Just like a lantern whose covering has been torn, suddenly there was a ray of light breaking through the clouds. Moonlight shone brightly on the ground, and on the highway, besides the overturned cars, the remaining bodies of the two who had vanished without a trace and the three who had been pierced through had turned into ashes, disappearing.
The highway seemed like nothing more than a typical car accident. Cathy deliberately took out warning signs from the car and placed them at the back. Holding hands with Royce, they stood by the roadside, staring blankly for a while before continuing to walk along the road. The sky ahead was starting to reveal a hint of light.
The light also penetrated into the forest. As the sunlight shone, the dark and eerie forest suddenly seemed to vanish, leaving only a small grove of trees. Everything returned to normal under the sunlight. The young man stood in the grove, his shadow elongated by the sunlight.
In the darkest moment last night, he stood inside the tree hole of the big tree, in the smoky room, with a long hand with sharp nails extending from the smoke.
That hand was so withered, as if it were a skeletal hand clawing out of the grave. The sharp nails pierced towards his throat, the open fingers resembling five finger bones that could tightly grip his windpipe and crush his neck at any moment.
"Ah—" A shrill scream suddenly echoed in the smoky room. The extended hand was abruptly severed, and blood gushed out like a shower of blood. A neat incision appeared on the forearm, revealing the sinister bones colored in blood red.
The shriek from the black-robed figure made his pitch-black face even more terrifying. Darkness surrounded everything, suffocating the air in the small room as if it had been sucked dry.
But while he was screaming in agony, a burst of light broke through the smoke...
The black-robed figure quickly dodged backward.
Although his broken arm caused him immense pain, he dodged at a speed even faster than usual. He knew the danger of that burst of light and was confident in his own speed. Evading with all his might, the burst of light suddenly disappeared as if it had vanished, leaving no trace.
The black-robed figure breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could react, he felt a pain in his chest. His eyes glanced at his chest, only to see a burst of light passing through his body and disappearing into the smoke, leaving no trace.
The smoke in the small room suddenly dissipated, as if it had never appeared.
In front of the black-robed figure stood a young man, his hand held in front of his chest, with a floating small sword emitting a radiant glow above his palm. The tip of the sword pointed upward, looking exceptionally beautiful.
The more beautiful something that makes people drop their guard, the more dangerous it is.
The black robe was torn open, and blood flowed out, but it was still pitch black, making everything unrecognizable. The black-robed figure's body contorted, and the black robe on his body made unbelievable movements. His hands seemed to be trying to grasp something in the air.
With a flip of his hand, the young man made the floating small sword on his palm suddenly disappear. He silently watched the contorting figure and heard the wailing cries. In just a few seconds, the contorted black robe suddenly fell to the ground, leaving only the robe, nothing else.
The young man dashed forward and picked up the black robe from the ground, confirming that it was empty beneath.
Damn it! The young man took a step forward and dashed out of the house, leaping towards the depths of the forest. His body was as light as a swallow, lightly landing on the branches of a tree. He turned into a streak of red light and disappeared into the mist of the forest.
The mist grew denser in the forest.
Like a thick sauce that couldn't be diluted, it made the air around thicker and denser. The streak of red light suddenly descended and landed on the ground, with a strange look on his face as he looked around.
The young man lost the direction to track in this forest. It seemed that he couldn't become the master he wanted to be in this forest. It seemed that he had miscalculated this time. Obviously, the black-robed figure had escaped.
Although he had pierced through the black-robed figure's body, he had only left behind the clothes. So, there were only two possibilities: either the black-robed figure had more than one life, or the black-robed figure had replaced his own body with something else, using a method similar to a cicada shedding its skin.
The young man could only return to the same spot and walk back into the small house. Sure enough, he discovered a bloody stain beneath the black robe. Although it was not much, it at least confirmed some of his speculations.
Walking out of the small cabin, he looked at the vast and dark forest around him and couldn't help but shake his head. He sat down by the big tree nearby. This forest was nothing more than an illusion. As long as he waited for the sun to come out, everything here would turn into ashes. Instead of wasting effort on breaking the illusion, it was better to sit and wait.
When the sunlight shone in, all the illusions were shattered.
The young man stood up, faced the sunlight, and squinted his eyes.
What forest, what small cabin, what mist... Everything disappeared before his eyes. The grove of small trees remained the same, unchanged. Only the sunlight shining down, the young man's figure blending into the mottled shadows of the trees, looked somewhat lonely and slender. Back at the villa, the young man held the black robe in his hands. The robe seemed nothing special, but it felt chilling to touch, as if it were from a very cold place. It could transfer a cold feeling from the hand to the heart. With a thought, the cold air disappeared.
The young man headed to the kitchen, washed his hands, and prepared breakfast. He found some ingredients in the kitchen, but all he could make was some toast. The toast was made using an automatic toaster, and then he boiled a cup of coffee. He sat quietly at the table, munching on the bread.
However, just as he was about to finish, a car stopped by the villa on the roadside. It was a taxi, two people got out of the car, looking a little disheveled. After getting out of the car, they carried their travel bags and paid the taxi fare, then looked at the villa.
"Let's go, Cathy, we can't escape what we have to face. They seem to be everywhere, we thought leaving Los Angeles would mean they couldn't find us... It seems we were too naive." The man spoke, looking at the girl next to him, his expression becoming more determined.
"Let's go!" The girl took the boy's hand and walked towards the villa.
The door of the villa was open, they entered the living room, casually tossing their travel bags into a corner. From the living room, they could see the young man in the dining room, slowly turning his head to look at them.
"Mr. Jason—" The two walked towards the dining room. Seeing the young man, their hearts were relieved, because in their minds, the young man was their only hope for a fresh start. Thinking about last night, if it wasn't for Mr. Jason, they might have already been dead.
Royce was the first to speak, he said to Jason: "Thank you, but I think I should come back and face it all. Running away is not the ultimate solution to the problem!"
Jason gave a slight smile, nodded, and said, "Finally figured it out?"
"Yes, I understand now. What I lacked before... was courage." Royce looked at him somewhat ashamedly, then looked at Cathy beside him and said, "If I want to be with Cathy, I must have enough courage. I think... that's what I need to do." He nodded firmly at Cathy as he said this.
He hadn't said these words when they were coming back, but now that he had, Cathy looked at him, her eyes welling up with tears.
Jason was not affected by their mood, instead, he threw cold water on their resolve, shaking his head and sneering, "Do you know what you're facing? You might be killed, your neck cut off by hand, your blood drained out and used as warm wine or beverage... Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" Royce's tone was very firm.