Rustle, rustle, rustle. On the empty, deserted corridor, Li Kai and Ye Sheng, with Zhang Yiming in tow, cautiously shuffled forward. Though no one spoke, cold sweat had already soaked through the backs of all three.
Because they all understood perfectly well that at this moment, the entire building had been invaded by a supernatural force, dragged into an alternate space. Within this building, a drifting ghost was now hunting them!
In Ye Sheng's hand, he clutched a phone that was still connected. To the three of them, that phone was like a lifeline, because Lin Tianheng was using it to relay the direction of the ghostly shadow he saw on the surveillance screen, helping them avoid the entity's pursuit.
"Stop. Third room on the left. Go in now."
Hearing Lin Tianheng's voice through the phone, Ye Sheng's heart suddenly tightened. Though the other hadn't explained much, it was clear that the ghost had drifted close to them again, prompting Lin Tianheng's order to take cover.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ye Sheng twisted the doorknob, pushed open the door beside him, and the three slipped silently inside. They retreated to the wall, holding their breath and waiting.
Almost as soon as they had hidden, a *ding* came from the elevator nearby. Something that looked like a human figure, yet also like a mass of black mist, drifted unhurriedly out of the elevator. It stood on the corridor for a moment, then slowly floated toward one side of the hallway.
As the shadow drifted, wisps of black mist rolled and seeped through the cracks in the door, as if probing the room for a moment before silently retreating.
This feeling was utterly hair-raising. Knowing that just beyond the wall, an indescribably terrifying entity was searching for prey, yet being unable to do anything but wait in silence...
After an unknown stretch of time, the black mist at the door crack finally vanished completely. Ye Sheng breathed a slight sigh of relief, confirmed with Lin Tianheng on the phone that the ghost had left this floor, and then cautiously opened the door to step back into the corridor.
They absolutely dared not take the elevator. If the doors opened and that ghostly shadow was right there, they'd be dead without a burial place. But without the elevator, they had to slowly descend eighteen floors—a descent that felt less like leaving a building and more like plunging through eighteen levels of hell!
By the time they finally made it within the tenth floor, Ye Sheng's palms were drenched in cold sweat. Then, he suddenly noticed something unexpected: his phone was flashing a low battery warning!
"Damn it, I forgot to charge it last night," Ye Sheng thought regretfully. Last night, they'd been so focused on finding clues about the curse game from the USB drive that they'd completely forgotten to charge the phone. Watching the battery warning flicker on the screen, his anxiety spiked again.
"Lin Tianheng, my phone's dead..." Before he could finish the sentence, the screen went black. The last bit of battery had died at the worst possible moment.
At the same time, sensing the sudden disconnection, Lin Tianheng noticed that the ghost, which had just entered the elevator, hadn't caused the floor indicator to change at all.
*Not good!*
Even though it had entered the elevator, the ghost hadn't left this floor!
*Not good! Ye Sheng, find a room and hide!*
On the screen, Ye Sheng was talking with Li Kai, probably about to have Li Kai use his phone to contact him, but... it was too late. With another *ding*, the elevator doors opened, and the black mist-condensed ghostly shadow abruptly appeared before the two of them.
"Ah..."
After a brief moment of shock, a deep, bone-chilling terror seized them. Instantly, without a second thought, they both turned and bolted madly down the stairs.
Zhang Yiming, though confused, snapped out of it a second later and followed them in a frantic dash.
The ghostly shadow drifting out of the elevator remained still, showing no sign of urgency to chase the fleeing trio. But through the surveillance screen, Lin Tianheng saw... wisps of black mist were once again emerging from the shadow, spreading rapidly along the stairwell, chasing the three at a terrifying speed!
The ghost's body hadn't moved, but if that spreading black mist caught them, something terrible would definitely happen.
*How could this be!*
As he sprinted downward in a frenzy, Li Kai's heart was filled with despair!
The ghost moved slowly, but it was a real spirit. Facing it head-on was practically a death sentence. They'd all be killed in this building sooner or later!
Watching Ye Sheng run ahead of him, a wild thought began to take root in Li Kai's mind.
Maybe he didn't need to outrun the ghost—just find a way to leave the others behind. That might buy him a brief reprieve...
Even if he couldn't stop the ghost's slaughter, as long as he could live a little longer—even just a few minutes—Li Kai refused to give up hope.
Only now did he realize how strong his will to survive was!
In that endlessly looping subway car, the ghost hadn't managed to kill him. So now, he wouldn't die here either!
Zhang Yiming was a key character in the story. Unless absolutely necessary, it was best not to let him die. That left only one target: Ye Sheng!
Staring at Ye Sheng's back, Li Kai's gaze gradually turned cold. He reached into his pocket.
No one knew that during a lull in the mission, he had secretly bought a sharp little knife. He didn't need to kill Ye Sheng outright—just incapacitate him and leave him behind as prey for the ghost. Of course, Lin Tianheng in the surveillance room would see it. He hoped the man would understand his predicament. If not, he'd have to find a way to deal with him too...
Though Lin Tianheng was a "veteran" who had survived one more story than him, he was still just an ordinary person. Items meant to deal with ghosts couldn't be used on humans. Li Kai suddenly realized how dark his thoughts had become.
*What am I doing? Contemplating how to harm a companion?*
Just as Li Kai's mind was spiraling, a piercing alarm suddenly echoed through the entire building!