“Huh? What's going on!”
“Why did that direction become behind us?!”
“Weren't we just running away?!”
Exclamations of shock and uncertainty rippled through the crowd.
No one could understand it. They had clearly been sprinting away from the sanatorium, so why was it suddenly right in front of them again?
Some instinctively turned to run again.
“Don't move! And definitely don't run!” Gan Shuang shouted to stop them, his honest face filled with solemnity.
“We can't be sure if running in another direction will just bring us even closer to the sanatorium.”
Zhao Huaisha looked at Gan Shuang. “This situation... do you have any clues?”
Every eye was fixed on Gan Shuang.
“How could I have any clues? You're giving me too much credit,” Gan Shuang said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.
However, he didn't panic. After a moment of contemplation, he said, “Just stay here for now. Don't move.”
With that, he took a few cautious steps alone in the direction opposite the crowd—away from the sanatorium.
He walked very slowly, his eyes fixed ahead.
Then, in the briefest of blinks, he saw the silhouettes of the ruined buildings in the Chaos Zone ahead warp and distort like a reflection in water, transforming into the eerie main building of the Qingshan Sanatorium!
Gan Shuang gasped and whipped his head around to look behind him—
His teammates and the sinister Qingshan Sanatorium were now all directly in front of him!
Instead of increasing the distance, those few steps had actually moved him closer to the sanatorium!
His teammates, who had been behind him, were now staring at him in shock as he suddenly appeared in front of them.
“Gan Shuang, how... how did you get ahead of us?” someone cried out.
At that moment, a team member tremblingly pulled out a small supernatural detector and scanned the surroundings.
As soon as the indicator light flickered on, it began to flash a piercing red and emitted a sharp, blaring alarm. No matter which direction it was pointed, the result was the same.
“Every direction... the supernatural aura fluctuations in every direction have exceeded the detection limit of the device!” The member's voice was full of shock.
Gan Shuang walked back into the crowd with a grim expression. Despite only taking a few steps back, he discovered to his despair that the distance between himself and the sanatorium had shortened once more.
“We seem to be trapped in a supernatural domain,” he said in a low voice. “No matter which direction we move, we are actively approaching that building.”
Zhao Huaisha frowned deeply. “How can this be? The records clearly state that the supernatural domain only begins once you step through the sanatorium gates! Why is the area a hundred meters outside also covered? Could it be... that the Qingshan Sanatorium's range has expanded?”
“There's another possibility,” Gan Shuang's voice dropped. “The Director is behind this!”
Yue Shi had once used his Insight vision to see the specific effects of the Director's ability, Dictatorial Domain. However, these people from headquarters only knew that the Director could set rules; they didn't know the extent of what he could do.
No one noticed that in the shadows of a corner, several small ravens were quietly watching this spreading despair.
Gan Shuang's face was incredibly pale. He was now several meters closer to the sanatorium than the others.
“What do we do now?” everyone asked nervously.
Whether it was the expansion of the supernatural domain or the Director manipulating the rules, it meant they were already in grave danger.
“We'll deal with changes as they come,” Gan Shuang suggested, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness.
“Moving blindly will only make things worse. We'll stay here and wait for Captain Lyu to come out.” This was the only seemingly safe option at the moment.
Zhao Huaisha grew anxious. “But we saw on the containment vehicle's screen that Captain Lyu might be in trouble! Are we just going to sit here and wait?”
Gan Shuang tried to calm her down. “The footage we saw might not be real; it could be something a supernatural creature wanted us to see. You're blinded by worry. If something happened that even Captain Lyu couldn't handle, us going in would just be suicide.”
Zhao Huaisha bit her lip. Her intelligence was barely holding on, and she finally relented.
Everyone remained in place, feeling uneasy. They instinctively kept a bit of distance from one another as they watched the environment grow increasingly dim, beginning their agonizing wait.
Time seemed to become thick and sluggish; every second felt incredibly long. Many people kept looking down at their watches, trying to gain a sense of security from the ticking numbers.
Just then—
“Bzzzt... Bzzzt...”
The sudden vibration of a phone rang out, sounding exceptionally piercing in the dead silence.
It was Zhao Huaisha's phone.
She instinctively pulled it out. The caller ID on the screen was... Captain Lyu!
She immediately answered, asking urgently, “Captain! How are you?”
Lyu Huan's steady voice came from the other end. “Everyone, enter the Qingshan Sanatorium immediately.”
Zhao Huaisha was startled. “Captain, what happened?”
“I've discovered a third-party force intervening,” Lyu Huan said. “I might need your help.”
“Understood. All the transcendents and I will be there shortly,” Zhao Huaisha said without hesitation.
However, Lyu Huan added, “Have the non-combat personnel come in as well.”
“Huh?” Zhao Huaisha stammered.
“It's safer inside the sanatorium than outside right now.” Lyu Huan offered only that explanation before the call disconnected.
Zhao Huaisha immediately looked up and shouted to the group, “I've received orders from Captain Lyu! Everyone is to enter the sanatorium immediately to provide support. A third-party force is causing trouble inside. Non-combatants are to come as well; it's safer inside than out here.”
This command stunned everyone. Gan Shuang, in particular, frowned and questioned, “Zhao Huaisha, was that really Captain Lyu you just spoke to? Are you sure it wasn't a supernatural creature mimicking his voice to lure us all to our deaths? This is far too unusual!”
“Of course it was Captain Lyu! Do you think I'd misidentify his voice?” Zhao Huaisha's tone was agitated. Her excessive concern for Lyu Huan's safety had clouded her usual judgment.
“What if the Captain really needs support? If the mission fails or the Captain gets into danger because of our hesitation, who will take responsibility? Are you going to disobey orders? Do you not trust Captain Lyu's judgment!”
Her words struck everyone's hearts like a heavy hammer. No one could bear the guilt of disobeying orders or standing by while the Captain was in danger.
Furthermore, recalling the tragedy inside the containment vehicle and the fact that moving in any direction brought them closer to the sanatorium, various bizarre phenomena suggested that it truly wasn't safe outside.
Ultimately, under Zhao Huaisha's insistence, the team from headquarters began to walk toward the gates of the Qingshan Sanatorium step by step, filled with doubt and fear—including the trembling non-combatants.
Zhao Huaisha took a deep breath to suppress the unease in her heart. Leading by example, she walked at the very front.
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