The pile of paper on the ground had already burned out, leaving only a few flickering embers glowing faintly in the night. Ashes were scattered by the night breeze, and the air was thick with the smell of burned paper.
The players hadn’t expected to walk straight into “Soul Returning Night” as soon as they entered the game instance.
Neither the players nor the audience were unfamiliar with the concept of the soul’s return on the seventh day. According to folklore, seven days after a person dies, their spirit returns home. The family must prepare a feast for the deceased, and on that night, both people and animals must avoid being seen by the returning spirit.
On the night of the soul’s return, the family and neighbors should turn off their lights early and go to bed. Li Zhi remembered when her family still lived in town during her childhood. The elderly man next door passed away, and they followed the most traditional rural funeral customs.
On the day of the soul’s return, the old man’s family pasted twelve paper money sheets in the shape of a ladder on a bamboo pole and leaned it against the eaves of the door. The bamboo pole was so tall that it extended past the roof, with the deceased’s clothes hanging at the top, and a pair of shoes he had worn during his life placed at the base.
Before it even got dark that day, Shang Jinru hurried her three children into the bedroom, had them eat and wash up early, and once night fell, she rushed them into bed, turned off the lights, and coaxed them to sleep.
Li Shuang, being mischievous, had crouched by the roadside earlier with her sister, watching the family cut bamboo and paste paper money. Curious, she asked, “Mom, will Grandpa Liu really come down that bamboo pole tonight?”
Shang Jinru was so frightened that she quickly covered Li Shuang’s mouth and scolded her, “Don’t mention his name! If he hears, you’ll be taken away!”
Most people are deeply superstitious about the soul’s return.
Whether ghosts truly return on the seventh night in the real world is uncertain, but in this game instance, they definitely would.
The players’ faces turned pale, and they quickly headed towards the only apartment building with lights on.
South Street Apartment was an old-style residential building, only six stories tall. A tiled wall surrounded the building, with shards of glass embedded along the top for security. The rusty iron gate at the front had a large lock on it, and only a small entrance by the guard room was left for access.
At this moment, the guard room was empty, likely because of the fear of “Soul Returning Night.” The small electronic door, which required a card swipe, was shut tight. Two players, who were especially nervous, exclaimed, “What are we going to do? If we don’t get inside soon, we’ll run into the returning spirits!”
Li Zhi was about to try using his universal key—capable of unlocking any door—to see if it would work on this electronic gate when a figure hurriedly came down the apartment hallway, directly across from the entrance. With a soft click, the electronic door slowly opened.
Behind the door stood a plump, middle-aged woman, dressed in a red wool cardigan and a skirt embroidered with large peony flowers. She wore chunky sandals over white socks, which were several shades lighter than her face. Her expression was a mix of anxiety and fear as she barked at the players in a low, irritated voice, “Why are you so late? Didn’t I tell you to move in during the day?!”
Fu Huan, standing in front, forced a polite smile. “Sorry, Auntie, we were delayed by some things during the day.”
Faced with such a charming, good-looking woman, the middle-aged woman couldn’t continue to scold them. She simply frowned and said, “Come in quickly! Don’t you know what time it is? You’re lucky to have me as your landlord. Try renting from someone else and see if they’d wait for you this long!”
So she was the landlord of South Street Apartment.
The landlady turned and quickly led the way into the building. The players hurried to follow as the electronic door clicked shut behind them.
Inside the hallway, there was a small mailroom with an elderly man in a sleeveless shirt standing at the window, nervously peering outside. The landlady introduced him to the players, “This is our apartment’s security guard, Uncle Zhang.”
Everyone glanced at the frail old man, hunched over and trembling, who looked like he could barely swat a mosquito. The group fell silent.
The landlady led them into the room across from the mailroom. The small room was somewhat cluttered, with no real signs of long-term living. It seemed like it wasn’t used often. However, the bed was currently unmade, with wrinkles suggesting someone had just lain there.
