4: Chapter 4 The First Night's Strange Attack

Chen Mo charged into the fog.

In the rearview mirror, the lights of the Trading Post shrank rapidly, like a star falling into the deep sea.

Old Zhou was still standing at the entrance, holding that kerosene lamp, but his figure had already blurred into a dim, yellowish halo.

Then, the light vanished.

The fog swallowed everything.

Chen Mo withdrew his gaze and focused on what lay ahead.

The headlights were almost useless in this gray fog; the beam was compressed to two meters in front of the car, and beyond that was pure Chaos.

He could only rely on the white markings on the road to confirm his direction.

Those markings glowed with a faint fluorescence in the mist, looking like a string of floating ellipses.

The speed dropped to twenty kilometers per hour.

Countdown: Forty-one minutes.

Chen Mo's right hand remained on the gear shift, while his left hand loosely gripped the steering wheel.

His eyes constantly scanned both sides; occasionally, silhouettes would appear in the fog—abandoned vehicles, crooked road signs, withered trees.

His Pupil of the Sequence activated intermittently, confirming that those silhouettes lacked golden lines.

Temporarily safe.

But this "temporary" state was more unsettling than the danger itself.

He remembered Old Zhou's last words:

"Ghost Night is coming soon, newbie. Good luck."

He had said that "good luck" as if it were a curse.

A road sign appeared ahead.

Chen Mo slowed down, letting the headlights shine upon it.

The sign read:

【Fog Village Road】

【Length: 17 km】

【Exit: Highway 7】

【Warning: Do not stop in the fog】

【Warning: Do not respond to any sounds】

【Warning: Do not—】

The last line was covered by a black stain.

It wasn't paint, but something that had dried into a hard crust, shining with a dark red luster under the headlights.

Chen Mo didn't stop to investigate.

He stepped on the gas and drove past the sign.

Countdown: Thirty-seven minutes.

Seventeen kilometers would take fifty minutes at his current speed; he had to accelerate.

He increased his speed to twenty-five kilometers per hour.

The fog seemed to thin a little, or perhaps his eyes had just adapted to the environment.

Visibility barely extended to five meters, allowing him to see more details on the roadside—

In those abandoned vehicles, there were people.

Not Ghost Shadows, but people.

At least, they looked like people.

Beside an overturned van, a man in work clothes was crouching.

He was facing away from the road, hammering at something with a wrench.

The tapping sound was light, but exceptionally clear in the silence.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Chen Mo's Pupil of the Sequence activated automatically.

In the golden vision, there were no lines on that "man."

Empty.

Not a Ghost Shadow, and not a human, just a silhouette containing nothing.

But the tapping continued.

Chen Mo did not stop, nor did he slow down.

He stared straight ahead and gripped the steering wheel tight.

As he drove past the van, he caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.

The "man" had turned his head.

No face.

Only a smooth, pale skin, with a smiley face drawn on it in black scorch marks.

It was exactly the same as the "door knocker" outside the Trading Post.

But it wasn't looking at Chen Mo; it was looking at his car.

Looking at his back seat.

A chill ran down Chen Mo's spine.

He whipped a glance into the rearview mirror...

The back seat was empty.

Only the metal fragment that had flown in from the bus remained, embedded in the passenger seat headrest.

By the time he looked back at the van, he had already driven past it; there was only thick fog in the rearview mirror.

Countdown: Thirty-three minutes.

Chen Mo accelerated to thirty kilometers per hour.

Side roads began to appear along the village road, and the silhouettes of houses could be vaguely seen on both sides.

The kind of self-built houses common in rural areas, two or three stories high, with white tiles on the exterior walls and debris piled up at the entrance.

But none of the houses had lights on.

All the doors stood wide open.

It felt like some kind of invitation.

The Pupil of the Sequence scanned intermittently; golden lines occasionally flashed but quickly disappeared at the edge of his vision.

Those lines were too faint to determine whether they were Ghost Shadows or something else.

Countdown: Twenty-nine minutes.

The fog suddenly became thicker.

It didn't gradually thicken; it happened in an instant, as if someone had pressed a switch.

Visibility plummeted from five meters to one meter; the headlights failed completely, and Chen Mo could only see the rolling gray-white mist on the hood.

He had to stop.

It was the only rational choice.

Chen Mo released the gas pedal and tapped the brake, letting the vehicle glide slowly.

