Chapter 536 Sense of Ritual

Chapter 536: A Sense of Ritual

"Close the door!"

The moment the corridor lights went out, darkness swallowed the entire hallway. Almost instantly, Xu Rui, whom Xiang Feiyu had placed on a nearby chair, lowered his voice and hissed the words urgently.

Though not loud, the sound was exceptionally clear in the silent ward, carrying an almost instinctive alertness born from experiencing multiple nightmare games.

Xiang Feiyu's mind was briefly stunned, but his body acted faster than his thoughts. He hurled himself toward the ward door, his rush stirring a gust of air, and slammed the door shut almost instantly. The lock clicked into place. Without a moment's hesitation, he pressed his entire back against the door panel, his palms clenched so tightly from the strain that they ached.

Only after completing the entire action did he belatedly realize he had actually followed Xu Rui's instruction without a second thought.

Why was he so obedient?

*Bang—!*

The next second, something outside slammed forcefully against the ward door, causing even Xiang Feiyu, who was bracing it, to jolt.

Everyone held their breath, not just to avoid detection by whatever was outside, but also to listen intently to what was happening beyond the door. Though Jie Ying couldn't hear, she could sense something had transpired with the lights going out from the disturbance near Xiang Feiyu and the expressions of the others.

*Bang!*

When the second impact came, they couldn't see what was striking the ward door, as it had no viewing window.

However, besides the impact sounds, they also heard an extremely strange scraping noise.

The sound dragged, slowly slithering across the floor, as if something was crawling close to the ground. But it definitely wasn't the wet, cold squirming sound associated with snakes—it lacked that slimy quality. Instead, it was a rough, dry scraping sound, like... like something wearing 'jeans' was crawling and shifting on the floor?

"Turn off the lights." Su Bai couldn't see anything at that moment, but even by the faint changes in light and shadow, he could perceive that the lights inside the ward were glaringly brighter than outside, which was clearly not a good thing.

Upon hearing Su Bai's words, Le Shiya immediately darted over and turned off the ward lights. She was slender, and wearing soft-soled shoes, she made scarcely a sound as she moved quickly, her actions swift and quiet.

After a soft *click*, the entire ward plunged into pitch darkness.

The banging sounds from outside the door ceased, but they could still hear that strange scraping noise, as if something was still lingering unwillingly outside the ward.

After what felt like an eternity of holding their breath, the scraping sound outside gradually faded into the distance and finally disappeared.

Simultaneously, through the gap under the ward door, they could sense that the corridor lights outside had come back on.

The danger seemed to have temporarily passed.

"I think we should keep the lights off for now." Jie Ying glanced around; losing her hearing didn't seem to have weakened her judgment of the surroundings. "The game has just started. The corridor outside is lit now, so it should be safe for the time being."

"I've said what I needed to say. You can continue the discussion. If you have nothing to add, you can introduce yourselves and what you can do. Consider it a sense of ritual for participating in a nightmare game." Jie Ying said, then began staring blankly into a dark corner again.

Jie Ying's tone was icy, and her attitude towards the nightmare game seemed somewhat negative.

However, Jie Ying was right. For players participating in nightmare games, introducing themselves at a relatively safe moment was indeed something they often did.

Su Bai couldn't quite explain why this habit existed.

Perhaps it was because...

If this was to be the final journey of their lives, they should at least know who was accompanying them on this last stretch.

If someone died in the game, then at least the surviving companions would remember them, remember their names, and remember their final moments.

"Miss Xie is right. Knowing each other's abilities is quite helpful for the game ahead." After Jie Ying fell silent, Chi Yan took over the baton and spoke up. "Of course, if anyone needs to keep things confidential, that's fine too."

"We've already introduced our names." Tian Yue glanced at the light seeping through the door crack before continuing, "My ability is to control electricity. I currently work for the Qingliu City Special Operations Unit."

As she spoke, Tian Yue retrieved a rather distinctive-looking short knife from a crossbody bag that seemed mismatched with her attire. The blade wasn't much longer than a dagger, and the hilt had some unique features.

She gripped the hilt with both hands, her fingers rubbing against its surface, then quickly twisted it a few times.

*Crackle—*

Tiny sparks of electricity burst from her fingertips. Bright blue-white light danced, rapidly climbing from her palms onto the blade of the short knife, as if plating the blade with a shimmering layer of lightning. Faint arcs of electricity wandered across the metal surface, accompanied by faint crackling noises, making the knife look very intimidating.

"This short knife is something I obtained from a previous game. The Special Operations Unit found a way to modify it to better suit my ability." Tian Yue played with the knife in her hand, her tone still carrying a hint of pride.

"Qingliu City actually has methods to modify items?" Xu Rui, sitting on a chair nearby, sounded surprised.

"I'm not too sure either. I heard they paid a huge price to acquire a book, a book that teaches you how to improve items." Tian Yue wasn't clear on the details. "But I heard it can't modify particularly powerful items."

"Powerful items are already rare and probably don't need improvement, right?" Feng Xuelan, momentarily relaxed, lost control of her mouth again. "But admitting your knife isn't that great is fine. I've told you before not to get carried away just because you have a usable item. Instead of wasting energy polishing that hilt, you should practice your ability more. Maybe you could make that super-mini current of yours a bit more substantial."

"Are you not even covering your mouth now?" Tian Yue glared at her. "Don't think I don't know! The nurse mentioned when giving the medical records that these impulsive words of yours are your true thoughts!"

"Yueyue, how can you take the words of an Eerie Entity seriously! I told you it's trying to drive a wedge between us!" Feng Xuelan's tone weakened again. "I can't control myself when I say these things. You can't blame me."

"Like hell I believe you!" Tian Yue angrily turned her head away.

*I think Sister Feng is doing it on purpose.* After spending some time together, Le Shiya began referring to her fellow travelers as brother and sister in her inner voice. *Her eyes dart around when she speaks, looking very guilty. But Sister Feng didn't really say anything wrong. Sister Tian always gets angry, but she keeps holding back and hasn't done anything to Sister Feng.*

*Brother, could it be... that Sister Feng and Sister Tian's relationship is actually better than I thought?*