Bang!
With the sound of the door closing, Jiang Baimian suddenly felt the air thin.
No, not thin, but viscous, viscous to the point of seeming to solidify, turning into an iron plate, making it impossible to breathe.
Not only that, but the air was also contracting, like a pair of iron hands, trying to strangle Jiang Baimian's throat, like layers of mud, trying to bury her.
Jiang Baimian forcefully turned her head and saw that Long Yuehong and Bai Chen's faces and expressions had become somewhat abnormal.
Although the reaction to suffocation wouldn't be so quick, Long Yuehong seemed to have truly entered a ghost story, his neck as if forcefully pinched by someone, his whole person becoming drowsy.
He struggled desperately, trying to resist, but was restricted in his movements by the "solidification" of the surrounding air.
Moreover, there was no one around him, and he didn't know what to do to escape this predicament.
The most helpless thing is when you can't find your enemy at all.
Seeing this, Jiang Baimian exerted force in her waist and abdomen, forcibly moving two steps to Long Yuehong's side.
She reached out her left palm and grabbed Long Yuehong's shoulder.
Then, with a forceful tug, she lifted Long Yuehong up and threw him towards the stairwell like a shot put.
Despite Long Yuehong's weight, he still flew lightly.
Bang!
He crashed into the wall on the side of the stairs, rebounded to the middle of the steps, and tumbled downwards, extremely fast.
As his face and back constantly collided with the stairs, Long Yuehong fell dizzy and unable to stop.
In just two or three seconds, he rolled to the bend in the stairs.
Long Yuehong was surprised to find that the feeling of being strangled had weakened a lot, and his breathing had recovered somewhat.
The viscosity of the air here was significantly weaker than on the seventh floor!
Without thinking about why, Long Yuehong relied on instinct, experience, and inertia to roll towards the stairs connecting to the sixth floor.
With a series of thuds, he finally returned to the sixth floor.
At this moment, he felt that the surrounding air was so fresh, so wonderful, so moving.
As Long Yuehong flew towards the stairwell, Shang Jianyao regretfully withdrew his gaze from him and turned it towards Bai Chen.
Thump, thump, thump!
Shang Jianyao seemed to be running while dragging hundreds of kilograms of objects, his expression becoming ferocious.
In just a few steps, he had reached the side and rear of Bai Chen.
He raised his right leg and kicked hard at Bai Chen's butt.
During this process, he seemed to have used every ounce of strength he had.
Bai Chen uncontrollably "flew" towards the stairwell, turning into a rolling gourd and falling down the layers.
At this time, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao held their breaths and ran towards the stairs leading to the sixth floor.
They used all their strength, as if facing an invisible, powerful, omnipresent, and increasingly fierce enemy pulling them back.
With great effort, Jiang Baimian and Shang Jianyao arrived at the stairwell one after the other.
Then, they protected their heads and faces, relying on the assistance of gravity, and rolled downwards.
After rolling all the way back to the sixth floor, Jiang Baimian finally felt the air return to normal.
She did a carp jump and stood up, glanced at the still dizzy Long Yuehong and Bai Chen, and said in a deep voice:
"Go back to the room first!"
If their reaction had been even a little slower, the entire team might have been left on the seventh floor, in the form of corpses.
That feeling of suffocation, that feeling of being buried, was getting stronger and stronger!
The feeling of suffocation lingered in the air as the four members of the "Old Task Force" returned to the room where "Garibaldi" was located.
As for the corpse of the gray-robed monk on the stairs, they didn't have time to care, nor did they dare to care.
After closing the door, Shang Jianyao glanced at the bruised and swollen Long Yuehong and complained to Jiang Baimian:
"You should have thrown Little White."
Obviously, he wanted to kick Long Yuehong's butt more.
Jiang Baimian chuckled:
"According to the team's tactical manual, prioritize the one who is closer."
Yeah, yeah, I don't want to be kicked directly... Long Yuehong wanted to say that, but he found that there weren't many bruises on Bai Chen's face. She seemed to have reacted during the kick and protected her head in advance.
In comparison, as the first one to roll down the stairs, although he hadn't reached the point of swelling into a pig's head, he was bruised everywhere.
