Meanwhile, for Xiao Bai and Ke Shufan, everything unfolding before them was equally颠覆ing their thinking.
One moment, they were in a speeding car; the next, as if space had suddenly shifted, they found themselves... on a dark hillside!
This hillside was surrounded by withered trees, and on the open ground, faint and indistinct, stood many things that looked like stone tablets, some tall, some short.
"No way... This is..."
Suddenly realizing something, Ke Shufan's face instantly changed color. At the same time, Xiao Bai, who had remained composed throughout, bit her lip tightly.
Because this place... this hillside...
Was unmistakably a cemetery!
"What's going on... How did we end up here..."
If Xiao Bai weren't still by her side, Ke Shufan felt she would have completely broken down. Though she muttered to herself about what was happening, both of them knew full well in their hearts.
This bizarre occurrence was undoubtedly the ability of the ghost in this story!
The ghost's power had directly teleported them from the speeding car into the cemetery.
"What's happening? Didn't we complete the task? Why is this still happening?"
"Shufan, calm down."
Sensing the intense fear from the girl beside him, Xiao Bai frowned, then reached out and took her hand.
The more critical the situation, the more composure was needed to analyze a glimmer of hope under extremely unfavorable conditions. If Ke Shufan only gave in to fear and panic, then perhaps Xiao Bai would have to abandon her and survive alone.
"The notification we just received only means we completed the task of staying in the manor for seven days. It doesn't mean the ghost has stopped attacking us."
"Maybe we were wrong from the start. This story hasn't been finished by us at all!"
"Xiao Bai, what are you saying?!"
Ke Shufan's eyes widened, and her face turned deathly pale in an instant.
"But we've already... already destroyed that doll!"
"Who told you that the doll was the greatest evil in this story?"
"But, but it was always..."
"That doll was indeed eerie, and all the clues in the story consistently pointed to that suspicious doll. But think carefully—it never actually attacked us!"
"Xiao Bai, you mean..."
Covering her mouth with her hand, Ke Shufan's eyes widened again.
Xiao Bai's words were like an invisible hand, tearing away the mist that had obscured their vision!
Though strange events kept happening around the doll, it had truly never attacked any participant.
"So, is it possible that the clues we got weren't hints from the story, but deliberate misdirection from the characters, making us think this Tongtong was a child possessed by a demon, and the painter couple were abnormal parents?"
"Is it possible that the story's restriction on the ghost was actually this doll?"
Ke Shufan opened her mouth but couldn't say a word.
Xiao Bai's analysis had completely overturned her judgment of this story. If it were true, then wouldn't that mean... wouldn't it... that they, the participants, had shattered the ghost's final restriction?
"No, Xiao Bai, this is too terrifying..."
"Of course, this is all just my speculation. But based on the paranormal events happening around us now, our earlier assumption that destroying the doll with a special item would end the story is undoubtedly wrong."
As she rapidly thought, Xiao Bai quickly deduced.
Working backward from this result, the special item we thought could suppress the ghost—its function might not be so reliable either...
"However, the ghost hasn't acted yet. We... might still have hope."
Xiao Bai's words greatly encouraged Ke Shufan. She adjusted her glasses, using the strength from the other's hand to steady her violently trembling body.
"I understand, Sister Bai. Thank you. We'll definitely survive this time too!"
"Anyway, let's leave this place first."
Xiao Bai nodded and said no more. The two then groped their way forward through the dark cemetery.
Xiao Bai had a strange feeling about this cemetery, something she couldn't quite name—whether it was a premonition or something else. But she didn't need to share it with Ke Shufan.
On a night with no stars or moon, everything was pitch black. Though they ran forward using the faint light of a small flashlight, it wasn't long before Ke Shufan cried out in pain and stumbled to the ground.
"Ah... it hurts..."
Biting back tears, Ke Shufan pitifully hugged her knee. Just then, a beam of flashlight fell on an object—a small stone tablet, barely protruding from the ground and hidden by weeds, making it hard to spot.
That's why Ke Shufan had tripped over it.
The faint light swept across the tablet's surface. Xiao Bai's pupils suddenly contracted as she saw the name...
Su Jingtong...
And the birth and death dates carved on it were exactly eight years apart.
No way?
Could it be such a coincidence?
The gardener had once said that the big fire in the manor also happened when "Tongtong" was eight years old.
Rather than coincidence, it seemed like the story's deliberate arrangement.
Could it be that beneath this tombstone lay the real "Tongtong"?
At this moment, Ke Shufan also noticed this. Her face pale, she gritted her teeth and stood up despite the pain.
The two then looked around and immediately spotted a larger stone tablet near the small one. On it were engraved two familiar photos.
It was the painter couple!
And their date of death was the same day as the child named Su Jingtong!
That meant this family of three had all died on that same day!
It must have been... on the day of the fire!
"Then... the painter couple we saw..."
Though they had already guessed most of it, Ke Shufan and Xiao Bai still felt a chill run down their spines.
Because at the same moment, they both thought of the same question.
Who was the driving force behind all this tragedy?
He, or they—why did they do this?