“Why?” Huai Yi, as the person involved, reacted strongly.

“Could it be…” the fatty said weakly from the side, tentatively, “because of that bus?”

The moment the words “bus” left his mouth, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

Jiang Cheng looked at the fatty. “Go on.”

“I… I just think it’s a coincidence. We just got off the bus, and then brother Huai Yi’s account was canceled,” the fatty analyzed. “Think about the people we met on the bus, the ones who got on with us, and the teammates in the mission. Aren’t they all… dead people?”

The fatty wasn’t the best at expressing himself, but Jiang Cheng and Huai Yi understood what he meant. “You’re saying that everyone who got on that bus, in a sense, is already dead?” Huai Yi couldn’t help but be frightened by the idea.

“It could also be that they left some of the bus’s aura behind, but…”

The fatty was interrupted by Jiang Cheng before he could finish. “It’s a brand. That bus left a brand on us, that’s how it can find us.”

“A brand…” Huai Yi inexplicably found the word fitting, and terrifying.

The inspiration for this word came from Lin Wan’er’s description of the old chairman. Lin Wan’er used the word “domain.”

That bus was the old chairman’s domain. The only one who truly escaped, Xia Tan, was the one who tore apart the old chairman’s domain in order to leave.

In ancient fables, those who were able to cross the land of the setting sun also had to be branded, like a passport from this world to another.

“If that’s the case… that bus is still going to come looking for us?” This was Huai Yi’s greatest fear. He still vividly remembered the risk from the last time.

“Yes, that’s for sure,” Jiang Cheng said. “You need to be prepared.”

Huai Yi felt a chill in his heart. His first reaction was that he couldn’t bear to leave those young mistresses. They were still young, and he had to be responsible for them.

Seeing Huai Yi like this, Jiang Cheng thought for a moment and then said another part of his speculation, “If it really is a brand, then it’s not entirely a bad thing.”

Huai Yi’s lackluster eyes gradually lit up. Right now, he only wanted to hear good news.

“I was wondering if this brand might have altered some of the rules in reality, such as accepting missions from the website.” Jiang Cheng gestured to the computer screen. “Because the brand assumes that we are already dead, or about to die, on that bus, we will no longer be drawn into other supernatural events.”

“Because any supernatural event has the potential to cause death, so…” Jiang Cheng made a gesture of crossing his hands. “This conflicts with the rules, so that possibility is avoided, by a force we can’t see.”

“That’s the real reason why you can’t accept missions,” Jiang Cheng said.

“The rules within a mission modify the rules of the real world?” Huai Yi asked in a raised voice. What an absurd theory. If it weren’t Jiang Cheng saying these things, but someone else, Huai Yi would think he was crazy.

“This is just my guess. As for whether it’s true or not, we’ll find out if we test it.” Jiang Cheng didn’t want to force Huai Yi to believe him, after all, he also thought this guess was a bit outrageous.

The fatty was confused, but when he heard the doctor mention a test, the fatty rolled his throat and asked in a low voice, “How… how do we test it?”

“Tonight, we’ll sneak into the mall and see if we get caught up in a supernatural event,” Jiang Cheng said calmly.

This was the most direct method, but it was also a bit dangerous.

No matter what kind of supernatural event, intelligence was always the top priority. Huai Yi chose to join the website to take on missions and earn money because he valued this.

The posted missions only had a mission description. Only after you confirmed that you would take on the mission would more detailed information be transmitted through the website.

The details, and even some analyses, were marked inside, which was of great help in solving the mission.

But this time, it wouldn’t be like that, because he couldn’t accept missions.

But thinking that it was only a D-level mission after all, even if he took it without any preparation, as long as he was careful, there wouldn’t be any major problems, Huai Yi felt slightly more at ease.

The next period of time was spent waiting. While waiting, Huai Yi and Jiang Cheng talked a lot about the bus, and Jiang Cheng also shared some of the information he had heard from Lin Wan’er.

After learning how terrifying the bus actually was, Huai Yi’s face turned ugly, and his hands were shaking when he drank tea.

“Man proposes, Heaven disposes,” Jiang Cheng comforted. “Someone once successfully left that bus. We can too.”

Huai Yi said with a bitter face, “We’re all counting on Brother Jiang…”

“Ahem!” The fatty coughed and shook his head. “Ahem, why does my throat always feel uncomfortable lately? Is it because of the bad weather?”

“We’re all counting on Brother Jiang, and Brother Fugui, both of you,” Huai Yi immediately corrected himself.

“Brother Huai Yi, what are you talking about? We’re all helping each other, helping each other,” the fatty said, holding the empty teacup in his hand.

Huai Yi, with his great discernment, picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for the fatty.

They ordered some food and dealt with dinner. Huai Yi was also very generous and gave the tea house errand boy a 200 yuan tip. The errand boy kept refusing, saying that this was not allowed, and that even though the boss was not around, it would not be good if he found out.

Huai Yi was too lazy to haggle with him and directly stuffed the money into the pocket that the errand boy had deliberately pulled open.

The errand boy smiled and said that they could sit for as long as they wanted, that the boss had gone out to play today, and that he was in charge here.

As it got dark, Jiang Cheng glanced at his phone. Nine o’clock sharp, time to move out.

The group chose a shortcut and arrived near the Julong Shopping Mall.

Sure enough, there were still police officers on duty nearby. In front of the mall was a small square. In the past, at this time, some small vendors would push their carts to sell late-night snacks, but now it had all been cleared out. Only a police car with flashing lights was parked there alone.

The fatty had sharp eyes. After observing for a while, he said to Jiang Cheng, “Doctor, there’s no one in the police car, it’s empty.”

A cordon was stretched across the entrance of the mall, and a sign was placed nearby with the words “Beware of falling objects from above. Do not approach.”

White background with red letters, it looked strange no matter how you looked at it. The fatty’s first impression was that the letters were written with blood.

But he would never dare to say these words out loud.

He and Huai Yi carefully followed behind the doctor, and the group circled the mall from a distance, looking for a way to get in.

But unexpectedly, when they circled to the parking lot at the rear of the mall, suddenly, the door of a white van about 10 meters away from them opened from the inside, and two people got out and walked quickly towards them.

“What are you doing around here?” one of the younger men asked as he walked over. The older man behind him didn’t say anything, but just sized up Jiang Cheng and the others with his eyes.

Although the two men weren’t wearing police uniforms, Jiang Cheng was certain that they were police officers.