With a pop, the TV turned off. The pitch-black screen reflected the shadows of eight people huddled together, their blurred faces floating faintly above the sofa.
With another pop, the TV ca back on. The man with black hair, still motionless with his back to them, gradually moved backward toward them.
Nu Yue switched the TV on and off two more tis. When the screen lit up again, Ji Shanqing said in a low voice, "There's no need to try again. Even if the TV is off, the Blue Wall Watcher's retreat won't stop. It's clearly a timing thod."
"I wish I hadn't turned the TV on," she muttered, throwing the remote away.
Even if she hadn't turned the TV on, there would have been other ways to drag them in since they were already in this world. No one blad her, but for a mont, no one said anything—they were all staring at the back of the head on the screen as it slowly got closer, entrapped in frozen silence. The bird calls outside the window were unusually clear and sharp, as if they were deliberately put up against the window for them to hear.
"We need to hurry. Judging from the Blue Wall Watcher's speed and distance, we only have about fifteen minutes before he reaches the cara. Once the ti is up, he might turn around," Ji Shanqing said, tightening his grip on Lin Sanjiu's hand. "In such a short ti, the eight of us must split up to have a chance to search the whole town."
"Do we... do we have to split up?" soone countered. "Wouldn't that be too dangerous?"
"For us, the real danger cos when the man on the TV turns his head," Ji Shanqing said. "But... we can split into pairs. It's safer that way."
"Between each group, the straight-line distance should not exceed three hundred ters," Silvan said, his steady attitude reassuring everyone. "If there's danger, send out a signal. I'll be there imdiately."
"People with communicators and those without should form a team," Lin Sanjiu quickly added. Ji Shanqing had already given Silvan a communicator, so the remaining three hitchhiking posthumans could each be paired with soone with a communicator. As for him, naturally, he would be paired with her.
"Sis, I don't have the data of this world," he whispered to Lin Sanjiu as they set off, "We may be very far from the universe where the Data Stream Library is."
By the ti everyone had dispersed, it had been less than two minutes since they first saw the Blue Wall Watcher on the TV. Everything had happened too fast, and Lin Sanjiu was still a bit slow to react to the situation; it wasn't until she kicked open the door of the house next door that she finally asked, "We have no clues and the town is so large. If we search randomly, I'm afraid fifteen minutes won't be enough, right?"
"Yes," Ji Shanqing said thoughtfully, standing behind her. "This thod of searching by opening each door is clumsy. Unless we're extrely lucky, it's unlikely we'll find anything within fifteen minutes."
"What do we do now?" Lin Sanjiu asked as she walked in with large strides, scanning the area. "No one is on the first floor. I'll check the kitchen."
The grand prize ca to his senses, quickly trotting to catch up with her, grabbing the hem of her clothes. "During this process, I might find so hidden clues. Sis, you don't look for people. You look for blue walls."
Lin Sanjiu paused, understanding imdiately. If they were looking for people, there were too many places to search: under the bed, under the sofa, inside wall cabinets... People could hide anywhere, which would greatly slow their search. Since the blue wall was a key decisive factor, they just needed to find it—how could there be a Blue Wall Watcher without a blue wall?
Speeding up, she confird within seconds that there was no Blue Wall Watcher in this house. They went back downstairs and quickly strode out of the house. As they passed through the living room, the TV screen 'popped' and lit up again. On the screen, the man was still sitting in front of a blue wall, the back of his head slowly moving closer to them.
"Don't look," Lin Sanjiu said as she grabbed the grand prize. "You said it yourself. It's just a tir. Let's go."
They searched the next house in the sa manner, and another TV screen lit up, but apart from that, they found neither blue walls nor any clues. Just as they were preparing to continue, a woman's distant scream suddenly ca from the communicator on Lin Sanjiu's waist.
"I found him! He's here!"
So fast? It had been less than a minute since they split up. The two looked at each other, both sowhat uncertain.
The screaming woman was nad Louisa, one of the posthumans from the modern world, who apparently tead up with Han Suiping. As soon as her scream fell, Han Suiping's voice followed, clearer because he was closer to the communicator, "We're at 128 Pine Cone Street, the fifth house on the right after exiting the first house. Co over quickly!"
Lin Sanjiu quickly signaled the grand prize to keep up, turned around, and charged toward No. 128. Before she got close, she saw the figures of Han Suiping and Louisa from afar; no wonder they could report the house number so quickly— because they hadn't entered the house at all.
The entrance door of this house was painted blue.
A man was sitting on a stool in front of the blue door, his back to the sidewalk, the back of his suit straight. His black hair fell like a spider web, covering his entire back.
When Lin Sanjiu arrived, Han Suiping and Louisa stared intently at the Blue Wall Watcher ahead, not making a sound. In the deathly silence, only the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the leaves could be heard. The Blue Wall Watcher did not move, and the posthumans seed frozen, motionless.
Silvan, who had said he would arrive imdiately, was not on the scene. Just as Lin Sanjiu began to question this, she and Han Suiping's communicators rang simultaneously, startling her. Silvan's voice ca from the communicator, "We've also found a Blue Wall Watcher in a kindergarten."
"U-us too," Nu Yue said. "Although it's not a wall. He's sitting in front of a blue curtain."
"Nobody move rashly," Silvan said. "Do not approach him."
The Blue Wall Watcher at the door still showed no reaction.
The posthumans glanced at each other, retreated several steps together, and withdrew to the street.
"H-how can there be so m-many Blue Wall Watchers?" Louisa asked.
"No, it's not quite the sa," the grand prize whispered as he grabbed Lin Sanjiu's hand. "The Blue Wall Watcher on TV has shoulder-length hair, but this Blue Wall Watcher's hair is too long... Hey, does the Blue Wall Watcher on your side look different from the one on TV?"
"Now that you ntion it, yes, he does," Nu Yue hurriedly answered. "The one we see is tilting his head."
"The one I found is standing in front of a blue wall," Silvan said. "The Blue Wall Watcher on TV is still retreating, so the countdown is still going on. Does that an we haven't found the real target yet?"
The Blue Wall Watchers were sowhat different from the one on TV. Lin Sanjiu couldn't figure out what this ant for a mont. Just as she lowered her head to ask a question in the communicator, a clattering sound rang out from ahead, as if a chair leg was being dragged across the ground.
A head with black hair appeared in her field of vision, just a few steps away.
Ji Shanqing grabbed her hand and shouted to Han Suiping, "Scatter! Spread out, and don't let him touch you!"
The four of them split into two directions and imdiately sprinted away from behind the Blue Wall Watcher; Lin Sanjiu looked back after running and saw that she was only about twenty ters away from the back of the Blue Wall Watcher's head.
"He's chasing you!" Han Suiping yelled into the communicator. "He's getting farther and farther away from us!"
"Can they see the Blue Wall Watcher's face?" Louisa said faintly.
There was no ti to answer. Lin Sanjiu only wanted to speed up again—but Ji Shanqing's panting was clear and heavy, obviously unable to keep up. Each of his footsteps sounded like they were hamring on the road as if he would fall with the next step. When the sound of the chair leg scraping the ground rang again, she didn't look back. She just stopped, grabbed Ji Shanqing, swung her arm, and threw him onto the pedestrian path ahead, yelling, "Run!"
The sound of the chair leg dragging stopped behind her.
Lin Sanjiu ran as fast as she could.
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