Chu Jiu suddenly had an ominous premonition and subconsciously put away the painting in her hand.

Immediately afterward, she saw fine blood vessels begin to appear on Qiao Yu's brother's face. The blood vessels seemed to be conscious, slowly wriggling, and his appearance was also changing.

Until finally, he turned into someone else entirely.

"Wei Jinting!" Chu Jiu exclaimed in shock.

But Wei Jinting, who had returned to his original appearance, didn't seem interested in Chu Jiu. His eyes repeatedly scanned Wan Yuanning's body. "So, you're the last Night Watcher."

Wan Yuanning neither admitted nor denied it, but stared intently at his every move, looking for a flaw to break through.

"I'll hold him off for a while," Wan Yuanning said softly. "You take the clues and go find the others."

Before Chu Jiu could speak, Wan Yuanning rushed forward.

She moved with graceful agility, and a beautiful butterfly blade slipped from her loose sleeve.

With a light tap of her foot on the ground, Chu Jiu was completely stunned by her mid-air movements, like a butterfly spreading its wings.

She hadn't expected this woman, who didn't talk much and seemed to have some social anxiety, to be so skilled. It was a pity that she had focused all her attention on her figure.

Wei Jinting on the opposite side seemed completely caught off guard, only dodging the most fatal blow, but was still kicked in the chest by Wan Yuanning.

It didn't seem like much force was used, but judging from the fact that Wei Jinting staggered back seven or eight steps, the force was considerable.

Chu Jiu suddenly felt that she could wait for Wan Yuanning to take care of this strange Wei Jinting, and then they could all leave together. She no longer wanted to be the one left behind.

And Wei Jinting's retreat revealed the corner.

"Take the things and go!" Wan Yuanning didn't look at Chu Jiu at all and immediately charged again.

Wei Jinting narrowed his eyes, his expression darkening for a moment. "It seems you knew I was coming all along, otherwise you wouldn't have sent out a weapon like you."

His eyes paused, and Wei Jinting's aura completely changed.

Although using that forbidden power again would cause a backlash, if he didn't, he wouldn't be confident in quickly dealing with the person in front of him.

"This is...tricky."

"Hurry up and leave!" Wan Yuanning shouted at Chu Jiu, who was hesitating at the corner of the stairs. Chu Jiu gritted her teeth, no longer hesitated, and turned to rush downstairs.

After Chu Jiu's footsteps disappeared, Wan Yuanning took out a very small glass bottle from her pocket. It had a very ordinary shape and contained less than a third of the liquid.

The liquid had a strange dark red color, giving the impression of blood, but it was thicker than blood.

The moment he saw the glass bottle, the dark red in Wei Jinting's eyes seemed to flow with light, and the power in his body actually resonated with the liquid in the bottle in a certain state.

"Does it have to be this way?" Wei Jinting shifted his gaze, looking at Wan Yuanning and lowering his voice. "You should know the consequences of forcibly opening the taboo. Do you want to end up like those people, living forever in that dark hospital?"

"That's the gate to hell, not something someone like you can control." Wei Jinting's tone wasn't just a simple threat, there was even a strange emotion in it. "Once it's opened, even if you survive, the Night Watchers won't let you off."

"You'll become a monster that everyone despises!"

The next second, Wei Jinting stopped. He saw Wan Yuanning put the glass bottle to her lips and bit down hard.

It wasn't clear whether it was the liquid inside or the shards of glass that cut her thin lips, but in any case, bright red liquid dripped from the corners of her mouth.

In that instant, the woman in front of him seemed like a blood-stained blade, with an unspeakable fatal sexiness and aggressiveness.

The atmosphere changed instantly, and the original hunter actually had the illusion of being hunted.

The woman stood there quietly, without any movement, but Wei Jinting felt as if a giant beast was slowly opening its eyes.

The woman's power was not as pure as his, but it was even more reckless. After all, after forcibly opening that forbidden door, her life was burning by the second.

"The road to hell..." The woman opened a pair of red eyes that were even brighter than Wei Jinting's. The next moment, the face that was about to be occupied by hideous veins and dark patterns suddenly smiled.

The brilliance that bloomed in that instant made one wonder if this was really a monster about to transform, or the bright-eyed, white-toothed woman she once was.

"Please accompany me on this journey," the monster said finally.

...

Chu Jiu was very fast. She ran like a madwoman, as if only in this way could she escape the voices chasing after her.

"Jiu Jiu, don't be afraid, sister is here!"

"Chu Jiu! Run into the darkness, don't look back!"

"I'll hold him off! You take the clues and go find the others!"

"Hurry up and leave!"

The girl had shed all her tears in the past few days. There were no more tears to shed, and what flowed down now could only be blood.

She clenched the painting in her hand. For the first time in her life, she was so single-minded. Now, the painting in her hand was the hope of everyone.

And this hope was something that Sister Xu Yi, Hua Luo, Wan Yuanning...all the dead people had fought for with their lives.

She was just a person who passed on hope, and was ready to pay any price to protect that hope at any time.

"Chu Jiu!"

Jiao Tailang, who was walking upwards, bumped into her head-on.

"The others..."

Before Jiao Tailang could finish speaking, he was shocked by the girl's aura. She was panting heavily, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"They're gone," Chu Jiu said, reaching out her hand. "This is the clue."

Jiao Tailang's expression changed slightly, but in fact, he had already expected this result. If something hadn't gone wrong, the three of them would have been wiped out as well.

But...

"Pop!"

A light at the end of the corridor went out.

Then the adjacent one flickered a few times and went out as well.

"It's chasing me," Jiao Tailang quickly explained. "I don't know what kind of weird tale it is, maybe it's the one that killed Qiao Yu, but I don't think so."

Staring at the child's young face, Jiao Tailang hesitated for a moment, and finally seemed to make up his mind. "You take the clues and go first, I'll lure it away."

"Hao Shuai and Jiang Fugui are still alive, those two are not ordinary. You find them, you..." He paused, and put on an encouraging smile. "You will definitely survive!"

The lights were going out faster and faster, as if an invisible shadow was approaching them. The two of them ran wildly along the corridor.

Fortunately, the door to the stairwell was not closed.

"Chu Jiu, go down the stairs here, I'll lure it up. Remember, you must..."

"Be careful!" Chu Jiu seemed to see something and shouted first. In a moment of desperation, Jiao Tailang turned around, but didn't see a ghost.

But the next second, his waist was suddenly pushed hard.

Then he staggered and fell into the stairwell. Immediately afterward, a piece of paper folded several times was thrown at his feet.

The heavy safety door slammed shut, and Chu Jiu's voice came from behind the door. "Go find the others!" she shouted. "I'm tired, I don't want to run anymore!"

Then, as if she had regained her courage, Chu Jiu looked directly at the approaching darkness, took a deep breath and said, "The last baton is handed to you, please be sure to live for us!"