In a mission, being out of contact meant something everyone understood.

"Let's go take a look." Jiang Cheng headed in the direction Gao Yan had run.

The sand in the hourglass had run out. The third-floor mission was over, and the threat of the ghost had disappeared.

On the way, Fatty caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, Wang Qi was looking at him, not sneaking a peek, but staring straight at him, without the slightest hesitation.

Fatty was so scared that he took a few quick steps, moving closer to the doctor.

But by the time Fatty wanted to say something to the doctor, he found that Wang Qi had already withdrawn his gaze, as if nothing had happened.

After going around in a circle, just as they reached the vicinity of the stairs leading to the fourth floor, a figure emerged from behind a wall.

It was… Gao Yan.

Gao Yan stared at them, his eyes pausing for a moment when he caught sight of Shen Mengyun, a noticeable unnaturalness appearing in them.

Towards this guy who had almost killed her, Shen Mengyun, with her otherwise good temper, didn't give him a pleasant look, her tone unfriendly as she said, "Mr. Gao, how have you been?"

"Miss Shen, I'm relieved to see you're alright." Gao Yan said with a forced smile, his expression somewhat stiff.

Jiang Cheng noticed that the old guy looked a bit disheveled, presumably he had been looking for him after the ghost left.

After saying that, Gao Yan's gaze seemed to be drawn to something, looking at Fatty, his eyes turning strange, "This is..."

Fatty had a large bag on his back, which looked quite heavy, it was the bag of flour that Jiang Cheng had told him to carry.

Gao Yan wasn't stupid to begin with, and in just a few seconds, he had figured out the mystery, nodding and saying, "So that's how it is."

"Alright." Wang Qi slowly turned his head and said, "We're going to the fourth floor, everyone prepare yourselves."

Next to the stairs leading to the fourth floor of the library, as usual, stood an old wooden board, with two lines of crooked words written on it.

"Those who pass through here will, like the Lord, receive the third treasure." Fatty looked at the blackboard and read it out word by word.

"This time, what's being taken is our sense of smell towards ghosts." Huai Yi's voice revealed unease, "Adding to the senses of sight and hearing taken on the second and third floors, this time..."

Although everyone had already realized this and had prepared themselves mentally, the atmosphere was still terrifyingly oppressive as they stepped onto the stairs leading to the fourth floor.

In front of the fourth-floor staircase stood a door, different from the doors they had encountered before. This door was clearly thicker and more dilapidated.

It was an iron door, painted with a layer of dark green old-fashioned anti-rust paint.

But as time passed, the anti-rust paint peeled off, and it was covered with rust, looking mottled from a distance.

Like a dead man's face covered in festering sores.

Standing on the fourth floor of the library, Jiang Cheng slowly scanned his surroundings.

The dilapidation here was obvious, completely different from the floors below. The air was filled with a musty smell, as if no one had been here for a long time.

There were many bookshelves on this floor, and they were all the tall, long type, made of black wood, looking very sturdy.

The bookshelves were piled with books.

"Look here." Shen Mengyun suddenly spoke, pointing to a spot.

About 5 or 6 meters away from them, next to a bookshelf, the white wall had turned grayish-black, as if it had been burned.

And on the ground in front of the blackened wall, there was an hourglass.

For a moment, a sense of illusion flashed through everyone's minds, as if this hourglass was there waiting for them, staring at them.

"I..." Fatty opened his mouth, looking at everyone with a lack of confidence, "I have an idea."

"Speak."

"Speak."

The first voice was Jiang Cheng's, the second was Wang Qi's, who had a strange personality.

To Fatty's surprise, the two people in the team who had the most power and were also the strongest both seemed very interested in his, the weakling's, suggestion.

Seeing this scene, Huai Yi was even more convinced that Fatty was a hidden big shot.

The side he showed was just a disguise.

Jiang Ge and Fu Gui Ge, two Crimson Bosses, one overt and one covert, cooperated seamlessly.

Fatty was a little flattered, "I think... I think we should try not to touch that hourglass for now." He swallowed and continued, "We already know that the initiative in this mission is in our hands. As long as we don't touch the hourglass, the mission won't start."

As if worried that everyone would misunderstand, Fatty explained, "I'm not trying to avoid the mission, it's just... it's just that we can use the time before the mission starts to familiarize ourselves with the surrounding environment."

"That way, when the ghost comes out, we'll be prepared, know where to hide, and the chances of survival will be higher..."

"Absolutely not!" Before Fatty could finish speaking, Gao Yan interrupted him.

He looked at the hourglass from a distance, fear in his eyes, his breathing becoming rapid, as if he was recalling some terrifying scene.

"Why?" Fatty asked.

"These hourglasses are not right, it's not as simple as you think." Gao Yan thought for a moment and told everyone about his experience.

But he concealed it well. If they hadn't heard it from Shen Mengyun's perspective, it would have been difficult for everyone to notice that Gao Yan was deliberately concealing clues.

"So, these hourglasses are definitely not as simple as not moving as long as we don't actively touch them." Gao Yan gasped for breath, "It's alive, no, they... they are all alive!"

Jiang Cheng had thought of Fatty's idea a long time ago, but he didn't choose to test it, nor did he make a sound.

One reason was that, based on his understanding of the Nightmare, the mission wouldn't leave such obvious loopholes for them to exploit.

In his opinion, it was more likely a trap.

Second, the cost of trial and error was too high. No one had been killed by the ghost in the mission yet. The conditions for the ghost to kill were unknown, and he couldn't afford any inconspicuous mistakes.

Moreover, Wang Qi wasn't stupid. He could think of it, and there was no reason why Wang Qi couldn't, but he didn't make a similar suggestion.

Presumably, he had the same concerns as himself.

"There are many hourglasses, and some are in hidden locations. It's very difficult to completely avoid them during exploration." Wang Qi said with a playful tone, "And have you thought about what will happen if someone activates an hourglass inadvertently?"

After thinking about it a little, Fatty understood everything.

Wang Qi's hypothesis was too terrifying. If someone activated the hourglass inadvertently, it would immediately summon the ghost to their side.

What's worse, at this time, everyone wouldn't know that the ghost was coming.

Because on the fourth floor, the ghost had become an invisible, inaudible, and odorless transparent person.

They would be hunted down one by one without any reaction.

The hourglasses distributed throughout the library were actually alarm systems that had not yet been activated. Once awakened, the ghost would immediately get their location and silently descend upon them.