Buddhist player

Compared to the second floor, the environment on the third floor is significantly more unique. Although the air quality is similar to that on the first floor, the darkness here is almost solidified.

In this eerie place, the light from a powerful flashlight couldn't even penetrate half a meter around you; the surroundings were eerily quiet.

If it were anyone else here, they might have been overthinking things and unable to move an inch. But for Bai Chen and Yuan Qing, apart from the lighting issue, the environment here was actually much better than the polluted air on the second floor.

At least here, they don't need to wear gas masks.

"It's too dark."

Yuan Qing frowned as he looked at the powerful flashlight in his hand.

Although technological lighting is being continuously weakened and suppressed, downstairs, the light emitted by a powerful flashlight can at least illuminate a few meters away, but here, the light emitted by the flashlight seems to be absorbed by the surrounding darkness and cannot shine out at all.

In this environment, finding the two corpses on the fifth floor would be incredibly difficult, even disregarding the inherent danger of the corpses themselves.

If the two corpses are intentionally playing hide-and-seek with them, then even if they spend several hours here, they may not be able to find the two corpses.

Logically speaking, it seems quite possible that the corpses were playing hide-and-seek with them.

Judging from the gruesome state of the two corpses on the second floor, the elderly couple died in a fit of rage after witnessing their son die before their eyes, which is why they launched the attack. However, the mother and daughter on the third floor, after a serial killer broke into their home and caused a great commotion downstairs, their best course of action was probably to find a way to hide. The darkness on the third floor, which almost completely swallowed up the light, is proof of this.

Bai Chen did not respond to Yuan Qing's complaints. Instead, he thoughtfully surveyed the dark surroundings before taking out a white candle from his pocket.

"You really took that candle from the coffee table."

Yuan Qing's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the white candle in Bai Chen's hand.

When she returned to the hall earlier, she noticed the white candle on the coffee table. According to what Blown Maple Leaf said, she had a fierce chase with the Tiger King in the hall, but the fact that the white candle remained standing steadily on the coffee table, even after the coffee table, sofa and other furniture had been moved around, was enough to prove its extraordinary nature.

She had originally intended to find an opportunity to get her hands on the white candle, but unexpectedly, after simply changing her clothes in the restroom, she returned to find the white candle had vanished...

Bai Chen turned to look at the other person thoughtfully, and after thinking for a moment, he decisively broke the white candle in his hand in two and handed one piece to the other person.

"Here, you're welcome."

Yuan Qing: "………"

...She suddenly felt that the other person's thinking might fall into the category of being a bit neurotic.

As the candlelight was lit, the lingering, dense darkness around them instantly melted away like snow, but correspondingly, the candle in Bai Chen's hand burned much faster.

If the candle could last for several hours before, now that it has been split in two, the remaining candle in his hand might not even last half an hour.

"Increase efficiency and promote division of labor and cooperation."

Bai Chen tossed the lighter to the other person, his expression concise and to the point. Without waiting for a reply, he took the candle and walked into the darkness.

If his guess is correct, the risk on the third floor shouldn't be too high; given the other party's calm personality, they should be able to handle it.

"..."

Looking at the lighter and the half-burnt white candle in his hand, Yuan Qing remained silent for a while before lighting the candle and beginning his exploration.

—She rarely breaks down.

....................................

Speaking of the environment, the atmosphere on the third floor is absolutely top-notch. On a stormy night like this, in an old, abandoned house, you have to rely entirely on the light from a white candle to find a corpse that might be hiding on its own... that feeling is quite unpleasant.

It was only because Bai Chen had died once and possessed the power to contend with those things that he could remain so calm, while even Yuan Qing's exploration pace noticeably slowed down.

Even if she has a cold personality and a strong mentality, she is still a girl at heart.

Behind the door, in the wardrobe, under the bed, in the bathtub...

Because of time constraints, Bai Chen used the most efficient search method and went directly to the depths of the corridor.

He wasn't afraid of corpses or anything like that. After entering a room, he quickly searched through it from top to bottom. Even when faced with a dark wardrobe full of clothes or a bathtub full of sewage, he dared to reach into them and grope around. His overall demeanor was confident and efficient.

...Unfortunately, he never succeeded.

Not only that, he was also tricked by some little tricks, such as a pair of shoes peeking out from under thick curtains, or a piece of clothing peeking out from under the bed.

If Yuan Qing's exploration was a cautious, step-by-step process, then Bai Chen's approach was more like that of a desperate, deranged killer desperately searching for someone...

At one point, he even found a mousetrap in a closet... God knows why this family would keep such a thing as a mousetrap.

Looking at the mousetrap he was holding, Bai Chen's face darkened.

Just as he was getting impatient and considering whether to set fire to the Red Cliffs, a commotion came from Yuanqing's side.

"You found it first? Looks like you're lucky."

In the corridor, Bai Chen raised an eyebrow as he looked at the corpse at Yuan Qing's feet.

"……luck?"

Looking up at him, Yuan Qing's expression was somewhat inexplicable.

"What else could it be? Isn't it just luck? After all, it's just a game of guessing..."

"It's not luck."

Looking at the corpse at his feet, Yuan Qing pointed with his toe at a toy pony that had fallen to the ground nearby.

"She didn't run deeper into the building, but stopped near the stairwell, and deliberately made noise, as if trying to cover up some sound or to attract the assailant's attention."

At this point, Yuan Qing paused for a moment before continuing.

"If it were a mother, I think at that time, she wouldn't have chosen to escape deeper into the area with her daughter. Instead, she would have stayed as close to the stairwell as possible to attract the assailant's attention, thus giving her daughter a chance to survive."

"Uh...is that so?"

Unconsciously, Bai Chen paused for a moment.

"What, you didn't think of that?"

Yuan Qing looked up and met his eyes.

"I thought you had already figured it out from the beginning, and that the reason you went deeper into the area was to search for your daughter's body, which was even harder to find."

"Well... even the wisest person can make a mistake, there's nothing we can do about it."

Slightly embarrassed, Bai Chen coughed and changed the subject.

"Alright, now that we've found the body, let's carry it downstairs."

"Go down now? But we've only found one body."

Yuan Qing glanced at Bai Chen's side and frowned.

"What, no results on your end?"

"It's not that there were no results, the main problem is that there's only one corpse on the third floor."

Turning to look out the window, Bai Chen narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Compared to the second floor, the air quality on the third floor is much better. As for the reason, I can only think of one: the windows here have been opened."

"—In other words, the fifth body is in the swimming pool."