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

The whole process didn't last long, but Chen Xi felt as if he had been underwater for a century.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Fang Jie's face.

No, or rather, that was her face.

Fangjie grew facial features.

Sharp, heroic eyebrows and eyes, well-proportioned features, thin lips, and wheat-colored skin.

The arch of her eyebrows, the height of her nose bridge, and the lines of her lip peaks are exactly the same as her face.

A living person's face appeared on Fang Jie's head, eerily spliced ​​together with the skin below her neck—

It has a kind of creepy, living dead feel to it.

"Click-clack..."

Fang opened her mouth and tested the mobility of her new face. The muscles twitched at the corners of her mouth, revealing an awkward smile.

Her lips moved as if she were speaking, but no sound came out.

Then, "Chen Xi" nodded in satisfaction.

She reached out and touched her new face, happily looking at herself in the mirror.

"Here you are—if I didn't know you were here, I would have thought some stranger had entered this room."

Chen Shulan, on the other hand, watched the spectacle and held up the mirror, gesturing for Chen Xi to see for himself.

Chen Xi stared at herself in the mirror, her pupils dilating slightly.

The woman in the mirror—she has no familiar features.

She knew perfectly well that those were her own eyes, her own nose, and her own lips.

She knew that when those elements were combined, it should be "Chen Xi's" face.

But Chen Xi didn't recognize him.

No matter how much she stared at it or tried to identify it from different angles, her brain couldn't recognize it.

Forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, lips, chin... She recognized each of her features, but when put together, they became a complete stranger.

When people look in the mirror, they experience a strange illusion.

You might find the person in the mirror increasingly unfamiliar the more you look at them, but that feeling will quickly disappear.

The woman in the mirror is a stranger.

Chen Xi found this feeling very strange.

……

……

……

When Chen Xi knocked on the door of room 1702, Kang Xiaojia's wary face appeared behind the door, her expression as if she were looking at a stranger.

"...Who are you looking for?"

Jiang Chen and Wang Lei were both in the room. All three of them looked terrible, with bloodshot eyes, clearly indicating they hadn't slept well all night.

"it's me."

When Chen Xi spoke, it was her original voice. The two people left in the room were so shocked that they stood up at the same time and stared at Chen Xi's face, full of confusion.

The three people stared at Chen Xi's face, trying hard to discern the truth.

A strange woman was clearly reflected in Kang Xiaojia's pupils.

He had regular features and sharp eyes, but she didn't recognize him.

"You..." Kang Xiaojia's voice caught in her throat, and she took a step back, half-believing, half-doubting, "You are... Sister Chen?"

"I am Chen Xi."

Chen Xi lowered her voice and said her name, as well as something that only she and a few others knew.

—From the initial arrangements for the dungeon to the group assignments for the first patrol, and the words Kang Xiaojia said to her before entering the dungeon.

Each and every case, some details are so precise that no one else could possibly know them.

Kang Xiaojia hesitated for a moment before rushing over, her eyes swollen like peaches: "Sister Chen!"

Wang Lei and Jiang Chen also lowered their guard and came closer, though a hint of unfamiliarity still lingered on their faces.

Zheng Wenxuan did not return, and the others tacitly refrained from asking, silently mourning in their hearts.

……

……

"How much time has passed inside the building?"

When Chen Xi returned, the group felt like they had found their pillar of support, especially Wang Lei, who cried his eyes out—if Kang Xiaojia hadn't stopped him, he would have clung to Chen Xi's leg and cried.

"One day and one night."

Jiang Chen frowned, seemingly trying to find a familiar feature on the unfamiliar woman's face:

"After you left, the clock in the building ticked for a full twenty-four hours—could Sister Fang really do that?"

Even though he associates "Chen Xi" with this face in his mind, he still forgets it as soon as he sees it.

This isn't a punishment, it's clearly giving her a buff!

Even a living person wouldn't recognize her, let alone a ghost!

……

Twenty-four hours, exactly as Chen Shulan described.

Chen Xi looked up at the photo frame still face down on the table and briefly recounted what she had seen and heard outside the instance.

Ten minutes ago it was daytime, and ten minutes later it's nighttime.

Day and night are reversed, and black and white are abnormal.

ten minutes.

one day one Night.

Two different time flows exist simultaneously inside and outside the same building.

"So, the white light we saw during our patrols was actually the White Impermanence (a deity in Chinese mythology associated with death) inspecting the area. Although the building is safe, we still can't make eye contact?"

