Kuang Feifan stood in the corridor, looking left and right in astonishment, certain he had returned to the second floor.

At that moment, Xu Hui descended the steps and stood beside him, his expression equally grim; neither spoke.

Turning back, they discovered the entire building’s layout seemed to have shifted. Behind them were stairs leading up, while beside them was a staircase leading down.

They exchanged a look. Kuang Feifan glanced upward, Xu Hui nodded once, and the two bolted up the stairs. Taking the turn, they looked up again, only to find themselves facing another corridor. Disbelieving, they rushed all the way upstairs, looked left and right, and confirmed they were indeed still on the second-floor corridor.

Similarly, next to the stairs they had just ascended, another set of stairs leading upward had appeared.

Kuang Feifan subconsciously took a few steps forward, then turned his head to examine the right side of the corridor. Not far away, the door he had nearly smashed open was swaying slightly, as if tiny gusts of wind were continuously passing through it.

Suddenly, an extremely faint sound drifted into Kuang Feifan’s ears.

“Kuang… Fei… Fan…”

The calling voice was mournful and ethereal, impossible to distinguish as male or female, but certainly not Xu Hui calling him. Hearing it, Kuang Feifan felt his spine instantly lock up. He stood frozen, momentarily at a loss.

The voice calling his name continued to sound, the pitch stretching ever longer, creating an urge within Kuang Feifan to respond. He clenched his hands tightly into fists, his arms trembling slightly, desperately suppressing the impulse.

“Damn it, is someone calling me?”

Xu Hui suddenly spoke, his voice unnaturally dry, as if his throat were parched.

Kuang Feifan heard him, twisted his neck stiffly, and managed a similarly husky reply, “Don’t answer. Absolutely don’t…”

“Let’s go downstairs and check,” Xu Hui managed to force out those four words.

Though it was merely a suggestion, in their current predicament, Kuang Feifan had no better ideas. Moreover, remaining stationary meant constantly hearing that incessant calling. This was different from confronting a ghost face-to-face, where one could at least throw a few talismans. Against this near-phantom situation, apart from instilling creeping dread, they had no tangible means of defense.

Almost mechanically, they stepped down the stairs. After a while, they finally felt their movements become fluid again. The area below was still the second-floor corridor. Continuing down, the second-floor corridor once more presented itself before them.

By the time they reached the fifth descent, Kuang Feifan stopped on the landing.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Hui asked.

Kuang Feifan looked around for a long moment before saying, “I… I have a feeling that a pair of eyes has been watching us this whole time.”

Xu Hui froze, tilted his head back to look, then quickly turned to look down the staircase in front of him. What greeted them below was the carpeted second-floor corridor.

“Just running down isn’t a solution,” Xu Hui sighed.

Kuang Feifan said nothing, gripped the banister, and peered down. His face immediately darkened further, a distinct trace of fear flashing in his eyes. Xu Hui peered over curiously, only then realizing that through the stairwell opening, there was only endless darkness below, like an abyss with no bottom, and everywhere his gaze landed, there were countless staircases leading to the next floor.

“This…” Xu Hui involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath.

He felt a deep premonition that if they followed those stairs down indefinitely, the destination would be hell itself.

Kuang Feifan dared not venture further down; there was no end in sight, and simply descending floor after floor solved nothing.

Xu Hui retreated a few steps, pulling away from the stairwell. He swallowed hard and asked, “Where are those talismans of yours? Throw a few down and see what happens?”

Kuang Feifan managed a wry chuckle. “Do you think talismans are omnipotent?”

Saying that, he actually pulled one from his back pocket and tossed it into the stairwell. After the incantation, the talisman burst into a flash of electrical fire, but it was instantly extinguished in the darkness.

Suddenly, Kuang Feifan felt a strange sensation, as if besides himself and Xu Hui, there was another presence nearby. Simultaneously, he could feel currents of air swirling around his body, looping chaotically without any discernible pattern. He didn't know if Xu Hui felt it, but he perceived a thread of malevolence woven into the airflow. It was impossible to imagine that moving air could transmit such infinite hatred and despair. As the currents whipped back and forth, his breathing grew labored, as if the oxygen was being rapidly sucked away.

Just then, he saw a ripple appear out of thin air nearby, much like a stone dropped into water; the air itself spread outward in visible concentric waves. At the center of these ripples, a fair and smooth hand emerged, clutching tightly in its jade-like fingers a three-section staff shimmering with silver light, its surface intricately carved with countless runic patterns.

“Bai Ru!” Kuang Feifan’s heart surged with alarm and delight.

He turned his head and saw Xu Hui shaking violently.

“Grab me, close your eyes,” Kuang Feifan gasped, reaching out to him with effort. Two seemingly invisible currents were rapidly circling their bodies, forming a vortex-like whirlwind beside them. At the center of this vortex, they felt a pain as if countless tiny yet razor-sharp blades were slicing their skin.

They both gritted their teeth, enduring the physical agony. Kuang Feifan forcefully grabbed the hand Xu Hui extended, staring at the silver-glowing Demon-Subduing Rod, and mustered all his strength to charge out of the air vortex. Instantly, the sound of heart-rending wails and mournful cries assaulted his ears. The sorrowful weeping created a startling sense of empathy, and tears began to stream down his face without his conscious effort. Compared to this, the physical pain lessened considerably, though it still made his whole body tremble. He felt as if he had been violently squeezed through a narrow gap; the crushing pressure made stars flash before his eyes, and the snapping sound of his joints echoed audibly, making his teeth ache. His chest felt struck, heavy and breathless.

But finally, he grasped the Demon-Subduing Rod that was inching closer to them.

As if sensing the force exerted on the rod, the hand holding it slowly began to retract, pulling Kuang Feifan and Xu Hui bit by bit out of the vortex that threatened to tear them to shreds.

Kuang Feifan’s vision blurred. He involuntarily closed his eyes, and immediately, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. A moment later, Bai Ru’s anxious voice reached his ears: “Feifan, Feifan, are you alright?”

Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Bai Ru kneeling beside him, her eyes appearing slightly teary.

Kuang Feifan tried hard to manage a smile, but his lips only managed a slight upward curve before he felt too exhausted to move further.