Chapter 1 The Tunnel

Zhang Yuanqing used Night Tour, manipulating the airflow to descend and enter the tunnel.

High-powered xenon lamps were placed every five meters along the arched ceiling of the tunnel, filling the inner ring with brilliant white light.

Roadblocks were set up at the tunnel entrance a dozen meters away, prohibiting passage.

Inside the quiet tunnel, a row of cars were parked, left behind by the ordinary people who had disappeared into the tunnel more than two hours ago.

After surveying the scene, the Public Security Department and official Nightwatchers took away valuable clues such as driving recorders and bloodstains, leaving the cars behind for the time being.

On the one hand, they wanted to preserve the scene. On the other hand, they couldn't be sure the tunnel was safe yet. To prevent more people from being harmed, the tunnel would be closed for a few days. Therefore, leaving the cars where they were seemed preferable. It had to be said that the official Nightwatchers were experienced. That little red-hatted girl probably hadn't left the tunnel.

The missing people were all in the tunnel as well.

Once traffic resumed, there was no telling if another mass disappearance would occur in a few days. "Da da da da..."

Inside the empty tunnel, the red dancing shoes spun around erratically, sometimes sprinting across car roofs, leaving footprints, sometimes roaming the tunnel ceiling and walls.

Zhang Yuanqing, in a state of invisibility, walked slowly between the cars, frowning as he watched the red dancing shoes flailing about like a headless fly, pondering. "The little red-hatted girl didn't leave, and the missing people are still in the tunnel, but the official Nightwatchers haven't noticed. There are only two possible reasons for this: One, the little red-hatted girl's level is too high, so high that even the Deacons are being deceived. Two, that item has special functions and belongs to a foreign profession, about which the Deacons have limited knowledge, so they are temporarily at a loss."

But Zhang Yuanqing believed that the Deacons of Songhai would be able to crack the mystery of the little red-hatted girl in less than three days. It was just that whether the missing people could survive until then was hard to say. After understanding the mystery, Zhang Yuanqing was in a dilemma.

Auntie and the missing people were stuck in the tunnel, but not in reality, instead being in an unknown, incomprehensible dimensional rift. Although he had grasped the key, he didn't have the ability to enter it.

*Call Fu Qingyang. As a Ruler, he knows more than I do.* Zhang Yuanqing took out his phone.

At that moment, the red dancing shoes, which had been roaming on the wall, suddenly began to frantically stomp on the wall, making a "smashing" sound. The hard concrete wall was trampled with clear footprints, and chunks of cement fell down. Immediately, the cement wall rippled like water, swallowing the red dancing shoes.

The next second, Zhang Yuanqing lost his connection to the red dancing shoes.

His heart sank. He rushed to the place where the red dancing shoes had disappeared, pressed his palms against the wall, and silently exerted force, causing two palm prints to appear in the solid cement wall. However, nothing happened.

The red dancing shoes kicked the wall and entered the dimensional rift, but he couldn't. Zhang Yuanqing decisively gave up exploring and dialed Fu Qingyang's number.

While dialing, he saw the wall ripple again, and a pair of brand-new, exquisite red dancing shoes broke through the ripples and returned to the tunnel.

"Da da da..."

The red dancing shoes quickly circled around him, occasionally kicking the wall with its toe.

*Its meaning is that Auntie is on the other side of the wall and wants me to go over quickly? But I can't get through.* Zhang Yuanqing smiled wryly.

Seeing the red dancing shoes return, he suddenly remembered a detail. In the attribute introduction of the red dancing shoes, it was mentioned that after the death of the previous owner, the shoes began to wander. It was while wandering that it came to the Yu Ling Tunnel dungeon.

These shoes, which originated from the Void profession, could wander between transcedent-stage dungeons. This was its unique magical power, so it could enter the dimensional rift. Without hesitation, Zhang Yuanqing immediately activated his second form, choosing to wear them.

The red dancing shoes turned into two streaks of dark red light, wrapping around his feet and replacing his original sneakers. Then, he stood there dumbly, without moving.

