Finally arriving on the fourth floor, everyone stopped in front of a low wooden door with a piece of white paper stuck on it.

The paper read: "Do Not Disturb During Lunch Break."

So this was it.

A black, lacquered lock hung on the door.

After confirming again that there was nothing unusual around them, Gao Yan took a thin, rusty wire from his pocket. It was unclear where he had gotten it.

Then, after exchanging glances with Shen Mengyun and Jiang Cheng, he began to pick the lock.

Jiang Cheng glanced at it casually, then revealed a barely perceptible expression of disdain. The technique was too clumsy, only at a beginner level.

After about a minute, with the crisp sound of the tumblers clicking open, the lock was opened.

Gao Yan removed the lock, took a step back, and cleared the doorway. Then he glanced at Shen Mengyun, who hadn't said a word the whole time.

The meaning was clear. Jiang Cheng had gone in first to scout the bathroom, and he had just picked the lock. Now it was Shen Mengyun's turn. It was impossible to freeload for clues.

In a mission, everyone had to realize their value; that was the basis of cooperation.

In other words, whether they chose to share the information they obtained from their risky venture with the others outside, how much they shared, or even whether it was true or false, was up to them.

After all, they had risked their lives to obtain the information, which was equivalent to indirectly seizing the right to speak in the team.

Shen Mengyun didn't waste any words. She stepped forward, placed a hand on the door, her hand positioned over the white paper. She exerted a little force, and just as the door trembled slightly, about to be pushed open, her body twitched.

Then, as if discovering something, she began to feel around on the white paper.

"What's wrong?" Gao Yan asked with a frown.

"There seems to be something behind this," Shen Mengyun turned her head and said softly to Jiang Cheng and Gao Yan, "You guys step back. I'll tear this paper off and take a look."

Jiang Cheng's eyes took on a playful look as he looked at Shen Mengyun, but his body was still honest and retreated, hiding half his body behind Gao Yan.

"Tear—"

After a very light sound, the paper appeared in Shen Mengyun's hand. After about half a minute, seeing that nothing happened, Shen Mengyun waved them back.

"Look," she pointed to a spot on the door, exactly where the white paper had been.

There were several cracks on this spot, not like they were naturally formed. Jiang Cheng reached out and touched them, "Seems like it was cut with a knife."

The existence of this white paper was likely to cover up the knife marks.

After pushing open the wooden door, Shen Mengyun went in first, Jiang Cheng grabbed second place, and Gao Yan was a step behind.

Yuan Xiaoyi had said that there were no windows in the warehouse, so everyone wasn't worried that turning on flashlights would be noticed by people outside the building, so they all turned on their phones.

The warehouse was larger than they had expected. Near the door were several beds, unlike the beds in their dormitory. These beds were supported.

They were similar to cots, suitable for occasional lunch breaks.

There were also some sundries next to the cots: sneakers, magazines, and half a case of mineral water. It seemed that someone had indeed been resting here recently.

"Let's go inside and take a look," Shen Mengyun suggested.

Jiang Cheng took out another piece of paper from his pocket, on which was marked some of the Strange Tales Society's layout.

Yuan Xiaoyi recalled that in order to be as inconspicuous as possible, they chose to share ghost stories at the very back of the warehouse.

Of course, this was just her claim; no one else in the school believed it except for her.

And Yuan Xiaoyi herself had said that after her friend disappeared, she had come here once again, wanting to find evidence that her friend had existed, but everything was no longer as she remembered it.

All traces that could prove they had been together had disappeared. This was just an ordinary, old warehouse.

Except for this area near the entrance, the inside of the warehouse was full of iron shelves, not very tall, of various sizes, making it look rather cluttered.

The shelves were piled with old equipment, or bundles of unopened teaching materials. Jiang Cheng gently wiped them with his hand, and they were full of dust.

The entire warehouse gave them the feeling of having been sealed for a long time, only recently opened.

The further they went in, the more obvious this feeling became. They even had a sense of suffocation as if they were sinking into the depths of the ocean. Shen Mengyun couldn't help but feel distracted. Had anyone really been here?

Until they reached the last iron shelf, Gao Yan looked at Jiang Cheng, who, holding the drawing, seemed to sense something and said, "According to the markings on the drawing, this should be their secret base. They always told ghost stories behind this iron shelf."

The iron shelf was like a barrier, forming an angle with the wall behind it, just enough to separate a space, which was very hidden.

Jiang Cheng also found it hard to believe that a group of girls would gather in such a place at night to tell ghost stories.

Especially after seeing the scene behind the iron shelf.

Behind it were piled a lot of sundries: old tables and chairs, some flattened cardboard boxes, and even more iron chains and iron frames that were impossible to tell what they were used for.

In short, there was no trace of anyone ever having been active there.

But strangely, after seeing these things, the expressions of Jiang Cheng, Shen Mengyun, and Gao Yan became interesting.

Gao Yan narrowed his eyes, looked around a few times, and said in a deep voice, "Definitely suspicious."

Shen Mengyun nodded, as if responding to Gao Yan's words, "The things piled up inside are too dense."

"And have you noticed that the things placed here are all relatively heavy: iron chains, iron frames, tables and chairs, etc. Whether it's carrying or moving them, it's relatively difficult."

"There are so many empty spaces in the warehouse. Why go out of your way to pile these things at the very back?" She paused, then continued, "It's like deliberately trying to cover something up."

Jiang Cheng compared the rough sketch that Yuan Xiaoyi had drawn from memory, and took the lead in finding the places where the girls sat when they told ghost stories.

They sat in a circle, each with a chair. In any case, there was no shortage of old tables and chairs in this warehouse.

According to Yuan Xiaoyi, because she was timid, she had deliberately chosen a spot with her back against the wall, so that at least she was safe behind her, and she could feel more at ease.

Jiang Cheng walked into the corner, compared the sketch, and then pointed to several large boxes leaning against the wall and said, "Move these away."

Shen Mengyun and Gao Yan immediately started to move them. The boxes were very heavy, and they didn't dare to make a loud noise, so it was quite laborious. It took them nearly 10 minutes to completely clear this pile of sundries, revealing the dark cement wall behind it.

"How is it?" Gao Yan asked, panting.

Jiang Cheng squatted down by the wall, then brought his phone close to the wall, moving it little by little, while constantly comparing it to the drawing in his hand. After about 2 minutes, Jiang Cheng suddenly said, "Found it."

Hearing this, Shen Mengyun and Gao Yan immediately crowded around. Jiang Cheng pointed to the dark cement wall and said, "Look, there are many traces left by friction here."

Due to the light, the traces were not very obvious, but once pointed out, they became much clearer. There were also some shallow cracks on them.

Jiang Cheng grabbed a chair, laid it flat, with the back of the chair tight against the wall. Shen Mengyun clearly saw that the screws used to fix the back of the chair protruded obviously, and the position was exactly the same height as the abrasion marks.