The Strange Mall

Yang Jian watched the corpse that had already vanished, his gaze gradually growing solemn.

This time, these people had really messed up.

The ghost lurking in the mall had truly appeared.

But where would that ghost be now?

The surroundings were dim. While not completely dark, one could only see silhouettes, not individual faces.

At this moment, Boss Tang, Manager Li, and Master Luo's group weren't concerned about why the lights went out. Upon seeing the corpse disappear, they all began to panic, instinctively feeling that something was wrong.

A haunting?

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

However, the mall was so vast that two candles were far from enough to illuminate everything. They only managed to light up the immediate surroundings. Coupled with people blocking the light, the shifting shadows only added to the eerie atmosphere.

"Quick, quickly get out of here! We didn't succeed before, and that thing has been angered. If we don't leave now, something terrible will happen," Master Luo shouted.

Encountering such a bizarre event, it was highly likely they had indeed encountered a ghost. He didn't dare stay here any longer.

As soon as he said this, a female employee screamed in fear and began to flee.

Suddenly, they were like headless chickens, scattering in all directions.

But then they discovered a very serious problem.

The entire mall had been locked down. Both the main entrance and the emergency exits were sealed.

This was arranged by Master Luo earlier.

"The keys, where are the keys? Security, open the doors quickly!" Boss Tang tried to open the main door and, seeing it was locked, urgently shouted around.

"I told you earlier, why did you lock the doors? If you were trying to trap the ghost inside, didn't you consider you'd be inside too? Now you've really messed up," Yang Jian said, turning on his flashlight to illuminate the surroundings.

"Young man, where are the keys to the main door? Quickly, quickly open it," Boss Tang said, somewhat flustered.

Yang Jian shook his head. "I don't have the keys. I'm new here, it's my second day. Sister Li manages the keys. I can only lock them, not unlock them. Besides, isn't the person next to you capable of catching ghosts? Why not let him show off his skills and catch this ghost? Then we'll all be safe?"

He then looked at the sweating Master Luo beside him.

"How dare you speak like that? It's all your fault for causing trouble earlier and preventing me from finishing. Otherwise, this situation wouldn't have happened. Now that thing has been provoked, it's not so easy to deal with."

Master Luo was furious, directly blaming Yang Jian.

"You're an adult, is it really okay to irresponsibly shift the blame onto me? Do you even know if you have the ability to catch ghosts? Look how scared you are, yet you dare to say that? With your cowardly demeanor, you'll definitely die if the ghost comes later."

Yang Jian glanced at him with a hint of mockery.

Master Luo reprimanded, "Don't talk nonsense. Although I can't deal with things here, with me around, that thing doesn't have the ability to harm people."

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

Boss Tang believed him wholeheartedly and said, "Everything is in your hands."

"No, no problem."

Master Luo once again displayed his talent for deception, exuding confidence.

Yang Jian shook his head. To be able to fool Boss Tang like this, this Master Luo really had some skill.

Suddenly, he seemed to hear a rolling sound. He moved his flashlight, shining it towards the ground nearby.

Under the light, a head rolled towards them.

The head had neatly combed hair. It belonged to a female employee, seemingly the cashier Wei Xiaohong who had screamed earlier when the corpse disappeared.

"Oh my god."

Master Luo's legs went weak from fright. He stumbled backward, leaning against the wall, and collapsed onto the floor.

His pants were soaked.

He had wet himself in fear.

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

Before, the corpse had simply vanished, and they weren't that scared. But now, seeing the head of an employee who had been alive moments ago rolling towards them, everyone realized this was no ordinary haunting.

"The ghost has started killing people?"

Yang Jian frowned deeply. He hadn't used the power of his ghost eye. He wouldn't borrow the strength of a vengeful ghost unless absolutely necessary, especially if there was no benefit to be gained.

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

"There's no bleeding at the neck."

He squatted down and fiddled with the head. With a gentle squeeze, a disgusting stench of decay wafted towards him.

