After reading the second rule, Jiang Luo’s expression turned a bit strange.
It was the look of someone who’d suffered chronic misfortune suddenly stumbling into good luck—suspicious and slightly dazed. He couldn’t believe his luck. The only two items he had found in Bai Yefeng’s room had both turned out to be crucial.
His expression grew even stranger. He pulled some bills from his pocket and counted—500 yuan.
Not a huge amount, but not too little either. Enough to cover himself and one other person.
But when he turned around, he saw Cyril handing out stacks of cash from his wallet. “Anyone still need money? My dream identity’s loaded—plenty to go around!”
“…,” Jiang Luo was struck by the inequality between people. He shoved his 500 yuan back into his pocket with a forced smile and shamelessly lined up to receive his own stack of red bills from Cyril.
“Every twenty minutes, one store opens, and its shopkeeper comes out. So these shopkeepers are obviously dangerous ghosts,” Jiang Luo thought. “We’re safe for twenty minutes, but once the time’s up, if we happen to be in the chosen store, the shopkeeper will kill the customers inside first, then rush out to kill anyone still loitering in the corridor.”
“Twenty minutes is precise, but no one knows when the countdown begins. We’ll just have to stay sharp.”
There was no clock inside the mall, but thankfully everyone had their phones. After splitting the money, the eight of them immediately scattered into different clothing stores, searching for the outfit most suitable for themselves.
What kind of clothing was the most suitable?
Naturally, clothes that fit one’s own size.
Ge Zhu had originally been following behind Zhuo Zhongqiu and Cyril, but as they passed by a men’s clothing store, his peripheral vision unintentionally caught something that made him stop in his tracks.
In front of the men’s store was a transparent glass display wall, and inside was a plastic male mannequin. The mannequin looked strikingly like his older brother, Ge Wuchen.
Ge Zhu was dazed for a moment. In his trance, he seemed to see the mannequin curl its lips into a smile at him.
The smile made it look even more like Ge Wuchen.
Ge Zhu snapped out of it and, after closing his eyes and looking again, saw that the mannequin’s mouth was still fixed in its rigid smile. He hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the store.
Besides him, there were more than ten other customers inside, all with anxious expressions and dazed pupils.
Elsewhere, Jiang Luo was rapidly flipping through the clothes, his fingers moving fast as he searched. Lu Youyi was in the same store as him. The store owner sat behind the cashier counter, watching them intently like a venomous snake lurking in a corner.
Just as Jiang Luo finished checking the first row, a blaring alarm suddenly echoed through the mall. His nerves instantly tensed, and he looked outside.
Across from him, in a men’s clothing store diagonally opposite, the lights suddenly went out. The mannequin inside turned its head stiffly, its puppet-like eyes locking onto the customers within.
The store owner, who had remained motionless until now, finally showed a smile on his gloomy face. He stood up and dragged out a massive axe from beneath the table.
The customers inside showed expressions of horror and despair. They threw themselves against the tightly closed glass doors, pounding on them frantically.
“Help! Somebody help us!”
“Break the door, hurry—ahhh!”
The other customers trapped inside stores watched in terror.
Their eyes showed relief and fear—but not a single one responded to the cries for help.
Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi’s expressions changed dramatically.
They had seen Ge Zhu in that store.
Without hesitation, they ran to their own store’s door, pounding on the glass and shouting loudly, “Ge Zhu!”
But the glass door didn’t budge. It was as hard as diamond.
Jiang Luo turned and, barely suppressing his rage, commanded the shopkeeper, “Open the door.”
The shopkeeper, apparently never threatened by a human before, let out a cold laugh. “This door? I can’t open it.”
Jiang Luo could no longer contain his fury. He turned back toward the opposite store, his fists clenched tight enough to crack.
Inside the men’s clothing store, the plastic mannequin and the store owner were surrounding the customers. Ge Zhu stood in front, shielding them. Just as Jiang Luo was trying to figure out how to save him, he saw a terrified child, whom Ge Zhu had been protecting, suddenly shove him.
Ge Zhu was pushed directly into the path of the store owner’s axe.
The sound of the blade slicing through flesh rang out clearly, as if right by the ear. Ge Zhu’s head rolled across the floor twice and came to a stop in front of the glass wall. His vacant gaze met Jiang Luo’s wide eyes. The look of shock on his face had yet to fade.
Blood gushed out as the headless body collapsed to the floor.
Jiang Luo stood frozen, still poised to smash the glass door, as he stared at the screaming men, women, and children trying to escape through a fog of blood.