The landlady pulled a large set of keys from a hook on the white wall. “I don’t usually stay here. If it weren’t for waiting for you, I wouldn’t be spending the night here.”
She sifted through the large set of keys and pulled out five of them. Turning to look at the ten players, she muttered in dissatisfaction, “Your boss sure is stingy. Even with such cheap rent, he still only rented five rooms for ten people. Here, take your pick. Your company only rented five rooms from me, so you’ll have to share.”
The rusted key handles were wrapped in thin white cloth, each labeled with a room number: 102, 103, 104, 105, and 107.
All of them were on the first floor.
“The public bathroom and shower are on each floor, so keep yourselves clean. Flush after using the toilet, especially you men! Make sure you aim properly!”
The landlord clearly had some bad experiences in the past, frowning as she said, “The cleaning service comes once a week, but for day-to-day upkeep of the common areas, it’s your responsibility. You can cook in the rooms, but there’s no natural gas; you’ll have to use an induction cooker or gas cylinder.”
Li Zhi took the five keys. From the landlord’s explanation, it was clear that none of the rooms in the building had private bathrooms; all the washrooms were communal.
“There’s one very important rule,” the landlord suddenly lowered her voice, her gaze sweeping over the ten players with a stern warning, “Our neighbors don’t like being disturbed. Once you’ve moved in, don’t go visiting each other’s rooms, especially at night. And whatever you do, don’t wander around the hallways.”
Meng Yuhan wasn’t pleased. “What if I need to go to the bathroom at night?”
She had grown up with her grandmother, who had a habit of waking up at night, and Meng Yuhan had developed the habit of needing to use the bathroom before bed.
The landlord was silent for a moment, then glared at her. “You could get a chamber pot.”
Meng Yuhan cringed, “A chamber pot? In this day and age?”
The landlord snorted, “Well, it’s your company’s fault for being too cheap to rent a place with private bathrooms for its employees.”
Meng Yuhan had no response to that.
Growing impatient, the landlord snapped, “Alright! Just go to sleep already!”
Five rooms for ten people made for easy pairings. Naturally, Li Zhi would be in the same room as Meng Yuhan, as they had already discussed it before entering the instance. Xiang Ling, who had been quietly observing the other players, approached the beautiful Fu Huan and shyly asked, “Could I share a room with you?”
Fu Huan, with her easy-going and cheerful personality, agreed immediately, “Sure!”
Li Zhi glanced at Li Feng and noticed that several players, including Yuan Cheng, seemed eager to pair up with him. Li Feng’s tall and muscular physique gave off an air of security, even in his loose jacket, and many clearly wanted to team up with him.
To everyone’s surprise, Li Feng declined their offers and instead turned to a younger boy, around the same age as Meng Yuhan, named Qiao Junyuan. “Do you want to room with me?”
Qiao Junyuan smiled obediently, “Sure, thank you.”
With the groups settled, everyone looked to Li Zhi, who held the five keys.
All the rooms were on the first floor, and they didn’t seem to differ much. Since everyone was anxious to avoid running into a soul returning from the dead, they were about to grab the keys from Li Zhi when she suddenly closed her hand and turned to face the landlord, who was sitting on the bed.
“Auntie, was the person returning tonight also a resident of this apartment?” Li Zhi asked.
The landlord, who had been in the middle of taking off her shoes, froze. She slowly sat up straight, her expression uneasy. “Yes, he was.”
Li Zhi pressed further, “Which room did he live in before he died?”
The landlord’s eyes darted nervously, and she tried to avoid answering. “Why are you asking so many questions? You know there’s a soul returning tonight, so you’d better get to bed and sleep before it’s too late! You might really run into something if you don’t hurry!”
There was a clear note of fearmongering in her voice, but Li Zhi remained unfazed. She continued calmly, “How can we be sure that the rooms you’re renting us aren’t the ones where the deceased used to live? You wouldn’t rent us a room where someone died, would you?”
