Action on the Fourth Floor

The night in Z City was rather deserted.

It's probably because the news of the ghost story gradually spread throughout the city.

Yang Jian temporarily chose to retreat and rest with Xiong Wenwen in a makeshift tent far from the city. After all, safety was a priority, so staying away from the Caesar Hotel was essential.

However, it is impossible for a city to be completely evacuated in a short period of time. So, apart from some locked-down areas, most places continue to maintain their normal rhythm of life as usual, with people eating and going to work as usual.

However, as events unfold, this calm will soon be shattered.

The Ghost Tamer Headquarters was clearly aware of this, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to quickly mobilize three top Ghost Tamer — Feng Quan, Guo Fan, and Yang Jian —to support Tong Qian. In addition, they even invited several outside helpers to ensure a swift resolution to the incident and stabilize the situation in Z City.

However, in the night sky above the city, those pale, lifeless heads still floated in the air.

Although they are invisible at night, that doesn't mean they don't exist.

This is a residential community in Z city.

Most residents had already closed their doors and windows, drawn their curtains, and turned on all the lights in their living rooms before it was completely dark.

The rumors of ghosts are no longer just urban legends; they've become a local phenomenon. The residents of Z City aren't that naive. With today's advanced information channels, photos of human heads and balloons have spread across various social media platforms. They just don't know much about it and are unaware of the real dangers behind the incident. Otherwise, the residents of Z City would have already rushed to flee the city.

Of course, there are some die-hards who do not believe this is a paranormal event.

Not everyone can easily reshape their perception.

After all, the situation was still under control and had not caused large-scale casualties, or rather, it had not happened to people around them.

Dai Yong, who lives in this community, is one of them.

He was in his early thirties and had achieved some success in his career. While he couldn't be considered a successful person in this age group, he was certainly middle class.

Today, Dai Yong was in a bad mood because the rumors about the human head balloons in Z City had affected his work and caused a significant drop in his income.

"What kind of human head balloon is this? It only fools those old folks. What era are we living in? They still believe in this stuff. If there really are ghosts, I'd like to see them. I've never seen a ghost in my life," Dai Yong complained as he opened the door.

Upon entering the house, he saw his five-year-old son sitting on the sofa watching cartoons.

"Lele, where's Mom? Why are you home alone?" Dai Yong looked around the house but couldn't find his wife.

While watching cartoons, Lele said, "Mom went downstairs to play mahjong, Dad, I'm hungry."

"That spendthrift woman, she can't even leave the child home alone, and she hasn't cooked dinner this late," Dai Yong said angrily.

I was angry, but I couldn't just ignore the fact that the child hadn't eaten, so I had to go to the kitchen and cook two dishes to prepare dinner myself.

"Ding-dong~!"

Just as Dai Yong was cooking, a text message came in. "Dai Yong, are you still at home? Why don't you leave Z City right away? It's haunted there."

"I'm cooking for the kids, what's all this fuss about? When did you start joining in this?" Dai Yong replied to his friend's text message.

"It's true. I know a friend who works in the bureau. Just today, three helicopters flew to Z City. Do you know who they are? They're from the most mysterious ghost-catching department, and four of them came at once. Something big is definitely going to happen in Z City. I've already slipped away and am sending you this text from a rest stop on the highway."

"Damn, you really ran away? You're not going to work anymore? Are you planning to starve to death?" Dai Yong replied again.

"What's the point of working if you're dead? Don't believe me? I have evidence. My friend risked going to jail to secretly take this photo." This message was followed by a photo.

The photo shows a young man leading a child of about ten years old as they get out of a car, with the Caesar Hotel, which is heavily cordoned off, in the background.

"See that? They're heading to the Caesar Hotel, the one you went to for your wedding. Your house shouldn't be far from there, right? I'm pretty sure that hotel is haunted. Did you see all those police tapes? There are special forces officers patrolling around with guns." The text message came back.

"You just take a random photo and call someone a ghost hunter? Why don't you take a picture of a Daoist priest to make it look more realistic? And do all the people in the photo look even thirty years old?" Dai Yong chuckled and replied via voice message.

