Chapter 99

"Whew... whew... whew..."

As if waking from a deep sleep, Fang Ye suddenly raised his head, breathing heavily.

"Drip... drip..."

In the luxuriously decorated office, the hour hand on the ancient clock pointed to nine, and the second hand continued to move steadily clockwise.

"Was it a dream?"

Cold sweat almost soaked through his white shirt, Fang Ye pulled out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his forehead and cheeks.

"Was it really a dream?"

Asking himself again, Fang Ye was unsure, because what had happened before was not as vague and dark as usual dreams; instead, it was as clear and vivid as if he had experienced it firsthand. Saying it was a dream was hard to believe.

But such an unbelievable event... it was really absurd.

After some thought, Fang Ye's gaze fell on the phone beside his desk, and he picked it up.

Of course, there were no strange messages on it, nor any records of outgoing calls. However, thanks to Fang Ye's remarkable memory, he still remembered the two phone numbers.

One was Feng Li, and the other was Zhang Meng.

After a slight hesitation, Fang Ye dialed a series of numbers.

"Beep... beep... beep..."

"Sorry, the user you are calling is currently not answering..."

Fang Ye suddenly felt a chill in his heart. When he hung up and dialed another number, his fingers even trembled a bit.

This time, after the "beep" sound continued for a while, someone answered.

"Hello..."

The owner of the low voice was clearly in a bad mood, and his tone was tinged with impatience.

"Is this Brother Feng? It's Fang Ye."

"..."

After a moment of silence, the other side whispered, "Is it really you? Not joking?"

Fang Ye smiled bitterly, "I wish it was just a joke, but it's clearly not."

"Let's meet up."

"Okay, where?"

Fang Ye mentioned a location, then hung up, tidied up his wallet and phone, put on his suit, and left the office.

As a workaholic who often worked overtime until ten at night, this was one of the few times he had ended his overtime for reasons other than work.

But none of that mattered. Compared to overtime, work, or even his career, the events of tonight were the most important.

Taking the elevator to the garage, Fang Ye got into a black Mercedes, drove out of the underground parking lot, and headed for the destination.

It was now around nine in the evening, not a suitable time for a meal or discussion, so he arranged to meet at a private room in a teahouse. This teahouse was open 24 hours a day and was a favorite place for mahjong enthusiasts. In the past, due to business reasons, Fang Ye often accompanied certain people here, so he was familiar with the environment. A phone call to the boss secured a private room where they wouldn't be disturbed.

Sitting down in the private room, after drinking tea for about twenty minutes, Fang Ye finally waited for Feng Li to arrive.

Feng Li's appearance was similar to what he had seen before, but he seemed to have tidied up, washed his face, and shaved, making him look less disheveled.

"Brother Feng."

Standing up to shake hands with Feng Li, Fang Ye invited him to sit down.

"It seems it's real. I thought it was just a nightmare."

Feng Li took a sip of tea, his face showing worry.

"Yes, it's real. I doubt anyone would believe us if we told them."

Fang Ye was also in a bad mood. Anyone caught up in such a bizarre and eerie situation would likely feel fear.

Fang Ye and Feng Li were both smart. After confirming that this was not a dream, the first thing they did was not to call the police but to gather together to discuss a solution.

Why not trust the police?

Because they knew that what they had experienced was beyond the realm of what ordinary people could understand. Rushing to the police would only result in being treated as a lunatic.

Without personal experience, no one would believe them no matter how much they explained.

"What do you think that place was?"

"I don't know... there's too little information, and..."

Feng Li shook his head, "This is not something human technology can achieve. How can I guess?"

"Did you notice anything?"

Fang Ye pondered, "I remember that before I passed out, I checked the time, which was 9:01 PM. When I woke up and looked at the clock again, it was 9:02 PM and a few seconds..."

"One minute, right?"

Feng Li thought, "The time I verified is basically the same. Also, there's one interesting point."

"What is it?"

"When I passed out, I was drinking with others. They thought I was drunk and ignored me... but after I woke up, I could verify that my body was always in their sight. I didn't disappear for that minute or so."

"What do you mean?"

Fang Ye frowned.

"The place we went to, our bodies didn't go with us, only our consciousness. Just our consciousness."

Fang Ye's fingers tapped the table, and he said seriously, "Though it sounds absurd, according to the old folks, we experienced an out-of-body experience."

"Soul?"

If he had heard someone say this seriously a few minutes ago, Fang Ye wouldn't have even bothered to look at them. But now, he had to seriously consider this question.

"Unimaginable... something even scientists can't figure out."

Fang Ye took out a laptop, "Before you arrived, I found something interesting."

"Interesting?"

"It's the horror game 'Outlast.'"

On the computer screen, a video began to play. As the video progressed, Feng Li's face turned grim.

"So I've basically confirmed two things: one, the architectural environment of that place is exactly the same as 'Outlast,' but the monsters are from the movie 'Alien.' Two, Luo Yanfeng is definitely suspicious; he has many things he hasn't told us."

Feng Li added, "And his disappearance and the way he disappeared are too strange. His name might even be fake."

"He has many suspicious points, but let's set that aside for now."

Fang Ye lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and exhaled, "Do you remember the numbers of the others?"

"I understand what you mean."

Feng Li wrote three numbers on a piece of paper, "I remember three: one is Ye Qingqing, one is Zhang Meng, and another is Fang Ting."

"After I woke up, I called Zhang Meng, but it showed no answer. The same with Ye Qingqing, but for He Ting..."

Feng Li paused, his eyes showing a hint of fear, "Her colleague answered and said she had a sudden illness and was taken to the hospital."

Fang Ye remained silent, showing no outward signs of distress, but his right hand, holding the cigarette, trembled slightly, indicating that he was not as calm as he appeared.

"What do you think caused it?"

Fang Ye finally spoke, his voice strained.

"When a person is overly frightened, the adrenal gland suddenly releases a large amount of catecholamines, causing the heart to beat faster, blood pressure to rise, and the oxygen consumption of heart muscle metabolism to increase sharply. The rapid blood circulation can flood the heart, tearing the heart muscle fibers, causing heart bleeding, and leading to sudden cardiac arrest and death."

Fang Ye looked up at Feng Li, "Since that so-called nightmare world can make us unable to distinguish reality from illusion, it's too easy for it to cause death, no matter what method it uses, as we can't resist."

"Do you think there will be a second time?"

"Definitely!"

"Why are you so sure?" Fang Ye was surprised.

"To put it bluntly, it's like slaughtering pigs. If you, the pig, manage to avoid the slaughter today, it doesn't mean there won't be another one tomorrow."

"I'll investigate the specific situations of these people based on these phone numbers and contact you tomorrow."

Picking up the numbers Feng Li had written, Fang Ye's face was a bit pale, perhaps due to the heavy topic they had discussed.

"Alright, I also need to prepare some things, like a will."

This sounded like a joke, but Fang Ye saw no trace of humor on his face.