The group stood silently in the elevator car for a long time. Seeing that the troublesome sliding doors had ceased any further antics, Da Mao stepped forward on his own, hooked the two doors open with a paw, and leaped out with a whoosh.

Yingzi, still clutching Xing'er, waited by the doorway for a while longer. Once she confirmed Da Mao was safely outside and that nothing untoward was happening inside or out, she quickly swung her legs across the elevator threshold. The instant she cleared it, the elevator doors slammed shut with a loud clang, as if chasing a phantom, and the car shot upward, leaving Yingzi, carrying Xing'er and accompanied by Da Mao, stranded alone on the landing.

There was no mistake; this corridor was familiar to them. It was the very same passage teeming with flesh-eating spectral insects that Ming Xiaoyu, Wang Jue, and Hou Dayong had once traversed. There had been three going in, and upon return, two plus a wraith-infant; Hou Dayong had been entirely devoured by those spectral bugs. But that was hindsight. For Yingzi, carrying the infant ghost, this was her first time here.

For some inexplicable reason, the elevator had ascended. The dim, jaundiced light barely illuminated a small patch around Yingzi’s feet. Beyond that, all four directions were vague, devoid of any sign of life. Yingzi held Xing'er tightly, feeling her hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. Her heart hammered against her ribs. She wanted to turn back, but the image of the midwife collapsed in the rattan chair involuntarily flashed through her mind. Yet, advancing meant venturing into the pitch-dark corridor, unsure where it might lead. An inexplicable terror instantly seized every corner of her brain, freezing her in place at the end of the corridor, clutching Xing'er.

Jee-jee-jee... Da Mao emitted a sharp sound, darted behind Yingzi, and forcefully nudged the back of her heels, urging her to move forward with Xing'er.

“Wait...” The push startled Yingzi; she hadn't mentally prepared herself to advance. She hastily told Da Mao to hold on and, using the faint yellow light, desperately scanned everything within her sight.

That scan revealed a sight so terrifying it stole her very soul. Both sides of the corridor were densely covered in countless writhing insects. These creatures were plump and fleshy, squirming along the walls with every contraction. The floor was strewn with severed human limbs; every inch of skin on those remnants was crawling with worms. It looked as though corpses were regularly dumped here to feed these disgusting things, sending shivers down one's spine. Yingzi immediately retreated, whirling around to frantically press the elevator button. But no matter how hard she pushed, the elevator remained vacant, unresponsive.

Da Mao, however, was persistent. He continued to push her forward, his force increasing, compelling Yingzi to surrender. Reluctantly, she took one step forward. That step landed squarely upon a severed human hand. Just as Yingzi was about to cry out, lights began to flash all around with sharp kacha-kacha sounds, and the entire corridor transformed. The writhing spectral insects were gone, as were the scattered remains on the floor. Only a clean passage stretched toward the distance.

Jee-jee-jee... Da Mao chirped twice, then zipped from Yingzi’s trouser leg up to her shoulder, settling securely by cradling half her head. Now, Yingzi understood Da Mao's intent: perhaps there was a mechanism here, and stepping out just once was enough to dispel the hideous illusion before her.

In truth, she did not know that the scene filled with spectral insects and corpses was an illusion. Ming Xiaoyu and Wang Jue had narrowly navigated past those bugs, and Hou Dayong had ultimately perished at their hands. What cleared the path for her this moment was the ghost-infant, less than ten hours old, held in her arms.