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

He barely slept all night, not because he was scared, but because the sounds from inside the wall never stopped. The thick, writhing sound came and went, sometimes overhead, sometimes underfoot, like a giant snake slithering through the gaps in the wall.

He carefully observed the faucet while washing his face. The water flow was normal, and the color was normal, but he didn't drink it.

When I went downstairs, Tiezhu was already sitting in the lobby, with a bowl of instant noodles in front of him, which he was eating noisily.

"Hey, good morning, bro," Tie Zhu greeted him. "There's instant noodles in the kitchen, I brought my own. Want a bowl?"

"No need." Zhou Lang sat down opposite him.

"Do you know anything about this instance?" Tie Zhu lowered his voice. "This is my fourth time logging into the game, and I've never seen anything this eerie. You heard those sounds last night, didn't you?"

"I heard you."

"Damn, I didn't sleep a wink all night," Tie Zhu mumbled, taking a bite of his sausage. "I think there's something wrong with this inn. Look at that wall—"

He pointed to the wall of the hall with his chopsticks.

Zhou Lang followed his gaze. In the daylight, the wall surface looked normal, painted with white paint, with some areas peeling off to reveal the cement underneath. But upon closer inspection, one section of the wall had a different texture than the rest.

The wall was about 1.5 meters high and half a meter wide. The cement was a dark color and the surface was unusually smooth, which contrasted with the pitted and uneven walls around it.

It looks like it was re-painted on later.

"I touched that wall last night," Tiezhu said. "It was icy cold, like a freezer. And if you listen closely—there were sounds coming from inside."

Zhou Lang didn't speak. He already knew what was behind that wall.

The proprietress was drowned by Ma Defa and then plastered into a cement wall.

"What are you planning to do?" Zhou Lang asked Tie Zhu.

"Investigate." Tie Zhu finished his instant noodle soup, wiped his mouth, and said, "Isn't the condition for survival to find out the truth about the fire? Once we find out, we can leave."

"You're investigating alone?"

"Of course not." Tie Zhu chuckled. "There are six of us, so we'll divide the work. You seem capable; you come up with the ideas, and I'll provide the labor, how about that?"

This guy is straightforward. Zhou Lang mentally labeled Tie Zhu as stubborn, talkative, and fearless, but perhaps not very bright.

Footsteps sounded, and the woman in the red dress came down the stairs.

She changed her clothes; today she wore a black long dress, her hair was loose, and her waist swayed slightly as she walked, each step on a carefully calculated rhythm.

"Good morning." She smiled at Tie Zhu.

Tie Zhu's expression changed instantly, from nonchalant to sitting up straight. "Good morning. Did you sleep well last night?"

"It's alright." The woman in the red dress sat down next to the iron pillar, at just the right distance—neither too close nor too far, neither too intimate nor too distant.

Zhou Lang glanced at her again. This woman was no ordinary person.

"My name is Su Yan," she introduced herself. "This is my third time playing the game. What about you?"

Tie Zhu patted his chest: "My name is Tie Zhu, this is the fourth time."

Zhou Lang gave his game name: "Lang Li Ge Lang" (浪里个浪).

Su Yan raised an eyebrow: "Interesting name. How many times?"

"I can't remember," Zhou Lang replied evasively.

The girl with the ponytail came down at that moment. She was wearing a floral dress and carrying a plush rabbit. She ran to the table closest to everyone and sat down, her voice soft: "Um... good morning everyone. My name is An'an, this is my second time in the game... I'm so scared."

Tie Zhu immediately felt protective: "Don't be afraid, little sister, your brother is here."

Zhou Lang ignored this and waited for the last two people.

The boy in the school uniform appeared quickly. He walked slowly down the stairs, his gait a little stiff, as if his joints were rusty. His face was paler than yesterday, and there was a fine crack on his lips, but it wasn't dry cracking; rather, it looked like the skin had naturally cracked after losing its elasticity.

"My name is Lin Yuan." His voice was flat and emotionless. "I'm a high school sophomore, and this is my first time playing a game."

A person entering the game for the first time shouldn't be so calm.

Han Yingying was the last to come down. She exchanged a glance with Zhou Lang and sat down not far from him.

Everyone's here.

Ma Defa brought out several small dishes from the kitchen and said with a smile, "Dear guests, breakfast is ready. Please enjoy."

No one touched their chopsticks.

Ma Defa didn't mind, put down the plate and went back to the kitchen.

Tie Zhu spoke first: "Alright, let's stop hiding things. We're all players, and we all know the conditions for winning—to find out the truth about the fire and complete the trial. What I mean is, splitting up will be more efficient."

"How do we divide it?" Su Yan asked.

"Two people per group." Tie Zhu planned efficiently. "One group will investigate the interior of the inn, one group will investigate the back mountain and lake, and one group will investigate clues in the town."

"I'll team up with you," Su Yan said to Tie Zhu, a perfectly curved smile on her lips.

Tie Zhu's ears turned slightly red. "Alright, then let's check the back mountain and the lake."

"I'm in a group with Lang Ge," Han Yingying said directly.

An'an interjected timidly, "Then...can I go with my older brothers and sisters too? I'm too scared to go alone..."

"You come with me," Lin Yuan said.

An An glanced at him, hesitated for two seconds, and nodded.

The group assignments were decided. Tie Zhu and Su Yan went to the back mountain, Zhou Lang and Han Yingying checked the inns, and An An and Lin Yuan went to the town.

After everyone else left, Han Yingying leaned over and whispered, "Su Yan used a skill on Tie Zhu."

"I saw it."

"The seductive kind. Tie Zhu's reaction is strange. He was perfectly normal when he was talking to you just now, but his whole demeanor changed as soon as Su Yan arrived."

Zhou Lang nodded. The dungeon information mentioned a mature woman; in the third quest, her skill was to charm other players to shield her from harm. She was now facing off against Su Yan.

"An'an has a problem too," Han Yingying continued. "The way she cowers in the corner is so textbook perfect, it's like she has 'I'm an innocent little white flower, come and protect me' written all over her face."

"Black Lotus," Zhou Lang succinctly described it.

"So what do we do?"

"Check the inn first." Zhou Lang stood up. "Anyway, the eerie creature is humanoid during the day, so we won't take direct action for now. But don't touch that concrete wall, and don't touch the lanterns at the door."

The two began searching the inn.

The kitchen on the first floor was unremarkable, with pots and pans neatly arranged. But Zhou Lang noticed that the drainpipe under the sink was thicker than usual, and there was a layer of dark red rust on the pipe wall—or rather, not rust. The color was too uniform, unlike the distribution that iron oxide should have.

He squatted down and took a sniff.

There was another smell mixed in with the rusty smell. It was very faint, but he could tell.

carrion.

"The sewers." Zhou Lang stood up. "The mastermind is in the sewers."

Han Yingying squatted down and smelled it too, her expression changing immediately.

"Where does it lead?" she asked.