The Eerie Mall

Yang Jian looked at the corpse that had vanished, his expression gradually turning grave.

This group had really gone too far this time.

The ghost lurking inside the mall had probably truly appeared.

But where was that ghost now?

The surroundings were pitch-dark. It was not so dark that they could see nothing at all, but they could only make out human outlines, not anyone's face.

At this moment, Boss Tang, Manager Li, Master Luo, and the others did not care why the lights had gone out. Seeing the corpse disappear, fear began to rise in their hearts, and they instinctively sensed that something was wrong.

Was the place haunted?

The two candles on the table were still burning, their orange flames flickering unsteadily in the darkness.

But the mall was so vast that two candles could not possibly illuminate the entire place. They barely lit the surrounding area, and with people blocking the light and shadows swaying back and forth, they only added to the sinister atmosphere.

"Quick, get out of here! We failed earlier, and that filthy thing has already been angered. If we don't leave now, something terrible will definitely happen!" Master Luo shouted.

Faced with something this bizarre, there was a ninety-percent chance they had really encountered a ghost. How could he dare stay here any longer?

As soon as he said that, a female employee screamed in terror and began fleeing.

In an instant, they scattered everywhere like headless flies.

But soon, they discovered a very serious problem.

The entire mall had been locked up. Whether it was the front entrance or the emergency exits, every door was locked.

This had been Master Luo's instruction earlier.

"The keys, where are the keys? Security, hurry up and open the doors!" Boss Tang tried the front doors and, finding them locked, anxiously shouted in every direction.

"I said it earlier. Why did you lock the doors for no reason? If you wanted to trap the ghost inside, did you ever stop to think that you were trapped in here too? Now you've really screwed yourselves over, haven't you?" Yang Jian switched on his flashlight, illuminating the area around them.

"Young man, where are the keys to the front doors? Hurry, open them!" Boss Tang said in a panic.

Yang Jian shook his head. "I don't have the keys. I'm new here; this is only my second day on the job. Sister Li handles all the keys. I can lock doors, but I can't unlock them. Besides, isn't this man beside you supposed to catch ghosts? Why not let him show us what he can do and catch the ghost? Then we'll all be safe."

As he spoke, he looked again at Master Luo, whose forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"You still dare talk? It was your interference earlier that kept me from finishing! Otherwise, how could this have happened? That thing has been enraged now. How could it possibly be easy to deal with?"

Master Luo flew into a rage and directly blamed Yang Jian.

"You're an adult too. Is it really okay to dump responsibility on me this shamelessly? Don't you know whether you're actually capable of catching ghosts? Look how scared you are, and you still dare say that? With how pathetic you are, if the real ghost shows up later, you'll definitely be dead meat."

Yang Jian glanced at him with a hint of mockery.

Master Luo barked, "Don't talk nonsense! Although I can't deal with the thing here, as long as I'm around, it doesn't have the ability to harm anyone."

"Boss Tang, don't worry. I guarantee that you'll leave safely. Nothing will happen to you."

Boss Tang trusted him greatly and hurriedly said, "Then I'll be relying entirely on you."

"N-No problem."

Master Luo once again displayed a swindler's talent, speaking with complete confidence.

Yang Jian shook his head. For Master Luo to fool Boss Tang this thoroughly, he really did have some skill.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear something rolling toward them. He shifted his flashlight and shone it onto the floor nearby.

Under the beam of light, a head rolled toward them.

Its hair was neatly combed. It belonged to a female employee, seemingly Wei Xiaohong, the cashier who had suddenly screamed earlier that the corpse was gone.

"Oh my god."

Master Luo's legs went limp in terror. He collapsed backward against the wall and slumped onto the floor.

His pants were soaked with urine.

He had pissed himself.

Boss Tang and Manager Li both widened their eyes, their faces filled with terror.

Earlier, when the corpse had merely vanished, they had not been quite so afraid. But now, seeing that an employee who had been alive right in front of them moments ago had been reduced to a single head rolling over—

Everyone realized that this was far more than an ordinary haunting.

"The ghost has started killing people?"

Yang Jian frowned deeply. He did not use the power of his Ghost Eye. Unless absolutely necessary, he would not borrow the power of a fierce ghost, especially when there was nothing to gain from it.

Still, out of curiosity, he walked over and shone his flashlight on Wei Xiaohong's head.

"There's no blood at the neck."

