Survival in an apartment, starting with a stroke of luck on a plane

Looking at Boss Wang's deathly pale face, Lin Yu asked in a deep voice, "Boss Wang, what happened to you?"

Boss Wang lowered his eyes, instinctively shrinking back, and said in a dry voice, "It's nothing! I was too exhausted last night helping you find that ghost, Brother Lin. I've taken a lot of energy out of me, but I'll be fine after a rest."

As he spoke, he exerted force with his hands, trying to close the door completely.

Too much exertion? Lin Yu frowned almost imperceptibly. He really didn't know Boss Wang's background or the depth of his methods. Could finding a wandering spirit really turn him into this inhuman, ghostly state?

Although he had many doubts, the other party stuck to this story and appeared weak and exhausted, so Lin Yu couldn't find any obvious flaws for the time being.

He pressed his foot slightly to block the door from closing, and got straight to the point: "Boss Wang, I've come to ask you something."

Regarding the "divine sword" left behind by the Taoist priest in that room on the fifth floor, do you know what it is? What's so special about it?

"A divine sword?" Boss Wang lowered his head slightly, then shook his head gently: "I don't know, Brother Lin. I'm just an old man who sells incense and candles and knows a little about unorthodox practices. How would I know anything about a divine sword? Brother Lin, you overestimate me."

His tone was very calm, as if he really knew nothing.

Lin Yu frowned, staring into Boss Wang's eyes.

Although he didn't know why, Lin Yu's intuition told him that Boss Wang was probably not telling the truth.

However, the other party's appearance couldn't be faked, and Lin Yu couldn't directly pressure the other party, since the other party had just helped him yesterday.

"In that case, I'm sorry to have bothered you." Lin Yu gave him a deep look, then stopped insisting and slowly pulled his foot out of the door crack.

The door slammed shut behind me with a bang, followed by the click of the latch being quickly inserted.

Standing in front of the closed door, Lin Yu's frustration grew like wildfire.

The trail seems to have gone cold again.

He scratched his head in frustration, but finally decided to go back to the sealed door on the fifth floor.

That's the eye of the storm, the lair of demons, where you might find overlooked clues.

……

Soon, Lin Yu arrived at the fifth floor again.

The air on the fifth floor was even colder and more stagnant than below, filled with a musty smell of dust and... a faint burnt smell.

The door with the bright red "ghost-suppressing runes" pasted on it was in a very strange state at the moment. In Lin Yu's eyes, it looked like a huge boil, bulging up and exuding an ominous aura.

The "ghost-suppressing lock" on the door is in terrible condition.

The original brass-colored lock body was covered with pitted black corrosion marks, as if it had been repeatedly splashed with strong acid, and the metal surface even showed strange softening and indentation.

The bright red runes on the door panel had faded considerably, becoming gray and blurry, like dried-out, blackened, and peeling old paint.

An invisible, chilling, and resentful aura was seeping out from the cracks in the door, becoming increasingly clear, and lingering in the hallway, making the temperature drop several degrees.

Clearly, this so-called seal is on the verge of collapse. According to the game's hints, the evil spirits will be released at midnight tonight.

Lin Yuqiang suppressed the chill in his heart and began to carefully search every inch of the room around the door.

The door frames, walls, floors, and ceiling corners were covered with cobwebs... He didn't overlook any place where clues might be hidden.

Unfortunately, he found no words left by the Taoist priest, nor any clues about the "divine sword".

After spending more than half an hour, Lin Yu found nothing. Just as he was leaving in disappointment and reached the corner of the corridor, he heard a series of hurried, light footsteps coming from the stairwell, accompanied by heavy and flustered breathing.

An elderly woman with gray hair, a hunched back, and who looked to be at least eighty or ninety years old, came running up, leaning on a well-worn wooden cane.

She ran too fast and didn't see Lin Yu standing in the shadows at the corner of the stairwell.

In his cloudy old eyes, there seemed to be only that tightly closed door, which exuded an ominous aura.

She moved with a speed and dexterity beyond her years, pulling out a small incense burner the size of a palm from her bosom, along with a few cheap incense sticks and a stack of rough yellow paper money. She lit them with trembling hands, placed them in the incense burner, and put them on the cold cement ground in front of the door.

Then, with a "thud," he knelt down straight, his wrinkled forehead hitting the hard ground with a dull and startling "thud."

"Xiangxiang... Xiangxiang girl... this old woman... I kowtow to you..." The old woman's voice was trembling with sobs, and every word seemed to be squeezed out of her throat.

"You...you can't blame me, old lady...I...I only have this one good-for-nothing son...If I don't help that person...those debt collectors...they really will beat my son to death...Waaah...breaking his legs would be the least of my worries...Waaah..."

She cried and kowtowed repeatedly, her thin body trembling like a leaf, fear almost overflowing from her hunched back, mingling with the smoke of cheap incense, filling the air.

"You...you want to collect a debt...you've come to me...it's my fault, you old woman...come to me!"

Please don't...don't go looking for my son...and don't go looking for my grandson...they're still so young...they don't know anything...please, Xiangxiang girl...this old woman is begging you...begging you..."

Lin Yu leaned against the shadows at the corner of the stairs, holding his breath, and heard clearly the old woman's intermittent pleas filled with despair and fear.

Coming to the fifth floor was definitely the right decision; the crucial information has emerged—"helped that person"? "A debt collector"? Clearly, this old lady was also a key figure in those events back then.

With that thought in mind, Lin Yu stopped hiding and stepped out of the shadows. His leather shoes made a clear sound as he walked straight to the old woman who was kneeling on the ground with bloodstains on her forehead.

The old woman was startled by the sudden footsteps and figure. She looked up abruptly, her bloodshot eyes initially blank, then turning wary and annoyed at being disturbed as she stared at Lin Yu: "You...who are you? What do you want?"

She instinctively shifted her body, trying to protect the pitiful amount of incense and paper money on the ground.

Lin Yu didn't speak, his face expressionless, but he swiftly and decisively drew the [Yan Shuangying's Twin Pistols] from his waist.

The dark muzzle of the gun gleamed with a cold metallic luster in the dim light, carrying a sense of deathly oppression, and was steadily pointed at the old woman's wrinkled and bloodstained brow.

The air seemed to freeze.

......