Excessive ferocity due to caution

The group retraced their steps and ran quickly toward the main building of the manor.

This road is not short.

As Tang Yiwei passed by, he scanned the manor with his exceptional observation skills and memory, but found nothing suspicious.

Back at the main building, everyone was panting heavily.

Fang Detong, in particular, who was obese, was deathly pale and had bluish lips.

They arrived at the elevator, and Zhao Yi quickly pressed the up button. The elevator began to descend from the third floor.

We soon arrived at the first floor.

But the elevator doors didn't open for a long time.

"What happened?"

"This elevator was working perfectly fine yesterday..."

A look of confusion appeared in Zhao Yi's eyes.

After waiting for two minutes, a cold wind suddenly blew from behind. The people were already partially soaked by the rain, and the cold wind made them feel even colder!

Wu Dading shuddered violently and said in a trembling voice:

"How about we take the stairs?"

"If we had this much time, we would have already made it up there."

"Time is of the essence; the longer we drag this out, the more dangerous it becomes!"

Fang Detong looked at Zhao Yi uncertainly and said:

"Then...Brother Zhao, shall we take the stairs?"

Zhao Yi and Fang Detong exchanged a glance and nodded.

"good!"

Zhao Yi led them toward the stairs to the side.

Fang Detong walked at the back. Everyone went upstairs quickly, but Fang Detong, whose legs were already weak, couldn't keep up at all. The thought of climbing five floors made his scalp tingle.

At that moment, for the first time, he felt such disgust for the potato chips and fried foods he ate every day.

It's all because of these damn junk foods that they've drained my body!

"Fang Detong, what are you doing?"

"Hurry up and keep up!"

Just as Wu Dading was about to disappear around the corner of the stairs, he shouted loudly to Fang Detong, who was panting with his hands on his knees. The latter waved his hand:

"You guys go first, I'll be right there!"

He wanted to follow immediately, but the feeling of lack of oxygen was too much to bear.

Anyway, it's a safe time...

If we calculate the time, the safe time is about an hour and a half.

I should be fine after taking a short rest, right?

Fang Detong comforted himself in this way, and became even less inclined to move.

Just then, the elevator doors on the first floor, which had been closed the whole time, suddenly opened.

Fang Detong looked at the bright lights in the elevator, a hint of hesitation in his eyes, but in the end he still chose to go in.

Previously, he would never have been able to get into the elevator.

But it's safe time now, and the lights in the elevator... are just too bright.

The entire manor was shrouded in gloom.

The lights were ridiculously dim everywhere else, except for the lights in this elevator.

That brightness, at this moment, was like fine white jade to Fang Detong, like a beautiful woman by the autumn waters, possessing an indescribable allure.

Once inside the brightly lit elevator, Fang Detong turned off his phone's flashlight and turned on his live stream.

The audience inside were all telling him not to go in.

Fang Detong looked up at the bright lights in the elevator and smiled at the viewers in the live broadcast room:

"Brothers, don't be afraid!"

"I know that elevators are a symbol of living coffins in ghost stories, but what kind of living coffin have you ever seen that's this bright?"

"Besides, it's a safe time now, that ghost can't attack me, everyone don't need to worry!"

After he finished speaking, he pressed the button for the 5th floor.

The elevator doors slowly closed.

Snapped--

Inside the elevator, the lights suddenly went out.

Fang Detong, who still had a smile on his face, suddenly froze.

"Holy shit!"

"No way?!"

He was completely terrified.

After waiting for an hour in a state of near despair, Fang Detong discovered that he had not been attacked by the manor's ghosts.

At this point, he had recovered somewhat and hurriedly picked up his phone to ask Tang Yiwei for help.

But there was no signal at all inside the elevator.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Fang Detong slumped into a dark corner of the elevator, his eyes glazed over...

...

The remaining three quickly arrived at room 514. Zhao Yi took out his keychain and, with Wu Dading's help in providing light, kept searching for the key.

"If you live alone in this manor, why do you have so many keys? Aren't you just making yourself uncomfortable?"

Wu Dading was extremely anxious and complained.

Zhao Yi calmly said:

"These locks weren't made by me; they were made by the original owner."

"I installed those few new locks on the manor."

click -

After wasting a little time, Zhao Yi opened the door.

The three found the light switch in the room and dispelled the darkness.

The dust was already quite thick.

After a rapid rummaging through drawers and cabinets, Wu Dading shouted:

"Here I am!"

"Come quick!"

The two quickly arrived at Wu Dading's side and saw a heavy wooden box. After opening it, they found a pile of old, dusty items inside.

Some wooden furniture, a broken clock, several bottles of expired and moldy unknown beverages...

Among these items, Tang Yiwei keenly spotted a crumpled piece of paper.

He took it out and spread the note out on the ground.

...

[My dear grandson, tomorrow is your seventh birthday. You'll be starting school soon, so please cherish your time!]

Grandpa gave you an alarm clock so you'll cherish your time!

Remember, a person can only focus on one thing at a time.

Even a clock is the same; if it malfunctions, the hands will stop turning!

...

This note is exactly the same as the one in the basement.

The content is all very strange.

But this time, there are no more word puzzles.

After the three of them looked at it for a moment, Tang Yiwei suddenly focused his gaze on the damaged alarm clock, and a glint flashed from his glasses.

"I finally...remembered!"

Wu Dading, who was standing nearby, hurriedly asked:

"What did you remember?"

Tang Yiwei took out the already badly damaged alarm clock and analyzed it to the two of them:

"I've been wondering why the manor's ghosts sew up people's eyes and mouths after killing them. I suspect it's a hint from the manor's curse rules..."

"Now it seems my guess was correct."

"Think about it carefully, doesn't a face with its eyes and mouth sewn shut look like Zhong?"

"Doesn't the nose...look like the hands of a clock?"

Zhao Yi's breath caught in his throat upon hearing this:

"Isn't this... a bit too far-fetched?"

"A clock has three hands: hour, minute, and second."

Tang Yiwei pushed up his glasses, his tone firm:

"Not at all far-fetched!"

"If the rules make the hints too obvious, this curse will become too easy to execute!"

A subtle murderous glint flashed in Zhao Yi's eyes as he fell into thought:

"If what you're saying is true, then the clock is the ghost's true form. But there are so many clocks in the manor, how are we going to find it?"

Tang Yiwei, noticing the murderous intent deep within Zhao Yi's eyes, smiled faintly with confidence, pointing to the contents of the paper and saying:

"Look—"

"The grandfather of the previous owner of the manor made it very clear—if it slacks off, then the needle on top won't turn!"

"In other words, the ghost's true form is a clock; when it kills someone, the hands on it don't move!"

"However, due to the influence of the curse rules, it should be unable to change the time of other clocks or its own clock!"

"So, if we find the clock that shows time slower than the others... we'll find the ghost's true form!"

PS: First update, time to wrap up.

I need to poop, so I'm flushing!