The Three Pure Ones' Secret: Expressing Spirit

Fan Biao handed me a candle and said cautiously, "Be careful, follow behind me. If things go wrong, send a message to the local spirits for help."

The guy nodded upon hearing this, and then followed Lao Fan's footsteps slowly toward the small door next to the roller shutter.

I followed behind Fan Biao, carefully stepping over the rotten wood chips and rust scattered on the ground, and bent down to squeeze through the dilapidated little door.

The moment we stepped into the factory, a thick, oppressive darkness enveloped us completely.

Outside, there was still a hazy moonlight and faint streetlights, but inside the factory, it was truly pitch black. Thick darkness pressed down on everything, without a single ray of light. Everywhere you looked was pitch black; you couldn't even see anything half a step in front of you. The enclosed space was completely airtight; the night breeze couldn't get in at all. Instead, a heavy, murky odor filled the air, a strange smell of rusting iron, rotting wood, and moldy walls. A pungent, musty stench assaulted the nostrils, making one's chest feel constricted and breathing difficult, inexplicably creating a sense of oppression.

The entire factory was deathly silent; I felt as if I could hear a pin drop. The light footsteps of Lao Fan and me echoed softly in the empty workshop, sounding particularly abrupt.

Old Fan and I dared not make any rash moves. He was tense, alert to any potential dangers lurking around us. We originally planned to calm ourselves down, take out our phones, turn on the flashlights, illuminate the dark factory, and survey our surroundings.

Just as we were about to take out our phones, a faint orange light suddenly appeared in the deepest corner of the factory.

The flame was unstable, flickering on and off. It swayed and drifted gently in the darkness, its light and shadow shifting and disappearing, as if someone were holding a candle, foolishly watching us from the shadows.

The dark and desolate abandoned factory, the eerie and heavy aura, and the flickering lights that appeared out of nowhere—these three elements intertwined, creating an indescribable sense of strangeness and mystery.

The guy stopped instantly, his heart sank, a fine layer of cold sweat broke out on his back, every hair on his body stood on end, and his palms holding the candle became wet.

Fan Biao, who was standing to the side, froze instantly. His steady steps stopped abruptly, his eyes turned sharp and serious, and his brows furrowed tightly as he stared intently at the flickering orange flames.

We looked into each other's eyes, both of us filled with the same doubt and wariness, our hearts brimming with confusion and fear.

This is an abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, deserted for years and untouched by anyone. The surrounding area is filled with dense yin energy and malevolent aura, so ordinary living people would avoid it at all costs. It is impossible for anyone to come to such a ghostly place in the middle of the night.

Yet, deep within this abandoned factory, where the yin energy was heaviest and the danger was most intense, a living person's light suddenly shone.

Who could be hiding in this dark and gloomy place, with a light on?

The flickering orange flames still danced in the corner, illuminating a small, hazy shadow. The figure was indistinct, its movement unreadable, yet it seemed like a pair of lurking eyes, silently watching us as we intruded into the factory. A chilling fear instantly gripped me. I held my breath, staring intently at the eerie flames, not daring to relax my guard for a moment.

Lao Fan and I stood there, completely dumbfounded, our minds filled with doubt and confusion.

The fleeing ghost wasn't even nearby. Apart from the heavy yin energy, there were no ghosts in the entire factory. But deep inside the factory, a figure appeared and disappeared intermittently.

The abandoned factory here is eerily sinister; even the living dare not approach it, let alone anyone lingering with a light on at night.

But who exactly is this figure that suddenly appeared?

A heavy weight of doubts weighed on our minds, a mixture of curiosity and heightened vigilance preventing us from backing down. To find out exactly what was lurking in the shadows and the true identity of the figure, Lao Fan and I exchanged a glance, perfectly in sync, and slowly stepped closer towards the flickering light and the blurry figure.

The factory was eerily quiet. We moved with utmost care, our hearts pounding, our eyes fixed on the swaying light and shadow ahead, remaining on high alert the entire time.

Just as we were getting closer and closer to the light and about to see the outline of the figure clearly, the blurry black shadow suddenly moved, turned around and flashed away from the illumination of the firelight, disappearing completely into the darkness.

Upon seeing this, my heart tightened instantly! This figure that appeared out of nowhere was definitely not simple. Its sudden appearance in the abandoned factory where evil spirits were hiding was absolutely related to the ghost that had just escaped. It could not possibly be a coincidence.

