The Source

In the fifth-floor corridor, Ji Li, with his dark brown hair, knelt on the ground, his gray-black eyes lifted as he looked at the clear, water-like little girl before him.

All sounds in the world faded, leaving only the two of them breathing.

It was the man's groan after his head throbbed, and the child's tentative sounds of helplessness.

Ji Li slowly stood up from the ground, brushing off his slightly disheveled clothes.

"As expected, Xiao Qi is Lao Xue's daughter..."

Xiao Qi, why didn't she die? The answer was already obvious.

Her identity in this building was very special.

Because she wasn't a staff member; like Ji Li and the other hotel staff, she was also an outsider!

Therefore, whether it was the real mission content or the false mission content, the Ghost would only target her last.

Otherwise, a seven or eight-year-old girl holding the secret to survival couldn't have survived alone for such a long time!

Ji Li's eyes passed over the frightened Xiao Qi and looked towards the deepest end of the corridor, to the office where the opera singing once echoed.

It was deathly silent there now; since Lao Xue's death, no one had set foot there.

But Ji Li didn't understand. Lao Xue died on the fifth floor. Even though Xiao Qi looked only seven or eight years old, she should have some understanding of death.

"Did you... not see your dad?"

Thinking this, Ji Li couldn't help but ask. Perhaps things had changed after he left.

Xiao Qi was like a startled fawn. She was very afraid of Ji Li's gaze, but he was the only adult she could rely on right now.

After hesitating, she said crisply:

"No..."

Ji Li gave the girl a strange look, then took her arm and walked deeper into the fifth floor.

They walked in silence, both quiet.

When Ji Li reached his previous spot, the office where Lao Xue's corpse had been was now empty except for the desk; there was no one there!

"Lao Xue's body is gone..."

Ji Li looked at the scene before him, finding it hard to believe.

The Ghost hadn't shown itself at all up to this point. Why would it move Lao Xue's body?

He took Lao Xue's phone from his pocket, lit up the screen, and looked at the unread messages from Text Message Man, pursing his lips.

He turned his head and asked the bewildered Xiao Qi, "Why are you in this building?"

Xiao Qi didn't quite understand why Ji Li had brought her here. Hearing the question, she hugged her teddy bear tighter.

"The power went out at home, and Dad had to work, so he brought me here to spend the night.

I was sleeping there, holding my teddy bear.

Later, Dad woke me up strangely, saying he wanted to play hide-and-seek with me.

I was groggy and unwilling, but Dad's tone was firm, insisting I hide.

So, I hid in a cardboard box outside.

But then, I fell asleep again.

When I woke up, Dad was gone..."

As Xiao Qi spoke, her eyes began to redden, but she appeared very strong, not letting tears fall.

Ji Li remained unmoved. He stared at Xiao Qi's words, his mind racing with guesses:

"Xiao Qi probably wouldn't lie. Lao Xue waking his daughter up in the middle of the night and ordering her to hide must be because he discovered something he shouldn't have.

It's likely that Lao Xue knew the building had ghosts at that time and sensed the crisis approaching, so he made Xiao Qi hide in advance."

The events were coherent, surprisingly smooth.

But Ji Li suddenly realized something. He took a sharp breath and began calculating in his mind.

Then he felt something was wrong.

"There are a total of 43 staff members in the building. Regardless of whether this number was calculated by the Ghost or the hotel, there should be no error.

And Xiao Qi's identity is special; she is an outsider. So, including her, this building should account for 44 people!

The other missing person..."

Ji Li suddenly thought of a breakthrough. Lao Xue, Text Message Man, and that missing person might know each other.

Lao Xue had always been on the fifth floor. He definitely wasn't the one who got the news about the ghosts in the building.

Perhaps the main leaders were the missing person and Text Message Man. They got the information and told Lao Xue.

It was as if they had dragged Lao Xue into this.

What these three discovered was the most crucial secret of this mission!

Ji Li quickly took out Lao Xue's phone from his pocket. This time, he was determined to see what those unread messages from Text Message Man said!

Lao Xue's phone was quite outdated; it didn't have fingerprint unlocking, only a password.

He leaned down, trying to soften his expression, and asked Xiao Qi gently, "This is your dad's phone. Do you know the unlock password?"

"My dad's phone, why is it with you..."

Xiao Qi wasn't very mature, but she was quite sharp, especially since she was terrified of Ji Li's pupils, which had turned a grayish color.

Ji Li was unaware of his own change; he was just anxious to uncover the truth.

Calculating the time, he figured the deaths downstairs had likely concluded, and he could be attacked any second.

However, he hadn't yet realized that his hotel phone could no longer receive calls, nor did he know the situation with Fang Shenyan and Tong Guan.

Including the fact that ten staff members on the first floor were still not dead!

For a child who wasn't even a teenager, Ji Li couldn't be bothered to make up an excuse.

"I don't know where your father is, but if you want to find him, you need to help me unlock this phone."

Xiao Qi's small face immediately turned pale. Her only family member had disappeared after she fell asleep, and it was already a miracle she had held on this long.

Upon hearing Ji Li's words, the tears she had held back for so long finally streamed down her face.

Ji Li looked at Xiao Qi, who was crying profusely, feeling both helpless and impatient. He simply didn't have time to comfort a child.

"Just tell me the phone password, and I'll take you to find your dad. Stop crying! I'll only give you two seconds!"

"!"

This time, Xiao Qi readily gave Lao Xue's phone password. Ji Li glanced at her and said nothing more.

The phone unlocked successfully, and he clicked on Lao Xue's chat history with the Text Message Man.

"Xiao Li, what are you showing me in the middle of the night? So mysterious?"

"Lao Xue! Don't think I'm joking. Brother Xu and I found a group of kb elements on the eighth floor! They're searching door-to-door right now! All the other colleagues have been taken away!"

"How is that possible? I was sleeping with Xiao Qi the whole time and didn't hear anything."

This Xiao Li must be the Text Message Man's name. It seemed Xiao Li had discovered something and wanted Lao Xue to see it.

But Ji Li frowned at this point. He couldn't understand why Tong Guan and Chang Nian, who were responsible for this floor, hadn't discovered Lao Xue and Xiao Qi's location.

This didn't align with his understanding of Tong Guan.

But this question was temporarily pushed aside as he was immediately drawn to the following conversation.

"What photo are you trying to show me?"

"Don't be scared when you see it.

In this world... there are ghosts!"