On the other side, Yang Xiao and Zhou Mingxiao had already ascended to the 18th floor via the safety passage. Here, smoke billowed thickly, and heat waves assaulted them. The two tried to stoop low, but even so, visibility was limited to within 3 ters.
Further away, only so vague outlines could be discerned; ordinary things beca warped and bizarre under such conditions.
This was no longer their world. The nearby rooms were all new, with notebooks, clothes, water cups, and other sundry items scattered on the ground, presenting an apparent fire scene. But strangely, no people were to be seen.
The previous sounds of running and screams had vanished, and at this mont, it seed the entire building housed only Yang Xiao and Zhou Mingxiao as living beings.
"Did you hear anything?" Yang Xiao suddenly asked. In this environnt, ears were more reliable than eyes.
"What do you an?" Zhou Mingxiao glanced around alertly, fearing to overlook any hint of danger.
"I think I heard a sound, very dull, like sothing falling to the ground, just now." Yang Xiao felt inexplicably cautious.
"Nothing, I didn’t hear anything." In such a situation, Zhou Mingxiao naturally said whatever he could, bravely reminding, "Don’t dawdle. Hurry up. Since we’re here, we must investigate before we leave."
Yang Xiao had co here during the dayti. Though the surroundings had changed, the overall layout was unalterable. He followed the path he had walked in the dayti, along the corridor, heading toward the mory’s dead-end wall.
That wall was built to isolate the fire scene. Behind it was Chen’s Strange Film Industry’s office area, the key investigation area this ti.
Sticking close to the wall, they heard a sudden flushing sound emanating from a restroom in the public area as they passed by. The sound was very distinct, as if soone were using the toilet inside.
Next ca a "creak—" as a stall door in the restroom was pushed open. Sothing walked out, but strangely, there was no sound of footsteps.
Zhou Mingxiao’s heart clenched; he imdiately recalled the rumors—soone had encountered a ghost in the restroom on this floor, only to mysteriously disappear.
"Don’t stop. Keep going as if we didn’t see anything." Yang Xiao whispered, forging ahead.
Even if they wanted to leave now, it was too late. Retreating could potentially lead them to bump into sothing ghostly. Yang Xiao glanced back briefly at the corner of the corridor, and amidst the smoke, faintly visible ghost shadows appeared.
Even more bizarre, those ghost shadows seed to have only their upper bodies hidden within the smoke, while their lower halves were illusory. Yang Xiao bent down, peering from a better angle, finding he couldn’t see the legs or feet of these ghost shadows.
Soon after passing the corner, Yang Xiao’s ears resonated with a distant crying, a sound as if a woman were lanting with a mix of unwillingness and resentnt—indeed, it was a young woman.
Instinctively, Yang Xiao pondered briefly, an inexplicable silhouette surfaced in his mind.
It was a very young woman, stylishly dressed amidst this era’s background, resembling a company white-collar worker.
The woman stood before a shattered window, clutching a rough rope made from curtain ties, one end bound around her waist, as she paced back and forth, seemingly ready to jump from the window to survive.
But Yang Xiao knew it was impossible, for this was the 18th floor; that makeshift rope simply wasn’t long enough. If she jumped, it would lead to death.
As soon as Yang Xiao ca to this conclusion, the woman suddenly sensed sothing. She ceased pacing, lifted her head, and gazed at Yang Xiao.
This scene terrified Yang Xiao. Her face displayed the pallor of a corpse, her eyes were void of life, and her neck was broken and twisted, bearing deep strangle marks, while her mouth still moved, seemingly narrating sothing.
Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, realizing he was in trouble. He shook his head, striving to dispel the imagery from his mind.
Yet this seed like re symptom relief. Whenever he closed his eyes, he’d see her staring back at him.
"Did you hear crying?" Yang Xiao paused, questioning Zhou Mingxiao.
As expected, Zhou Mingxiao hadn’t heard it, nor envisioned any woman with a broken neck; only Yang Xiao saw it, indicating the female ghost’s target was him.
"Speed up," Yang Xiao resolutely decided.
But the situation was more troubleso than he anticipated. They hadn’t gone far when Zhou Mingxiao gasped, seeing a red mark appear around Yang Xiao’s neck, as though an invisible rope were tightening against his throat.
Yang Xiao naturally sensed it too. More terrifying was the rope’s relentless constriction.
The faster they walked, the more outrageously the rope tightened. Stopping improved it slightly, yet it continued to tighten; at this rate, he’d be strangled within five minutes.
The problem was that neither he nor Zhou Mingxiao could see this rope, let alone untie it. Yang Xiao grasped for it with his hands but caught nothing but air.
"You keep going, find clues." Task-oriented, Yang Xiao disliked being a burden, nor did he like burdening others. Since he was entangled, he had to face it alone. Moreover, in such a situation, Zhou Mingxiao couldn’t help him, and staying would only attract more attention from the ghost.
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