He rolled down the window at the same time, exposing his ear...

Silence.

No sound of wind, no sound of insects, even the sound of tires on the road had vanished.

It was as if the whole world had been muted.

Then, he heard that sound.

Thump.

It came from the roof of the car.

Very light, as if something had landed on the roof.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

A rhythmic tapping.

Chen Mo's right hand instantly gripped the wrench.

He looked up at the thin layer of metal on the roof.

It was caving in.

A dent in the shape of a handprint.

The tapping turned into pounding; the dents on the roof multiplied, as if an invisible hand were trying to tear through the metal.

【Warning: Ghost Night has arrived early】

【Safety Vehicle forcibly locked—unable to move】

【Current coordinates: Fog Village Road, middle section】

【Detected F-rank Ghost Shadow "Window Knocker" x 3】

【Threat assessment: Fatal】

【Recommendation: Prioritize survival, abandon vehicle】

The moment the text appeared, a face appeared on the driver's side window.

A face with a smiley face drawn on it.

It was pressed against the fully sealed window, the smiley face directly facing Chen Mo.

Although it was just a few scorch marks, Chen Mo could feel that it was "looking" at him.

Then, it raised its hand.

It knocked on the window.

A crack appeared on the glass.

Chen Mo's brain was operating at high speed.

Pupil of the Sequence, Function 1: Sequence Insight.

【Target: F-rank Ghost Shadow "Window Knocker"】

【Core weakness: Knee joint sequence line disorder】

【Special ability: Tapping can trigger structural collapse】

【Kill reward: sequence fragment x 3】

Three of them.

Two on the roof, one on the window.

They wanted to come in.

A second crack appeared on the window.

Chen Mo's right eye suddenly stung violently; the sensation was more intense than any time before.

He felt as if his eyeball were being burned by fire, yet also frozen by ice.

And then.

His vision split.

Two layers.

One layer was the present: the crack on the window was extending, the dent on the roof was about to pierce the metal, and the thing with the smiley face was raising its hand for a third knock.

One layer was three seconds later: the window shattered completely, that face poked in, and the faceless skin pressed against his own face.

The roof tore open, two hands reached down simultaneously and grabbed his shoulders.

He was torn apart.

【Sequence evolution complete】

【Function 2 unlocked: Crisis Prediction】

【Can perceive fatal threats within the next 3 seconds】

【Current Prediction count: 1/1 (cooldown)】

There was no time to hesitate.

Chen Mo slammed on the gas.

The vehicle was forcibly locked, but the engine could still run.

The wheels spun wildly on the road, emitting a harsh screeching sound.

The car body didn't budge; something was jamming the wheels.

The third knock on the window.

The crack ran through the entire piece of glass.

Chen Mo saw the "Window Knocker's" face—it wasn't that it had no features, but that its features had been sewn shut.

The eyelids were stitched together with black thread, the lips were sewn together with the same thread, and only that drawn-on smiley face looked eerily strange on the pale skin.

It raised its hand, preparing for the fourth knock.

This hit would shatter the glass completely.

In Chen Mo's Prediction vision, the scene from three seconds later was overlapping:

The window shattered.

That face poked in.

The stitched eyelids suddenly opened, revealing nothing inside but surging golden threads.

Those threads wrapped around his face and burrowed into his eyes—

He released the gas and yanked the handbrake.

The car body vibrated violently, the rear wheels were forcibly lifted by some force, but the front wheels remained in place.

This action changed the car's posture, shifting the location of the dent on the roof.

The "Window Knocker" preparing for the fourth knock, due to the car's vibration, hit the window frame instead of the center of the glass.

The crack stopped extending.

Chen Mo seized this gap of less than a second, pushed open the door, and rolled out.

The moment he landed, his Pupil of the Sequence operated at full power.

In the golden vision, the positions of the three "Window Knockers" were clearly visible.

One on the roof, two on the side of the car.

At their knee joints, the golden lines showed obvious disorder, like a tangled ball of yarn.

That was the weakness.

But the problem was, he had no weapon.

Except for a rusty wrench.

The "Window Knocker" on the roof had already slid down the car body and landed in front of him.

It had no eyes, but that drawn-on smiley face was facing him directly.

It raised its hand, preparing to knock on his head.

Chen Mo did not dodge.

Instead, he stepped forward, swung the wrench, and struck its knee with all his might.

Not the front of the knee joint, but the side.