Lu Youyi, standing beside him, said in disbelief, “Ge Zhu… is dead?”
The store owner and mannequin were still butchering wildly. The glass door was now smeared with thick streaks of blood. After finishing off everyone inside, the store door opened. The owner, dragging his axe, showed a vicious smile. He and the mannequin locked onto those still wandering the mall, outside any stores.
Suddenly, Lu Youyi clutched Jiang Luo’s hand tightly, his voice trembling, “Jiang Luo, Zhuo Zhongqiu and Cyril are still out there.”
Jiang Luo snapped out of it and followed his gaze.
Zhuo Zhongqiu was dragging Cyril as they ran at the front. The clothing store they had entered earlier was small, and they had finished checking it quickly. But just as they left to find another store, the alarm sounded.
After narrowly dodging another mannequin’s attack, they spotted a pregnant woman up ahead, desperately crying for help.
“F*ck!” Zhuo Zhongqiu cursed. “Why the h*ll would a pregnant woman come to such a dangerous place?”
Though she said this, she and Cyril still dashed over, grabbing the panicked woman and pulling her along.
But the woman couldn’t run fast, and Zhuo Zhongqiu didn’t dare drag her too forcefully, afraid it would harm the baby. The three of them gradually fell behind. Seeing the mannequin getting closer, Zhuo Zhongqiu gritted her teeth. “Cyril, take her and run. I’ll buy you time.”
“Zhuo!” Cyril’s eyes turned red as he watched her turn back. He took a deep breath, knowing he couldn’t waste her sacrifice. Wiping away tears, he continued to run forward with the pregnant woman, awkwardly trying to reassure her as they fled.
“Don’t be afraid, I’ll protect you. The ghosts can’t stay out forever. As long as we run fast enough, we’ll be safe.”
The pregnant woman looked up at him. Just as Cyril was about to offer her a smile, she suddenly yanked him in front of her.
Cyril stumbled forward, and the mannequin’s arm pierced straight through his chest.
Blood gushed from his mouth, his blue eyes clouded in confusion. The pregnant woman, having used him as a shield, didn’t even glance at him as she turned and ran—now much faster than before.
“…It hurts…” Cyril coughed up another mouthful of blood, his blue eyes dimming. “So this is what dying feels like…”
His head drooped lower and lower until all life left him.
More and more people outside the shops were being slaughtered.
This kind of do-or-die escape should’ve been thrilling for Jiang Luo.
But as he looked at Cyril and Zhuo Zhongqiu’s corpses, and at Ge Zhu’s decapitated body in the clothing store, the exhilaration turned sour. His lips slowly pressed into a tight line, and a storm of emotions darkened his eyes.
Human nature, monsters—this was Chi You’s utopia.
If the future turned out like this, his friends would no doubt become the first sacrifices, reduced to mere nourishment for their kindness and principles.
Lu Youyi had already pulled himself out of his sobbing. He didn’t know if he was trying to comfort Jiang Luo or himself, but he kept repeating, “Good thing this is just a dream.”
Yes, good thing this is just a dream.
But what if it isn’t a dream?
…
In the end, the only one still alive outside was the pregnant woman.
The shopkeeper grinned viciously, raising his axe as he moved in to smash her into a pile of flesh. The pregnant woman looked at him with fear and panic, and suddenly trembled as she pleaded, “Wait! Please spare me! I know the shopkeepers in the mall love eating children the most—there’s a child inside me! If you don’t kill me, I’ll bring him to you after I give birth! Please, I beg you, let me live!”
She scrambled up and knelt on the ground, kowtowing forcefully to the shopkeeper. Her face was delicate, her hair disheveled, eyes red and swollen from crying, looking pitiful. But after hearing what she said, any pity one might have had vanished without a trace.
The shopkeeper’s eerie eyes stared at her, then greedily swept over her belly, as if weighing whether to kill her now or wait for the delicious baby to come.
But before he could decide, the mall’s alarm blared again.
The shopkeeper’s expression changed. He glared at the pregnant woman with reluctance and gave a chilling warning, “Remember—after you give birth, bring the child to me.”
The pregnant woman burst into tears of joy, covering her mouth and nodding repeatedly.
The shopkeeper and the plastic mannequins returned to the men’s clothing store. He sat back down behind the cashier’s counter, and the mannequins resumed their positions—everything looked just as it had before.
The doors of all the stores reopened.
Jiang Luo stared blankly at the corpses strewn across the floor for a few seconds, then calmly picked up his phone to check the time.
