It's late at night.

"Some elderly people only know how to farm. If they lose their land, their very survival will be in trouble."

Xia Yao sighed, revealing deep sympathy.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, Xia Yao asked, "By the way, where did you find this agreement?"

"It's in that table drawer."

Lan Yuanshan, unaware of his implied meaning, pointed to the table by the wall in response.

It was an old-fashioned desk painted green, with some medicine boxes on the tabletop.

The table has three drawers and a cabinet; the middle drawer is currently open.

Xia Yao glanced at it and felt a chill run down her spine, her hair standing on end.

The house has quite a few boxes and cabinets to store miscellaneous items, so how did Lan Yuanshan find the agreement so accurately on the first try?

He could understand if the agreement were placed in a prominent position like on the desktop, but it was inside...

So, is this Lan Yuanshan really a human being?

Xia Yao suppressed the tremor in her heart and secretly sized up her teammate.

Under the dim light of the incandescent bulb, Lan Yuanshan was only a little dirty and disheveled, but otherwise flawless.

I have to say, these ghost-like figures are really convincing; I almost fooled them.

Xia Yao speculated that the ghost was trying to lure him to stay in the small house by revealing clues.

If he stays there long enough, he won't be able to get out.

Although the clues are important, he has to run.

"Let's search more carefully; maybe we'll find something else."

Xia Yao was afraid that her micro-expressions would give her away, so she turned around and started flipping through the cabinet by the wall.

"Okay." Lan Yuanshan didn't think much of it and continued searching through the desk.

Xia Yao took a deep breath to compose herself, and while pretending to rummage through the area, she subtly moved away.

"Hey, Brother Su, I've found another contract! And the homeowner's household registration book and ID card too."

Lan Yuanshan threw out the bait again.

However, Xia Yao rushed towards the open door without hesitation.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Lan Yuanshan realized something was wrong, but by the time he turned to give chase, Xia Yao had already escaped the area around the cabin and was running wildly toward the orange grove.

Xia Yao had only run a few steps when a loud "boom" came from behind her.

He was filled with suspicion, but he didn't turn back; he just ran even faster.

Lan Yuanshan chased after him out the door, but his body was trapped in the open space outside and he could not move.

He stared at Xia Yao's retreating figure, his eyes brimming with resentment that seemed about to overflow.

The bungalow behind them was suddenly deformed by the pressure, as if an invisible excavator had slammed heavily onto the corrugated steel roof.

"boom--"

Before long, the roof collapsed, the brick walls shattered, and dust billowed up.

Xia Yao ran wildly all the way and soon saw the orange grove with overlapping shadows and pitch-black light.

He speculated that the compass did indeed have the function of guiding people to the right way.

So the orange grove he saw after he came out was the way out, but he avoided it out of fear.

As for why the pointers stopped working after leaving the maze, it's probably because they encountered a ghost.

Since we've already encountered a ghost, the worst that can happen is death. We might as well give it a try; there might still be a glimmer of hope.

Thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and plunged headlong into the darkness of the orange grove.

After walking through the darkness for a while, Xia Yao almost bumped into a tree.

But soon, the view opened up and the light became bright.

As if a hallucination had suddenly been dispelled, the dark orange grove vanished, the damp, soft soil beneath my feet transformed into a hardened ground, and the streetlights illuminated the surroundings.

Xia Yao was overjoyed; as expected, he had made the right bet!

Looking back, behind me lies a mysterious rose maze, its towering flower walls creating an oppressive atmosphere.

The lights in the maze went out in an instant, like the gaping maw of a giant beast finally closing.

Xia Yao was still shaken; she had almost been left inside.

Without thinking further, he ran wildly toward the hotel, afraid that if he slowed down even a little, something inside would come out and chase him.

Earlier, inside the maze.

When Lan Yuanshan saw the water stains, he had a bad feeling; he felt that the ghost was coming for him.

It rained while they were searching for clues during the day, and Lan Yuanshan and his teammates were forced to take shelter in a used bookstore.

As luck would have it, he found the news about the Yaoshan accident in the old newspapers that his boss was preparing to pack up and sell as scrap, which led to the clues that followed.

But when he saw the newspaper, he felt uneasy.

The newspaper's appearance was such a coincidence, it was as if it had been specially delivered to him.

The mentor who guided him last time said that some clues also come with risks.

So before the group split up, he hesitated a bit, wondering whether the ghost's target was him or the person who had the orange in the room.

If it's just you, then having others around can share the risk, and if the timing is right, you can even shift the target of the ghost to your teammates.

If the target of the ghost is a teammate, following it will only make you a target.

The other team encountered a ghost during the day. No matter how you look at it, the chances of them being chased by a ghost are greater than theirs, right?

So he ran away alone, but he didn't expect that the water trail behind him was like a tail that he couldn't shake off no matter what he did.

Although you can't see the ghosts, the suffocating oppression is very real.

Having already experienced a bizarre game once, he knew all too well what a terrible fate awaited him if he fell into the hands of a ghost.

Looking at the water stains behind him and listening to the rustling of the branches, Lan Yuanshan felt a chill run down his spine.

However, after running around aimlessly, he miraculously found the exit.

Outside the brightly lit exit was a pitch-black orange grove.

Oranges are a symbol associated with ghosts, so isn't that a dead end?

Fortunately, he was quick-witted and didn't rush out rashly.

His intuition told him that this exit was fake, and the real exit must be nearby!

He ran back without hesitation and then turned into a side road he hadn't taken before.

He was full of confidence that he wouldn't die tonight. He had always been lucky, and with a little more effort, he was sure he could leave this deadly ghost game alive.

However, to his dismay, he stumbled into a dead end.

Along the way, there were three-way intersections and crossroads, but this was the first time I had seen a dead-end road.

Lan Yuanshan panicked instantly. He turned to run, but saw a small puddle at the intersection behind him.

That's right, it's no longer a water stain the size of a footprint, but a small puddle.

Muddy water, carrying filth, kept overflowing from the small puddle and flowing in his direction.

A ghost! It's that reporter who fell into the water!

Only now did Lan Yuanshan understand what despair felt like. Ahead lay a dead end, a flower-covered wall, and behind him, a ghost slowly approached. He had no way out.

But he didn't want to die. He had come from a small village and worked hard to build a house and a car, and he had a beautiful wife and a smart son. He hadn't even had enough of the good life yet, how could he die like this? He was unwilling to accept it!

Fear drove him to retreat toward the flower wall until he had nowhere left to go and crashed into the blooming roses and thorny branches from behind.

"Bang—"

The crisp sound was the sound of the iron frame being hit.