Knock. Knock. Knock.
Beneath the faded characters reading Tuanshan Temple, the group knocked on the tightly shut wooden door in front of them.
The snow was growing heavier and heavier, and the sky was gradually darkening. The wind in the mountains cut through them like knives, making the short wait especially unbearable.
All six people present were pale from the cold.
Fortunately, it wasn't long before the wooden door produced the sound of a latch turning. Then, with a creaking "creak—", it opened slightly.
Bang!
A gust of cold wind suddenly blew from behind them.
The old wooden door was immediately flung open and slammed hard against the inner wall.
Behind the door was a snow-covered front courtyard.
"…What…"
The girl with the tied-back hair slowly widened her eyes. She instinctively looked toward the thin man who had knocked on the door, the question in her expression obvious.
Because behind that door—
there was no one.
"That door was locked just now…"
The thin man swallowed hard, a flicker of fear flashing across his eyes.
The boy being supported beside him began trembling so violently that even his lips were shaking.
At that moment, an eerie chill rose in everyone's hearts.
They clearly heard someone unlock the door.
Yet the moment it opened—
there was no one there.
The courtyard inside the temple was silent.
Snowflakes drifted slowly down from the gray sky, falling into the empty yard.
For a moment, no one dared move.
The thin man cautiously stepped forward and glanced around the courtyard.
"There's no one…"
Ryan's expression darkened.
"We clearly heard the door being opened."
The group slowly walked into the courtyard.
The moment they stepped through the door, Ethan felt the cold around him become even heavier.
The temple courtyard was large and extremely quiet.
There were several buildings arranged in the traditional layout of a monastery. Their tiled roofs were covered in a thin layer of snow.
But strangely—
there was not a single person in sight.
No monks.
No visitors.
Nothing.
It was as if the entire temple had been abandoned long ago.
Ethan followed behind the group, his mind constantly replaying what had just happened.
From the moment he saw that boy grabbed by the ghostly hand earlier, he had a strong feeling that the event was strangely similar to what he himself had experienced before.
Just like when he left his apartment—
that boy might have triggered some kind of rule, causing that arm to appear.
Which meant…
Perhaps this world also had certain spatial restrictions.
Ethan suddenly remembered the message that had appeared on his phone earlier:
"Find the corpse of the vengeful ghost within the boundaries of Tuanshan Temple."
Maybe just now…
that boy had unknowingly stepped outside the boundary of Tuanshan Temple.
The thought made Ethan's expression darken.
If that was true—
then the rules of this nightmare world were far more dangerous than he had imagined.
At that moment—
a faint movement suddenly came from the wooden door behind them.
Ethan instinctively turned his head.
And in that instant—
he clearly saw something.
Outside the wooden gate, in the falling snow—
a black silhouette flickered.
Then it quickly withdrew behind the door.
"Someone…?!"
Ryan's face changed instantly, his voice rising sharply.
The others hurried over.
But when they reached the doorway—
there was nothing left outside except the swirling snow.
"Just now… someone was standing there!"
Ryan's expression looked grim.
They had clearly come from that direction earlier, but they had only just entered the temple. Yet suddenly there had been someone standing outside the door.
"I saw it too."
Ethan took a deep breath.
"Just now… someone was standing behind that door, watching us."