Translator: CinderTL
"How is this possible?" The security guard exclaimed in surprise. "You must be mistaken!"
Standing in front of the stairwell, everyone couldn't help but gasp when they saw the safety door with an additional lock.
This place was completely different from when they had first arrived.
"Don't you think this violates fire safety regulations?" Qiao Yu's brother pointed at the locked safety door and said to the security guard.
The guard's expression turned awkward, and he didn't respond.
"Perhaps you'd like to check another office?" the guard interjected, sensing the tense atmosphere.
Hua Luo turned around. "Another office?"
"Yes, there's one more. It used to be Li Zumei's office before she moved to the 9th floor. After she relocated, she used it as a storage room."
Hua Luo instructed the guard to lead the way and immediately headed up the stairs on the other side. However, even when they reached the 13th floor and stood in front of Li Zumei's old office, they still didn't see Jiang Cheng and the others.
There were no signs of the office door being opened recently.
They had disappeared too.
Hua Luo deduced that they must be trapped in the left stairwell, and the Ghost who had called was none other than Li Zumei.
This was a trap.
The place was extremely secluded, located at the end of a corner, and there was no one around.
"Wait here for a moment. I'll go find the person in charge to get the keys. No one has been here for a long time," the guard said, about to leave. But Hua Luo stopped him, saying it wasn't necessary, and then kicked the door open with one swift motion.
It was dark inside, but they could still make out the shape of an office.
Worried that the guard's departure might attract more people and cause unnecessary trouble, they decided to keep him there. Qiao Yu's brother stayed with him at the corner, keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Hua Luo entered first, and Chu Jiu followed, pulling out a small flashlight from her pocket.
The environment here was much worse than the 9th-floor office. The place was cluttered with miscellaneous items, and the desks seemed untouched for a long time. Empty bottles were scattered on the floor.
What caught their attention was a large glass-door bookcase in the corner. Through the glass, they could see many paper bags neatly arranged inside, similar to the ones they had found earlier.
Realizing this, Hua Luo immediately walked towards the bookcase.
"How did this happen?" Chu Jiu's voice disrupted Hua Luo's steps. He followed the sound and saw Chu Jiu shining her flashlight in the direction they had come from.
In the next second, Hua Luo's pupils involuntarily trembled.
The door they had entered through had disappeared.
In its place was a massive picture frame.
"Doctor," Fatty mumbled, covering his mouth. "The smoke is too thick."
"Watch your step and keep your bodies low," Banana Wolf said, coughing from the thick smoke. The air was filled with swirling dust and waves of heat, making it almost impossible to keep their eyes open.
About ten minutes ago, a sudden fire had broken out in the building, and the flames were unusually fierce. Led by Li Zumei, they had made their way to a safety door.
But something was blocking the safety door from the other side, and no matter how hard they pushed, it wouldn't budge, only opening a small gap.
Both Jiang Cheng and Banana Wolf tried but couldn't squeeze through.
In the end, it was Li Zumei who managed to slip through.
As soon as Li Zumei passed through, she disappeared into the thick smoke.
The scorching heat from behind was unbearable, and the fire was about to engulf them. Fatty even caught the smell of his own hair burning. Just when he thought he had been abandoned, Li Zumei's voice suddenly rang out from behind the gate.
She urged everyone to hold on and, after some effort with a crowbar she had found, managed to widen the gap just before the flames could consume them.
Fatty stepped back, letting Jiang Cheng and Banana Wolf go first. He was worried that his size might get him stuck in the middle and end up delaying the Doctor.
Fortunately, in the end, Fatty was pulled out by the combined efforts of the three.
They immediately started running downward, but the further they went, the thicker the smoke became, and the heat felt like it was about to roast them alive.
Fatty even touched his eyebrows, fearing they might catch fire.
In the thick smoke, Fatty couldn't keep his eyes open. He was running purely on instinct, keeping his body as low as possible. The sound of footsteps surrounded him, making it impossible to tell who was who.
He could barely make out Li Zumei in front of him.
Li Zumei, after all, was an ordinary woman, and her stamina couldn't match theirs. Fatty noticed her steps becoming increasingly unsteady until, with a sudden stumble, she fell down the stairs.
"How are you?" Banana Wolf crouched in front of Li Zumei. The smoke made her eyes stream with tears, but the next second, the heat dried them up.
Her face burned with pain.
Fatty and Jiang Cheng were nowhere to be seen. She faintly heard the sound of running downstairs, suggesting they had abandoned her.
The woman let out meaningless moans, clutching her leg. Banana Wolf felt it and found that the bone wasn't broken; it was likely just a sprained ankle.
"Please... don't leave me," Li Zumei pleaded desperately, her swollen hand gripping Banana Wolf's clothes tightly.
The fire grew fiercer, with crackling sounds everywhere. Not far behind the woman, a massive wooden frame in the corridor was burning fiercely, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.
Banana Wolf gritted her teeth. "Get up," she shouted over the heat, "I'll help you!"
She let the woman's arm rest on her shoulder, and the two of them limped downward. By now, their eyes were useless, and Banana Wolf had to feel her way with her feet.
Li Zumei did her best, and their coordination improved with each step.
But just as Banana Wolf forced her eyes open to assess their surroundings, a small detail caught her attention.
Li Zumei had one arm on her shoulder, and for balance, her other hand was resting on the stair railing.
They were inching downward like this.
Banana Wolf's pupils dilated sharply.
The coating on the railing was beginning to melt. She didn't know exactly how high the temperature was, but it was certainly not something a normal person could touch barehanded.
This woman wasn't human.
She was a ghost.
Realizing this, Banana Wolf remained calm. Under the pretext of adjusting the woman's position, she waited for the moment when Li Zumei moved her arm, then turned and ran.
Jiang Cheng faced the same situation as Banana Wolf, but unlike her, he had already sensed that something was off about the fire.
It had spread too quickly and too violently, with no warning, as if it had ignited in an instant—and across multiple floors simultaneously.
He had stayed silent earlier only because he hadn't yet pinpointed where the ghost was.
Just as Li Zumei sprained her leg and lay pitifully on the ground, begging for help, Jiang Cheng became certain that she was the Ghost.
After all, in such intense flames, a person's tears would dry up in seconds. How could Li Zumei cry like a kite with its string cut?
However, Jiang Cheng remained calm. He helped her up, encouraged her, and led her to the staircase railing. Seizing the moment when she was off guard, he kicked her down the stairs and immediately turned to run upstairs.
(End of the Chapter)
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