Chapter 61: Zhao Zhenjia's Shikigami

According to Taoist beliefs, five in the morning—when the morning sun first rises and evil spirits scatter—is when yang energy is at its peak.

That was why the five-person team chose this exact moment to head upstairs.

In reality, it made little difference. The ghosts of the Apartment had no real connection to the Taoist system; doing this was merely to buy themselves some peace of mind.

The five of them followed the Third Floor corridor to the stairwell. The steps leading to the fourth floor were blanketed in dust; it had been a long time since anyone had gone up. A crooked strip of yellow caution tape hung carelessly across the entrance.

The heavily built Zhao Zhenjia casually tore the caution tape aside and was the first to head up.

Walking near the back, Gao Tian asked, "Sister Ta, among your Supernatural Items, do you have anything capable of resisting Cognitive Pollution?"

Xia Ta furrowed her elegant brows.

Items that resisted Cognitive Pollution were relatively scarce.

Although she didn't understand why Gao Tian was suddenly asking this, she answered anyway, "After one of my tasks, I obtained a bead.

"When the carrier's mental state starts slipping, the bead spontaneously ignites, emitting heat to shock me awake with the pain.

"But it isn't very useful. It was just a basic reward from a rookie task. I've kept it on me ever since I got it, but I haven't had many opportunities to use it."

So that was it.

Having a mental defense Supernatural Item, no matter how weak, was still better than nothing.

Gao Tian nodded, dropping the subject for now.

On the stairs, even though everyone tried to step lightly, their footsteps still echoed through the deathly silent corridor.

Zhao Zhenjia took point. Jiang Yang and Lan Zhu walked in the second row, with Xia Ta behind them to provide support—and to stop Lan Zhu from suddenly losing her mind and doing something that would get them all killed. Gao Tian had the fewest completed tasks of the five, so he brought up the rear.

When the group finally arrived at the long-abandoned fourth floor, an aura of absolute lifelessness—entirely unlike the Third Floor—surrounded them. Even though it was already early morning and sunlight had spilled onto the Third Floor below, the entire fourth floor remained a shadowy gray. It was like a forsaken land that shut out all light.

"Keep quiet. No more talking.

"Now that we're on the fourth floor, we could trigger a Killing Rule at any moment. Everyone, stay on full alert."

Walking at the very front, Zhao Zhenjia issued the low warning.

Even though he had volunteered to lead the team and shield the others behind him, it was impossible not to be nervous after actually stepping into this hellhole. After all, if any Fierce Ghost appeared on this floor, he would be the first one attacked, making him the most likely to die.

"What is that sound?"

They hadn't taken more than a few steps down the fourth-floor corridor before something happened.

Jiang Yang, whose senses were the sharpest in the group, abruptly halted. He stared into the depths of the empty gloom, seemingly sensing something.

"What are you talking about?"

To Lan Zhu, his behavior was baffling; the careless woman hadn't heard a thing.

In her mind, if she hadn't heard it, nothing had happened.

"Idiot."

Jiang Yang muttered the insult under his breath, completely ignoring Lan Zhu.

Aside from Lan Zhu, everyone else stopped in their tracks and listened closely. Jiang Yang was not one to make a fuss over nothing; if he said there was a problem, there had to be something moving nearby.

Gradually, the faint howling of the wind around them died down, replaced by the intermittent sound of sobbing.

The sound was bizarre. It sounded like crying, yet also like laughing, mingling with the wind so thoroughly that it was difficult to distinguish.

In the distance of the corridor, several small silhouettes emerged.

It was a group of children in tattered clothes with sallow faces, yet wearing eerie smiles. Each of them looked to be around twelve or thirteen, though their bodies were much scrawnier than normal kids their age.

"Mister, we accidentally kicked our soccer ball over there. Could you help us fetch it?"

The little boy leading them was constantly chewing on something and wearing a cryptic smile. He stepped into a slightly brighter spot and directed his question to Zhao Zhenjia, who was at the head of the group.

At the same time, Jiang Yang, Gao Tian, and the others watched as a round object rolled slowly toward them from the darkness on the other side of the corridor.

A pincer attack?

It was still unclear what Killing Rule this "soccer ball" concealed. Yusheng had encountered it once on the Third Floor, but back then, the residual power of the Apartment had still been present, allowing the monk to retreat unscathed.

But this was the fourth floor, where their Killing Rules were fully unleashed. No matter what the ghosts did, they would not be restricted by anything.

Seeing this bizarre scene, Gao Tian, who stood at the very back of the group, did not make a move. Everyone else here was a veteran; in a crisis, it wasn't a rookie's place to step in.

"Is this your soccer ball?"

