CH 59

Sensing something wrong behind them, the players turned their heads to stare in the direction of the corridor.

The corridor looked as dark, narrow and dirty as ever, and it looked as if the doors were closed and unoccupied, but gradually the voices in each room became clearer.

Some resounded with the sound of high heels walking back and forth, others with what sounded like groups of children playing around the room, others with the coughing of elderly people, and others with the cries of frightened babies.

As the players watched, with these sounds, the doors, which had been closed, began to move slightly, making "click" and "click" sounds.

The old incandescent lamps flickered with an unbearable noise and the flickering low wattage light added to the eerie atmosphere.

Xiao Lan watching the commotion: "Looks enthusiastic ......"

Wu Ting: "Yes, every family is waiting for you to come in as a guest, just to ask if you are happy."

Xiao Lan replied in a scum-like tone, "I'm just an emotionless prodigal son, don't keep me, it's not worth it."

Li Haokuan looked at Duan Xueyin's expression and felt what it means to have a heart of gold.

As if in response to their words, the door in the corridor trembled even more, the dust shaking off the door like a rising mist in the light of the flickering light.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the players began to retreat to the other side of the corridor.

At the same time they heard the "creak" of an old door opening behind them.

Xiao Lan took the opportunity to turn around and see that "people" were falling out of the ceiling, as if they were squeezing out of the walls, and when they hit the floor they started walking towards the outside of the room.

It seems a little inappropriate to call them human beings, as they look like they were made by a very poorly trained craftsman.

Although doing their best to imitate the human physique, the layout of the features is random and occasionally missing; the limbs are stiff and sluggish, with a few irregular twists in the limbs, and the posture when walking is bizarre in the extreme.

The uncoordinated appearance of the limbs makes Xiao Lan a bit of a friend.

He pointed to the grotesque figure behind him and asked Luo, "Look, does it look like you painted it?"

Luo looking at the humanoid with both legs out of alignment: "......"

Although there is no evidence, I suspect that you, sir, are mocking my art.

More and more rooms opened up and out came humanoids of what appeared to be both sexes and children, as if these things were still mimicking the original occupants, spread out from family to family, a fitting arrangement if one ignores the looks.

The humanoids that emerged from inside were like sharks that had smelled blood and attacked towards the nearest player regardless.

There is no attack strategy either, they all swarm and tear and scratch, as if they were mothers hearing about a supermarket clearance sale.

It's this kind of unorthodox messing around that creates a lot of problems for the players instead.

After all, they are uncoordinated on all fours, so attacks can always come from unexpected angles, and this, combined with the sea of people and the recklessness of their attacks, has surprisingly caused the players to slowly spread out in the corridors over time.

Xiao Lan dodges the oncoming triangle of punches in front of him and continues to run forward.

God knows how this man's hands are so jerry-built that if he played rock-paper-scissors he would lose his trousers.

Luo followed Xiao Lan's steps closely, and because of his two experiences of being inexplicably separated, he now kept a very close eye on her and did not let her out of his sight again.

Suddenly, the two doors directly in front of Xiao Lan open simultaneously.

Inside, they were all still configured for a large family, and the human forms on both sides appeared in the corridor at the same time, instantly crowding the entire corridor to overflowing, their heads turning straight towards Xiao Lan the first time they stepped out of the room.

Faced with a swarm of oddly shaped heads, Xiao Lan turned tail and ran.

I didn't expect to turn and run two steps before two more doors opened behind me, blocking the way out.

Xiao Lan rubbed his hands together, "Exciting."

In the next instant, the human figures in front and behind him rushed towards Xiao Lan's position in the centre, with the intention of crushing him into the ground by their weight and numbers.

Seeing the situation, Xiao Lan took two jumps on the ground, then lent a hand on the wall, then flew directly over the heads of the crowd in front of him, and the humanoid reached out to grab him, but missed.

Luo also followed close behind him, slapping off a few ungrateful salty hands in the process, looking very unforgiving.

This caused the two humanoids to brake and collide face to face.

Before they knew it, Xiao Lan went straight into the open door of one of the houses and locked it again inside, shutting the real owner out of the room.

This operation left what was outside the door in a daze, how could anyone else rob their house?

Does Advent still matter?

--

Xiao Lan smiles with satisfaction as she listens to the thumping on the door.

Luo: "Sir, you look like a turtledove bully."

Xiao Lan's smile remained unchanged: "This is called borrowing a room, how can we call what we poor people do a turtledove's nest?"

He turned his head to survey the room; before these rooms were empty, a scene of people gone. But now they were full of furniture and even had dinner on the table, as if they were a normal home.

