A rusty smell wafted from the ventilation vents in the underground parking lot, and Chen Su's palms were sweaty as he gripped the entrenching tool. He didn't head straight for the storage room, but instead went around to the fire escape in the parking lot—A-Qiang's text message had only mentioned "strangers in black clothes and hats," without specifying how many there were, so he needed to make sure there were no ambushes nearby.
The iron gate to the fire escape was ajar, with a glimpse of a black garment peeking out from the crack. Chen Su held his breath and suddenly pushed the door open—there was no one behind it, only a black hoodie lying on the ground, with a few strands of white hair still stuck to the collar, somewhat similar to Old Zhou's hair color.
Is it the hoodie man's clothes? Or is it Lao Zhou's trap?
He picked up the hoodie, and a folded note fell out of the pocket. The handwriting on it was exactly the same as the one in the pocket watch earlier: "The safe house has been targeted by the rules. Take Ah Qiang to the abandoned train station in the east of the city. There are clues there to defy the rules." At the end of the note was a small hourglass, and below the hourglass was written "Must leave before 2 pm on October 2nd".
Chen Su's heart sank. The hoodie not only knew of A-Qiang's existence, but also knew the location of the safe house. Where was this person hiding? He didn't have time to think about it and quickly walked towards the storage room—the most important thing now was to get A-Qiang out of there.
The storage room door was ajar, and there was no sound from inside. Chen Su gently pushed the door open and saw A-Qiang huddled among a pile of cardboard boxes, clutching a used cell phone, his face pale: "Someone knocked on the door just now, saying you asked him to come pick me up, but I didn't open it, and he stood outside for a long time..."
"That's a trap, we have to leave now." Chen Su tossed the hoodie to A-Qiang. "Put this on, come with me, and don't talk on the way."
A-Qiang nodded, hurriedly put on his hoodie, and followed Chen Su toward the parking lot exit. As they passed the ventilation vent, Chen Su suddenly stopped—the vent's grille had been pried open, and a faint ticking sound could be heard from inside, exactly like the ticking of the clocks in Old Zhou's watch repair shop.
He looked up at the ventilation duct; something seemed to be moving in the darkness. Chen Su immediately pulled A-Qiang behind him and raised his entrenching tool: "Who's in there?"
The ticking sound from the vent suddenly quickened, and a metal object fell out and landed on the ground—it was a pocket watch. The pattern on the dial was exactly the same as Old Zhou's, and the hands were spinning wildly clockwise, pointing to the 10 o'clock position.
"Don't touch it!" Chen Su shouted, pulling A-Qiang back. He remembered what Lao Zhou had said, "If the hands of the watch touch you, you'll be marked." This pocket watch must be used to track them.
Just then, footsteps came from the parking lot entrance, and Old Zhou's voice, mixed with the ticking of a clock, came through: "Chen Su, you can't escape, the rules have already locked you in!"
Chen Su didn't dare look back, and pulled A-Qiang towards another exit of the parking lot—the emergency exit he had discovered earlier, leading to a side alley. The door to the emergency exit was old, and the lock had long been rusted shut. Chen Su used an entrenching tool to smash the lock cylinder, and with a "clang," the lock opened.
He pushed open the door and pulled A-Qiang into the alley. The alley was filled with clutter, and Chen Su knew the layout well—he had been here several times before to avoid the Seven-Eyed Monster. Chen Su led A-Qiang into an abandoned cardboard factory, hiding behind a pile of cardboard boxes and holding his breath.
The sound of Old Zhou's footsteps and the ticking of his pocket watch grew closer and closer. Chen Su touched the two pocket watches in his pocket—the one the hoodie man had given him and the one he had snatched from Old Zhou's shop—and suddenly noticed that although the dial patterns of the two pocket watches were the same, the one the hoodie man had given him had a small "6" engraved on the back, while Old Zhou's had a "7" engraved on it.
"6" and "7"? Do these represent the term of office of the "eyes"? Is the hoodie man the 6th and Old Zhou the 7th?
Chen Su suddenly remembered the contents of Lao Zhou's notebook: "'The eye's' task is to filter out anomalies; those anomalies touched by the clock hands become 'rule containers'." If the hoodie-wearing man was the previous "eye," then he must know how to remove the "rule markers."
The footsteps outside stopped at the entrance of the cardboard factory, and Old Zhou's voice came: "Chen Su, give me back my notebook, and I can spare your and A-Qiang's lives."
Chen Su gripped the notebook in his pocket tightly—it was the only clue he had to understand the rules, and he absolutely couldn't return it to Lao Zhou. He peeked out through the crack in the cardboard box and saw Lao Zhou holding a pocket watch, the hands pointing towards the cardboard factory, as if sensing their location.
"You think I'll believe you?" Chen Su shouted. "You want to turn me into a 'rule container'? I won't let you succeed!"
Old Zhou sneered: "Do you think you have a choice? Once my clock hand completes one full rotation, the rules will send the 'cleaner' to catch you, and then you and A-Qiang will both disappear completely!"
Chen Su's heart tightened—"cleaner"? This was the first time he had heard this term. He looked at A-Qiang, whose face had turned even paler, and who was gripping his arm tightly.
Chen Su took a deep breath, took out the pocket watch given to him by the man in the hoodie, and gently opened the watch cover. Inside the cover was a line of small characters: "Turning the pocket watch counterclockwise three times can temporarily block the rule sensing."
Following the instructions in the small print, he gently turned the watch hand, making three counter-clockwise rotations. Suddenly, the pocket watch emitted a faint blue light, the ticking sound outside instantly subsided, and Old Zhou's footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
"It works!" Chen Su whispered, pulling A-Qiang out from behind the cardboard box. "We're going to the abandoned train station in the east of the city now. The man in the hoodie said there are clues there."
A-Qiang nodded and followed Chen Su towards the east of the city. On the way, Chen Su opened Lao Zhou's notebook and continued reading—the next few pages read, "After the rule container is full, the world will restart, and the 'eyes' will be replaced," and there was a line of crossed-out words: "There are clues to the 'rule core' in the abandoned train station; the rules must not be allowed to discover it."
Are there clues to the "Core of the Rules" at the abandoned train station? Did the hoodie-wearing man send them there to destroy the "Core of the Rules"?
Chen Su gripped his notebook tightly and looked up towards the east of the city. The sunlight gradually slanted westward, and the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror jumped to **"8 days, 5 hours, 20 minutes, and 10 seconds"**, less than an hour before 2 PM.
He knew the road ahead would be even more dangerous, but for himself and Ah Qiang, and to break the cycle of reincarnation, he had to keep going.On the way to the abandoned train station in the east of the city, the wind blew dry leaves against his trouser legs, and Chen Su's hand remained tightly gripping the pocket watch. The "No. 6 pocket watch" given to him by the hoodie still emitted a faint blue light and vibrated gently every few minutes, as if sensing something. A-Qiang followed behind him, his hoodie pulled low, glancing at Chen Su every now and then, his eyes full of tension.
