Chapter 432: Faulty Space

They drove through a central square and turned into Alfasi Street. There, they saw a completely different scene.

It was a very strange scene!

On one side of the central square, the streets and buildings were empty, devoid of any people. They could also hear the intermittent sounds of gunfire and explosions coming from afar.

When their vehicle moved past the square and entered Alfasi Street, the streets suddenly turned lively.

Pedestrians, cars, shops and open-air cafes with chairs placed by the street…

From all outward appearances, it was a scene from a normal city.

After entering this street, even the sounds of gunfire and explosions disappeared.

Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao exchanged glances and saw traces of surprise within each other.

Chen Xiaolian immediately stepped on the brakes before backing their jeep, stopping right on the intersection between Alfasi Street and the junction leading to the square.

They watched as a car sped along the street, moving toward the square. When the car reached the intersection, the air flashed… and the car disappeared!

The square remained empty!

But the pedestrians on the street did not appear to notice what had happened just now. Cars continued coming and going and everyone there seemed to be turning a blind eye to what was going on – or perhaps they were simply incapable of seeing it!

Some pedestrians walking toward the intersection would disappear when they reached the line dividing the two streets. The same thing happened to cars.

Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao looked at each other and whispered out in unison, “Space divide?”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. “It seems the answer is yes.”

Clearly, the system had divided some of the areas within the instance dungeon.

For instance, the area playing host to the quest target will continue to play host to other humans and all was normal. However, the normal humans in other areas would be emptied.

This was most peculiar. Chen Xiaolian, who was in the jeep, watched as a car sped forward in a collision course with his jeep.

Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao were shocked. Just as they were about to make a run for it, the car moved past them!

It was as though… the jeep was like the air! The two vehicles collided but the car moved unimpeded as it continued speeding ‘past’ the jeep!

When the two vehicles were intersecting each other, Chen Xiaolian, Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo could see a young woman seated in the driver seat of the car…

It was an extremely strange spectacle!

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Qiao Qiao. “It seems to be true! The space that we are presently occupying is in a different plane of existence compared to theirs!”

“The quest target?” Qiao Qiao was surprised.

There was surprise in Chen Xiaolian’s eyes as well. “I think we may have found the right one! Let us go find him!”

They stopped their jeep by the street and the three of them got down before moving along the street.

Clearly, the three of them were completely invisible to the other humans here. To them, Chen Xiaolian and his team simply did not exist! Chen Xiaolian had also deliberately waved toward a pedestrian who was making a phone call. His fingers nearly poked into the pedestrian’s eyes but the pedestrian simply ignored him and continued moving forward, going right ‘past’ Chen Xiaolian’s body.

“We are like ghosts here…” said Soo Soo.

“We are on a different plane of existence, so they cannot see us.” Qiao Qiao pulled Soo Soo’s hand.

Chen Xiaolian took the front position and they carefully moved forward, searching for the house number.

After walking for roughly 30 metres, beside an open-air café, they found a very narrow door with the sign ‘54’.

“This is it.”

Chen Xiaolian knitted his eyebrows and reached out with his hand to pull open the door. When his fingers gripped onto the cold door handle, his heart gave a pound and he turned to look at Qiao Qiao.

“It seems we got the right one! If we exist in different planes of existence, then we should be unable to touch this door handle! But we can… … that means, beyond this door lies a ‘special existence’ that the system had prepared!”

He pulled open the door by force. Although the door was locked, Chen Xiaolian was able to break open the door with his strength. Then, the three of them marched inside.

After going in, they saw a narrow flight of stairs and some dark and humid… … clearly, this place was for the bottom rung of society.

On the second floor was a wooden door.

As the three of them were heading upstairs, they suddenly heard a crashing sound.

It sounded as though something was being broken.

Chen Xiaolian raised his eyebrows and quickened his steps.

The sounds of cursing came from above them.

A man with hoarse voice was cursing loudly and his curses accompanied the sound of a child screaming.

Chen Xiaolian rushed up and saw the wooden door in the corridor opening suddenly. A thin figure moved out and a fat man strode out behind him, shouting curses as he did so. He vehemently threw a bottle of beer out of the room, which crashed into the corridor. Next, he slammed the door shut!

“Scram! And never come back!” His shout reverberated out from the door.

The thin figure rushed out and moved to sit down beside the stairs, hugging his knees.

Chen Xiaolian stood there at the turning point of the stairs, together with Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo. They looked at the thin figure sitting before them.

He was a little boy, seemingly around the same age as Soo Soo. He was very thin with short, messy, curly hair and a very sharp chin. However, he had very big eyes.

He clutched his head and sobbed gently.

Chen Xiaolian slowly walked up until he was standing in front of him.

