Lan’s pupils the reflection of a black-haired woman in a red robe, floating in the air.

Alarm surged through him. He tried to act—but the ghost was faster.

Xiao Lan’s neck snapped in midair. Bones pierced through her skin, and blood sprayed across Tongguan and Chang Nian.

Her expression, and the crucial clue she had tried to convey, were extinguished with her life—dragged straight into hell.