By the time I finished processing those words, the man had already disappeared into the darkness.

They didn't even leave me a flashlight.

As he had instructed, I left the summoning bell in place and groped my way forward in the darkness.

Just as he said, there was a small door.

When I opened the door, I found a very empty hall, and I didn't know what it was used for before.

I took a deep breath, located the Xun trigram, and slowly took my first step.

In an instant, a chilling wind swept over us, carrying with it the mournful cries of countless wronged souls.

Suddenly, countless female corpses appeared in what had been an empty space ahead.

They were dressed in different clothes, but all of them had bluish-purple faces, empty and venomous eyes, and staggered toward me with contorted limbs.

I steadied myself, closed my eyes, and, relying on my understanding of the dynamic meaning of the Xun hexagram, moved forward cautiously, each step feeling as if I were stepping on the boundary between emptiness and reality.

With each step I took, I could clearly feel the air around me growing increasingly heavy.

I felt something touching my body, arms, and even face, but I remained unmoved and resolutely completed the seven steps.

At that moment, I had no choice but to believe that man.

After completing the seven steps, I quickly turned towards the direction of the Kun hexagram and opened my eyes.

The female corpse has disappeared.

As I took my first step toward the direction of the Kun hexagram, I instantly and clearly felt a powerful force rising slowly from the earth beneath my feet, spreading throughout my entire body through the soles of my feet.

The oppressive aura, under the pressure of the earth's power, was like a surging tide crashing against a solid dam. Although it was still raging, it began to gradually dissipate.

But the good times didn't last long.

Just as I finished walking the six steps of the Kun hexagram, the surrounding temperature dropped sharply, as if I had instantly fallen from the heat of summer into the depths of winter.

Wisps of mist, like materialized ghosts, gushed forth from the ground.

In an instant, the world before my eyes was shrouded in a white expanse, my vision blurred and I could hardly see anything. The yin energy surged towards me like a surging tide, wave after wave.

As the white mist rose, I quickly turned to the Zhen trigram direction and took four big steps forward.

Each step seemed to possess the power of thunder shaking the heavens, and the ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.

Just as I took the last step, the thick, ink-like fog in front of me seemed to be cleaved in two by a sharp blade, slowly retreating to both sides to make way for a narrow passage.

As the man said, I've already left.

Is it possible to exit Bincheng Building simply by walking through this narrow passage?

Without thinking, I plunged into the narrow passage.

Instantly, a blinding ray of sunlight shone straight in.

The intense light made it hard for me to adjust, and my eyes involuntarily squinted.

When I came to my senses, I found myself standing at the exit of the parking lot.

Pedestrians come and go on the streets, and vehicles shuttle back and forth like a tide.

I took a deep breath.

It's finally out!

Once you step out of this shadow, you can embrace the brilliant sunshine.

However, just a second before I was about to step out of that shadow, a sharp shout came from behind: "You little brat, what are you doing!"

Then a strong pull suddenly came from the back of my collar, forcefully pulling me backward.

The sudden force caught me off guard, and I instantly lost my balance, almost falling to the ground.

I turned around and saw it was the plump proprietress.

She was still completely wrapped in a black robe, with only her eyes showing.

It's her again!

I quickly took a few steps back, creating a safe distance between myself and the plump proprietress.

Before I could even open my mouth, the fat proprietress started pointing at me and cursing.

"You damned, wretched wretch, your brain must be smeared with shit! Do you want to drag everyone to the underworld to play with you before you feel at ease? You wretched spirit! Why are you running? I'm asking you why you're running! Didn't I tell you to ring the bell? Why are you still running!"

Not run? Are you just waiting to die?!

Fuck you!

I cursed and turned to run away.

But as soon as he turned around, he was kicked hard in the butt.

"You short-lived wretch, if you want to die, go somewhere deserted, don't come here harming innocent people! Open your eyes wide and take a good look at what kind of hellhole this is!"

She rushed up to me in a few steps, her short, stubby fingers almost poking into my nostrils.

I got up from the ground and said sarcastically, "Where else could this be but the parking lot of Bincheng Building? Stop playing tricks and trying to scare people."

That's what I said, but I still looked around.

Before me lies a familiar street, with pedestrians coming and going, each with a smile on their face.

Further ahead is the small shop where I stayed last night.

The convenience store was open, and the plump proprietress sat leisurely behind the counter, munching on sunflower seeds and watching TV on her phone, her chubby feet in flip-flops dangling idly on the counter.

Wait, isn't the chubby proprietress standing behind me?

As if frozen in place, I slowly turned my head and stared blankly at the plump proprietress behind me, who was completely wrapped in a black robe.

For a moment, I felt a sense of disorientation, as if I were caught in a mystery about the real and fake Monkey Kings.

Just then, I suddenly realized that although the pedestrians on the road were all smiling, their smiles looked too fake.

It's like the stiff smile on the face of the mannequin displayed at the entrance of a clothing store, devoid of any warmth.

"No need to look anymore, you're still inside the Bincheng Building!"

"Am I still in Bincheng Building?" I looked around blankly.

Everything felt so familiar, yet so strange.

Didn't I come out as that man instructed?

Looking back on every step I've taken, I haven't made a mistake.

The plump proprietress seemed to know what I was thinking and spoke slowly.

"You think you've walked out of Bincheng Building, but you're still inside. It's your hallucination that's made your head and eyes numb, making you think you've really run out."

I stared at her in shock: "How did you know?"

The plump proprietress stared straight into my eyes and said, word by word—

"Because that's how I died!"