“The next twenty-minute interval ends at 9:56,” he said. “During these twenty minutes, let’s find our clothes and get to the elevator as quickly as possible.”
Lu Youyi held back his emotions and nodded through gritted teeth. They deliberately avoided looking at their companions’ bodies and moved on to the next clothing store.
In this twenty-minute window, the remaining five of them all managed to find clothes that fit. Jiang Luo’s was the hardest to get—it was a black slim-fit suit on a mannequin inside the store. After handing over the money to the shopkeeper, they sprinted to the elevator just in time, with only a minute to spare.
Joining them in the elevator were the pregnant woman who had caused the deaths of Cyril and Zhuo Zhongqiu, and two other anxious-looking middle-aged men.
The elevator had no buttons. Once the twenty minutes ended and the alarm sounded, the doors closed on their own and the elevator began to ascend.
Second floor, third floor… the elevator finally stopped on the fifth.
The doors opened to a bright red sign: “Shunxin Fitness Center.” Two beautiful women in tight athletic wear with curvaceous figures stood smiling in front of the elevator. One with straight hair said warmly, “Three of you must stay on this floor to experience our fitness package.”
The other, with curly hair, followed with a smile, “That’s right. Shunxin Gym is the most highly rated facility in the entire building. We have outstanding trainers and the most advanced equipment, and can provide a customized fitness plan just for you. If you don’t get off at this stop, the upper floors won’t be as safe as ours.”
The straight-haired woman’s gaze was seductive, her bright red lips curling into a perfect smile. “We also offer massage services—first-time guests get to try it for free.”
The two middle-aged men were visibly tempted. They hesitated and asked, “Is it really safe here?”
“Of course,” said the curly-haired woman firmly. “And if you’re lucky, you might even get an extra reward.”
That sealed it for them—they made their decision and walked out of the elevator together.
One more person needed to stay. Lu Youyi, who considered himself the luckiest, volunteered. “I’ll go.”
Jiang Luo glanced at the pregnant woman beside him. She was hiding cautiously behind everyone else, completely uninterested in what the fitness women were offering.
Well, that made sense. What kind of pregnant woman could go work out?
He looked at her belly.
Jiang Luo wanted to stop Lu Youyi, but none of the others—Wenren Lian, Ye Xun, or Kuang Zheng—were as lucky as Lu Youyi. He himself had the worst luck of all. In the end, he simply handed Lu Youyi the fitness center membership card from his pocket. “Wait for our signal.”
Lu Youyi gave them a confident smile and made an “OK” sign. Only when the elevator slowly closed did he turn around to face the gym, a hint of unease flickering across his face.
This place… shouldn’t be that scary, right?
***
This time, the elevator kept rising.
It moved slowly—some floors it stopped on, others it passed by. As the number climbed closer to “10,” Jiang Luo turned his head and stared intently at the pregnant woman.
Her body stiffened under his gaze. A flash of malice flickered in her eyes, only to be replaced by a soft, vulnerable look.
“Little brother, why are you staring at me?”
Jiang Luo smiled at her, then suddenly reached out and placed his hand on her belly.
His long, bony fingers spread slightly, resting precisely at the center of her navel, as if at any moment he could tear through her skin and rip something out—chillingly horrifying.
Her pupils contracted, and she shouted sharply, “What are you doing?!”
Wenren Lian and Ye Xun, still lost in grief, snapped out of it and looked at Jiang Luo in surprise.
“There’s a little baby in here, right?” Jiang Luo’s tone was gentle. He lowered his eyes, long lashes casting a faint shadow, “I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl.”
The pregnant woman kept shielding her stomach, trying to dodge his hand. But the handsome young man in front of her was like a demon—his hand remained firmly on her belly. A cold chill crept up her spine.
That hand suddenly gripped her belly hard.
The pregnant woman cried out, “Get him away from me! Don’t let him touch my stomach! It hurts, my stomach—”
Wenren Lian and Ye Xun quickly grabbed Jiang Luo’s arm, anxious. “Jiang Luo, we know you’re in pain, but let go—Zhongqiu and Cyril’s deaths have nothing to do with the baby!”
“Baby?” Jiang Luo let out a few cold laughs. “That’s only if there’s really a baby in her belly. But look at her—is that a baby in there?”
The others hurriedly looked toward the woman’s belly and were immediately too shocked to keep restraining Jiang Luo.
Her stomach had been forcibly dented in by Jiang Luo’s grip—how could a real belly be like that? That clearly was—
With another squeeze of Jiang Luo’s hand, a cotton pillow suddenly fell out from under the pregnant woman’s dress onto the floor.
