Chapter 1

Sunday · 9pm

It should be a break time, but the office of "Xiaolu Media" is still brightly lit. The sound of keyboards and deliberately suppressed conversations are intertwined, and the occasional slurping sound of noodles gives people a sense of tranquility.

Xu Ming sat at his workstation, flipping a damn poster. The mobile phone screen next to him lit up from time to time, and messages popped out one after another:

[Bumped head: Xu Ming! Don't play dead, reply to me if you see it! ]

[Bumped head: We are all family, can you save me some worry! ]

[Bumped head: Don't come back during the short vacation, I will take Lingling on vacation to relax. Think about it yourself. 】

【Bump on the head: She didn't

do it on purpose, why are you so petty? I remember you were not like this before. 】 【Bump on the head: I told you Lingling is not in good health, why are you bothering with her? 】

"..."

After the message popped up, the phone started to vibrate again, and the caller ID was still the one with "Bump on the head". Xu Ming stared at the screen without blinking, and hung up the phone. After a while, the other party called again.

"Uh... Teacher Mingming?" A colleague happened to come to find Xu Ming, and paused when he saw this, "Someone called you."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Just an idiot." Xu Ming said calmly, picked up the phone, hung up and blocked the call in one go, then looked at the person next to him, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

"Yeah." The female colleague smiled embarrassedly, "It's the set of promotional posters for the new program. The copy has been revised again. I just sent it to your email. Please, Teacher Mingming, adjust the posters..."

"Ah, changed again?" Xu Ming was stunned and opened his email, "Is the change big?"

"Not big, just changed some of the promotional slogans." A colleague hurriedly said, "After all, the program is called 'The Terminator of Ghost Stories', and the planner felt that the wording should be more extreme and more sinister..."

...What's the point of this change? It's

still very old-fashioned.

Xu Ming was genuinely confused, but after thinking about it, he said nothing. After confirming the changes with the other party, he opened PS and honestly fixed it.

——【Ghost Story Terminator】. Xu Ming didn't know much about this project. He only knew that this was a new program that their small company, which mainly runs self-media, was preparing, and the main focus was on the exploration of ghost stories. Two trial episodes have been recorded so far, and the content is nothing more than walking around in buildings with scary legends and taking videos...

It's a pretty old-fashioned format, but some people love to watch it. Compared to pure horror movies, this kind of realistic haunted house adventure seems to be more able to poke the nerves of some people who pursue excitement, especially now that many ghost stories are very down-to-earth, always giving people a feeling of being close at hand, which is more exciting.

However, Xu Ming is not very optimistic about this new series.

In her opinion, instead of the pretentious eight-diagram yellow talisman cross, the filming crew should wear safety helmets and safety ropes. After all, many of the places they go to are dangerous buildings that are about to be demolished... God knows, running to such a place in the middle of the night. If something happens, you may not be able to get a taxi.

Thinking of this, Xu Ming subconsciously glanced at the empty workstations not far away, and quickly retracted his gaze. His eyes fell on the poster that was being modified in front of him, and he paused again, and said "Oh" in his heart.

Awkward, I typed it wrong - maybe because I was absent from work just now, the original "Ghost Story Terminator" was changed to "Ghost Story Demolition Office" by her.

... But you have to say, this name is quite interesting.

At least in her opinion, it is more interesting than that "Ghost Story Terminator". It is also more suitable for the current layout.

Xu Ming thought about it and simply saved a separate copy of this poster. Just as she was about to continue to change it, she heard footsteps behind her and a familiar face suddenly appeared beside her.

"Teacher Mingming..." Qiu Yufei, carrying a small bag, looked at Xu Ming pleadingly, "Excuse me, how long will it take you to leave?"

"I have something to revise, it will be done soon." Xu Ming looked at her strangely, "What's wrong?"

"Then I'll go with you later." Qiu Yufei sighed, "I don't know why the lights outside the company were turned off. It's dark and I dare not go out alone."

Xu Ming: "..."

"In that case, let's leave now." Xu Ming thought for a moment, took out the USB flash drive decisively, and copied a bunch of poster documents into it, "I don't have much work left, you can take it back and do it."

"Wow, thank you! I'll treat you to milk tea tomorrow!" Qiu Yufei was overjoyed and thanked her repeatedly. Xu Ming shook his head and looked at her strangely again: "Why do you keep rubbing your hands? Are you cold?"

"Don't mention it. I don't know if the air conditioner over there is broken. It was suddenly so cold just now. It's more comfortable here." Qiu Yufei exhaled, "Mingming, do you have anything heavy? I'll help you... Eh? What's this? It's so unique."

Noticing a notebook on the corner of the table, Qiu Yufei widened her eyes in surprise.

The notebook is not big, about the size of two palms, and it's a thin book. What's surprising is its surface - the front and back covers are covered with a layer of brown wax, the surface is uneven, and it shows a strange color under the light.

"Are you talking about this?" Xu Ming glanced at it, "It was given as a gift when I bought something online a while ago. It looks fancy, but it's just an ordinary notebook."

Even the paper quality is very ordinary. If there is anything special besides the cover, it is that there is a line of name on its title page -

"Rule Book No. 9".

The crooked red handwriting is not very good-looking. Xu Ming did not take it seriously and used it as a draft book.

She stuffed the book into her bag, stood up and called Qiu Yufei to walk out together.

