Oh no! My yandere school beauty is so clingy!

He needed to examine the inside of the coffin, but didn't want Lin Anran to get close to that unsettling thing.

"Okay, be careful."

Lin Anran nodded, gripped the small flashlight tightly, and cautiously looked around.

Shen Yu walked to the coffin and shone his flashlight inside.

Inside the coffin lay a beautifully embroidered but faded phoenix coronet and wedding gown, along with a very old-looking thread-bound book.

The absence of the expected corpse or skeleton relieved him slightly, but he remained on edge.

He carefully picked up the thread-bound book, whose cover was inscribed with the words "Liu's Handwritten Notes" in delicate yet sorrowful handwriting.

He quickly flipped through the pages; inside were some scattered records and last words from the bride's life, filled with sorrow for her fate, resentment towards her heartless husband, and fear of this absurd ghost marriage.

On the last page, several lines of text were repeatedly traced, making them particularly shocking:

"Red candles and white banners, separated by life and death, my love's heart is as hard as iron, my heart is filled with unbearable sorrow. The bronze mirror is covered in dust, obscuring my face; my black hair is tangled, my soul is locked here. To break free from this prison, I must use my true tears to wash the mirror and comb my hair, to restore my beauty, only then will I see a way to live..."

Shen Yu repeated in a low voice, his mind rapidly connecting the clues. Then, he turned to Lin Anran and said:

"Ranran, look at that bronze mirror. Are there any stains on it? And can you remove the hair from the comb?"

"Oh well!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Anran carefully approached the center of the formation, squatted down, and examined the rhombus-shaped bronze mirror closely.

The mirror was indeed covered with a thick layer of dust, and there were some dark red stains, like dried blood or rouge.

She looked at the wooden comb again; the hair tangled between the teeth was dry and fragile, but it seemed that it could be carefully removed.

She reported to her supervisor: "The mirror is very dirty, and there's hair on the comb, but it looks like it can be removed."

"Take your hair down and try cleaning the mirror with a comb, but be careful not to break it."

As Shen Yu spoke, he continued to quickly browse through the notes, searching for more information.

Just then, the temperature in the room seemed to drop a little more.

The flames of the two white candles began to flicker violently, making crackling sounds, and their light flashed erratically.

The crying in the background suddenly became extremely shrill, as if it were right next to your ear, and at the same time, new sounds were mixed in...

Heavy footsteps came from all directions of the room!

Lin Anran was startled by the sudden change in sound and light, and her hand trembled. But she took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and focused on the task at hand.

She carefully removed the few dry strands of hair from the comb and set them aside. Then she picked up the comb and tried to gently scrape the stains off the mirror with the back of the comb.

One swipe, two swipes... the stain seems quite stubborn.

The dragging footsteps grew closer and clearer, as if something might pounce out of the darkness at any moment...

Lin Anran's back was covered in a layer of cold sweat, but she gritted her teeth and quickened her pace.

Suddenly, a sound completely different from all the previous sound effects exploded!

"Boom—!"

That wasn't the sound of human voices or ghosts wailing, but a deafening roar of thunder!

Then came the sound of torrential rain, interspersed with the sound of something being knocked down and shattering!

The sound effects were so realistic that it felt like a real storm was raging overhead and outside the room!

The simulated white light of lightning even suddenly shone through the cracks in the walls and doors, illuminating everything in the room in a ghastly white light before plunging it into even deeper darkness!

That sound...

Lin Anran's hand, which was scratching the mirror, suddenly froze!

Her face drained of all color in the flash of lightning, turning deathly pale.

His body began to tremble uncontrollably, and the comb in his hand fell to the ground with a "clatter".

She suddenly clutched her head, covered her ears tightly, curled up, and squatted down on the ground, shrinking herself into a small ball...

"It's over!"

Shen Yu knew something was wrong the moment the thunder roared!

He almost immediately dropped the note in his hand and shone his flashlight haphazardly in Lin Anran's direction.

"slowly!"

In the flash of lightning, he saw Lin Anran crouching on the ground, trembling, covering her ears, and letting out a soft, tearful cry:

"Over...over...help me..."

The fear in that voice was so helpless that it instantly shattered all of Shen Yu's composure and rationality.

"Ranran! Don't be afraid! I'm here! It's fake! It's just a sound effect!"

He shouted loudly, trying to drown out the realistic sound of thunder and rain, and rushed toward her with incredible speed.

He rushed to her side, knelt down on one knee without hesitation, opened his arms, and tightly embraced her trembling, petite body.

"It's okay, Ranran, it's okay, it was fake, it was just game sound effects, I'm here..."

He repeated it to her ear over and over again. He raised one hand and gently covered one of her ears, using his palm to block out some of the terrifying thunder. With his other hand, he hugged her even tighter, burying her whole body in his arms.

The moment he hugged her, Lin Anran felt as if she had grasped a lifeline, and hugged him back even tighter, burying her face deeply in his chest.

His embrace was warm and strong, and his voice pierced through the terrifying thunder and rain, gradually pulling her back from the cold fear.

She was still afraid, her body still trembling, but that fear began to subside because of his solid presence...

Shen Yu rested his chin on the top of her head and comforted her, "It's fake. The rhythm of the thunder is repetitive, and the sound of the rain doesn't change naturally. It's a designed sound effect loop, very fake."

As he spoke, his sharp gaze swept across the room, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound or the control mechanism.

He noticed a faint red light flickering in a corner of the room, near what appeared to be a vent.

It's an audio device.

He felt a little more at ease, but he didn't loosen his grip on Lin Anran's arms at all.

At this moment, whether he passed the level or not was completely unimportant to him; the emotions of the person in his arms were the most important thing.

Shen Yu took out a walkie-talkie and whispered into it:

"Could you please turn off the thunder sound effect? ​​Thank you. We are quite sensitive to this sound."

"OK, OK, received."

A response came quickly from the other end of the walkie-talkie, and then, very quickly, the thunder and rain sounds disappeared, and the sound effects were turned off.

Shen Yu then tried to help her up, but Lin Anran's legs were still a little weak and she couldn't exert much strength.

Shen Yu simply used his arms to lift her up horizontally.

"Mmm..." Lin Anran gasped softly, instinctively wrapping her arms around his neck.

He carried Lin Anran to the corner of the wall, then leaned against the cold wall and slowly sat down, still holding Lin Anran firmly in his arms.

He let her sit sideways on his lap, still completely encircled and protected in his arms...

He adjusted his position to make her more comfortable, one arm still around her back, the other gently patting her shoulder, waiting for her to recover...

Lin Anran buried her face in the crook of his neck, her hands gripping his shirt tightly.

The fear receded slowly like the tide, leaving behind a feeling of exhaustion as if one had survived a disaster, and a close sense of security.

Shen Yu felt the body in his arms was no longer so stiff, and its breathing gradually became steady.

He lowered his head and asked softly:

"Are you feeling better?"