Hearing the eerie sound of a child speaking, Kuang Feifan almost instinctively wanted to ask if the child had stolen his flashlight. But he quickly clamped his mouth shut, remembering what Bai Ru had told him: if a ghost speaks to you, never answer, especially never let the ghost know your name, or you will die.

If he answered now, the chance of death would be extremely high, because in order to play the decoy effectively, he had ignored Bai Ru’s objections and removed the protective talisman that usually hung around his neck. When he stuffed it into Bai Ru's hand earlier, he had coolly told her, "I'll be right back."

Now, he truly regretted it. Fortunately, he still had the three triangular talismans Bai Ru had given him in his pocket. She said that as soon as he saw those things, throwing them at them would hold them off for a while. However, he glanced at his position; it wasn't particularly close to the radiator at the end of the corridor, so whether he could throw them accurately was questionable.

He squinted towards the glass window at the end of the corridor. A small, dark shadow hovered in front of it, only the upper half visible, the lower half hidden within the radiator mounted on the wall. It looked as if it was trying to wrench itself free from inside, twisting and turning. By the faint light outside the window, he could vaguely make out the shadow's appearance.

It was a boy, no older than ten. His body was a hazy, semi-transparent gray, his face a sickly green, and the features were contorted, soft and drooping as if molded from mud. He seemed to have no neck; his head appeared to be perched directly on his shoulders, swaying back and forth, side to side, with every twist of his body, as if it could fall off at any moment.

The boy’s mouth was open, like a large hole, and a drawn-out voice continuously emanated from within.

“Look…ing…for…what…”

“Why do I always run into little ghosts…” Kuang Feifan subconsciously began to retreat slowly. The plan clearly hadn't kept up with the changes. He had expected trouble inside the restroom, but instead, he encountered it outside. He didn't know if this little ghost was the main target.

Before he could think of his next move, with a sound of "creeeak," the restroom door in front of him slowly swung open on its own, as if inviting him in.

"Damn it, what’s the meaning of this?" Kuang Feifan almost swore out loud. The successive atmosphere of terror had instead ignited the stubbornness within him. With a courage that materialized from nowhere, Kuang Feifan strode forward, intending to barge into the restroom.

Suddenly, a shriek pierced the air from the direction he had come—it was Bai Ru’s voice.

Kuang Feifan was instantly horrified, instinctively yelling, "Ru? Are you okay?"

The shout stopped abruptly. Without another thought, he spun around and sprinted back toward the biology laboratory.

Kuang Feifan finally realized that when he and Bai Ru planned the "lure the snake out of its hole" strategy, they had actually fallen for the opponent's tactic of "divide and conquer."

Both the front and back doors of the biology laboratory were locked tightly from the inside. This was hardly the time to use his lock-picking skills. Recalling his options, he rushed to the lobby in front of the stairs. There was a fire extinguisher in the corner. He lunged for it, snatched the extinguisher, returned to the lab, and in a few quick strikes, smashed the doorknob open. He kicked the door in and rushed inside.

The biology laboratory was empty.

The scalp on his head tingled. Instinctively, he reached out and flipped the light switch on the wall by the door. Surprisingly, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling buzzed to life. In the brightly lit laboratory, the tables and chairs were arranged neatly. His gaze landed on the spot where he and Bai Ru had just been sitting—no one, no bag, no sign that anyone had occupied it.

He looked again at the wall opposite; the same metal shelving, the same assortment of specimens, and the same skeleton leaning in the corner, yet there was absolutely no indication that this was the same biology lab from moments before.

He had no time to ponder why the lights suddenly worked. He rushed to the sink in the back, turned the faucet on full blast, twisting it all the way, but not a single drop of water emerged. He felt both furious and anxious, slamming a fist onto the faucet.

Helpless, he turned around just as a "drip" sound clearly echoed into the sink basin. He spun around abruptly and saw a single, crimson droplet slowly forming at the nozzle of the faucet. It gathered, then detached, falling into the sink.

At first, it was just drop by drop, but soon they merged into a thin stream. Before long, it was gushing out of the faucet in a torrent—but what flowed out was not clear tap water, but something scarlet, resembling fresh blood.

Perhaps it truly was blood, because Kuang Feifan could smell the pungent metallic odor. But he truly couldn't believe why so much blood would pour from the pipes, yet everything before him was so real. A few drops even splattered from the bottom of the sink onto his left hand, which was close by, feeling somewhat cold. His gaze moved from the faucet to his hand; besides the few recent spatters, there were also bloodstains from the restroom doorframe not long ago, which were now almost dry.

His hands were covered in blood, and there was no water to wash it off. Kuang Feifan felt more disgusted than terrified now. He regretted his momentary bravado; besides giving away Bai Ru's three talismans, he hadn't brought any protective gear. Now, Bai Ru was missing, and he hadn't found a single clue, though he had certainly encountered a ghostly apparition.

