Global Collapse

Chapter 925 Beware of this shoe store!

"The ghost didn't come after me..." Ren Leshan shrunk himself as much as possible and hid inside the cluttered and crowded shoe display rack.

The shoe racks here are all crooked and leaning, with some of them creating triangular spaces in the middle, like tents that haven't been pitched properly.

After escaping the ghost's pursuit, Renleshan hid here.

This is the shoe store he and Mouse Loves to Eat Cat passed by before. The claw machine not far outside the shoe store is still emitting a faint glow.

Using the light from the claw machine, he could observe the situation outside—his own flashlight was obviously off; only someone who didn't want to live would swagger around with a flashlight in the dark, abandoned shoe store where he was hiding.

However, when he separated from Anzhi Tinglan and fled earlier, his flashlight was still on. At that time, he glanced behind him and saw the general shape of the ghost.

It was hanging upside down from the ceiling, its hand still clutching a headless corpse.

Ren Leshan guessed that it was an unlucky punch that sent you to your death.

When Ren Leshan saw the ghost's form, he associated it with the image of a claw in a claw machine, and the headless corpse in its hand could also be associated with the dolls in the claw machine.

At this point, Ren Leshan suddenly understood that the ghost was the claw and they were the dolls, and both sides were in the mall, which was a giant "claw machine".

Ren Leshan thought of the player on the list named "Six Six Great Fortune," who had set the number of grappling hooks.

Unexpectedly, the number of ghosts in this dungeon was set by the player. I wonder how many ghosts he set.

But looking at the current situation...

There are six players on the list, plus myself who is not on the list and the one mentioned by Mouse Loves Cat going to the Western Paradise, that makes eight players, eight dolls.

The player sets the number of grappling hooks and dolls to be equal, which means there are eight ghosts on the field.

Eight is not accurate; there may be other players not on the list that haven't been counted. Ren Leshan has always suspected that Gu Mian also entered the instance, but didn't appear on the list.

Thinking of this, he felt his forehead throb. He was going to face more than eight ghosts here, plus Gu Mian.

But none of these are the most urgent.

The most critical thing right now is the one behind him.

A soft, sticky sound pressed down from behind, and Ren Leshan tensed up, bracing himself to escape from his hiding place at any moment.

Just then, a hesitant voice came from behind: "Hello."

Hao Laoshi was studying the green dog inside the claw machine through the glass outside the shoe store when he suddenly heard someone coming from the end of the aisle.

Not knowing whether the other party was a human or a ghost, he panicked and hid in the abandoned shoe store next door.

There are many collapsed and abandoned display shelves in the store, which are convenient for hiding.

He kicked away the shoes blocking his way on the ground, found a gap to squeeze through, and then looked out through the narrow gaps between the display shelves.

He soon saw that it was a person coming, but the person looked anxious as if a ghost was chasing him. Hao Laoshi was careful and did not come out. It would be bad if he ran into a ghost as soon as he came out.

The newcomer clearly also thought the gaps in the collapsed shelves were a good hiding place, and just like the unseen Hao Laoshi, he chose to enter the store and crawl into the collapsed shelves.

The shelf the visitor chose was right next to Hao Laoshi's.

As he crawled into the shelf, Hao Laoshi saw his nickname—Renleshan.

The moment Hao Laoshi saw the name, a sense of familiarity welled up in his heart.

He felt as if he had heard the name somewhere before, and not long ago, but he couldn't quite place it.

Hao Laoshi found it a bit strange, as his memory had always been quite good.

He stared at the spot where Ren Leshan was hiding for a long time with a strange look in his eyes, but no ghosts came after him.

Hao Laoshi thought that the ghost chasing this person might have been distracted and gone somewhere else.

This pile of dust isn't going to last forever. Old Hao squeezed through the gaps and realized he'd already inhaled a noseful of dust and was about to suffocate. The dust here was just too thick.

After confirming there was no danger outside, he cautiously emerged from his hiding place, crouched down, and approached Renle Mountain from behind, saying, "Hello."

He saw Ren Leshan's body tremble slightly when he spoke, then turn back to look at him, a fleeting look of relaxation crossing his face.

Did you notice someone behind you earlier and think he was a ghost?
“I didn’t expect there to be someone hiding here. Your voice behind me just now startled me.” Ren Leshan breathed a sigh of relief in front of Hao Laoshi. As he spoke, his eyes swept over the top of Hao Laoshi’s head, seemingly checking Hao Laoshi’s player information.

Ren Leshan's eyes immediately shifted back to Hao Laoshi's face, and he asked in a strange tone, "Why are you hiding in here too? Are you being chased by a ghost?"

Hao Laoshi squatted on the ground and shook his head: "I was looking at the claw machine outside just now. When I heard someone coming, I thought I would hide first to see what was going on, and that's when I saw you. Were you being chased by a ghost before you came?" "Yes," Ren Leshan replied in a low voice, his eyes fixed on Hao Laoshi's face, "The three of us were being chased by a ghost, and we ran separately. Now it seems that the ghost didn't choose me."

