It was quite an accomplishment to be able to fall asleep without psychological burden in such an environment.
Lin Qiu Shi had thought something would happen on the first night, but unexpectedly, he had passed the night quite peacefully.
In the morning, breakfast had already been prepared for them by the triplets' family. The triplets' mother had a gentle attitude and the food she made tasted pretty good. Although everyone was sitting at the table at first without picking up their chopsticks until Ruan Nan Zhu took the first bite.
"Not bad," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "Why are you all looking at me? Why don't you eat?"
"Can this be eaten?" Xiao Cheng's eyes were ringed with dark circles, looking like she hadn't slept well all night. She said, "Is the food here problematic?"
Ruan Nan Zhu laughed. "Even if there's a problem, don't you still have to eat it? Do you plan to only drink water for the next seven days?"
He had a point. There were no other food sources in this building.
After realizing this, everyone picked up their chopsticks and started tasting the breakfast. As they were eating, the triplets just happened to come out from the room. The three girls were dressed in the same red dresses, with two little braids tied behind their heads, and no expression on their faces. From beginning to end, the triplets did not display any emotion towards the sudden strangers, as if they were only facing a bunch of empty air.
Yao Yao Tang felt a little uncomfortable under their gaze. She softly asked, "Little girls, what are your names?"
At these words, three pairs of eyes stared at Yao Yao Tang intensely. Their eyes were distinctly black and white, devoid of any emotion, giving people an inexplicable chill.
"I can't casually tell strangers my name," said the little girl in the middle. She said, "Besides, even if I told you, you wouldn't be able to recognize me."
Yao Yao Tang was rendered speechless by this rebuttal. "Alright..."
"How do you know we can't recognize you if you don't say it?" Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly spoke up. He did not seem afraid of the somewhat creepy aura of the three little girls at all. Putting down his chopsticks elegantly, he spoke coolly, "There are guests at home. You should have some manners, no?"
Upon hearing this, the three little girls exchanged glances with each other. Finally, the one in the middle spoke up. She said, "I'm Little One, she's Little Ten, and she's Little Tu."
Lin Qiu Shi almost spit out the food in his mouth when he heard these names. He thought to himself that their mom was quite perfunctory, to actually come up with names like these.
The others also revealed faint smiles.
Little One said, "You have to remember after we told you, okay?"
Ruan Nan Zhu observed their appearances for a bit, then suddenly reached out and pinched Little One's cheek with a smile. "Okay, remembered." He patted the shoulder of the girl nearest to him. "Go on now, your mom made breakfast."
The three little girls bounced away happily.
Lin Qiu Shi felt that last sentence Little One said was a bit odd. What did she mean by they had to remember after being told? Would something happen if they forgot? But judging by Ruan Nan Zhu's confident appearance, could he really distinguish between these three almost identical girls?
Faced with Lin Qiu Shi's doubtful gaze, Ruan Nan Zhu did not explain. He said, "Let's go downstairs and take a look."
Since they had arrived late last night, they did not dare venture far, only investigating this floor and upstairs. Today, taking advantage of the early hour, Ruan Nan Zhu suggested they go downstairs to see if there were any other residents in the 14 floors of this building.
Zeng Ru Guo was still covered in the blood and water from yesterday and had not washed it off yet. Judging by his exhausted appearance, he probably had not slept the entire night either. Upon hearing Ruan Nan Zhu's words, he softly asked Lin Qiu Shi if he could accompany him to the public bathroom because he wanted to take a shower.
Lin Qiu Shi admired him for this. "You still dare to go after seeing that thing yesterday? Just make do with some hot water to wash your face. Your life is more important than being clean."
"Saw what thing?" Yao Yao Tang asked curiously.
Lin Qiu Shi said, "Yesterday when Zeng Ru Guo was showering, there was something crouching on top of the shower head. Not sure what exactly it was, but it looked a little like an infant's corpse."
Yao Yao Tang simply said, "Oh."
Upon hearing Lin Qiu Shi's words, Xiao Cheng started sobbing again, saying she would not dare to shower anymore. As she cried, she took a look at Yao Yao Tang, seemingly shocked by her nonchalance.
Yao Yao Tang indifferently said, "When you get scared too many times, you stop being afraid. Since we're not dead, it just means those things don't pose any threat. What's there to be scared of?"
Her words did make some sense. Lin Qiu Shi took a bite of his biscuit and brushed off the crumbs on his hands. "Anyway, best not to go if possible."
In the end, the life-cherishing Zeng Ru Guo did not shower again. He simply fetched a basin of hot water in the room to wash his face clean.
"Let's go, downstairs." Ruan Nan Zhu stood up and walked out of the room.
The rest followed closely behind.
Every household on each floor of this building used the same vermilion iron doors. The paint on these iron doors was all mottled and flaking, seemingly having been used for many years. The stairwell corridor was filled with coal blocks and other items, looking as if there were occupants.
But after simple observation, Ruan Nan Zhu determined there were no people here.
