Nana thought for a moment and asked.

It's been some time since Zhou Yingting went downstairs, I wonder if he has reached the destination?

Qiao Peimu heard this, picked up the walkie-talkie, intending to ask about Zhou Yingting's situation, but hesitated and put it down again.

"No, if something happens to him and I make a noise over here, what if I end up harming him?"

Qiao Peimu thought it over and felt that it was better not to disturb Zhou Yingting at this moment to avoid any accidents.

Shangguan Nana listened to this and thought Qiao Peimu made sense, so she immediately stopped persuading him.

Seeing this, she also prepared to return to her own room first.

Just at that moment, the walkie-talkie that Qiao Peimu had just put down started crackling, appearing as if someone was trying to contact him through it.

Seeing this, Qiao Peimu estimated that it was Zhou Yingting trying to reach him and quickly picked up the walkie-talkie.

But as soon as he picked it up, a strange sound came through the walkie-talkie.

This sound contained a peculiar chewing noise, along with a deep sound, almost like a whispered curse, making his skin crawl.

Qiao Peimu's face turned somewhat pale at this moment, and instinctively, he tossed the walkie-talkie aside.

After the sound emerged, his Spiritual Power dropped by several points.

Even after discarding the walkie-talkie, the sound persisted, growing louder instead.

Seeing this scene, Shangguan Nana quickly waved her hand and destroyed the walkie-talkie by burning it.

If this continued, they would all lose their Spiritual Power.

After completing this, the expressions of several people eased somewhat.

"Did this thing behave like this before?"

Nana took a deep breath, then asked Qiao Peimu.

It's truly terrifying that such a sound came from that ghostly device.

Imagine if they were asleep at night and this sound emerged from the walkie-talkie—it could be fatal.

"It didn't behave this way during the previous tests, I don't know what's going on now."

Qiao Peimu shook his head, feeling somewhat fearful.

Shangguan Nana couldn't help but speculate, "Could it be that something happened to Zhou Yingting, which is causing this eerie interference via the walkie-talkie?"

"Possibly, but we don't know what actually happened to Zhou Yingting, and we shouldn't contact him recklessly."

Qiao Peimu thought for a moment, then quickly turned around, "Let's go back to the room; the room telephone should reach Zhou Yingting. This way, we can find out if he has returned to his room."

Since the walkie-talkie can't be used, the room phone is the only option.

The room landline is not allowed for inquiries about hotel rules, but is permitted for making calls.

I think calling shouldn't cause any issues.

"That's the only way."

Seeing Qiao Peimu say this, Shangguan Nana nodded, then everyone returned to their rooms.

...

In the safety passage, a constant drip-drip sound echoed.

Zhou Yingting was descending one step at a time.

Originally, Zhou Yingting intended to leap down directly, reaching quickly.

But as he jumped, the stairs under his feet seemed to multiply visibly.

Such a scene made Zhou Yingting start climbing normally, one step at a time.

And as he descended step by step, the bizarre situation from earlier didn't reoccur.

But halfway down, a pattering sound came from behind him.

The sound suggested someone was following him.

The person was still a bit far from him, but as Zhou Yingting descended, the noise seemed to draw nearer.

Seeing this, Zhou Yingting's expression became slightly serious.

If his guess was correct, there was something dirty following him.

The question now was whether this dirty thing would stop him from reaching the fourth floor?

Zhou Yingting glanced down, seeing that he had turned a corner and could clearly see the fourth-floor safety exit.

Considering the height and distance, Zhou Yingting could jump to the door.

But remembering earlier experience, Zhou Yingting dared not act rashly, continuing step by step.

Meanwhile, the footsteps behind him remained unhurried but seemed closer.

Finally, Zhou Yingting's last step touched the ground, and as he pushed the door open, the fourth floor appeared before him.

Seeing this, Zhou Yingting finally sighed in relief, and the footsteps behind him also stopped, ceasing noise.

"Hello."

Zhou Yingting picked up the walkie-talkie, intending to inform Qiao Peimu about his safety.

Yet upon pressing the walkie-talkie, a buzzing sound came through, as if something disrupted the signal.

Seeing this, Zhou Yingting tapped the walkie-talkie, pressed it again.

Then, the walkie-talkie emitted a bizarre sound.

Hearing the odd sound instantly, Zhou Yingting exerted force with both hands and crushed the walkie-talkie.

"What the hell is this?"

Zhou Yingting looked at the fragments in his hand, furrowing his brow.

He didn't know what the sound was, but it clearly wasn't good.

Thus, Zhou Yingting instinctively crushed it.

After he crushed it, the strange sound disappeared.

"Forget it, better get back to the room."

Faintly, Zhou Yingting heard the sound of the elevator door opening far away, quickly approached his room, opened the door, closed it promptly, and entered.

With the room door shut, everything outside seemed excluded, giving Zhou Yingting an inexplicable sense of safety.

This feeling seemed to assure Zhou Yingting that as long as he was inside the room, he'd be safe.

"Ring ring ring...."

Zhou Yingting had just closed the room door when he heard the persistent ringing of the phone by the bedside.

"Whose phone is this?"

Zhou Yingting came to the bedside and glanced at it, seeing the numbers indicating the caller was likely Qiao Peimu.

Seeing this, Zhou Yingting hesitated but picked up the phone.

"Hello, is it Zhou Yingting?"

Qiao Peimu's voice came through the phone, with a sense of urgency.

"It's me, I just returned to the room."

Recognizing Qiao Peimu's voice, Zhou Yingting felt his guard down a bit but still stayed cautious.

Qiao Peimu sighed in relief, "You finally made it to the room; it's been twenty minutes!"

"What did you say, it's been twenty minutes? It's been no more than five minutes since I started going downstairs!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yingting was momentarily stunned.

Although he descended step by step, it shouldn't have taken twenty minutes.

"To be precise, it should be more than twenty minutes; I've been calling you for twenty minutes since I got to the room, thinking something happened."

Qiao Peimu replied confidently.

He was certain the time that passed was at least twenty minutes.

Hearing this, Zhou Yingting's expression slightly tensed; this safety passage was indeed strange.

At this moment, Qiao Peimu also recounted the incident with the walkie-talkie, "That walkie-talkie seems easily influenced; you should discard it, especially if it starts buzzing at night—it can be dangerous."

"That thing just gave out earlier, so I crushed it directly."

Listening to Qiao Peimu, Zhou Yingting briefly explained the walkie-talkie issue.

Qiao Peimu didn't mind; they could get as many walkie-talkies as they wanted, no need to feel sentimental.

"If there's nothing else, let's talk tomorrow."

"If you want to contact others, dial 800 followed by the room number."

After these final words, Qiao Peimu hung up the phone.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.