When Hao Laoshi heard Ren Leshan say that the three of them were chased by ghosts together, his expression changed, and he asked in a slightly urgent tone, "Did you encounter any other people in here?"

Not missing the anxious expression on his face, Ren Leshan slowly asked, "What, is your friend also in this instance?"

The name Hao Laoshi is new; I've never seen it before. It's not on the previous dungeon list, so no one mentioned this name when I was talking to Mouse Loves Cat.

Therefore, Ren Leshan cannot be sure whether Hao Laoshi is with the group at the base, with Gu Mian's group, or with that treacherous An Zhitinglan, but the latter possibility is unlikely.

If his friends are Gu Mian and her group, then he might be able to find out some useful information about Gu Mian, and even use Hao Laoshi to target Gu Mian and her group in the instance.

He couldn't handle Gu Mian, but he could easily handle this honest man who was alone.

Ren Leshan smiled as he thought about it, waiting for Hao Laoshi to say his friend's name.

who is it?

Is it Gu Mian and the others?

Hao Laoshi didn't have deep feelings for the people in the old base. Now he just wanted to ask the man in front of him if he had seen Guigu, Fatty, and Gu Mian.

Although Gu Mian's name wasn't on the list, Hao Laoshi felt that he must have entered the instance.

He opened his mouth, wanting to ask about the names he cared about: "Have you ever met... Mouse Loves to Eat Cat, Six Six Great Fortune, and Sweetheart Little Seven? They and I are from the same base."

When Hao Laoshi first met Ren Leshan, he had doubts in his heart because of the name. He vaguely felt that this person was unreliable, and when he was about to say Gu Mian's name, he subconsciously changed the subject and said a few less impressive names instead.

The people in the base.

Ren Leshan's eyes darted over Hao Laoshi again before leaving, thinking that Hao Laoshi seemed smarter than that rat.

“I met that rat who loves to eat cats,” Ren Leshan thought. When he was being chased by the ghost, the rat was the first to disappear from the group. It must have escaped into a side road. “It got separated when it was running away, but it should be safe now.”

Hao Laoshi suppressed the urge to ask who the other person was: "Really? That's good. I haven't encountered anyone except you since I entered the instance, and I'm worried about their safety."

"If all your friends are as stupid as mice that love to eat cats, then you're basically doomed," Ren Leshan thought to himself. However, he didn't voice his true thoughts, but instead gave Hao Laoshi a kind look.

He needs a teammate.

The fire door next to Guochun Supermarket requires two people to open, but since the instance has been running for so long, some players may have already opened it. He glanced outside the store; this place wasn't far from the passageway with the fire door.

Thinking it over, he extended an invitation to Hao Laoshi: "Want to come together? I've looked at the map of this floor. There's a door over there near the supermarket, and behind that door is a staircase. Let's work together to open that door."

"You mean the fire door next to Guochun Supermarket? It was open when I went there."

Ren Leshan was taken aback: "You've been there?"

"I came from that side, and the door was open when I passed by..." Hao Laoshi tried to recall, "I saw that the doorknob was on the ground and deformed. I originally thought it was broken and fell down by itself. You said that the door was closed not long ago, so it may have been knocked down by someone else. Across the aisle and the open door, I saw that there seemed to be a stairwell behind the door."

"Didn't you go check?" Ren Leshan wanted to know who had violently broken down the door, but he knew Hao Laoshi wouldn't know either.

Hao Laoshi knows that he has survived to this day largely thanks to his own caution: "I was alone, and I didn't dare to go over there."

Narrow staircases are perfect haunted locations in horror movies, and he was genuinely afraid of bumping into a ghost if he went down them.

Since Gu Mian might have entered the instance, Hao Laoshi wanted to find Gu Mian first, and go wherever Gu Mian went.

Even if you can't find Gu Mian, finding other players is good too. Two people searching for Gu Mian together will be more motivating.

That's how he ended up running into another player.

However, he subconsciously felt that Renle Mountain was a bit strange, so he didn't reveal his goal of finding Gu Mian to him.

"Shall we go check the stairs now?" Hao Laoshi tentatively asked Ren Leshan. He felt that breaking down the door was somewhat in line with Gu Mian's style. Maybe it was Gu Mian who broke down the door, or maybe he would run into Gu Mian on the stairs!
His fantasy of encountering a ghost while climbing the stairs had been shattered; Gu Mian's figure dispelled the ghostly gloom in his mind.

Ren Leshan glanced suspiciously at Hao Laoshi, who had suddenly become so eager, but after a moment of doubt, he understood why the other party was so enthusiastic.

Now that he knows the door was opened by external force, Hao Laoshi must think it was done by his teammates at the base, and he wants to find those burdensome teammates.

Ren Leshan was planning to go upstairs anyway, so he smiled at Hao Laoshi and said, "Okay, let's go now."

Pay attention to this "coo coo," it's about to start singing!

The Cuckoo Song: "Cuckoo, cuckoo! Cuckoo @ cuckoo -- cuckoo [cuckoo] cuckoo~~************"