He didn't dare to complain that the team leader threw him too hard, leaving him no time to react, and could only helplessly mock his bad luck.
At this time, Bai Chen forcibly pulled the topic back on track.
She said in a deep voice:
"I feel like there's more than one person on the seventh floor."
Someone was trying to confuse the "Old Task Force" and get them to enter that room; someone was preventing the door from opening; someone was trying to transmit information; someone was killing to silence them... Some of these behaviors contradicted each other and didn't seem like something one person could do.
"Judging from the situation just now, at least two people are fighting each other, and we are just one of the props." Jiang Baimian nodded.
She then glanced at Shang Jianyao:
"But it can't be ruled out that that person is similar to Wei, with a split personality, and they restrain each other in reality and fight each other in the long term."
"I told you!" Shang Jianyao had a look of foresight on his face.
He had previously hypothesized that the "Buddha's Responder" had eighty-one "personalities."
Long Yuehong recalled and said:
"I remember that opening and closing the door existed at the same time, there was a clear tug-of-war.
"If it's really a split personality, can they directly fight each other with both hands?"
This is roughly equivalent to an Awakened being able to use two abilities at the same time without relying on props.
"I'm not too sure about that." Jiang Baimian tilted her head and looked at Shang Jianyao.
Shang Jianyao replied with a slightly regretful expression:
"Not yet, maybe when we enter the 'Mind Corridor'."
"So, the 'split personality theory' cannot be completely confirmed, and the 'suppressed demon theory' is also possible." Jiang Baimian pondered and said, "However, this is not the focus of the problem. After all, we have already escaped. Just remember not to go to the seventh floor no matter what. The current focus is, what does the 'Holm' that the person in the room is trying to transmit mean?"
"Fahd District Holm Reproductive Medical Center?" Long Yuehong was the first to think of this.
Bai Chen nodded in agreement:
"I think it refers to this. The person in the room wants us to go to one of the five holy lands, the Holm Reproductive Medical Center in the Wasteland No. 13 Ruins. Maybe there is a secret hidden there that he wants us to discover."
"Yes." Jiang Baimian nodded slightly.
Obviously, she thought so too.
Purely in terms of the word, Holm means lowland or small island, with no special indication. At least the "Old Task Force" can't think of any place that meets the conditions at the moment.
"I'm a little more inclined to the demon theory now." Shang Jianyao suddenly interjected.
Actually, me too... Long Yuehong responded softly in his heart.
A certain place in the Wasteland No. 13 Ruins is sealing the terrifying "demon" Wu Meng. Now, the person in Room 3 on the seventh floor of the Sika Luo Temple wants the "Old Task Force" to go to the Holm Reproductive Medical Center in the Wasteland No. 13 Ruins.
Combined with the rumor that the "Buddha's Responder" is suppressing a demon, it's hard not to make similar associations.
But in this way, it would lead to the bizarre conclusion that the "Buddha's Responder" killed the gray-robed monk to silence him.
Before Jiang Baimian could respond, Shang Jianyao asked with great interest:
"Shall we go?"
"We'll talk about it later." Jiang Baimian perfunctorily said, "Even if the Holm Reproductive Medical Center is not equal to that secret laboratory, there will be no shortage of dangers. Let's report to the company and see what hints we can get."
After speaking, she looked around thoughtfully:
"Whenever we discuss similar things, Master Chanakya doesn't seem to 'participate'.
"Could it be that his 'telepathy' is being interfered with?"
As she spoke, Jiang Baimian looked up at the ceiling.
"Maybe." Bai Chen nodded with some understanding.
"I wonder how he does it..." Shang Jianyao looked yearning.
At this time, "Garibaldi", who was tied to the bed, asked them in confusion:
"What are you talking about?"
Shang Jianyao pointed at Long Yuehong and said in a drawn-out tone:
"We encountered a ghost..."
Giuseppe, who was leaning against the wall, followed Shang Jianyao's finger and looked at Long Yuehong, seeing that his neck was red, but there were no finger marks.
Giuseppe couldn't help but shudder:
Are there really ghosts?
During the brief silence, footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Judging from the current time, it should be that young monk coming to deliver breakfast.