novelraw Chapter 971: Lost (7)
Chapter 971: Lost (7)
“The call isn’t connecting. I don’t know what’s going on.”
In the hotel room, Song Ying frowned as she looked at Song Haoran. She had just called Luo Qiu three times, but none of the calls connected.
“Should we inform Grandpa?” Song Ying asked anxiously, looking at Song Haoran.
Song Haoran, who had been deep in thought, raised his head at her question and said, “No need. Let’s go look for him ourselves. He’s probably just out for a walk because he couldn’t sleep. Dad’s already asleep; there’s no need to wake him.”
“I’ll have Uncle Wu send someone to look for him,” Song Ying suggested, nodding in agreement with Song Haoran’s reasoning.
However, Song Haoran shook his head. “Uncle Wu probably won’t keep anything from Dad these days. Better not involve him… I’m better at finding people anyway.”
Song Ying hesitated for a moment before recalling Song Haoran’s uncanny intuition, which often felt like a divine gift. It had proven accurate many times before.
Song Haoran patted Song Ying’s head with a smile. “Don’t worry. I’ll find Luo Qiu for you. There’s no need to panic.”
“What do you mean, find him for me!?”
Song Haoran merely smiled. “Hurry up. If he’s wandered too far, I’m not going to bother.”“Still, where do we even start?” Song Ying sighed in frustration. “We don’t have any leads.”
“Let’s ask at the security office first,” Song Haoran suggested suddenly. “Didn’t he have a child’s backpack with him when he came back?”
“Backpack?” Song Ying paused and then remembered. “Paul’s?”
Song Haoran nodded. “The backpack isn’t in the room. He probably took it out, maybe to return it to its owner or hand it over to security.”
Reliable after all, Song Ying thought as she nodded. If only he were more serious all the time, it would be perfect.
---
At a small restaurant called “Little Alley,” which had already closed for the night, Joan lay on a soft bench inside.
She gradually regained consciousness, looking around in confusion and fear at her surroundings.
Her body felt incredibly weak and powerless. Suddenly, as if remembering something, Joan started touching her body.
Her clothes were gone, replaced by a loose men’s jacket—not something that belonged to Agu Moss.
She was left with only her undergarments beneath… A situation like this would unsettle any woman.
“You’re awake,” a man’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Joan turned around in fear, seeing a young man holding a bag as he walked toward her. Alarmed and frightened, she shouted, “What are you trying to do? What did you do to me? Stay back!”
“Uh… Maybe put some clothes on first?” The young man—Luo Qiu—set the bag down. “The clothes are in the bag. I’ll wait outside.”
“You…” Joan opened her mouth but couldn’t say anything further.
“Oh, by the way, I’ve already paid for the clothes,” Luo Qiu said, pointing at a closed fashion store downstairs before calmly walking out of the restaurant.
Joan remained uneasy, but the thought of sitting there half-dressed made her even more uncomfortable. She reluctantly reached for the bag, crouched under the bench, and quickly dressed while keeping an eye on the young man standing outside.
The clothes were plain but not unpleasant.
Surprised, Joan looked at herself in the mirror after putting on a plaid shirt and dark blue jeans.
“Why are you here?” Joan hesitantly approached Luo Qiu after dressing. “Weren’t you and your girlfriend at the security office?”
Luo Qiu turned around and stared at Joan for a moment before asking, “So, the Joan we met at the security office earlier was you?”
“What do you mean, ‘earlier’?” Joan frowned. “What are you talking about?”
Luo Qiu shook his head and asked, “Nothing. When I found you, you were lying in a bathroom, and your clothes were… I was going to call airport security, but they seemed busy. You probably don’t know this, but while you were unconscious, there was an explosion here, and someone died—a woman. Her death was horrifying; they said her face was peeled off by the killer.”
Joan looked utterly shocked.
Luo Qiu continued, “Since you’re awake, you should file a report. By the way, do you remember who attacked you?”
“I don’t know,” Joan shook her head quickly. “I went to hide from the security guards and ended up in the bathroom. Someone covered my mouth and nose with something from behind, and then I passed out. Where’s Agu Moss?”
“Probably at the XX airline’s temporary service desk,” Luo Qiu replied casually. “The broadcast earlier called for Joan to report there. If you’re missing, your male companion is likely worried. He should head there after hearing the announcement… Do you want to go?”
“Why was the broadcast looking for me?” Joan asked, puzzled.
“Unfortunately, when I found you, all your belongings were gone,” Luo Qiu said. “Otherwise, you could have contacted Agu Moss and found out.”
“Can I borrow your phone?”
“Of course.”
Joan quickly dialed a number, but while the call connected, it went unanswered. Her expression grew increasingly tense and anxious.
“No one’s answering…” Joan looked at Luo Qiu in distress.
Luo Qiu said calmly, “Then let’s file a report. You were attacked, after all.”
“Let’s find my friend first,” Joan shook her head. “If it’s just lost belongings, that’s not a big deal. You know who I am—if I file a report, the media will find out, and I don’t want that.”
As she spoke, Joan clutched her arms nervously, trembling. “You know how it is… Celebrities who’ve had their clothes stolen or been photographed inappropriately… You understand, don’t you?”
