Awakening the Daily Intelligence System-Chapter 838 - 420, buried alive_2

"Could it be that something’s happened to the streamer? Did the Los Angeles police catch him?"

"Hey! Don’t say that. The streamer is so smart, how could he possibly be caught by the police."

"Everyone, don’t worry. There’s still enough time. Plus, with so many police outside, it’s understandable if the streamer takes a bit longer to prepare."

While the audience in the livestream was worried about Jack, Jack himself was trapped in confusion.

He couldn’t understand what exactly Aix said to Tom Hanks that made him dispel his suspicions about him.

If it weren’t for Aix acting as a "shield," he’d have been under the investigation team’s radar a long time ago, which made him slightly regret his decision back then.

However, there was still a turning point, because he had the system as his trump card. If he wanted to escape, he could redeem those powerful ability cards from the system store anytime.

Jack thought as he ate. After swallowing the last mouthful of food from his plate, he stood up, smiled, and said, "Team Leader Tom, Chief David, I’m finished. Sorry, but I have to leave first."

"Alright, it’s fine. You go ahead, we’ll eat slowly." Tom Hanks gave Jack a meaningful look, nodded, and said.

Jack seemed to not understand Tom Hanks’ expression, gave an apologetic smile, and turned to leave.

After all, too much time had been dragged. If he didn’t act now, he might miss this chance, and it would be much harder to kill Tom later.

Thinking of this, Jack silently recited in his mind, summoned the light screen, and looked at Tom in the picture.

After all, he’s just a teen with immature mind, so utterly lacking in vigilance, still asleep until now.

At this moment, Tom was leaning against a rock, head bowed, brows furrowed, forehead covered in sweat, seemingly having a nightmare.

Seeing this, Jack’s lips curved up slightly, and through the system, he whispered in Tom’s ear, "A life for a life, there’s no escape."

The voice sounded mournful and eerie, continuously echoing in the spooky cave.

"Who’s there!"

Tom, hearing the voice, suddenly woke from his dream with a start, shouted, and looked around with wide eyes, eyes filled with vigilance and a touch of fear.

"Who? Who’s speaking?! Show yourself!"

Seeing no one around, Tom grabbed a long stone in his hand, propped himself up with one hand, stood up from the ground, and questioned loudly again.

However, besides himself, there was no one else in the cave. The voice he heard was drowned out by his own shouting, no longer audible.

But Tom was convinced he really did hear that voice earlier!

His mind, still a bit foggy from just waking up, coupled with nervousness, now only wanted to find the person who was scaring him.

He called out twice, yet saw no one. Just then, he suddenly noticed a shadow of shoes seemingly revealed from behind the boulder not far from the cave entrance.

Seeing this, Tom sneered a few times, and said, "Hmph! I see you, Dark Law Enforcer, come out!"

However, the owner of those shoes remained motionless. Tom steeled his resolve, tightly gripping the long stone, and walked toward the entrance of the cave.

He wanted to see just who was bold enough to try and scare him.

Possibly because he had been sitting cross-legged on the ground for too long, the moment Tom lifted a leg, he found both legs severely numb—from the base of his thigh down to his feet, he felt weak, unable to walk steadily.

As the saying goes, strike first to gain the upper hand. He couldn’t let a bit of discomfort in his legs and feet make him give up. Besides, Tom thought, after a few steps, it would get better and not affect him.

Could it be a ghost?!

Tom was frightened by the sudden thought surfacing in his mind. Especially when he remembered having thrown the couple here like trash, his body started trembling uncontrollably, eyes filled with terror.

He slowly turned his head, glanced towards his own shoulder out of the corner of his eye.

In the faint light seeping through the cave entrance, Tom saw a hand covered in bluish-purple bruises resting on his shoulder.

The hand seemed to have just crawled out from the ground, its nails turned outward, filled with grayish-brown dirt, with trickles of blood oozing from the cracks.

Moreover, the hand had slender, long fingers, likely belonging to a woman, but at this moment, it had nothing attractive. The blackened fingers gripped Tom’s shoulder tightly like ghostly claws.

Seeing this, Tom’s entire body quaked with fear, beads of sweat as large as peas appeared on his forehead, goosebumps rose all over his skin, and his heart pounded furiously as if it was about to explode.

He had heard from village elders that when encountering a ghost tapping on your shoulder, never turn back. It’s said that every shoulder has a light; if you turn your head, it extinguishes the light on that side—left shoulder, left light out, right shoulder, right light out—depriving one of protection from the gods and leaving them vulnerable to the ghosts.

Recalling this legend, Tom immediately changed his mind, dismissing any thought of wanting to see the owner of the hand.

But to the audience in the livestream, Tom’s series of actions appeared a bit inexplicable.

"What’s this little punk doing? Why does he seem like a lunatic, stopping every now and then?"

"I don’t know either, but from the looks of it, he seems to have seen something especially terrifying."

"I get the same feeling. Look, the little punk’s body is shaking as if he’s about to wet himself!"

"Is the streamer behind this again?"

"Quite possibly. When people first wake up, their awareness is unclear, easily hallucinogenic. Maybe the streamer is using this to create an illusion for the little punk."

"But isn’t this little punk supposed to be fearless? What did he actually see to be scared like this?"

"Hey, isn’t it obvious? What is this cave? It’s where he hides the bodies! Besides those two souls, what else could scare him here?"

"Smart guess! You figured it out."

"Oh, it’s nothing. The streamer’s lessons are good. Watching judgement livestreams improves my smarts."

While the livestream audience speculated on the reason for Tom’s odd behavior, Tom in the screen moved.

He placed his left hand on the wall, eyes fixed ahead, again walking towards that boulder not far away, constantly repeating to himself: what he saw and felt were illusions; ghosts do not exist in reality.

But the more he reassured himself this way, the stronger the grip from that ghostly hand on his shoulder became. He even felt something pressing firmly against his back, sending a chill through his entire body.

"A life for a life..."

Moreover, that elusive voice resounded again, like it was right by his ear.

Hearing this voice, Tom could no longer maintain his composure; fear completely overtook his mind.

He spun around fiercely, waving the stone in his hand wildly, shouting, "Get lost! Even if you’re a ghost, I could kill you again!"

Yet, at the very moment Tom turned, he found himself inches away from a dark purple, scar-covered face. His eyes met those filled with bitter resentment.

Even with half her face covered by tangled, grimy hair, he recognized at once that the face belonged to the wife from the couple he had assaulted and murdered!

Upon seeing this face, Tom, who had been yelling, suddenly went silent, like a duck being choked. His mouth gaped open, throat making hoarse sounds, unable to utter a single word.

At this moment, Tom saw the face suddenly break into a silent smile.

However, she had no teeth. Her lips caved inward, and when she smiled, her dark, hollow mouth kept oozing blood, looking incredibly terrifying.

"Ah! Ghost!"

Seeing the face smiling like that, Tom’s face turned pale instantly, teeth chattering uncontrollably. He screamed in terror, not caring if anyone else was in the cave, and dashed towards the entrance.

Now, he only wanted to leave here as fast as possible, never wishing to step foot into this place again in his life.