Before entering the building, Qin Yue and the others had naturally familiarized themselves with the background of the “Ghost Building.”
The fire from seven years ago was naturally the primary focus of their attention and analysis.
That massive blaze had claimed the lives of nine innocent bystanders, and one firefighter who had participated in the rescue efforts still hadn’t regained consciousness to this day.
He Xiaoyi surmised that the “evil ghost” mentioned by the mysterious woman was very likely the long-deceased arsonist, Zheng.
“Why do people fear ghosts? Because a ghost’s actions are unpredictable, and their thoughts are completely different from those of the living.
“After someone dies, they first become a ‘soul.’
“At this stage, as long as they harbor no lingering resentment and aren’t clinging to their final breath, they won’t become a ghost. Instead, they will travel down the road to the Yellow Springs to reincarnate.
“Ghosts are different from humans. Humans have three souls and seven spirits, a full range of emotions, and they think before acting, relying on logic and reason.
“Ghosts, however, are inherently incomplete. Their very existence is sustained purely by obsession, or by the breath of ‘resentment’ they choked back before death.
“Therefore, ghosts act purely on instinct. They are cunning, suspicious, and extremely difficult to communicate with.”
Zhao Daxian looked around and let out an unceremonious sneer:
“The owner of this building had at least a bit of sense, knowing to hire someone to add extra floors to confuse the ghosts here and stop them from making trouble.
“Given how thin spiritual energy is nowadays, logically speaking, even if all the people who died in the fire back then turned into ghosts, being trapped inside the building would keep them from becoming a serious threat.
“It would only take a few more years for the human vitality surrounding the building to gradually wear away their resentment, and basically nothing would have gone wrong.”
“Who would have thought a tenant on the fifty-ninth floor would build an escape room right on the site of the fire, and have so little decency as to recreate the scene directly from post-fire photos.”
Qin Yue shook her head, her eyes chillingly cold:
“No wonder two fires broke out on this floor in a single year, with such bizarre origins.
“Master He, in your opinion, do you think the supernatural occurrences in this building are connected to this escape room?”
Through the earpiece, He Xiaoyi was practically spitting curses:
【What kind of bastard is this guy, daring to make money with such a rotten conscience?
Places like escape rooms and haunted houses naturally gather Yin energy and attract foul things in the first place, yet he intentionally went and set this up where people had died.
Just think about it: if you were a ghost who died here, reliving the agony of being burned to death every single day would already be torturous and sorrowful enough.
And then some idiot comes along, twisting a knife in your wound day after day, turning your tragic death into a joke. Who wouldn’t be furious?】
If something really went wrong, the escape room owner would be the first person unable to shirk responsibility.
Those who died in fires were inherently vicious.
Not to mention, the soul of the arsonist might still be lingering here as well.
Ghosts were already difficult to predict and understand.
Add a psychotic ghost on top of that, and the debuffs were maxed out.
No wonder that mysterious woman had said an evil ghost would emerge tonight.
Other people ran escape rooms for thrills and fun.
This owner, on the other hand, had gone and recreated the actual tragedy, provoking an evil ghost straight into existence!
—If that psychotic ghost were truly allowed to escape the building and go around murdering and committing arson, it would be virtually impossible to defend against.
Qianli City would be thrown into absolute chaos.
【Section Head Qin, regardless, this place gives me bad vibes. Just looking at the photos feels depressing and oppressive. There are probably no fewer than three ghosts lingering there. Be careful.】
Chen Ping chimed in over comms as well:
【I heard from other ghosts before that the more gruesome the death, the fiercer the ghost becomes.
Especially ghosts who were burned to death. They had to watch themselves burn away bit by bit. It was an agonizing death, and their resentment is way greater than mine.】
“I understand. That’s why tonight’s operation is primarily focused on elimination.
“As Daxian said earlier, ghosts capable of communication are few and far between after all. My priority must be to safeguard the lives and property of the public, and I also have to be responsible for the comrades in our action squad.”
Qin Yue tapped her earpiece and turned to Zhao Daxian:
“How is it?”
Zhao Daxian twitched his lips and was about to speak, but remembering the beating he had taken earlier that day, he immediately swallowed his words.
Dutifully pulling out a handful of lush green willow leaves, he brought his index and middle fingers together, tracing a talisman across his eyelids while chanting an incantation:
“Heavens clear, earth bright, grant me divine sight. Willow leaves open my eyes, let evil appear before me.”
Zhao Daxian opened his eyes and swept his gaze across the escape room, quickly locking onto a blind corner.
Qin Yue followed his gaze, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.
Battered furniture, soot-blackened walls, charred chairs, and lampshades shattered across the floor.
Nothing at all.
Yet Zhao Daxian’s eyes remained glued to that single spot, as if something were truly standing there.
“A mother and child. The woman looks thirty-five or thirty-six, the child three or four. Their clothes are scorched and tattered. Quite pitiful, really.”
Zhao Daxian silently put away the stout peach wood sword in his hand:
“Trapped in this building, they lost their way. They can’t leave, and they can’t come back to life. They can only treat this place as home.”
Once back, he would file a report to demolish this damn place.
Qin Yue glanced at the corner and said in a low voice:
“Among the victims back then, there was indeed a mother and child. Threat assessment?”
She trusted him that much?
Zhao Daxian paused, looking somewhat awkward:
“No real danger. Low-level ghosts like this are constantly hungry and cold; even moving a glass marble takes effort, and their Yin energy is very weak.
“Once tonight is over, we can just have Old He come over and chant a section of the 《Scripture of Deliverance》 to deliver them to the afterlife.”
Qin Yue nodded crisply:
“All right. Room 5917 is clear. Move on to the next room.”
...
Although checking room by room was rather slow, fortunately the other eight action squad members had successfully swept the fifty-ninth floor for hidden fire hazards, saving the two of them a significant amount of time.
Over the course of their sweep, Zhao Daxian discovered traces of ghosts in restrooms, blind wall corners, ceilings, and ventilation ducts.
Unfortunately, none of them were the target of their mission.
With 11:30 PM fast approaching, Qin Yue had no choice but to conclude the first sweep.
After rushing around all over the place without finding any trace of the evil ghost, Zhao Daxian felt an inexplicable stifling heat welling up in his chest, making him restless:
“Could that woman have lied to us? Maybe that psycho didn’t even turn into a ghost after dying?”
“No. If she could infiltrate the Special Investigation Section without making a sound, she wouldn’t go through so much trouble just to feed us false intel.”
Qin Yue pondered for a moment before making a decision:
“Rest for ten minutes, then begin the second sweep.”
For some reason, she also felt as though oxygen in the air was growing thin, an indescribable suffocating heaviness stirring in her chest.
It was like a desert afternoon—sweltering, arid, and devoid of a single drop of moisture.
Glancing at the other squad members, they were all dripping with sweat, struggling to stay alert.
The moment Qin Yue finished speaking, the other ten people immediately relaxed.
It was too hot.
Inside uniforms and boots, sweat drenched everything.
The white undershirts and socks underneath were already soaked through.
Despite the central air conditioning, the burning heat in their chests refused to recede.
Zhao Daxian unceremoniously plopped onto the floor, his eyes darting around.
If there really was an evil ghost, where was it hiding?
Suddenly, his gaze fell upon the rest of the squad members and froze.
One, two, three, four... nine, ten, eleven.
Him, Qin Yue, and the eight squad members should only add up to ten people.
There was one extra.
Rate on N.U.
