Because I saw that although the empty space had no mask hanging on it, there was a slightly protruding human face on the wall.

After a moment of astonishment, I looked left and right, only to realize this face was probably not real, as it had also been coated in white paint.

This was likely a specialized protrusion designed to hold a mask, eliminating the need for nails or string to hang them.

Although the method seemed a bit eerie, it had to be admitted that it was a good way to maintain the shape of the masks. I stood on my toes and reached out to touch the face; a slick sensation, similar to porcelain, traveled through my fingers.

“Seriously, you’re actually touching that creepy thing,” Da Xiong said from the side, visibly frightened.

I turned to look at him and replied, “I’ve touched plenty of dead people, what’s this? Tell me, do you think the mask we’re looking for belongs in this vacant spot?”

Both of them clearly shared the same thought, and their expressions grew serious when I said it.

They naturally knew the mask I referred to was the bizarre one that had been stuck on Da Xiong’s face, driving him to madness.

“If our guess is right, then how did that mask get out of this sealed room? And can a mask turn into a yokai?” Da Xiong asked.

“ Dong dong qiang… dong dong qiang…”

Although Da Xiong’s question hit the nail on the head, I didn't answer him because a sound like a clanging orchestra suddenly erupted around us.

“ Yi yi ya ya… Yoshi yoshi…” Accompanied by the gongs and drums, there seemed to be the murmuring of a Japanese man. The sound was quite rhythmic, just like a traditional opera performance.

“This… what is this…” Nie Chuan looked around, but like me, he couldn't locate the source, so his face showed a hint of terror.

Just as we were all feeling a chill run down our spines, the sound of gongs and drums gradually faded away, and the opera-like chanting vanished with it.

“That’s it, this is Noh-gaku,” I murmured, listening intently to the strange sounds around us.

“ Noh-gaku…?” Da Xiong looked at me, puzzled.

I nodded and said, “It’s the equivalent of Chinese Peking Opera, but Peking Opera uses facial makeup instead of masks. Every actor in Noh-gaku must wear a mask. These masks on the wall might be relics left behind from when actors performed Noh-gaku.”

“Then… what was that sound just now? These masks are covered in dust; the actors must have been dead for ages, right?” Cold sweat trickled down Nie Chuan’s temples.

“You’re right, this might be a natural phenomenon, a collective auditory hallucination,” I suggested.

“The natural phenomenon you mean is the telluric magnetic field, right? These masks were frequently used by actors, so they might retain some form of the actors’ lives within them. Just like the old stage where opera was often performed—late at night when no one is around, people sometimes see the shadows of martial roles fighting and can hear the drums and gongs,” Nie Chuan picked up the thread.

I nodded. “It’s not just stages. An old movie theater in the suburbs of Shanghai experienced this every night; some people even saw someone hanging in the main hall, which drove several people insane.”

“Stop talking, I feel a cold draft all around me,” Da Xiong said, hugging his arms, his face pale.

“Whether it’s the work of spirits or old objects coming alive, even scientists can’t explain it. In short, it’s a natural phenomenon of objects retaining residual sound,” I added, wanting to tease him because he was scared.

Da Xiong shivered at my words and said, “Stop… it’s really quite unsettling.”

Just as I was about to embellish the story further, the opera-like sound started up again.

This time it didn't last long, only about ten seconds, but all three of us were covered in goosebumps, not daring to breathe.

When the sound finally stopped, Nie Chuan said, “I feel like the sound was coming from behind the wall to the left. Could there be something inside the wall?”

I laughed heartily and retorted, “Why don’t you suggest the neighbor is watching television?”

Nie Chuan ignored me and walked toward that wall, carrying the small knife given to us by the Xiaoge.

The walls of this dark room were built of brick and mortar, much sturdier than the wooden wall we entered through.

But Nie Chuan didn't hesitate; he violently stabbed the knife into one of the bricks.

At that moment, we watched as a red fluid, like blood, oozed out from inside the wall, accompanied by a foul-smelling green gas.

Nie Chuan recoiled, covering his nose, and we too backed away, overwhelmed by the stench.

We kept retreating until we reached the opening we had crawled through; only then did the smell—like rotten eggs—begin to subside slightly.

By that time, we all felt heavy-headed and weak.

“It seems… the gas inside the wall is what’s slowly poisoning us,” Nie Chuan weakly told us.

“But what do we do? If we poke the wall, this stuff comes out. Are we going to be trapped and die in here?” Da Xiong exclaimed.

I thought for a moment and said, “Did you see that red fluid? Our previous guess was completely right. We might actually be inside some kind of living creature, which is why we’re lost. Because the creature is alive, it’s playing games with us.”

“You mean we might be inside a giant bug right now? If it dares to eat your venerable Da Xiong, isn’t it afraid… afraid of indigestion?” He spoke breathlessly, then erupted into a fit of severe coughing.

Although the air in the hidden room was terrible, we still needed to find an exit within this confined space if we wanted to escape.

Regardless of whether the mask on the wall had come alive or not, it had certainly left this chamber, so there must be a hidden exit here.

Once the rotten-egg smell dissipated slightly, the three of us covered our noses and returned to the wall where the mask was missing.

Staring at the human-face-like protrusion on the wall, I fell into a daze.

The other two searched every inch of the room, upstairs and down, finding no hidden switches or secret passages.

In the end, we had tried everything except taking the masks down one by one.

However, these masks were deeply sinister; we couldn't rashly take them down, for if another dangerous mask appeared, escaping this time wouldn't be so easy.

As I was deep in thought about what to do, Da Xiong suddenly yelled out, “The opening! There’s someone at the opening!”

I quickly turned my head and, by the light of a glow stick near the edge of the hole, I indeed saw a small, thin figure standing at the entrance.

This person was excessively lean, almost skin and bones, and wore no clothes, looking like a starved ghost just dragged up from hell.

He was extending one hand toward a cat-face mask on the wall nearest to him.

His movements were incredibly light, almost soundless. If Da Xiong hadn't noticed him in time, we wouldn't have known the mask was being stolen.

Hearing Da Xiong’s shout, the small figure was clearly startled; he instantly retracted his hand and swiftly pulled his body back through the opening.

How could we let him escape so easily? The three of us chased after him.

We scrambled out of the opening one by one and heard faint dong-dong sounds from the staircase overhead, indicating the figure was running upstairs.

So, the three of us didn't hesitate and charged up the stairs.

But after only a few steps, Da Xiong, bringing up the rear, shouted, “Don’t chase him, below! Below! Lots of them are coming!”

For some inexplicable reason, Da Xiong’s words suddenly brought a rather embarrassing thought to my mind.

But the thought vanished in a flash, and when I looked back, I saw several dark shadows slowly approaching the opening we had pried open with the knife.

Their figures were similar to the one that had just fled, so I concluded this was a diversion; they must all be coming to steal the masks.

However, it was too late to turn back and defend the breach. I could only throw the few glow sticks in my hand out like scattering flowers.

As my glow sticks carved arcs through the air, striking the floor with crackling sounds, the group of skinny figures scattered in all directions and vanished into the darkness.

Hearing the dong-dong footsteps above, I knew the pursuer upstairs hadn't gotten far, but we couldn't let the other skinny figures get the masks either. So, I said to Da Xiong, “I have a difficult task to assign you.”