Chapter 725: Dilapidated Building

Wu Qi's RV drove deep into Juzizhou Island. Li Huowang, hunched over, looked through the window at the dark, unfinished buildings surrounding them.

Puddles on the ground and scattered construction materials had already slowed the RV down. The headlights shone ahead, coating the road in a layer of white.

He wondered if it was an illusion, but Li Huowang seemed to see a figure flash within one of the unfinished buildings. However, he didn't feel anyone watching him.

After about five minutes, the rolling tires slowly came to a halt.

"Look at this awful place you found," Wu Qi complained, pushing open the driver's side door. "It was incredibly difficult to drive here, and now my car's paint is scratched."

"Sister Wu, how many owners has this car had?" Qing Wanglai said, having just gotten out of the car. He dodged a kick from Wu Qi by stepping to the left. "Is there even any original paint left to scratch?"

Behind them, Li Huowang also got out of the car with Yang Na's help.

After observing the unfinished building in front of them for a few seconds, he asked Qing Wanglai, "Which floor?"

Before he could speak, a flashlight beam flickered on the sixth floor, flashing towards them.

Seeing this, Li Huowang approached the unfinished building and started walking up the stairs, which had no railings.

When he reached the sixth floor, Li Huowang found it completely dark, with no light whatsoever.

"What's going on?" he wondered. "Didn't it just light up here? Did I go to the wrong place?"

As a confused Li Huowang was about to walk to the window to count the floors, an incredibly pale man's face suddenly popped up in front of him. "Wake up! It's all fake!"

Li Huowang looked at the young man in front of him, who appeared even younger than himself. With dyed yellow hair, the man held a flashlight under his chin, illuminating his deliberately made-up ghost face.

Li Huowang had seen a lot in his life, but he had certainly never seen a ghost with a tongue ring.

"Are you the only one?" Li Huowang asked the person in front of him. "Qian Fu and Chen Hongyu should be here too, right?"

"What did I say?" Chen Hongyu's voice came from the darkness. "This kind of trick won't scare him. Hey, Li Huowang, what happened to your head?"

Soon, Chen Hongyu and Qian Fu walked out, exposed by the flashlight's beam. The two of them were sharing a bag of spicy strips, their mouths coated in red oil.

"Heh heh... heh heh heh..." The young man laughed nervously, then placed the flashlight on the ground to serve as a light source.

Once Qing Wanglai and Wu Qi arrived, the desolate unfinished building began to feel more lively.

"What happened to your injury?" Qian Fu asked, looking at Li Huowang's head.

"It's a long story. Something happened on the way. I'll explain later," Li Huowang said, looking at the young man who had just tried to scare him.

The man's attire was somewhat strange: a grown man was wearing black eyeliner, and his clothes were bizarre, odd black leather garments. His complexion was unnaturally pale, likely from prolonged lack of sun exposure.

Perhaps because of Sun Xiaoqin's past teachings, Li Huowang inexplicably felt a sense of repulsion towards people dressed like this.

After a slight cough, Qing Wanglai introduced the young man to Li Huowang: "This is Zhao Lei. Zhao Lei, this is Li Huowang, the one I told you about earlier."

"You can call me Steven," the gaunt-faced Zhao Lei said, walking over and extending his right hand, adorned with a black ring, towards Li Huowang.

Li Huowang took his hand and shook it. "Hello, Zhao Lei, I'm Li Huowang."

"Heh heh... it's fake, so fake," Zhao Lei said, swaying back to his original spot. "I clearly said my English name, but you still followed the script."

"What's wrong with this guy? He's so neurotic."

Li Huowang frowned slightly, looking at him. Qing Wanglai and Wu Qi had almost made him think there wouldn't be any other mentally ill people among this group.

Li Huowang had expected others to emerge from the darkness, but to his surprise, it was just Zhao Lei, and then it was over.

"Weren't there eight of us?" Li Huowang, with a slight frown, looked around before asking Qing Wanglai, "Why are there only six?"

"Perhaps something came up at the last minute, so they couldn't make it," Qing Wanglai replied.

"Do you have their phone numbers? Call them and ask," Li Huowang urged. He felt uneasy at that moment. They had just been in a car accident, and if two people simultaneously didn't show up, it would be too much of a coincidence. What if their luck had been worse earlier? Then there might have been four people missing now.

"They don't use mobile phones. They say they're afraid of being monitored," Qing Wanglai said, his expression growing serious. He looked at the others, then clapped his hands to get their attention.

"Have any of you contacted Brother Bone or Aunt Yan recently, or met them?"

Seeing their confused reactions, Qing Wanglai immediately knew the answer. It seemed something had indeed happened.

After a moment of thought, he addressed the others again: "I called you all here to announce something. It seems something has likely happened to us regarding the projection. Brother Bone and Aunt Yan's lateness most likely means they've encountered trouble. Do you see the injury on Li Huowang's head? Our previous encounter also proves this point."

"You can't face this kind of crisis alone. We must work together to solve this better and more safely, no matter what their projection is."

However, facing Qing Wanglai's announcement, not a single person asked a question. They stood frozen, silently processing his words. It was unclear whether they had already sensed something, or if they simply didn't care.

Li Huowang cleared his throat to help him out, then immediately asked him, "Given our current situation, what's your plan?"

Qing Wanglai didn't answer, but instead looked at Li Huowang and asked a different question: "Judging from what happened with the truck earlier, you're very sensitive to them?"

"No, it's not sensitivity; they're staring at me!" Li Huowang replied firmly. "As long as they stare at me, I can feel it!"

"Can you feel them now?"

Li Huowang closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, concentrating on sensing. After five minutes, he shook his head. "No, this place you found is safe. They shouldn't be able to find us here."

As soon as Li Huowang finished speaking, before Qing Wanglai could say anything, Qian Fu stood up abruptly and seized the conversation. "Listen to me! All of you, listen to me!"

He excitedly announced to the others: "Those two aren't just 'busy'! They're dead! Even if they're not dead, they've been imprisoned just like me! This is all a conspiracy by the Leo aliens! We must thwart their plot!"

After saying this, he rushed to Li Huowang's side, grabbing him by the arm. "I have a plan! The Leo aliens are very interested in his genes lately! We can use him as bait to capture the Leo aliens' UFOs!"

The others turned to look at Qian Fu, listening to the nonsense he was spouting.