Jiang Chen added, "...There were indeed a group of people in the hallway this morning. They weren't security guards, they were tenants, and Uncle Biao assigned them to the fifteenth floor—"

Chen Xi finally understood where the fifty-person count for the dungeon came from: "How's your patrol mission going?"

Hearing this, Kang Xiaojia's tears, which she had managed to hold back, welled up again:

"Sister Chen, you and the alchemist aren't here. We messed up the second night patrol."

Her voice trailed off, her tone filled with remorse:

"The first time went smoothly; we avoided all the taboos and finished within the allotted time, but the second time..."

"The second time, we didn't have enough manpower, so the original six people were reduced to three. The number of incense sticks to be placed on each floor remained the same, and the time limit remained the same. The incense sticks on the 22nd floor and above were not placed within the time limit."

As she said this, her fingers unconsciously tightened their grip on Chen Xi's arm:

"We almost died on the 27th floor—"

Wang Lei unconsciously glanced at Jiang Chen, who avoided Chen Xi's gaze.

Kang Xiaojia didn't hide anything and honestly confessed everything:

"On the 27th floor, there was a household that didn't light incense. Immediately, a puddle of water appeared at the door. Anyone who stepped in it would be dragged into the house. Brother Jiang was caught, and even though I and the paper figure tried our best to pull him back, we couldn't save him..."

Finally, finally…

Kang Xiaojia added softly, "He—he picked up that red envelope and made a deal with a ghost."

Red Envelope Ghost.

Chen Xi looked at Jiang Chen, who appeared relaxed, showing no sign of fear at being haunted by a ghost.

He hasn't revealed the details of the deal yet.

She remembered Jiang Chen's personality.

This extremely eccentric rich kid is fearless of death, according to players who left the Huang Laotai birthday celebration instance:

Jiang Chen once attempted to challenge the dungeon rules, but ultimately suffered a severe blow.

From the very first day he entered the instance, he seemed to have developed a strong interest in ghosts—an interest that was not curiosity in the academic sense, but rather an obsession.

He was testing the waters, observing, and seeking excitement.

A fearless thrill-seeker, a man with a deep interest in the bizarre—on the life-or-death 27th floor, he picked up the ghostly red envelope.

Was it really out of necessity?

Or should we go with the flow?

Chen Xi turned her gaze to Jiang Chen, but the latter avoided her eyes.

Silence.

"I made a deal with a ghost."

Jiang Chen finally spoke, his tone so calm it was as if he were asking what he had for lunch:

I don't want to talk about the details of the deal, but the outcome was good.

He changed the subject: "Captain Chen, you're back. Now there are four of us. Maybe—we really do have a chance to go back alive."

Chen Xi withdrew her gaze.

She didn't ask any further questions.

Jiang Chen is not Zheng Wenxuan; interrogation will have no effect on him.

Chen Xi steered the conversation back to reality:

"First of all, Zheng Wenxuan hasn't returned yet. We need to find a way to rescue him."

"The second thing, Chen Shulan—"

She gave the name, and the three people reacted differently.

"Chen Shulan—is another player in the instance."

Chen Xi continued to share intelligence:

"She's a ghost, but also a player. Her mission is different from ours; she's to find the evil spirits hiding in the building. We've already found three, and we need to help her find the rest."

She didn't say what the terms of the exchange were.

Because it is not necessary.

"The third thing is to continue with the main task: register the identity information of every household and stay in the building for a full month."

"The fourth thing is that we need to ensure the safety of the citizens who accidentally entered the dungeon on the fifteenth floor."

Several matters weighed heavily on them like mountains, and the group suddenly felt immense pressure.

Just as Chen Xi finished speaking, there was a loud knocking on the door:

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The door wasn't locked, but the person knocking didn't push it open directly; they just kept pounding on it from the outside.

"Open the door! You bunch of idiots, you're all so irresponsible!"

It's Uncle Biao's voice.

Chen Xi opened the door, and Uncle Biao outside looked impatient, glancing at Chen Xi and cursing:

"Hey pretty girl, I praised you for being quick-witted and having a bright future the day before yesterday. How come you stopped doing your job properly after just one night? Last night, an old ghost complained to me that you weren't patrolling properly!"

The paper figure trembled with excitement:

"You young people have absolutely no sense of responsibility! You're always playing around, and out of six of you, only four are left!"

"Luckily, the security company sent some newly deceased ghosts. Look, new security guard ghosts have come downstairs. You guys go down and teach them how to patrol. I can't be bothered with them!!"

A new security guard?

The four of them felt a sudden sinking feeling in their hearts, their eyes met, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

So, does this mean new players have entered the dungeon?