The boy saw the edges of Chen Xiaolian’s feet and slowly raised his head. After glancing at Chen Xiaolian, he whispered with a timid tone, “Mister, are you here to collect debt?”

Chen Xiaolian’s eyes grew bright and he smiled as he said, “You can see me?”

The boy appeared shocked and a terrified expression washed over his face!

He jerked and screamed sharply; he did his best to put more distance between him and them as he curled his body. “You, you, you can talk? You, are you… are you also a ghost?”

Ghost?

Chen Xiaolian was surprised.

It was at that moment that the wooden door opened up again and the fat man poked out of the door. Glaring viciously at the boy, he shouted, “What the Hell are you screaming for?”

The boy continued screaming as he pointed at Chen Xiaolian and his team. “Ah ah ah!”

The fat man turned to look in Chen Xiaolian’s direction… … however, his eyes simply swept over them before turning back…

Chen Xiaolian suddenly realized that the fat man most likely did not notice them!

What he saw was simply the wall behind them.

“I told you before kid! Don’t say those damned things! I have had enough of your lies!”

Bang!

The door was slammed shut again!

Chen Xiaolian then seemingly realized something.

The little boy was pale from fright. He looked at Chen Xiaolian with tears trickling down his cheeks.

“Do not be afraid.” Chen Xiaolian sighed.

The boy retreated to find that he had retreated all the way to the corner and there was no more room for him to manoeuvre. He then said in a begging tone, “Mister, mister… … I don’t know… I really don’t know… I don’t know what you are… in the past, in the past, no other ghost had ever spoken to me… … it is true… … I thought that you all cannot speak! I will shut my mouth! I won’t tell anyone I can see you again! I beg you, please don’t hurt me… argh!”

Chen Xiaolian sighed. Then, he suddenly extended his hand to press down on the boy’s shoulder.

The boy screamed, but Chen Xiaolian covered his mouth.

“Hush!”

Chen Xiaolian leaned over and whispered, “I am not a ghost.”

“Wu wu wu…”

“I really am not one.” Chen Xiaolian did his best to project a gentle tone as he whispered, “See? You can touch my hand. It is not cold but warm, isn’t it?”

After saying that, he pulled the boy’s finger and placed it on his wrist. “Can you feel my pulse? See? I am not a ghost. I am a human.”

The boy became somewhat calmer, but he continued to cast a fearful gaze at Chen Xiaolian.

“As long as you promise not to scream, I will not hurt you. We… let us talk, shall we?”

“Wu wu… …” The boy nodded his head.

Chen Xiaolian released his hand that was covering the boy’s mouth.

“Are you really not a ghost, Mister?”

“No. The same goes for them.” Chen Xiaolian turned his head to indicate Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo.

The boy cast a surprised look at the three of them.

“But… but… why can Lucius not see you all? You three were standing right here! He could not see you at all just now!”

Chen Xiaolian smiled. “About that, let us talk about this outside.”

He paused for a bit and stretched out his hand toward the little boy. “I want to confirm, is your name Will Ritz Beyliah?”

“Yes, that is my name!” The boy looked at Chen Xiaolian in shock.

“That settles it. Now, can we find a place to talk?”

The little boy then extended his own hand and as Chen Xiaolian was pulling him up from the ground…

[System prompt: Meteor Rock Guild has found the quest target Will Ritz Beyliah, successfully completing the quest for the first phase. Time used: 31 minutes. Rank: second place. In the second phase, you will automatically be given one advantageous information.]

After receiving the prompt, both Qiao Qiao and Soo Soo revealed obvious looks of relief.

Chen Xiaolian turned to look at the two girls. “Notify Roddy and the others and have them quickly move toward us.”

…

At a certain corner of Alfasi Street, the little boy sat at a spot where there was light and his emotions appeared much calmer.

Qiao Qiao pulled out a bottle of cola and a piece chocolate and handed it to him. He hesitated for a moment before finally giving in to the temptation of sweets.

The street was bustling with pedestrians and cars and the four of them sat beside a stone platform beside the street.

The little boy sat in the middle.

Chen Xiaolian watched as the little boy ate two bites of the chocolate and gulped down half the contents of the bottle before slowly speaking up, “Will? Can we talk? From what I can hear just now… … it would appear that you are, different?”

Will’s body gave a shudder and he raised his head. Casting a fearful look at Chen Xiaolian, he whispered, “Yes, Mister… I… I can see things that do not exist in this world.”

“Eh? What does that mean?”

“I… I can see ghosts.” Will shook his head, expressions of confusion and fear could be seen in his large eyes. “I have been able to see them since I was young. But no one is willing to believe me… … everyone thinks that I am lying.”

…