"How can you tell?" Yao Yao Tang asked. "Though we indeed didn't hear any sounds."
"Because the most critical thing here is missing," Ruan Nan Zhu said.
"What thing?" Yao Yao asked.
"Garbage," Ruan Nan Zhu replied. "The garbage bins on every floor here are clean."
I see, Yao Yao Tang nodded. "Then the only household left in this building is the one on the top floor? That doesn't seem likely either."
Ruan Nan Zhu looked upstairs. "It is unlikely. The existence of every world conforms to logic and reason. It's not possible for a building to randomly be empty. There must be some reason why this building is vacant." Just like in the previous world with the mountain village, despite the harsh environment, there were still villagers existing. These seemingly trivial people may even provide key information.
"Let's keep going down," Lin Qiu Shi said. "There's still six floors left."
Although the lighting in this stairwell was very dim, at least they were moving together, so it was not too creepy. Continuing downward, upon reaching the fourth floor, Lin Qiu Shi finally discovered traces of human life - he saw a half-eaten apple in the corner.
"Is this an apple core?" At first, Lin Qiu Shi thought he was seeing things. Only after walking over did he confirm that it was indeed an apple. Although the apple looked shriveled and small, not seeming appetizing at all.
They were currently on the fourth floor. At first glance, it did not look any different from the other floors. But this apple core exposed its uniqueness. Ruan Nan Zhu immediately decided to knock on every household here to see if there were any occupants on this level.
And so, Lin Qiu Shi knocked continuously down the row of units. Upon knocking on one near the windows, he heard sounds of movement coming from inside.
Thanks to the poor sound insulation of an old building, Lin Qiu Shi would have missed it if this was a new building.
"Seems like there's someone inside." Lin Qiu Shi stopped in his tracks. "I heard sounds inside the unit."
Everyone gathered around after hearing this. Yao Yao Tang raised her hand and knocked twice on the door. "Is anyone inside?"
It became silent inside, as if the sounds Lin Qiu Shi heard were just an illusion.
Yao Yao Tang shouted loudly, "Is anyone inside? We're new residents and want to ask you some questions—" She knocked for a long time but no one responded. "Lin Lin Yu, are you sure you didn't mishear?"
"I don't think so," Lin Qiu Shi said. "This is the last unit. Could the sounds have come from outside the window?"
There were no obstructions outside, only the endless gloomy fog.
Ruan Nan Zhu studied the lock. "It's an old lock, quite easy to pick."
Lin Qiu Shi was shocked. "You know how to do that too?"
"Life forced me to learn it," Ruan Nan Zhu said.
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." Just what had life done to you?
Just as he finished speaking, the door creaked open, revealing a face full of shock and fear. "What are you all doing??"
Ruan Nan Zhu was caught red-handed but did not panic at all. He simply stood up with a sweet smile. "Hello Sir, we're new residents who just moved in. May we ask you some questions?"
The man behind the door was unkempt with disheveled hair. At first, his eyes were full of wariness and terror, but upon seeing Ruan Nan Zhu's deceivingly harmless face, he relaxed. "I don't know anything. You don't need to ask me."
"Sir," Ruan Nan Zhu pleaded pitifully. "Can't you just help us with this tiny favor?"
The man hesitated for a moment. "What do you want to ask?"
Ruan Nan Zhu said, "Why isn't there anyone in this building?"
The man whispered, "You guys just moved in? Move out quickly. This building is cursed. The people living here don't live for long..."
Ruan Nan Zhu asked, "What about the household on the top floor?"
For some reason, this question triggered the man. He suddenly became hysterical. "I told you all to move out! There are ghosts here!! Ghosts!!" He panted heavily, trying to close the door again, but was held back by two of the men in the group.
"What ghosts?" Ruan Nan Zhu continued asking.
"Don't you all know already?" The man said, "The household on the top floor, they are the ghosts!!!"
Everyone was shocked to hear this. The man took advantage of their stunned state to forcefully slam the door shut.
"What does he mean?" Yao Yao Tang asked in bewilderment. "Could the one who gave us this mission not be human?"
Ruan Nan Zhu shook his head without answering.
But Lin Qiu Shi noticed something. "What's this stuff he sprinkled at his doorway...blood?"
Everyone lowered their heads. Only then did they realize there seemed to be a black substance on the ground at the man's doorway, like dried blood sticking to the black floor. It was not obvious unless scrutinized carefully.
"It really is blood," Yao Yao Tang concluded after squatting down to observe it closely. "Just not sure if it's human blood or some other kind of blood. It's been here for some time already..."
Lin Qiu Shi said, "This blood was sprinkled deliberately right?"
"What makes you say that?" Yao Yao Tang asked.
"If it wasn't deliberate, it would have long been cleaned up already. See, there aren't any flyers around," Lin Qiu Shi explained his reasoning. "The owner is probably quite cleanliness-conscious."
"You have a point," Yao Yao Tang agreed. "But what's the use of sprinkling blood here? Warding off evil spirits?"