"How much longer until we arrive?" A-Qiang's voice trembled slightly; he was still reeling from the confrontation at the cardboard factory.
Chen Su glanced at his phone—11:40 AM. The scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror jumped to **"8 days, 4 hours, 20 minutes, and 33 seconds"**: "Almost there, just two more blocks. Remember, don't touch anything inside, especially objects with clockwork patterns."
As they spoke, the outline of an abandoned train station came into view. A rusty iron fence stood crookedly around the outside, half of the wooden sign for "East Station" was missing, and the remaining three characters of "East Station" were blackened by wind and rain. Chen Su first walked around the fence to make sure there was no trace of Lao Zhou before finding a gap that had been pried open and pulling A-Qiang inside.
The platform inside the station was covered in dust, and an abandoned green train lay askew on the tracks, its windows shattered, leaving only the frames. Sunlight streamed through holes in the roof, casting dappled patterns on the ground, and the air was thick with the smell of rust and mildew. Chen Su pulled out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch," and the blue light on its dial suddenly brightened, pointing towards the train—the clues should be inside the carriage.
He carefully climbed onto the train. The doors were long gone, leaving only rusty frames. The carriage was filled with discarded luggage, some of the suitcases cracked open, revealing faded clothes inside. Chen Su's gaze swept across a corner of the carriage and suddenly stopped on a tin box—its surface was engraved with a complete hourglass pattern, exactly like the one on a pocket watch, and the keyhole was shaped like a pocket watch.
"Found it." Chen Su turned to A-Qiang and said, taking out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch" and inserting it into the keyhole. As soon as the pocket watch touched the keyhole, the tin box made a soft "click" and automatically opened.
There was nothing else in the box except a thick black notebook with the words "Rules Log" written on the cover and "Records of the 1st-6th Eyes" below. Chen Su opened the first page, the handwriting neat and aged: "The rules are born when the hourglass is activated. The 'Eyes' are responsible for selecting containers. When the containers are full of seven people, the world restarts, and the 'Eyes' are replaced."
"Seven people?" Chen Su frowned and continued flipping through the pages. The record of the third eye read: "An anomaly has appeared. It can restart multiple times, breaking the rule of 'disappearing after three restarts.' It needs to be closely monitored." The handwriting of the sixth eye—that of the hoodie man—was messy and urgent: "The core of the rule is hidden in the station clock tower. If the core is destroyed, the rule can be broken. But the core is protected by the 'Scavenger.' The pocket watch is the only tool that can temporarily suppress the Scavenger."
"The clock tower?" A-Qiang pointed to the tall tower outside the carriage. "Is that the tower with the big clock? I think I saw a shadow moving on the clock tower just now."
Chen Su looked in the direction A-Qiang pointed. The clock hands were stopped at 3 o'clock, a piece of the glass on the clock face was broken, and he could vaguely see something black moving inside. Just as he was about to speak, the "No. 7 pocket watch" in his pocket (the one he had stolen from Lao Zhou's shop) suddenly vibrated wildly, and the hands on the dial began to rotate counterclockwise, making a piercing "tick-tock" sound—this was the signal that Lao Zhou had tracked him down!
"Hurry! Old Zhou is here!" Chen Su stuffed the black notebook into his backpack and pulled A-Qiang towards the train exit. They had barely jumped off the train when they saw Old Zhou standing at the platform entrance, holding three pocket watches, their hands all pointing in their direction, his face terrifyingly grim: "Chen Su, you think finding the rules log will guarantee victory? You're too naive!"
Two men in black trench coats followed behind Old Zhou, their faces expressionless and their pupils a murky white—like the residents in the alley before, they were "puppets" controlled by the rules, but their movements were much faster than the residents', clearly indicating that they had been trained.
"Those are the 'Cleaners' henchmen!" Chen Su suddenly realized that the hoodie man's log mentioned that "the Cleaners have helpers." He immediately took out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch" and, following the instructions in the log, pressed hard on the hourglass pattern on the dial: "Qiang, you run to the clock tower first, I'll hold them off!"
Ah Qiang paused for a moment, then immediately nodded: "I'll wait for you, don't get hurt!" After saying that, he ran towards the clock tower.
Seeing this, Old Zhou immediately ordered the "puppet" to rush over: "Stop him! The clock tower must not be touched!"
Chen Su gripped his entrenching tool, dodging a "puppet's" fist as he pressed the button on the "No. 6 pocket watch." The watch suddenly emitted a bright blue light, instantly enveloping the entire platform. The "puppet's" movements slowed abruptly, as if entangled in an invisible net. The pocket watch in Old Zhou's hand also began to vibrate violently, cracks appearing on its dial.
"Impossible! How could your pocket watch have such power?" Old Zhou was incredulous; he had never seen a pocket watch with "eyes" emit blue light.
Chen Su didn't speak, and took the opportunity to run towards the clock tower. He knew the blue light wouldn't last long, and he had to meet up with A-Qiang as soon as possible. When he reached the clock tower entrance, A-Qiang had already picked the lock and was waving at him: "Come in quickly! There's a big gear inside!"
Chen Su rushed into the clock tower and locked the door behind him. The clock tower was empty, except for a huge bronze gear hanging in the center. The gear was engraved with patterns that looked like those of an hourglass, and there was a groove below the gear that perfectly matched the shape of the "No. 6 Pocket Watch".
"This is part of the core of the rules?" Chen Su took out the "No. 6 Pocket Watch" and was about to put it into the slot when Old Zhou's banging on the door came from outside: "Chen Su, if you dare to destroy the core, we will all disappear! If the rules are gone, this world will also be gone!"
Chen Su's hand froze in mid-air. Old Zhou's words pierced his heart like a thorn—if the rules truly were the foundation of the world, would destroying the core cause him and A-Qiang to disappear as well?
Just then, the black notebook fell out of the pocket, turning to the last page written by the hoodie: "Rules are not the support of the world, but a cage. Only when the core is destroyed will the cage break, and only then can the abnormal be truly free."
The scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror jumped to **"8 days, 3 hours, 50 minutes, and 15 seconds"**. The banging on the door outside grew louder, and the "puppet's" impacts loosened the lock. Chen Su took a deep breath, no longer hesitating, and forcefully pressed the "No. 6 pocket watch" into the groove of the gear.
Suddenly, the bronze gears began to turn, making a rumbling sound. Cracks appeared in the walls of the clock tower, and sunlight shone through the cracks, bringing a warm temperature—a real temperature that Chen Su had never felt in the cycle of reincarnation.
The banging on the door suddenly stopped, followed by Old Zhou's scream. Chen Su looked out through the crack in the door and saw that the pocket watch in Old Zhou's hand was completely shattered, and the "puppet" was lying motionless on the ground.
