A bizarre and terrifying experience; I messed up the dungeon world.

"What about tomorrow?" Zhao Qiang asked, somewhat panicked. "I don't want to die here."

"Let's see how things go first." Zhou Lang thought for a moment. "By the way, did the ghost in your room mention anything about this villa?"

The two shook their heads.

"That's strange." Zhou Lang frowned. "The butler said we could take the place of the room's owner, but the bandage told me that once we take the place, we can't get out unless we're killed by the next person."

"What?!" Zhao Qiang's voice rose. "Doesn't that mean..."

"Shh." Zhou Lang made a shushing gesture. "This is just the bandage thing to say; its veracity is uncertain. But one thing is certain: the rules of this game are far more complex than we imagine."

Han Yingying bit her lip and thought for a moment: "You mean, we need more intelligence?"

"Yes." Zhou Lang nodded. "And I suspect there might be some secret hidden at night."

"But Butler Sha said we can't go out..."

"He only said not to leave the room," Zhou Lang interrupted Zhao Qiang, "but he didn't say we couldn't do anything else in the room."

As he spoke, he took out Jack's murder lamp.

"What is this?" Han Yingying stared at the oil lamp, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.

"Something that can see the truth." Zhou Lang didn't elaborate. "You all go back to your rooms first. Remember, no matter what sounds you hear, don't come out."

The two looked at each other and finally nodded.

After they left, Zhou Lang closed the door and lit the oil lamp with a match.

An orange flame flickered on, but quickly turned an eerie green. The scene in the room began to distort; streaks of blood appeared on the walls, and several desiccated corpses hung from the ceiling, their eyes wide open, staring intently at the bed.

Zhou Lang gasped.

Have these things always been there?

He took the oil lamp and walked to the window, looking out through the glass.

The corridor was full of ghosts.

Some of them were missing arms and legs, some were rotting all over, and some were just skeletons. They all stood there motionless, as if waiting for something.

Zhou Lang's heart raced, and his palms began to sweat.

Just then, footsteps came from the end of the corridor.

The butler appeared, slowly walking towards them with his cane, and the ghosts all made way for him.

Zhou Lang held his breath and watched as the butler walked to the door of room number 3 and stopped.

That's Han Yingying's room.

The butler raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

"Thump, thump, thump."

The three knocks on the door were particularly clear in the quiet corridor.

Zhou Lang's heart was in his throat. He wanted to remind Han Yingying not to open the door, but he was afraid of alerting Butler Sha.

Fortunately, Han Yingying remembered his words, and there was no sound in the room.

The butler waited a while, then turned and left. The ghosts dispersed as well, and the corridor returned to its empty state.

Zhou Lang breathed a sigh of relief and was about to extinguish the oil lamp when he suddenly noticed a line of words on his room door.

The blood-red writing looked as if it had been carved with a fingernail:

"The price of curiosity is death."

Zhou Lang was stunned.

When did this line of text appear?

He held up the oil lamp and approached, and the writing suddenly began to flow, transforming into another sentence:

"But the truth is hidden in the basement."

basement?

Zhou Lang recalled the layout he had seen in the villa during the day. There was indeed a staircase leading down in the corner of the first-floor lobby, but it was blocked by an iron door.

He hesitated for a moment, but finally extinguished the oil lamp.

The room returned to normal; the dried corpses and bloodstains had disappeared, and there were no words on the door.

Zhou Lang lay on the bed, his mind replaying everything he had just witnessed.

What secrets does this villa hold?

Why did the murderer knock on Han Yingying's door at night?

What's in the basement?

A series of questions swirled in his mind, keeping him awake for a long time.

After an unknown amount of time, the sound of wind came from outside the window, mixed with a faint sobbing.

Zhou Lang turned over and forced himself to close his eyes.

There's still a lot to do tomorrow.

The next morning, Zhou Lang was awakened by knocking on the door.

When the door opened, Zhao Qiang and Han Yingying were standing outside, both of them looking rather unwell.

"Did you hear anything last night?" Zhao Qiang asked in a low voice.

What was that sound?

"I heard crying and footsteps," Han Yingying said. "I felt like someone had been standing outside my door for a long time."

Zhou Lang recalled what he had seen last night about the murder of the butler and nodded: "I heard it too, but I didn't go out to see."

"Oh, right." Zhao Qiang suddenly remembered something, "Xiong Batian and the others came out just now, saying they were going to check out the restaurant."

When the three of them came downstairs, Xiong Batian and his two companions were already waiting at the restaurant entrance.

The security guard was still dressed as a chef. He was clearly stunned when he saw Zhou Lang, and the green light in his eyes flickered uncertainly.

"Good morning, everyone," Xiong Batian greeted with a smile, but the smile seemed somewhat forced. "Yesterday's human brains were very effective. Today, we'd like to ask if there's anything else we can buy?"

The security guard's gaze swept across the faces of the group, finally settling on Zhou Lang.

"Yes, we have everything, as long as you can afford the price."

"What about the eyes?" Han Yingying asked.

"200 each."

"And the heart?" another student asked.

"300 each."

"Where are your fingers?"

"50 each."

The price quoted by the security guard made everyone frown; all these items combined were simply not enough money for them.

"Can I pay on credit?" Xiong Batian asked tentatively.

"Fine," the security guard grinned. "You'll pay with your lives."

The atmosphere froze instantly.

Zhou Lang looked at the security guard ghost and suddenly said, "I have a question."

"Speak," the security guard said, staring at him.

"Where did all these things come from?"

The security guard's smile froze, and the green light in his eyes began to flash intensely.

Why are you bothered by all this?

"Because I want to know," Zhou Lang said, staring directly at it, "If these things were taken from previous players, will we become the next batch of suppliers after we buy them?"

The security guard ghost fell silent.

The others also realized what was happening, and their expressions turned even more grim.

"Clever humans," the security guard ghost suddenly laughed, "but so what if you guessed right? You still have to buy it, or you'll die."

"Not necessarily," Zhou Lang shook his head. "We can look elsewhere."

"Other places?" the security guard sneered. "Where else in this resort could you go besides here?"

"basement."

When Zhou Lang uttered those three words, the temperature in the entire restaurant dropped several degrees.

The security guard ghost's smile vanished completely. It stared intently at Zhou Lang, and black energy began to emanate from its body.

How did you know about the basement?

"Just a guess," Zhou Lang shrugged. "Looks like I guessed right."

The body of the security guard ghost began to swell, and its face became even more horribly distorted.

"Human, you're courting death!"

"I just want to survive." Zhou Lang took a step back. "If you don't want the butler to know that you raised prices without my permission, you'd better tell me where the basement key is."

The security guard trembled all over, but finally gave up.