---
Elsewhere, a woman in black sat silently on a deserted staircase, holding Paul in her arms. Her mind was consumed by thoughts of the green ring she possessed—The Eye of Horus—and the mysterious young man’s cryptic words.
The day the black-clad Joan's entire world fell into chaos began when a crazed woman, who also wore a 'Eye of Horus' ring, appeared before her. This woman had the exact same appearance, name, and, perhaps at their core, even the same soul, but led an entirely different life.
Another version of herself.
Yes, it was that day—the day she was separated from Paul, the day of the car accident. She suddenly found herself in a world similar to hers but fundamentally different.
According to her understanding, if the world she originally came from was called World 1, the world she was transferred to during the car accident was World 2. The deranged woman, the crazed version of herself, seemingly came from an unknown World 3.
The version of herself from World 3 killed the version of herself from World 2 right in front of the version of herself from World 1.
The black-clad Joan also witnessed how the version of herself from World 3 calmly left after murdering her counterpart from World 2—using none other than the Horus Eye ring.
She wanted to return to World 1, her original world.
However, she couldn't freely use the Horus Eye ring she possessed. Despite several limited jumps to different worlds, she still couldn’t return to World 1.
Until she arrived here—only to find that her Horus Eye ring had run out of power.
It was terrifying.
Absolutely terrifying.
Whenever she thought about how the version of herself from World 3 relentlessly hunted and killed other versions of herself across different worlds, the black-clad Joan couldn't help but feel a chill deep in her soul.
That person wasn’t herself—not at all. That woman was nothing more than a complete lunatic, with a soul utterly corrupted and decayed. She couldn’t possibly be the same as herself!
Jumping through countless worlds and replacing different versions of herself, the crazed Joan would eventually leave each world abruptly. What was her purpose?
If she hadn’t experienced the car accident in World 1, inadvertently jumping to World 2 and witnessing this horrifying scene, would the original version of herself in World 1 eventually be confronted by this deranged Joan, this unknown Joan, and then...
...be killed and replaced?
The black-clad Joan dared not think further. Her only choice was to instinctively fight back.
Not only did she need to find a way back to World 1, but she also had to ensure that the crazed Joan could never jump again. She needed to seize every 'Eye of Horus' ring from her.
Or...
Kill her.
Kill her!
“No one will ever separate us, Paul,” the black-clad Joan murmured as she held Paul tightly. The child, worn out from the day's events, had already fallen asleep.
“Mommy will be back soon.”
The black-clad Joan carefully placed Paul down, removed her jacket, and used it as a blanket for the boy. Dressed now only in a white sweater, she wrapped a scarf around her chin and mouth and quickly left.
The announcement.
She had already heard the airport announcement calling for Joan.
...
“Aren’t we going to the place mentioned in the announcement?” Agu Moss asked in surprise, looking around.
This was clearly not the path to the location mentioned in the announcement.
“I don’t want to go there,” Joan said, shaking her head. “It’s bound to be crowded. We can call later to figure out what’s going on. If it’s something that can be resolved over the phone, there’s no need to go in person.”
Agu Moss nodded and suggested, “How about this? Let’s head to the arrivals hall. Our checked luggage should have arrived. It’ll be more convenient to grab it now, so we won’t have to fight through the crowd later.”
“Good idea!” Joan smiled, sighing. “I just wish I could go home right now, lie in bed, and forget about everything.”
As they walked, a woman in a white sweater, with her face partially obscured by a scarf, passed by them.
Agu Moss suddenly stopped and turned to look at the woman in the white sweater.
“What’s wrong?” Joan asked, puzzled by his reaction. She also glanced at the retreating figure of the woman, her brow furrowing slightly.
“Nothing... just felt like I’ve seen her somewhere before,” Agu Moss muttered, shaking his head. “Maybe it’s just my imagination. Let’s go.”
Joan nodded and took another look at the woman in the white sweater, but she had already disappeared around a corner.
However, just as they turned to continue walking, something suddenly collided with them—knocking both Agu Moss and Joan to the ground.
Agu Moss looked up in panic and saw the woman in the white sweater, now pinning Joan to the floor and strangling her.
“What are you doing?!” Agu Moss shouted in anger and fear, rushing forward to shove the woman off Joan.
“Joan!” Agu Moss immediately helped Joan to her feet. She coughed violently, struggling to catch her breath.
The woman in the white sweater also scrambled to her feet.
“You’re insane! We don’t even know you—Joan?! Why are there two of you...?” Agu Moss exclaimed as the scarf around the woman’s neck slipped, revealing her face.
For a moment, he stared in disbelief, his gaze darting between Joan and the identical woman standing before him.
Then, a sharp pain erupted from his abdomen.
Agu Moss looked down, horrified to see a small fork plunged into his stomach.
Behind him, Joan—the one who had earlier spoken about marriage—now stood with a cold, expressionless face.
“This was such a good world. Why... why does it still have to go so wrong?” Joan murmured, her voice devoid of emotion. She looked down at Agu Moss as he fell to the ground in agony.
“Since that’s the case, I’ll just destroy it, my dear,” she said coldly.