"Did it work?" A-Qiang asked in a low voice.
Before Chen Su could answer, the bronze gear suddenly stopped turning, and the "No. 6 pocket watch" popped out of the groove. The blue light on the dial disappeared, and in its place was a new line of text: "The core is not completely destroyed. The Cleaner is about to arrive. The remaining fragments must be found before 0:00 on October 3."
Chen Su picked up the pocket watch and looked at the hourglass in the mirror—next to the scarlet numbers, a line of small white text appeared for the first time: "A crack in the rules has appeared. Countdown: 20 hours, 50 minutes, and 10 seconds."
He knew this wasn't the end, but a new beginning. The Cleaners were coming, and the remaining core fragments hadn't been found yet, but at least he had taken the first step in breaking the rules. Chen Su gripped his pocket watch and said to A-Qiang, "We have to get out of here quickly. The Cleaners are coming, and we have less than 21 hours."
A-Qiang nodded and followed Chen Su out of the clock tower. Sunlight shone on them, and although the road ahead was still dangerous, Chen Su felt hope for the first time—perhaps this time, he could really break the cycle of reincarnation and step out of the hourglass's countdown.As they emerged from the clock tower, the wind suddenly turned chilly. Chen Su tucked the "Number 6 Pocket Watch" into his inner pocket, his fingertips still feeling the lingering warmth of the dial—the vibrations from the gears turning still lingered in his palm, like a silent reminder. A-Qiang followed behind him, glancing back at the clock tower every now and then. With the bronze gears stopped turning, the light in that area seemed dimmer than elsewhere, as if shrouded in an invisible black cloth.
"What would a cleaner be like?" A-Qiang asked in a low voice, the screams of Old Zhou still ringing in his ears.
Chen Su glanced at his phone; the time was 1:15 PM on October 2nd. Next to the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror, the small white text, "A crack in the rules has appeared. Countdown: 19 hours, 45 minutes, and 20 seconds," was particularly glaring: "I don't know, but it's definitely more dangerous than Lao Zhou and those 'puppets.' The hoodie man's log says that the pocket watch can temporarily suppress the Cleaner; we need it to hold out until we find the fragment."
They didn't dare approach the abandoned train station platform any further, and walked towards the exit along the weeds beside the tracks. Just as they reached a gap in the iron fence, Chen Su suddenly stopped—on the open ground outside the gap lay a silver pocket watch, its dial cracked into a spiderweb pattern. It was the "No. 7 pocket watch" that Old Zhou had taken earlier, and next to the pocket watch was a folded note, the handwriting identical to that of the hoodie-wearing man: "The core fragment is in the 'Clock Museum.' The Cleaners' primary target is the Anomalies. Don't get entangled in its 'timeline.'"
The note had a drawing of a broken hourglass at the end, with a line of small print next to it: "The museum closes at 5 p.m. After closing, a 'time lock' will be activated, and once you go in, you can't come out."
Chen Su's heart sank. The clock museum was in the city center, an hour's drive away. It was already past 1 p.m., and after deducting travel time, they only had a maximum of three hours in the museum to search for the fragments. What was even more troublesome was that there was a "fixed event" at 3 p.m. in the city center square: a conflict between urban management officers. According to the previous cycle, such events would attract a large number of passersby, which could very well provide an opportunity for the street cleaners.
"We need to take a taxi there, and try not to stop along the way." Chen Su stuffed the note into his backpack, pulled A-Qiang through the iron fence, and ran towards the taxi stand on the street. As soon as they got into the taxi, he took out Lao Zhou's notebook and flipped to the last few pages—in the records of the 6th Eye (the hoodie man), there was a circled line: "The 'treasure' of the Clock Museum is a 'perpetual pocket watch,' which is said to be able to control local time, and the core fragment is likely hidden inside it."
As the taxi drove towards the city center, Chen Su kept his eyes fixed on the scenery outside the window. The streets were bustling with traffic, and pedestrians hurried by, unaware that a battle for the survival of the rules was quietly underway. He took out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch," the blue light on the dial had dimmed considerably, with only a faint glow remaining at the edges—he had consumed a lot of energy suppressing the "puppet" earlier, and he wondered if it would last until he could fight the Cleaner.
At 2:30 PM, the taxi stopped in front of the Clock Museum. Chen Su paid the fare and quickly pulled A-Qiang inside. The museum was quiet, with only a few visitors looking at the exhibits. Various clocks hung on the walls, from ancient sundials to modern mechanical watches. The ticking sound echoed in the empty hall, somewhat similar to the sound from Old Zhou's watch repair shop, but less eerie and more imbued with the weight of history.
"The museum's most prized possessions are on the third floor. I just checked the information board," A-Qiang said in a low voice, pointing to the sign at the bottom of the stairs.
Chen Su nodded and walked up to the third floor with A-Qiang. Passing the "Pocket Watch Exhibition Area" on the second floor, he suddenly stopped—in the glass case in the center of the exhibition area was a pocket watch with a pattern similar to the "No. 6 Pocket Watch," labeled "The Fifth Eye's personal pocket watch, presumably an early product of the Rules." What alarmed him even more was a small note on the glass case, written in Old Zhou's handwriting: "Chen Su, the fragment is indeed in the Eternal Pocket Watch, but it is protected by a time lock. Only the 'Hourglass Power' of the Abnormal can open it—however, the moment it's opened, the Cleaner will find you."
Chen Su turned around abruptly. The hall was empty; Old Zhou was nowhere to be seen. He gripped the entrenching tool in his pocket tightly. Old Zhou had clearly been affected by the rules, so why would he have left a note? Could it be that Old Zhou had only "faked his death" and was actually still following them?
"Never mind that, let's find the Eternal Pocket Watch first." Chen Su pulled A-Qiang and ran to the third floor. In the "Treasures of the Museum" exhibition area on the third floor, there was only one huge glass case containing a golden pocket watch. The watch face was engraved with intricate hourglass patterns, which was the "Eternal Pocket Watch." Below the glass case was a recess, the shape of which perfectly matched the "No. 6 Pocket Watch"—this was the keyhole to open the time lock.
Just as Chen Su was about to take out his "No. 6 pocket watch," his phone suddenly vibrated. It was a text message from an unknown number: "The Cleaner has arrived at the museum entrance. It can locate you by the ticking of clocks. Quickly turn off all clocks that can make a sound!"
The sender was unsigned, but Chen Su immediately recognized it as the man in the hoodie. He looked up at the clocks in the exhibition area; the wall clocks and the grandfather clocks next to the glass cases were all ticking, and these sounds became signals to track them.
"Qiang, help me turn off all the clocks around here!" Chen Su said, walking quickly to the grandfather clock next to the glass case, pinching the pendulum to stop it from spinning. Qiang immediately followed suit, stopping all the wall clocks in the exhibition area one by one.
