Why is my anime art style so weird?

There are no doors or windows installed on the fourth floor.

The entire floor is simply divided into smaller areas by concrete walls.

Xu Ming led Erina into the building and headed towards the annex on the left.

The wind whistled through the building, and from time to time, strange noises could be heard, as if something was being blown by the wind and rolled on the ground, or as if someone was dragging it on the ground.

The only light source was Xu Ming's mobile phone.

The dim light cast strange shadows on the wall, which twisted and deformed as Xu Ming moved.

Whispers could be faintly heard from the dark corner, but upon closer listening, nothing could be heard.

Xu Ming walked very slowly. Every now and then, he would see broken bricks, stones, and scrap metal building materials on the ground. Sometimes he would even see wood with nails embedded in it. Those rusty nails forced Xu Ming to focus most of his attention on the ground in front of him.

The slow footsteps seemed to stretch out even longer in the empty building.

After walking for a while, Xu Ming and Erina finally crossed the corner and entered the annex area.

This area seems to be somewhat different from the main building.

Each partition in the main building is larger, corresponding to larger families.

Chapter 229 The 'Residents' on the Fourth Floor

The cement walls of the annex building divide it into smaller rooms, which, judging from their size, are planned as studio apartments of about 40 to 50 square meters.

All the doors were on the same corridor, and on the other side of the corridor was a row of simple metal railings, from which the annex building opposite could be clearly seen.

This structure is somewhat similar to a school classroom, only the room is smaller.

Just then, Xu Ming suddenly noticed that there was a light coming from a room ahead!

Have we encountered something strange again?

It's no wonder Xu Ming's first reaction was that way; he hadn't seen a single cockroach since he entered the building.

The air throughout the building was constantly filled with a bone-chilling cold, almost identical to the Shadow Opera House he had visited before.

Living people are excluded and considered outsiders in this world.

Xu Ming telepathically warned Erina to be careful, while simultaneously telling Haruyuki Arita to come closer and be ready to provide support at any time.

Then, holding his phone in one hand, he quietly slipped the other hand into his backpack, grasped the handle of the crowbar, and slowly moved closer to the firelight.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that a light bulb was lit in the center of the room, and two slovenly-dressed figures were gathered around a stove, eating under the light.

Judging from their attire, the two appeared to be homeless people.

Xu Ming was not careless and immediately activated his spiritual vision.

But he soon frowned.

One of the figures, wearing a gray vest, seemed perfectly normal.

As for the other figure wearing a wide-brimmed hat, whose face was mostly shrouded in its shadow...

He was enveloped in wisps of black mist, but the mist was not thick, and he didn't give off a creepy feeling. Instead, he seemed more like a living person who had come into contact with a 'creepy' creature.

Xu Ming did not pick up his phone to take a picture.

Taking photos without someone's permission will be seen as provocation.

If the two homeless men he encounters are both hot-tempered, and a conflict breaks out between them, it could cause him some unnecessary trouble.

At this moment, the two homeless men also noticed Xu Ming.

The homeless man in the vest immediately waved enthusiastically.

"Hey! Young man, are you lost? How did you end up in this godforsaken place?"

Another homeless man whom Xu Ming sensed was suspicious looked up at Xu Ming with a cold gaze, then lowered his head and stared intently at the pot in front of him.

"Gentlemen, who are you?"

Xu Ming greeted them with a smile, but his phone camera kept subtly focused on the two of them.

"As you can see, we are just ordinary homeless people."

The homeless man in the vest shrugged and then stirred the contents of the pot with his chopsticks.

"I heard this building isn't safe. Why are you all in this building?"

Xu Ming's eyes flickered as he stared intently at his face.

'Vest' sighed.

"Because this is the only building in the vicinity that still has power."

Xu Ming's eyes widened in surprise.

"Brother, someone like you with a family wouldn't understand."

Winters in Japan are very cold.

"Vest" said meaningfully.

Xu Ming fell silent.

After a while, the food in the pot seemed to be cooked and began to emit an enticing aroma.

