Chapter 533: Chapter 533 Gradually Descending into Chaos_1 Chapter 533: Chapter 533 Gradually Descending into Chaos_1 Song Hang was not the only one to doubt his life.
In his self-talk, everyone couldn’t help but scrutinize each other with incredibly odd looks.
This was too weird!
They had clearly been descending for so long, yet when they emerged, they appeared on almost the same floor, completely defying normal cognition!
If something that could not possibly happen actually happened, what did it explain?
For a moment, everyone began to doubt the reality of the scene before them.
Were these people all figments of his imagination? Was he in some sort of special dream?
Hiss!
The next moment, one of the bodyguards rubbed his own thigh, letting out a hiss of breath.
It was obvious that this individual had used the most primitive method to verify whether it was a dream.
Regrettably, under the scrutiny of gathered looks, his expression visibly became one of disappointment.
“No change.”
“There must be some mistake!”
Song Hang frowned at the bodyguard, resisting the urge to do the same.
But it was clear that the cognitive dissonance resulted in a severe shock, putting him into a state of life-doubting.
“We definitely went downstairs; there’s no mistaking that!”
“Let’s split up.”
It was then that Tan Ying suddenly spoke up, pointing to the metal door behind them.
“I checked earlier, and so far, we haven’t found the door we initially entered from.”
“I think some of us should retrace our steps along the original route and see where we come out this time.”
Hmm…
Tan Ying finished speaking, and there was a moment of profound silence around her.
It had to be said, it indeed was a solution.
Walking the route again in reverse would confirm whether they had truly been ascending, and after emerging from the other end, deducing the intermediate route based on the relative positions of the two groups would be relatively straightforward.
If they still ended up on the same floor, then the reality of everything before them was seriously questionable.
“Alright.”
“All of you go back and walk it again, and pay attention to any abnormalities,” Song Hang accepted the suggestion after a brief contemplation and turned to address his bodyguards.
Unfortunately, the trio of bodyguards hesitated upon receiving the order.
“I don’t want to go back inside there.”
It was still Bodyguard Number Two, the burly man who had been at the forefront earlier but now blatantly refused, with an unmistakably rejecting look on his face.
It was clear that he had no interest in returning to that oppressive staircase.
The unreality of the situation had subtly shifted the mentality of more than one person.
…
Faced with the bodyguard’s strike, Song Hang’s expression chilled, his displeasure prickling the latter into looking away involuntarily.
“I’ll go. After all, it was my suggestion,” Tan Ying didn’t dwell on the deadlock and directly broke the impasse.
“And I’ll double-check for any side passages.”
Clearly, she had not forgotten about looking for someone.
…
Tan Ying volunteered herself, and Song Hang hesitated for a moment.
He wanted to join, but he felt a certain aversion to entering that oppressively empty space again.
In the silence, the remaining two bodyguards exchanged glances, but they didn’t quit as well. Instead, they stepped forward to stop Tan Ying from recklessly venturing off.
As the two figures disappeared behind the door, only four people were left in the deserted mall, including Fu Qian.
“What do you think?”
With an eerie atmosphere hanging in the air, Tan Ying turned to ask Fu Qian, and upon hearing, Song Hang followed suit.
“Does it matter?”
Confronted with expectant looks, Fu Qian simply smiled and asked in return.
“If this hypothesis is true, and we’re currently in a dream, then I am nothing but an imaginary character to you. Under such circumstances, my opinion is fundamentally your opinion,” he tapped his head.
“Everything is unreliable, the only one who can provide answers is oneself.”
…
The morale of the people, which they had been subconsciously trying to avoid thinking about in that direction, visibly slid under Fu Qian’s emphasis.
For a moment, everyone seemed to have acquired an air of life’s skepticism.
Of course, this was not because Fu Qian had any malicious pleasure in it, but rather it was one of the intended effects of his actions.
Since it was a period of rest, and all he had in front of him was a group of ordinary people, Fu Qian had no interest in creating something like a “locked-room murder” situation to scare them.
Otherwise, the passage they had just passed through wouldn’t have been so simple.
A performance test, while incidentally helping Miss Tan realize her wish, was the purpose of today.
That’s why it was necessary to make everyone quickly realize they were in a dream.
“Could it be some kind of prank?”
After looking around for a while, Song Hang still found it hard to accept the setup and tried to explain it with common sense.
“Like one of those prank shows, right? I won’t rule out that possibility.”
Fu Qian’s tone was quite casual, but he still pointed to his head.
“But to verify such a thing, it seems you can only ask your own head. I wish you good luck in finding the mastermind.”
…
“They’re over there!”
The more Fu Qian spoke, the stiffer Song Hang’s expression became. Just as he mustered the courage to voice another opinion, he was interrupted by Tan Ying standing next to him.
The latter pointed to the diagonally opposite side of the mall, her tone also unavoidably a bit unsettled.
And following her pointing direction, the two relatively dedicated bodyguards were seen leaning on the railing and looking around.
Parallel in height, and in between them, was the empty, several stories high atrium.
Witnessing this scene, both Song Hang and Bodyguard Number Two found themselves at a loss for words for a while.
“Here!”
Tan Ying moved closer to the rails, waving and shouting.
When the two bodyguards noticed the commotion here, they too seemed a bit startled.
After a brief shock, they rapidly found a way and ran over here.
Perhaps because of their agitation, they both seemed slightly out of breath after covering a short distance.
“The door is on a wall on the side, from this angle it’s just blocked from view.”
Approaching close, one of them turned and pointed in the direction they came from, reporting their findings to the group.
“Did you climb up the whole way?”
Song Hang asked, face stern.
“Yes, all the way up.”
The bodyguard nodded firmly, sounding extremely certain.
“How can this be?”
Song Hang muttered to himself, involuntarily glancing at Fu Qian.
“Were there any side passages?”
Fu Qian ignored him and asked casually.
“No…”
The other bodyguard continued to shake his head.
“I’m very sure, it’s the same as the way we came before.”
“It seems that your friend is indeed not in there.”
Song Hang nodded, speaking to Tan Ying.
“No, it’s not the same.”
Tan Ying took a breath and murmured to herself.
“I still have an impression of the rough direction, and where they came out isn’t the same place we went in before.”
…
There were no side passages, yet the exit had changed?
With Tan Ying’s explanation, everyone suddenly understood the oddity and couldn’t help but shudder.
“Regardless, be it a prank or really a dream, I need to get out as soon as possible.”
In the suffocating silence, Song Hang was the first to speak, his tone more determined than ever before.