Fifteen minutes ago, Jinxiang Towet, top floor.
From its construction to its decline over the past few decades, countless people have died within this building. Their corpses had been ground to dust and used to pave the floors and paint the walls. If one were to lay out a blueprint of the place, it would likely be covered in torn remnants of the dead.
Bai Chanyi was the first to step off the escalator, with a third of the cake still in her hand. The thick pools of blood around her were unavoidable, and some inevitably stained her shoes. In instances like this, blood and grave soil were best avoided whenever possible.
Fortunately, thanks to the boss scaring the malicious spirit into the escalator, the immediate corridors on the top floor were now only thick with the stench of blood but significantly less dangerous.
The players who followed were on edge.
A clawed monster suddenly lunged from a corner, too fast for one player to react. In the next instant, Bai Chanyi flashed in front of him, and a thin line of blood sprayed from the creature’s neck.
The player looked at her in surprise, only to see a gleaming scalpel in her hand—he hadn’t even noticed when she had drawn it. The cake tumbled in the air but landed perfectly back on her plate.
“Be careful. We’re here to deliver a cake to the ghost lady, which means we’ll be targeted by monsters.”
A cold system notification suddenly interrupted Bai Chanyi’s words:
[You have reached the top floor. Would you like to offer the cake to the ghost lady?]
[Hint: Light the candle to attract the ghost lady.]
[Once the ghost lady receives the cake, you will receive a gift in return.]
[If you abandon the cake delivery, you will receive the gratitude and reward of the building’s owner.]
The players who had just arrived were overjoyed. No matter the choice, there was a reward—it made all the struggles so far feel worthwhile.
Bai Chanyi suddenly glanced downstairs. “Zhou Qi’an…”
The people around her hesitated for a moment—why was she getting distracted at a time like this?
Lighters and similar items were common in the building. A player eagerly lit the candle, and immediately, a chilling wind howled through the space. Several monsters turned in unison, pouncing toward the flickering flame.
“Ignore them. Keep lighting the candles,” Bai Chanyi ordered decisively. “They’re not faster than the ghost lady.”
Sure enough, as the monsters leaped, an ethereal shadow intercepted them midair. The ghost lady tore them apart before floating toward the candlelight.
The surviving players quickly formed a defensive formation based on their abilities, each covering a direction to prevent any surprise attacks.
“Shouldn’t have given that acceleration potion to the coward who ran off,” one player muttered. “Once the ghost lady arrives, the building’s owner will definitely come after us. We should take the chance to sneak into the office and find the corpse.”
As he spoke, the ghost lady’s fragmented, spectral form drifted closer to the cake.
Under the candlelight, her translucent figure wavered. The sight gave the players an uncanny sense of déjà vu—it was similar to the way Mu Tianbai had appeared earlier, as if he had no solid form, like a mist.
Only now did they realize Mu Tianbai had vanished at some point.
But there was no time to think about that. As the ghost lady drifted closer, the surrounding blood mist thickened, compressing into a singular point in space. The suffocating humidity made the players’ skin and bones ache unbearably.
The increasing moisture in the air amplified the cake’s sweet, almost intoxicating scent.
The ghost lady’s killing intent slightly receded.
Then, a warning shout erupted from further back—some voices were frantic, others filled with terror:
“Put out the fire! The cake—”
A blood-soaked monster carried an old man on its back. At his command, it sped up.
The surrounding monsters also rushed toward the players.
Bai Chanyi quickly placed the cake a short distance away and murmured to the others, “Go.”
It was a signal to follow the original plan—circle around to the office and search for the corpse.
The ghost lady, now at the forefront, extended a long, crimson tongue and wrapped it around the cake.
The candle’s flame flickered wildly.
One player couldn’t help but glance back. The candle had fallen to the ground when the ghost lady devoured the cake.
In the trembling firelight, the ghost lady’s body underwent an impossible transformation. Her damp, sticky black hair grew wildly, and for a brief moment, her body swelled like a waterlogged corpse. Her thin, nearly translucent skin stretched over her form.
She hovered midair—right where a suspended plant had once been.
The circular dome ceiling of the building barely managed to reflect her monstrous silhouette. Countless strands of writhing black hair made her seem like an entity looming over the entire rooftop.
