The surrounding fog grew denser, visibility dropping to less than two meters.
Under the dim yellow streetlight, most of Zheng Pang’s figure was hidden in the white mist — only a vague silhouette could be seen.
A ghostly shadow walking ahead would pause every few steps, waving its thin arm to beckon Zheng Pang, seemingly afraid he’d get lost.
Zhang Xianyu and Luo Danqing followed behind and gradually found the path increasingly familiar.
“This is the way to the air-raid shelter,”
Luo Danqing said as he looked at the dark entrance not far ahead.
Remembering the story Zheng Pang had told earlier, he couldn’t help but shudder.
Under thick fog and dim lighting, the already gloomy shelter looked even more terrifying.
Its pitch-black opening resembled a monster ready to devour people.
Zheng Pang staggered into the shelter.
The lights inside remained their cold, eerie white, and the layout was exactly as they remembered from last time.
However, Luo Danqing couldn’t shake the strong sense of wrongness within.
He looked around, but couldn’t pinpoint anything amiss.
He instinctively glanced at Zhang Xianyu’s expression — still blank as ever.
After hesitating a bit, Luo Danqing chose to trust him.
They walked in a bit further.
The ghostly figure opened a tightly shut iron door and stood by it.
Its blurry features twisted into a strange grin.
In Luo Danqing’s eyes, it was the same iron door they’d seen last time — now eerily opening on its own…
Startled, he stepped back and accidentally kicked a small stone on the ground.
The faint sound echoed in the tunnel, unusually loud.
The ghost’s head snapped toward their direction.
Its already long neck stretched like rubber, and without moving its body, its head extended right in front of Zhang Xianyu.
Even up close, its facial features remained vague, as if covered by a layer of mist.
The ghost’s head circled them once, but didn’t notice anything unusual.
Suspicious, it retracted.
Perhaps irritated, its movements became more rushed as it waved to the dazed Zheng Pang standing at the doorway.
Obediently, Zheng Pang walked in.
“You wait here,”
Zhang Xianyu quickly stuffed a talisman into Luo Danqing’s hand and slipped through the door just before the ghost could close it.
Luo Danqing watched helplessly as the iron door — which had opened on its own — closed again after Zhang Xianyu entered.
Inside, there were two more doors.
The ghost opened the one on the right and led Zheng Pang inside.
Behind the door was a narrow corridor, barely wide enough for two people, and slightly taller than one person.
Long abandoned, it was unlit.
After walking 4-5 meters in, the outside light could no longer reach, and everything fell into complete darkness.
Zhang Xianyu took out a Clairvoyance Talisman, rubbed it over his eyes, and felt a cool sensation before he could finally see what lay ahead.
The walls and ceiling were made of green stone bricks, likely damp — patches of moss and weeds grew along the base and ceiling.
Clearly, no one had been here in ages.
The passage was long and winding, with many forks — almost every ten meters, there was one, all of them pitch-black inside.
As they passed, faint whimpering sounds could be heard, though it was unclear whether it came from air currents or something else.
The ghost kept walking deeper inside.
Zhang Xianyu noticed Zheng Pang’s movements becoming more agile — perhaps the ghost’s control over his body had strengthened after entering the shelter.
No one knew where the ghost was taking him.
The corridor seemed endless, and the further they went, the colder it got.
The faint eerie energy in the air grew stronger.
Judging by the ghost’s behavior, it seemed to be just a low-level errand runner — the real boss must be hidden deeper in the shelter.
Zhang Xianyu began weighing his options: should he capture the ghost now, get Zheng Pang out safely, and come back to explore alone later — or keep tailing the ghost to its master’s lair?
He hadn’t figured out what exactly was hidden inside the shelter.
While he wasn’t afraid for himself, he couldn’t risk Zheng Pang’s safety.
After some thought, he decided to prioritize getting Zheng Pang out first.
Just as he prepared to capture the ghost, a soft gulping sound and dripping water caught his attention from above.
Looking up, he came face to face with a mummy-like face.
The creature was entirely yellowish-brown, its flesh sunken and clinging to the bones.
Its skin was coated in a layer of slime — the dripping sound came from that slime falling to the ground.
It clung tightly to the ceiling bricks with its limbs, its head twisted at an angle greater than 180 degrees, staring hungrily at Zhang Xianyu.
It had discovered him.
Zhang Xianyu’s eyes darted.
He crouched and lunged toward Zheng Pang.
The monster let out a hoarse shriek and flipped in the air, diving at Zhang Xianyu’s back.
“Golden light protect my body!”
As golden light burst around him, the monster lunged at Zhang Xianyu’s back.
But the light seemed to counter it directly — the creature let out a distorted shriek as the stench of scorched flesh filled the air.
Zhang Xianyu didn’t stop — in three quick steps, he caught up to Zheng Pang, pressing his index and middle fingers onto the artery at the back of Zheng Pang’s neck.
A jolt of current surged in, causing Zheng Pang to shudder violently and instantly regain consciousness.
“Follow the guiding talisman!”
Zhang Xianyu gave him a push, throwing the Guiding Talisman ahead.