Just as the last clock stopped ticking, the museum's loudspeaker suddenly announced: "Attention visitors, due to equipment malfunction, the museum will close early at 4:00 PM. Please leave as soon as possible." The announcement was repeated three times, and visitors began to get up and head towards the exit, the footsteps in the hall becoming increasingly chaotic.
Chen Su knew this wasn't a malfunction; it was the Cleaner coming, chasing away the tourists and creating an opportunity for him to deal with them alone. Without further hesitation, he took out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch" and inserted it into the groove of the Eternal Pocket Watch—the moment the watch touched the groove, the glass case made a soft "click" and opened automatically.
The cover of the Eternal Pocket Watch was open, and inside there were no hands, only a shattered blue crystal—the core fragment! Just as Chen Su was about to reach for it, all the lights in the museum suddenly went out, leaving only the fragment of the Eternal Pocket Watch emitting a faint blue light that illuminated the surrounding area.
From the darkness came a slow series of footsteps, each step accompanied by a ticking sound, like someone walking to the rhythm of a clock. Chen Su gripped his entrenching tool and looked warily toward the doorway—in the darkness, a figure in a black trench coat stood there, the hem of the coat swaying gently with each step. He held nothing in his hands, but Chen Su could sense that this figure emanated a cold aura, just like the rules themselves.
The cleaners have arrived.
Next to the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror, the countdown in small white letters jumped to **"18 hours, 20 minutes, and 35 seconds"**. Chen Su shoved the fragment into A-Qiang's hand and said in a low voice, "Take this fragment and hide in the stairwell. I'll hold it off. Remember, no matter what you hear, don't come out!"
Just as A-Qiang was about to retort, Chen Su had already pushed him toward the stairwell. The figure in the darkness grew closer and closer, and the ticking sound grew louder and louder. Chen Su could see the other person's face—it was a face without features, only a smooth expanse of skin, as if it had been painted white.
"Abnormal being, hand over the core fragment." The Cleaner's voice was flat, like a machine speaking. "The rules will not allow the crack to widen. You and the fragment must disappear."
Chen Su gripped the "No. 6 Pocket Watch" tightly, and the blue light on the dial lit up again: "If you want the fragment, you'll have to get past me first." He knew that he was not fighting to break the cycle of reincarnation, but to protect A-Qiang—this time, he absolutely could not let the people around him disappear.The Cleaner's footsteps were particularly jarring in the darkness, and the ground seemed to tremble with each step. Chen Su gripped the "No. 6 Pocket Watch" tightly, the blue light from his fingertips creeping up his palm, leaving a faint trail in the darkness—this was his only reliance at the moment. The Hoodie Man's log didn't explain exactly how the pocket watch could fight the Cleaner, so he could only take it one step at a time.
"The cracks in the rules should not exist." The Cleaner's voice remained flat. He raised his right hand, the sleeve of his black trench coat slipping down to reveal a silver pattern around his wrist, identical to the hourglass pattern on the Eternal Pocket Watch. The next second, those patterns suddenly lit up, and all the clocks on the third floor of the museum began to spin wildly, the broken ticking sounds mingling together like countless fine needles pricking the ears.
Chen Su felt a throbbing pain in his temples, and the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror began to jump erratically. The original "8 days, 1 hour, 19 minutes, and 50 seconds" suddenly became "7 days, 23 hours, 45 minutes, and 12 seconds"—the Cleaner was manipulating time! He gritted his teeth, held up the "Number 6 Pocket Watch" in front of him, and pressed hard on the hourglass pattern on the dial: "If the Hoodie Man can suppress you with a pocket watch, so can I!"
The blue light from the pocket watch suddenly intensified, like a small sun, instantly enveloping Chen Su. The wildly spinning clocks abruptly stopped, their hands clicking to a halt, and the silver patterns on the Cleaner's wrist dimmed. His face, devoid of features, turned to Chen Su, seemingly with a hint of surprise: "The sixth pocket watch is actually in your hands."
Taking advantage of the cleaner's momentary lapse in concentration, Chen Su gripped his entrenching tool and charged towards him. The blade of the entrenching tool whistled through the air, and just as it was about to touch the cleaner's trench coat, the man suddenly took a step back, his figure blurring like smoke for a moment before reappearing behind Chen Su.
"So fast!" Chen Su's heart tightened, and he immediately turned around, sweeping his entrenching tool across, but only missed. The Cleaner's hand was already in front of him, his fingertips carrying a cold aura, about to touch his shoulder—once touched, who knows what rules would be triggered.
Just then, Ah Qiang's voice came from the stairwell: "Chen Su, catch!"
A blue light flew from the stairwell—it was the core fragment in A-Qiang's hand! Chen Su subconsciously reached out to catch it. The moment the fragment touched his palm, it resonated with the "No. 6 Pocket Watch." The blue light from the pocket watch suddenly surged, illuminating the entire third floor. The Cleaner let out a piercing scream and staggered back several steps. Several cracks appeared on his black trench coat, revealing not his body, but countless tiny clock gears.
"The core fragment...it actually resonates with the pocket watch." Chen Su looked at the fragment in his palm, which was pressed against the pocket watch and emitting a soft buzzing sound. "So this is the true use of the pocket watch!"
The Cleaner's figure solidified again, but he was noticeably weaker than before. He stared at the fragments and pocket watch in Chen Su's hand, his voice filled with urgency: "You've destroyed the first step of the rules, you can't destroy the second!" He charged at Chen Su again, this time slower than before, but still exuding a sense of oppression.
Chen Su stopped dodging. He pressed the core fragment against the "Number 6 Pocket Watch," and the watch face suddenly opened, revealing gears that began to turn with a rumbling sound like bronze gears. He raised the watch and pointed it at the Cleaner: "The rules are not a cage; you are merely a puppet controlled by the rules!"
A beam of blue light shot from the pocket watch, striking the Cleaner directly in the chest. His figure began to turn transparent, and countless tiny gears fell from his trench coat, clattering to the ground. The Cleaner's voice grew weaker and weaker: "The rules... won't... disappear..." After uttering the last word, his figure vanished completely, leaving only an empty black trench coat lying on the ground.
Chen Su breathed a sigh of relief and slumped to the ground, his palms sweating profusely. A-Qiang ran out from the stairwell and squatted down beside him, still holding the Eternal Watch in his hand: "That was too dangerous just now. I saw you were about to be hit, so I threw the fragment to you."
"Luckily, you're here." Chen Su smiled, picked up the black trench coat from the ground, felt the pocket, and a note fell out. The handwriting was that of the hoodie man: "The Cleaners are just small fry of the rules. The remaining core fragments are in the 'Old Clock Factory.' They must be found before midnight on October 3rd, otherwise the rules will restart, and all previous efforts will be in vain."
Chen Su glanced at his phone; the time was 4:10 PM on October 2nd. Next to the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror, the countdown in small white letters had changed to **"11 hours, 50 minutes, and 23 seconds"**. The museum was already closed, and the sound of security guards' footsteps could be heard outside; they had to leave as soon as possible.
