Kuang Feifan glanced back. In the distance, he could see Xu Hui’s flashlight beam swaying, approaching the balcony fast.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. He saw a figure standing right behind Xu Hui.

Both Xu Hui and the figure had their backs to him, so he couldn't make out the figure’s appearance, but he could see the white hair reaching the shoulders and the black clothing, which made the white hair stand out starkly in the darkness.

The white-haired figure wasn't tall. Its arms hung straight down by its sides, and its head seemed slightly bowed forward. It stood there silently. As Xu Hui took step after step toward the balcony, the figure slowly moved forward. The "hissing" sound seemed to emanate from the figure itself. Strangely, Xu Hui appeared not to have heard the strange noise behind him.

Kuang Feifan’s expression changed drastically. He didn't need to think to know that the white-haired figure meant them harm.

“Xu Hui, watch your back…” Without time to deliberate, Kuang Feifan shouted and spun around, charging toward Xu Hui.

Simultaneously, Xu Hui was only a few steps from the edge of the balcony. The beam of his flashlight had already shifted outward, and he craned his neck, preparing to peer over the edge. Hearing Kuang Feifan’s shout, he froze momentarily, instinctively stopping his movement.

But before he could turn to look at Kuang Feifan, a sound—“Hss... hah…”—erupted, and the white-haired figure lunged forward suddenly, slapping its arms, which had been hanging at its sides, onto Xu Hui’s back.

Xu Hui suddenly felt a tremendous force strike his back. Propelled by this impact, his body shot straight toward the balcony edge.

Kuang Feifan watched in horror as Xu Hui slammed into the railing, the sheer momentum flinging him completely over the edge.

Shocked, Kuang Feifan finally reached the balcony and urgently stretched his hand out, hoping Xu Hui could grab it in time.

“Save…” Xu Hui’s voice drifted up from outside the balcony.

Kuang Feifan felt a surge of relief. Only then did he realize that as he was falling, Xu Hui’s right fingertips had managed to snag the protruding inner lip of the balcony railing. Now, his entire body was outside, hanging on by the strength of one arm.

“Grab…” Kuang Feifan reached out, seizing Xu Hui’s collar with one hand. He extended his other hand. Xu Hui struggled to raise his left hand and grasped Kuang Feifan’s hand, but Kuang Feifan immediately felt that Xu Hui’s left hand seemed utterly without strength.

Just then, the sound returned from behind him—“Hss... hss…” Kuang Feifan, clutching Xu Hui, involuntarily glanced back.

The ambient light filtering in from the balcony allowed him to see clearly: not far behind him, the figure in black stood there—or rather, floated in the air. Snow-white long hair draped down past its shoulders on both sides of its head. Its face, a landscape of deep wrinkles, was expressionless, chalk-white like whitewash, with a pointed chin. The black-purple lips were almost entirely sunken in, suggesting a complete lack of teeth. Its eyes were narrowed to mere slits, revealing no whites, just absolute blackness.

The clothing was dark and strangely luminous. Its two nearly skin-and-bone feet hung down, toes pointing vertically toward the floor, hovering about two inches off the ground.

It was an old woman.

And the “hissing” sound was coming from her, now sounding exactly like her breath.

Kuang Feifan’s body tensed. He applied more force, pulling with all his might to haul Xu Hui up. Xu Hui tried to help by climbing, but his entire left side, perhaps from the earlier blow, refused to cooperate.

At that moment, the old woman’s eyes snapped open. A flicker of red light seemed to pass through her black pupils. She opened her mouth and let out what should have been a shriek toward them, but only a “Hss… hah…” sound emerged from the dark cavity, where only a mostly rotted tongue remained.

Accompanying the sound, the old woman raised her arms and lunged toward Kuang Feifan, her bone-like hands aiming directly for his back.

The proximity and speed made evasion impossible. A massive impact slammed into Kuang Feifan’s back. Furthermore, where the old woman’s palms connected, a stinging pain in the skin mingled with a bone-deep chill, causing Kuang Feifan to cry out involuntarily. The entire left side of his body, the side holding Xu Hui’s limp hand, went numb. His grip slackened reflexively, and if the hand clutching his collar had loosened, Xu Hui, who was halfway up, would have plunged down again.

Suddenly, the prayer beads he had recently placed back on his wrist transmitted a wave of warmth into Kuang Feifan’s body, causing him to involuntarily shudder. In an instant, the numbness in half his body dissipated.

As that warmth arose, the black-clad old woman was simultaneously repelled backward by an invisible force, letting out a hoarse “Aiya…” sound before vanishing from sight within the room.

Ignoring the bizarre event behind him, Kuang Feifan redoubled his effort, finally hauling Xu Hui back over the balcony ledge.

Kuang Feifan supported the staggering Xu Hui as they stumbled back into the kitchen.

“Hoo…”

They both collapsed onto the balcony floor, leaning against the wall, letting out a long breath.

“This is the fourth floor…” Xu Hui managed in a hoarse voice.

Kuang Feifan grunted, catching his breath. “If you’d fallen, you might not have died…”

Xu Hui shot him a sidelong glance but didn't take the bait. Instead, he asked, “That… thing. Did you see it?”

The balcony barrier wasn't a railing but a solid concrete parapet; Xu Hui, hanging outside, naturally hadn't seen the old woman in black.

Kuang Feifan nodded. He guessed the old woman was hidden somewhere now, and perhaps only the beads on his wrist could offer a defense against her. It was a pity that the talisman Xu Hui wore had been destroyed while burning the zombie; otherwise, they probably wouldn't need to worry so much about her appearance.

Thinking this, Kuang Feifan looked at Xu Hui and said, “Thanks. For not tossing the beads into the fire just now.”

Xu Hui shook his head and smiled faintly. “I know your girlfriend gave those to you. How could you just toss them into a fire?”

The thanks were acknowledged without further elaboration. Kuang Feifan smiled, pushed himself up using his hands, and pulled Xu Hui to his feet. “Come on, let’s see if these beads can handle the ghost blocking our way.”

Kuang Feifan’s plan was simple: confront the old woman and strike her with the beads. Unexpectedly, after searching the apartment and even the hallway for a long time, the black-clad old woman never reappeared.

However, when they descended another floor, they found themselves on the exact same level again—the illusion of the maze, the ‘ghost wall,’ hadn't broken.

Xu Hui cursed repeatedly, kicking the wall in frustration.

Kuang Feifan frowned, a thought suddenly striking him: Could the old woman have been scared off by that one strike? Was she afraid to face him again?

He glanced around, patted Xu Hui’s shoulder, and quietly shared his theory.

Xu Hui raised an eyebrow, a flicker of tension crossing his face. He swallowed hard. “Let’s split up. I’ll check the room across the hall, and you keep watch in the corridor…”

Kuang Feifan took a deep breath, then solemnly told him, “If you see the ghost, try biting your tongue and spitting some blood at her.”

Watching Xu Hui walk into the room to the right of the staircase, Kuang Feifan, still standing in the hallway, nervously took the prayer beads off and clenched them tightly in his palm, keeping his eyes fixed on Xu Hui’s retreating back.