Li Shanru picked up the black cell phone that had been thrown on the ground, tapped the screen a few times with his finger, and shook his head helplessly. "It's got a password. Can't open it."

At this moment, Luo Tianhe seemed to have discovered something. He was kneeling on one knee alone in the corner where a stool had been knocked over, his head lowered, his back to everyone.

In front of him was a shattered flowerpot. The soil inside was scattered on the ground, and the dark brown soil had clearly been trampled by something, leaving a fairly clear mark on it.

Even though the imprint was incomplete, it was still possible to see that it was a hoofprint!

After a moment of silence, Luo Tianhe reached out his palm and measured the width of the hoofprint. The moment his palm overlapped the hoofprint, everyone gasped.

"Damn, is this a horse?" Even the usually calm Zhang Shiwei couldn't help but exclaim, "Who here has ever seen a hoofprint this big?"

"There's a horse farm near my hometown, and I used to go there a lot when I was in school. I've seen all kinds of horses, but even the biggest horses don't have hoofprints this big." Li Bai paused, and said hesitantly, "This shouldn't be a horse."

"If it's not a horse, what is it, a monster?" Yao Shunyu seemed to be at odds with Li Bai.

"Stop arguing. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. That thing took He Ping." Lin Qianqian's voice was a little hurried. "Now it looks like He Ping is dead. It's a pity we didn't even see what that thing looked like."

This was also a very helpless situation. When that thing came, the entire building's power system had shut down, and the windows of the bedroom where the four from Jiangcheng were staying were covered by thick curtains. There wasn't a single ray of light in the room.

"Ghost Steed Painting," someone suddenly said.

It was Yuan Shanyuan. He was standing with his granddaughter, Bai Yu, with a look of contemplation on his face. "This horse that's unrealistically large... could it be the ghost steed that's being talked about? The one painted in the *Ghost Steed Painting* is it."

The fatty’s eyes flickered, and he couldn't help but say, "This old gentleman makes a lot of sense."

Before everyone could continue to think, Ding Zhenzong, who had been squatting against the wall and hadn't said a word, raised his head. His eyes were bloodshot. "It was... it was it! A ghost steed, it was a ghost horse!" Ding Zhenzong's first sentence shocked everyone.

"How do you know?" Jiang Cheng asked.

"Because I saw it!" Ding Zhenzong's breathing became rapid, his chest heaving violently, his hands and feet still trembling constantly. If they hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one would have thought that such a big, burly man would be so frightened.

After his emotions stabilized a little, through Ding Zhenzong's narrative, everyone finally understood the whole story. After the lights went out, Ding Zhenzong ran to the hiding place he had determined earlier, behind a large sofa, where there was a large gap between it and the wall. He tried it, and he could just barely squeeze in.

What made him even more satisfied was that there was a window not far from him, and moonlight shone in. Through the gap between the bottom of the sofa and the floor, he could barely see some of the scenery outside.

But due to the position, his vision was relatively low.

He hadn't been hiding for long when the sound of hooves came. It came in through the door. He held his breath and, by the light of the moon, he saw it! He saw four huge hooves!

Each hoof was as large as a thick porcelain bowl used for drinking tea. They were connected to unusually strong horse legs, all pure black, without a trace of variegation, and they had a chilling luster, as if they came from the underworld.

Due to the limited view, he couldn't see the full appearance of the horse.

At this point, everyone couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Everyone couldn't say why, but they had a feeling that if Ding Zhenzong had completely seen the full appearance of this ghost steed, perhaps... the person who died wouldn't have been He Ping, but him.

"Don't be nervous, what else is there? Take your time." Li Bai was worthy of being someone who wore a white coat. He was very good at comforting people, and Ding Zhenzong's psychological quality was also good, so his emotions slowly came under control.

Ding Zhenzong took a deep breath, and his thick, black eyebrows slowly furrowed. "There wasn't just one ghost steed. Behind that ghost horse, there were also... there were people, no, ghosts, they were all ghosts!"

"Do you still remember the sound of the iron chains? That's what those ghosts were making!"

"From my angle, I could only see below the knees. I saw pairs of legs following behind the ghost horse, walking stiffly, their shoes dragging on the ground, scraping forward little by little."

"And... and on the ankles of those feet were tied iron chains, the kind of iron chains used on prisoners in movies!"

"Clang..."

"Clang..."

This damn Ding Zhenzong didn't know if he was scared out of his wits or what, but he was actually imitating the sound of iron chains scraping. This scared the fatty so much that he got goosebumps all over.

The moment the image formed in his mind, the fatty couldn't help but shudder. He was extremely grateful that he hadn't seen this terrifying scene because it was dark in the bedroom earlier, otherwise he would have screamed on the spot.

"And then?" Lin Qianqian asked patiently. Her fingers were clenched, and it was clear that she was also a little nervous inside, but she was covering it up well on her face.

A look of panic flashed across Ding Zhenzong's eyes. "And then... then I was so scared at the time, I just thought I had to hide well, I couldn't let them find me, but the more I hurried, the more confused I became. I originally wanted to lie back down, but I accidentally bumped my head on the wall behind me."

"The sound wasn't loud, but I was scared, so I immediately turned my head to look. I didn't know what I was going to see, after all, there was only a wall behind me, and a ghost wouldn't crawl out of the wall."

The fatty couldn't help but swallow. He thought to himself that you never knew.

"But... but when I turned back and continued to look out through the gap below..." Ding Zhenzong's entire face twisted, and his lips trembled. "I saw feet, many pairs of feet, purplish-blue, surrounding the sofa!"

This sudden change made everyone's expressions change, and they even took a step back in unison, away from Ding Zhenzong. After all, according to the development of the story, Ding Zhenzong had also been discovered by the ghosts, but why... why was he still alive?

Ding Zhenzong was completely immersed in his own story and didn't notice the distance everyone was keeping from him. He clutched his head and said to himself, "I... I was so scared at the time, no one could have handled it, I was so scared that I closed my eyes, I was almost... almost waiting to die. I knew I'd been discovered!"

Luo Tianhe said in a hoarse voice, his tone flat and cold, "But you're still alive."

"Yes, I'm still alive. I don't know why. Anyway, after I was discovered, I didn't dare to open my eyes again, and of course, I didn't make any more noise."

"I don't know how long it was, but I heard the sound of hooves again, and the sound of iron chains scraping, but this time, they were getting further and further away from me. I was worried that it was a trick, and I didn't dare to move until the sound disappeared."