I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

……

In a bizarre, haunted dungeon, a terrifying zone where violating taboos leads to death—yet your identity is suddenly revealed by someone whose identity is unclear, whether they are alive or dead.

Chen Xi chose to hold the gun to the other person's head.

The person on the other end was so frightened their voice trembled, but they weren't too panicked. Their eyes darted around: "You...you should put it away first! It's dangerous if it accidentally goes off!"

"You've made a mistake."

Chen Xi didn't move, the muzzle of the gun firmly pressed against her forehead: "We're the newly deceased security guards, here to work in the building."

This building is full of taboos.

Lin Jianguo was silently "swallowed" by the building because he exposed his identity as a living person.

So even if someone suddenly claims to be a living person and comes to your door—who knows if it's a trap?

Countless thoughts flashed through Chen Xi's mind:

To admit it or not to admit it?

Should we eliminate them outright for safety reasons, or verify their identity and conduct an investigation?

In the end, I managed to hold back.

Taking action without fully understanding the other party's background is too risky.

Not to mention Granny Li, who could kill people by "beating villains" and would throw the corpses around the stairwell like trash.

……

"I told you my name is Li Yafei, but my mother-in-law calls me Ximei."

The girl squeezed into the room like a fish, looking around curiously: "I live on the 22nd floor. I'm really alive. If you don't believe me, touch my hand. It's warm and has a pulse—"

As she spoke, she reached out to touch Chen Xi, but the latter made a "shush" gesture and turned to put the portrait of the two ghosts locked in the kitchen.

Seeing how cautious she was, Li Yafei pouted:

"Are you all so wary? I really didn't mean any harm."

How did you get here?

Chen Xi's tone remained firm, the gun still pressed against her forehead: "And those two corpses in the hallway, do you know how they died?"

"I know."

Li Yafei's face was filled with an almost naive joy:

"You mean Ah Kai and Ah Le? Those two bastards bullied me and forced me to take photos. My mother-in-law beat me to death with voodoo dolls."

One broke his neck, the other bled profusely; they died horribly.

She paused, then added with a touch of pride:

"I saw it with my own eyes from behind the door. My mother-in-law took a cloth shoe and hit the paper figure again and again while chanting, and the figure died—wasn't my mother-in-law amazing?"

Seemingly to gain her trust, Li Yafei explained the whole story, including how she found the paper money, how she was chased, and how she reunited with her mother-in-law.

The details match perfectly.

Chen Xi's fingertips twitched slightly.

She could feel that the little girl in front of her was breathing warmly and her body was trembling slightly; it was the reaction of a living person.

After tucking the gun back into his waistband, Chen Xi spoke coldly:

"You're wrong. We're all ghosts, newly dead. Uncle Biao hired the security guards to watch over the building."

"puff--"

Li Yafei burst out laughing and waved her hand, saying:

"Please, you can only fool ghosts like that! Ghosts have such positive yang energy around them, I feel warm even standing this far away, why would a ghost carry a gun?"

She tilted her head and looked Chen Xi up and down: "You look like a madam at first glance. I used to want to go to police academy and become a policewoman, but unfortunately I wasn't good at studying and couldn't get in."

"So you came to find us..."

Chen Xi ignored her question and went straight to the point: "What exactly is it? Do you want us to take you out of the instance?"

Unexpectedly, the other person shook their head, their expression serious, with a hint of barely concealed joy:

"Even if I go out, there's no mother-in-law there. She's my only family. If I go back to reality, I'll be all alone. It's better to stay here."

Wherever my mother-in-law is, that's where I'll be.

While looking into the kitchen, Kang Xiaojia asked softly, "Then why did you call us?"

"Let's make a deal."

Li Yafei smiled, a hint of slyness in her eyes: "I have a way to get out of the building, but I'm too scared to go alone. I'll tell you how, and you can take me with you, okay?"

Chen Xi immediately remembered the second taboo: never grant a resident's request.

The girl looks like a real person, but she lives in the building and is considered a resident.

Will granting her request violate any taboos?

Seeing that Chen Xi remained silent, Li Yafei became somewhat displeased, and her tone naturally carried a hint of threat:

"You have no choice but to agree, otherwise I'll go and tell Grandma that you're not dead."

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold upon hearing this.

Kang Xiaojia frowned and stood behind Chen Xi.

"Little girl, that's not how you use cleverness."

Chen Xi looked at her and suddenly smiled: "Do you believe I could shoot you right now?"

"You, you can't do that!"

Li Yafei shrank her neck, then quickly added, her neck stiffening:

"You police won't kill people randomly! And... and if I die, you'll never know how to get out of the building!"

She was stubborn, but her voice trembled slightly—she now realized how stupid she had been to come when her mother-in-law wasn't home.

Although the other party looked like a policeman, what if she guessed wrong?

……

"Alright."

Chen Xi glanced at Li Yafei before deciding not to scare her: "You said you can get out of the building, what method do you mean? Tell me first."

A fight to the death would not benefit them.

In this haunted building, it's always good to know as much information as possible.

Li Yafei, taking advantage of the situation, snorted before finally speaking:

"There's a woman named Fang on the seventh floor. She's a tailor who makes leather shirts. If a living person wears one, they can be disguised as a ghost and won't be detected when they leave the building."