"And it doesn't look like she died recently; it looks like she's been dead for several days. But why is her head still so intact after dying for days?"

"This is impossible. She was alive earlier, so how could she start decaying in the blink of an eye? The ghost didn't use a ghost domain, so it shouldn't be able to rot the body this quickly."

Yang Jian fell into thought.

What exactly was the ghost that was plaguing the mall?

There wasn't enough information, and he hadn't even seen the ghost before.

He couldn't figure out the ghost's abilities or its patterns of movement.

Furthermore, with the conditions not yet agreed upon, he didn't want to exert himself, lest he waste his own abilities.

He immediately stood up and turned around, saying, "Something big has indeed happened. There's a ghost in the mall. I suggest you all leave and escape right now. Get out of here."

"The doors are locked, how can we leave? What about Sister Li? Doesn't she have the key? Can you help us find her and have her come open the door?" Manager Li asked.

Yang Jian looked at him and said, "This mall is so big, who knows where Sister Li ran off to in her fright? I'm not looking. You go if you want. But out of kindness, I can give you a tip: although the first floor is locked, the emergency exit on the fifth floor isn't locked. If you go that way, you can reach the fifth-floor platform, then circle around and go down somewhere else to leave."

"Right, right, right, how did I not think of that? Thank you, little brother, thank you." Manager Li was overjoyed and immediately bolted.

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

Reminded, the others quickly reacted.

Several employees were immediately so scared that they fled like Manager Li, rushing upstairs along the staircase.

"Little brother, thank you for the reminder, I'm so grateful."

Boss Tang grabbed his hand, his voice full of emotion.

"Don't be so intimate. Besides, I just gave you a reminder. Whether you can get out safely is still a question. Hurry up and act, don't waste time," Yang Jian said calmly. He wanted to see if these people could lure out the ghost while they were escaping.

Of course, he genuinely needed to use the restroom right now.

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

"No, I want to go to the restroom first. You guys go ahead." Yang Jian replied.

Boss Tang was stunned. At a time like this, he was still thinking about the restroom?

Fifth floor of the mall.

When Yan Li reached the fifth floor, he finally got a clear look at the figure by the railing.

He was immediately stunned. The figure before him wasn't a person at all, but a plastic mannequin. It was shaped exactly like a person and stood in the dim light, looking so similar that it was impossible to distinguish.

However, this mannequin was the same as the rotten 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 down.

At that moment, there was a click, and the entire mall went dark. In the dimness, only two candles cast a faint light. But then, a woman's scream came from downstairs, followed by panic. People instinctively scattered and fled.

"Luring the tiger away from its mountain?"

For some reason, this idiom popped into Yan Li's mind.

But could the ghost be this smart?

"Damn it."

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

However, at this moment, Yan Li's peripheral vision caught something, and a cold sweat broke out all over him.

The headless plastic mannequin that had been standing by the railing just moments ago was gone.

He looked left and right but couldn't find any trace of it.

It was as if it had vanished into thin air.

"Thump! Thump!" However, a faint sound of footsteps came from behind him.

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

At that moment, a headless plastic mannequin stood right behind him. Its arms were raised, as if reaching out to him.

"Looking for death."

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

His palms turned scarlet at that moment, emitting a strong smell of blood. Wisps of blood seeped from between his fingers, dripping onto the ground.

The mannequin's arms were stained with this thick blood, and with a bang, it fell to the ground, its limbs and body falling apart.

Immediately, the surroundings returned to silence.

"Is this the ghost?"

Yan Li examined the scattered mannequin on the ground with a hint of solemnity.

There was nothing unusual.

It hadn't changed even after being stained with the blood from his hands.

It was just an ordinary mannequin.

"The things here are not easy to deal with," Yan Li frowned deeply.

The blood on the ground began to slowly writhe again, as if alive, crawling up his palm and gradually seeping into it.