"What an interesting little girl."

Suddenly another voice sounded from the side, and my head snapped to look at the source. There was another vague figure, but from the smell and the sound of dripping water, I knew it was Wu Ting.

"Sister!" Luoyan shouted.

Why is Wu Ting here? Did she promise not to hurt me before so that she could hurt this young girl instead?

"Feeling strange about my appearance? Don't be surprised. I’m just back to take Wu Jian with me this time." Wu Ting smirked.

"Where are you taking him?” I asked hastily, although I knew in my heart that “taking away” meant killing.

"He promised me that he would stay with me forever." Wu Ting's voice, dripping with sweetness, sounded farther away.

“He promised me that he would stay with me forever,” Wu Ting repeated, then suddenly her figure disappeared in a splash of water, as though someone had poured a bucket of seawater out onto the floor.

Wu Ting is a psychopath, just coming and going and threatening murder. I was worried about Wu Jian and wondered what the best way to protect him was.

But how do I get out of here? I thought as I looked at Luoyan who was looking at me. I didn’t think she would hurt me at this point, but before trying to find an exit, I promised the girl that I would help her find her killers. Then I began to grope around in the dark room.

I couldn’t tell which direction was which. I followed a wall for a long time, but even though my feet began to hurt from all the walking, everything still looked the same. Did Wu Ting create an illusion to keep me from escaping? I asked myself. She’s got a lot of confidence in me. I’m not even sure I could save Wu Jian if I did escape this place.

I walked until I couldn’t walk anymore, and then I collapsed on the ground.

“Ha-lo!” I heard giggles behind me. Which ghost is this now? I was too tired to turn around or even be afraid.

I sighed and said weakly, “If you’ve come to kill me, do whatever you want. Just be quick.”

I heard a familiar sigh behind me. I’d know that displeased sigh anywhere.

I jumped up and turned around excitedly, and then immediately and embarrassingly fell back to the floor.

“Don’t bow to me,” said Lulu dryly. I’d never been so happy to see her.

"Lulu, Xiao Lingdang!" I felt like I could cry.

"Hm," Lulu uttered another one of her characteristic expressions. Xiao Lingdang kindly helped me up and supported me as Lulu stood by, watching. Then Lulu waved her hand lazily, and I saw a flash of light.

“Ah!” My eyes had become so accustomed to the dark that the sudden burst of light made me close them in pain. A few tears even leaked out.

Xiao Lingdang quickly wiped my face with her hand and said, "Big man, don't cry!"

Am I actually crying? I thought. I opened my eyes and was shocked by what I saw.

We were in a big room, almost as big as a swimming pool. The room was entirely empty, save for two sealed coffins in the center.

"What are these?" I asked Xiao Lingdang.

Before she could reply, Lulu responded, “The soul imprisoned in the clean room."

The soul imprisoned in the clean room? What? I turned to Lulu, looking for more answers.

Lulu kindly explained, "The soul imprisoned in the clean room is formation magic. The dead body of a ghost is placed in the center of a spotless room, and then the coffin is hammered with white nails. So no matter what, the ghost can't walk out of this room."

"Is it a simple trick to keep them from getting out?" Xiao Lingdang asked the question we both were thinking.

"There is a prerequisite for this magic. It must be a dead person that died accidentally, and they must be here of their own free will. If they’re not willing, the magic can’t be completed."

Xiao Lingdang and I both realized that most ghosts who died accidentally were angry. Even if they were not angry, they wouldn’t want to be imprisoned in a spotless room. It was a miracle that this magic could ever be carried out.

"Can we get out?" I asked curiously.

Lulu gave me an angry stare, and then pointed and said, "Go open the coffins. Let’s see who’s stupid enough to trap themselves here."

Why me? I thought as I approached the coffins. The coffins were tightly nailed shut and I wasn’t sure where to start. Finally, I heard Lulu’s exasperated voice behind me.

“Move.”

Lulu’s foot flew past me and kicked one of the coffins apart. The body inside flew nearly two meters into the air, then landed on the ground with a thud and an “Oof!”

The body slowly stood and faced Lulu. I was surprised to recognize Huang Xiaolong. I stared at the body as he scolded Lulu for breaking open his coffin. He dares to scold Lulu? Can’t he see her hair flying?

I quickly interjected to ask Lulu to open the second coffin before anything went down between these two. She kicked the second open just like the first, but there was nothing inside.

We turned to Huang Xiaolong to figure out why he was here, but he couldn’t remember. The last thing he remembered was looking for something in the house that had burned down. He’d found a strange mirror, looked at it, and then fainted. Now he was here.

Lulu seemed deep in thought and I dared not interrupt, so I pulled Huang Xiaolong to the side and asked what had happened to him after he disappeared.

Huang Xiaolong was silent for a long time, then he simply said, "I will go back to practice for a period of time."

Okay..

Lulu had finished thinking and her expression indicated she’d thought of something good. I asked her, "Well, Lulu, what’s the situation now?"

"Isn't it obvious? This room was for this guy. It was supposed to be for ‘a soul imprisoned in the clean room,’ but the room seems to have changed."

Lulu pointed to the wall and said, "Come with me."

We all hastened to follow Lulu as she led us straight through the wall.

I was surprised to see that we were standing on a beach. The sea rolled with waves nearby, and the sky was dark. It was probably about 8 or 9 o’clock in the evening.

"Interesting." There was a rare smile on Lulu's face, and then she fell into contemplation.

Knowing that Lulu was working on something and I’d be of no help at all, I asked Xiao Lingdang how they had found me.

Xiao Lingdang said, "We saw a lot of ghosts approaching you, so we kept calling you, but you ignored us. It seemed that there was an invisible wall between all of us and we couldn’t reach you. We waved to you, but you waved to the outside.

"Then you entered the passageway, and we found that there were more ghosts around you. Sister Lulu was very worried and broke through the wall with her anger. When we came in, we only saw the little ghosts but not you. It wasn't until we accidentally found the gap in the room that we were able to get in."

Xiao Lingdang smiled as she spoke, but I felt helpless. I turned around to speak to Huang Xiaolong again, but I was startled yet again by the day’s events. Huang Xiaolong stood there in his underwear doing exercises as though he were preparing to go for a swim.

This isn’t an actual beach, it’s a mirage made by ghosts, you dummy. He and Luoyan would make the perfect match.