Chapter Four: Deep Within the Warehouse
3
"Got a light?" Zhao Yan whispered.
Zhou Ming fumbled in his pockets, finally pulling out a lighter with a click and a pop. The faint flame flickered in the darkness, barely illuminating a meter around them.
By the light, Zhao Yan could make out the warehouse's state. Stacks of shipping crates leaned precariously, covered in thick dust. Some boxes were torn open, revealing their contents—not snacks or drinks, but piles of old dolls, rusted iron tools, and incomprehensible talisman papers. They lay scattered on the floor, soaked in a dark red, sticky slime, damp and blackened.
"Something's wrong with this warehouse," Zhou Ming's voice trembled, the lighter's flame flickering in sync. "Normal convenience store warehouses don't store this kind of junk. And..." He pointed at the talismans on the boxes. "These talismans are for 'warding off evil spirits.' It means this place has had problems for a long time."
"Shut up and follow me." Zhao Yan gripped his fire axe tightly, ushering Zhou Ming behind him as they inched toward the green glow.
The slime beneath their feet grew thicker, clinging tighter with each step, forcing them to pull their feet free with effort. Strange scratches began appearing on the surrounding crates—like fingernails, or perhaps claws—dense and unsettling.
The little girl's laughter persisted, shifting from left to right, then overhead, like a game of hide-and-seek, impossible to pinpoint.
"Hehe... Can't find me, huh..."
"What are you looking for?"
"Is this what you're looking for?"
Suddenly, a green light drifted out from behind a nearby shipping container, hovering in midair.
Zhao Yan and Zhou Ming stopped immediately, holding their lighters to illuminate it. It was a green paper lantern, painted with the face of a little girl grinning widely, her eyes two black holes, staring right at them.
Beneath the lantern floated a tiny figure. She wore a red kimono, her hair styled in twin pigtails, her skin as pale as paper—the very image of a little girl. But she had no feet. Her body floated mid-air, the hem of her kimono submerged in dark red viscous fluid, stained bright crimson.
"It's a variation of the 'Soul-Luring Lantern,'" Zhou Ming's voice trembled even more violently, his lighter nearly slipping from his grasp. "This is... a little ghost, bound here by a magic array, specifically to lure the living closer to the array's core."
The little girl tilted her head, her eyes like black holes staring at them. "Come play with me. Let's play hide-and-seek. Find me, and I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
"Where's the array's core?" Zhao Yan ignored her offer and asked directly.
The little girl giggled, her laughter sharp and piercing: "Not playing? If you don't play, you'll be trapped here forever..."
No sooner had she spoken than the surrounding crates began clattering loudly, as if something was crashing inside them. In the darkness, countless pairs of small green eyes lit up, staring at them in unison—peering through the cracks in the crates, from the ceiling, and from the slime on the floor.
"It's... it's other ghosts!" Zhou Ming's legs went weak with fear. "This warehouse is full of them!"
Zhao Yan's heart sank. Confronting so many ghosts head-on was impossible, and physical attacks might not even work on them. He recalled Wu Feng's words— "The source manipulates minds, exploiting fear and desire."
"What do you want to play?" Zhao Yan suddenly spoke.
The little girl paused, seemingly surprised he'd agree. The black holes in her eyes flickered. "Hide and seek! I hide, you find me. If you find me, I'll take you to the array's core. If you don't... you stay here with me, forever and ever..."
"Deal. But I have one condition," Zhao Yan said. "During the game, you can't let the other little ghosts attack. No one can cheat."
The little girl tilted her head thoughtfully, giggling. "Sure! Deal!"
As soon as she finished, her body suddenly transformed into a streak of green light, darting behind a nearby shipping crate and vanishing. The surrounding green eyes instantly dimmed, and the warehouse returned to its previous state—just the two of them and the flickering lighter flame, with only the little girl's voice echoing: "I'm hidden... Come find me..."
"Are you crazy?!" Zhou Ming hissed. "Playing hide-and-seek with a ghost? This is clearly a trap!"
"What else can we do? Charge in head-on?" Zhao Yan glanced at him. "We don't have time to waste. We have to play along. You know feng shui, right? Use this chance to find the array's focal point. Stop just being scared."
Zhou Ming gritted his teeth, nodded, and began scanning the surroundings by the lighter's glow. "The array's focal point is usually where the energy field is strongest—where the Five Elements are unbalanced, where Yin and Yang are inverted..." He muttered as he kicked aside the slime and talisman papers on the ground. "Look at these talisman papers—they're all stuck facing the same direction. That means the focal point should be over there!"
He pointed toward the deepest recesses of the warehouse, where darkness thickened so intensely that even the lighter's light couldn't penetrate it.
"Let's go." Zhao Yan motioned for Zhou Ming to follow as they cautiously edged deeper into the darkness.
Further inside, shipping containers were stacked even denser, forming narrow passages. Dark red slime pooled on the floor, forming streams that flowed along the passages toward the center of the warehouse.
There were no crates there, only a bare concrete floor. A complex magical array was painted upon it with a mixture of cinnabar and blood. Some parts had faded, but the eerie patterns remained discernible.At the array's center stood a small wooden door, barely waist-high, engraved with intricate runes. It stood ajar, its interior shrouded in pitch-black darkness—the very source of that sickly sweet, blood-tinged stench.
"The array's focal point! That door is the 'gate'!" Zhou Ming exclaimed excitedly. "Seal it, and those tormented spirits won't emerge anymore!"