Her dark hair slithered through the pools of blood below, snaring the clawed old man off the monster’s back.
“Faster! Move faster!” a player shouted, for the first time truly understanding the importance of speed.
The old man being dragged away screamed as well, his throat clogged with phlegm. He pointed at the ghost lady in terror, commanding the monsters: “Kill her—!”
As he spoke, he bit his finger and chanted a complex incantation, drawing on the building’s malicious energy.
Black mist seeped from the ghost lady’s body as well, but only in scattered wisps. She had been used as a human ward—her body had long since merged with the building. The formation within the structure had little effect on her now.
The building’s owner had made a fatal mistake.
He should have ordered the monsters to protect him first—not to kill the ghost.
The grotesque creatures lunged at the ghost lady one after another, tearing at her in desperation.
But she didn’t waste time retaliating—she was determined to kill Jin Furen at all costs.
Up ahead, Bai Chanyi suddenly stopped in her tracks.
The player almost crashed into her back.
“Not right.”
What was not right?
Everyone was burning with anxiety. Just ahead was the office—there was no time to waste.
Bai Chanyi suddenly looked at the college student and immediately understood why Zhou Qi’an had hesitated when mentioning the customer earlier.
“The corpse isn’t in the office—it’s underneath!” Bai Chanyi said quickly. “Even now, the mall is still doing business, which means the prosperity brought by town people hasn’t completely lost its effect.”
There was no business at all above the fourth floor, but downstairs, customers still came in from time to time. The first floor, filled mostly with expensive jewelry stores, had the most customers.
The female ghost’s corpse must be at the base of the building.
Bai Chanyi took out the Qimen Journal and, looking at the koi fish on the cover, suddenly felt enlightened.
She still remembered that on the first day they entered, there was a small pond separately enclosed on the first floor of the building, with exactly two koi fish scattered inside.
The corpse should be around that area!
As they ran back, the players saw a horrifying scene.
Previously, the female ghost had feared the protective talisman and dared not act. But after Zhou Qi’an damaged the talisman, the owner of the building no longer had anything reliable to protect him. The sharp strands of hair moved through the air as if there were no obstacles in their path.
“Ah!”
As soon as his skin was cut open, it became rapidly infected. Jin Furen wanted the monster to return, but in extreme pain, he let out a pig-like scream uncontrollably.
The female ghost was also covered in wounds. The flesh on her back had been torn apart by the monster’s bites, and blood dripped down the stairs. But her expression was ferocious—she did not let out a single scream.
Her blood-soaked hair, now resembling the color of a red velvet cake, continued to unravel and spread.
A large piece of cake suddenly appeared in Bai Chanyi’s hands.
Everyone was astonished—so she still had some left.
Bai Chanyi quickly distributed it and immediately used an acceleration item. As long as they moved fast enough and were lucky, the existing cake might be enough to support their run to the first floor.
But…
She glanced in the female ghost’s direction, unsure if they would make it in time.
Not far away, the female ghost, covered in lacerations, was already in a state of complete bloodlust.
Her strands of hair seeped into the escalator and actually triggered its movement.
A step panel was lifted, and the hair-controlled body of Jin Furen was slowly being crushed by the escalator’s mechanisms.
Even evil spirits avoided this in fear—let alone tried to save him.
Jin Furen’s screams of agony mixed with the sounds of flesh grinding, echoing throughout the building.
Suddenly, a pair of crazed, blood-red eyes locked onto her.
“Faster!” Bai Chanyi’s expression changed.
While the female ghost was torturing Jin Furen, they still had time for the ritual. The escalator now resembled a bottomless pit, greedily devouring the players’ cake.
“It’s not enough. Mine won’t last until the first floor.”
Gritting his teeth, one player turned toward the cafeteria on the eighth floor to restock.
But when he actually reached the cafeteria, he hesitated. Should he really go back out and risk it?
What if he just hid in the cafeteria until it was all over?
Just then, the tiny figure decorating the sterilization-suit cake suddenly twitched.
His piece of cake had been left behind earlier—no one had taken it. Zhou Qi’an’s sword had sliced it apart from the female version of the decoration, and the sterilization suit now looked as if it was coming back to life, its expression frozen in eternal refusal to accept death.
