Global Collapse-Chapter 564 - 532: Unexpected, Right? This is a Saved Draft_1

So, Cang Yue could only ask some straightforward questions: "After the survivors crawled out, which direction did they go?"

One of the doll's arms suddenly lifted, pointing in one direction.

Gu Mian followed its arm and saw it was pointing in the exact direction Keke and Zhao Shuang had taken.

Cang Yue looked away. Just as she was about to ask another question, she suddenly saw the doll's second arm rise, pointing in a different direction.

"This... What's going on?" Xia Jianren stared in bewilderment at the directions the two arms indicated. "Those few people, they split up and went in two different directions?"

"Actually, I've found it strange from the very beginning," Cang Yue said, frowning at the doll before her. "Theoretically, anyone who survived must have been severely injured. A normal person would have stayed put and waited for rescue."

The doll said the accident happened at night. Even at night, people would occasionally pass by this area. Staying put and calling for help would have been the most logical choice.

Yet, these people dragged their injured bodies away from the site, even splitting up to leave in two different directions.

As she pondered this, Cang Yue continued her questioning: "Why did they leave this place?"

"It was too dark. I couldn't see clearly. I only saw them leaving in a hurry in two different directions."

"Were their injuries severe?"

"It was too dark. I couldn't see clearly. I only saw that some were stumbling as they walked, while others could still run."

Cang Yue saw the countdown on the doll's stomach had reached ten seconds and quickly asked, "Did they say anything when they left?"

"Run."

After uttering those two words, the doll's head lolled to one side, and the light in its eyes faded.

It stopped moving.

Xia Jianren and Cang Yue exchanged a look, not quite understanding the meaning of those two words.

"Run?"

Listening to this, it sounded as if they had caused the bus to overturn and then fled in a panic after causing the accident. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"How strange," Xia Jianren frowned. "I originally thought Zhao Shuang might have secretly sabotaged the bus, causing it to overturn. I didn't expect that among the survivors, there was also someone with a guilty conscience."

Just as Xia Jianren was feeling perplexed, footsteps approached from one of the directions the doll had pointed.

Keke and Zhao Shuang were returning.

Cang Yue swiftly retrieved the doll and then looked up in the direction of the approaching footsteps.

Zhao Shuang was somewhat surprised to see Gu Mian and the other two still there. "You've been here all this time? Didn't you say you were going to look around for clues?"

Cang Yue smiled at her. "We've already looked. We didn't find anything special. But what about you? Did you find anything?"

Keke shook her head. It seemed they hadn't found anything either.

The doll had pointed in the direction Keke and Zhao Shuang had just explored. If its testimony was correct, they should have found something there. Their coming back empty-handed might mean they hadn't gone far enough.

Cang Yue thought for a moment, then stood up. "Alright, let's search again carefully and see if we discover anything."

Saying this, she started walking in the direction Keke and Zhao Shuang had just come from. Time was pressing. The police could arrive at any moment and discover the bus was missing. If the investigation led to them, it would be bad.

Keke looked from Cang Yue to Gu Mian, apparently curious about what Gu Mian's group had been discussing earlier.

Cang Yue saw through Keke's curiosity. She took Zhao Shuang's hand and walked ahead, making sure Zhao Shuang couldn't hear the conversation behind them.

She took Zhao Shuang's hand and said, "You've been this way before, so you're more familiar with it. Warn me if there are any pits so I don't step into one."

Xia Jianren also followed them. Keke watched the three of them walk away, then quietly asked Gu Mian, "What were you all talking about just now?"

Gu Mian looked down at her. "Earlier, Cang Yue took out a special item called 'Unreliable Witness.' It can provide an unreliable testimony about the bus crash."

He quietly described to Keke the unreliable testimony the doll had given. Keke frowned as she listened.

She repeated the last two words the doll had uttered, "Run?"

It sounded as if they had committed some offense and were in a hurry to escape.

Frowning, she said, "Besides sounding like they're fleeing after committing a crime, it also sounds like..."

But before she could finish, she was interrupted by a voice from above.

"What are you two doing!"

Gu Mian looked up. The man who had been distributing flyers earlier had somehow gotten to the top of the slope and was peering down at the two of them.

