Chapter 8

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A series of rapid knocks, the joystick turning, old electronic music, and a low-resolution large screen.

K~O!

Accompanied by a familiar English voice, Liu Ming slammed his fist on the button.

Lin Yifan picked up a carbonated drink and gulped it down, savoring the sensation of the soda rushing down his throat.

Yao Ling, standing with her arms crossed, sighed and glanced at her watch. "It's nine o'clock, still not done with the slot machine?"

"Damn it! I can't believe this. I used to be the arcade king in class, and now I'm losing to this kid! Yifan, one more round!" Liu Ming took out a coin, ready to continue, his posture suggesting he was determined to play until dawn.

Sitting in the chair, Lin Yifan rubbed his dry eyes. To evade the endless Japanese police, they had deliberately taken several detours and then hid in this large arcade.

They had been playing '97 King of Fighters' all night, and Liu Ming had been thoroughly beaten, not realizing that almost two hours had passed.

Of course, although they were playing, Lin Yifan and the others were not stupid enough to forget the existence of Sadako. They had specifically chosen this place, where the crowd was mixed and lively, and the environment was filled with the electronic sounds of "BiuBiuBi~".

At least for now, it seemed that Sadako wouldn't appear in such a crowded place, but it was impossible for Lin Yifan and the others to stay here for a few days to avoid her.

The crowd would eventually thin out in the early hours of the morning, and being trapped in a place full of screens would be a nightmare for them.

"Enough, still playing!?" Yao Ling grabbed Captain Liu, looking at the two with a scolding gaze.

Yao Ling was fed up. Previous cycles had been completed normally, but with the new member, everything had gone awry!

It was one thing for Lin Yifan to play a police chase in a horror movie, but staying in the arcade for two hours and dragging Liu Ming along was another. They seemed to be on a three-day tour of 1990s Japan rather than experiencing a horror movie.

Only someone with extremely thick nerves could do such a thing!

Yao Ling pulled Lin Yifan up as well, and he waved his hand with a bitter smile. "I know, let's go to the phone booth at the entrance. You two keep watch."

"Okay." Yao Ling nodded with a stern face, her hand reaching for the two guns hidden at her waist.

The three squeezed into the bustling crowd, and as they walked out of the arcade onto the bustling 1990s street, there was no sense of horror at all. It even seemed impossible for Sadako to appear.

But sometimes, if it were a place with withered vines, old trees, and crows, their nerves would be on edge, making it hard for Sadako to succeed. However, this place, which was so comforting and numbing, was a very sinister and dangerous move.

The three exchanged glances, and Lin Yifan took out a piece of paper and walked to the nearby phone booth. After a cautious look around, he started dialing the number.

Unlike a push-button phone, a rotary phone required turning the dial for each number, and it took a while for Lin Yifan to finish.

"Hello?"

"Hi, I'm..."

Before Lin Yifan could finish, the person on the other end laughed coldly. "I knew it, young man. You would eventually come to me."

"Where are you? After we meet, we can play this gloomy game, okay? I'm at the new district arcade now." The tone of "I knew it" annoyed Lin Yifan.

There was a snap in the phone, and the person laughed. "Arcade, huh? Look to the east, do you see a mountain?"

Following the moonlight, Lin Yifan could see a small mountain through the dense buildings.

A crescent-shaped roofed building on the mountain caught his eye, the silver moonlight casting a dead-like glow.

Staring at the building on the mountain, the call was already disconnected.

Putting the phone back, Lin Yifan walked out of the booth and waved to the two on guard. Liu Ming turned to the parking lot to get the sports car, and Lin Yifan walked over to Yao Ling.

Yao Ling was very cold, rarely speaking, and stood silently on the side, yawning while they played the arcade games.

Leaning against a street lamp, the two stood silently on the bustling street, watching the passing vehicles and crowds, feeling out of place in this world.

"Newcomer."

Yao Ling's sudden words made Lin Yifan turn his head in confusion. "Hmm?"

"Aren't you scared?"

"Scared? Maybe, but being scared doesn't stop me from acting. It makes me more calm."

Yao Ling raised an eyebrow, surprised by Lin Yifan's response. She had seen many scared newcomers, some even on the verge of death. But Lin Yifan admitted to being scared but never showed it, which intrigued her.

"By the way, what do you do? Police? Assassin? You seem familiar, like I've seen you somewhere..."

Lin Yifan curled his lips into a lecherous smile. "You know, what do I do!"

"Oh! I remember, a Japanese soldier! The one who was torn apart by hands... uh..."

Shrugging, Lin Yifan laughed lightly. "I'm just a minor character."

Yao Ling, who was about to laugh, suddenly stiffened, her expression turning cold. "Oh."

"Uh... Sichuan face-changing?" Yao Ling's sudden change in expression made Lin Yifan feel like he had swallowed a fly.