At this moment, the 'vest' produced a small bottle of liquor from somewhere and then said to Xu Ming very enthusiastically:

"Our oden is ready, would you like to try some, buddy?"

"No, I've already eaten."

Xu Ming immediately declined.

Just kidding, how could you dare to eat other people's food in a godforsaken place like this?

Although their pot of stew did smell really good, it made Xu Ming want to go back and ask Erina to make him oden.

"This guy really doesn't know how to enjoy life."

The person using the pseudonym shook their head with a regretful expression.

"By the way, sir, have you always lived here?"

"Yes, the two of us have been living here for about two or three years now. What can we do? This is the only unfinished building in the neighborhood that still has electricity."

"So... have you noticed anything strange happening here?"

Xu Ming asked very tactfully.

"You mean to ask if this place is haunted, right?"

Unexpectedly, the 'alt account' gave a straightforward answer.

Xu Ming touched his nose, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"I can tell you very clearly that there are indeed vengeful spirits haunting this building, and there's more than one."

"The 'alternate identity' said with a sinister expression."

When this topic was brought up, even the usually silent 'wide-brimmed hat' couldn't help but raise his head and look in their direction.

Xu Ming immediately perked up and quickly pretended to look curious.

"Uncle, to be honest, I'm a ghost hunting enthusiast. I really enjoy these kinds of things. Could you tell me more about it?"

"You young people just love seeking thrills."

The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly.

"It's not a big deal to tell you. We've been here for so long, we're bound to run into some people."

The man paused as he spoke, a look of reminiscence on his face.

"I remember it was a year or two ago... Back then, quite a few people came to stay in this building temporarily, and you know why."

Because we're afraid of being arrested by the police, we usually live on the 10th floor or above.

That day, a few of us were drinking on the 11th floor when we suddenly noticed that the lights were on in the building across the street.

We thought someone new had come in, so we went over to say hello.

As the uncle spoke, he picked up a piece of radish from the pot, blew on it, and put it in his mouth to chew slowly. Then he took a swig of wine and continued his story with a strong smell of alcohol on his breath.

"When we got there, there wasn't a soul in sight."

We all felt very strange, and then suddenly someone noticed that the lights on the 12th floor, the building we had come from, were on.

When we ran upstairs, the lights were gone again.

Then someone noticed that the lights were on again on the 13th floor across the street. At first, we thought it was a prank, so we decided to split into two groups: one group would stay in this building, and the other group would go to the other side to check.

"Me and him..."

'Vest' refers to 'wide-brimmed hat'.

"There was another person with them, who ran up to the 13th floor across the street, but they still couldn't find any room with lights on. At the same time, they quickly discovered that the lights on the 14th floor across the street were on again."

So we quickly signaled to the group on the 12th floor to go check the 14th floor, and then…”

'Vest's' expression turned serious.

"Two people are missing, and another one has gone insane, constantly muttering 'Don't catch me!'"

Later on, strange things started happening in this building.

In the middle of the night, some people saw a girl in white floating in the air, others saw strange faces on the walls, sometimes heard terrifying laughter or a woman crying, and sometimes even when they were sleeping soundly, their blankets would be pulled back...

After many things happened, some people were too afraid to stay in this building anymore, so they moved out one after another, until finally only he and I were left.

Chapter 230 Wealth Moves the Heart

As he spoke, "Vest" filled a bowl with oden and handed it to "Wide-brimmed Hat" who was standing next to him.

Without even saying thank you, the man in the wide-brimmed hat picked up his bowl and started eating in silence.

Xu Ming gradually realized that 'Wide-brimmed Hat's' mental state was extremely unstable, and it seemed that he was also quite frightened by the strange situation here.

As for the 'alternate identity', Xu Ming can only say that he has a strong heart; he hasn't been scared away despite encountering so many strange things.

The two chatted for a while longer, and Xu Ming learned the names of the two homeless men.

The 'vest' is called Nomura Ryosuke, and the 'wide-brimmed hat' is Konishi Hiroshi.