The shout also attracted the attention of Cang Yue's group, who had already walked some distance. They looked up, but the dense trees obscured their view of what was above.

The man above also hadn't seen Cang Yue and Zhao Shuang, who had already entered the dense woods. He craned his head and shouted down, "What are you two doing down there? Don't go causing trouble! We haven't even found those missing people yet, don't tell me you two are going to get lost as well."

Gu Mian figured the man probably thought they were just curious onlookers.

Cang Yue looked up and called out an explanation, "We just came down to take a look, we didn't mean any harm!"

"Well, be careful then!" the man cautioned. "It's getting late, and the police will be here in a few minutes. If they see you down there, they'll definitely haul you up."

At this moment, Cang Yue, Xia Jianren, and Zhao Shuang were looking back at Gu Mian and Keke.

Hearing the flyer man's words, Keke gave Cang Yue a meaningful look, signaling for them to leave first.

Otherwise, when the police arrived in a few minutes, they would all be caught together.

Having received the signal, Cang Yue turned back and quietly left with Zhao Shuang.

"Huh?" Just then, the flyer man noticed something was amiss. "I got so caught up talking to you. I remember that bus was here last night. How come it's gone today?"

I drove it away.

Of course, Gu Mian didn't say this aloud. He began to climb up, lest the police arrive and arrest him as a suspect.

Keke, however, was quite good at spinning tales. "It was probably towed away as evidence. This wilderness isn't suitable for investigation and evidence collection anyway."

The two of them quickly climbed up.

The flyer man looked at the two who had climbed up. "Didn't five of you come together? Where are the other three?"

As he spoke, he looked around but saw no sign of the other three.

Keke quickly replied, "Those three went ahead towards the mountaintop. We stayed behind to check this area."

"Oh." The man nodded, fanning himself with the flyers in his hand.

Gu Mian took Keke's hand and said to the man, "Then we'll go catch up to the other three."

After saying this, he even politely bid the man farewell.

He was afraid that when the police arrived and found the bus missing, they would arrest all suspects present at the scene.

Keke jogged alongside Gu Mian for a few hundred meters. Only when the man was out of sight did she gasp for breath and ask, "Sister Cang Yue and the others went down. What should we do now?"

"Don't worry." Gu Mian stood by the main road, looking down the slope. He had climbed up earlier because he was afraid the man would tell the police that people had entered the woods. It wouldn't be good if the police then searched for and found their group.

He looked at the weed-choked forest below and said, "I remember one of the directions the doll pointed was this way. If we go down from here and head back, we might find something on the way."

If they were lucky, they might also meet up with Cang Yue's group.

Keke took out her phone. "Should I call them first to let them know?"

Gu Mian nodded while scanning for a suitable place to descend. "Up to you."

Just as Keke was about to dial Cang Yue's number, she saw Cang Yue was already calling her. She immediately pressed the answer key.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Keke? Where are you?" Cang Yue was currently on the phone with Keke, standing in front of a ditch that was neither too deep nor too shallow.

The trees around this ditch were relatively sparse, but the weeds were still plentiful. Stepping on them made her whole leg feel itchy.

Keke's voice came from the phone: "We're on the concrete road up top and are about to go down from a different spot. Where are you now?"

Cang Yue looked at the ditch in front of her. "I can't tell you the exact location. It's in the direction you and Zhao Shuang took earlier. Just keep going straight. There's a large ditch here, and we're in front of it."

"Gu Mian and I plan to go down from the other direction the doll pointed and walk back. We might meet up with you."

Cang Yue nodded, holding her phone. "Alright. You two be careful. We'll walk slower and wait for you."

After arranging things, the two ended the call. Gu Mian had also found a suitable path to go down.

On the other side, Cang Yue, having hung up the phone, stared at the ditch before her.

This ditch lay before them, stretching out of sight in both directions. The water inside had long since dried up, and its bottom was overgrown with weeds. Thorny plants like brambles grew around the ditch, very prickly.

She crouched down, looking at this ditch, which was about two meters deep.

If the direction given by the doll was correct, then those survivors must have also encountered this ditch. Did they cross it, or did they follow the ditch to one side?

Just as Cang Yue was wondering about this, Zhao Shuang, who was beside her, suddenly stood up and looked along the ditch. "Can we go that way?"