Thinking of that semi-transparent child, a surge of audacity suddenly rose in Kuang Feifan's heart. Not knowing what else to do, he decided to take on the little ghost while he still had something in his hand.

He casually picked up a chair and sat down, carefully pulling out tissues from his pocket, taking out several sheets, and vigorously wiping the blood from his hands. Without water, he had to resort to saliva, managing to wipe off most of the stains. Only then did he get up, preparing to leave the lab and check the restroom again, perhaps to teach that little ghost a lesson.

He trusted Bai Ru. Even though he didn't know what had happened to her or why she had left the lab, she must have had her reasons. And she would surely find a way to reunite with him shortly.

If the experiences in the small building had done anything other than convince him that ghosts truly existed in this world, it was teaching him one thing: fear, terror, and worry alone would solve nothing. No matter how bizarre and terrifying the current situation was, as long as he wasn't dead, he had to grit his teeth and face it directly. Because once you gave in to fear, there would be no chance of survival left.

The thought was sound, but implementing it immediately ran into a problem. Kuang Feifan soon discovered he was trapped inside the biology laboratory; the front and back doors would not budge, no matter how hard he tried to open them from the inside.

Not only that, but the overhead fluorescent lights flickered as if the voltage was unstable, then suddenly went out completely, plunging the laboratory into absolute darkness.

Kuang Feifan jumped at the sudden change, the hairs on his body involuntarily standing on end. In his fear, he subconsciously looked around, but the darkness revealed nothing. He reached out and flipped the light switch several times, but the lights refused to come back on.

He forced himself to steady his nerves, closed his eyes, and waited for a moment. After several seconds, his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, and relying on the faint light from the window, he finally realized he was not alone in the laboratory.

The skeleton specimen that had been standing in the corner was now standing with its arms spread wide, slowly walking toward him, step by agonizing step. With every footfall, he could hear the grinding sound of its joints.

To be honest, seeing a walking set of bones didn't strike Kuang Feifan as particularly terrifying. Compared to those ethereal, vague ghosts, this tangible monster—one he could see and touch—at least offered something he could fight against.

Seeing the skeleton was still some distance away, Kuang Feifan spun around and sprinted toward a corner of the lab wall. He remembered there was a large glass cabinet there, filled with various pieces of experimental equipment.

Stumbling through the space between the tables, Kuang Feifan indeed spotted the large glass cabinet. To his delight, leaning against the cabinet was a meter-long PVC pipe, about as thick as two fingers.

He snatched the pipe and swung it forcefully against the cabinet door. With a loud "crash," the glass shattered. He saw the two things he needed most right now: an alcohol lamp and sulfuric acid.

By this time, the skeleton seemed to have finished warming up; its limbs were fully mobilized, and its pace quickened. It moved toward Kuang Feifan using an extremely bizarre gait, weaving through the gaps between the tables and chairs.

Kuang Feifan paused, noticing that the skeleton’s movements resembled a marionette, except the strings controlling it were invisible to the naked eye.

But there was no time to study what force was manipulating this skeleton. Kuang Feifan gritted his teeth, focused intensely on maintaining distance from it, and brought the PVC pipe down in a full-force strike toward the skeleton's head.

Unexpectedly, his full-power blow missed entirely. Just as he was about to hit the skull, the skeleton leaped straight onto an adjacent table—or rather, it looked as if it had been lifted onto the table.

Missing his target, Kuang Feifan rapidly backed away. He didn't want to get entangled with this set of bones.

After landing on the table, the skeleton paused, then suddenly lunged upright toward Kuang Feifan. Its pale, finger-like claws reached out to stab him. Its hollow eye sockets stared intently at him, its ghastly teeth clicking open and shut, as if eager to chew him to pieces immediately.

Kuang Feifan had no time to think; he threw himself to the side, performing a very ungraceful "lazy donkey roll" to dive beneath a nearby double-length table.

The skeleton missed its lunge and dropped to the floor. Taking advantage of the opening, Kuang Feifan carefully pulled the alcohol lamp—which he had retrieved after smashing the cabinet door—from his pocket and quickly removed the cap. Then he took out his lighter. Unfortunately, the Zippo lighter Bai Ru had given him was still in the bathtub back at the small building. The lighter he had now was a free gift from the front desk of the restaurant where he had eaten dinner that night; it was disposable, and he had pocketed all three they gave him.

If only he could get his hands on an alcohol blowtorch; he could definitely turn that skeleton into a ball of fire.

After lighting the alcohol lamp, Kuang Feifan was about to survey his surroundings by the faint glow when the table beneath him began to shake violently, as if something had stepped onto it. Immediately following, a human face, entirely framed by large clumps of hair, descended upside down from the edge of the table, coming within inches of Kuang Feifan's own head. He could even smell the stench of rot and decay emanating from the dark, gaping hole of the mouth.

A sound like steel wool scraping metal drilled into Kuang Feifan’s ears from the face’s mouth.

“Found… you…”