"We need to hurry and get to the old watch factory." Chen Su stood up, put the core fragment and pocket watch into his inner pocket, and also stuffed the Eternal Pocket Watch into his backpack—they might come in handy later. He and A-Qiang went down the stairs, avoided the security guards, and slipped out through the back door of the museum.
It was getting dark outside, and the streetlights were on, casting a warm yellow glow over the city. Chen Su hailed a taxi and gave them the address of the old watch factory. As the taxi drove towards the suburbs, he flipped through the hoodie's "Rule Log" and found a record about the old watch factory: "The old watch factory was where pocket watches were produced in the early days of the Rules. There are many unactivated 'Eye' pocket watches inside. The core fragment is likely hidden in the safe in the factory manager's office. The key to the safe is the 'Pocket Watch of the First Eye'."
"The pocket watch of the first eye? We don't have one." Ah Qiang leaned over to look at the logbook, frowning.
Chen Su touched the Eternal Pocket Watch in his backpack and suddenly remembered the "Pocket Watch with the 5th Eye" he had seen in the museum, as well as Old Zhou's "Pocket Watch No. 7": "Maybe the Eternal Pocket Watch is the key to open the safe. Look, its pattern is more complete than other pocket watches, so it is very likely related to the 1st one."
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the old watch factory at 6:30 p.m. The old watch factory's gate was rusty, with a "No Entry" sign hanging on it. The inside was pitch black, with only a few windows emitting a faint light, whether from streetlights or something else, I couldn't tell.
Chen Su gripped the entrenching tool and said to A-Qiang, "After you go in, stay close behind me and don't touch anything inside, especially those inactive pocket watches—who knows if they might trigger some rules."
A-Qiang nodded and followed Chen Su into the old watch factory. The factory reeked of machine oil and dust, and many discarded watch parts were scattered on the ground, making a "creaking" sound when stepped on. They walked along the factory wall, trying to avoid the parts on the ground, and headed towards the factory manager's office.
As Chen Su reached the office door, he suddenly stopped. The office door was open, and a desk lamp was on inside. On the desk was a pocket watch with the number "1" engraved on the dial. It was the "Pocket Watch of the First Eye"!
"How did it go so smoothly?" A-Qiang whispered.
Chen Su sensed something was amiss. The hoodie's log mentioned the key was the first pocket watch, and now it was on the table—it seemed like a trap. He touched the "Number 6 pocket watch" in his pocket; it wasn't emitting a blue light, indicating there was no danger nearby. But he remained cautious and didn't immediately enter the office. Instead, he picked up a small pebble and threw it in.
The pebble landed on the ground without triggering any mechanisms. Chen Su then walked into the office and picked up the "Number 1 Pocket Watch" from the table. The moment the watch touched his palm, the safe made a soft "click" and opened automatically.
There was nothing else in the safe except a red core fragment, larger than the previous one, emitting a faint red glow. Just as Chen Su was about to reach for it, the office door suddenly slammed shut, the desk lamp went out, and the entire room was plunged into darkness.
Beside the scarlet numbers on the hourglass in the mirror, the countdown in small white letters jumped to **"9 hours, 20 minutes, and 15 seconds"**. In the darkness, a familiar ticking sound came, exactly the same as the sound coming from the Cleaner—could there be a second Cleaner?As the taxi pulled up in front of the old residential building, Chen Su's hand, clutching the "Number 1 Pocket Watch," was still cold. The instant the office door closed, he almost thought he was about to face the Cleaner's gear-like body again. Even after A-Qiang smashed open the window and pulled him out, the ticking sound still lingered in his ears. The night wind whipped up suburban dust onto his face. He touched his chest—the "Number 6 Pocket Watch" and the red core fragment were still pressed together, retaining the warmth from the fight against the Cleaner. Only then did he regain his composure.
"Let's go up and check if it's safe first." Chen Su stuffed the red core fragment into the pocket watch's compartment and pressed the combination lock on the third-floor safe house. The green light of the combination lock flashed three times, then clicked open, the hinges making a slight creaking sound that was particularly clear in the quiet corridor. He first leaned half his body in, the "No. 6 pocket watch" on his fingertips not emitting a blue light—this was the "danger warning" written in the hoodie man's logbook; a weakening or extinguishing blue light on the pocket watch meant it was safe, while a lit blue light meant there was a regular anomaly nearby.
"Qiangzi, don't touch anything after you come in, especially be careful of the vents." Chen Su turned around and reminded him, but found that Qiangzi was staring blankly at the corner of the corridor wall. Following his gaze, he saw that there was a fresh scratch on the wall at some point. The scratch was crooked and pieced together to form a broken hourglass shape, with black ash still stuck to the edges.
"This thing… it wasn't here when we left this afternoon." A-Qiang's voice tightened as he reached out to touch it, but Chen Su grabbed his arm. "Don't touch it!" Chen Su's fingertips had already touched the "No. 6 Pocket Watch," and the blue light on the watch's surface flickered slightly. "This might be an 'abnormal marker'—the hoodie man's log mentioned that some abnormal individuals would mark safe houses with specific symbols, either as a cry for help or as a warning."
The two tiptoed into the safe house. The emergency light in the living room was still on, and the water bottle that A-Qiang hadn't finished drinking that afternoon lay on the sofa. Everything looked exactly the same as when they left. But when Chen Su's gaze swept over the ventilation vent, his heart suddenly skipped a beat—the metal grille of the ventilation vent had been tampered with, with obvious pry marks on the edges, and several pieces of silvery-white metal debris lay on the floor below the grille.
"You wait here, I'll go check it out." Chen Su took out an entrenching tool from his backpack, held it in his hand, and slowly approached the ventilation opening. He stood on tiptoe and peered into the grille by the light of the emergency light. In the darkness, he could vaguely see a reflection. He carefully removed the grille, reached inside, and felt around. His fingertips touched a piece of cold metal—a palm-sized metal sheet with a complete hourglass pattern engraved on its surface. A few dark red fragments were embedded in the pattern, and he could smell a faint rusty odor when he brought it close.
"What's this?" A-Qiang leaned closer, his eyes wide. Chen Su placed the metal piece in his palm and suddenly noticed a tiny engraving on the edge of the piece, the engraving forming the number "3". "Number 3?" He suddenly remembered the serial numbers of the pocket watches he had seen in the museum—his own "Number 6", Lao Zhou's "Number 7", and the "Number 1" he had just found. Could this metal piece belong to the "third anomalous individual"?
Just then, Chen Su felt a vibration in his pocket—it was the secondhand phone he used to contact Lao Zhou. The screen lit up, displaying a text message from an unknown number with only one sentence: "The safe house is not a safe, and the hourglass mark is a 'guiding light.' Don't be fooled by it."