*Looks like it won't work. The second form can only dodge, it can't take me "wandering."* Zhang Yuanqing frowned in disappointment. At that moment, the phone connected.

Fu Qingyang's voice rang out: "Speak."

Knowing that he was busy, Qian Gongzi didn't waste words. Zhang Yuanqing told him about his discovery in detail.

Fu Qingyang said: "A world of its own? The foreign 'Eternal Night' profession has corresponding skills, but that is a Ruler-level method. If that's the case, then there's no need to look for the people, they are doomed to die." Zhang Yuanqing's face turned extremely ugly. "How can I get in?"

"The fastest and safest way is naturally to ask for help from the Void profession. Stay where you are," Fu Qingyang said, "I will try to contact that president, but this will take time." Zhang Yuanqing had no choice but to hang up the phone.

He did have an item from the Void profession: the red dancing shoes. It could indeed enter the dimensional rift, but it couldn't take him in. *What to do?*

*If the item controlled by the little red-hatted girl really has the power of the Ruler stage, then...then Auntie...* Zhang Yuanqing was extremely anxious.

The more anxious he became, the more scattered his thoughts became. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. In a flash of thought, he quickly came up with a solution.

*The physical body can't enter, so what about the spirit body?*

The second form of the red dancing shoes only had the ability to dodge, not the ability to "wander," so it couldn't take him into the dimensional rift.

*Then can he separate his spirit body from his physical body, attach it to the red dancing shoes, and follow the red dancing shoes into the dimensional rift? But the spirit body's strength is limited, and it can't open the item bar. Even if he enters the dimensional rift, how can he rescue Auntie? The ghost bride and Little Doubi are spirit bodies and can enter with me. I won't be alone. After entering the dimensional rift, I can possess ordinary people and use their bodies to fight...*

*That's right, the Army Soul Mask has merged into my spirit body. The attributes of this item are greatly increased, enough for me to fight in the dimensional rift. Besides, I don't need to subdue the enemy, I just need to hold Auntie and wait for Boss's rescue.* Thinking of this, he no longer delayed. He casually opened the car door of a car next to him, entered the car, and sent a message to Guan Ya:

"I'm in a car in the inner ring tunnel. I need to separate my spirit body from my physical body for a moment. Come quickly to protect my physical body and remember to bring the Blood Rose. I may be in danger. Tell Fu Qingyang to come and support me quickly." After sending the message, he deactivated the wearing mode of the red dancing shoes and used Spirit Travel.

His spirit body immediately floated out of his physical body.

"Pa pa."

The red dancing shoes angrily kicked the master's physical body twice with the tip of their shoes. They thought that the master was pretending to be dead because he didn't want to dance with them.

Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body, wrapped in Little Doubi and Bai Lan, clung to the red dancing shoes.

Under his soothing, the red dancing shoes stopped being petulant and ran towards the wall with cheerful steps. "Smash smash smash..."

It vigorously stomped on the wall, trampling out footprints. Finally, the wall rippled. The red dancing shoes stepped down and were submerged in the ripples.

Moon bright, stars sparse, shadows of the forest swaying.

The surroundings were silent. There were no insects chirping, and a faint wolf howl came from the depths of the dense forest. Zhang Yuanqing's spirit body detached from the red dancing shoes and looked around.

He was at the entrance of a dense forest. Above his head was a silver plate-like full moon, and the silvery moonlight illuminated the distant wilderness. *If it weren't for the absence of the Spirit Realm prompt, I would have almost thought I had entered a dungeon. It's night here too, very good. It's the time of day when I'm at my best.* Zhang Yuanqing's eyes warily swept over the surroundings.

"Da da da..."

The red dancing shoes turned into a dark, muted streak of light and darted into the dense forest.

Zhang Yuanqing floated after them. The dense forest was silent. Lush branches blocked the moonlight, and everywhere was deep darkness. Fortunately, the spirit body was naturally able to see through the darkness, and his vision was not affected.

