Chapter 302: Vanishing Act

“How can a living person just suddenly disappear…”

“It must be a ghost right? They must have been dragged away by a ghost…”

“It’s over… We’re all going to be eaten by the ghost It’s over…”

…

Panicked voices erupted from the large dorm room.

Fear could spread but in this crowded space it didn’t need to; it simply drowned everyone instantly.

These grown men were visibly trembling their faces shifting between deathly pale and sickly green resembling a crowd of hanged ghosts.

“There are no ghosts in this world…”

Lu Xin instinctively wanted to correct their unscientific thoughts but held his tongue.

He saw the panic in their eyes knew they were just desperately searching for an explanation for this baffling scene.

Even if the explanation they found—being “dragged away by a ghost”—was even more terrifying and inherently illogical any guess was better than complete ignorance.

The unknown surpasses all fear!

…

“Are you sure no one left the room this whole time?”

Others could panic but he couldn’t. Lu Xin forced himself to remain calm looking at the boss.

“Positive!”

Boss Gao Ting bit her lip hard trying to steady herself though her voice trembled slightly, “We’ve been huddled in here the whole time too scared to go anywhere. Even when someone had to pee we made them do it in the corner but…”

Fear still crept onto her face, “But somehow people… people just vanished.”

Lu Xin glanced at the damp patch staining the wall of the large dorm room and nodded.

He struggled to organize his chaotic thoughts.

People disappearing without a trace a whole group failing to notice when their companions vanished.

Tying them with rope didn’t help; they still inexplicably disappeared.

According to Gao Ting and the others there wasn’t even a mark left on the dusty floor when they vanished…

The thought alone made his skin crawl as if ants were crawling all over him.

Lu Xin disliked this feeling of confusion his brow furrowing slightly:

“There are no ghosts in this world that much is certain.”

He addressed the old drivers, “But certain mental monsters do exist and could potentially cause this.”

“Ah this…”

The old drivers paused stunned, “Is there a difference?”

“One term is classic superstition the other sounds slightly more scientific…”

Lu Xin explained earnestly before adding, “Assuming there really is a mental monster one even I can’t see secretly dragging people away… then does that mean it’s been with us all along right here in this room?”

Lost in thought he suddenly whipped his head around scanning the room.

His gaze sharpened making all the old drivers flinch involuntarily.

Even being caught in the periphery of his stare sent a shiver down their spines.

Lu Xin muttered to himself, “Including right now?”

…

Hearing his seemingly serious words the group of old drivers grew even more tense.

The thought of an invisible monster lurking among them ready to devour them at any moment made them shrink back instinctively. An indescribable chill crawled up their spines reaching the base of their skulls.

Everyone felt as if something was breathing softly on the back of their neck.

Some even jumped off their beds feeling an urgent need to flee the room immediately.

Who would want to stay in a room with a ghost?

“It’s useless.”

Lu Xin looked at the faces of those wanting to escape, “Even if you run it will follow you. Of course,” his thoughts suddenly diverged, “if there’s only one monster then if everyone scattered right now driving off in all directions as fast as possible… maybe it couldn’t keep track of so many people…”

The suggestion sparked a flicker of desperate hope in everyone.

Lu Xin chuckled softly dismissing the idea, “But that’s not feasible either because we don’t know if it has companions.”

The atmosphere in the room deflated once more sinking into gloom.

Boss Gao Ting watched Lu Xin’s intense contemplation her feelings equally complex.

“We still need to find the cause somewhere else…”

Despite his own confusion Lu Xin forced himself to think. Who else could they rely on when his Sister and Father weren’t helpful in this situation…

If Mom were here she was better at finding people perhaps she could locate the missing individuals.

But Mom wasn’t here and while Lu Xin could borrow some of her ability it was the power to observe emotions clearly unsuitable for the current situation.

He could only borrow parts of his family’s powers. For instance he could borrow his Sister’s power of distortion but not her… *cute* ability to tear herself apart.

He could borrow even less from his Father.

In that case he could only rely on himself…

After all he had undergone specialized pollution training in Qinggang for some time.

He was a professional.

…

“If it really was a monster dragging people away…”

Musing on this Lu Xin paused then looked up at Gao Ting, “What does it look like when the monster takes someone? Does it reveal its body and swallow them whole? Or is it an invisible hand that suddenly grabs their head?”

