Behind the Door

Chapter 4: Behind the Door

Cold.

Before he could even observe his surroundings after stepping through the door, his body had already registered this sensation.

This chill did not seem to stem from the ambient temperature, but rather... from his heart.

"Bang--"

The sound of a door closing echoed behind him.

It was at this moment that control over his body finally returned to Bai Yanliang.

He immediately turned his head to look, but there was only a expanse of grey mist behind him. Where had the door gone?

"Ah!!!"

A shrill scream rang out in the thin mist; it was a woman.

There were other people here.

Bai Yanliang's expression remained calm, but his brain was working with extraordinary speed.

Grey mist swirled in every direction, and only above, in a place that might or might not have been the sky, hung a pair of massive, elongated, dark red objects, casting a dim, unsettling light.

"The last of the newcomers has arrived."

A man's voice sounded from the mist ahead. Bai Yanliang tensed his body and looked forward: "Who is it?"

However, this single glance caused Bai Yanliang's pupils to constrict.

The grey mist in this space seemed to be gradually dissipating, and dense crowds of figures began to emerge from the haze.

They stood in silence, like so many corpses, quietly facing in Bai Yanliang's direction.

"Oh?" A slightly curious female voice also emerged from the front.

It wasn't just her; the dense crowd of figures around her also began to stir, and gazes that chilled the heart began to converge upon Bai Yanliang.

"An interesting newcomer, to be so calm."

As these words fell, the surrounding mist finally dispersed completely!

Under the dim light, Bai Yanliang finally saw everything before him.

People... all kinds of people!

Men in suits, people in rags, the physically robust, the scrawny and wretched, the stunningly beautiful, the plain and simple... a motley collection of individuals had suddenly appeared before him.

Or rather, they had been standing in front of Bai Yanliang the entire time, merely obscured by the grey mist.

"Welcome, newcomers." The speaker was a refined man of about thirty; judging by the voice, it was the same person who had spoken before.

Bai Yanliang looked at him. He had a refined and handsome face, a straight posture, wore a well-tailored suit, and sported silver-rimmed square glasses.

Before Bai Yanliang could respond to his words, another voice suddenly shrieked.

"Who... who are you people! Let me go! Where is this place? Let me out! Otherwise, I'm calling the police!" The woman's high-pitched voice trembled; she was the one who had screamed earlier.

"Please, everyone, stay calm and try to recall how you entered this place." The man in the suit's voice was not loud, but it possessed a certain quality that put people at ease.

Bai Yanliang turned his head to look beside him. A young woman in her twenties was slumped on the ground, her face filled with panic and fear. Besides her, there was a middle-aged man who, like Bai Yanliang, had remained silent from the start. However, his expression was not as calm as Bai Yanliang's; his slightly furrowed brows, the direction his toes were pointed, and his constantly dilating pupils all betrayed his unease and fear, though... he was forcing himself to suppress it and not show it.

"I don't care! I don't care what tricks you used, let me leave this place!" The woman's voice remained sharp and grating.

"Do you really think anyone has the means to instantly transport dozens of people to a place like this?" The man in the suit remained gentle, showing no anger at the woman's hysterical and unreasonable behavior.

This sentence finally made the woman shut her mouth. Everything that had just happened was merely her way of escaping reality.

Yet, her gaze remained panicked and vacant. Perhaps she wanted to treat all of this as a nightmare from which she could wake up?

"Are you... Zhou Li?" At this moment, the silent middle-aged man suddenly spoke. His voice carried a hint of suspicion, yet also a touch of certainty, as his eyes were fixed on the man in the suit.

Zhou Li looked at him in surprise: "You know me?"

"The financial genius who rejected twenty companies—of course I know you." Having recognized a familiar face, the middle-aged man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I am Shen Changrong, president of the Baisheng United Group in Shen City. I met you at a banquet once."

"You are in Shen City?" Bai Yanliang suddenly interjected.

Shen Changrong seemed to realize something as he looked at Bai Yanliang and nodded: "That's right. I was just opening my office door, and who knew that once I stepped inside, it would be here. You..."

"I am in Ye City." Bai Yanliang replied. After getting his answer, he stopped speaking and instead looked at the man named Zhou Li.

It was clear that he was a leader-like figure among the dozens of people behind him.

As it happened, when Bai Yanliang looked at Zhou Li, Zhou Li was also looking at Bai Yanliang.

His gaze held surprise, appreciation, and admiration as he said sincerely: "We have seen many newcomers. Most of them are like this young lady, and the few who are calm are like Mr. Shen, feeling more or less uneasy and suspicious. Sir, you are the third person I have ever seen who showed no panic at all upon entering this place."

Bai Yanliang's heart stirred at these words, and he reached out his hand: "Bai Yanliang."

"Zhou Li." Zhou Li reached out to shake Bai Yanliang's hand, and the two exchanged names.

Immediately after, he did not continue to speak privately with Bai Yanliang, but instead addressed Bai Yanliang, Shen Changrong, and the woman who was still in a daze: "I know you all have many questions and anxieties, but time does not permit me to explain in detail. I will only say the following once."

Here it comes.

Bai Yanliang's heart skipped a beat. In truth, ever since Zhou Li and the people behind him had appeared, he had sensed that something was not quite right.

Although the other side had the advantage in numbers, they seemed to be... a loose collection of individuals?

This situation was quite rare; when humans are part of a collective, even without good personal relationships, they tend to form small cliques based on temperament, interests, or other factors.

However, Bai Yanliang could not discern any such connections. On the contrary, from the beginning until now, aside from their silence, this group exuded a subtle, lingering emotion.

It was an emotion Bai Yanliang had once witnessed at Ye City Psychiatric Hospital: despair.

Furthermore, although this group stood together, the sense of distance between them was quite apparent.

Bai Yanliang could see their mutual wariness at a glance. It wasn't just him; Shen Changrong had also noticed this long ago. The only one who knew nothing, it seemed, was this woman who was still standing there in a daze.

Then, seeing the woman also cast her gaze toward Zhou Li, he finally spoke:

"In fact, no one knows where this is. Everyone here is the same; after inexplicably opening a door, they ended up here. There is no basis, no logic to it."

"Moreover, we are forced to periodically complete some damned, ghost-ridden tasks." Zhou Li's expression turned somewhat ugly. Looking at the three of them, his eyes behind his lenses flickered with resentment and helplessness. "I am not just describing how detestable the tasks are; I mean it literally—they are ghost-ridden!"