There was no time for us to think. Old Fan reacted incredibly quickly, without the slightest hesitation, and immediately gave chase. I was panicked and scared, but I could only follow closely behind him, rushing forward cautiously, not daring to stay alone in that gloomy factory.

But when we rushed to the spot where the firelight had just flickered, it was completely empty and pitch black. There wasn't a single person in sight, not even a trace of human presence. It was so clean and tidy that it was as if everything we had just seen was an illusion.

The only thing visible was an old cement wall, next to which stood a rusty safety staircase leading straight up.

It was obvious that this abandoned factory building wasn't just a single floor; there was a second floor above. Without pausing, Lao Fan and I climbed the cold staircase step by step. The iron railings were severely rusted, creaking and groaning with the slightest movement, which sounded particularly eerie in the empty, deathly silent factory.

We soon arrived at the second floor of the factory. This appeared to be the factory's office area from its early days, with a long corridor running through the entire floor and rows of small, independent offices on both sides. Most of the room doors were old and crooked, some half-open and some completely detached, looking utterly dilapidated.

Lao Fan and I dared not miss any corner. We turned on the dim light of our phones and slowly walked forward, carefully checking each office.

The room was extremely sparsely furnished and old, covered in a thick layer of dust, with cobwebs crawling on the floor and on the tables and chairs. A worn-out desk, rusty benches, and an old-fashioned CRT monitor were piled haphazardly around the room. Apart from that, there was nothing unusual, no ghosts, no strange movements, just plain and ordinary, nothing but the desolation and decay of years of abandonment.

Returning to the corridor and continuing forward, the narrow corridor was dark and deep. The light from the phone flashlight was limited, unable to illuminate a very long distance, only barely brightening a small area in front of you. The depths of the corridor remained endless darkness.

We continued exploring along the passageway, which grew increasingly secluded until we reached its very end. Ahead stood an old, sturdy iron fence, blocking our path and indicating that it was the end of the passageway.

Just when we thought we had nowhere to go and were about to turn back, we took a closer look and discovered that there was a huge concrete ventilation pipe hanging in the air outside the fence.

The pipe was exceptionally large, large enough for one person to pass through. Its walls were mottled and old, covered with cracks and moss. A huge hole was torn in the side wall of the pipe, and the dark hole led to who knows where.

Old Fan and I looked at each other. Could that mysterious figure have escaped through this ventilation duct? I stood there, unsure of what to do.

What started as chasing a ghost in the middle of the night unexpectedly turned into crawling through walls and climbing stairs. It turned into a bizarre and eerie escape room challenge.

Old Fan stared at the pipe opening for two seconds, then turned to me without hesitation and said, "Go in and take a look!"

Seeing that the old man had already said that, how could I dare to back down? Even though I was terrified and my scalp was tingling, I could only grit my teeth and agree.

I took a deep breath, suppressed my anxiety, and followed Lao Fan, bending down and slowly crawling into the cold, rough cement ventilation duct.

The inside of the pipe was dark and damp, the walls were icy cold, and it was filled with dust and mildew. The space was cramped and oppressive, making one feel uncomfortable.

We had only crawled a few meters in when we could clearly see that at the deep end of the pipe, there was still a ball of orange light flickering on and off – the firelight in the hand of the figure from before.

Just as we were about to hurry up and catch up, we suddenly realized something was wrong. But before we could react, the broken ventilation duct under our feet wasn't flat at all! It was actually a huge 45-degree slope!

Lao Meng and I lost our balance and instantly became weightless. We slid uncontrollably down the smooth inner wall of the pipe, like kindergarten children sliding down a slide!

The speed increased, the wind howled through the pipes, and all I could hear was the whooshing sound of the wind; I simply couldn't stop.

The pipe under our bottoms was very long, and we slid along bumpily for a few seconds before our feet touched the ground and we successfully slid to the bottom of the pipe.

As soon as I stood up and looked up, my gaze instantly locked onto a blurry figure in front of me. The figure was holding a ball of light that looked like a torch and was fleeing quickly not far ahead. The figure looked hurried and panicked.

Old Fan and I dared not hesitate any longer. At this moment, we didn't care about the dangers and unknowns around us. We only had one thought in our minds: if it runs, we will chase it. Today, we will definitely make sure it can't escape!

We strode forward, chasing after them with all our might, running frantically. I was panting heavily, my chest heaving, utterly exhausted, yet I dared not slow down for a moment. But the further we went, the more bizarre and abnormal the surrounding environment became.

