The moment those words fell, both Li Ming and Lin Xi froze.
The voice seemed to come from all directions at once—yet also felt as if it had suddenly popped up inside their own minds.
"Zhou, did you hear that?"
"Only abnormal spiritual fluctuations," Zhou replied.
Li Ming glanced toward the stairwell. Already pitch-black due to the power outage, it now felt even more sinister.
Tick—The sound of a countdown abruptly rang out.
"Pay attention to the countdown. It's speeding up.""We're already very close to the contamination source."
Lin Xi took a deep breath. "Then we stick to the original plan. Check floor by floor."
She took a small flashlight out of her backpack and pressed the switch. This flashlight was a special device developed by the Research Division; its light could effectively penetrate contamination caused by paranormal phenomena, increasing visibility within the barrier.
The beam illuminated the stairwell. The walls were covered in mottled black scorch marks, as if they had been repeatedly burned and scraped away. The floor bore chaotic drag marks of varying depth, with no consistent direction.
"There's blood," Lin Xi said, angling the flashlight toward a corner.
"It's already dried. Must have been some time ago. We need to move faster."
They began clearing the first floor.
The door to the first apartment was ajar.
Li Ming gently pushed it open. Inside was a somewhat messy living room. The furniture was still fairly orderly, but the scattered items on the floor suggested the family had evacuated in great haste.
"No anomalies. Next one."
The second apartment on the first floor was the same—nothing unusual.
Things changed once they reached the second floor.
Large amounts of dried blood stained the ground, and the contamination was noticeably heavier. The door to the first apartment on the second floor stood wide open. Unlike the others, the furniture inside had been piled haphazardly into a corner of the living room, leaving a large open space in the center. A massive, mysterious symbol was drawn on the floor. At its center sat an unusually clean doll.
It was a very ordinary cloth doll—plastic eyes, a pink dress, even a bit worn. Yet it had been cleaned spotlessly. It was placed with eerie precision, hands folded over its abdomen, facing the doorway—
As if waiting for someone.
"Should we seal this?" Li Ming asked into the communicator.
"High anomaly readings. Recommend sealing and retrieval. Record the symbol; the Research Division will likely need it," Zhou replied.
"Copy."
Li Ming took out a small metallic cube from his pocket. With a slight squeeze, the cube unfolded and reshaped itself into a specialized container. Beside him, Lin Xi photographed and documented the large symbol on the floor. Once the doll was placed inside the container, Li Ming pressed the exterior again, and it reverted back into its original cube form.
This was what they called a "seal."
The first time Li Ming had seen something like this—technology that felt almost alien—he had been deeply confused. He had only been told it was a useful invention from the Research Division. By now, he barely questioned it anymore.
"Cleanup complete."
"Mm. Let's keep moving up."
They finished checking the floor. Just as they were about to head upstairs, Lin Xi suddenly stopped.
"Did you hear that?"
Li Ming held his breath.
A very faint sound drifted from the stairwell.
—Shh… shh…
Like fabric rubbing against the floor.
They exchanged a glance and raised their flashlights at the same time.
It wasn't a normal shadow.
It was a blackness far too dense, almost liquid-like, slowly seeping outward.
The shadow froze the instant the light touched it.
In the next second, it snapped back violently, accompanied by a barely audible sound—like a child suppressing sobs while gasping for breath.
Lin Xi sucked in a sharp breath.
"Low-level mimetic entity," she judged quickly. "But there may be more than one."
"They're imitating human 'presence,'" Li Ming said grimly. "But the imitation is incomplete."
He had just begun to step back when a clear sound echoed from above—
Thud.
Like bare feet stepping on a wooden floor.
Then a second sound.
A third.
Steady rhythm. Clear direction.
From the third floor.
Li Ming lifted his head, staring at the staircase leading upward.
The darkness seemed to come alive, spreading downward along the steps.
Then, from the third floor, a clear and childlike voice drifted down slowly—
"Uncle… Auntie…"
"Are you… here to play with me?"
The moment the voice fell, Lin Xi's fingers clenched tightly, her knuckles turning white.
"This isn't an ordinary mimic," she said through gritted teeth. "It has a complete semantic structure."
Li Ming didn't respond.
He stared at the stairwell to the third floor. The darkness there was no longer merely an absence of light—it had weight, thickness, like ink poured onto the world, slowly rising and falling.
"…Abnormal… over… caut—" The communicator crackled with fragmented static.
From upstairs came a clear dragging sound.
Not footsteps.
But something being pulled across the floor—slowly, deliberately, patiently, as if it wanted them to clearly hear its presence.
Lin Xi took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "It's been a long time since we last fought, hasn't it? Want to go first?"
There was a faint hint of anticipation in her tone.
"I'll go first," Lin Xi replied eagerly.