Chapter 78: The Extra Room

Right before the girl in the heavy gothic lolita dress stepped into the television world and the two bizarre hosts embraced her, Gao Tian shouted toward the mirror with the last of his strength:

"525!

"Xia Ta, remember this! Room 525 is a massive toy room. Playing house in there will regress your mind to the level of a kindergartener!

"I don't know what that room's Killing Rule is, and I don't know what you were doing at the time. This is the future you're about to face!"

Xia Ta turned her head, taking a long, deep look at Gao Tian in the mirror.

He didn't know if she had taken his words to heart. But judging by the faint smile lifting the corners of her mouth right before she vanished, she likely had. She was thanking him.

Her body vanished from Room 413; the next moment, she appeared inside the television screen.

The two hosts flanked Xia Ta, holding her up like parents carrying their little girl in a family of three. Their three silhouettes slowly retreated into the depths of the television and soon disappeared.

Pop.

...

Gao Tian didn't hesitate for a second, immediately leaving the mirror to Room 413. Back in the Mirror World, he sprinted in the opposite direction down the long white corridor, striving to reach his starting point as fast as possible.

Which mirror is it? Is it this one? No, it should be a bit further ahead. It's this one. Right, found it.

He stood before a full-length mirror facing the dark corridor outside. Through it, he saw the anxious figures of Zhao Zhenjia, Jiang Yang, and the others pacing back and forth, waiting for him to emerge.

Gao Tian rushed up to the glass and knocked on the surface to catch their attention.

Seeing Gao Tian's figure emerge, Zhao Zhenjia didn't say a word, instantly conjuring a Wind Attendant Buddha. Gao Tian then activated his Mirror Ghost ability, pulling the Wind Puppet into the Mirror World just as he slipped out of the glass.

"What happened? Did you find Sister Ta?"

Faced with their anxious questions, Gao Tian steadied his mind and did his best to recount everything he had seen in Room 413: Xia Ta's past, the birth of the Children's Home, and finally, how Xia Ta had walked into the television upon hearing her parents calling her.

Even though Xia Ta's final order was that the team's mission was complete and everyone should wait downstairs, Zhao Zhenjia and the others couldn't possibly just leave.

If Xia Ta died in the Children's Home, wouldn't this supernatural incident become even more dangerous, escalating until it was completely out of control?

The only good news right now was that the ghosts on the fourth floor still couldn't freely descend to the Third Floor and the second floor. The children who had gone downstairs were nothing more than living people who believed themselves to be ghosts.

The Living Apartment remained the familiar safe house they knew.

Jiang Yang glanced at the stairs leading to the fifth floor and made up his mind:

"It seems we still can't escape the fate of going up to the fifth floor.

"Everyone, thank you for your efforts up to this point. Anyone who wants to go downstairs can leave now. I will go upstairs alone to confirm Xia Ta's fate and whether the Children's Home incident is over.

"Of course, if anyone is willing to come up with me, you are more than welcome."

Zhao Zhenjia said, "Why wouldn't we go? We've already made it to the fourth floor, and the Children's Home is just one step away from being resolved. How could we head downstairs now?"

Lan Zhu, that crazy woman, cared even less. The fear-perception system in her brain had long been broken; she had only run up to the fourth floor looking for fun.

There was even greater fun to be had on the fifth floor, so why wouldn't she go?

Since three of the four had made their stance clear, the team's final objective was set. The only thing left to determine was which room on the fifth floor Xia Ta had been sent to.

After all, every room on the fifth floor was far more dangerous than those on the fourth. They couldn't possibly search them one by one. A single misstep would mean death.

Jiang Yang speculated, "Lin Nan'an's room was 414. He said he heard children talking to him from upstairs, and they claimed to be in the Children's Home.

"Therefore, the room above Lin Nan'an is 515. Xia Ta was teleported to Room 515."

Gao Tian spoke up, interrupting Jiang Yang:

"Xia Ta is in Room 525."

That was the prediction of the Future Urn. Everything had been predetermined the moment they stepped upstairs.

Jiang Yang looked at him:

"Did you scout the fifth floor through the Mirror World?

"But the timing doesn't add up. After going to the fourth floor and then the fifth, how could you come back so quickly?"

Gao Tian said, "I didn't.

"Unfortunately, there isn't a single mirror in Room 525. My ability can't invade it."

He knew Xia Ta was in Room 525 because the moment predicted by the Future Urn was destined to happen.

Jiang Yang opened his mouth, wanting to ask something else.

But seeing Gao Tian's serious gaze, he swallowed the rest of his question.

