“What secret? Tell me about it,” I pressed impatiently.

Xiao Shu didn't rush to answer. He turned sideways, unlocked the door, and pushed it open with one hand, a wave of mustiness washing over me.

I quickly took two steps back, covering my nose, and stood at the threshold.

With the whole room smelling like that, he didn't seem bothered in the slightest. Instead, acting as if nothing was wrong, he walked into the living area, beckoned me over, and said, “Come in and close the door. You’ll get used to it in a moment.”

Hearing that, I nearly lost my mind. I stood rooted at the entrance, desperate to turn and flee. But before I could, he yanked me inside.

Thud. The door slammed shut. Now we stood in the center of a dust-choked room: ahead was the locked balcony, behind us the spider-webbed kitchen, to the left the large door that had just been closed, and to the right, another doorway that presumably led to the bedroom.

“Guess where the door on the right leads?” Xiao Shu teased, deliberately trying to provoke me.

“Obviously the bedroom. That’s not even a real question! Anyone with half a brain could tell,” I protested against him testing my intelligence with such a remedial query.

“If there were no other door, your answer would be a hundred percent correct.” With that, Xiao Shu pushed open the door on the right. A messy bedroom unfolded before us, clearly showing that the owner had not tidied up before their last departure; the bedding and sheets were crawling with spiders, and the wardrobe door hung wide open.

Inside that gaping wardrobe door, there were no clothes, no shelves, no hooks—only a long, narrow passageway stretching far into the distance.

“Seeing the passageway behind this door shifts the answer in a different direction,” Xiao Shu pointed inside with his finger.

“How is that possible? Where does that lead?” I was bewildered. This was clearly the third floor of an apartment building; how could a tunnel exist inside a room? The wall behind this should be the exterior wall of the building. There simply shouldn't be space for a passage to appear inside a wardrobe.

“You already know this spot shouldn't have a passageway, which is why this tunnel leads somewhere unusual—a place you have already visited.”

A flash sparked in my mind, and the shadow of the villa materialized before my eyes. Thinking of that place gave me a headache, as it was the source of all my recent misfortune.

“The villa? You’re not suggesting I revisit the City of Bad Luck, are you?” I feigned terror and said to Xiao Shu.

“The villa belongs to Li Xiaohao, and it belongs to me. We are twins; it’s an inheritance from our ancestors, each receiving an equal share. You’ve only ever been to the half he inherited. Today, I’m taking you to my half. It contains many ancient texts detailing lore about zombies and the undead, which might hold information on ghost infants and possession—exactly what we need right now, wouldn't you say?” He spoke with such seriousness, sounding nothing like someone joking.

Looking at the passage before me and considering his words, a torrent of questions churned in my mind. I asked again, “You mentioned a bloody incident happened in this house before. What was it? How did you discover this passageway? Did the police not find it when they investigated the scene? If you own half the villa, does that mean you own this apartment as well?”

I fired off a barrage of questions, trying to create an aura of overwhelming him with sheer volume. Perhaps this aggressive posture stemmed from inner panic, because this world was becoming increasingly incomprehensible, and no one knew how many more things defying common sense were yet to unfold.

Xiao Shu cracked a smile, shaping his lips into a grin, and said, “The survivor of that bloody incident? We just met them this morning.”