The sound was faint, so subtle that even in the vast emptiness of the hall, it could only be vaguely discerned.
Ling Mo held his breath, listening for a moment, and then said, “It sounds like someone walking.” After speaking, he turned to look at Xiao Bai.
The mutation panda immediately grasped his intent, grabbed Tang Hao, and dashed toward the direction of the noise.
“What the-!”
Tang Hao’s face turned pale with fear. Wasn’t this just using him as bait?
But after a moment of reflection, Tang Hao could feel tears welling up in his eyes. He was the one who had led them here to this “territory” of theirs. For Ling Mo to act this way-wasn’t that completely logical? It all made sense now, though it wasn’t obvious at first glance. Who knew that this kid was so skilled at exploiting someone like this…
“Couldn’t you at least hesitate a little? Just for a second!”
As Tang Hao roared internally, Xiao Bai had already crossed the hall and arrived at a door.
The sound was coming from behind it. However, something strange was happening. Even though the distance between them and the source of the noise had clearly grown shorter, the sound still felt elusive. It was as if someone was standing right in front of them, speaking, yet no matter how close they got, the words remained indistinct.
And it wasn’t just the “footsteps.” Once they reached the door, another, eerier sound emerged.
“Creak… creak…”
This sound was even fainter than the “footsteps,” but it was constant, never ceasing.
“Someone’s shaking the door…” Tang Hao muttered, his dry lips barely moving.
Of course, it wasn’t the door in front of them that was being shaken. But precisely because of this, the oppressive tension grew even stronger…
Through a narrow gap in the door, just two fingers wide, the view beyond remained obscured. Xiao Bai hesitated for a brief moment, and then began moving toward the gap…
“Wait… wait! That’s way too reckless!”
Tang Hao helplessly watched as the small, pitch-black gap seemed to expand and engulf him, leaving him frozen in place.
Indeed, compared to Ling Mo, he knew much more about this place. But precisely because of this knowledge, he felt an overwhelming terror!
“Besides… once the plan starts, no one knows what this place might turn into… Even during normal times, we’ve always avoided coming here at all costs…”
This version of Tang Hao was clearly a different person from the one seen earlier-more cautious, more timid, especially in such a defenseless state…
When his body collided with the door, forcing the gap to widen, Tang Hao’s face had already turned deathly pale.
He almost instinctively shut his eyes, only daring to open them slightly once he could no longer feel the presence of the door.
“Haah…”
Behind the door was a narrow corridor, eerie and silent.
Perhaps his own breathing was too heavy, for a moment he couldn’t hear those faint sounds anymore.
On one side of the corridor were several skylights, though most were closed. Only a faint sliver of light seeped in through the cracks. By that dim light, one could make out vague shapes, as though the corridor were filled with various objects. But it was precisely this indistinctness that added an atmosphere of dread, making anyone instinctively want to retreat.
Tang Hao took a single glance and almost cried out in alarm.
A few seconds later, he managed to calm himself, swallowing hard and mumbling, “It’s nothing…”
Then, another faint sound of footsteps came from behind, quickly drawing alongside him.
“The source of the sound isn’t here?” Ling Mo muttered, glancing around.
As he turned, he caught Tang Hao glaring at him with a venomous look.
This kind of venom was different from before-there was less madness in his glare but an overwhelming amount of unrestrained anger.
“You seem upset,” Ling Mo remarked.
“Are you trying to get me killed?” Tang Hao growled begrudgingly. “I’ve given you so much intelligence…”
“If our roles were reversed, what would you do to me? Actually, I don’t even need you to answer-I can already guess. Torture would be inevitable, and you’d likely use me to lure out my companions one by one, only to kill them off, right? Honestly, what I’m doing isn’t all that different,” Ling Mo replied casually. ṟά₦ô𝐁ĚŞ
“So basically, you’re not a good person either…” Tang Hao said through gritted teeth.
“Well, that depends on how you define a good person. Just being a good person doesn’t mean you’ll achieve good outcomes. Besides, the definition of good and bad varies from person to person. Take you, for example-you hate zombies but crave their power. So in your eyes, are zombies evil creatures, or are they a more advanced form of existence?” Ling Mo asked.
“Stop blabbering…”
Tang Hao wanted to argue further but noticed that Ling Mo had already started walking toward one end of the corridor.
“Damn it, I hope some monster jumps out and kills you!” Tang Hao cursed under his breath.
But deep down, he knew that if this place truly held any danger, it should have shown itself by now.
Even though he lacked any fighting abilities at the moment, as a decoy, he was perfect.
A living human, covered in blood… he was practically a lure artifact.
“Guess this building’s under renovation…”
Ling Mo kept his head up, surveying his surroundings while silently taking mental notes.
Above him, the ceiling panels were torn apart, leaving jagged gaps that revealed a tangled mess of exposed wiring. The walls were also partially painted, with wide streaks of unfinished plasterwork visible – it was as if the building itself had been abandoned mid-job. A mass of loose electrical wires clung to the walls like countless slender venomous snakes, twisted and writhing in chaotic patterns.
“From a distance, it does look kind of horrifying,” Ling Mo muttered as he walked up to a ladder. He reached out and ran his fingers across its dusty surface.
On the floor, scattered construction materials made it nearly impossible to notice if there were any fresh footprints or other visible traces left behind.
If they had more time, they could stop and investigate the area thoroughly. But right now…
“So, it’s definitely this way.” Ling Mo raised his eyes, peering farther down the corridor.
Judging by its length, it was clear that this side of the corridor was shorter, which likely meant the stairwell was in this direction.
On the other side, however, it was probably where the elevator was located – essentially a dead end for their purposes.
Whether they would encounter a scenario similar to what happened at Rosen Company was hard to say, but one thing was evident from how the renovations were still incomplete here.
The structure of the walls, for one, left little to the imagination. Their thickness, or lack thereof, didn’t come close to the concealed, fortified designs seen at Rosen Company. To survive inside this building’s walls, a creature would first have to evolve into a long, narrow form…
“Something like endlessly extending a specific part of its body, maybe even completely changing how that part works while its limbs regress into a crocodile-like state… Just imagining it feels terrifying,” Ling Mo muttered under his breath.
Despite his grim musings, his feet carried him swiftly toward the end of the corridor.
“Hm?”
Just as he was about to step through a doorway, Ling Mo froze mid-stride.
“Creak… Creak…”
The sound continued to echo through the corridor, faint but persistent. Now, standing at this particular spot, Ling Mo suddenly felt a peculiar sensation creeping over him.
“Something’s not right…”