Now was not the time to ask such things. Gao Tian was a newcomer, not someone like Lan Zhu. He wouldn't just talk nonsense. If he said it was 525, he must have obtained accurate intel from somewhere.

Zhao Zhenjia said, "Room 525 is what Yusheng mentioned—the extra room that exists on every floor. That is not a good place.

"Gao Tian, since you know Xia Ta is in 525, can you give us any more information about it?"

Gao Tian began to recall the scenes he had seen in the Future Urn, along with every suspicious detail.

Unfortunately, it had only been an image of Xia Ta sitting among scattered toys, playing house all by herself.

No ghosts were attacking her, and she actually seemed to be enjoying herself, exuding a relaxed demeanor with no sense of being threatened.

The gloomy and spacious room didn't even have a single mirror.

This also cut off Gao Tian's plans of tracking the situation inside through the Mirror World.

A room without mirrors essentially disabled Gao Tian's biggest cheat code.

He shook his head.

"I don't know. Information about that room is an absolute zero.

"It's a complete black box."

Hearing this, everyone gave up hope.

Zhao Zhenjia smiled bitterly.

"It seems there's only one stupid method left.

"And that is to go up to the fifth floor ourselves, open Room 525, and personally experience the terror inside.

"Let's just hope Xia Ta is still alive in there."

Jiang Yang loaded all the bullets into his revolver and was the first to step onto the stairs leading to the fifth floor.

Zhao Zhenjia slowly hoisted the full-length mirror, strapped it to his back, and followed closely behind.

This mirror was incredibly important. If they encountered any danger upstairs, Gao Tian's Mirror Ghost ability could pull everyone inside it to take shelter.

It was safe to say that Gao Tian's Mirror Ghost ability, paired with Zhao Zhenjia's Wind Attendant Buddha, was utterly overpowered.

In a true dead end, it became their only source of confidence and their final trump card. This was also why Jiang Yang and the others dared to refuse Xia Ta's final order and go upstairs.

Fate was just that unpredictable. When they first came upstairs, Gao Tian had been the weakest member of the team. But now, wielding the Mirror Ghost, he had become their greatest backing and ultimate hope.

The layout of the fifth floor wasn't much different from the fourth. A dark corridor, tightly shut doors, and room numbers starting from 501.

Whether it was an illusion or not, the environment here felt even colder. A faint, damp, and putrid smell drifted through the air.

This time, the team took a different formation. Jiang Yang and Lan Zhu walked side by side in the front. Zhao Zhenjia walked in the middle carrying the mirror, ensuring they could pull people from either the front or the back into the glass if any unexpected situation arose. Gao Tian brought up the rear, gripping the Terror Blade.

"Haha... hahaha... hahahaha!

"Uncles, come play with us..."

At the corner ahead, two children wearing eerie smiles appeared. They were dressed in rags, their clothes looking as if they hadn't been changed in a very long time. Not only were there holes in the fabric, but bugs could even be seen crawling inside and out.

With a mere thought, Zhao Zhenjia summoned the Wind Attendant Buddha. It strode right up to the two children and immediately delivered six resounding slaps across the little boy's face. Striking left and right, it slapped the boy entirely senseless.

Without giving the little girl watching from the sidelines a chance to react, the "Zhao Zhenjia" formed of wind currents lifted her into the air. Six heavy smacks struck her rear, spanking her so hard she burst into wailing tears.

These little brats were originally human. The Children's Home kept them around to bypass the suppression of the Third Floor of the Apartment and send them down to create "supernatural incidents."

Knowing they were human yet still daring to play the part of ghosts, Zhao Zhenjia naturally didn't hold back. Upon seeing them, his first response was to teach them a lesson. Six slaps cured all ailments, instantly breaking the feral children's act. They couldn't even pretend to be eerie anymore.

"Stop hanging around the fifth floor. Be good and scram down to the Third Floor. We'll come down and teach you another lesson later,"

Zhao Zhenjia commanded coldly. The Wind Attendant Buddha kicked them one by one, sending them flying into the distance.

Of course, even though these children were human, that didn't mean they weren't dangerous.

Having stayed on the fourth and fifth floors for so long, they had long since identified themselves as ghosts. Furthermore, they could wield all sorts of ghostly items—such as that soccer ball that killed upon touch.

It could only be said that unless the Children's Home was resolved, this kind of tragedy would happen over and over again in the Living Apartment, never ceasing.

As the group reached the end of the corridor, the doorplate on the final room read: 524.

This was already the very end. Every floor of the Apartment had only 24 rooms. The legendary 25th room simply did not exist.

"Is there any way to force 525 to reveal itself?"