In the Prediction vision, that spot was where the lines were most chaotic.

The wrench hit the target.

A crisp sound, like kicking a stone.

The "Window Knocker's" body trembled violently, that smiley face suddenly twisted, the stitched lips tore open, and it emitted a shriek that didn't sound human—

Then it fell.

Like a puppet with its strings cut, it collapsed to the ground.

Golden threads surged from within its body, coalescing into a ball of light that sank into Chen Mo's chest.

【Killed F-rank Ghost Shadow "Window Knocker" x 1】

【Obtained: sequence fragment x 3】

【Current fragments: 5】

【Sequence evolution progress: 16%】

The other two "Window Knockers" turned to him simultaneously.

Their movements were identical: tilting their heads, lifting their feet, approaching.

The angle of their knee joint movement was perfectly synchronized, like a precision-calculated machine.

Chen Mo retreated.

In his Prediction vision, the attack trajectories of the two Ghost Shadows were clearly visible—

The one on the left would arrive first, attacking his left knee.

The one on the right would be 0.3 seconds slower, attacking his right shoulder.

Dodging the left one would mean being hit by the right one; dodging the right one would mean the left one would succeed.

He had to solve them both at once.

Chen Mo's brain was spinning.

His Prediction ability had twenty seconds of cooldown; he had to rely on his reflexes now.

His gaze swept across the ground and saw a piece of shattered car window glass next to the defeated Ghost Shadow.

He rolled and picked up that piece of glass.

The two Ghost Shadows accelerated simultaneously.

The scenes in his Prediction vision overlapped—

The left one attacked the left knee, the right one attacked the right shoulder.

Their hands fell at the same time, their knocking motions would complete a pincer movement on his body.

Chen Mo did not dodge.

He charged straight at the Ghost Shadow on the left, his right hand holding the glass shard, his left hand swinging the wrench.

At the moment of contact, he crouched low.

The attack from the left missed, passing over his head.

The attack from the right landed on his right shoulder right on time; a sharp pain flared, but he didn't stop.

He used all his strength to stab the glass shard into the side of the left Ghost Shadow's knee, while simultaneously smashing the wrench into the same spot on the right Ghost Shadow.

Two crisp sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

Both Ghost Shadows froze.

Then, like the first one, they collapsed to the ground.

Golden threads surged out.

【Killed F-rank Ghost Shadow "Window Knocker" x 2】

【Obtained: sequence fragment x 6】

【Current fragments: 11】

【Sequence evolution progress: 22%】

Chen Mo sat on the ground, panting heavily.

The pain from his right shoulder made cold sweat bead on his forehead; he looked down and saw his clothes were torn, and there was a bruise the size of a fist on his shoulder, which was swelling rapidly.

He looked up at his car.

The safety vehicle was still parked there, but in terrible condition—there were three puncture dents on the roof.

The driver's side window was completely shattered, the rear wheels were hovering, stuck to the road surface by something black, like asphalt.

That was the reason for the "lock."

Those black things were slowly squirming, like living creatures.

Chen Mo struggled to stand up and walked toward the vehicle.

He had to leave here.

Ghost Night had just begun; three F-rank Ghost Shadows were just an appetizer.

He opened the driver's door and sat in; the door wouldn't close properly, and the seal was broken because of the shattered window.

He put it in gear and stepped on the gas.

The rear wheels spun wildly in the black viscous substance, but the car didn't move an inch.

The Prediction vision suddenly activated; in three seconds, those black viscous substances would crawl up the car body along the rear wheels, drill into the driver's seat, and wrap around his feet.

He had to leave now.

Chen Mo pushed the door open and rolled out of the car again.

Almost at the same instant, the black viscous substances flooded into the driver's seat, covering the spot where he had just been sitting.

【Safety Vehicle damage: 73%】

【Current status: Unable to move】

【Recommendation: Find a temporary shelter, wait for Ghost Night to end】

【Time until Ghost Night ends: 7 hours 42 minutes】

Seven hours and forty-two minutes.

No car, no weapon, injured right shoulder, all alone.

Chen Mo stood in the thick fog, watching his car being slowly devoured by the black viscous substance.

In the distance, that rhythmic tapping sound came again.

Not just one.

It was a swarm.

He gripped the wrench in his hand, turned around, and walked toward the nearest Farmhouse.

The door was open.

As if it were waiting for him.