Chapter 2 The Second Floor

Ascending to the second floor, a corridor stretched directly ahead, adorned with two large, bright red lanterns.

They resembled a pair of ill-intentioned eyes, staring intently at any living person who approached.

In everyone's memory, these kinds of large red lanterns were rarely seen, and even if they were hung, they should be outside the main gate.

Hanging them directly in the corridor outside a room was a first. A strange feeling welled up in their hearts, accentuated by the scarlet tassels dangling beneath the lanterns.

"What's that sound?" Huai Yi exclaimed, his voice not loud but filled with unease.

The group held their breath. Then, a faint, ethereal singing drifted from the end of the corridor, melancholic, mournful, and sorrowful... Even just hearing the melody made one feel like bursting into tears.

Chen Qiang's pupils suddenly contracted. This melody... it felt strangely familiar. He had heard it before, not long ago!

It was... "Sakura no Ochiru" (Cherry Blossom Fall).

"It's that ghost song," Pi Ruan said, trembling uncontrollably. In the tiger-scarred Ru Dahai's phone recording, the background noise echoed with this very song, "Sakura no Ochiru."

Later, they learned the name of the song from Yoko, along with the story behind it.

Of course, most importantly, they learned about the shrine that stood in Yoko's hometown.

The straw figure obtained from the shrine seemed to have inextricable links to the ghost in this haunting.

After a moment of brief deliberation, Luo He finally made up his mind. "Be careful, let's go take a look."

"Go?" Huai Yi's eyes showed hesitation.

"What are you panicking for? If it's your time to die, hiding won't help," Fu Fu said with dissatisfaction. Finishing her sentence, she took the first step, walking towards the depths of the corridor.

Having come this far, the group had no way out. They could only bite the bullet and follow.

Passing the two large red lanterns, everyone subconsciously sidestepped to avoid them, as if getting too close or touching them would trigger some unforeseen danger.

Beyond the lanterns, the corridor was lined with rooms, appearing to be where the Feng family lived.

The doors were all closed, the dark wooden panels giving off a strange feeling. Some stopped to listen, but the rooms were silent, as if no one lived inside.

What puzzled everyone was that each door had a painting affixed to it.

The paintings seemed unremarkable, just ordinary decorative pieces. Not only were they not valuable, but they actually looked somewhat cheap. The content of the paintings was also unremarkable.

But given the Feng family's wealth, why would they put such things on their bedroom doors?

This couldn't help but attract everyone's attention.

Moreover, the ethereal singing coming from the end of the corridor gradually faded away and was now almost inaudible.

A guess suddenly surfaced in Huai Yi's mind. It seemed the purpose of the sudden appearance of the song was to attract their attention, luring them to climb the stairs and come here.

Although his subconscious told him that there would be danger in moving forward, he forcibly suppressed the thought.

Did that mean there was no danger in retreating?

Don't forget, this was Nightmare Assault. Since they had chosen to step inside, they were already prepared to be killed by a ghost at any moment. Even if he could avoid danger by leaving now, what about next time?

According to the mission requirements, if they couldn't complete the task and find out the truth after seven days, they would all die, tied up and executed by Bureau Chief Qiao.

Stopping and starting, it was clear that everyone was tense. The end of the corridor was a corner, facing a room that was noticeably larger and more luxurious.

To be precise, it should be a master suite. Judging by its size alone, it was more than three times the size of an ordinary bedroom.

Everyone immediately thought that this was where someone of high status within the Feng family lived, possibly even Master Feng himself.

And the ethereal singing came from this room.

Like the other rooms, this room's door also had a decorative painting affixed to it, but because the door was a solid wood double door, the painting was larger.

Just as they were examining the painting, a gust of wind blew in from nowhere. The next moment, the room's door shook slightly, then opened a small crack under everyone's gaze.

To everyone's surprise, red light leaked through the crack, reflecting on the ground like a line drawn with fresh blood.

At this moment, the best course of action would have been to go over and see what was going on inside, but the atmosphere was too eerie, and no one dared.

Just as they were hesitating, someone stepped forward. Luo He held the black-covered book in one hand and gently pushed with the other, and the door opened.

Seeing this, Huai Yi swallowed nervously, and Pi Ruan opened his mouth wide, not daring to make a sound.

As the door slowly opened, the scene inside the room appeared before everyone. First, their eyes fell on a large bed facing the door.

Two red candles, as thick as arms, stood on either side of the head of the bed.

Their gaze shifted little by little. The blanket on the bed was bulging, clearly indicating that someone was lying on it.

Not just one person, but two.

But they couldn't see their faces from their angle.

Just as the hot-tempered Fu Fu was about to enter the room to see what was going on, they suddenly heard a "tearing" sound, right next to their ear. It turned out that a corner of the painting on the door hadn't been glued properly and had suddenly fallen off.

The next second, upon seeing what was behind the painting, Fu Fu immediately stopped and began to breathe rapidly.

...

"Huff—"

"Huff—"

Linghu Yong panted heavily, staring at the thick, liquid-like fog outside, a strange expression on his face.

He felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

But recalling what had happened before, he couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Not long ago, he had woken up from a dream. After waking up, he was the only one left in the room, well... perhaps that wasn't accurate, but the truth was that he was the only living person left who could breathe.

Zhao Xingguo was gone, leaving only Pan Du, who had already lost his breath and was almost indistinguishable from a dead man, to accompany him.

This was too strange.

He immediately woke up completely.

Just like Pan Du's analysis before, he immediately realized that Zhao Xingguo would never abandon him for no reason. Something dangerous must have happened, and... the danger was inside their room.

Almost immediately, he looked at Pan Du lying on the bed.

It was him!

Pan Du must have undergone some unknown change!

He couldn't stay in the room any longer, he had to leave. And he clearly remembered that although he had closed his eyes for a while, he hadn't fallen asleep. All of this must be related to the ghost.

Not daring to disturb Pan Du, he tiptoed out of the room. After opening the door, his face changed drastically. The doors of the other rooms were also open.

There was no one inside.