His friend grew anxious and said, "Don't disbelieve me. This person was transferred from Dachang City. I don't know the specifics, but there were rumors of ghosts in Dachang City recently. The fact that this person was transferred from Dachang City speaks volumes. You'd better run. Not many people know about this yet; I've only told a few relatives and friends."

Although Yang Jian's actions and work are highly confidential, once he comes into contact with someone, nothing stays secret forever.

After all, people involved in this work also have families. Knowing that a paranormal event has occurred, they will try their best to spread the news, even at the risk of being punished. And as the news spreads, so far, quite a few people already know about the haunting of the Caesar Hotel.

This wasn't Starvation Ghost Incident; the entire city wasn't locked down, so those who knew the inside story naturally fled quickly.

"Alright, alright, that's enough. I need to eat. Let's talk again next time," Dai Yong said dismissively and hung up the phone.

He'd heard plenty of rumors; if he were going to believe them, he would have already. Even if a friend came to his door to tell him, he wouldn't change his mind unless he saw it with his own eyes.

But some things cannot be seen with your own eyes, because seeing them means that terror and death are about to befall you, and then everything is over.

"Lele, dinner's ready." Dai Yong came out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly cooked dishes.

My son, who was watching cartoons on the living room sofa earlier, is now nowhere to be seen.

Dai Yong looked around and found Lele standing on the balcony, with a stool on her feet and most of her body sticking out of the window. He was so frightened that he ran over and hugged her tightly.

"Haven't I told you countless times not to climb out the window? You'll fall and die if you're not careful!" he shouted angrily.

Lele pointed out the window and said, "But Mommy is outside. I want to open the window and let Mommy in."

"What?"

Dai Yong was startled. He looked out the window, but it was pitch black and there was nothing there.

This is the 18th floor, which is considered a high-rise apartment. How could anyone be outside?

"Lele, you must be mistaken. Mom isn't outside. She's playing mahjong downstairs. I called her to come back for dinner," Dai Yong said, then got up and closed the window.

But just as he was closing the window, he suddenly paused.

Outside the Sichuan Foreign Language School, about one or two meters away, there seemed to be something floating there, dark and like a balloon, but I couldn't see it clearly.

However, the dark object floated and spun in mid-air. When it turned to face him, illuminated by the light from inside the room, a pale female face appeared before him. This face looked exactly like Dai Yong's wife.

No, this is his wife, and she's still wearing his familiar earrings.

Ah~!

Dai Yong, a man in his early thirties, was so frightened that his face turned deathly pale. His legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, his eyes filled with terror.

Because there was nothing underneath the head, it floated like a balloon.

Is the legend of the Head Balloon Incident in Z City true?

Before Dai Yong could process what was happening, a gust of wind blew in from outside the window, and the head that had been floating outside slowly flew over with the wind, passed through the window, entered the room, and intentionally or unintentionally moved closer to him.

Terrified, Dai Yong tried to grab his son and run away, to leave this place, to leave this city.

But when he looked to the side, he found that his son was standing motionless in the same spot.

His head was gone, and he flew away like a balloon detached from his neck.

Despair and fear caused Dai Yong to let out a scream of despair.

However, this was not the only case of this kind of thing happening to him; terror was still brewing in Z City, and this was just one example.

Inside the Caesar Hotel, which is suspected to be the source of the incident.

Fourth floor.

Feng Quan was smoking, leaning against the wall, resting with a frown on his face. His hands were trembling slightly, whether from nervousness or fear, it was hard to tell.

"Still haven't found a way out?" He took a deep drag of his cigarette and said this.

Guo Fan returned with a dark expression. "No, we've been lost for four hours since we came in. We're just wandering around in this corridor, like it will never end. We've probably entered some kind of special Ghost Domain, and it's very difficult to get out on foot."