After floating in the dense forest for a few minutes, he saw a corpse lying below and immediately stopped.

It was the corpse of a middle-aged man, wearing a black t-shirt and capri pants. One of his shoes had come off. He was lying on the ground, and bright red blood flowed from his abdomen, staining the mud beneath him red. Zhang Yuanqing gently waved his hand, and the corpse turned over. He saw that the middle-aged man's fat-filled abdomen had been cut open by sharp claws, and his internal organs had been eaten clean.

His neck was a bloody mess, with bite marks.

Obviously, this uncle had been pounced on by some kind of monster, which bit off his neck and then emptied his internal organs.

This was definitely not good news.

Zhang Yuanqing abandoned the corpse and followed the red dancing shoes forward with a heavy heart. Along the way, he encountered several more corpses, including middle-aged men, women, and children, all of whom had died in the same manner as the middle-aged uncle. In addition, he also found the monster's footprints in the forest.

Wolf footprints.

The footprints were not in a string, but in pairs, which meant that the wolf was walking upright.

Zhang Yuanqing quickly pieced together the experiences of those who had disappeared: after entering this strange space, they entered the dense forest for some reason, and then were chased by terrible werewolves. One by one, they died while running.

Finally, the red dancing shoes stopped in front of a wooden house.

This place was located at a higher position, and the surrounding trees seemed to have been cut down, providing a wide view. The bright moonlight shone down, and the wooden house was silent. The red dancing shoes stopped at the door of the wooden house and no longer moved.

*Is Auntie inside?* Zhang Yuanqing floated towards the wooden house. His body easily penetrated the walls of the wooden house. He casually swept his gaze around and saw several figures sitting by the fireplace.

There were seven people in total. They were hugging their knees, leaning against the fireplace and the wooden walls, shivering. Whispers arose from among them.

"I don't want to keep hiding here. Let's escape."

"If you want to die, go out, but don't involve us. We can only be safe if we hide in the wooden house. If we go out, we'll be eaten by that wolf." "That wolf is going to knock on the door again later. I feel like it will break in next time..."

Although their tone was fearful, they seemed to have gone through the most terrified stage and had initially accepted the fact that they had been caught up in a "supernatural event." The young man who spoke first said in a low voice:

"But we can't keep hiding, can we? Jiang Yu'er, do you have any ideas?"

At this time, Zhang Yuanqing also found his Auntie. She and her companions were hugging their knees together, huddled by the fireplace, her face pale, her nimble eyes looking around, wary of the outside world and the movements inside the house.

In the darkness, everyone looked at her. Jiang Yu'er said in a low voice:

"Someone will come to save us. We've been missing for so long, the security guards must already know. Since there really are supernatural events in the world, the government must have known about it a long time ago." "There will definitely be people who specialize in handling this kind of thing to save us." Her words successfully calmed the crowd, and the fear was immediately reduced.

"Is your leg wound okay?" the young man next to her asked with concern.

"It seems like the bleeding has stopped, but I'm a little dizzy," Jiang Yu'er said. Zhang Yuanqing, who had floated into the wooden house, felt relieved and a sense of joy surged in his heart.

But he quickly suppressed his joy. According to the conversations of these people, he analyzed that, just as he had expected, these people had fled into the dense forest and were chased by werewolves. From forty-two people, only seven were left. The survivors fled into the wooden house, and the werewolf gave up chasing them, which saved their lives.

But why did the werewolf give up chasing them?

Such a simple wooden door could not possibly stop the monster.

*Let's figure out the situation first. If Fu Qingyang is right and this item is likely to be Ruler-level, then even I am in danger, let alone rescuing Auntie.* Zhang Yuanqing immediately floated to the young man next to Jiang Yu'er and completed the possession.

He lowered his head to look at Jiang Yu'er's calf. There was a deep wound there, already congealed into a thick, blackened blood clot.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately leaned towards Jiang Yu'er, and whispered in her ear, "Auntie, it's me."