27: Chapter 27 Night Falls

Zhou Tunan replied, "Yeah, you too?"

Just as the message was sent, the notification sound rang. The other party replied very quickly: "Mhm, I'm in Huian District."

Zhou Tunan was a bit surprised, his fingers quickly tapping the screen: "I'm in this district too."

Zhou Tunan suddenly felt they shared a certain fate, actually being in the same area.

"Really?" The other party seemed surprised as well, the text popping up next, "I'm in Tiandiyuan Residential Area. If we're close, maybe we could even meet up offline."

Seeing these words, Zhou Tunan's heart skipped a beat, even more pleasantly surprised.

He immediately replied: "I'm in this residential area too."

The top of the chat box displayed "The other party is typing...", followed by a simple confused emoji popping up.

"For real? You're not lying to me, are you?"

The other party seemed to be questioning him.

But this was normal; after all, it was too much of a coincidence, which would naturally raise suspicions.

Zhou Tunan didn't think much of it. He aimed at the brightly lit scenery of the residential area outside the window, took a "click" photo, and sent it over.

Without making him wait, the other party also quickly sent back a photo with similar scenery.

Then came the text: "It really is. My home is in Building B, 8th floor. What about you?"

Looking at the specific building and floor the other party sent, Zhou Tunan hesitated for a moment.

He wasn't very willing to tell others his specific address, but since it was such a coincidence and the other party had shared their location first, it would seem overly guarded if he didn't say anything.

So, after thinking it over, he sent the information that he was on the 12th floor of Building A.

On the other side of the phone screen, Gu Changming looked at the specific location sent by Zhou Tunan, a barely perceptible smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

Everything was going smoothly; he had obtained the other party's specific location.

In his previous life, he had known the location of the other party's residential area through their constantly updated posts, but he hadn't known the exact spot.

So, before the Assessment began, he had rushed to this residential area.

Now, he had finally coaxed the address out of the other party's mouth.

Next came the key part.

He needed to find a suitable opportunity to "reveal" those unfinished rule supplements and hidden rules—which concerned the lives and deaths of hundreds of millions—to the other party in a seemingly casual way.

Gu Changming tapped his fingertips on the screen and replied with one last sentence: "Something's come up, talk later."

...

Looking at the final "talk later" on the chat interface, Zhou Tunan's fingers paused; the other party had ended the conversation rather abruptly.

However, he didn't think much of it, assuming the other party just had something to do. He swiped his fingertips and politely replied, "Okay, you take care too. Let's stay in touch."

Then he long-pressed the power button to turn off the phone, lest a message notification come through at a critical moment and the screen light up—that tiny glimmer of light might just cost him his life.

Time passed in silence as the sky outside shifted from a bright azure to a gradual dusky yellow.

Watching the daylight fade, Zhou Tunan's heart sank along with it.

Since ancient times, humans have been accustomed to seeking a sense of security in the light of campfires.

Now, light offered no sanctuary; instead, it would bring calamity.

Before the sky turned completely dark, Zhou Tunan stood up and began his final preparations.

The ceiling light in the living room: off.

The heat lamps in the bathroom: closed.

The flickering indicator lights of the router: unplugged.

Once everything was done, it had turned completely dark outside.

The entire home was plunged into total darkness and silence. Only the lights from the skyscrapers outside remained on, casting a few pitifully faint streaks of light onto the floor through the gaps in the curtains.

Zhou Tunan looked around and chose the bedroom; it was the innermost and darkest part of the house.

He merely felt that the published rules were incomplete and that there was hidden information yet to be discovered.

But the rule supplement clearly written in the Assessment content: weak light sources would attract Shadow Devourers.

This point, he did not doubt.

So when night came, he naturally wouldn't be so suicidal as to turn on the lights and wait for a Shadow Devourer to come and kill him.

Entering the bedroom, he fumbled his way to the cold floor, leaned against the icy wall, and curled his body up.

The darkness amplified all his senses, his ears straining to catch even the slightest unusual sound from outside.

The long wait... did not begin.

He had just sat down when his ears instinctively twitched. Faintly, he seemed to hear a strange sound.

He held his breath, focusing all his attention on his hearing, trying to discern the source of the sound.

In that extreme silence.

"Aaah!!!"

A shrill, agonizing scream filled with unspeakable terror suddenly tore through the night sky!

Zhou Tunan felt it as if it were his own; his heart felt as though it were being violently gripped by an invisible hand, leaping into his throat. His face instantly turned pale in the darkness.

His body was stiff, but his ears worked frantically, tensely trying to distinguish the direction the sound was coming from.

The source of the sound... seemed to be the building opposite his.

Having confirmed this, his frayed nerves relaxed by a mere millimeter, though he still hadn't let out his held breath.

"Boom!!!"

A dull, massive crashing sound exploded without warning!

Along with this loud bang, the floor beneath him and even the wall he leaned against vibrated with a clear, heart-pounding tremor!

Zhou Tunan's expression froze instantly, then turned to horror.

The commotion allowed him to visualize the scene: the Shadow Devourer from the opposite building had lunged with brute force, slamming directly into the structure of his building!

After that terrifying impact, the outside fell into a silence even more deathly and suffocating than before.

Zhou Tunan held his breath completely, fearing that even the slightest rise and fall of his chest would shatter this dangerous balance and bring about total disaster.

He pricked up his ears, trying his best to catch any sign of movement.

After about a minute or two, a strange, wet-sounding, dragging footstep began to echo faintly.

He furrowed his brows, carefully tracking the eerie footsteps, judging their distance and direction.

"Aaaaah!!!"

"Help! Don't come...!!"

From below him, likely around the seventh or eighth floor or lower, the terrified, distorted screams of two women suddenly rang out!

But the sound was like a rooster having its neck snapped; it lasted only a brief moment before coming to an abrupt halt.

Inside the building, the all-consuming silence returned once more.

However, this abrupt silence made the quiet night seem even more terrifying and horrifying.

Zhou Tunan's mind went blank; fear made it difficult for him to think.

He did his best to control his involuntarily trembling body, focusing all his senses on his hearing, listening intently for any possible movement.

Just then.

"Tap... tap..."

An eerie footstep sounded.

This time, the source of the sound was so clear that his trembling body didn't even dare to shake anymore.

It was on his floor.

Right in the hallway outside his door.