Who sent the message? The hoodie? Or some other anomaly? Chen Su stared at his phone screen, his fingertips unconsciously tracing the metal plate. Suddenly, he noticed that the hourglass pattern on the metal plate slowly aligned with the dial pattern of the "No. 6 Pocket Watch." The blue light on the watch face lit up again, reflecting off the metal plate and casting a distorted shadow on the wall—in the shadow, one could vaguely see a hoodie standing in the ruins of the watch factory, holding a red fragment in his hand.
"What is this shadow... trying to tell us?" A-Qiang rubbed his eyes, and when he looked again, the shadow had disappeared, leaving only the blue light of the pocket watch flickering on the wall. Chen Su carefully put away the metal piece, his doubts growing stronger: the hoodie man said the core fragment was in the watch factory, but after they found the fragment, they encountered an unknown ticking sound; now, strange markings appeared in the safe house, and they received a mysterious text message—all of this seemed to be leading them in a certain direction.
"First, confirm the status of the core fragment." Chen Su steadied himself and took out the red core fragment from the pocket watch's inner pocket. As soon as the fragment was placed on the table, it resonated with the blue fragment he had found earlier. The two beams of light intertwined and projected a fragmented map onto the ceiling—the map was marked with "Old Clock Factory," "Old Alley in the West of the City," and a blurred location with only half of the character "warehouse" visible.
"It seems there are other fragments." Chen Su put away the fragments and suddenly remembered Lao Zhou—the mysterious man who held the "No. 7 pocket watch." Before, in the museum, Lao Zhou clearly had the opportunity to attack them, but chose to leave. What was his purpose? "Qiangzi, do you still remember Lao Zhou's phone number?" Chen Su took out his second-hand phone and tried to trace Lao Zhou's signal in reverse.
Ah Qiang frowned and thought for a moment: "It seems to start with 138, but I can't remember the last few digits..." Chen Su turned on the tracking function on his phone, and a string of garbled characters appeared on the screen, followed by a signal source slowly appearing—"Abandoned Clock Factory in the West of the City." "The clock factory again?" Chen Su's brows furrowed even more. The note from the hoodie man said the fragments were in the clock factory, and Lao Zhou's signal also pointed there. Just how many secrets does this place hold?
Just then, the door to the safe house suddenly rattled in the wind, and a soft footstep echoed in the hallway. Chen Su immediately turned off his phone, gripped his entrenching tool, and gestured for A-Qiang to hide behind the sofa. The footsteps grew closer, stopping at the safe house door, followed by the sound of a key being inserted into a lock—someone was opening the door!
Chen Su held his breath, staring at the doorknob. The doorknob slowly turned, and the door opened a crack, letting in a beam of flashlight light. Chen Su rushed forward, wielding his entrenching tool at the figure in the doorway, but stopped when he saw the person's face—"Shen Shi? What are you doing here?"
The person at the door was Shen Shi, wearing a black trench coat and holding a flashlight. Seeing the entrenching tool in Chen Su's hand, she couldn't help but smile: "What? So excited to see me?" She walked into the safe house, closed the door, and glanced at the pocket watch on the table. "It seems you've found 'Pocket Watch No. 1'. But have you noticed that something is missing from this pocket watch?"
Chen Su picked up the "Number 1 Pocket Watch" and examined it closely—a piece of the hourglass pattern on the dial was missing, which perfectly matched the shape of the metal piece they had found earlier. "You mean, this metal piece is part of the pocket watch?" Shen Shi nodded and took out an identical metal piece from his pocket: "What I found is a fragment of the 'Number 2 Pocket Watch.' It seems that the 'Third Anomaly' hid the fragment here."
"Why did you come to us?" Chen Su looked at Shen Shi warily. He remembered Shen Shi's unusual behavior at the museum earlier—she seemed to have known all along that the Cleaners would appear, but hadn't warned them beforehand. Shen Shi saw his suspicion and sighed, "I'm just like you, looking for the core fragment. Old Zhou isn't a good person. What he wants isn't the fragment, but the 'Hourglass Core'—which is the combination of the pocket watch you have and the fragment."
"Hourglass Core?" Chen Su was stunned. The hoodie man's log had never mentioned this term. Shen Shi walked to the window, lifted a corner of the curtain, and looked at the dark street outside: "'Change every seven,' you should have heard of that, right? Every time seven anomalies appear, the rules will restart, and the 'Hourglass Core' is the key to preventing the restart. Old Zhou is the 'seventh anomaly,' and he wants to use the core to control the rules and become the manipulator of the rules."
Chen Su's heart skipped a beat. He remembered what Lao Zhou had said in the museum: "Rules are meant to be broken." So that was Lao Zhou's purpose. "Then why are you helping us?" Shen Shi turned his head and looked at the phone in Chen Su's pocket: "Because I need you to help me find the last core fragment, and the 'No. 6 Pocket Watch' you have is related to the missing 'Sixth Anomaly'—that is, your sister, Chen Yue."
"My sister?" Chen Su suddenly grabbed Shen Shi's arm, his voice trembling with excitement. "How do you know my sister's name? Is she still alive?" Shen Shi gently pushed his hand away and took out an old photo from his pocket—the photo showed a girl in a hoodie holding a "size 6 pocket watch." The girl's profile was exactly the same as the old photo in Chen Su's wallet.
"This is what I found in the safe house of the 6th Anomalous Person." Shen Shi handed the photo to Chen Su. "Chen Yue is the 6th Anomalous Person. She disappeared while searching for the core fragment, leaving behind only this pocket watch and a note. The note reads, 'Be careful of Lao Zhou, he's looking for the 'key'.'"
Chen Su stared at the photo, his eyes reddening. He had been searching for his sister for three years, never expecting that she was connected to these bizarre rules. "Where is my sister now?" Shen Shi shook his head: "I don't know, but I know that Lao Zhou has been looking for her because she is the real key to unlocking the 'Hourglass Core'—and you, as her brother, may also have some connection to these rules."
Just then, Shen Shi's phone rang. She glanced at the screen and her face turned pale instantly: "Oh no, Lao Zhou's men are downstairs. We have to leave quickly!" She pulled Chen Su and A Qiang toward the window. "Jump down from here. There's a car I've prepared down there. We'll go to the old alley in the west of the city—there are clues left by the '3rd Abnormal Being,' which may be related to your sister."
Chen Su grabbed the pocket watch and shards from the table and followed Shen Shi to the window. A series of hurried footsteps came from downstairs, and the beam of a flashlight flickered in the stairwell. "Jump!" Shen Shi jumped first, followed by Chen Su and A-Qiang, who landed on the roof of a black sedan before rolling to the ground.
Shen Shi opened the car door, gesturing for them to get in quickly. Chen Su climbed into the car and glanced back at the window of the safe house—in the darkness, a figure stood by the window, holding a pocket watch in his hand. The green light on the watch face was particularly dazzling in the darkness; it was Old Zhou!
