Prince Wang Ziteng glared at Wu Dahai, who was drenched in sweat, panting heavily. His once-pristine white shirt was now wrinkled, missing two buttons. With a furious curse, Wang Ziteng spat, "You useless wretch!"
Then, without hesitation, he turned his wrath toward Fang Xiu.
"Fang Xiu, what the hell do you think you're doing? Do you have any idea who I—"
Before he could finish, FanXiu shoved him to the ground, revealing a trembling and panic-stricken Li Feifei behind him.
"You dare push me?!" Wang Ziteng roared in fury.
"Aah!" Li Feifei screamed in terror, convinced Fang Xiu meant to harm her.
Yet, in the very next second, she felt an invisible force surge toward her. Her slender figure was abruptly shoved off the desk.
With both of them out of the way, Fang Xiu's gaze locked onto the parchment lying on the dean's desk.
The moment he read it, his heart pounded violently.
The words on the parchment were chilling:
**"Favored by fate, do you wish to uncover the truth of this world?
Do you long to understand the nature of the eerie unknown?
If you've made it this far, your heart must be riddled with questions. Do not be impatient, my friend. I have left behind everything you seek in Room 520 of Block C at Qingshan Asylum. Go forth and find it.
When you finally unearth the truth, you will be faced with a choice.
Follow your heart and embrace the gift of destiny."
At the bottom of the letter was a name—Zhou Qingfeng.
Fang Xiu read every word carefully, his expression darkening like a storm brewing on the horizon.
As expected—this asylum harbored a terrifying secret!
Zhou Qingfeng... Was he the dean of Qingshan Asylum?
And who was this letter addressed to?
Was it meant for Fang Xiu? Or for someone else? Had Zhou Qingfeng anticipated his arrival all along?
Before one mystery could be unraveled, a new one took its place.
Block C, Room 520... Perhaps that was where all the answers lay.
Without hesitation, Fang Xiu turned to leave.
But just as he moved, Wang Ziteng, now back on his feet, stormed forward, blocking his path.
"You think you can shove me and just walk away? Today, I'll—"
Before he could finish, a sharp crackle echoed overhead.
The lightbulb above them flickered violently—then went out.
In an instant, the entire room was swallowed by darkness.
Wang Ziteng, who had been ready to strike, suddenly found himself blinded, his target lost.
"Sh*t! A power outage?! Wu Dahai! Get the backup generator running! And you, brat, don't you dare think about running!"
But in the pitch-black room, Fang Xiu barely registered Wang Ziteng's threats.
Because the moment the lights went out—Qingshan Asylum vanished.
Darkness consumed his vision, but the asylum's disappearance wasn't due to the lack of light.
The power outage had only affected reality—not the asylum itself.
Qingshan Asylum had always been shrouded in dim, eerie light. Even if reality lost power, he should still have been able to see it.
Yet now, it was gone—completely and utterly gone. As if the darkness itself had devoured it.
A deep unease took root in Fang Xiu's heart.
Hurriedly, he pulled out his phone and switched on the flashlight.
But what he saw made his blood run cold.
Only the real-world office remained—not a single trace of the asylum was left.
What in the hell was going on?
Without another moment's hesitation, Fang Xiu bolted for the second floor. He needed to check if the asylum had vanished everywhere—or if it was just here.
Seeing Fang Xiu flee, Wang Ziteng cursed and chased after him.
Wu Dahai, not wanting any mishaps, followed close behind.
As for Li Feifei, there was no way she was staying behind in the dark alone.
Thus, the entire group rushed toward the second floor.
Upstairs, the employees remained calm. After all, it was just a power outage, and with so many people around, even the female staff didn't feel afraid.
Except for a few cries of despair—
"Ah! My report! I just finished it and hadn't saved it yet! Why did the power have to cut out now of all times?! I'll have to redo the whole thing! How late am I going to have to stay overtime now?!"
A chorus of laughter rang out from the darkness.
"Lucky me, I saved mine."
"Same here."
At that moment, Wu Dahai's voice cut through the chatter. "Enough whining! Someone go check if the circuit breaker tripped!"
"I'll go! I need to see what caused my report to be erased!"
The unfortunate employee grabbed their phone and marched into the shadows.
Perhaps because eerie tales were all too common in this world, someone in the dark teased, "Want me to come with you? Careful—you might run into something… unnatural."
The employee scoffed. "Unnatural? I swear, the rage I feel over redoing my work is worse than any ghost. Even a specter would call me 'big brother' out of fear."
With that, they disappeared into the gloom.
The office erupted in laughter.
But soon, an unsettling murmur spread through the room—
"Huh? Why is my phone's flashlight so dim?"
A woman's voice cut through the dark.
"Is there dust on it? Try wiping it."
"I already did. It's still so weak. D*mn phone."
"Wait… mine's dim too."
"Mine as well."
One after another, employees holding up their phones noticed the same eerie phenomenon.
Fang Xiu's gaze sharpened.
Something was terribly wrong.
The office should have been bathed in light from all the phone flashlights. But now, it was as if the darkness itself was swallowing the illumination, forcing it to retreat to within half a meter of each person.
And the most chilling part? Normally, light would fade gradually over distance.
But here, there was a distinct, razor-sharp boundary—beyond half a meter, the light was completely severed. As if the darkness had taken on a life of its own.
In that abyssal void, something was stirring.
Something unnatural.
Fang Xiu's instincts screamed in alarm—he knew this feeling all too well.
And then—
A blood-curdling scream shattered the silence.
"AHHHHHH!!!"
It was the same employee who had gone to check the power.
Everyone froze in terror.
"Zhang Bo?! What happened?! Did you get electrocuted?!"
"Zhang Bo, quit messing around!"
Then—
Thud.
The sound of something heavy hitting the floor.
"Aahhh!"
Several female employees shrieked in fright.
"Shut up! Zhao, go check it out!" Wu Dahai barked.
The man called Zhao hesitated, but under Wu Dahai's pressure, he had no choice but to comply.
Zhao, a security guard Fang Xiu had encountered earlier, switched on his flashlight and cautiously stepped into the darkness.
Seconds ticked by.
Minutes passed.
Five full minutes.
Yet, Zhao never returned.
Nor did they hear a single sound.