Just then, the little girl's laughter suddenly echoed behind them: "Hehe... Found me?"
Zhao Yan and Zhou Ming spun around abruptly.
The little girl floated behind them, holding a small, blood-soaked doll—exactly the kind they had seen on the shelf earlier. Her eyes were dark, hollow holes, as if something was writhing inside them.
"You've found the array's focal point," the girl said, her tone tinged with disappointment yet strangely excited. "The game is over... Now, it's my turn to eat you!"
Her body suddenly grew, stretching from just over a meter tall to nearly three meters. The hem of her kimono spread like bat wings. Her skin remained paper-white, but her smile twisted into a savage grin, revealing sharp fangs. The dim green eyes around them flashed to life in unison. Countless tiny hands shot out from the gaps between the crates, reaching for them!
"Now! Close the door!" Zhao Yan roared, shoving Zhou Ming aside to shut the door while he raised his fire axe and swung it at the growing girl!
The axe struck the girl's body like cutting through cotton—no resistance at all, passing straight through. She giggled, "Physical attacks don't work on me!"
She extended long claws, reaching for Zhao Yan's face. Zhao Yan quickly dodged sideways, the claws grazing his shoulder. His clothes were torn, and his skin burned fiercely.
"Use your blood!" Zhou Ming shouted as he pushed the door. "Your blood can dispel them!"
Recalling the earlier situation, Zhao Yan swiftly scraped his arm wound again with the axe blade. Blood gushed out. He flicked his wrist, sending droplets splattering onto the outstretched little hands.
"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—"
The tiny hands instantly retracted, sizzling with the sound of burning. The air filled with a burnt, acrid smell. The little girl took a step back, her face contorted in pain. "I hate it! I hate this smell!"
Seizing the moment, Zhou Ming pushed hard against the wooden door. But it felt as if something was wedged against it, refusing to budge no matter how much he strained. "It won't open! Something's blocking it from the inside!"
The little girl recovered and lunged at Zhao Yan again. "I'm going to eat you! Suck all your blood dry!"
Zhao Yan dodged while moving closer to Zhou Ming. Through the crack in the door, he glimpsed something moving—a small, pale hand clinging desperately to the doorframe.
"There's something inside!" Zhao Yan shouted. "I'll help you!"
Dodging the girl's claws, he dashed to the door and joined Zhou Ming in pushing. With all their strength, they slowly closed the door, the gap shrinking. Inside came shrill cries, and the tiny hand frantically scratched at the crack, nails snapping off, leaving bloody streaks.
"Close it! Don't let it out!" Zhou Ming yelled.
Zhao Yan gritted his teeth, braced his shoulder against the door. Just as it was about to close, he glimpsed a small, pale face through the crack—the little girl's face. But her eyes weren't empty black holes; they were filled with terror and despair.
"Don't close it! Save me!" the face cried out, its voice no longer eerie but tinged with genuine sobs. "I didn't mean to! It forced me!"
Zhao Yan froze.
In that instant, the little girl's claws had already dug into his back, tearing viciously!
"Ah!" Zhao Yan cried out in pain. The old wound on his back, compounded by the new one, nearly made him lose his grip.
"Ignore it! It's a spell!" Zhou Ming roared. "Close the door!"
Zhao Yan snapped back to his senses. Whether it was a trick or not, he had to shut the door now! He and Zhou Ming pulled with all their might. With a loud clang, the wooden door slammed shut completely!
Zhou Ming quickly picked up a rusty iron bar from the ground and jammed it into the door's latch, locking it tight.
From behind the door came violent banging, wails, and the little girl's shrieks: "I hate you! I won't let you off the hook!"
The pounding lasted several minutes before gradually fading away until it vanished completely.
Silence fell over the warehouse, broken only by their heavy breathing and the faint flickering of a lighter flame.
Zhao Yan leaned against the wooden door, his back throbbing with pain, blood soaking through his clothes. Zhou Ming slumped on the floor, gasping for air, his face deathly pale.
"Done... done?" Zhou Ming's voice trembled.
Zhao Yan nodded, about to speak, when suddenly his fire axe brushed against something. He looked down to see the blood-soaked doll the little girl had dropped earlier.
A faint, almost invisible dusty haze clung to the doll's clothes.
Zhao Yan's heart sank.
He recalled the gray mist he had seen on those three people when he first used the scales.
The gray mist on this doll was identical to the one on those three people.
And this doll had emerged from the array's focal point.
Could it be that the origin of the replacements was connected to this formation?
Or were the replacements emerging through this very door?
He lifted his head and looked at Zhou Ming.
Zhou Ming was watching him too, his eyes reflecting the relief of having survived a catastrophe, yet there was also a trace of... barely perceptible panic.
Zhao Yan clenched the scale in his hand.
Two chances remained.
Should he use them now?
Just then, the warehouse door was suddenly pounded upon.
"Thump, thump, thump."
The knocking was light and rhythmic.
Aileen's voice came from outside, tinged with urgency: "Zhao Yan! Zhou Ming! Are you okay? Everything alright in there?"
Zhao Yan and Zhou Ming exchanged glances, both seeing wariness in each other's eyes.
The door was closed; the tormented spirit shouldn't be able to get out again.
But outside, there was still the "Songstress," and the "ghost" lurking among them.
Could they truly escape safely?
The countdown ticked silently on:
05:27:13.
Over five hours until dawn.
And the truth seemed to be drawing ever closer.