The rest of the team consciously spread out. Watching the round object about to roll to his feet, Zhao Zhenjia remained as immovable as a mountain. A faint sneer formed on his face instead.

"Then I'll do as you asked and kick it back. Little friend, you'd better catch it well. Don't lose it next time."

Wind Attendant Buddha!

A few meters in front of Zhao Zhenjia, a humanoid statue made of wind appeared out of thin air. Its height and appearance were completely identical to his, except its body was composed entirely of swirling cyclones.

This Supernatural Item was the strongest one he currently possessed.

The Wind Attendant Buddha's effect allowed the user to summon a puppet made of air currents. Its physical strength was roughly eighty percent of the original body's.

This wind figure had no special abilities of its own, and if it took a certain amount of damage, it could be easily dispersed.

But it wasn't meant for combat. In a supernatural world where ghosts were immortal, its greatest purpose was to perform tasks that were inconvenient for its master. It was used to test whether an action would trigger a fatal Killing Rule.

The moment the Wind Attendant Buddha materialized, Zhao Zhenjia willed it into motion. Moving exactly like the real Zhao Zhenjia, the wind puppet raised its leg, gathered its strength, and delivered a powerful kick.

Its master's strength was already astonishing, so even though the Wind Attendant Buddha only possessed eighty percent of Zhao Zhenjia's power, the force of this full-powered kick was not to be underestimated.

The kick instantly produced a sonic boom.

The soccer ball launched like an arrow from a bowstring, turning into a bolt of lightning that flew straight at the boy leading the group. The little boy didn't even make a sound before the ball smashed into him, sending him flying backward like a kite with a snapped string. He was hammered away, vanishing into the darkness at the end of the corridor.

The force behind that kick was so terrifying that the other children stopped their sobbing and laughing. They scattered in a panic, completely abandoning their companion, and instantly vanished into the depths of the fourth floor.

A single kick had blasted those troublesome little ghosts and the "soccer ball" into oblivion.

However, the Wind Attendant Buddha that delivered the kick did not fare well either.

The foot of the wind-formed "Zhao Zhenjia" that had touched the round object was now tangled in countless fine, blood-red threads. These threads crawled rapidly up its right calf like living insects, quickly covering its entire body and turning it into a foul-smelling, bloody figure. It struggled forward for a few steps before collapsing with a crash, dissolving back into scattered air currents.

The real Zhao Zhenjia stood behind the fallen Wind Attendant Buddha, his arms crossed, his face completely expressionless.

If the real Zhao Zhenjia had actually kicked that round object, he would be the one dead right now. Even if he had survived, it would have cost him other Supernatural Items and stripped a layer of skin off him.

This shikigami wasn't costly to lose. After one Wind Attendant Buddha collapsed, he only had to wait five minutes to summon a new one to continue scouting the way.

Now that the brief encounter was over, Xia Ta cupped her chin and stared into the dark distance where the children had vanished, falling deep into thought.

"Strange. According to the notes Yusheng left behind, under normal circumstances, the residents aren't supposed to leave their rooms.

"Why did these children actively appear in the corridor?

"Is it because some kind of change is occurring on the upper floors of the Apartment?"

However, no one could answer her questions. Right now, the group could only deal with whatever came their way, taking things one step at a time.

Having easily dealt with those ghost children, the team didn't pause for a moment and pressed forward.

That was merely an appetizer. The true horror of the fourth floor had yet to unfold.

"That strange sound of rolling marbles came from right above Gao Tian's room.

"The first supernatural invasion from the fourth floor also targeted Gao Tian's room.

"That proves the family living directly above you is quite extraordinary."

With Zhao Zhenjia leading the way, his head held high, the group continued their advance.

403, 405, 407... The numbers on the doors flashed past their eyes one by one.

In front of the gloomy door to Room 413, Zhao Zhenjia, along with Jiang Yang behind him, came to a halt.

That strange little girl's voice, along with the sound of rolling marbles, had originated from this exact room.

It was the supernatural room that had first invaded the Third Floor.

And it was the first stop on their team's journey through the fourth floor.

Was it possible that as long as they eliminated the filthy things in this room, all the strange events happening on the Third Floor would come to an abrupt end?

With two members who had completed five tasks and two who had completed four, they truly didn't believe they couldn't handle the Fierce Ghost inside this room by joining forces.

"Ready?

"Open the door."

Xia Ta stepped up to the door and placed her slender hand on the handle.

Behind her, Zhao Zhenjia, Jiang Yang, Gao Tian, and even the usually erratic Lan Zhu all narrowed their eyes in focus.

Crack, crunch—

In front of the girl's monstrous strength, the security door might as well have been made of paper. She snapped the doorknob clean off and casually pushed the door open.