Chapter 11 The Escape Route

Seemingly sensing Jiang Cheng's thoughts, the space to the left of the corridor became increasingly strange. The light overhead buzzed, like a dying old man, whimpering helplessly.

At that moment, pairs of shoes were neatly placed in front of several rooms.

Each room had two pairs of shoes.

These rooms were all occupied by teammates.

But as Jiang Cheng approached, it seemed as if some kind of restriction was triggered. The originally silent rooms emitted strange noises at the same time, as if someone was scrambling towards the door.

Damn, he'd been discovered. Although he had expected the dangers of the escape, the speed with which they arrived still made Jiang Cheng's heart sink. He had originally planned to escape through the employee通道 (tōng dào) on the far left, but now the situation didn't allow it.

What was worse, there was also a sound coming from behind him.

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

"Thump!"

...

The sound came one after another, approaching him rapidly, full of pressure.

Jiang Cheng turned his head as he ran and glanced back, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

Sure enough, it was Lin Wan'er!

But at this time, Lin Wan'er was no longer the person he knew. "Lin Wan'er" had disheveled hair, a pale green tinge to her face, and a狰狞 (zhēngníng) expression. Her hands were raised flat, and she was hopping towards him quickly.

The movement seemed clumsy, but the speed was extremely fast, even faster than him.

There was definitely not enough time to run to the employee 通道 (tōng dào) on the far left now. Not to mention the existence of other ghosts, he couldn't even outrun Lin Wan'er. He would definitely be caught on the way.

One door after another opened, and the狰狞 (zhēngníng) "companions" appeared one after another.

But to Jiang Cheng's surprise, these "companions," who were so close to him, did not pounce on him immediately. Instead, they stood in front of the door, bent their stiff bodies, kicked off their slippers, and began to put on the shoes they had placed outside the door.

Although Jiang Cheng didn't quite understand the reason as he passed by these people, thinking of Fatty's behavior, it seemed that slippers were a kind of restriction. Slippers needed to be worn inside the room, and when leaving the room, one had to put on their own shoes.

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but rejoice that he had changed his shoes in advance. Otherwise, running out in slippers rashly might have caused a big mess.

At this time, Lin Wan'er, who looked like a zombie, had approached him from behind, less than 5 meters away. In two more jumps, she would be able to knock him down.

In a moment of crisis, Jiang Cheng changed his mind, suddenly turned a corner, and rushed down the guest楼梯 (lóutī) in the middle.

Lin Wan'er couldn't dodge in time and rushed straight past.

Listening to the chaotic footsteps coming from overhead, Jiang Cheng knew that those "companions" had also put on their shoes at this time, and were gathering behind him, vying to hunt him down.

Taking the stairs three steps at a time, a burnt smell rushed towards him, very刺鼻 (cìbí).

Now he was on the 3rd floor. According to Chen Ran, a fire had occurred on the 3rd floor, and everyone had been burned to death. But the 3rd floor that Jiang Cheng saw was as clean as before, with no traces of being burned.

The doors of two rooms were wide open, and it was pitch black inside. From Jiang Cheng's point of view, he couldn't see anything inside.

He needed to quickly find an escape route. Should he pass through the corridor in front of the dark doors and go to the employee通道 (tōng dào) on the other side, or should he continue to run down the middle楼梯 (lóutī)?

Emotionally, of course, running straight down was more convenient and faster, but reason told him that the employee通道 (tōng dào) on the left would be safer, although he had to pass through two dark doors with unknown ghosts hiding inside.

He was also worried that a ghost hand reaching out from behind the door would pull him in as he passed by.

Now, he was a delicious meal in the eyes of these ghosts. Whoever caught him first would have the right to enjoy him exclusively.

In a short moment, countless images flashed through Jiang Cheng's mind. The chaotic footsteps behind him also appeared at the corner of the楼梯 (lóutī), and soon they would be able to catch him.

But Jiang Cheng suddenly realized a very crucial point.

Something very important was missing from this chaotic sound of footsteps.

It was… Lin Wan'er's footsteps!

That "thump, thump, thump" sound when she jumped.

He didn't hear it!

Lin Wan'er had given up the chase. This was impossible. Judging from the pulling on the phone, how could she abandon this tempting piece of fat? So Lin Wan'er had other plans.

Jiang Cheng quickly judged that Lin Wan'er must have taken another route to intercept him.

It couldn't be the elevator. The old-fashioned elevator didn't have enough time to go up and down. So… there was only one result left. Lin Wan'er had run to the楼梯 (lóutī) on the far left and was waiting for him there.

Staring at the far left of the very quiet corridor, Jiang Cheng was even more certain.

Without hesitation, Jiang Cheng continued to run down, along the middle楼梯 (lóutī).

But this time, it was also a gamble. The run from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor went smoothly.

Gradually, Jiang Cheng also noticed the weaknesses of these ghosts.

For some reason, their bodies were very stiff, and their running postures were also strange. Their speed in a straight line was only slightly faster than his, but if they were running up or down the楼梯 (lóutī), or turning corners, he would be able to widen the distance.

Standing on the 2nd floor, there were stairs leading down below. As long as he ran to the 1st floor and found the戏台 (xì tái) before being caught by the ghosts, his mission would be over.

But Jiang Cheng stopped, his eyes fixed on the corner of the楼梯 (lóutī).

There, hung a huge mirror, almost half the size of the wall.

And in front of the mirror, were neatly arranged four charred corpses.

Just like Teacher Zi Gui's corpse, only their bodies were charred, and their faces were disfigured, but the clothes, shoes, and even饰品 (shìpǐn) on their bodies were all unharmed.

But this was not the most terrifying thing. What really attracted Jiang Cheng's attention was the scene inside the mirror.

What was reflected in the mirror was a completely different world from what Jiang Cheng saw!

In the mirror, everything in front of him was burned into ruins. Most of the wooden楼梯 (lóutī) had collapsed, burned black, and some places were still emitting sparks.

The walls and ceilings were also a tragic scene after the fire.

More importantly, the charred corpses that appeared in the mirror were not four, but five!

Between the corpses of Su Xiao Xiao and Su An, another charred corpse appeared out of nowhere, but outside the mirror, on the ground at the corner, there was no such corpse!

This sudden scene slightly disrupted Jiang Cheng's plan, but it also quickly reminded him of one thing. In the previous fires at the Roman Hotel, there had been a charred corpse whose identity could not be confirmed.

Now it seemed that this was the one!

Unlike the other corpses, this corpse, which only existed in the mirror, was bald all over, with nothing on it, so its identity could not be determined from its clothes.

The charred corpse lay silently in the mirror, motionless, but the pressure it brought to Jiang Cheng was unprecedented.

Suddenly, a flash of light caught his eye. He noticed that the charred corpse's hands were placed flat on its chest, and under its hands, a strange color was revealed, not a large area, like… a piece of paper.