Lin Qiu Shi did not reply. The truth was, upon seeing the blood, he immediately recalled the fairy tale in the note they received - The Phoenix Bird. When the sisters entered the room full of corpses with the eggs in their hands, the eggs had dropped onto bloodstains on the floor. He just wondered if the blood here had any relation to that fairy tale or not.
They continued downstairs. To their surprise, there was still one occupied household on the first floor. It belonged to an elderly grandma who had severe hearing issues. They had knocked for a very long time before the grandma came to open the door. Then the group tried communicating with her to no avail. In the end, everyone chose to give up because regardless of whether they asked "Grandma, do you know why there's no one in this building?", she would answer with something like "I've eaten."
After multiple exchanges like this, everyone revealed looks of helplessness.
There were 14 floors in this building but only two occupied households - one on the fourth floor and one on the first floor. However, they did gain some useful information. There were traces of fresh blood splattered outside the doors of both units.
"I feel like this is a hint for us," Yao Yao Tang discussed softly during lunch. "Shall we try sprinkling some blood at our doorway?"
"Where do you plan to get the blood from?" Ruan Nan Zhu suddenly asked.
Yao Yao Tang said, "Just find some random animal or something."
Before Yao Yao Tang could continue, Ruan Nan Zhu pressed on, "Whose doorway will you sprinkle it? Yours?"
Faced with Ruan Nan Zhu's rapid-fire questioning, Yao Yao Tang quieted down. Obviously, she did not dare sprinkle blood at her own doorway. After all, no one knew if doing so was to ward off evil or trigger misfortune.
"No need to be so fierce even if you disagree, okay?" Yao Yao Tang was unhappy. "Or do you have any better suggestions?"
Ruan Nan Zhu indifferently said, "None."
Yao Yao Tang was so angry she was grinding her teeth. It had to be said, even though this side of Ruan Nan Zhu seemed very overbearing, she was still strangely attractive. As she sat there doing nothing, she somehow made people feel exceptionally reassured. During their discussions, almost everyone's gazes were fixed on her, especially the two men, one older and one younger. The way they looked at Ruan Nan Zhu contained an additional flavor - after all, they were unaware that Ruan Nan Zhu was a crossdressing expert.
Xiao Cheng came back from the bathroom halfway through. During this time, Lin Qiu Shi asked Ruan Nan Zhu what she meant by taking on jobs.
Ruan Nan Zhu explained, "It means people pay me to protect them." She pointed in the direction of the bathroom. "Her. She looks ordinary but is actually a huge celebrity in real life. You must have seen her movies."
Lin Qiu Shi: "..." Did not recognize her at all.
"It's not her first time going through the doors either," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "So when dealing with ghosts, we have to be wary of our teammates too." She stopped speaking because some others walked in from outside.
Lin Qiu Shi saw Yao Yao Tang and a few others.
"You all can still eat?" Yao Yao Tang asked coldly. "Aren't you worried at all?"
"Better to walk away full than end up a hungry ghost," Ruan Nan Zhu elegantly picked up a piece of bread for another bite. The originally bland food seemed to transform into something delicious when she ate it. "Would you like a bite too?"
Before Yao Yao Tang could reply, Zhang Xing Huo beside her nodded and said, "Let's eat. I'm hungry too."
And so everyone started sitting at the table eating bread.
"Something will surely happen tonight," Yao Yao Tang rubbed her arm. The injury she sustained earlier looked quite serious. "Everyone be careful and best not to leave your rooms if possible."
"Who exactly killed that girl?" Zeng Ru Guo asked apprehensively. "It can't be someone among us right?"
He heaved a sigh of relief after asking that, softly muttering to himself, "Luckily I'm staying alone."
The other two who were rooming together immediately reacted, shooting wary glances at each other.
"Stop thinking so much. It definitely wasn't done by a human," Ruan Nan Zhu said. "If a person killed her, wouldn't the girl scream for help? Not to mention we were all upstairs yet didn't hear any sounds at all regarding such a major incident."
His words did make sense and everyone's emotions stabilized slightly.
Yao Yao Tang looked at Zeng Ru Guo. "That's right, I forgot to ask, what did you see in the thick fog?"
Zeng Ru Guo's expression turned extremely ugly upon hearing this question. His lips moved haltingly for a long time before he hoarsely uttered, "It was...all moving corpses."
Everyone quieted down after hearing that.
Lin Qiu Shi secretly rejoiced that he did not boldly challenge the fog. Although Zeng Ru Guo's description was simple, they could imagine the hellish scene.
Just as they were in discussion, the triplets' mother appeared again. No one knew when she had returned. She had changed into a dark apron and carried a large bowl in her hands.
Steam billowed from the bowl, seemingly filled with something piping hot.
She said, "You all must be hungry. I made something delicious for you."
She walked to the table and set the bowl down. Inside the bowl was a pot of soup, with plump meatballs floating in it, giving off an enticing aroma.
However, seeing these meatballs, everyone's expressions turned ugly and no one picked up their chopsticks.