"Do you think the corpse we're supposed to find is actually outside the Tuanshan Temple?" Victor asked.
Sophia and Lily exchanged a glance. Both of them looked thoughtful. It wasn't impossible. The boundary of the temple grounds had already been verified. If that was the case, then anywhere within that range could potentially hide the corpse.
Ethan said, "It's only a guess. But since that place is still considered part of the temple's boundary, the corpse could be either inside the temple or outside."
To be honest, he had no real clue himself. His words were little more than vague speculation. Without concrete evidence, they were essentially meaningless.
Still, talking cost nothing.
After noticing Ryan subtly helping Daniel earlier, Ethan became even more determined not to reveal that this was also his first time entering this world.
"Is there another angle we can look at this from?" Lily suddenly asked.
"Another angle would be the corpse itself," Ethan replied directly without hesitation.
"We actually don't know what state the corpse mentioned in the prompt is in…"
He paused and swept his gaze across the other three.
"What if… it isn't a single intact body?"
Lily immediately inhaled sharply.
"You mean… it might not be whole?"
Her expression shifted as she instinctively lowered her voice.
"If that's the case… do we have to piece it back together?"
The other two's expressions also changed.
If that were true, the difficulty of the mission would be far greater than they had originally imagined.
Finding a corpse was one thing.
But if the corpse had been dismembered, the amount of work they would need to do would increase dramatically. And worse—
No one knew whether the corpse itself might carry some kind of danger.
"If that's really the case, then this mission is ridiculously difficult," Sophia said slowly, shaking her head.
She looked up.
"After all, among the six of us, there's still a newcomer. So the ghost's killing rule should only be one rule this time."
Ethan's heart stirred slightly.
What she meant was clear: the presence of newcomers directly affected the difficulty of the mission.
However, only Ethan himself knew the truth.
The newcomer wasn't just Daniel.
He himself was also a newcomer.
So did that mean this really was a beginner-level nightmare?
Or… was there something else going on?
Sophia continued,
"There is another possibility. The corpse might not be just one body—it could be multiple corpses. But realistically, although that's possible, the probability isn't very high."
"The real problem still lies in that single killing rule of the ghost."
She paused.
"In theory, as long as we figure out what the rule is, our chances of survival will increase significantly. Finding the corpse will only be a matter of time."
Compared to Ethan, who was a true beginner, her reasoning was clearly more organized and focused.
Lily, who had turned pale after hearing Ethan's earlier speculation, visibly relaxed.
But just then—
Creeeeak—
A strange sound suddenly came from outside the room.
In an instant, the four people who had been speaking all turned their heads toward the same direction.
The entire room became deathly silent.
Ethan's brows tightened.
That sound…
It sounded like a door being opened.
But they were so cautious now that they didn't even dare go outside to look for water.
So how could that door possibly be open?
Then, in the next moment—
BANG!
From the same direction came a dull, heavy sound.
It was as if something had been violently thrown onto the ground.
Ethan stood closest to the curtain separating the rooms.
He rose silently, his entire body tensing.
At the same time, the howling wind and snow, someone's suppressed breathing, and the creaking movement of the door all drifted in from behind the curtain.
The sounds were chaotic.
They struck everyone's chest like a heavy hammer.
Ethan's eyelid twitched slightly.
He saw the other three stand up as well, quietly moving toward the doorway.
Ethan knew what they were thinking.
Something had definitely happened outside.
But if they continued doing nothing, they would simply be trapped and slowly die inside this room.
Ethan stepped toward the curtain.
Victor walked beside him and gave him a quick look.
Then the two of them pulled the curtain open together.
Both of their movements were extremely cautious, as if they were ready to deal with anything that might appear outside.
As the curtain parted, they saw—
A figure crouched behind the stove.
The person was leaning against it, half squatting, his face covered in cold sweat, as if he were hiding from something.
At that moment, he also noticed Ethan and the others.
He slowly turned his head, revealing a pair of eyes filled with anxiety.
"It's Ryan…" Ethan's pupils trembled slightly.
A thought immediately flashed through his mind.
Where was Daniel?
Ethan's gaze shifted toward the doorway.
The answer appeared in the next second.
The wooden door leading from the kitchen to the courtyard had been blown open.
It swayed back and forth in the wind.
And Daniel—
Or rather,
his corpse—
was lying there.
His entire body had collapsed inside the room, completely motionless.
Only his head hung limply outside the broken threshold.
From Ethan's angle, he couldn't see Daniel's face.
But he could see that his throat looked as if something had gnawed into it, tearing away a large chunk of flesh.
What was strange, however, was that not a single drop of blood flowed out.
The wound displayed a grotesque coloration—red and white mixed together—like it had instantly frozen solid.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
The door swung violently in the wind, repeatedly striking Daniel's hanging head.
Ethan suddenly realized something.
The sound they had heard earlier wasn't the door hitting the wall.
It was the door slamming against the boy's skull.
But the most terrifying thing was—
Both Ethan and Victor felt it clearly.
It was as if something was standing outside the door right now.
Within the chaotic roar of the wind and snow, another sound seemed to be mixed in.
Something different.
It sounded like footsteps.
Or perhaps…
chewing.
"…Damn it…" Victor clenched his fists, the curse escaping his lips barely audible.
But the fear in his eyes had already deepened into pure terror.
Behind them, Sophia and Lily also saw the scene.
Their faces lost all color instantly.
No one had expected that the newcomer they had saved only a short while ago
had now become a corpse.
Ryan, on the other hand, slowly stood up with trembling legs.
He turned and glanced toward the doorway.
The muscles in his face twitched violently.
Then he forced himself to look back toward Ethan and the others.
A barely audible voice escaped his mouth.
"Quick…"
"We have to close that door."