Thud thud thud!
Urgent footsteps rang out.
"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!"
General Blue's face was filled with shock. Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer behind him, his body instinctively sped up.
He didn't dare look back at all—he was afraid that even a split-second glance would cost him the time needed to get caught.
He was now at the very back. Ahead of him were Lin Fan and Xiao Chen. As for Yao Yao, Saiki was carrying her single-handedly on his shoulder, running at the very front.
Even Xiao Chen and Lin Fan were separated from him by a full body's distance.
"Damn it, wait for me!!"
The group ahead heard General Blue's shout and slowed down for 0.1 seconds...
Then exploded into an even faster sprint.
Lin Fan [Are you kidding me? That security guard's aura is way too terrifying. If we can avoid fighting him head-on, we absolutely should.]
Xiao Chen [Damn it, how is this Saiki guy running so fast? No matter how much I speed up, he's always one body length ahead.]
(You're already doing great. Your speed is faster than Bolt's.)
Yao Yao, who was being carried on Saiki's shoulder, had her face gradually distorted by the rushing wind as they ran.
"You guys..."
General Blue was drenched in cold sweat. He could already feel the icy aura right behind him. He couldn't help glancing back.
That one look made him shiver again—the security guard was now only five body lengths away.
No more hesitation. General Blue glared ahead at Lin Fan's position and muttered under his breath: "Body Swap."
Suddenly, space twisted. Lin Fan—who had been running—felt reality shift, and he swapped places with General Blue.
Lin Fan realized what happened and was about to curse—when he sensed the security guard was now only one body length behind him.
"Shit." Lin Fan swore inwardly, turned, and swung his hammer straight at the guard's head.
Thump.
The struck guard only staggered for a moment before recovering and lunging toward Lin Fan again.
But Lin Fan was prepared. After a big leap backward, he pulled a nail shrouded in black aura from another pocket and hurled it at the guard's head.
Unfortunately, the guard reached out with two fingers and firmly caught the flying nail.
"Holy crap, you... pfft—"
Under Lin Fan's stunned expression, the guard kicked him square in the stomach. Lin Fan flew backward like a kite with its string cut—hurtling straight toward Saiki and the others.
Saiki and the other two immediately ducked. Lin Fan sailed right over Saiki and crashed to the ground.
[You okay?]
Lin Fan coughed a couple of times and glared furiously at General Blue: "You bastard, you actually backstabbed me!"
"Sorry..."
"Why the hell are you apologizing so honestly?!"
"Shut up—that guard's here!"
"Damn it, no choice. You guys get to the side and don't move." Lin Fan rummaged in his pocket.
General Blue was still dazed. When he finally reacted and tried to move aside, he saw Xiao Chen had already backed into the corner.
But when Xiao Chen arrived, he found Saiki and Yao Yao already waiting there.
Xiao Chen: ...
With the guard already closing in, Xiao Chen had no choice but to raise his axe and charge.
Lin Fan finally pulled something from his pocket... an onion.
(Why the hell is it an onion?)
Lin Fan timed it perfectly. The instant the guard swung his fist, Lin Fan threw the onion right into the guard's face.
Thick smoke exploded instantly. Lin Fan jumped out and rejoined Saiki's group, raising a finger to his lips in a "shh" gesture.
From the smoke, the guard emerged—but he stood still, looking left and right, sniffing the air.
He seemed to be searching for something.
Lin Fan and the others pressed against the wall in complete silence.
(So it can actually make ghosts lose their senses? Sure enough, not an ordinary onion. You could tell from the explosion alone.)
System: That onion was expensive. It's called the "Sensory Loss Onion." It makes ghosts or people lose hearing, smell, sight... and all other senses for five minutes.
[What a straightforward name...]
Gulp. General Blue swallowed hard, nervously watching the guard. But after only about ten seconds of hesitation, the guard started walking toward them again.
General Blue [What the hell now?]
Xiao Chen [How? Didn't he lose his senses?]
Lin Fan [No way! Did the onion fail? It can't be!]
Saiki also thought the onion had failed at first. But looking closely—in the darkness, there were many small ghosts around the guard, pushing and shoving him in their direction.
Some of the small ghosts were emitting black aura from their hands, massaging the guard's eyes.
(Hey! That's cheating!)
Saiki's eyes flashed. The small ghosts around the guard instantly flew back, collapsing to the ground and unable to move.
By then, the guard had arrived.
Wherever their lantern light reached, other ghosts couldn't enter—only the guard could step into their domain.
The guard reached out, touching the wall as he slowly advanced. He was just 0.1 centimeters from General Blue, who tilted his head to dodge.
Then Yao Yao.
Saiki.
Finally Lin Fan and Xiao Chen.
Right there, the guard slammed both arms against the wall in a double-sided kabedon, blocking their escape on both sides.
The guard sniffed the air. His arms slowly closed in, groping around.
