Time

He glanced at the window. The sunlight was slightly glaring, but he knew clearly that based on previous calculations, the daytime now lasted for at most three hours, and half of those three hours had already passed. 

Once night fell again, the world they were in would enter an eternal night.

"There's not much time left. Let's split up and search," Jiang Cheng turned his head to look around. "Fan Li, you form one group. Fatty, come with me. Try to move quickly. Pay special attention to key-like objects. There may be clues behind the iron door on the third floor, but I've tried - without a key, we can't open it with the tools we have on hand."

"Alright."

The two groups didn't waste words and dispersed on the spot.

Jiang Cheng's group, with an extra person, was responsible for searching the larger first floor area, while the second floor was left to Fan Li. 

The search quickly yielded results. Jiang Cheng found a rope in an inconspicuous corner beside the stairs. The rope was tied to the corner of the second-floor corridor next to the stairs, with the other end hanging down to the ground.

Jiang Cheng ran up the stairs and found where the rope was tied on the second floor. 

That spot was precisely where he and Fatty had hidden last night, but there was no rope here at that time.

Hearing the sound of the two coming upstairs, Fan Li also ran out from the study. "What is it?"

Jiang Cheng pointed at the rope to show him.

After a while, they returned downstairs. Following the position where the rope hung down, they walked to the other side of the living room. The door to the small room storing firewood was ajar, easily pushed open. 

Fan Li's expression suddenly changed. "Yesterday, I had already tied the handle of this door to a nail next to the door with a rope. How is the rope gone?"

Fatty had sharp eyes. After entering, he picked up a rope from behind a pile of firewood. 

The rope was snapped in two, the break very neat.

Fan Li took it and felt it with his hand. He raised his head and confirmed, "It was cut by a tool like a dagger."

Behind the small firewood storage room was another door. The firewood in front of the door had been moved away, leaving an empty space.

Jiang Cheng walked over and pushed with his hand, but it didn't open.

He looked out through the glass on the door. This was the back of the villa.

There weren't many fallen leaves on the ground, but because it had rained before, the water hadn't dried, leaving the ground wet and muddy. 

And on the muddy ground were several clear tire tracks.

"Those are from the bus," Fatty said in surprise.

But strangely, there was only forest all around here, with no road for a bus to drive in at all.

But that was no longer important. What mattered was that they were now clear about how Warm Sister and the others had left.

Fatty also followed Jiang Cheng's example and shook the door in front of him vigorously, but the door showed no signs of opening.

"Don't shake it," Jiang Cheng said. "You can't open it."

Fatty indeed stopped shaking the door, but still asked, "If this door can't be opened, how did they leave?"

Standing behind him, Fan Li suddenly spoke up. "It's time."

"Time?"

"Yes," Fan Li looked at the puzzled Fatty and nodded. "It's the wrong time. Only at a specific time will that bus appear, and then the door can be opened."

"3:07am," Jiang Cheng said.

Fan Li looked at him with some surprise and nodded. "You figured it out too."

"What are you talking about?" Fatty blinked. "What 3:07am?"

"Remember when Xie Yu died?" Jiang Cheng said. "At that time, I checked the watch. The time it showed was 3:07am."

Fatty asked in surprise, "But in this world, isn't the time shown on watches inaccurate?"

Fan Li continued, "It's inaccurate, but at a certain specific time, it becomes accurate again. On the night Xie Yu died, when I heard the strange sound, I also glanced at the time." He took out the pocket watch from his pocket and waved it in front of Fatty. "It also showed 3:07am."

"But not long ago, I just checked the time. It showed 6:00, which means the time displayed on all timekeeping tools will suddenly synchronize to 3:07am at a certain moment."

Fatty's eyes abruptly narrowed. Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he looked at Jiang Cheng. "So last night in the study, you were waiting for the watch to show 3:07am! Because at that time, the ghost would appear!"

There was no discernible reaction on Jiang Cheng's face, but Fatty continued, "When it was time, the ghost didn't come for us, so you went to test Warm Sister. And at first glance, noticing Warm Sister was still alive, you told her that Fan Li had already..."

He suddenly stopped here.

After all, Fan Li was still standing here intact.

What followed was much simpler. The three returned to the living room. Jiang Cheng sat on the sofa, Fan Li stayed in front of the fireplace to warm himself, and Fatty took some time to prepare a meal.

After eating, the three gathered. Fan Li said he had counted a total of 6 tire tracks on the ground behind the villa, meaning the bus had come three times, coinciding with the three nights they had spent in the villa.

It was completely dark. Fan Li clutched his pocket watch, glancing at the time from time to time.

After an unknown period, just as Fatty's head was swelling and he was feeling drowsy, Jiang Cheng suddenly said, "It's time!"

Fan Li also stood up at the same time, putting the pocket watch back in his pocket.

Everyone walked together towards the storage room in the corner of the living room. Along the way, both Jiang Cheng and Fan Li were very cautious, after all, in the final moments of the mission, no one knew if the ghost would suddenly appear.

Just as they entered the firewood storage room, light suddenly illuminated the empty ground behind the villa.

A bus drove over from not far away, then slowly stopped about 20 meters from the villa.

Fan Li took a deep breath, his hand resting on the door in front of him. He gently pushed.

The door opened.

Fatty's face was full of excitement, almost in tears.

Fan Li walked out first, followed by Fatty, then Jiang Cheng.

They had been in a warm environment inside the villa and felt a bit unaccustomed to the cold outside as soon as they came out.

Fan Li turned up the collar of his leather jacket. Jiang Cheng wrapped his coat tightly around himself, while Fatty could only choose to hug himself.

The bus door slowly opened, and the three walked over.

The same people were on the bus - the couple, and a mother and son - all sitting obediently in their seats.

The tour guide, who claimed his surname was Zheng, stood on the bus, still looking very enthusiastic. "Passengers, sorry for the long wait! Now we are setting off for home!"

Home... what a tempting word. Fatty couldn't help wanting to get on the bus immediately, but someone behind him pulled him back. Fan Li seized the opportunity to board first.

Fatty turned his head and found Jiang Cheng looking at the bus with a calm expression.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng still didn't speak.

"Passenger, don't you want to go home?" Guide Zheng smiled charmingly, bowing slightly to reveal a beautiful rose tattoo on his slender wrist. "If you're late, you won't be able to go back."