The little girl’s expression looked as lifeless as the bunny doll in her hand, and in that instant, Lu Li’s fear surged to the top of her head.
"Are you lying to me?"
The girl suddenly took a step forward. Her voice was light, as if floating in the air, and her pale little face looked exceptionally eerie under the green light.
Trapped in the corridor with the little girl, surrounded by darkness, the child seemed to have abandoned her weak facade and finally bared her fangs.
At that moment, Lu Li was overwhelmed by terror. She gritted her teeth. "I’m not. I’ll take you there right now."
Upon hearing this, the girl’s expression finally shifted. She flashed a massive smile, her voice sounding sweet.
"Okay."
As Lu Li hurriedly led the girl out, she thought she saw Nan Yue and Gu Xiang Kai talking to Xiao Min in the lounge area.
Lu Li hesitated for a moment, wanting to call out to them.
"Big sister."
The girl was still holding Lu Li’s hand. Her grip was ice-cold and unsettling. Lu Li had to suppress her intense fear just to keep holding it.
"Wait for me for a second. I’ll be right back."
The girl did not let go. "Big sister, you know, right? If you find the wrong person, I’ll be angry."
"I’ve been looking for my mommy and daddy for a long time. If you find the wrong person and give me false hope, I will be very, very, very angry."
The girl’s words sounded pitiful, but her tone was so cold and hard that Lu Li could hear the underlying threat.
Lu Li’s heart skipped a beat. If she told the Apartment Manager now but her guess was wrong, the girl could kill her even in broad daylight.
Wasn't Zhang Ping the perfect example?
Besides, if the two people on the bus really were the girl’s parents, she would be fulfilling the girl’s wish. Surely that wouldn't lead to her death?
These thoughts swirled in Lu Li’s chaotic mind. She gritted her teeth and led the girl out the door.
【Ding! Welcome home.】
The weather was exceptionally gloomy today. Lu Li didn't have to wait long with the girl before the bus arrived. Lu Li’s heart was pounding frantically, but she had come too far to turn back.
She felt as if she were holding a time bomb. Every step she took onto the bus was filled with trepidation.
The doors creaked shut behind her. The bus was silent, so quiet that Lu Li felt a sudden urge to jump out and run.
But she was an experienced scavenger and knew that the more dangerous a situation was, the more she had to avoid provoking the supernatural. She could only speak with a stiff voice.
"Look and see. Are these your parents?"
The bus sat quietly in place. After Lu Li spoke, the woman who had been knitting looked up. When she saw the little girl, her wrinkled eyes instantly turned red.
"Tiantian... Tiantian! My baby!"
"Mommy!"
The little girl let go of Lu Li’s hand and threw herself into the woman’s arms. The mother and daughter began to wail loudly.
The driver, who had been sitting in the cab, approached them at some point. He wiped away tears with one hand while stroking the top of the girl’s head with the other.
Standing to the side, Lu Li breathed a massive sigh of relief. She was right!
They really were the girl’s parents!
"Oh, it’s all my fault and your father’s fault. We didn't notice you slipping off the bus at the South Lake stop. You don't know how crazy your father and I went looking for you. We only found out later that you had drowned in South Lake."
The woman held her child and cried with heartbreaking sorrow. Standing nearby, Lu Li also felt a twinge of sadness.
The woman’s leg seemed to have a problem that prevented her from working, so she accompanied her husband on his driving shifts, doing handicrafts on the side to earn money.
It seemed that while the child was playing on the bus, they hadn't noticed her running off. By the time they found her, her body had already become bloated from the lake water.
No wonder the little girl’s face was so pale and her hands so cold. It was all because she had drowned.
Lu Li didn't dare make a sound, quietly waiting for the family of three to finish their reunion.
"Mommy, it’s this big sister. This big sister helped me find you."
The little girl acted spoiled in the woman’s arms, pointing her finger at Lu Li. Lu Li instinctively tensed up.
"Is that so? What a good person. Thank you, thank you so much!"
The woman moved as if to kneel before Lu Li. Lu Li didn't dare accept such a gesture and quickly supported her.
The driver beside them also kept offering his thanks. The harmonious scene allowed Lu Li to relax slightly.
"Mommy, I like this big sister. I want her to stay with me forever."
The smile froze on Lu Li’s face. She looked at the little girl in disbelief, only to see the child give her a playful wink, though her eyes were filled with mockery and malice.
Lu Li knew something was wrong and turned to flee. She heard the woman’s gentle voice from behind her. "Of course. Mommy will give Tiantian whatever she wants."
Before Lu Li could break a window to escape, she felt something freezing cold press against her back. In the next second, a massive amount of turbid, filthy lake water inexplicably surged into the bus.
In an instant, the water submerged the cabin. Lu Li struggled desperately in the water. Through her blurred vision, she saw the family of three sitting neatly in the water, motionless, smiling as they watched her.
The three of them smiled with the same expression, watching Lu Li slowly die in the silty lake water.
...
Xiao Min was gone for about an hour. During this time, Gu Xiang Kai didn't dare leave. Nan Yue went to Chi He’s room once, but no one answered the door, and even Granny Zhao wasn't there.
When Xiao Min returned, she had a smile on her face and a very polite attitude. "Mr. Gu, we have verified the situation. There was indeed a safety hazard with the tenant on your floor. We have resolved it now, so please rest easy."
Gu Xiang Kai let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Then my neighbor..."
Xiao Min’s smile remained unchanged. "He has already checked out."
Gu Xiang Kai and Nan Yue exchanged a look, their hearts settling.
This was indeed a path to survival.
Now only she and Lu Li were left, but Lu Li had gone out with the little girl and was likely facing a grim fate.
The ghosts in this mission were experts at using fear to seize a scavenger’s mind and force them into making irrational decisions.
Nan Yue stepped outside to take a look without much hope. From a distance, she could see the bus parked by the roadside.
Unlike the well-maintained bus Nan Yue had seen before, this parked vehicle looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. Even the wheel hubs were covered in rust.
Nan Yue saw at a glance that the bus was filled with murky water. A corpse was floating up and down inside. Judging by the clothes, it was Lu Li.
She sighed and looked away.
As evening approached, Nan Yue didn't eat dinner. She waited alone on the 7th floor.
No one had cleaned up Zhang Qingyang’s body, so the 7th floor had a thick scent of blood. Nan Yue acted as if she couldn't smell it or see the corpse, standing quietly in the corridor.
It wasn't until nine o'clock that the elevator stopped on the 7th floor.
The crisp sound of stiletto heels hitting marble echoed as Qingqing walked into the corridor, swaying her slender hips. She raised an eyebrow when she saw Nan Yue.
"Are you... the tenant from the 8th floor?"
Nan Yue looked up and went straight to the point.
"I know who harmed your friend."
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