Let's give space a touch of Chinese horror!

Chapter 83 Happy Hide and Seek

"Clatter..."

The little ball bounced heavily on the ground.

"Ten~"

Xiao Qi's cheerful and excited voice rang out in the corridor.

"Clatter..."

The little ball bounced heavily on the ground again.

"Nine~"

"Clatter..."

"Eight~"

"Clatter..."

"Seven~"

"Huff..."

"Huff..."

Xu Zhang kept running up the stairs.

Because of the intense exercise in a short period of time, his lungs felt like they were on fire. The burning pain spread from deep within his trachea all the way to his chest cavity, and every breath felt like swallowing scalding sand.

But he dared not stop at all—

Even though he tried his best to move away from the place where the little boy was counting blindfolded and ran upstairs, he could still clearly hear Xiao Qi's deliberately drawn-out childish voice.

And, like a metronome or a countdown timer, the even sound of a ball hitting the ground followed him, like a death knell.

Xu Zhang felt as if he had returned to the night he entered the game, except that this time, the one chasing him was not the more imposing and terrifying woman in red, and he was no longer the only one being chased.

One-third chance of escape.

This was the only good news he had received in recent days.

"Clatter..."

"Five~"

Only five seconds left! No, he doesn't have time to run uphill anymore!

Xu Zhang made a quick decision, turned and rushed into the corridor, starting to look for rooms with unlocked doors.

He didn't know which floor he had run to; he only knew that his luck seemed to be bad—almost all the doors on this floor had metal locks on them, and they made a crisp metallic clanging sound when pushed.

Therefore, worried that there might be NPCs living in the house, and also worried that the noise he made might wake up other NPCs, Xu Zhang didn't dare to push the door hard at all. He could only control his strength and carefully push it tentatively, trying to find an unlocked empty room, which greatly reduced his speed of finding a room.

"Clatter..."

"Three~"

The counting was slow and steady, with the crispness unique to a child's voice, but it sounded extremely grating to Xu Zhang's ears.

Only three seconds left!

There's no time left!

There's really no time left!

Xu Zhang couldn't remember how many cold, hard doors his hands had brushed against. His heart was pounding wildly, whether from running so hard or simply from nervousness, he didn't know; it was like a drum beating against his eardrums, and his palms were sticky with sweat from his taut nerves.

If he can't find a room to hide in... he's really doomed!

The heavy, labored breathing was clearly audible in the narrow corridor. Xu Zhang abruptly stopped and looked around. He had given up on finding an empty room and began trying to discern a hiding place in the dark corridor.

It was at this moment that he noticed a faint, vertical light not far away. It was as if a door had been opened a crack, letting in a sliver of light. The light wasn't bright; it was probably just daylight streaming in from the window of the room, but it became Xu Zhang's only lifeline at that moment.

He rushed toward the light, not even bothering to look at the door number, and eagerly pushed the door open and rushed inside.

"Clatter..."

"Two~"

"Click—" The door closed behind him, the lock making a crisp sound. Xu Zhang, however, paid no attention; he frantically began searching the room for a place to hide.

It was only by the light from the window that Xu Zhang noticed that the room he had chosen... seemed quite different from the room they had lived in as "tenants" before.

—The atmosphere of everyday life in this house seems a little too strong:

It's only a short distance of seven or eight steps from the door to the window opposite, but both sides are piled with things, leaving only a narrow passageway.

A floral plastic sheet covered the bulky square table, a coat of indeterminate men's or women's style was draped over the back of a chair, and colorful cardboard boxes of various sizes were piled on top of the cabinet. An old-fashioned television was covered with a floral cloth and had photos on it.

The bedding on the bed was rolled up haphazardly, and the space under the bed was crammed with various cardboard boxes and miscellaneous items, bulging so much that they were almost bursting out.

Every inch of space seemed to be used to its fullest potential, cluttered and crowded... making it impossible for Xu Zhang to find a place where he could hide for a while.

"Clatter..."

"One~"

"Brothers, are you all hidden well?"

"I'm going to start looking now!"

The little boy's cheerful voice sounded so close it was as if it were coming from outside. Xu Zhang's eyes sharpened; he knew he had no time to waste.