The car started and drove towards the old alley in the west of the city. Chen Su looked at the street scene rushing past the window, clutching his sister's photo and the "No. 6 pocket watch" tightly in his hand. The blue light on the pocket watch face lit up again, resonating with the metal piece in the pocket. He suddenly realized that he had been drawn into a game of rules that was more dangerous than he had imagined—and the core of this game was not only the core fragment and the hourglass core, but also the whereabouts of his sister.
"The old alley in the west of the city is just ahead." Shen Shi's voice interrupted Chen Su's thoughts. "The clue to the 'third Anomalous Person' is in the watch repair shop in the old alley. However, we have to be careful; Old Zhou's men will definitely come after us." Chen Su nodded and gripped the entrenching tool in his hand tightly. He knew that every step from now on could be a matter of life and death, a matter of whether he could find his sister, and even more so, a matter of whether he could break this damned cycle of rules.
The car stopped at the entrance of the old alley. The alley was pitch black, except for a dim yellow light from the watch repair shop at the end. Chen Su took a deep breath, opened the car door, and walked into the dark alley. Behind him, Shen Shi and A Qiang followed closely, their footsteps echoing in the alley, mingling with the distant wailing of police sirens, foreshadowing a new crisis.The wind from the old alley in the west of the city carried a damp, musty smell, seeping into his collar. Chen Su walked at the front, clutching the "No. 6 pocket watch." The blue light on the watch face was a few degrees brighter than it had been in the safe house, like a star suspended in his palm—this was a signal of "rule convergence." The hoodie man's diary had mentioned that changes in the brightness of the pocket watch were positively correlated with the distance to the "anomaly source"—the brighter it was, the closer it was.
"The watch repair shop is the third door up ahead," Shen Shi said in a low voice, his flashlight beam sweeping along the wall, illuminating the broken earthenware pots scattered on the ground. A-Qiang followed at the back, clutching half a brick in his hand, his eyes fixed on the alleyway behind him. The green light Old Zhou had flashed downstairs at the safe house was still flashing in his mind.
Reaching the watch repair shop, Chen Su realized it was even more dilapidated than he remembered—half a wooden door panel was missing, and the "Shen's Watch Repair" sign above the door was reduced to just the two characters "Shen's," the paint peeling off at the edges like a chewed-up candy wrapper. He pushed the door, the hinges creaking open, startling a cat at the end of the alley, which leaped onto the wall, its gleaming green eyes sweeping over the three before quickly disappearing into the darkness.
The shop was dark, with only a few streetlights shining through the small window behind the counter. Chen Su reached for the light switch on the wall, and just as his fingertips touched the light cord, the pocket watch suddenly vibrated with a "hum," and the blue light surged instantly, casting a clear shadow on the wall—the shadow was bent over, holding a pocket watch, its posture almost identical to his own.
"Who's in there?" Shen Shi's voice was tense as he shone his flashlight across the area, illuminating the corner behind the counter. It was empty except for a dusty wooden chair with a draped gray hoodie on the back. The hem of the hoodie had dark red stains on it, and when you got close, you could smell the same rusty odor as the metal plates in the safe house.
"This clothing…" Chen Su picked up the hoodie, and when his fingertips touched the pocket, he felt something hard—a palm-sized piece of copper with densely engraved patterns that, when pieced together, formed a complete hourglass. In the center of the hourglass was the number "3," which matched the number on the metal piece he found in the safe house.
"It belongs to the third Anomalous One." Shen Shi leaned closer, pointing to the engravings on the edge of the copper piece. "Look here, it says 'East Warehouse of the Clock Factory, Gear Fragments Hidden'—it should be a clue to the core fragment." Just as she finished speaking, A-Qiang suddenly shouted, "Look out the window!"
Chen Su looked up and saw a gray shadow flash past the windowpane—the figure was wearing a hoodie and walked very lightly, as if stepping on cotton. He immediately grabbed his entrenching tool and rushed out the door, with Shen Shi and A-Qiang following closely behind. The wind in the alley made the corners of the hoodie flutter. The gray shadow had already turned into a side road at the end of the alley and was running towards the old clock factory.
"Don't run!" Chen Su chased after him quickly, his pocket watch vibrating incessantly in his pocket, the blue light shining through the fabric onto his trouser legs like a flowing ribbon of light. At the end of the fork in the road was a patch of wasteland, the dew on the grass wetting his trouser legs, the icy touch creeping up his ankles, but he didn't bother to wipe it off—the gray figure's back looked so much like his sister in the photo, even the way she raised her hand to brush her hair was exactly the same.
The gray figure suddenly turned into the old watch factory gate, and Chen Su rushed in after him. The factory was filled with the mixed smell of machine oil and dust, and the scattered gears on the ground creaked underfoot. He chased to the center of the factory and suddenly stopped—the gray figure stood with his back to him in front of a pile of discarded watch parts, holding a red fragment in his hand. The light from the fragment reflected on the wall, casting the shadow of an hourglass.
"Who are you?" Chen Su's voice trembled slightly as he slowly reached for the photo in his pocket—he had so many questions to ask, whether this person was his sister, who the person in the hoodie was, and the secrets behind the rules.
The gray figure slowly turned around, the wind lifting the brim of the hoodie to reveal half of her profile—a very delicate face with a small mole at the corner of her eye, in the exact same spot as the mole in the old photo of Chen Su's sister in his wallet.
Chen Su's heart skipped a beat, and the entrenching tool in his hand clattered to the ground. Just as he was about to step forward, the gray figure suddenly took a step back, turned around, and ran into the depths of the factory. The red shard in his hand drew a red streak in the darkness, like a fleeing fire serpent.
"Wait!" Chen Su chased after him, but his foot suddenly tripped over something, and he fell onto a pile of gears. His palm was cut open, and a drop of blood dripped onto the gears and was instantly sucked in—the surface of the gears suddenly lit up with a green light, exactly the same as the light on Old Zhou's pocket watch.
"Watch out!" Shen Shi rushed over, grabbed Chen Su, and pulled him aside. Just as they got away, the pile of gears suddenly started spinning, forming a giant hourglass shape. Black mist seeped from the gaps in the hourglass, and when it landed, it turned into several monsters about half a person's height. The monsters' heads were clocks with no hands, only seven bright red eyes staring intently at them.
"It's a seven-eyed monster!" Ah Qiang's voice was choked with sobs. He picked up a brick from the ground and threw it at the monster. The brick hit the monster's clock head and bounced off with a "clang." The monster didn't move at all and instead pounced on Ah Qiang.
Chen Su immediately pulled out his "Number 6 Pocket Watch" and pressed it against the wound on his palm. Blood seeped into the watch's grooves, and a burst of blue light erupted, like a sharp blade, striking the onrushing monster. The monster let out a piercing scream, its body began to turn transparent, and finally transformed into a pile of gears that fell to the ground.
