Two "Corpses"

In the long corridor where the power had been cut off late at night, separated by a wall.

Outside the wall were Ji Li and five others, while inside was an indistinct stranger whose sobbing could be heard continuously. The situation had reached a stalemate.

Ji Li raised his flashlight, shining it into the glass wall. He couldn't quite grasp the current situation.

On the fifth floor, which was supposed to be empty, why was there a woman sobbing?

Although he wasn't overly fearful, the atmosphere had built up to a terrifying degree, and he knew he had to be extremely cautious.

The light source darted around the room erratically, and Ji Li's eyes felt strained. He turned his head to look at Li Xing and the others.

Li Xing was holding the hotel phone, its flashlight mode activated, also attempting to search. The four trembling staff members behind him also took out their phones, trying to dispel some of the darkness.

Ji Li whispered a reprimand, "Turn off your lights. The situation inside is unclear, and too many flashlights will just be chaotic."

Li Xing immediately put his phone back in his pocket upon hearing this, and the others followed suit.

Ji Li pursed his lips. He still hadn't seen any sign of a living person and muttered to himself, "Did you mishear? Is there no one in here at all?"

The Third Personality's tone was also somewhat bewildered, "After that banging sound, I definitely heard a woman sobbing. Can't you hear it now as well?"

Ji Li glanced up at the office door not far from him. There was no sign it had been opened; it was completely shut.

He felt that what was happening on the fifth floor was too bizarre. He definitely hadn't misheard the banging sound, but the door here hadn't opened at all.

Then came the continuous sobbing of a woman, which had been indistinct from a distance.

Now, standing outside the wall, he could tell the sound was particularly hollow, making it impossible to pinpoint its location.

Ji Li calmed himself and stopped speaking, simply listening to the ethereal weeping.

Gradually, as the sound reached a certain peak, it suddenly vanished!

Ji Li's head snapped up, as if he'd realized something, and he quickly rushed to the office door, pushing it open with a shove.

"Everyone, gather together!"

As he said this, he had already stepped into the office. Once he was fully inside, a low, melodious opera tune reached his ears!

"Damn it, we were tricked. This isn't a woman crying!

It's just someone in this office playing that mournful opera tune!"

If the Second Personality had an expression, it would have been a massive eye-roll. The Third Personality also fell silent.

Ji Li's face flushed with embarrassment. He had been stalled for over five minutes by a looping opera piece, which was simply unacceptable.

He looked up at the ceiling, at the several broadcast speakers. The melodious opera was coming from these speakers, which explained why no sound source could be found from the outside.

It was contained entirely within the office.

Ji Li then spotted a Bluetooth speaker connected to a power bank on one of the desks.

Li Xing and the others also looked grim. "Manager, it seems we've been played."

Ji Li waved his hand and said:

"Not necessarily.

The opera must have started playing not long ago, otherwise, Tong Guan, who searched the fifth floor, wouldn't have failed to notice it.

This means that after Tong Guan left and before we arrived, there was indeed a living person here!"

Li Xing thought about it carefully and agreed. He then said, "So, the banging sound earlier was probably that person's panicked reaction to the power outage?"

Ji Li wasn't sure either. It was just a power outage; the staff didn't know about the existence of ghosts, so why would they flee in such a panic?

Unless...

They saw a ghost!

Ji Li's mind raced, trying to deduce the direction that person had fled. Logically, they would have fled downstairs.

But they had just come from downstairs. Although there were three staircases leading to the fifth floor, besides the banging sound, they hadn't heard any footsteps!

This discrepancy couldn't be explained.

Ji Li felt a sense of unwillingness. He looked at the six people beside him. Including himself, there were now seven people here.

The lone individual had most likely witnessed the presence of a ghost. If they could find that person, they could verify whether the previously established killing rule was valid.

With this thought, Ji Li was about to lead the group out of the office.

Li Xing scratched his head and glanced at the broadcast speakers overhead, where the eerie opera lyrics were playing, feeling a bit spooked.

But then he heard a faint "creak"...

Li Xing stopped in his tracks, falling to the very end of the group. He slowly turned his head and saw the very back of the office. The glass door, which had remained sealed, now had a sliver of an opening.

Vaguely, he saw a foot...

In the shadows, the opened door seemed to represent some incredibly mysterious power. The moment he saw this, his heart felt as if it were being clouded by something.

A psychological suggestion of wanting to peek appeared involuntarily.

"Go over there... go over there..."

A voice echoed in his mind, without reason, yet so real.

Li Xing's eyes glazed over, and he walked stiffly toward the door, step by halting step.

The scene within became clearer in the dim light, and the owner of the foot gradually came into focus.

A bloated body lay prone on the ground, its head lolled to one side, legs weakly splayed out. Only its hands were twisted, prying at its own head.

Saliva dripped onto the floor; it had clearly been dead for a long time.

Next to its head lay a phone, its screen dark.

Li Xing looked at the pale, bloodless face. He should have been afraid, panicked, but at that moment, he forgot to be scared.

His thoughts even began to freeze.

In his eyes, only the twisted, suicidal death remained. Unconsciously, he slowly raised his own hands.

His left hand went to his chin, his right hand pressed near his temple, and he began to apply force...

At the exact same time, the hotel phone in his pocket abruptly lit up.

Through the fabric, it faintly emitted a strange light.

"Thump!"

Li Xing, about to end himself, was suddenly kicked to the ground by a brute force from behind. His chin hit a corner of the office desk, tearing a gash.

Simultaneously, the phone in his pocket went dark.

Li Xing regained his senses but was unable to move for a moment, as if needing time to regain control of his limbs.

The office door was fully opened, and Ji Li, along with the five staff members, crowded into the room.

Ji Li's gaze was cold. If the Third Personality hadn't alerted him that one of the original seven sets of footsteps had disappeared, he wouldn't have realized Li Xing had fallen victim.

Li Xing's body, having nearly died, lay motionless on the ground, its posture almost identical to that of the corpse.

As if he had become the second body in the room.