The Echoing Melody

If it weren't for the Music Box Curse he was under Yang Jian would never have dared to take such a risk by entering the Caesar Hotel.

The nightmare of his near-death experience was still vivid in his mind. Most importantly, the ghost roaming the hotel had not been dealt with. Even though Yang Jian knew the ghost's killing patterns, he still faced a certain degree of danger this time.

This time, he's going to take away the supernatural object that the ghosts were talking about.

This means that Yang Jian needs to confront the ghost head-on; he cannot escape or retreat.

After entering the red-carpeted corridor, Yang Jian's Ghost Domain was restricted. Ghost Domain couldn't pass through the walls to see into the rooms next door, number one and two. It seemed that the buildings were special and could block the spying of Ghost Eye.

Yang Jian had encountered this phenomenon of blocking Ghost Domain several times. The simplest method was to place a gold-plated wooden board in front of him, and his Ghost Domain would be blocked, no matter how many layers of Ghost Domain he opened.

He touched the wall beside him.

The air was cool with a slight dampness, and upon closer inspection, there was a musty smell from the walls and furniture.

"I was busy with other things last time and didn't pay much attention to this place. Now I want to know what this place is? This architectural style and eerie environment are probably the most unique in the entire country."

Yang Jian's expression was solemn. He walked through the Ghost Domain without leaving any footprints to avoid being inexplicably slashed by any ghost that might be wandering there.

The cramped and somewhat narrow corridor was mostly made of walls, with only a series of maze-like crossroads. The surrounding environment was very dark, with the only light coming from the European-style door lamps hanging next to the guest room doors.

The porch lights are yellowish and very dim, and not every porch light is on; only a few are lit, while most are dim.

"The carpet that was ruined last time while trying to remove footprints has actually come back to life?"

Yang Jian passed the first intersection and arrived at the door of the same room number thirteen from last time, glancing at it briefly.

The carpet that should have disappeared along this stretch of road has been replaced with new ones, filling in the gaps in the road.

"Will this place be restored to its original state someday? Or will someone come and clean it up?" he wondered to himself as he arrived at the second intersection.

Continuing forward is room 31, where the ghost who altered memories stayed last time. To the left and right are two deep corridors covered with red carpets, seemingly endless. However, there are still guest rooms on both sides of the corridors, as there are still yellowish door lights in those areas, which is proof of the room doors' locations.

"We haven't found the ghost. Should we continue deeper, or wait here?"

Yang Jian stopped in his tracks and began to think.

He was wary of going any deeper, because this was an unknown and eerie place, and the dangers within might not be limited to the ghost from last time. Although he was unlikely to die, he feared getting lost and trapped here.

"If we go a little deeper and still don't find the ghost, then I'll have to wait. We can't stray too far from the exit, so I can retreat in time if something unexpected happens."

Yang Jian decided to cross two more intersections, and then stop at the third intersection.

Five intersections were his personal bottom line.

After thinking it through, Yang Jian continued walking without hesitation, trying to find the tall male corpse wandering here.

After the third intersection, Yang Jian smelled a musty odor mixed with a faint stench of corpses, which was probably seeping from one of the rooms. However, even he couldn't find the source of the stench in this environment.

"Was it left behind by that corpse after it passed by?"

He made this guess in his mind, but there were no black footprints on the carpet. He wondered if the carpet was replaced every now and then, or if it had been cleaned.

Suddenly,

Yang Jian thought of something and tried to open the door to room number 31 next door.

He remembered that there were countless dead people's skins in this room last time. Although he took some with him later, some were still left behind.

"The door won't open."

Yang Jian's expression shifted slightly. Although the wooden doorknob was swaying slightly, the door still couldn't be opened.

He glanced at it.

The door light next to the door was off, which seemed to indicate that there were no longer any guests in the room.

Yang Jian tried to force the door open with his own body, but although the wooden door made a loud noise and began to shake, it still wouldn't open.

"A place I can't understand."

His confusion only deepened.

With his strength, he could smash through not just a door, but even a wall, since the headless ghost was now hidden inside his body, making him no longer like an ordinary person.

Yang Jian was just curious and tried to open it, but he didn't force it. Now was not the time to struggle with a door.

Having passed Room 31, where the ghost who had altered his memories had stayed, Yang Jian arrived at the fourth fork in the road.

