Eldritch Horror Theatre

Because the mall management office was still Underground, the room didn't have a single window.

Under the dim lights, the atmosphere felt incredibly oppressive.

Staring coldly at his bodyguard, Song Hang finally couldn't help stepping forward to snatch the receiver from his hand.

Unfortunately, there was no dial tone, and pressing the buttons yielded no response.

"Looks like we can't contact the outside world for now."

He turned and nodded at Tan Ying, dropping the receiver back onto the cradle with a long exhale.

"Then there's no point staying trapped in here. Let's head back up and figure something out."

Though disappointed, Tan Ying easily accepted the reality of their situation and offered the decisive suggestion.

Song Hang gave a silent nod, his gaze flickering intentionally or otherwise toward Fu Qian.

If it were anyone else, Song Hang might have assumed the oppressive atmosphere had frightened them into silence. But looking at this guy, he seemed exactly like someone casually strolling through a shopping mall.

Seeing Tan Ying glance his way as well, Fu Qian spread his hands. As the mastermind behind all this, he naturally had no objections to her suggestion.

The group quickly reached a consensus and retraced their steps.

Song Hang's bodyguards led the way, a faint trace of impatience in their movements.

Human beings truly possessed an innate dislike of being trapped.

...

Hmm... where was everyone?

Taking the elevator back up, the group froze in unison the moment the doors opened.

Unlike when they had left, the massive mall was now completely deserted.

The bustling crowd from earlier had already vanished without a trace.

"There were so many people here just a moment ago. Where did everyone go?"

Tan Ying spoke first, rushing out of the elevator to scan their surroundings in total disbelief.

It couldn't be helped; the stark contrast was simply too jarring, giving off an undeniably eerie feeling.

Surrounded by his bodyguards, Song Hang also stepped out of the elevator. His expression stiffened as he took in the scene.

"Could they be hiding?"

Bodyguard Number Two, the tallest of the bunch, blurted out.

"Setting aside where they would even hide, what exactly are they hiding from?"

However, Tan Ying instantly shot his theory down.

"I can't think of a single reason for them to hide, and their movements were entirely too synchronized."

"Come to think of it, from beginning to end..."

Tan Ying shook her head, glancing back at the elevator they had just taken.

"We seem to be the only ones who used this... Did no one else think to take the elevator out?"

...

Amidst the silence, Fu Qian watched the group with an impassive face.

As the mastermind, the sudden evaporation of the crowd outside was naturally his doing.

In reality, what he had done was incredibly simple—he had just let everyone else out.

While activating Lucid Dream triggered an area-of-effect that didn't allow him to selectively pull people in, Fu Qian had discovered that once the dream stabilized, letting someone out required merely a single thought.

So, while the group was busy running downstairs earlier, he had booted everyone else out of the chat room.

"Wait a second, was that door there before?"

Tan Ying suddenly cried out, pointing toward a corner on the floor below.

In that spot, a smooth metal door sat slightly ajar, leaving a gap just wide enough for a single person to pass through.

This...

The bodyguards exchanged uncertain glances, clearly lacking enough of an impression regarding such a minor detail.

Song Hang was no better; he obviously didn't visit this place very often.

"It does feel a bit abrupt. The design is completely different from the other doors, too."

Though his memory was fuzzy, Song Hang suppressed his rising irritation and offered an earnest analysis.

"Should we go take a look?"

"Yeah."

This suggestion aligned perfectly with what Tan Ying had in mind, and she gave a brisk nod.

"I think we probably just didn't notice this door earlier. The others might have left through here. What do you think?"

She directed that last sentence at Fu Qian, still placing a high value on his opinion.

"Worth a look."

Fu Qian's assessment was extremely concise.

"Alright."

Receiving Fu Qian's affirmation, Tan Ying no longer hesitated. Opting to take the lead, she sprinted down the escalator.

"It really does lead downstairs."

By the time the others caught up, she had already pushed the door wider and taken several looks inside.

"I think we should give it a try."

"Do we need to split up?"

Seeing no objections, Tan Ying continued asking.

This...

Faced with this proposal, Song Hang clearly hesitated.

"The situation in here feels a bit eerie. For safety's sake, I think it's best to stick together as much as possible."

"After all, our communication devices are currently malfunctioning. If we split up, staying in touch would be troublesome."

"Then let's stick together."

His concern was clearly valid. Tan Ying offered no objection, immediately pushing harder to open the door completely.

A descending staircase lay behind the door, its width almost exactly matching the doorframe.

Aside from an incandescent bulb a few meters overhead, there was absolutely nothing distinguishing to be seen.

In such a cramped place, it was hard to imagine so many people escaping through here in that short window of time.

"Even if it's not the way out, Pei Yanqing might have gone inside."

Tan Ying muttered, almost talking to herself as she walked.

Even while trapped in this predicament, she hadn't forgotten the original objective of her actions.

At Song Hang's instruction, the three bodyguards also rushed ahead of Tan Ying, refusing to let a young woman clear the path for the group.

Fu Qian continued trailing far behind at the rear. The group soon descended in a tight spiral down the narrow passageway.

Almost every corner featured an identically shaped metal door, and opening each one revealed yet another identical flight of stairs.

They spiraled downward in a series of consecutive 360-degree turns. Just as a heavy silence settled over the entire group, the stairs abruptly ended.

At the end of the now horizontal corridor lay yet another metal door.

Perhaps driven mad by the claustrophobic descent, the lead bodyguard didn't wait for Song Hang to speak and shoved the door open without a word.

This was...

A moment later, the bodyguard froze right on the spot.

"What's going on?"

Song Hang was initially a little displeased. He swallowed his annoyance, but the bodyguard's paralyzed reaction made a chill creep up his spine.

He hurried to the door almost simultaneously with Tan Ying. After taking a single glance, he too froze instantly.

Dim lighting, an empty atrium, a slowly churning escalator, and a grimy, transparent dome arching overhead.

They were still inside the shopping mall, just standing in a different location.

Yet they had clearly just spent all that time walking downward.

All five of them instinctively whipped their heads around. At the rear of the group, Fu Qian was still standing in the passageway behind the door.

"Could it be... this isn't real..."

Finally snapping out of his daze, Song Hang couldn't help muttering to himself.

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