The entire eighth floor was filled with unwilling resentment.
The player hurriedly threw away the figurine and grabbed the cake, fleeing without hesitation.
As he descended each floor, he kept looking around, unwilling to give up.
But in the end, he had to admit—there was no safe place on any floor.
After several delays, just as he neared the fourth floor, he suddenly sensed the female ghost’s presence closing in.
An icy strand of hair wrapped around his wrist.
“No!”
In his panic, he tumbled down the escalator.
Pain shot through his ankle—it was the telltale sign of a sprain.
He was dead for sure!
The player’s face turned ashen.
Just as he struggled to get up, a glimpse of white fabric entered his vision.
He had already resigned himself to death, but suddenly, he froze.
The window of the fourth-floor dance studio was open, allowing the night breeze to sweep in. The figure stood not far from the escalator, long black hair drifting in the wind. Under the eerie effects of assimilation, their Adam’s apple had weakened, and their pale face was eerily androgynous.
A ghost?
No.
The player looked at the uniquely branded canvas shoes and, after some effort, uncertainly identified, “Zhou Qi’an?”
The cool figure approached but didn’t help him up, only standing quietly before the player, waiting for the female ghost.
The player asked, “Why are you here?”
The thick black-framed glasses were removed, and Zhou Qi’an’s overly delicate features seemed subtly altered by an invisible force, taking on a softer look.
The fallen player instinctively caught the glasses Zhou Qi’an tossed to him.
A foul, bloody wind swept over his face.
The player’s expression changed in horror—the female ghost had arrived!
Zhou Qi’an’s hands remained empty, let alone holding any summoning tools. The player’s brief hope was immediately crushed.
His throat felt unbearably tight, the obstruction slowing Zhou Qi’an’s speech by half a beat. In just that brief moment, strands of hair had already sliced into his skin.
But he neither summoned the white silk nor took out a sacred artifact for a desperate struggle.
Blood dripped onto the ground—some his, some from the monster that had fallen from above, spreading across the floor like an endless stain.
“I’m sorry.”
The young man abandoned resistance and chose to apologize.
As his figure intertwined with the girl’s, even his voice changed—low and subdued, mirroring his demeanor at this moment, as if even his soul was trembling in cowardice, unable to meet the female ghost’s gaze.
The fallen player dared not move recklessly and almost couldn’t help but dig at his ears. Did he hear that right? He was already being tortured into a bloody mess, yet he was still apologizing to the female ghost?
If apologies worked, there wouldn’t be players getting killed.
His skin convulsed unnaturally from the wounds. Finally, Zhou Qi’an lifted his head, but instead of looking at the ghost, he looked toward the dance studio and said something even more baffling.
“This time when I went out to recruit workers, I was very happy. So, will you come with me… to take a look?”
The fallen player was completely dumbfounded.
The sharp strands of hair tightened around his skin, and more blood flowed along the torn flesh. The female ghost’s suspended body drooped her head, her ghastly white face almost pressing against Zhou Qi’an’s.
—
First floor.
Upon reaching the first floor, the players immediately began digging into the fish pond.
Whether they could complete the mission and leave this damned instance depended on this final moment.
From time to time, the players anxiously looked up, both puzzled and worried. “The female ghost still hasn’t come down, and Zhou Qi’an isn’t here either.”
Someone boldly spoke through voice chat: “Do you think he’s trying to pretend to be a monster, fooling the ghost’s senses, and relying on us to clear the instance for him?”
At the birthday banquet, his appearance clearly indicated that he had been cursed as a scapegoat.
Bai Chanyi held the “Mighty Shovel” and focused on searching for the corpse, not responding.
She actually had a theory.
Everyone had overlooked something—the players had arrived here in the same vehicle as some monsters. Though these ghosts were trapped in the building, whenever the mall was hiring, the female ghost allowed some of them to leave temporarily.
The female ghost was fond of monsters’ brains. The cake’s ingredients included not only bone ash but also specifically mentioned the hippocampus.
The brain was where memories were stored.
Could it be that by eating other monsters’ brains, the female ghost was reading their memories, using them to glimpse the outside world?
Since she could not leave the building, then perhaps leaving the building was the key to her death condition.
