Chapter 7 Time

He glanced out the window; the sunlight was slightly blinding. But he knew that, according to his calculations, daylight would only last for a maximum of three hours, and half of those three hours had already passed.

Once night descended again, the world they were in would enter an eternal night.

"Time is running out. We'll search separately," Jiang Cheng said, turning to look around. "Fan Li, you go alone. Fatty, stick with me. Move as quickly as possible, and pay special attention to keys. There might be clues behind the iron door on the third floor, but I've tried it; without a key, we can't open it with the tools we have."

"Okay."

The two groups didn't waste any words and dispersed.

Because Jiang Cheng's group had an extra person, they were responsible for searching the larger first floor, while Fan Li took the second floor.

The search soon yielded results. Jiang Cheng found a rope in an inconspicuous corner behind the stairs. The rope was tied to the second-floor hallway corner next to the stairs, with the other end hanging down to the ground.

Jiang Cheng ran upstairs and found the other end of the rope tied to the second floor.

That was the place where he and Fatty had hidden last night, but there was no rope there at the time.

Fan Li heard the sound of them coming upstairs and ran out of the study, "What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng pointed at the rope for him to see.

After a while, they returned downstairs and followed the rope's descent to the other side of the living room. The door to the small wood storage room was ajar, and it opened with a push.

Fan Li's expression suddenly changed. "Yesterday, I tied the handle of this door to the nail next to the door with a rope. Where's the rope?"

Fatty had sharp eyes. He walked into the room and picked up a rope from behind a stack of firewood.

The rope was broken into two pieces, the break clean.

Fan Li took it and felt it with his hand, then looked up and said with certainty, "It was cut with a tool like a dagger."

Behind the small wood storage room was another door. The firewood in front of the door had been moved away, leaving an empty space.

Jiang Cheng walked over and pushed it, but it didn't open.

He looked out through the glass on the door. This was the back of the villa.

There weren't many fallen leaves on the ground, but because it had rained before, the water hadn't dried yet, and the ground was covered in wet mud.

And on the muddy ground were several clear tire tracks.

"It's from that bus," Fatty said in surprise.

But the strange thing was that this area was all forest, and there was no way for a bus to drive in.

But that didn't matter anymore. What mattered was that they now knew how Nuan-jie and the others had left.

Fatty imitated Jiang Cheng, shaking the door in front of him heavily, but the door didn't budge.

"Stop shaking it," Jiang Cheng said, "You can't open it."

Fatty stopped shaking the door, but still asked, "If this door can't be opened, how did they leave?"

Standing behind them, Fan Li suddenly said, "It's time."

"Time?"

"Yes," Fan Li looked at the confused Fatty and nodded. "It's the wrong time. Only at a specific time will that bus appear, and then the door can be opened."

"3:07 AM," Jiang Cheng said.

Fan Li looked at him with some surprise, then nodded, "You thought of it too."

"What are you guys talking about?" Fatty blinked. "What s 3:07 AM?"

"Remember when Xie Yu died?" Jiang Cheng said, "I looked at my watch then, and it showed 3:07 AM."

Fatty asked in surprise, "But in this world, isn't the time displayed on the watch inaccurate?"

Fan Li continued, "It's inaccurate, but at a certain time, it becomes accurate again. On the night Xie Yu died, I also glanced at the time when I heard the strange noise," he took out the pocket watch from his pocket and waved it in front of Fatty. "It also showed 3:07 AM."

"But not long ago, I just checked the time, and it showed 6:00 AM, which means that the time displayed on all timekeeping devices will suddenly synchronize to 3:07 AM at a certain moment."

Fatty's eyes suddenly narrowed, and then he looked at Jiang Cheng as if he had suddenly thought of something. "So last night in the study, you were waiting for the watch to show 3:07 AM! Because that's when the ghost would appear!"

Jiang Cheng's face didn't show any reaction, but Fatty continued, "The ghost didn't come to us when the time came, so you went to test Nuan-jie, and after realizing that Nuan-jie was still alive at first glance, you would tell Nuan-jie that Fan Li was already..."

He suddenly stopped there.

After all, Fan Li was still standing here, safe and sound.

The rest was much simpler. The three returned to the living room. Jiang Cheng sat on the sofa, Fan Li stayed in front of the fireplace warming himself, and Fatty took the time to cook a meal.

After eating, the three gathered together. Fan Li said that he had counted a total of six tire tracks on the ground behind the villa, which meant that the bus had come three times, and they had spent exactly three nights in the villa.

It was completely dark. Fan Li clutched his pocket watch, glancing at the time from time to time.

After an unknown amount of time, just as Fatty's mind was getting dizzy and he was about to fall asleep, Jiang Cheng suddenly said, "The time is up!"

Fan Li also stood up at the same time and put his pocket watch away.

Everyone walked towards the storage room in the corner of the living room. Along the way, Jiang Cheng and Fan Li were very careful. After all, the mission was at its final moment, and no one knew if the ghost would suddenly appear.

Just as they walked into the wood storage room, a light suddenly appeared in the open space behind the villa.

A bus drove over from not far away, then slowly stopped about 20 meters away from the villa.

Fan Li took a deep breath, put his hand on the door in front of him, and pushed it gently.

The door opened.

Fatty's face was full of excitement, and he almost cried.

Fan Li was the first to walk out, followed by Fatty, and then Jiang Cheng.

They had been in a warm environment inside the villa, and they were a little unaccustomed to the cold outside.

Fan Li turned up the collar of his leather jacket, Jiang Cheng wrapped his coat tighter, and Fatty could only choose to hug himself.

The bus door slowly opened, and the three walked over.

The same people were on the bus, the couple, and the mother and child, all sitting quietly in their seats.

The tour guide, who claimed to be surnamed Zheng, stood on the bus, still with that very enthusiastic look. "Everyone, sorry for the wait! Now we're setting off to go home."

Home... what a tempting word. Fatty couldn't help but want to get on the bus immediately, but someone pulled him back, and Fan Li took the lead.

Fatty turned his head and found Jiang Cheng looking at the bus with a calm expression.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng still didn't speak.

"Traveler, don't you want to go home?" Guide Zheng smiled sweetly, leaned slightly, and revealed a delicate wrist with a beautiful rose tattoo. "If you're late, you won't be able to go back."