All Realms and Worlds: The Lost Home

squeak-

The rotten wooden door was pushed open completely, and fine wood chips fell down, hitting the cold cement floor with a soft rustling sound.

In the depths of the dark stairwell, a slender figure in a floral dress stood quietly in the shadows.

The little girl, completely enveloped by the eerie aura of the smiley face balloons, lowered her head slightly, her long, black hair obscuring most of her face, making it impossible to see her expression.

The entire time was deathly silent; not a single word was uttered.

There were no children crying or screaming, no eerie laughter, but this extreme silence was more chilling than any roar or scream.

The pink balloons floating beside her were no longer the tender and adorable flowers they once were.

The surface is covered with twisted and writhing black patterns. The originally light-colored printed smiley face has been torn into a hideous mouth that runs across the sphere, with densely packed small sharp teeth gleaming with a chilling light in the darkness.

Wisps of cold, dark energy seeped out from the gaps in the balloons, drifting lightly throughout the rest room, instantly making the air thick and suffocating.

Whoosh—

The night wind howled wildly outside the window, shattering the old glass window, and the biting cold wind rushed into the room, stirring up the stench of blood all over the floor.

The lingering stench of blood in the stairwell grew stronger, a mixture of sweet, foul, and rotten smells that clung to everyone's noses, refusing to dissipate.

The four survivors who had just managed to hide in the cubicle were now gripped by fear.

Ning Ye, Su Qing (a girl in yoga clothes), Nancy, and Wang Qiang (the last surviving middle-aged man) were huddled against the corner of the wall, with nowhere left to retreat.

The cramped and enclosed lounge is only a few square meters in size, with no windows or back door; it is a complete dead cage.

"She...she really came in..."

Wang Qiang was trembling violently, his teeth chattering, and he spoke haltingly and haltingly, his fragmented words filled with extreme panic.

The steel bar he gripped tightly swayed incessantly, the metal shaft striking the wall with a soft, rattling sound, revealing his near-collapse.

"I...I clearly blocked the crack in the door...that...that narrow gap...how...how could she have squeezed in..."

No one answered his question.

At this moment, everyone's brains were in a state of shutdown; extreme fear crushed all thinking ability.

From nightfall until now, in just a few hours, five of the original eight survivors have died tragically.

All the corpses lay cold on the ground, and blood soaked the entire stairwell of the residential building, staining every inch of the ground crimson.

Who would have thought that after escaping the eggplant-faced high-level monster who slaughtered countless people during the day and surviving the inevitable death chase on the open streets, he would ultimately die at the hands of his own companion?

She died at the hands of a naive and harmless little girl, a girl on whom everyone let their guard down!

Su Qing held her breath, lowered her voice, and whispered in Ning Ye's ear in an extremely soft voice:

"Keep your voice down... Don't, don't provoke her... I have a chill down my spine... Her gaze keeps sweeping over us..."

Her shoulders were taut to the extreme, her fists were clenched until they turned white, and the remaining faint lightning energy trembled faintly in her palms, but she dared not unleash it easily.

After a whole night of exhaustion, her fighting strength was already almost depleted. If she made a rash move, she would only completely destroy her last chance of survival.

Ning Ye's eyes were cold and calm. Even in dire straits, he remained completely composed, the only source of reassurance in the entire room.

He held Nancy, who was trembling in his arms, tightly with one hand, and gently pressed his fingertips against the little girl's head to prevent her from looking up at the strange figure.

His gaze swept quickly across the dilapidated walls, loose cement bricks, and broken glass scattered on the ground as he frantically considered a way out of the predicament.

"Don't panic."

Ning Ye uttered two extremely simple words, his voice deep and steady, without a trace of tremor, firmly suppressing the collapsing atmosphere of the entire venue.

"Stand together and defend to the death; do not act alone; do not provoke others."

That short sentence helped Su Qing and Wang Qiang, who were on the verge of collapse, to barely regain their composure.

But the next second, *snap*—

The extremely light and soft sound of bare feet landing suddenly rang out.

The possessed little girl finally moved.

She didn't run, she didn't launch a surprise attack; she maintained her mechanical, stiff gait, slowly moving forward step by step.

The movements were stiff and eerie, like a puppet on strings being manipulated by the strange energy of balloons; each step landed so lightly that there was no trace of human life.

Tap...tap...tap...

