The layout of the experimental building wasn't all that complicated — just one straight corridor with all sorts of laboratories on either side and a freight elevator at the far end.
The student couple had no idea why there would be a freight elevator installed inside an experimental building. They didn't stop to think much about it. The tourists behind them were chasing after them like madmen, and with the dead end of the corridor ahead of them, their only escape was to take that elevator.
"Stop right there!" Big Ghost and Little Ghost shouted at the top of their lungs. The student couple grew even more terrified at the sound. They hadn't done anything to provoke these people — they'd barely exchanged a few words — yet the other party looked ready to devour them whole.
The corridor was a straight line with nothing to block anyone's line of sight. Ducking into the laboratories on either side would only get them discovered. The couple sprinted to the end of the hallway and smashed frantically at the elevator button.
"Open the door already!"
In his panic, the male student completely ignored the sign next to the elevator — FREIGHT USE ONLY. VISITORS PROHIBITED!
He jabbed the button over and over, and the silver-gray elevator doors slowly ground open.
"Let's hide on another floor for a while! These tourists aren't normal!"
There were four buttons on the elevator, corresponding to basement levels one through four. The first three numbers were in a normal color, but the number for basement level four had been smeared with blood-red paint.
The male student helped his girlfriend into the elevator and casually pressed a button.
The elevator doors slowly slid shut, and the footsteps in the corridor were drawing closer and closer.
"I heard long ago that this haunted house owner is completely unhinged — he's always sending his staff to pose as tourists. I just can't believe we were unlucky enough to run into it on our very first visit," the female student said. Her mind was sharp, and her little face had gone deathly pale with fright.
"Shh! Never badmouth the haunted house owner inside the haunted house! I remember someone from the forensic medicine department warned me that he holds grudges."
The footsteps were closing in fast. The student couple clung to each other, staring at the elevator doors, their hearts in their throats.
"Hurry up and close! Why is it so slow?!"
*Clack!*
The footsteps stopped. A short, stocky man squeezed through the doors at the very last second: "Thought you could run?"
Little Ghost's expression was twisted with menace. He stepped into the freight elevator just as the doors sealed shut, and the car began its descent.
During the chase, he hadn't felt afraid. It was only after he was actually inside that Little Ghost suddenly realized something was off — he was now alone with two haunted house actors.
"Hmph, you sure can run." His bravado had dimmed a notch, but he quickly noticed that the two students were even more terrified than he was, huddled together, their eyes filled with confusion and dread.
Still acting? Are they trying to get my sympathy?
No one spoke inside the elevator. It gradually fell silent, and in the sealed space, a faint stench drifted through the air.
It was hard to pin down exactly what the smell was — like a heap of perfume poured over rotting flesh. It was as if someone had tried to cover up the original odor, but the rot was too overpowering. The perfume mingled with it, producing something new and foul.
With a soft *ding*, the elevator came to a stop, and everyone's eyes snapped to the display screen.
In his panic, the male student had pressed the button for basement level three. On the control panel, the number three was still lit up, yet the display screen showed basement level two.
"Why did the elevator stop on this floor? Is someone else waiting to get on?"
Little Ghost couldn't think of any other explanation.
He was on high alert, his gaze locked on the slowly parting elevator doors.
A faint stench drifted in the moment the gap opened. Outside the elevator stretched a pitch-black corridor, completely empty.
"Did you two do this?" Little Ghost glared at the student couple. One against two — he was at a numerical disadvantage — so his tone wasn't quite as aggressive.
"How could we have done anything?" The male student was caught between fear and a sense of injustice.
"I'll be straight with you — Brother Bai has already found the key evidence. You two are haunted house actors!" Little Ghost's face was fierce, but he kept his distance from the male student, afraid that the moment the man was exposed, he'd fly into a rage and do something irrational.
"We're haunted house actors?! Don't you dare accuse us before we can even defend ourselves!" The couple was genuinely panicked now.
"When the male assistant disappeared, he was with you two. He also sent Liu Kang a message from your phone — isn't that right?" Little Ghost was slowly regaining his composure.