He crouched down and examined the head. With a gentle squeeze, a nauseating stench of decay rushed into his face.

"And it doesn't look like she just died. It looks like she's been dead for several days. But why would a head that had been dead for days remain so perfectly preserved?"

"That's impossible. She was alive earlier. How did she start rotting in the blink of an eye? That ghost didn't use a Ghost Domain either. It shouldn't be able to rot a corpse this quickly."

Yang Jian fell into deep thought.

What exactly was the ghost occupying this mall?

Without enough information, he had not even seen the ghost.

There was simply no way to figure out its abilities or its patterns of movement.

And since the terms had not yet been settled, he did not want to put in any effort and waste his own power.

He immediately stood up and turned around. "Something big really has happened. There truly is a ghost in this mall. I suggest you leave now. Run away from here."

"The doors are all locked. How are we supposed to leave? Where's Sister Li? Doesn't she have the keys? Can you help us find her and get her to open the doors?" Manager Li asked.

Yang Jian looked at him. "This mall is huge. Who knows where Sister Li ran off to in fright? I'm not going to look for her. If you want to go, then go yourself. But out of kindness, I can remind you of something: although the first floor is locked, the emergency exit on the fifth floor isn't. You can use it to get onto the fifth-floor platform, circle around, and go downstairs from somewhere else to leave."

"Yes, yes, yes! Why didn't I think of that? Thank you, little brother, thank you!" Manager Li was overjoyed and immediately ran off.

"What about you? Aren't you leaving?" Yang Jian asked Master Luo, Boss Tang, and the others.

With that reminder, the others immediately came to their senses.

Several employees promptly followed Manager Li in terror, rushing up the stairs as though fleeing for their lives.

"Thank you for the reminder, little brother. I'm so grateful."

Boss Tang grabbed Yang Jian's hand excitedly.

"Don't get so familiar. Besides, I only reminded you. Whether you can get out safely is still another matter. Hurry up and move. Don't waste time," Yang Jian said calmly. He wanted to see whether these people could lure the ghost out while fleeing.

Of course, he really did need to use the bathroom now.

Boss Tang said, "Little brother, aren't you coming with us?"

"No. I want to use the bathroom first. You go ahead," Yang Jian said.

Boss Tang froze. At a time like this, he was still thinking about using the bathroom?

Fifth floor of the mall.

Only after Yan Li ran to the fifth floor did he finally see the figure beside the railing clearly.

He froze. What stood before him was not a person at all, but a plastic mannequin shaped exactly like a human. In the darkness, it looked extraordinarily similar to a person, so similar that it was impossible to tell the difference.

But this mannequin was like the foul-smelling corpse he had found earlier.

It had no head.

"The ghost isn't on the fifth floor."

Yan Li suddenly realized something and leaned over to look downstairs.

At that moment, there was a click, and the entire mall lost power. Only two candles glowed in the darkness, but then a woman screamed from downstairs. The crowd panicked and instinctively scattered in every direction.

"A diversion?"

For some reason, that phrase surfaced in Yan Li's mind.

But could a ghost really be that clever?

"Damn it."

He decided not to worry about it for now. Gritting his teeth, he prepared to head straight to the first floor.

But at that moment, Yan Li caught something in the corner of his eye, and cold sweat instantly broke out all over his body.

The headless plastic mannequin that had been standing beside the railing was gone.

He looked around, but could not find any trace of it.

It seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Tap! Tap!" However, faint footsteps sounded behind him.

"Something's wrong." Yan Li abruptly turned around.

The headless plastic mannequin was now standing behind him. Yet one of its arms was raised, as though it wanted to reach toward him.

"Courting death."

Yan Li shouted and immediately grabbed the mannequin's two outstretched arms.

At that moment, his palms turned crimson, giving off a dense bloody stench. Strands of blood seeped from between his fingers, dripping onto the floor with soft patters.

When the mannequin's arms were stained with that thick blood, it crashed to the ground. Its limbs and body immediately fell apart.

The surroundings instantly became quiet again.

"Was that the ghost?"

With a grave expression, Yan Li inspected the scattered mannequin parts on the floor.

There was nothing unusual.

Even after being stained with the blood on his hands, there was no change.

It was just an ordinary mannequin.

"This thing here isn't easy to deal with." Yan Li frowned deeply.

The blood on the floor slowly wriggled again, as if alive, crawling along his palm and gradually sinking back inside.