Just like the previous intersections, the surrounding walls were damp, the environment was dark, and the passageways were narrow. There was no difference except for the house numbers. If you covered up the house numbers, you wouldn't be able to tell where you were from any of the entrances you were placed in.

That's why Yang Jian was worried about the risk of getting lost if they went deeper.

"Still haven't found that ghost. I guess I won't find anything even if I go one more intersection. Am I just unlucky this time? Has that ghost wandered off to some unknown place? Or should I use a white ghost candle to lure it out?"

Yang Jian also had another coercive measure, which was to light the White Ghost Candle.

This was only a last resort, because lighting that thing would be extremely dangerous, especially in this incomprehensible and eerie place where the use of white ghost candles had to be done with extreme caution.

The Music Box Curse is powerful, but it's not a panacea.

Just as he was about to continue deeper into the passage, he suddenly stopped and looked to his right at a dark corridor. A red carpet stretched out along the way and disappeared into the distance, where a dim, yellowish door lamp seemed to be guiding the way.

"There's a sound coming from here."

Yang Jian stopped moving. He vaguely heard a sound coming from the depths of the passageway on the right. The sound must have been very far away; if the surrounding environment hadn't been so quiet, he wouldn't have been able to make out what it was.

It's a piece of music, like someone is playing the piano.

Yang Jian tried his best to ignore the Music Box Curse in his mind and attempted to hear the piano music drifting over.

But soon, his expression suddenly changed.

The music being played on the piano had the same melody as the Music Box Curse that echoed in his mind.

"Are you kidding me? Did I hear that right?" Yang Jian felt a strange chill.

Why is the melody of a music box playing here? It's not a famous melody; it's one I've never heard before. And logically, anyone who has heard this music box melody should be dead. The possibility of such a melody spreading is extremely low.

Even if such a thing existed, it couldn't possibly appear in such an incomprehensible and bizarre place.

"Let's go take a look."

Yang Jian hesitated for a moment, then immediately changed direction and headed towards the passage on the right. Before leaving, he dropped a golden bullet on the ground as a landmark to prevent getting lost if anything happened.

Because he was in the Ghost Domain, he moved very fast, flashing by like a ghost.

His enthusiasm wasn't due to a desire to court death, but rather because the matter was very likely related to the music box's curse.

If we could understand this better, it might be helpful in breaking the curse of the music box.

Soon.

He stopped in front of a dim porch lamp.

This was also a room, exactly the same as the other rooms, with no difference whatsoever. The only difference was that the sound of a piano could be clearly heard coming from inside, as if someone was playing it.

Yang Jian is now completely certain that this is the cursed bell from the music box.

Driven by curiosity, he tried to open the door by grabbing the doorknob.

This time, the door wasn't locked tightly like before; it opened easily.

With a creak, the light from inside the room shone through the crack in the door.

Yang Jian looked over warily, mentally prepared for an attack by a vengeful ghost, but he believed he could withstand it and wouldn't be killed instantly.

The interior decoration style is old-fashioned, with a very obvious Republican era style, but it is very clean.

Yang Jian's attention wasn't on any of that; his gaze fell on a piano placed in the living room.

A person is sitting in front of the piano.

The person is facing away from us, so we can only see their back. But judging from the back, it should be a woman wearing a red cheongsam, and her perfect curves are something no man can fake.

"Human? Or ghost?"

The question popped into Yang Jian's mind, and his expression became somewhat serious.

However, considering the eerie environment here, how could an ordinary person possibly appear in this place? Therefore, he believes the latter is more likely.

However, Yang Jian did not sense any ghostly aura emanating from the qipao woman.

The slender arms resting on the piano keys were fair and rosy, just like those of a normal living person, without the slightest hint of lifelessness.

"The piano melody is starting to go awry."

Yang Jian quickly noticed that the rhythm of the piano playing was off, causing the melody played to deviate from the melody of the Music Box Curse in his mind.

"We must find out exactly what's going on."

He hesitated and thought about it, but Yang Jian still decided to go into the room to see what was playing the piano.

He glanced at the doorway before going inside.

71.

Two clear numbers were written on the bronze doorplate.

"Creak!"

The door, which had been opened a crack, was now fully open, and Yang Jian strode in calmly.