Apart from the fact that it is inhabited by strange "people".

The noise outside fades away, seemingly giving up on Xiao Lan's side.

Xiao Lan surveys the dinner on the table.

From a distance, it doesn't seem like it, but up close, I realise that these are again clumsy handmade items, twisted and pinched with a sense of impishness and spontaneity, immersed in their own artistic world.

"Clang - clang - clang -"

The bells rang out from a place unknown to them and ran through the whole building.

As the bells ring, it is as if invisible hands are manipulating everything.

The rough and false meal suddenly changes, a dense heat rises from it and even a vague aroma comes out. The lights also stopped flickering and the incandescent lamps spilled out a warm yellow glow.

The noise from outside the window also came in.

Xiao Lan leans out of the window and sees that the rain has unwittingly disappeared, and the false city is filled with people walking or returning from work.

The silent chamber was also at the moment alive with the sound of the television news: the

"This evening, a couple passing through Central Street suddenly got into a fight over a bundle of spring onions, causing passers-by to look on."

Xiao Lan was about to spit out some sandy news at a time like this, when he saw someone familiar - the couple.

"What are you so mad about! Didn't I just say your armpit smells like a big onion, I didn't lie!"

"You're the one who looks like a fucking onion! Your whole family smells like onions!"

"Yuck, my house is clearly cumin-flavoured!"

"I think you're looking for a fight!"

"Ouch, ouch you woman why are you so mean, I want to break up!!!"

Xiao Lan: "......"

Are you guys ever going to finish?

Luo thoughtfully stepped forward and kicked the TV over with a swift movement of his long legs, and the world was finally silenced. Xiao Lan gave him a nod of approval and received a reserved and elegant smile from Luo.

At that moment the sound of neighbours' conversations was also heard in the corridor, and the dilapidated door was completely unsoundproof, allowing the two men in the room to hear their conversation loud and clear.

It's just a lot of small talk about parents, your kids and my relatives.

Everything seemed so normal, as if the previous weirdness and terror didn't even exist.

Xiao Lan tries to open the door just in time to see two chubby older women coming down the corridor.

The older lady acted cordial when she saw him, as if she had known him for a long time: "Eh, why are you two still here? The party is about to start, so if you don't hurry up, it will be too late."

Xiao Lan asked rhetorically, "A party?"

The older woman laughed, "You two have lost track of your days, the party is this evening."

Xiao Lan is a bit puzzled... a young couple?

He looked at the tall and leggy Luo beside him and thought about his own image, it wasn't like Wu Ting was there, they didn't look like a couple with this pairing, did they?

Another chubby older woman added, "Yes, yes, yes, and today they even opened the door to the fifth floor, just over there."

Xiao Lan followed her finger and saw that it was the spot where the landlord had disappeared with the bodies of the mother and daughter. Where there had been nothing, a staircase had appeared out of nowhere, and the staircase went straight up, so it was impossible to see what was going on up there.

The older woman who spoke before saw that Xiao Lan had figured out the situation and waved goodbye to him, "Come early, everyone is waiting for you, so we'll go on ahead."

Another older lady gave the two an envious glance as she left, "Aiya, the young couple are so affectionate~"

Xiao Lan: "......"

Auntie: "Ouch, stop it, look at me, I'm getting shy~"

I'm not, I'm not, don't be ridiculous!

With that the two older women headed for the stairs and then disappeared from Xiao Lan's view due to the obstruction of the building.

In the corridor, many others acted in the same way, greeting Xiao Lan and Luo in a friendly manner, as if they had seen them as neighbours for many years.

Still a couple.

According to her current persona, Xiao Lan is forced to accept a lot of compliments such as: your husband is so handsome, you are such a lucky man, where did you find such a good husband, I envy you guys and so on.

Xiao Lan then watched with a blank expression as Luo thanked them for their compliments with a decent smile and promised to always take good care of him, even discussing his long-term future plans.

What a heavy neighbourly feeling.

But Xiao Lan also understands that the next step in the game is on that so-called fifth floor.

He greeted Luo and together they walked in the direction of the fifth floor.

--

Come to the orientation of the newly emerging staircase.

The staircase looks flat, but some force seems to be blocking the end, making it impossible to see where the top is.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Lan and Luo set off up the stairs.

The moment you step on it, the illusion around you is instantly stripped away and everything returns to its shabby, dirty feel. There was little smell of food, no traffic or crowds outside the window, and no friendly neighbours.

The staircase seems to be in an illusion, and the stairs go all the way up with no end in sight.