Rules existed to be broken. If they helped the ghost kill Jin Furen and fulfill her grudge, there must be a way to convince her to leave.
“Could that scapegoat be the answer?” Bai Chanyi frowned but quickly set the thought aside. Compared to negotiating, performing the exorcism was still the more reliable option.
—
Fourth floor.
Red Cloak, hidden in the shadows using a high-level stealth item, coldly observed as the female ghost “strangled” Zhou Qi’an.
Unlike Bai Chanyi, Red Cloak had noticed something else—the windows in the building were all sealed shut, except for the ones in the dance studio.
For this weak and timid, yet only friend, the female ghost had shown a sliver of kindness.
Not only had she left the window open for her, but she also allowed her to leave to participate in hiring events.
Unfortunately, the black long-haired ghost feared revenge. Every time she left, she only thought about finding a scapegoat.
“Could he be trying to…” Red Cloak was suddenly startled. Was he planning to temporarily assume the black long-haired ghost’s identity to persuade the female ghost?
This was insanity. Even if someone wanted to take a risk, no sane person would attempt to communicate with a ghost.
“Sometimes in life, you have to take small risks.” When the young man had said that, his meaningful gaze seemed to be looking right at her.
Red Cloak’s fingers curled involuntarily.
She had ordered Origami Boy to monitor his every move, but in a way, he had been telling her his plan all along.
Suddenly, she sensed something. Loosening her fist, she reached for her blade, but an invisible shadow pressed down on her wrist first, forcing her hand back.
The curved blade slid back into its sheath. A hand clamped around Red Cloak’s throat, and the old wound from the dagger began to throb again.
Mu Tianbai’s long fingers brushed over the injury, breaking the fragile scab, causing thin strands of blood to seep out.
Red Cloak struggled.
“Shh, don’t make a sound.”
The voice was low, whispering like a ghost’s murmur, gentle as if soothing a lover, yet it sent a wave of goosebumps down Red Cloak’s spine.
The grip on her throat tightened, pressing against her veins. Red Cloak forced herself to remain calm—she had ways to escape, but there seemed to be another invisible force restraining her. If she tried to break free by force, her throat might be crushed first.
Mu Tianbai didn’t want to alert the female ghost over there. He didn’t want to ruin his view of Zhou Qi’an at this moment.
It was like gazing at a medieval sacred painting.
The youth’s appearance had blurred the line between genders. His white dress was stained with blood; his pain made it almost impossible to stand, yet there was a ridiculous yet saintly mercy surrounding him.
“Aren’t you curious why he’s taking such a risk?”
Red Cloak stopped struggling and rasped, her voice hoarse from being choked, “You know?”
Mu Tianbai: “He said that a corpse should be treated with respect.”
The female ghost’s body had been buried underground as a tool for accumulating wealth. Now, they were going to dig it up for a forced exorcism. From beginning to end, she had never been given a shred of respect.
Also watching the scene unfold was the Minotaur sitting calmly inside a vehicle on a rainy night, staring at the mall’s surveillance feed.
That rabbit had only relied on empty talk, trying to manipulate the owner of the holy artifact like a puppet with an imagined plan. But it had overlooked the most important thing—preliminary research.
To succeed, one had to understand the prey’s personality, habits, and behavior.
Cruel, calm, adept at using others’ power.
That was what the previous research concluded.
The Minotaur jotted down new notes in its notebook: Mercy under limited conditions.
Afterward, it closed the notebook with indifference. With these elements in place, the next instance would be his burial ground.
—
Fourth floor, near the escalator.
The female ghost had not spoken a word. Her vengeful eyes reflected Zhou Qi’an’s face, paler from blood loss.
Zhou Qi’an suddenly tensed his arm. Strands of hair slashed through his flesh, sending chunks of tissue flying, but his sudden movement wasn’t to struggle or escape.
He pulled out a photograph from his pocket—the group picture from the dance studio.
“You said that the world outside would be wonderful… You said that you would take me to the big city.”
Gradually, his voice became light yet heavy, filled with sorrowful longing.
“Every time it was hiring season, I was the only one who went out. This time… will you come with me?”
On the back of the photograph, the lyrics to The World Outside were blurred by bloodstains. Each word seemed to sprout bloodstained wings, yearning to take flight.