In the middle, Lin Fan and Xiao Chen thought at the same time: [Don't find me—find him!!]
(What good brothers.)
The guard's hand trembled once. Right before touching Xiao Chen, it lifted.
Then it sealed off Lin Fan's other escape route—turning it into a single-person kabedon just for Lin Fan.
Lin Fan's sphincter tightened: [Damn it, this guy can see, can't he?]
No more hesitation. Lin Fan pulled an orange from his pocket, veins bulging on his hand as he hurled it sideways.
The orange flew past Xiao Chen, past Saiki, past Yao Yao...
And nailed General Blue square in the crotch.
"Mmph..." General Blue instinctively let out a sound, then quickly covered his mouth. The orange fell to the ground with a thud, and the noise seemed to catch the guard's attention.
(This is definitely revenge.)
The guard walked straight up to General Blue. They stood face-to-face. The guard no longer maintained the kabedon.
Meanwhile, the others sidled along the wall like crabs, slowly putting distance between them.
General Blue's heart jolted. He also began inching sideways—but the guard followed. When he moved left, the guard moved left. When he moved right, the guard moved right.
Just staring.
General Blue broke out in cold sweat and stammered at the guard: "You... you can see, can't you..."
The guard nodded.
(So polite—he actually responded.)
"..."
Loud footsteps thundered through the corridor. Several figures were sprinting wildly—they had already reached the 1st floor.
Leading the charge was Saiki, still carrying Yao Yao on his shoulder—her face distorted from the wind pressure.
Second were Lin Fan and Xiao Chen, running side by side, veins bulging as they charged forward.
And trailing behind, only five body lengths from the front, was the security guard.
The guard's face was calm as still water, showing no emotion as he relentlessly pursued them.
That tireless, unyielding pursuit looked exactly like a childhood scene: a boy in the middle of bragging to a girl suddenly gets pantsed by a friend, frantically pulls them up, and chases the pantser with unbreakable determination, refusing to let it go.
And ranked third—being chased the hardest by the guard—was General Blue. His face was flushed red, expression twisted as he watched the people ahead pull farther away no matter how much he accelerated.
But even though he couldn't catch up, he refused to give up.
His desperate look was like someone who had loved for a lifetime but was always kept apart by family—finally finding one chance to escape after countless years, seeing the moment of reunion with his beloved drawing near, his heart growing more and more impatient.
(What kind of metaphor is that?)
Saiki shook his shoulder to jostle Yao Yao and reminded her:
[When we pass your room on the 1st floor, I'll toss you in. Get inside quick. That's it for today—don't come out again.]
"Mm~~ okay~~" Yao Yao managed to reply, her face contorted from the rushing wind.
Saiki nodded. When they reached Yao Yao's room, he lifted her off his shoulder and hurled her toward the door with force—then kept running.
Bang.
Yao Yao felt dizzy and slammed into the door, sticking to it for a moment from the impact. The violent collision nearly knocked her out.
But with sheer willpower, she turned the doorknob, stumbled inside, closed the door, and finally collapsed to the floor with a thud.
Xiao Chen: "Holy crap, Saiki's brutal!"
"Not the time for that." Lin Fan sped up and called to Saiki ahead: "Haa~ Saiki, can't you just use that hypnosis move you did this morning on the monster behind us?!"
Xiao Chen: "You have a move like that?"
[That's not hypnosis. And I can only use it once a day. Sorry.]
Hearing this, both their faces darkened: [So we really have to use our trump cards now?]
[But...]
Hearing that Saiki seemed to have an idea, the two perked up their ears.
[But don't worry. That guard's speed is only so-so. He can't go any faster. As long as we maintain this pace, we should make it back to our rooms safely.]
"..."
The spark of hope in their chests was immediately doused again. Though what Saiki said might be true.
But they were already sprinting at full power. At night, this hospital felt like its distances had been stretched. They had only reached the 2nd floor so far.
They were truly afraid that slowing down even a little would get them caught.
Saiki glanced back and said calmly:
[We need to speed up even more. For some reason, since earlier, a ton of ghosts have been gathering beside us and closing in.]
[Our lantern can hold them off for a while, but you might not have noticed—the candle is burning faster now.]
Hearing Saiki's words, the two instinctively looked at their candles and jolted. Their speed surged again.
Their bodies—already at maximum output—pushed up another gear.
Seeing this, the corners of Saiki's mouth curved up by one centimeter. His speed increased again too—pulling three body lengths ahead of the two once more while maintaining the gap.
"Damn it, this guy's a monster too!"
"You... you guys..." General Blue ran with a pale face. He'd heard Saiki's words and pushed his speed up another notch—narrowing the gap from two body lengths to one.
But the people ahead accelerated again, leaving him behind once more. A hint of despair crept in.
"Screw it! I'm going all out!"
General Blue's mind snapped. He stopped dead in his tracks, pulled two shotguns from his pockets, and charged back toward the security guard.