"Boom—boom—boom!"
Suddenly, thunder rolled outside, and a streak of lightning tore across the sky.
Chi Mu walked over to the bedside window and saw pea-sized raindrops falling steadily. People on the street below were scrambling for shelter, rushing to avoid the downpour.
It was only noon, yet the sky had turned so dark and gloomy.
"Looks like Yang Qu will be coming back early. I need to hurry and find A-Jiu to check out that shadow on the wall," Chi Mu muttered to himself. He grabbed a few candies and left the room, heading toward the storage room.
A-Jiu had said she was living there now.
Thanks to the system's reminder, Chi Mu knew that Rule 4 of the Sequence was false, so entering the storage room wouldn't break any rules.
As he reached the storage room door, a chill ran down his spine. He shivered involuntarily.
His suspicion deepened — was the source of contamination inside this storage room? If he rushed in now, would he get infected too?
After a moment's thought, Chi Mu decided not to enter until he could confirm the storage room's status. He chose to play it safe and knocked on the door instead.
"Knock, knock knock... knock, knock knock!"
He knocked three times in quick succession. A narrow slit opened, and a pair of eyes peeked out.
"Who're you looking for?"
A deep male voice came from the door gap.
Chi Mu froze. It wasn't A-Jiu answering? Was she not there?
According to Rule 5 of Sequence Three, the storage room was for the cleaning staff's supplies. On the ninth floor, there were two cleaners — a man and a woman.
But it was said the male cleaner had already taken leave, leaving only the female cleaner. So who was behind this door?
Chi Mu instinctively took a step back and said, "I'm looking for a little girl named A-Jiu. Is she not here?"
The person inside hesitated a few seconds, then opened the door fully. Chi Mu saw a thin, middle-aged man with heavy dark circles under his eyes — he looked infected.
"I'm a hotel cleaner. The storage room is for tools only. There's no little girl here... and guests aren't allowed inside," the man said softly.
"Oh, okay, sorry to bother you," Chi Mu nodded and turned to leave.
The man watched Chi Mu's back with a thoughtful expression, clenching his fists.
After walking a dozen steps, Chi Mu glanced back at the storage room door. It was closed.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
But when the man claimed to be a cleaner, Chi Mu's suspicion peaked.
Rule 6 of Sequence Three stated clearly: the cleaner was female!
That man was lying.
The ninth floor's two cleaners included only one female now — the male cleaner had gone home long ago. The rules specifically emphasized the cleaner was female. That man's identity was highly questionable.
Chi Mu filed him under suspects.
While Chi Mu was still pondering where to find A-Jiu, he felt his shirt sleeve tugged.
"Big brother, are you looking for A-Jiu?"
A-Jiu stood there in her red dress, looking up at him innocently.
Chi Mu froze. When had she appeared?
"Yes, A-Jiu. I just went to the storage room but didn't find you... I wanted you to help me with something. Can you?" Chi Mu squatted and smiled at her.
A-Jiu pouted. "If you have candy, A-Jiu will help big brother!"
Chi Mu pulled a handful of candies from his pocket and handed them over. A-Jiu beamed with joy.
"Thank you, big brother! What do you want A-Jiu to look at?"
Chi Mu held A-Jiu's hand and led her back to his and Yang Qu's room, pushing open the bedroom door where he'd seen the shadow earlier.
Strangely, as soon as A-Jiu stepped into the room, her hand grew icy cold — unnervingly cold. Chi Mu immediately let go of her hand.
He peeled back the clothes hanging on the wall a little and said, "A-Jiu, come look. Do you recognize the shadow on the wall?"
The moment A-Jiu saw the shadow, her pupils dilated and fear flashed across her face.
"Ahhh... it's... it's uncle, that uncle!"
"Mom, run! Mom, run!"
A-Jiu screamed in terror, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Seeing this, Chi Mu quickly covered the shadow again and held A-Jiu's hand. Though her hand was freezing cold, he didn't let go.
"A-Jiu, don't cry... it's just a shadow. Big brother is here!" he soothed gently, rubbing her back. Gradually, she calmed down.
Once A-Jiu settled, Chi Mu asked, "A-Jiu, you called the shadow 'uncle'? What happened? And why did you say 'Mom, run'...?"
A-Jiu lowered her head, silent. Chi Mu was about to speak again but realized that if he did, it would break the rules — actively talking to 'her'.
So, he waited silently for her to speak.
Unexpectedly, he felt something cold and sticky on his hand.
Looking down in horror, he saw it was blood — thick, fresh blood dripping from A-Jiu's face.
Chi Mu panicked, falling backward onto the floor.
A-Jiu looked up, but what flowed from her eyes was no longer tears — it was blood tears, filled with terror.
"Big brother... big brother, don't be afraid. A-Jiu won't hurt you... The shadow on the wall is that fat uncle..."
"Mom was hit on the head with a shovel by an uncle in white clothes... A-Jiu was knocked out too."
"A-Jiu hurts... A-Jiu hurts so much!"
Saying this, A-Jiu suddenly dashed out of the room.
Blood pooled on the floor. When Chi Mu finally snapped out of his shock and chased after her, the hallway was empty. A-Jiu was nowhere to be found.
Suddenly, Chi Mu felt a chill at his neck — clearly, a hand was resting on his shoulder...