“What’s all this racket about?” Duncan uttered after regaining control of his body.While not fully recovered, Duncan was well enough now that his mind wasn’t feeling hazy, and the fire on his body no longer burned as fiercely. With that no longer being a concern, Duncan started observing his surroundings.Meanwhile, after seeing Duncan rise from the ground, Grant immediately mocked him in a sarcastic and derisive tone.“And the great detective lives. What a wonderful surprise. You were sleeping so soundly and for so long, I thought you’d already joined the dead and would wake up as a zombie—good thing that didn’t happen, or I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”“But imagine my surprise when I saw you sleeping here surrounded by so many zombies after abandoning me back there… again! I thought that with such a marvelously concocted plan you’d have left this place already, but instead, you decided to fall asleep in the midst of all these walking corpses.”“So then, tell me, De

“We don’t have much time, so think carefully but quickly,” Duncan prompted.“His eyes, what color were they? What shape were his lids? Were his lashes long or short, and did he have any markings around his eyes like a scar or a mole? Try to remember all of this fast.”There was a bit of urgency in Duncan’s voice as he pushed the punky youth to remember, yet there was no panic on his face, which made the young man feel a little relaxed.Although Duncan seemed to be rushing him for answers, the young man, seeing that Duncan’s face remained calm, didn’t feel like anything was wrong. He simply thought the information would be very vital to their survival, which is why Duncan was placing such emphasis on it, so he immediately tried hard to recall the details Duncan was asking for.What the young man didn’t know was that out of the corner of his eye, Duncan was paying attention to the gate of light that was supposed to be their way out.Right now, a change was happening around it that promp

“Hey dude,” the punky youth called out to Duncan.“What’s the matter? Have you figured out a way to get us out of here?”Having his thoughts interrupted, Duncan finally looked away from the exit portal and turned back to the young man.He said, “Be patient. There’s not much we can do now with all these zombies gathered around us. We have to wait for a chance before we can even think about attempting an escape.”As Duncan said this, he gave a look to Grant and the young man, his mind spinning with unknown thoughts as he contemplated his next moves.Meanwhile, the young man, after hearing Duncan’s words, asked, “What kind of chance are we looking for, dude? How will we know when it has arrived?”To this question, Duncan hesitated. Reluctant to speak further, Duncan didn’t know what to say at the moment.The truth was that right now, even Duncan was out of options—he didn’t have any plans for escape at all, and he was just saying things so that the others would not panic.Duncan had hope

Duncan looked at the punky youth. There was fear and unease in his eyes, and he could see the bottom of the young man’s lips tremble as he bit down stiffly on them in a bid to hide the fear within him from showing.But he couldn’t hide this from Duncan. His image now was vastly different from the smart and confident youth he had previously portrayed, aligning more with the first impression of him when the young man had been begging for his life, hence giving the detective a feeling of discordance in his heart.But deep down, Duncan understood what it was like for the young man right now to be going through all of this.He could imagine the fear and anxiety he was going through and could better empathize with this version of the punky youth.“Yes, this is how it should be,” Duncan thought to himself.“For somebody encountering the supernatural for the first time, fear is to be expected, and most lose themselves in panic and despair, unable to even muster the courage to accept reality a

Incredulous, Simon asked, “What is happening?”Duncan quickly explained, “They are trying to get out, but obviously something is blocking these creatures from leaving. They are trapped in this realm.”Hearing this, Simon realized that it was true; otherwise, none of the ghosts and zombies would be sent rebounding after hitting the exit.But another concern was raised by this realization, which Simon promptly brought up.“Then does that mean we won’t be able to leave this place either?”Shaking his head, Duncan denied that presumption.“No, if my guess is correct, only living beings should be able to use the portal to make it out of here.”Before Simon could ask Duncan how he knew that, Duncan explained.“We aren’t the only ones who have entered this realm of late, and among the few that are suspected to have gotten in here, some managed to make it back successfully.”This revelation immediately put a smile on Simon’s face as his hope for escaping was rekindled in that moment.What Sim