Time passed second by second, and in our arduous wait, the minute hand on the watch finally slowly passed twelve o'clock!
"It's now!"
Without a moment of hesitation, I quickly picked up the copper coins and the "Gathering Yang Talisman" from the ground. Given the current situation, I couldn't risk discarding these few things. In case we couldn't get out, these things would come in handy.
"Let's go!"
After packing up, I continued to lead Captain Han and others downstairs. Just before leaving, I suddenly remembered something and quickly tore off the life talisman on my body, and handed it directly to Zhang: "Wear it!"
Whether it was because of my bad luck or some other reason, Zhang had been extremely unlucky today. He hadn't fully recovered from his injuries, and had just been possessed by the powerful ghost again. If he were to be possessed again, he might collapse right then and there.
"This..."
Seeing the life talisman, Zhang couldn't help but brighten up, and was about to reach out and take it, but quickly retracted his hand, looking embarrassed: "If you give this to me, what will you do?"
"It's okay, I can protect myself."
Without further ado, I quickly stuffed the life talisman into Zhang's hand. When he hesitated, I sternly said, "Don't dilly-dally, be careful later. If you get possessed by a spirit again, we'll all be in trouble! Put it on!"
After that, I firmly attached the life talisman to Zhang, and then said to everyone, "Remember, later we will do the same as before, hold hands, close your eyes! No matter what you hear or feel, do not open your eyes, just keep walking forward!"
"Remember! At least keep walking twenty steps before opening your eyes! Understand?"
"Understood!"
Having learned from the previous failure, Captain Han and Zhang didn't dare to have any doubts, and hurriedly nodded in agreement, saying in unison, "Don't worry! This time we guarantee there will be no mistakes!"
"Good! Let's go!"
Time was of the essence. As soon as the two finished speaking, I quickly grabbed Zhang's hand and closed my eyes, then began to walk downstairs!
One step...two steps...
Five steps...ten steps...
Just like before, at first we were surprisingly smooth. Without encountering any unexpected situations, we had walked seventeen steps in a row...
The eighteenth step!
Learning from the lesson of the previous failure, I was particularly careful with this step, holding my breath and being cautious, just in case.
"Hmm?"
Suddenly, I furrowed my brow. What's that smell?
Just after taking the eighteenth step, I, like Zhang before, instantly smelled a burning smell—was it an illusion?
No! The life talisman on Zhang's body was burning again!
This was no illusion. As I was holding Zhang's hand, I was almost burned, and caught off guard, I almost reflexively pulled my hand back!
Uh-oh!
As I retracted my hand, I tried to reach for Zhang again, but found nothing. Then I heard Zhang scream, "Ah!"
Damn it! Is this some kind of test?
If I opened my eyes now, all our previous efforts would be in vain. But if I didn't open my eyes, what if something happened to Zhang again?
"Sigh..."
After weighing the pros and cons, I couldn't help but open my eyes!
As soon as I opened my eyes, I witnessed an incredibly eerie scene. Zhang and the others were now several meters away from me! And they had actually run straight into the wall!
"No!"
I was startled and almost instinctively shouted! Zhang's body trembled, hesitated for a moment, but seemed to remember my words, gritted his teeth, and ultimately took that step!
An even more bizarre scene unfolded—Zhang...he actually went through the wall??
Not only him, even Captain Han and Su Su, who were following him, also directly passed through the wall and disappeared!
Holy ****?
Could this...be the legendary art of passing through walls?
I was shocked by the scene before me, this was an eye-opening experience...I had actually witnessed the legendary art of passing through walls with my own eyes!
"No!"
Suddenly, I realized—it was an illusion, this must be a diversion set up by the ghost!
The path I saw was not the real path, and likewise, the wall I saw was not a real wall! Maybe, that was the real way down the building!
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic. Without any hesitation, I quickly rushed towards the wall where Zhang and the others had just passed through!
Then, the tragedy happened like this…
"Bang!"
With the muffled sound of impact, I directly slammed my head into the wall and was instantly knocked unconscious, blood flowing from my head!
Everything went black, and I immediately fell into a coma!
"Foolish..."
Just before losing consciousness, almost instinctively, these words flashed through my mind!
Sigh, my head is really messed up. Just now, even though my eyes were open, the direction I saw was naturally wrong. I'm afraid that at the moment I just moved, everything in front of me had already changed...
Serves me right!
...
In a daze, I felt like someone was approaching me, whispering something, but I couldn't hear a word. I struggled hard to hear what he was saying, but every effort resulted in a piercing headache.
But I didn't give up, I kept struggling! I knew very well that I couldn't fall asleep right now, otherwise, only death awaited me!
I don't know how long it had been, but suddenly I jolted awake!
As soon as I regained consciousness, I quickly sat up from the ground!
Checking the time, it was already past three in the afternoon. I was unconscious for a full three hours?
Subconsciously looking around, it was still empty, apart from me, there was not a single other person to be found!
"Sigh..."
Without finding any trace of Captain Han and the others, I was instead relieved. It seems like they must have successfully found a way out of this labyrinth!
In other words, one can indeed break through this "labyrinth" with their eyes closed!
Without hesitation, I quickly got up from the ground, and was about to close my eyes and continue downstairs when suddenly, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor!
Huh?
Was that... Old Zhang?
Although the person passed quickly, I recognized him at a glance! Yes, it was Old Zhang who had been missing for several days!
Wasn't he supposed to be out of town? How could he appear here?
In an instant, my mind was filled with countless question marks.
My heart started to torment me again. I looked at the ghost-killing talisman in my hand and then at the steps below. Curiosity killed the cat, and I finally made a decision that I would later regret!
Go and see!
I took a deep breath and decisively gave up my plan to go downstairs, instead, I grabbed the ghost-killing talisman and rushed after the direction Old Zhang had just passed!
I really wanted to see if that person was really Old Zhang! And also, what earth-shattering secret was hidden on the "14th floor" that shouldn't have existed!
Old Zhang's figure flashed by, and the surroundings were unusually silent, I could only hear the pounding of my heart!
However, when I arrived at the place where Old Zhang had just passed, a series of clear footprints were left on the ground! No one had been here for a long time, the ground was covered in dust, so when someone passed by, they would naturally leave footprints!
Seeing the footprints, I was overjoyed; since footprints were left, I could naturally follow them. And these footprints also proved one thing, that the person who just floated by was indeed a man, not a ghost, because a ghost would not leave footprints!
In my joy, I couldn't help but speed up, following the footprints!
The hospital corridor was long, and after turning a corner, I chased for nearly fifty meters before the footprints disappeared in front of a large door. It seemed that the person who seemed to be Old Zhang had entered this room!
I didn't rush into the room but carefully listened at the door to see if there was any activity inside.
Strangely, I still didn't hear any movement, the silence inside was astonishing, not even a hint of sound was coming out.
Go in? Or turn back and leave?