I initially thought that the deeper I went, the darker it would become, and the heavier the yin energy would be. But the opposite was true! As I ran forward, my vision brightened, and the darkness of the entire space completely dissipated. The biting yin energy that had been lingering around me also quickly faded and dissipated, and the cold and oppressive feeling was swept away, replaced by a warm and transparent environment.

Old Fan and I instinctively slowed our pace, looking around warily with suspicion.

Emerging from the ventilation duct exit, the scene before us completely overturned our understanding. We had actually walked from the narrow duct into an incredibly spacious natural cave.

The cave is extremely spacious, with a towering dome and a wide view, making it impossible to tell that it is an underground space beneath a suburban factory.

Old Fan and I exchanged a glance, our eyes filled with disbelief and our faces etched with doubt. No one could have imagined that such a large, hidden cave was concealed deep beneath the abandoned factory.

Filled with questions, we were about to start a discussion and investigate our surroundings when a high-pitched, strange, yet remarkably clear voice suddenly echoed from the dark depths of the cave: "Oh, I didn't expect anyone to actually break into my treasure cave. Who are you people?"

The sudden, eerie sound echoed through the empty cave, cold and sharp, exceptionally clear in the silent underground.

Lao Fan and I immediately shut our mouths, neither of us uttering a sound. Our eyes were fixed on the figure that slowly emerged from the depths of the cave, scrutinizing it carefully from top to bottom, our hearts filled with vigilance and doubt.

The person in front of me gave off an extremely strange feeling, an indescribable sense of unease. But if you asked me to pinpoint exactly what was strange about him, I couldn't say for the time being. However, my intuition was screaming at me that this person was definitely not ordinary.

But I'm 100% sure he's not the ghost we were chasing before.

Because he was flesh and blood, with a real physical body, his feet leaving clear shadows on the ground, his figure solid, without any of the ethereal and transparent quality of a ghost. He was completely different from the ghosts that floated through walls and were chillingly cold. In fact, his appearance made me feel that the surroundings were warmer.

This person was slender and thin, with an upright posture. He wore an old-fashioned cloth outfit that looked like it came from the 1950s or 60s. The fabric was rough and dull, slightly faded from washing, and the style was simple and outdated, completely out of step with the present era, exuding a sense of vicissitude and isolation from the world.

He held a quaint, long pipe in his hand, his fingertips lightly resting on the stem, his posture languid and composed. But what was most contradictory was his appearance, which completely contradicted his old-fashioned attire. He looked to be no more than thirty years old, with refined and handsome features, clean and sharp eyes, a fair and dashing face, and an exceptionally good appearance, possessing a unique charisma.

Such a handsome appearance, paired with an old-fashioned cloth outfit and an old-fashioned tobacco pipe, creates an indescribable sense of strangeness and incongruity.

Beside him, Fan Biao's face darkened, all relaxation vanished, and his eyes sharpened like knives as he stared intently at the man opposite him. Then, a slight smirk appeared on his lips, accompanied by a knowing yet icy snort, as he revealed the man's identity: "Heh, so it's Huang Xian."

His tone was somewhat mocking: "I didn't expect that such a small place as Chuannan City would harbor so many immortals. What's the meaning of deliberately leading us into this cave? That ghost is also related to you, isn't it? Where did you hide it?"

Upon hearing this, the handsome man opposite him remained calm and a faint smile slowly appeared on his face.

He raised his hand to bring the pipe to his lips, took a gentle puff, and the smoke slowly escaped from his mouth and nose, swirling around him.

He then spoke again, his voice still carrying the sharp, high-pitched quality unique to immortals, tinged with disdain and composure: "To have chased me all the way to my underground cave, you two are certainly no ordinary mortals. The ghost you've been relentlessly pursuing must be Old Liu, right?"

The moment he finished speaking, he raised his hand and waved it lightly, a casual and effortless movement. Visible ripples appeared on the hard stone walls on either side of the cave, the solid surfaces trembling and shifting like flowing water. The next second, a figure slowly emerged from the stone walls, standing in a corner of the cave's open space.

It was the very ghost we had been chasing all night. Although its face was still horrifyingly ugly with its skin torn and its flesh crisscrossed with wounds, it was completely different from when it had haunted the Huang family villa. Gone was the overwhelming ferocity and malevolence, gone were the eerie and unsettling special effects. It looked no different from a normal person, standing obediently in place.

He no longer exuded the sinister and eerie aura of terror he had before; instead, he looked disheveled and frustrated.