The footsteps were rhythmic, slow, and drawn-out, striking precisely at everyone's hearts.

With each screech, everyone's breath caught in their throats for a moment, the oppressive atmosphere building up until it was suffocating.

"She...she's here! She really is here!" Wang Qiang's eyes were red and swollen, and he completely broke down, his broken sobs becoming uncontrollable. "I...I should have run away last night! I shouldn't have listened to you! I shouldn't have stayed in this dilapidated building!"

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault for sticking together! For believing you could make it to dawn! Now look what's happened! We're all going to die here!"

A devastating roar, mixed with sobs, exploded in the small, enclosed room.

Su Qing frowned instantly, suppressing her anger and snapping in a low voice, "Shut up! Are you crazy?! Speaking loudly will only enrage her!"

"Provoke? Do we even need to provoke them now?!" Wang Qiang completely broke down, his emotions spiraling out of control. He roared furiously, "We've been targeted since the first person died!"

"I've suspected there's a mole in the team for a long time! I've felt something was off for a while! None of you believed me! You insisted it was something strange happening in the building!"

"Now that's settled! All five of them are dead! Next up is me! Next up is us! Are you satisfied now?!"

The sounds of heated argument echoed in the confined space. People's hearts were completely broken, and suspicion and fear completely devoured everyone's reason.

Ning Ye's eyes sharpened, and he coldly ordered in a deep voice, "Quiet!"

The single word landed with immense force, instantly silencing all of Wang Qiang's roars.

Wang Qiang's chest heaved violently as he gasped for breath, tears mixed with cold sweat rolling down his cheeks, but he dared not utter another sound.

But the deathly silence lasted only two seconds.

slam-la-

A faint sound of blood flowing could be heard from the ceiling above. Thick blood dripped slowly down the cracks and onto the ground with a soft, pattering sound.

Those were the bloodstains left by the survivors who had died tragically before, slowly flowing in the low temperature of the night, becoming the most terrifying background sound.

Su Qing's pupils contracted sharply, and she whispered rapidly in Ning Ye's ear, "Listen! The dripping blood hasn't stopped!"

"We were all wrong before! There was no strange thing in the building at all! From beginning to end... she was the one who killed everyone!"

Ning Ye nodded slightly, a chill surging in his eyes.

They initially thought the nighttime hunts were caused by the building's own eerie atmosphere, but after a series of deaths with no trace of the eerie atmosphere, their initial understanding was completely overturned.

All those who died tragically were instantly killed when they were alone; there were no ghostly howls, no eerie winds, and no fluctuations of yin energy throughout the entire process.

This is not a characteristic of bizarre hunting at all!

The only explanation is that the culprit was a little girl who was hiding in the crowd and possessed by a smiley face balloon from beginning to end!

"I... I'm only just realizing it now..." Wang Qiang's teeth chattered as he stammered, "Every time someone dies... she... she just happens to be out of sight..."

"When Old Zhang died the first night, she was crouching in the corner of the stairs... When Little Li died, she was hiding in the shadows..."

"We all overlooked her! We all thought children were harmless! Who could have imagined... that the most harmless appearance could be the most poisonous knife..."

This is the most terrifying information gap!

Everyone was wary of the strange things happening outside, and they were suspicious of each other's adult companions, but they spared the seemingly innocent and vulnerable children.

This is her biggest trump card that allows her to slaughter one after another and escape unscathed!

Just as the three were whispering warily, their hearts churning, the little girl, who had been motionless the whole time, finally made a slight movement.

She slowly raised her slender right hand, her fingertips white, yet stained with layers of dried, dark red blood, a shocking sight in the dim night.

With a gentle flick of the fingertip.

Hehe... Hehehe...

A strange, double laugh emanated from the floating pink balloon, a mixture of a child's soft, sweet voice and a demon's hoarse voice, both jarring and sinister.

The sound was extremely soft, yet it pierced through all the sounds of wind and breathing, drilling firmly into everyone's eardrums.

The black patterns on the balloon's surface writhed wildly, and its gaping maw opened wider and wider, revealing its menacing fangs that gleamed coldly, its killing intent fully exposed.

"She...she's going to attack!" Wang Qiang's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground, completely powerless to resist. "It's over...it's really over..."

"This building has no exits, it's completely sealed off, we have no way to escape... It's pitch black, we can't see anything, there's nowhere to hide..."

The desperate prediction suffocated the entire audience.