"Nothing, I have a good idea of what you do, so that's enough. I don't want to know more about you." Yao Ling turned and walked to the sports car, leaving Lin Yifan puzzled.

Just now, Yao Ling had seemed about to laugh but then thought of something, creating a barrier between them.

Not wanting to make things awkward, the handcuffs on his waist reminded him that his task was to capture Sadako. Lin Yifan didn't know what would happen to Liu Ming and Yao Ling after he captured Sadako, and he didn't plan to find out...

Sitting in the sports car, Liu Ming, who had just wanted to argue about '97 King of Fighters,' was taken aback by the sudden coldness between the two.

Liu Ming glanced at Yao Ling and turned back. "Ignore her. Since I met her, I've never seen her give anyone a good face."

"Oh? Did Yao Ling enter the cycle earlier than Captain Liu?" Lin Yifan was slightly surprised, thinking Captain Liu was the veteran, but Yao Ling had entered the infinite space even earlier.

Yao Ling, closing her eyes to rest, said coldly, "Mission first, less talk."

Liu Ming laughed dryly and closed his mouth, continuing to drive.

The car drove for a while, moving away from the bustling city, but the road was still well-lit, not as desolate as the old district.

Through the rearview mirror, Lin Yifan observed Yao Ling's cold face. From her appearance, Yao Ling seemed like a cheerful and outgoing girl, but now she was frowning and silent.

It felt like she was... isolating herself.

While staring at Yao Ling's face, Lin Yifan suddenly felt something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what.

Looking around, everything seemed normal, with people and vehicles passing by on the road.

"By the way, do you feel anything off?" Lin Yifan asked in a low voice.

"No, what's wrong?" Liu Ming shook his head.

Yao Ling opened her eyes, scanned the surroundings, and shook her head. "No."

Lin Yifan felt very uneasy, very anxious, and the handcuffs on his waist trembled mysteriously.

Just then, Lin Yifan accidentally glanced at the small gap in the car window and widened his eyes!

Through the glass, he saw people and vehicles passing by.

But through the small gap, he saw a different scene. Although it was just a small gap, Lin Yifan saw dilapidated two-story houses and messy utility poles.

"Captain Liu, stop the car!"

Lin Yifan shouted, and Liu Ming slammed on the brakes!

However, the braking system seemed to fail, and the car continued to move.

"What... what's happening?" Liu Ming broke out in a cold sweat, realizing that no matter how he turned the steering wheel, the car continued to move.

Lin Yifan, with a stunned look, slowly turned his head to the rearview mirror.

The yellow talisman was gone!

Lin Yifan suddenly realized why he felt something was off when looking at Yao Ling through the rearview mirror. The yellow talisman that was supposed to be on the mirror had disappeared!

Lin Yifan looked around and quickly drew his gun. "The car is controlled by Sadako, and the windows are showing illusions!"

At that moment, the car windows automatically rose, trying to trap the three inside. Yao Ling and Liu Ming broke out in a cold sweat, and the three simultaneously aimed their guns at the nearest window and fired.

Lin Yifan aimed at the window and pulled the trigger. A bullet hit the window, leaving only a bullet hole and a crack, but it didn't shatter the entire window. Sadako's怨力 (yuanli, grudge power) was attached to the glass!

However, after the bullet penetrated the glass, the illusion of the bustling city disappeared, replaced by dilapidated old houses and dim roads.

"What's happening!" Liu Ming's situation was the same. The shotgun blast didn't shatter the glass, leaving only a cluster of bullet holes.

"We've been tricked. Sadako is casting illusions on the windows! The car is actually being driven by Sadako!"

Hearing this, the other two felt a chill run down their spines, a sense of fear spreading from within.

"Never mind, let's break the windows first!" Yao Ling fired several shots at the window, gradually creating a small opening in the glass.

The three trapped in the car started to smash the windows. Lin Yifan fired his gun, rammed with his body, and kicked with his feet, but the window, reinforced by Sadako, only shattered a little.

Liu Ming and Yao Ling also desperately smashed the window, trying to create an opening to escape.

If someone were outside, they would see a terrifying scene.

A woman in white was lying on the roof of the car, and the three inside, with grim faces, were desperately smashing the windows, while the sports car, with no one driving, was heading towards a lake.

Liu Ming, exhausted from the effort, stopped smashing and looked at the dark expanse ahead. "Damn it, what the hell! Where is this car going?"

"Whatever it is, it's not a good place!"

Just as Lin Yifan, with a cold sweat on his forehead, finished speaking, the car's front dipped sharply at a thirty-degree angle. Before the three could react, they felt the car hit something and start to fall rapidly.

With a loud bang, water rushed into the car through the broken windows, instantly soaking Lin Yifan and the others. The car, which had been half-floating, was pushed down by Sadako and sank completely into the water.