"Blood can activate the power of the pocket watch?" Shen Shi was stunned. The pocket watch wasn't this powerful back in the safe house. Chen Su hadn't expected that simply pressing his hand on the wound would actually repel the monster. He glanced at the wound on his palm; blood was still flowing, but the blue light from the pocket watch was even brighter than before.
"Never mind that, let's chase after them!" Chen Su picked up the entrenching tool and ran deeper into the factory. Shen Shi and A Qiang followed. The light in the depths of the factory grew dimmer and dimmer, with only the blue light from the pocket watch and the red light from the gray figure's hand in the distance drawing two intersecting streaks of light in the darkness.
They chased him to the entrance of the east warehouse, where the gray figure suddenly vanished. The warehouse door was ajar, and the sound of gears turning could be heard from inside. Chen Su pushed open the door, and the sight inside made him gasp—the warehouse walls were covered with pocket watches, numbered "1," "2," "3," and even numbers "4" and "5" that he had never seen before. Each pocket watch had an hourglass pattern engraved on its face, and black mist seeped from the patterns, exactly the same as the mist on the monster's body.
"These pocket watches…" Shen Shi walked up to a "number 4 pocket watch" and was about to touch it when the watch suddenly lit up red, and the hourglass pattern on the dial began to rotate, like a mini countdown timer. "Don't touch it!" Chen Su pulled her back. "These pocket watches might be the 'eyes' of the rules. Touching them will trigger a trap."
Just then, a slight noise came from the corner of the warehouse. Chen Su raised his pocket watch, and the blue light illuminated the corner—there stood a man in a black trench coat, holding a "No. 7 pocket watch" in his hand; it was Old Zhou.
"You've finally arrived." Old Zhou smiled and held up the "No. 7 Pocket Watch" in front of him. "I thought I'd have to wait a long time. Chen Su, the "No. 6 Pocket Watch" in your hand and your sister's blood are the key to opening the "Hourglass Core." Don't let me down.
"Where is my sister?" Chen Su gripped the pocket watch tightly, blue light dancing in his palm. "What have you done to her?" Old Zhou raised an eyebrow and pointed to an iron door deep inside the warehouse: "She's inside, but if you want to save her, you have to give me the 'Number 6 Pocket Watch' and the core fragment. Otherwise, in three hours, the rules will restart, and your sister will disappear completely and never be found again."
Chen Su's heart skipped a beat. He glanced at his pocket watch—the hourglass numbers on the dial were ticking, the red numbers displaying "7 days, 3 hours, 15 minutes, and 22 seconds," exactly the time Old Zhou had mentioned. He looked back at Shen Shi, who gently shook his head, his eyes full of wariness.
"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Chen Su took a step forward, the blue light from the pocket watch shining brighter. "Bring my sister out first, then I'll give you the pocket watch and the fragments." Old Zhou smiled, took a photo out of his pocket, and threw it to Chen Su—in the photo, Chen Yue was tied to a pillar, holding a "No. 6 pocket watch" in her hand, her face pale, and the mole at the corner of her eye clearly visible.
"Do you believe me now?" Old Zhou's smile vanished, his tone turning icy. "I'll give you ten minutes to think it over. Either give me the pocket watch and the fragments, or watch your sister disappear. Oh, and let me remind you, every minute the pocket watch in the warehouse spawns a seven-eyed monster. How long do you think you can hold out?"
Chen Su looked down at the photo; his sister's face was exceptionally clear in the blue light. He gripped his pocket watch tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force—he knew that Lao Zhou was forcing him to make a choice: on one side was his sister's life, and on the other was the rules that Lao Zhou could potentially manipulate. Whichever he chose, he could face utter ruin.
Just then, the warehouse door was suddenly kicked open with a bang, and A-Qiang rushed in holding a brick, throwing it at Lao Zhou: "You bad guy! Don't even think about bullying Brother Chen Su!" Lao Zhou dodged to the side, and the "Number 7 Pocket Watch" suddenly lit up with a green light. The "Number 4 Pocket Watch" on the warehouse wall instantly exploded, and black mist poured out from the fragments, turning into two seven-eyed monsters that pounced on A-Qiang.
"Qiangzi!" Chen Su immediately raised his pocket watch, the blue light striking the seven-eyed monster, which screamed and turned into gears. Old Zhou took the opportunity to retreat, widening the distance between them: "Time is running out, Chen Su, you'd better make a decision quickly!" After he finished speaking, he turned and ran towards the iron gate deep in the warehouse, the "No. 7 pocket watch" in his hand lit up with green light, and the pocket watches on the wall exploded one after another, the black mist grew thicker and thicker, and the number of seven-eyed monsters increased.
"What do we do?" A-Qiang asked, his voice trembling as he hid behind Chen Su. Shen Shi pulled the metal piece from the "Number 2 Pocket Watch" into his pocket and handed it to Chen Su: "Combining the metal piece with the 'Number 6 Pocket Watch' might temporarily suppress these monsters. I'm going to chase after Lao Zhou; you find a way to find your sister!"
Chen Su took the metal piece and pressed it onto the "Number 6 Pocket Watch"—the metal piece fit perfectly into the hourglass pattern of the watch, and the watch suddenly emitted a dazzling blue light, like a miniature sun, instantly illuminating the entire warehouse. The black mist slowly dissipated under the blue light, and the Seven-Eyed Monster's movements also became sluggish.
"Go quickly!" Chen Su said to Shen Shi. Shen Shi nodded, grabbed his entrenching tool, and ran towards the iron gate. Chen Su, on the other hand, led A-Qiang towards another fork in the road deep inside the warehouse—the blue light of his pocket watch guided them ahead. He knew his sister was nearby, and this game of rules had only just begun its real contest.
They ran past piles of discarded gears when their pocket watch suddenly vibrated, its blue light pointing to a nearby iron cabinet. Chen Su opened the cabinet; it was empty except for a single red core fragment. The fragment's light echoed that of the one they had found earlier, forming a complete hourglass shape within the cabinet.
"Is this the last fragment?" A-Qiang picked up the fragment, and the moment it touched his hand, the warehouse suddenly shook violently. The pocket watch on the wall began to spin wildly, the red numbers jumping rapidly on the dial—"7 days 02 hours 59 minutes 10 seconds," "7 days 02 hours 59 minutes 09 seconds," "7 days 02 hours 59 minutes 08 seconds"...
"Oh no, the rules are about to restart ahead of schedule!" Chen Su grabbed the fragments and ran towards the iron gate. He knew he had to find his sister before time reset to zero and stop Lao Zhou from opening the "Hourglass Core." Otherwise, not only his sister, but everyone caught up in the rules would disappear completely in this restart.
The iron gate was right in front of him. Shen Shi and Lao Zhou's voices came from inside, along with his sister's faint cries for help. Chen Su gripped his pocket watch and the shards, took a deep breath, and pushed open the iron gate—the scene inside stunned him instantly.