"It's a pity Yang Jian took Xiong Wenwen to the second floor to investigate. If we had acted together, we definitely wouldn't be trapped. His code name is Ghost Eye Yang Jian; he's all about the Ghost Domain." Feng Quan said with a headache, "If we still can't get out by dawn, we'll have to ask Yang Jian for help."

He wasn't afraid of the Ghost Domain; what he feared was being trapped and unable to escape.

"If I had the Ghost Candle, I wouldn't need to rely on some clueless kid," Guo Fan said.

Feng Quan shook his head and said, "Yang Jian is not that simple. He has experienced top-tier supernatural events. He is a very special person. How should I put it? Because he debuted at a young age, he has great potential. After all, he had good luck at the beginning and mastered the Ghost Eye that can use the Ghost Domain. Like Li Jun, he has great potential. If he can solve the Z City incident again, he will almost certainly be selected as the captain."

"When did you start speaking up for him?" Guo Fan asked.

"We just have different ideologies. I really dislike his personality. He's too selfish, with typical petty-bourgeois mentality. He's afraid of death, only cares about his own little corner of the world, and doesn't care about anything else. Although people like him have a high survival rate, I look down on him, but I have to admire his abilities." Feng Quan said, expressing his evaluation of Yang Jian.

"If he gave me his abilities, once I became the captain, I would change the world, end this supernatural era, and restore peace to the entire world. That's what a man should do."

Feng Quan revealed his dreams and ambitions.

Guo Fan looked at him without speaking, because he felt that Feng Quan's words were too beautiful, so beautiful that they seemed somewhat hypocritical. On the contrary, Yang Jian seemed to live more authentically, only for himself and not for others, just like himself.

Because I am the same way.

Solving paranormal events, earning merit, getting promoted, and living longer—only then can one enjoy the benefits of money and power.

"Creak. Bang!"

But just then, the sound of a door opening and closing suddenly rang out.

Although the sound wasn't loud, it echoed clearly in the corridor, making people shudder and instinctively tense up.

Feng Quan jumped up from the ground, his expression changing drastically; "It's appeared?"

They had received word long ago that the hotel was uninhabited; all staff and guests had been evacuated several days prior, so there was no way anyone could be staying on the fourth floor.

"No sound again." Guo Fan listened for a moment and found that the surroundings had become quiet again.

"Let's go take a look."

Feng Quan cautiously followed the sound of the door opening and arrived at the entrance of a corridor he had never seen before.

The floor in front was still covered with a red carpet, and on the left and right sides were rows of hotel rooms, each with a room number: 1, 2, 3, and so on.

"The area ahead doesn't belong to this hotel." Guo Fan stopped walking and didn't continue.

"Why?"

Guo Fan analyzed, "The room numbers in this hotel aren't hung like that. I checked the information before, and the room numbers here are all in the form of 002, 004, etc. There aren't any rooms that start directly from 1."

"A haunted place?" Feng Quan frowned.

He wasn't surprised, because that's how haunted places are; they seem to blend in with their surroundings, but in some ways they feel out of place, appearing eerie, mysterious, and inexplicable.

"Creak!"

However, at that moment, another door opening sounded in the corridor. A guest room door in the distance slowly opened, but stopped halfway open.

The door was ajar, and a sliver of light shone from inside.

Through the half-open door, the room number 31 could be vaguely seen.

The two immediately fell silent, their eyes fixed on the open door, trying to determine what might emerge from it.

However, no.

The door was still ajar, but no one came out. However, through the half-open door, one could see what appeared to be people moving around inside, and the light was constantly shifting.

"Should we go?" Feng Quan was ready to make a move, because he knew that if they made contact, they would most likely come into contact with the existence of a ghost.

Guo Fan's expression changed. "I can't bring myself to stay here and wait until tomorrow to ask Yang Jian for help. Let's take action. The two of us can deal with it together. With our abilities, we don't need to figure out any rules. We can just imprison a ghost as soon as we encounter it. After all, this ghost's danger level is only B-class. It's just that the higher-ups classified it as A because of its significant impact."

"Okay, let's go together then." Feng Quan immediately nodded in agreement.