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

"Let me sort this out." He sat on the bed, tapping his fingers on his knees. "Seven strange occurrences. First, the human skin lantern, the one hanging by the door. She was Ma Defa's wife before she died. Second, Ma Defa himself, plastered into a cement wall by the landlady. Third, the landlady, drowned in the lake. Fourth and fifth, the young couple, burned to death and locked in the storage room on the third floor. Sixth, the female college student, raped and then murdered. Seventh, the mastermind, who killed the female college student and set the entire building on fire, and after his death, was dismembered by the young couple and the female college student, his body flushed down the sewers, becoming one with the inn."

After listening, Han Yingying asked a crucial question: "Where are the female college students?"

Zhou Lang shook his head. "We haven't found her yet. All six of the strange creatures are humanoid during the day, but the female college student has never appeared as a 'guest' or 'staff member.' She's either hiding somewhere we haven't been yet, or—"

He paused for a moment.

"Or is she right among us?" Han Yingying chimed in.

Of the six players, one is a mysterious imposter (Lin Yuan). Is it possible that there is a second one?

Zhou Lang mentally went through everyone in his mind.

He ruled himself out. Han Yingying ruled her out. Tie Zhu, a veteran of four dungeons, exhibited the characteristics of a living person in terms of reaction and behavior. Su Yan, possessing charm skills, was undoubtedly a player. An An…

An'an.

Zhou Lang recalled the timing of An'an's appearance. She was the second person to arrive in the hall, even before Tie Zhu. Moreover, she chose to hide in a "corner where everyone could see her"—if she was truly afraid, why didn't she stay in her room?

"An'an is a black lotus," Zhou Lang said, "but she's a living person. The information in the copy says she has antisocial personality disorder, and this is her second mission."

Where is that female college student?

Zhou Lang thought for a moment, then his gaze fell out the window.

The back mountain. The lake. The town. The inn.

They searched the inn and the back mountain. The town was one that Lin Yuan and An An had "visited"—but Lin Yuan's actions were strange, and An An returned halfway through claiming a stomachache. In other words, the town hadn't actually been searched.

"I'm going to town tomorrow," Zhou Lang said.

"And now?"

"Let's wait until it gets dark." He took an oil lamp from his inventory. "I need to verify something."

Han Yingying looked at the oil lamp and suddenly thought of something: "You're going to use this lamp to illuminate those strange things?"

"It's not just about illumination." Zhou Lang placed the oil lamp on the table. "Do you remember my entry?"

Han Yingying certainly remembered. "Scare ghosts." Zhou Lang's special skill allowed him to earn rewards by scaring ghosts. He used this tactic to turn the tide in the haunted manor.

"You're going to scare this building." Han Yingying's tone wasn't a question, but a statement.

Zhou Lang grinned. "Is something wrong?"

"...The entire building is the boss's body. If you scare it, won't the inn collapse?"

"Isn't that perfect?"

"You live inside!"

"That's why we need to pick a good time."

Han Yingying rubbed her temples. Partnering with this person requires a very strong heart.

-

The afternoon passed very slowly.

Zhou Lang studied the pipe layout in the room. There was a drainpipe in the bathroom of apartment 201 that ran from the ceiling to the floor, passing through the floor slab and connecting to the kitchen on the first floor. The pipe walls were a few degrees warmer than the ambient temperature—there were living things moving inside.

At five o'clock, Ma Defa called everyone downstairs to have dinner.

Six people sat in the hall, with six dishes and a soup on the table. The dishes looked appealing: shredded pork with garlic sauce, braised eggplant, hot and sour shredded potatoes, and a soup—bone broth.

Nobody touched the bone broth.

It wasn't because I suspected the soup was poisoned. It was because the shape of the bones just didn't look like pork bones. The curvature of the joints was wrong, and the bone surfaces were too smooth.

"Boss Ma," Tie Zhu asked casually, picking up a piece of shredded potato with his chopsticks, "do you run this inn by yourself?"

"Yes, it's just me." Ma Defa smiled as he added soup to Tie Zhu's bowl. "My wife is gone, and my daughter isn't here with me either. I'm all alone."

"Gone? Where did they go?"

"Well, it's a long story," Ma Defa sighed. "She thought this place was too poor, so she ran away with the children."

lie.

Zhou Lang lowered his head and ate his rice, silently memorizing this sentence. The information Zhao Qiang found made it very clear—his daughter was sold by Ma Defa himself, and his wife was drowned by him.

"Boss Ma, may I ask you something?" An'an timidly raised her hand, "Has anything ever happened at the inn before?"

Ma Defa's chopsticks paused for a very brief moment, less than half a second, but Zhou Lang caught it.

"No," Ma Defa said with his usual smile, "It's been perfectly fine."

An An said "Oh," and lowered her head to continue eating. But in that instant, the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

This girl is testing me.

Zhou Lang glanced at Han Yingying out of the corner of his eye. Han Yingying nodded slightly, indicating that she had also noticed An'an's little action.

After dinner, while clearing the dishes, Ma Defa casually remarked, "Guests, remember to get some rest early tonight. It gets dark early in the mountains, and the roads are difficult to travel. If you hear any noises, don't worry about them; they're probably just stray cats."

wildcat.

Zhou Lang returned to his room, locked it, and then placed a chair behind the door.

He took out all the items from his inventory and laid them out one by one: an oil lamp, a chainsaw, scissors, and bandages he brought from the haunted manor (a fusion item that can temporarily transform him into a bandage ghost).

It was getting dark outside. There was no light pollution in the mountains, so darkness came very quickly once the sun set.

At seven o'clock, it was completely dark.

At eight o'clock, the lights in the corridor went out—not in the way they were turned off, but rather the tungsten filaments in the bulbs burned out one by one, making a crackling sound, as if something inside the bulbs was biting through the circuit.

At nine o'clock, the first sound was heard.

knocking.

It wasn't knocking on Zhou Lang's door. It was knocking on the door next door, room 202—Han Yingying's room.

Thump, thump, thump.

Three taps, evenly spaced, with consistent force.

Zhou Lang walked to the door and pressed his ear against it. There were footsteps in the hallway, very light, the sound of bare feet on the wooden floor.

Then came a woman's voice.

"Open the door."

Two words. The tone was flat and devoid of any emotion.

Han Yingying did not respond.

"Open the door," he said again.

pause.

"I know you're in there. Open the door. Mom made you a lantern."

Zhou Lang felt a chill run down his spine.

A human skin lantern. Ma Defa's first wife. She was made into a lantern, and now she wants to make others into lanterns too.

Han Yingying still didn't open the door.

There was silence in the corridor for about ten seconds, then the footsteps moved away—to Zhou Lang's door.

Thump, thump, thump.

Zhou Lang stared at the door. A sliver of light shone through the crack in the door—the light of a lantern, a dark red, casting a long shadow on the floor. The shadow's outline was off—the neck was too long, and the body proportions were wrong, like a stretched-out human figure.

"Open the door."