Then he turned and blocked the ghostly figure screeching its way back.
The ghost, furious at losing its prey, stretched its long neck, its mouth tearing open all the way to the back of its head as it lunged at Zhang Xianyu.
“Catch this!”
Zhang Xianyu grabbed a handful of talismans and, without looking, shoved them all into the ghost’s gaping mouth.
They exploded simultaneously — the ghost wailed as it turned into black mist.
“Oh my god! Help me!!!”
Zhang Xianyu hadn’t even exhaled yet when Zheng Pang’s shrill scream echoed from up ahead.
Chasing after the guiding talisman, Zhang Xianyu reached a fork in the path — and saw Zheng Pang surrounded.
On the walls in every direction clung monsters.
They had human-like limbs and torsos, but moved like lizards.
Their five sharp fingers dug into the cracks of the stone, sticking firmly to the walls.
Long tongues uncurled, and they stared hungrily at Zheng Pang.
Frozen in fear, Zheng Pang crouched on the ground, covering his head and trembling — loudly reciting the Core Socialist Values.
The scene was so absurd it almost looked comical.
“Fatty! Follow the talisman!”
Zhang Xianyu shouted, drawing all the monsters’ attention to himself.
From what he’d seen earlier, these things had hearing and smell — but he wasn’t sure if they could think.
He pulled out two Five-Thunder Talismans and shot them at two of the monsters blocking the path.
They clearly didn’t expect the power of the talismans, hesitating instead of dodging — and lunged at Zheng Pang instead.
“Mother of god!”
Zheng Pang watched as the two monsters leapt at him, jaws wide open.
His legs nearly gave out — but just then, the two yellow talismans slammed into the creatures.
Purple lightning exploded like a spiderweb, wrapping around them.
In seconds, the repulsive monsters were charred black and collapsed to the ground.
Zheng Pang stood shaking, staring at the scorched corpses at his feet.
Zhang Xianyu stepped in front of him, fending off the remaining two creatures.
Noticing Zheng Pang was still frozen, he yelled,
“Fatty? Are you scared stiff? If not, run! Follow the talisman!”
Zheng Pang turned back, grit his teeth, and stepped over the corpses, chasing after the glowing guiding talisman.
He ran as if his life depended on it.
Zhang Xianyu, uneasy about leaving him alone, stopped fighting and shot out two more talismans.
He quickly drew a barrier formation around the spot, then rushed after Zheng Pang.
Had he looked back, he would’ve seen the two monsters dodge the talismans with ease, pressing against the barrier with their gaping jaws, unleashing silent screams.
And farther down the passage, a cluster of green eyes began to emerge in the darkness…
Zheng Pang had never run this fast in his life.
Wind roared past his ears, strange moaning sounds echoing behind him.
Terrified, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward, chasing the guiding light ahead.
The tunnel was pitch-black with no end in sight.
Only the faint glow of the talisman lit the way.
He felt like an old broken bellows, wheezing for air.
His legs felt like they no longer belonged to him.
He wanted to cry.
Suddenly, a pair of hands landed on his shoulders.
His knees gave out, and he stumbled to the ground.
“Fatty? Zheng Pang?”
Zhang Xianyu had caught up and called his name several times without a response.
He finally reached out and grabbed him — only for Zheng Pang, scared stiff, to collapse where he stood.
Thankfully, they were close to the exit now.
Zhang Xianyu pulled him up.
“Can you still walk? We can’t stay here.”
Zheng Pang’s legs trembled, but he stood with Zhang Xianyu’s support, and they walked toward the exit.
Zhang Xianyu glanced at his pale face, feeling a little guilty.
Truth be told, he’d underestimated the situation.
He had thought the air-raid shelter would at most be hiding a few sneaky ghosts — that’s why he let Zheng Pang come along.
But they hadn’t even reached the deepest part, and the outer perimeter alone was already swarming with unnatural creatures.
Frowning, he glanced back at the pitch-black tunnel.
This seemingly quiet air-raid shelter was hiding far more horror than it should — and it clearly wasn’t something that had gathered overnight.
Still, now wasn’t the time to investigate further.
Getting Zheng Pang out safely came first.
They reached the exit, but the iron gate was locked.
Without hesitation, Zhang Xianyu placed his palm over the rusted lock — electricity sparked, and the lock fell with a clatter.
He supported Zheng Pang and led him out.
He hadn’t dared use thunder-based techniques in the narrow passage for fear of a collapse, but now that they were out, there was nothing to hold him back.
Zheng Pang had been holding in his fear the entire time, but now, drained and shaking like a noodle, he could only lean against Zhang Xianyu.
As they stepped out of the second door, Zhang Xianyu looked up, searching for Luo Danqing.
Suddenly — his pupils shrank.
“You’re finally out,”
Luo Danqing called out, hands gripping the iron gate, his expression full of worry.
Waiting alone outside had felt like an eternity.
Zhang Xianyu, supporting the half-collapsed Zheng Pang, kept his gaze fixed on the black ghostly shadow crouched behind Luo Danqing and slowly said: “Danqing, come here.”