He just broke up with his girlfriend and is already living with the devilish rich girl.

Zheng Xingguang followed him in and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

The elevator started with a hum.

Just like before, the car began to sway slightly, and the fluorescent lights overhead flickered on and off.

After the numbers on the third floor jumped over, the elevator jolted violently and came to a loud stop on the fourth floor.

All lights went out at the same time.

Bai Ziheng's back straightened instantly.

Darkness pressed in from all sides.

He could feel his heart racing and his palms starting to sweat.

But his face was expressionless, his back was ramrod straight, and his voice was steady.

"I was prepared for this situation a long time ago, so I'm not afraid right now; I'm just preparing myself emotionally."

"Brother Bai, your hands are shaking."

"This is a warm-up."

"You have sweat on your forehead."

"It's hot, and you're wearing too many clothes."

"Haha, Brother Bai, your eyes... Okay, okay, don't glare at me, I won't say anything more."

Zheng Xingguang suppressed a laugh and took out a talisman from his backpack. He flicked it lightly with his fingertip, and the talisman ignited into a pale golden flame.

The firelight was small, just enough to illuminate the entire carriage.

It also illuminated Bai Ziheng's face, which he was trying to keep from changing his expression, but whose lips had already turned pale.

Just then—

"drop--"

The red indicator light for emergency calls is on.

A hissing sound came from the speaker, followed by the voice of an old man.

"Hey? This is the property management office. Are you trapped in the elevator?"

Bai Ziheng was jolted awake.

"That's the bastard."

He pointed to the still-flashing red button, his voice extremely low, but each word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"You just said there was an elevator malfunction and told me to press the 18th, 6th, or 1st floor to restart the safety program. And that life-saving flying sword of yours."

"They teamed up to set me up; if it hadn't been stabbing me randomly, would I have fallen to the 999th floor?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xingguang couldn't hold back any longer. He raised his hand to cover his face, and his shoulders trembled slightly.

His face still maintained that very professional and calm expression.

"Brother Bai, that flying sword is still quite new. I only made it last week, and the materials were scraps I picked up from the logistics department's junkyard. Strictly speaking, it doesn't even qualify as a flying sword."

"It's just a floating peach wood ornament, so it has no experience in dealing with paranormal events and was easily fooled by the other party."

"I can't accept your explanation, but I'm not going to argue with you about it now."

Bai Ziheng's tone suddenly became calm.

"So what are you planning to do now?"

Zheng Xingguang glanced down at the compass.

The pointer stopped spinning and steadily pointed to a position slightly east of the elevator.

He put away the compass, looked up at the still-flashing red button, and a slow smile curved his lips.

"No rush, let's play with it."

The aged voice came through the loudspeaker again, this time with a hint of urgency in its tone.

"Don't you want to go out? If you do, do as I say. First press the 18th floor button, then press—"

"Sure, since you're so kind, why don't you help us out a few more times?"

Zheng Xingguang smiled and replied.

After saying that, he took a step forward and made a sword-finger gesture with his right hand.

A faint bluish halo appeared on her fingertips, like a frost illuminated by moonlight in the dimly lit carriage.

Zheng Xingguang raised his hand and poked the still-flashing red button with his index and middle fingers together.

My finger went into the button; yes, it went right in.

The entire knuckle sank into the red plastic panel, as if it had pierced through a film of water.

The halo around the button began to flash violently, and the buzzing sound of electricity became sharp and piercing.

Zheng Xingguang twisted his wrist and pulled it outwards.

With a "whoosh" sound.

He had a worm between his two fingers.

The thing was about the thickness of a thumb and half a foot long, grayish-white all over, and covered with a layer of sticky liquid.

The insect's body was still writhing wildly, its tail slapping loudly against Zheng Xingguang's fingers.

The most disgusting thing is its head.

That's not the head of an insect; it's a human eye.

The whites of his eyes were yellowish and bloodshot, and his pupils were vertical, darting around in terror.

"As expected."

Zheng Xingguang held the still-wriggling worm in his hand and raised it in front of Bai Ziheng.

The vertical pupil was staring directly at him, and the pupil suddenly contracted into a slit.

"Corpse-Eyed Maggot, C-Rank Anomaly."

"It doesn't have much offensive power, but it has a peculiar habit: it loves to eat human flesh and blood."

He tapped the still-moving eyeball with the tip of his other hand.

"This thing particularly likes to burrow into the eye sockets of recently deceased people, eat the eyeballs, embed itself in them, and then manipulate the last vestiges of the corpse's will to live."

"It can read the memories of the deceased and imitate their voice and manner of speaking."

"After someone was trapped in the elevator and died, it climbed out and had a feast."

"By the way, I'll use the resentment from this building to continue my charade and deceive the next person."

"So, the thing that messed with me in the elevator just now was this?" Bai Ziheng couldn't hold back any longer.

"I was tricked by a maggot?? And what about those women in red? Were they caused by it too?"

"No, it doesn't have that ability."

Zheng Xingguang held the still-struggling corpse-eyed maggot between his fingers and twirled it once.

"This thing is essentially just a carrion worm."

"It traps people in elevators, mimics the voices of the dead, and collaborates with vengeful spirits looking for scapegoats to lure people to specific floors. To put it bluntly, it uses the power of this cursed object to harm people. The real mastermind is down below."

Bai Ziheng looked down at the still writhing corpse-eyed maggot, then at Zheng Xingguang.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let me stomp it to death." He raised his foot.

"Hey, Brother Bai, there's no rush."

Zheng Xingguang stepped half a step to the side, moving the worm away from his feet.

With light, deliberate movements and a calm, unhurried tone, he said, "Although this thing isn't part of that cursed entity, it's been in this building for at least ten years. It's eaten as many people as have died in the elevator."

"Some of the obsessions and resentments of those who died unjustly were swallowed by it and merged with it. Rather than calling it a carrion-eating worm, it is more accurate to say that it is the collective of all the victims in the elevator."

"This thing can really be a big help if we want things to go smoothly."

Bai Ziheng frowned: "How can it help? It almost killed me just now, and now it's inexplicably become a teammate? A maggot is a maggot, and a maggot's fate is to be trampled to death."

"Brother Bai, I know you're scared. But don't take your anger out on a maggot."

"So you want to take it out on me? That flying sword you gave me is less than a maggot."

"Cough cough..." Zheng Xingguang suppressed the urge to laugh and steered the conversation back on track.

"Because it devoured the flesh and blood of those victims, it naturally became tainted by their obsessions."

Zheng Xingguang looked at the still twitching corpse-eyed maggot on his fingertip, its clear eyes reflecting the fear in the vertical pupil.

"And obsession is the best key to understanding paranormal events."