My grandma told me that if I wanted to go out, I should borrow clothes from Sister Fang, but I had to take good care of them, or I'd be in big trouble if I ruined them.

Fangjie, the tailor.

Human skin clothing.

Chen Xi's heart skipped a beat.

She had originally planned to go out and investigate after dawn—the missing citizens and the separated Hong Kong team members all needed to be searched for outside.

The news of the young girl coming to her door coincided perfectly with her plan.

But... things are so coincidental that they seem like a trap no matter how you look at it.

What a coincidence!

She wanted to leave the building, and someone immediately came to offer a solution, who also happened to know the secret of the human skin clothing.

"OK."

After careful consideration, Chen Xi finally made a decision:

"We can take you there. But once we're outside, you must follow instructions and not run around. If you try anything funny..."

"No, no!"

Li Yafei nodded immediately, her eyes crinkling with laughter: "MAdam, just shoot me! I'm the most obedient! I promise I won't hold you back!"

She was as happy as a bird released from its cage, completely losing her threatening tone from before.

Chen Xi, however, was not at ease.

"Get ready, we're going to the seventh floor now."

Chen Xi turned to Kang Xiaojia and instructed, "Go and tell Jiang Chen and the others to have Zheng Wenxuan come with me. The rest of you stay in the building and wait for orders."

"it is good."

Kang Xiaojia quickly packed away the medical kit, her voice a little nervous: "Captain Chen, are you really going to borrow human skin suits?"

"Hmm." Chen Xi nodded: "To find out what 'things' the dungeon are, you have to take risks."

……

……

……

Walking down from the seventeenth floor, the hallway appeared even more dilapidated during the day than at night.

Large patches of plaster peeled off the wall, revealing blackened red bricks underneath. Dark brown stains seeped into the brick seams, and it was unclear whether they were blood or mold.

The building is very quiet during the day, with almost no sound.

"There are very few ghosts in Bai Ri Lou."

Li Yafei walked ahead with light steps and whispered, "Most of them have set up stalls on the street. My mother-in-law usually goes to Temple Street to perform the 'villain' ritual during the day and is not at home."

Chen Xi nodded, his gaze sweeping over the doors on both sides: sure enough, most of the doors were tightly closed.

When we reached the seventh floor, the smell of blood in the air suddenly became stronger.

The stench of blood mixed with sandalwood filled my nostrils, like stepping into a slaughterhouse.

—It inexplicably reminds me of the large chunks of pork displayed at a meat stall in summer, and the scent of mugwort burned to repel mosquitoes.

The corridor wires were covered with human skin clothing, long and short.

During the day, they look no different from ordinary clothes.

"Is this Sister Fang's tailor shop?"

Li Yafei shrank back and hid behind Chen Xi: "Grandma said... Sister Fang is very fierce."

Zheng Wenxuan, who was following behind, didn't dare to look and obediently covered his mouth without making a sound.

He was terrified that if he opened his mouth, the things he had seen and heard last night would flood his mind and he would blurt them out without thinking.

Just then, a low whimpering sound came from the door of the tailor shop.

It sounded like a dog barking, but not quite; it was muffled and tinged with despair.

The three paused, using the light from the stairwell to look towards the entrance of the tailor shop—

A dog was lying at the door of Fangjie's room.

It was a very large dog, more than half the height of a person, with its body curled up, its head drooping on its paws, and a thick iron muzzle that had been polished to a shine.

But everyone who sees it for the first time will feel uncomfortable.

The dog's skin was completely torn.

Yellow, black, and white pieces of dog skin, each a different color, were sewn together with thick black thread.

The stitches were crooked and uneven, like centipedes crawling on the body.

In some places, the skin wasn't aligned properly, and the edges were turned inside out, revealing the dark red flesh inside, from which blood was seeping out.

One of its ears was a droopy dog ​​ear, while the other, in shape, resembled... a human ear.

Thin, with fine downy hairs.

The limbs also look disproportionate, with the two front legs being of different lengths, one paw resembling a dog's paw and the other vaguely resembling a human hand.

A dog stitched up.

It's like a "Frankenstein's monster" sewn together using different skins and different limbs.

The group felt a chill run down their spines. Could it be that Sister Fang not only skinned people to make clothes, but also sewed them up like dogs?

The dog, which had been lying listlessly, suddenly raised its head when it heard footsteps.

A pair of eyes naturally came out.

They are not dog eyes, but human eyes.

Its eyes are clearly black and white, with pupils and whites, and you can even see the despair and terror in them.

Its gaze swept over Zheng Wenxuan and Li Yafei, but it didn't react much.

But when it saw Chen Xi, the dog froze, then suddenly became excited.

"Woof woof! Woof woof!"

"Waaaaah!! Help!"

"Waaaaaah! Help!"

It wagged its tail frantically, lunged forward, and clawed at the ground, desperately reaching for Chen Xi.

The iron muzzle on its mouth clanged loudly as it rammed into it, tearing the skin around its mouth outwards, but it seemed oblivious to the pain.

The eyes of the two people were filled with pleading and tears.

It was as if they had met a long-lost relative and were desperately trying to get close.

Chen Xi's heart skipped a beat.

She felt that those eyes... looked somewhat familiar.

Where have I seen this before?

Where exactly is it?

Faces flashed through Chen Xi's mind, but he couldn't quite grasp their specific outlines.