Going upstairs

At that instant, Ning Qiushui felt every cell in his body freeze!

Scrape-

Scrape-

The cold rasp of metal came from behind him, making his scalp nearly explode with terror!

That was... the sound of a knife scraping against a fork!

Right behind him!

And it was getting... closer and closer!

At the same time, the shutters at the far end of the corridor suddenly blew open!

An icy wind, heavy with the stench of blood, relentlessly assaulted Ning Qiushui's nose and lungs!

Fear... spread through his entire body!

Was he...

Going to die?

In that instant, indescribable terror surged over him like a tide, threatening to drown him!

He raised his hand, instinctively reaching to turn on the light!

Light... he needed light!

Only light could dispel this terrifying darkness!

But just as Ning Qiushui's hand was about to press the light switch, he forced himself to stop!

Part of the mysterious letter he had received earlier suddenly surfaced in his mind-

[...]

[In wind, light no lamps; in rain, light no candles.]

[By day, do not climb upstairs; by night, do not close your eyes.]

-In wind, light no lamps.

Gritting his teeth, Ning Qiushui fought the indescribable fear inside him and left the light off!

He withdrew his hand and headed down the corridor, pushing step by step into the icy, blood-scented wind!

The horrifying rasp of metal seemed to sound right beside his ear, tormenting his nerves without pause.

It felt as though the thing behind him might plunge its sharp knife and fork into his body at any moment and chop him to pieces!

Ning Qiushui took a deep breath, steeled himself, and clenched both fists, ignoring the terrifying metallic scraping behind him as he advanced one step at a time!

He was gambling.

Gambling that he had not triggered a death condition, and that the thing behind him... could not attack him!

One step...

Two steps...

At that moment, Ning Qiushui felt his adrenaline surge to its limit.

Every step was a brutal test of his nerve!

But he did not dare run, nor could he.

The wind blowing into his face was so cold that it seemed to pass through his skin, penetrating straight into his muscles and bone marrow... his whole body was rigid.

Fortunately... Ning Qiushui's gamble paid off.

Something seemed to restrain the terrifying thing behind him, preventing it from hurting him. When he finally struggled to his room and grasped the door handle, the shrill metallic scraping behind him abruptly vanished...

The blood-scented wind in the corridor gradually died down. By the pallid moonlight, Ning Qiushui saw that the shutters at the far end... had closed tightly again at some point.

"Was it just an illusion...?"

Ning Qiushui panted, his gaze sharpening slightly.

The bone-piercing chill behind him gradually faded too, as though the thing that had been following him... had left.

Ning Qiushui's mind went blank.

Only after pushing the door open and entering did he realize his clothes were soaked with sweat.

In the darkness, Liu Chengfeng's rough voice rang out, tinged with fear:

"Buddy, are you... okay?"

Clearly, he had heard the terrifying metallic scraping in the corridor too!

Ning Qiushui shook his head.

"I'm fine."

Liu Chengfeng approached and fumbled for Ning Qiushui's hand in the dark. Only after confirming that he had the body heat of a living person did Liu Chengfeng let out a long breath and say admiringly:

"Buddy, you're seriously... fucking incredible!"

"I thought you weren't coming back!"

"Was there... was there something out in the corridor just now...?"

Ning Qiushui nodded.

"It appeared."

Liu Chengfeng's eyes widened in disbelief:

"It... it didn't kill you?"

Ning Qiushui fell silent for a brief moment, then said:

"It can't kill us whenever it wants."

"It can only attack us after we trigger a 'death condition.'"

Remembering what had happened earlier, Liu Chengfeng felt his mind churn!

"So... you know what the death conditions are?"

Ning Qiushui said quietly:

"Some of them."

"I already told you earlier."

"But those aren't all the death conditions. Exactly how many there are... only it knows."

"What we need to do now... is uncover the truth as quickly as possible."

Liu Chengfeng's breathing quickened:

"But even if we learn the truth, that won't help us survive much, will it?"

Ning Qiushui was silent for a while.

"The truth should also come with a way to deal with it."

"Remember what the man in the suit told us earlier?"

"There's more than one way to survive in every world behind a Blood Gate. They might seem incredibly dangerous, but that doesn't mean we're completely powerless."

"Besides, that woman in the red dress warned us not to enter the villa's third floor. That must mean there's something extremely important up there!"

Uncertainty flickered in Liu Chengfeng's eyes. Finally, he steeled himself and said through gritted teeth:

"Okay!"

"Just tell me when you're going, buddy. I'll come with you!"

"Worst case, we die together. At least we'll have company!"

Ning Qiushui said:

"Let's wait a little longer."

The two waited in their room for a long time.

Then, in the latter half of the night, the scalp-prickling rasp of metal suddenly rang out in the corridor outside once again!

They both knew it was the sound of a knife scraping against a fork!

The thing on the third floor... had come down to feed again!

Even though he had prepared himself, Liu Chengfeng still distinctly felt countless hairs on his body stand on end, and his hands and feet shook uncontrollably!

This time... who would it be?

Scrape-

Scrape-

Scrape-

As the scraping drew closer, Liu Chengfeng's heart beat faster and faster.

He glanced at Ning Qiushui sitting beside him and discovered... that he had actually started drinking tea.

Liu Chengfeng froze.

Then, once again, he felt genuine admiration for the other man's nerves.

"Buddy, I think you're the first person I've ever met... who could leisurely drink tea in a situation like this!"

Liu Chengfeng kept his voice extremely low.

Ning Qiushui set down his teacup.

"I'm nervous too."

"But different people show it differently."

"When I get nervous, I like to eat or drink something."

Despite his words, his voice remained steady, with almost no audible tremor.

Outside the door,

The terrifying sound once again stopped in front of their room first.

The knife and fork scraped against each other over and over, as though a ravenous ghost stood at their door, staring at them and drooling...

Liu Chengfeng felt pathetic, but his palms were indeed drenched in sweat.

He was truly afraid.

Afraid that the terrifying thing outside would suddenly burst in...

Fortunately, what he imagined did not happen.

After lingering outside their door for a while, the ghostly thing seemed to realize it could not attack them, so it turned its attention to another room.

This time...

It was exactly like the night before.

The sound... vanished outside the room next door.

About five minutes passed. Pressed against the door, Ning Qiushui still heard nothing, so he slowly pushed it open a crack.

After watching for a while, Ning Qiushui opened the gap wider and poked half his head out, looking both ways along the dark, deathly silent corridor.

Apart from the open shutters at the far end and the cold wind whistling through, there was nothing in the corridor.

"Now. Let's go!"

Ning Qiushui beckoned to Liu Chengfeng. The two slipped out on tiptoe and crept cautiously through the darkness toward the stairwell...