I usually don’t smoke; I only take a few puffs when I’m feeling extremely down. So, I hadn’t even filled the lighter since I bought it. Suddenly, it went out, and I was taken aback. In a place like this, without any light, it was a terrifying situation.

As I pondered what to do, I suddenly heard a “gurgling” sound above me, as if a woman was laughing. My neck went cold. The basement was very low; I could touch the ceiling just by jumping. Even though I couldn’t see anything, I instinctively looked up.

Upon raising my head, I saw nothing, but I felt something furry dangling in front of my face. I instinctively grabbed it and was startled to find it was a clump of hair, wet and sticky. Ever since the underwater tomb incident, I had developed an extreme aversion to wet hair. At that moment, I felt a chill in my throat, as if I had swallowed a rat. I quickly crouched down, waving my sleeves to wipe away whatever that was from my face, and I backed away. I stared intently at the dark ceiling.

It was so dark that I couldn’t even imagine it. Fear surged within me, and I thought, what’s going on? Is there a woman on the ceiling? Could it be that person is now hanging from above? No way, how could that be? Is it a lizard?

Things were getting increasingly strange. I touched the sticky substance in my hand and sniffed it; a strange smell hit me. I couldn’t recall where I had smelled it before, but I instinctively felt an ominous sensation rising within me.

At that moment, the “gurgling” laughter echoed again, and it sounded like it was coming from the ceiling, directed at me. I immediately stepped back a few paces and bumped into the writing desk with a loud crash, which echoed like thunder in the quiet basement, sending cold sweat down my back.

I steadied myself, but the sound was gone. I was getting more and more anxious; this wasn’t just ordinary anxiety. For some reason, my whole body began to tremble, as if my subconscious sensed that something extremely terrifying was about to happen. Suddenly, I felt an itch at the back of my neck, as if something was hanging down behind my head.

I gripped the lighter, unable to hold back any longer. Trembling, I turned my head and forcefully struck the flint.

With a crack, a spark flew up, and in that brief moment, the white light illuminated what was behind me. I saw a large clump of hair hanging down from the ceiling. I lifted my head and struck the flint again, and within the hair, I saw a pale, grotesque face, coldly staring at me.

The spark’s light was fleeting, and darkness enveloped me again, but that image was already etched clearly in my mind.

A corpse bride! In an instant, I understood why my body was reacting this way. Damn it, there’s a corpse bride here!

My mind went blank, and all sense of calm vanished. I let out a scream and ran wildly backward, disregarding everything, charging straight into the darkness with only one thought in my head: I wanted to escape this place.

I hadn’t run very far when, quite literally, I crashed headlong into a wall. It was the kind of collision you’d expect from someone committing suicide by running into a wall. With a loud “bang,” I fell to the ground. As I got back up, I heard a series of “clinks” above me, coming right at me. I didn’t care about the blood streaming from my nose; I got up and felt for the doorway I had just come through, charging toward it again.

This time I was smarter; I stretched my hands out in front of me and felt my way out. Relying on my memory, I dashed into the corridor, then leaned against the wall and rushed to the exit, bursting through the door. I quickly turned around and slammed the door shut behind me, then plunged into the darkness, groping around, trying to find the staircase down.

But in such darkness, finding that doorway was incredibly difficult. I felt around for a long time, not even touching the wall. While I was feeling my way, I suddenly collided with something, nearly falling over. I lunged forward and landed on it, immediately realizing I had kicked the stone coffin.

As I braced myself against the coffin to stand up again, my hands were fumbling on it when I suddenly felt something was off—the shape of the coffin seemed to have changed. I touched it again and quickly realized that the lid of the coffin had been shifted, leaving a gap. My hand found the edge of that opening.

How did the coffin open? In that instant, this question flashed through my mind, but my thoughts were already a chaotic mess. I felt dizzy and had no time to dwell on the question. I just hesitated for a moment before standing up and continuing to feel my way forward.

At that moment, something suddenly moved beside me. My nerves were already at their limit, and I was nearly scared to death. Just as I was about to brace myself, a hand reached out and immediately covered my mouth, while my body was grabbed and immobilized.

I struggled with all my might, but the force holding me was immense; I couldn’t move at all. At the same time, I heard someone whispering in my ear, “Don’t move!”

Upon hearing that, I was taken aback and immediately stopped struggling, my heart nearly exploding.

Though it was just two words, I instantly recognized who it was! It was the voice of the quiet, enigmatic figure, the one known as “Men Youping.”