Nightmare Apostle

"Sorry, after inspecting the equipment, we were exhausted... so we just took a quick nap," Liu Dahuan said awkwardly, scratching his head.

"They are all equipment workers for the auditorium, responsible for those machines. This job takes a toll and is quite tiring." It seems the woman from the small shop has a good relationship with the three men, as she was speaking on their behalf.

Having found someone to lead the way, Yang Xiao asked them to turn on the lights in the auditorium and then have them take him on a tour.

"Big Sister, you should come along too," Ye Zheng grabbed the middle-aged woman from the small shop.

"Me? I can’t, I still have..."

Not giving her a chance to refuse, Yang Xiao assigned one of the three men to keep an eye on her stall, and then the trio, three men and two women, began their inspection within the auditorium.

Along the way, Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng worked seamlessly, indirectly probing if any incidents, such as a fire, had occurred in the auditorium, but all their inquiries were denied.

Not only in the large auditorium but throughout the Cultural Palace, no one has heard of a fire, as their safety management is consistently strict.

This large auditorium doubles as a cinema, and it was here that the body of Master Zhang was found. Yang Xiao and his team arrived at the hidden corner but found no valuable clues.

Leaving the cinema, the duo climbed the terrazzo floor to the upper level, where the second floor was much livelier compared to the quiet downstairs. Here, the reading room, chess club, and activity rooms were bustling with people.

In the chess room, people were playing chess, crisp sounds of ping pong balls echoed from the activity room, and women resembling family members were guiding children through comic books in the reading room—everything looked harmonious.

Aside from this, there was an exhibition hall and a gallery, as well as several offices, all with a scattered presence of one or two people.

But the largest dance hall on the second floor was strangely quiet, with a chain lock on the door, and dark behind the half-transparent colored glass door, it seemed very mysterious.

Seeing Yang Xiao and Ye Zheng seemingly intending to enter, Liu Dahuan promptly stopped them, "This... perhaps you shouldn’t go in now; there’s nothing inside."

"If you want to dance, come by in the evening. At night, there will be people, lots... lots of people and bustling," Liu Dahuan’s eyes flickered.

Yang Xiao ignored him, walking forward on his own, and after a simple fiddle, discovered the door was unlocked; it was just for show, much like the auditorium downstairs.

Seeing Yang Xiao determined to enter, Liu Dahuan made up his mind and pulled Yang Xiao to the side, where they reached a secluded spot at the hallway’s corner, and he hurriedly lowered his voice, "Are you new here? Listen to my advice, don’t go in. You can come at night when there are more people, but... but just the two of you shouldn’t go in, inside there’s..."

"What’s inside?" Yang Xiao feigned surprise.

"Oh my, why won’t you listen to advice. I told you not to go in; just leave it be! In here... something happened!" Liu Dahuan said mysteriously.

"What happened?" Yang Xiao still persisted.

"Someone died in here." Liu Dahuan was speechless with the young pair. Were it not for seeing them with red armbands as security personnel, he would have scolded them.

Seeing the two stubbornly the same, Liu Dahuan handed them his flashlight and walked away without turning back.

Seeing Yang Xiao holding the flashlight, with no outsiders around, Ye Zheng couldn’t help but feel unsettled, whispering, "Are you really going in? Didn’t you see they all left?"

"It doesn’t matter if they left; if they stayed, they’d only hinder us," Yang Xiao said indifferently, raising his hand to push open the dance hall door. Contrary to expectations, it wasn’t so dark inside, with sunlight coming in from the small windows.

Seeing Yang Xiao enter, Ye Zheng had no choice but to follow; she knew him to be a capable guy and chose to trust him.

"You’re too reckless!" Ye Zheng followed but didn’t agree with Yang Xiao’s action.

In the sunbeams streaming in, dust particles floated like tiny golden specks, as if they entered an untouched realm.

If not for the fears instilled by past incidents, this dance hall contained a timeless aesthetic with sunlight casting beautiful, dreamlike shadows through colorful stained glass.

"Miss Ye, I understand your concerns, but to abandon exploration due to minor risks would be a mistake."

"You must grasp that our situation is different this time. Apart from you and me, we can’t rely on those people."

"Our only way to break through is to firmly hold the command of the team, which requires us to make sacrifices and achieve early victories to quickly gain the trust of others."

"Otherwise, if major fatalities occur in the future, the entire team will collapse immediately."

"They’re all newcomers; the scary thing about newcomers isn’t their lack of experience but being uncontrollable. If fear makes them break form and lose control, if anyone stumbles—then we’re all doomed."

"I’m confident coming in here as well; bringing others was just for your ease. If it were up to me, there’s no need for them; they’d be in the way," Yang Xiao remarked while moving with the flashlight inside the dance hall, speaking without turning his head back.

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