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

Zhou Lang didn't move. It wasn't that he was cold-blooded, but the monster in the water was a three-star "water monkey," and once he went into the water, he would surely die.

"Zhao Qiang, step back." Zhou Lang stopped Zhao Qiang, who was about to rush forward.

"But……"

"Do you want to die?" Zhou Lang hissed.

Zhao Qiang gritted his teeth and stepped back.

The mature woman was in despair. She looked at the cute girl; she was her last hope.

The cute girl squatted down, her eyes as calm as a stagnant pool.

"Sister, your charms don't work on the water monkey, and they're even less effective on me," the cute girl said softly. "You tried to harm Zhao Qiang earlier, and now you're getting your comeuppance."

"You bitch!" the mature woman cursed, "What are you pretending to be innocent for? You murderer!"

The cute girl smiled. She pulled out a dagger with swift movements.

The dagger pierced the older woman's hand, severing the tendon.

"Ah!" the mature woman screamed, her grip loosening.

The monster in the water gave a strong tug, dragging the mature woman into the water. A splash of blood appeared on the surface of the water, then calm returned.

Everyone was stunned.

"You...you killed her?" Lin Xiao asked incredulously.

The cute girl stood up, wiped the blood off the dagger, and the timidity on her face vanished.

"She deserves to die," the cute girl said. "She wanted to harm you all; I was just helping you out."

"This is intentional homicide," Zhou Lang said.

"Is murder illegal in a dungeon?" the cute girl asked rhetorically. "She tried to kill Zhao Qiang, so I killed her. I guess that's self-defense."

Zhou Lang stared at her. This girl had an antisocial personality, a black lotus. She acted innocent to seek protection; when it mattered, she was more ruthless than a ghost.

"Don't mess with me." The cute girl looked at Zhou Lang. "I mean you no harm. But if you get in my way, I don't mind killing another one."

"I won't get in your way," Zhou Lang said, "but you'd better not mess with me."

The cute girl smiled but didn't say anything.

Lin Xiao was so frightened that she hid behind Zhou Lang, not daring to look at the cute girl.

"Keep going," Zhou Lang said.

They continued along the passage. The stench in the air grew stronger, and the temperature dropped.

An iron gate appeared ahead. A sign hung on the gate: Boiler Room.

"Is the Ghost King in the boiler room?" Zhao Qiang asked.

"Let's go in and take a look." Zhou Lang pushed open the door.

Chapter 5 Redemption Before the Crematorium and the Next Stop

The boiler room was steaming hot.

The enormous crematorium burned fiercely, its flames reflecting red onto the walls. A man stood before it. He wore a charred suit, and half his face was burned away, revealing stark white bone.

"Welcome to my inn." The man turned around, his voice hoarse.

"The Ghost King?" Zhou Lang asked.

"Ghost King? That's what they call me?" The man laughed, his laughter like a broken bellows. "I'm just a poor soul who was burned to death."

"A pitiful person?" Zhao Qiang cursed. "How many people have you killed?"

"They deserve to die." The man's eyes were cold. "That woman, I loved her so much, I bought her bags and clothes, and she actually rejected me and ran off with some poor laborer."

The man looked at Zhou Lang with a crazed look in his eyes.

"Do you know how heartless she is? I knelt down and begged her not to leave, but she kicked me away and called me a piece of trash." The man roared, "A piece of trash? I borrowed money from loan sharks to buy that guesthouse for her, wanting to give her a home! And what did she do? She was fooling around with that worker in the room!"

"So you raped and then murdered her, and even set fire to the guesthouse?" Zhou Lang said.

The man was taken aback: "How do you know?"

"Intelligence," Zhou Lang said, "After you died, your body was bizarrely dismembered by Numbers 4, 5, and 6 and flushed into the sewers. Your resentment was too strong, and you became one with the inn, becoming its boss."

"Since you understand, then stay and keep me company." The man roared, his body swelling up and transforming into a gigantic charred corpse demon.

The charred corpse was emitting black smoke and was extremely hot.

"Scatter!" Zhou Lang shouted.

The charred corpse demon slapped Zhao Qiang. Zhao Qiang couldn't dodge in time, was sent flying, crashed into the wall, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Zhao Qiang!" Han Yingying ran over to treat him.

Zhou Lang drew his cane and charged at the charred corpse. The cane struck the charred corpse with a dull thud.

The charred corpse demon swung its hand back to grab, but Zhou Lang dodged to the side, a piece of his clothes getting scorched.

"Physical attacks are useless against it; it has no physical form," Zhou Lang said.

"What should we do then?" Lin Xiao asked.

"Use water!" Zhou Lang pointed to the fire hydrant next to them. "Zhao Qiang, break it open!"

Zhao Qiang got up and used his machete to cut the fire hydrant. Water gushed out and poured onto the charred corpse.

"Ah!" the charred corpse screamed, the flames on its body went out, and a lot of white smoke rose up.

"Now!" Zhou Lang shouted.

He communicates with the bandaged man inside his body.

"Lend me some strength," Zhou Lang cried out in his heart.

"Are you insane?" The bandaged man's voice echoed in my mind. "Four-star monster, your current body can't withstand my power; your meridians will break."

"Break it off and then reconnect it," Zhou Lang said. "If we don't kill it, we'll all die."

"If you die, I'll die too," the bandaged man said. "You've got a pretty good plan."

"Stop talking nonsense, are you going to give it to me or not?"

"Here you go. But you have to find me a fresh corpse afterwards."

"make a deal."

Black bandages spread from Zhou Lang's arm, wrapping around his right fist. A chilling power surged into his body, and Zhou Lang felt his bones creak.

He rushed in front of the charred corpse and threw a punch.

This punch, imbued with the bandaged man's eerie power, pierced directly through the charred corpse's body.

The charred corpse ghost froze.

"You..." It looked at Zhou Lang, a hint of fear flashing in its eyes.

"Go to hell," Zhou Lang said.

With a forceful twist, he crushed the core of the charred corpse demon.

The charred corpse let out a mournful scream, its body turning to ashes and dissipating into the air.

The flames in the boiler room went out.

【Ding! 】

[Congratulations to player Zhou Lang for defeating the four-star monster "Charred Corpse King".]

The core of the "Ghost Realm" instance has been destroyed.

[Task completed, reward being calculated.]

[Gained 10000 points in the "Mysterious" skill category.]

[Obtained a two-star Ghost Artifact: Charred Corpse Amulet (can withstand one fatal attack).]

[Outstanding performance, bonus reward: 3-star artifact "Midnight Cable Car Ticket".]

Zhou Lang now had a black train ticket in his hand.

The ticket was black, made of neither paper nor gold, and felt eerily cold to the touch. A cable car was printed on the front, suspended in mid-air, with figures vaguely visible inside the cabin.

The rules are written on the back:

1. The cable car company cut corners, leading to the accident.

2. The truth must be uncovered within 24 hours.

3. On average, a strange thing is released every 2 hours.

"What's this?" Zhao Qiang asked, leaning closer.

"The ticket to the next instance," Zhou Lang said.

"The next dungeon?" Lin Xiao asked, her face pale. "Didn't we just clear it?"

"There's no end to horror games," Zhou Lang said. "This is just the beginning."

Everyone fell silent.

The illusion of the inn began to dissipate, and the surroundings returned to the third basement level of an abandoned factory.

Li Feng led his soldiers in.

"Well done." Li Feng patted Zhou Lang on the shoulder. "You're the first team to clear the level. The rewards have already been deposited into your accounts."

"Where are the others?" Han Yingying asked.