The flood of Gao Mings caused the painter Gao Ming’s attitude to change. He wanted to leave on his own and beco the only Gao Ming.
“How did you find ?” The painter Gao Ming slowly pulled back his hands and hugged the figurine close to his chest.
“We’re the sa and connected by blood. We can even hear each other’s heartbeats. Of course, we won’t let you face the dangers alone,” The kind Gao Ming said politely. The room in the centre of the corridor was only so big. Gao Mings almost filled it up alone. It was impossible for the painter Gao Ming to escape. The painter Gao Ming scanned every Gao Ming’s face. He saw and acknowledged the multiple facets of Gao Ming. Most of them were harmless. However, a few of them made him feel anxious.
Compared to the conflicted painter Gao Ming, He Jing was scared out of his mind. He stuck close to the wall. The sa faces of Gao Ming kept entering his eyes. He felt suffocated. He was about to get Gao Ming-phobia.
“The ghost nad Future might co at any mont. You better make your decision.” The flesh Gao Ming stood at the front. He was covered in prayers. He looked scarier than the painter Gao Ming. The painter Gao Ming also knew they didn’t have much ti. His trap couldn’t hold the grandmother for long.
“Fine. I’ll lead the way for you, but you have to promise one thing.” The painter Gao Ming raised the mud figurine. “I’ll handle the figurine. None of you can fight for it. If an outsider tries to fight for it, you have to help stop them.”
“Of course. We’re of the sa origin. Why would we fight you?”
Having the confirmation, the painter Gao Ming gripped the figurine by its neck and headed to the Door of the Present. Everyone held their breath and stared at him. One, they were afraid that he might escape on his own. Two, they were curious about what was hidden behind the door.
When the normal-looking mud figurine touched the darkness outside the door, all the clocks inside the building seed to malfunction. So started to turn backwards, and others had their fingers started to tremble. Once the mud figurine was taken out of Everlasting Life Apartnts, the ti flow would beco chaotic.
“The two mud figurines are called Past and Future. Both are related to ti. Do these clocks possess a greater aning? Are they parts of Gods? Or are they symbolic?”
The painter Gao Ming didn’t stop. He held the figurine’s neck so hard that it looked like he was about to twist Past’s head off.
“Leaving! He’s leaving!”
The darkness near the mud figurine was chased away. The mud figurine glowed a terrifying red. The divine patterns on the door and the drawings on the figurine collided. A shrill scream echoed from inside the figurine. Everyone in the building heard it clearly.
A giant boom ca from the fourth floor. Bloody cracks appeared on the painter Gao Ming’s skin. The evil ghost drawings he had on his body started to rot as they consud his soul.
“The mud figurine is summoning the old lady over. She’s already out of my trap!” The painter Gao Ming didn’t expect the mud figurine to react so strongly. He gritted his teeth and stepped across the threshold of the Door of the Present.
At the sa ti, the mud figurine suddenly opened its eyes. The invisible rules at Everlasting Life Apartnts were broken. Everyone inside the building seed to open their eyes as the mud figurine did and saw the real world. The neighbourhood was surrounded by shadows and mist. After the original tenants offered their faith, they were mutated by the God of the Past into monsters. There were so many of them. They looked at the outsiders who were inside the building. They were hungry and greedy. They wanted to crunch on their bones and suck on their sinews.
“Fear not the past or the future. The exit is in the present.” The flesh Gao Ming seed to understand sothing after his conversation with Lu Zang. “No wonder the Door of the Present can’t be opened before destroying the Door of the Past. The Door of the Present is the exit.”
Fan Li sighed when he heard this. The anomaly was unusually hard. Once an outsider entered this place, their power would be taken away. They had to survive as a normal person. They had to evade the hunt of each other and surrender their most precious mory as a ticket to challenge the Door of the Past again and again. Even if they were lucky enough to destroy the Door of the Past, they had to find the hidden key, the figurine of the God of the Past, before they were killed by ghosts and traitors. The scariest thing was that it was not the end. They rely temporarily shook off the anomaly’s rules and saw the hope of the future. All that for a glimpse of hope.
“These monsters seem to fear the figurine.” The painter Gao Ming was the first to exit Everlasting Life Apartnts. He noted the mutated wall and Prosperity Neighbourhood on the other side of the wall and the gate about a hundred tres away. “If the other Gao Mings were forced to stay inside the building, then I’d be the real Gao Ming.” The painter Gao Ming was about to run down the stairs when the divine patterns on the figurine spread to his body. They burrowed into his soul like plant roots and absorbed everything that he was. Without the protection of the figurine, he would be instantly torn apart by the original tenants. However, if he kept on holding the figurine, the figurine would eventually drain him out.
“He Jing!” The painter Gao Ming rembered his promise to He Jing. “Now is the ti!”
He Jing was startled. He was surprised that the painter Gao Ming still rembered him. He ran towards the painter Gao Ming. Even though they were very close, He Jing was almost grabbed by the monsters outside the building a few tis. His back was covered in a cold sweat as he finally reached the painter Gao Ming’s side. “I sure am lucky.”
He Jing didn’t have the ti to say anything else when the painter Gao Ming handed him the figurine. The divine pattern spread through the two. The nearby ghosts couldn’t get close to the two. The divine patterns of the God of the Past were a presence these monsters didn’t dare to offend. This was a good thing, but He Jing realised there was tearing on his body and soul. A lot of his mories were surging into the figurine.
“The fuck?” He wanted to escape, but his body wouldn’t listen to him. The painter Gao Ming wanted to drop the mud figurine and run, but the divine pattern bound over his body. His skin broke open. He couldn’t even move.
The painter Gao Ming and He Jing’s conditions grabbed everyone’s attention, but no one dared to help them. The exit was indeed less than a hundred tres away, but a singular person couldn’t reach it. People had to sacrifice themselves to send soone out of the neighbourhood. However, who would be so selfless?
The security mbers and the horror ga players inside the building ca for the rewards promised by the investigation centre. A lot of the groups were ford temporarily. Even Doctor Lee and his wife would hesitate laying down their lives to send Fan Li out, much less the others.
The Door of the Present was open, and the key was found, but hope was so far away.
“This God of the Past is so disgusting,” Fan Li cursed. Just as Fan Li was about to give up, all the Gao Mings looked in unison at a bus station outside the neighbourhood.
All of their diaries ntioned one thing: It was the intersection of their fates. They were supposed to attend the class activity the day after. They had to reach the station to take the bus to school before the sun ca up.
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