The decision is yours!

Xu Zhang pulled open the wooden wardrobe that was leaning against the wall and went inside.

The wardrobe was just like the rest of the room—crowded. Xu Zhang squeezed himself into the wardrobe with all his might and closed the door.

The wardrobe door wasn't completely sealed, leaving a narrow gap through which a faint light shone into the room. While it didn't provide a strong sense of security, it allowed Xu Zhang to peek outside through the crack.

"Clatter..."

"Clatter..."

Before the boy's footsteps, came the sound of a small ball bouncing playfully on the ground. Then came the sound of the boy softly humming an unknown lullaby.

The melody of the folk song is quite catchy, but the lyrics are rather strange:

"Have all the good kids hidden properly?"

"Xiao Qi is coming to find you!"

"Those who get found are the bad kids~"

"Bad kids should be punished!"

The sound of the little ball bouncing gradually approached the room where Xu Zhang was hiding, and just as Xu Zhang's heart began to race, the bouncing sound gradually faded away.

Thank goodness... he was just passing by and wasn't spotted.

Xu Zhang's heart, which had been in his throat, slowly calmed down. But before he could fully relax, he heard Xiao Qi's cheerful yet clearly malicious voice coming from outside.

"Oh, we've found the bad kid!"

The next second, he heard the game streamer's voice trembling and choked with sobs: "Don't, don't come any closer—"

But before he could finish speaking, Xu Zhang heard a piercing scream.

The screams were so piercing they could almost shatter eardrums, tearing through the deathly silence.

Just by listening to the sound, Xu Zhang could feel the extreme fear and pain contained within it. He bit his hand hard, using the excruciating pain in his flesh to suppress the scream churning in his throat.

Fortunately, the scream didn't last long. Two seconds later, the sound suddenly stopped, as if someone had been choked.

Then, an eerie silence fell over the corridor.

Xu Zhang felt a chill run down his spine, his back soaked with cold sweat. He ignored the lingering taste of blood in his mouth, his eyes fixed on the crack in the wardrobe door, desperately wanting to know what had happened.

Soon, he got what he wanted—

The door to his room was opened.

A dirty little ball bounced and rolled.

Despite the room being cluttered with miscellaneous items, the little ball skillfully avoided all obstacles and rolled steadily towards the wardrobe, where it stood for a moment before stopping.

Xu Zhang's heart leaped into his throat again, almost bursting out of his throat.

He's been... discovered?!

"Tap...tap...tap..."

Extremely faint yet incredibly clear footsteps approached from afar. Xu Zhang lifted his eyes from the small ball and peered through the crack in the wardrobe door towards the front door.

The little boy appeared at the door. However, he didn't come alone—a tall figure stood beside him.

Xu Zhang subconsciously looked up, but his pupils suddenly contracted the next second.

He saw the owner of the screams from before, but now his face was expressionless, only empty and calm. He stood obediently behind the little boy, looking meek and submissive.

An indescribable chill crept up Xu Zhang's back, and the air in the wardrobe seemed to suddenly become thick and heavy, making his chest feel suffocated.

It turns out that after being captured by Xiao Qi, he would be assimilated...

Xu Zhang's breathing suddenly quickened as a terrifying possibility occurred to him—

Does that mean that people who get caught... will be stuck in the game forever?

Just as his heart was pounding, Xiao Qi stepped over.

Xu Zhang instinctively held his breath.

Strangely, even though Xiao Qi was already standing in front of the wardrobe door, and could have easily grabbed Xu Zhang with just a reach, he showed no intention of opening the wardrobe.

He simply bent down, picked up the small ball, gently patted off the dust, and looked down at it, as if talking to himself, "Let's go play somewhere else..."

After saying that, Xiao Qi picked up the little ball and left with the others.

The danger had just disappeared, and Xu Zhang should have breathed a sigh of relief, but he felt a strange unease creeping into his heart.

Why did the little boy suddenly leave?

Why didn't the little boy open the wardrobe?

Or was there something else in the wardrobe that made the little boy feel that... there was absolutely no need to check it?