The landlord’s face flushed with anger at being called out. She stood up abruptly and snapped, “You’re lucky I’m renting to you at all with the pitiful rent your company is paying! You’re in no position to be picky!”
So, the landlord was trying to scam them after all! She had actually intended to rent out rooms where people had died. If they stayed in one of those rooms, and the deceased’s spirit returned to their former home, someone could end up dead tonight!
Several players were visibly upset, but Li Zhi remained calm and composed. “You can’t say that. Your apartment is cheap because someone died here, right? I bet there are rumors outside calling this place a haunted house. Our company is doing you a favor by renting it.”
The landlord’s expression changed. “Nonsense! Haunted house? Every building has had someone die in it! They only fell to their deaths, it wasn’t some gruesome murder! How could that make it a haunted house?”
Li Zhi had been merely probing, but she didn’t actually know how the deceased had died. To her surprise, the landlord’s reaction confirmed her suspicion.
They.
It seemed more than one person had died.
Li Zhi smiled, her tone still gentle but persuasive. “Falling to one’s death isn’t exactly a peaceful end, and they likely died with resentment. Tonight, their spirits are returning. If we move into the rooms where they lived and something happens—if someone else dies—your rent could drop even further. Auntie, how about giving us another room?”
The landlord’s expression shifted several times, and it seemed Li Zhi’s reasoning had finally convinced her. The landlord walked over, took the keys to rooms 102 and 103 from Li Zhi’s hand, and gave her two new ones—205 and 302.
With a stern face, she said, “Fine, now go to sleep!”
So, 102 and 103 were the rooms where the deceased had lived before their deaths.
Now, the five rooms were spread across the first, second, and third floors. Although there were haunted rooms on the first floor, at least the three rooms were close to each other. If something happened, they could quickly communicate. As for the second and third floors, who knew what might happen? What if the landlord tried to trick them again? Staying there alone might be risky.
The group exchanged uneasy glances. Yuan Cheng was the first to take the key to room 107, and another pair of players took room 105. Fu Huan and Xiang Ling chose room 104, the one next to where the deceased had lived.
Fu Huan reassured Xiang Ling, “Fortune favors the brave! The more dangerous it is, the more popular we’ll be. I have tools, so I’m not scared!”
That left rooms 205 and 302. Li Zhi and Meng Yuhan took 205, while Li Feng and Qiao Junyuan took 302.
Once everyone had their keys, they hurriedly left the landlord’s room and headed for the hallway.
There was only one old elevator in the apartment building, with the display panel showing a “1” and an upward-pointing red arrow. However, everyone knew that taking the elevator at this time was as good as asking for trouble. The emergency stairs were at the far end of the hallway, next to the washrooms on each floor. Li Zhi and Li Feng started up the stairs, while the other players looked towards the first-floor corridor.
The narrow, dimly lit hallway stretched on ominously. The old apartment building wasn’t designed with much natural light or ventilation. A dusty overhead lamp cast a weak glow, illuminating a square wooden table placed near the entrance to the hallway.
The table was laden with a feast—fish, meat, and fruits. In front of the table stood an incense burner with three half-burnt sticks of incense, thin white smoke drifting eerily through the corridor, shrouding the food meant as an offering to the dead.
Some of the players began to regret choosing rooms on the first floor.
But it was too late to switch now. Someone gulped nervously and whispered, “Let’s go quickly!”
Snapping out of their daze, everyone carefully avoided the offering table and made their way to their respective rooms. As they fumbled with their keys, a gust of wind blew through the building, and suddenly, from the end of the hallway, came the unmistakable sound of someone loudly chewing and swallowing.
Fu Huan’s hand shook, and she almost dropped her key.
Her hands trembling, she tried several times to insert the key into the lock but failed. Beside her, Xiang Ling grabbed her wrist, steadied her hand, and inserted the key into the lock. With a soft click, the door opened, and the two of them rushed inside without looking back.