“It definitely wouldn’t grab the feet first because the person being dragged would have time to scream…”

“Logically grabbing the head should also allow time to scream right?”

“Unless it’s a mouth-to-mouth devouring?”

“No that’s not right. Mouth-to-mouth devouring would still involve struggling like a forced kiss… unless the victim is completely unable to resist meaning it’s a type of intense pollution and that usually requires direct contact…”

…

Despite the serious analysis Gao Ting felt a chilling sensation creep over her.

She had initially seen Lu Xin as an expert but the more she listened the more he sounded like a mentally ill person muttering nonsense.

Shivering slightly she tried to maintain her composure, “We… we really didn’t see anything…”

“In a room with so many people several companions disappear right beside you and you saw nothing?”

Lu Xin snapped his head up looking sharply at Gao Ting.

Flustered by his questioning Gao Ting nodded shamefully, “Yes… Yes It’s all my fault…”

“No that’s not right.”

Lu Xin stared at her his eyes gradually brightening, “What I mean is did you really not notice *anything* at all?”

Gao Ting realized she couldn’t follow his train of thought anymore and could only nod again hesitantly.

“Then I think I’ve found one of this monster’s characteristics.”

Lu Xin’s voice sounded somewhat cheerful; a hint of smugness even touched his expression.

Gao Ting reacted quickly. Seeing the smile on Lu Xin’s face she felt bewildered at first then quickly recalled their conversation connecting the dots. A spark of understanding ignited. She let out a soft “Ah!” and asked nervously, “You mean this ghost… monster… only takes someone when nobody is paying attention to them?”

Lu Xin smiled and nodded, “Exactly. It seems like everyone is staying in one place but in reality people’s attention shifts they don’t look at everyone constantly. When someone isn’t being watched that’s when the monster strikes and drags them away… See? Explained like this it doesn’t seem quite so terrifying anymore does it?”

“That doesn’t make it any less terrifying…”

Gao Ting screamed inwardly taking a deep breath her chest heaving.

Yet after calming down and thinking about it there seemed to be a tiny sliver of relief.

It wasn’t just her; the other old drivers who understood also showed hopeful expressions.

In such an oppressive and terrifying atmosphere facing such an unsolvable situation.

Suddenly discovering even one characteristic of the enemy felt like grasping a life-saving straw in despair.

“Quick! Everyone sit face-to-face! Stare at the person opposite you! Don’t Don’t blink…”

As soon as Gao Ting understood she shouted out the order loudly.

The group of old drivers reacted scrambling onto the beds turning to face each other.

Eyes wide like copper bells.

…

Lu Xin turned around to see Gao Ting also staring intently right at him.

“Looking at me is useless watch the others!”

Lu Xin shook his head walked over to the edge of a nearby bed grabbed a container holding loose tobacco took a piece of thin paper and started rolling a cigarette like Old Zhou… He only had three of his gold-filter cigarettes left; he needed to conserve them.

Taking a slow drag of the harsh smoke Lu Xin pondered slowly.

Just discovering this characteristic wasn’t enough; he still needed to figure out how to solve the problem.

After all the people who had disappeared earlier hadn’t been found.

Besides could staring at each other truly guarantee they wouldn’t disappear?

What happens when they get tired? Hungry? Need the restroom? Need to sleep?

Theoretically one blink from a companion could mean vanishing instantly.

They were facing a monster that could snatch you away the moment no one was looking.

In that case no one in the world could possibly escape its notice…

Unless the entire world followed his command lining up taking turns to watch him constantly.

“So how do we solve this?”

Lu Xin slowly rubbed his forehead starting to miss Han Bing.

The tension slowly dissipated bit by bit in the silence filled only by wide staring eyes.

“Clang…”

After an unknown amount of time a loud noise suddenly echoed from outside like something heavy hitting the car compartment.

Everyone in the room already on edge jumped violently.

Including Lu Xin they all simultaneously turned to look outside.

But a glance revealed nothing stirring outside the window. A bad feeling suddenly surged in Lu Xin’s heart.

He turned back around and saw the room which had been crowded moments ago now seemed somewhat empty.

A chilling wind seemed to sweep through instantly icing everyone’s spine.