When she pushed open the company door, she saw that the corridor outside was pitch black. Looking around, except for their company, there was no light on the entire office building. Only the emergency exit sign on the wall was bright green.

This office building mainly uses glass walls. When walking, the wall next to it will print a vague reflection and move with it. It is indeed a bit exciting.

"Right!" Qiu Yufei hugged Xu Ming's arm immediately, "In the past, no matter how late we got off work, there was always some light in the building. I don't know what happened today, all the other companies have left, and the corridor lights are not on... It's pitch black, scary."

"This means that we are the only unlucky ones who still insist on working overtime on Sundays." Xu Ming sighed and dragged Qiu Yufei forward, "I don't think it's scary, I just feel desolate."

Qiu Yufei: "..."

That's true.

Xu Ming and his company were located at the northernmost part of the seventh floor of the office building, which happened to be the farthest from the elevator. Xu Ming and his friends walked forward with their cell phones as flashlights. After turning a corner, they could no longer see the lights of their own company. All they could see clearly was a small area illuminated by the flashlights.

"Are you okay?" Noticing that Qiu Yufei, who was holding him, was still shaking, Xu Ming couldn't help but look at her, "I've never seen you so scared before."

"It's because of those people from the photography team just now, who were talking about something about Hongqiang Company..." Qiu Yufei complained, and Xu Ming raised his eyebrows slightly: "Hongqiang Company? This name sounds familiar."

"Oh, it's the one that Xiao Zhang and his friends went to shoot tonight." Qiu Yufei said, "Hongqiang Consulting."

Speaking of which, this is also a story that has been circulating for a long time - it is said that there is an abandoned office building in the northern suburbs of the city. It used to belong to a consulting company called Hongqiang, which was their branch. As a result, a fire broke out in the building once, and the entire branch suffered heavy losses, especially the ninth floor on the top floor. At that time, many people were unable to run out.

"After the fire, the head office moved the branch to another place. The building was also abandoned. But nearby residents can still hear the sounds of people moving around inside during weekdays. Occasionally, someone will come and say they are here for an 'interview.'"

In the dark corridor, Qiu Yufei walked close to Xu Ming while whispering the story she heard from other colleagues:

"So there is a saying that those employees who died in the fire have stayed in the building forever. They don't know that the company has moved, so they are still in the original office, repeating their previous work day after day, and even recruiting new employees through various channels. And once you accept their offer and join their company, don't even think about leaving..."

Xu Ming: "..."

Xu Ming: "Oh."

"Oh?!" Qiu Yufei looked at her in surprise, "Is that your reaction?"

Xu Ming: "What else?"

"At least be a little scared... You make me look scared." Qiu Yufei muttered, nervously glanced around, and tightened her hand holding Xu Ming's arm, "Besides, don't you think this story is twice as effective in this situation? It happens to be an office building, eh."

"Many times, people scare themselves. Brain damage is the root of fear." Xu Ming said seriously, "I have heard of a saying. Fear is a crack in the human heart. The bigger the crack, the easier it is for something to get in."

Qiu Yufei clicked her tongue and couldn't help but hammer her. Xu Ming smiled and said, "If you are really under too much pressure, I have another method that you can try."

Qiu Yufei: "?"

"Change your thinking a little bit. Don't use common logic to interpret the information you get. At the same time, try to draw conclusions that can arouse your other emotions." Xu Ming patted her arm, "For example, you said that in the abandoned office building where someone died, there are always sounds of activities on weekdays. It feels scary, right?"

Qiu Yufei: "Yeah."

"Now, think about it from another angle." Xu Ming coaxed, "Other people's hauntings only happen on weekdays. But we are still working overtime on Sunday, and we haven't returned home yet after nine o'clock. We have to come to work again at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. After counting the compensatory leave, it will be seven days a week."

Qiu Yufei: "..."

Xu Ming: "We, the fresh graduates who are still in internship, don't even have five social insurances and one housing fund."

Qiu Yufei: "..."

Xu Ming: "What, are you still afraid?"

Qiu Yufei: "..."

"To be honest, I'm still afraid." After a moment of silence, Qiu Yufei said honestly, "It's just that now, instead of being afraid, I want to rush to the stupid boss's house and give him a big slap in the face."

"That's called progress." Xu Ming expressed his relief.

Qiu Yufei: "But isn't this just serious nonsense?"

"No way, it makes sense." Xu Ming said firmly, "Ah, we're here!"

The flashlight flashed forward and finally illuminated the elevator door at the end of the corridor. Xu Ming breathed a sigh of relief and was about to step forward when his eyes suddenly paused.

He saw that a piece of paper had appeared on the elevator door without knowing when.

"Strange, what is this... a notice?" Qiu Yufei walked forward cautiously, put her face to the paper, and read aloud softly:

"'Dear owners, in order to ensure the normal operation of the elevator equipment in this building and reduce the risk of fire, the property service center is inspecting the elevators in this building. All elevators are temporarily suspended and will be resumed after the inspection is completed. The specific time is subject to our written notice. If you need to go downstairs, please use the escape route.

"'We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you. If the elevator is used in violation of the regulations, all responsibilities and accidents will be borne by the user'..."

With an unbelievable sigh, she tried to reach out and press the elevator button, revealing a look of regret: "No way, there is really no response."

She turned to look at Xu Ming: "So annoying. Then we have no choice but to go downstairs." However,

Xu Ming did not respond immediately, but continued to stare at the piece of paper until Qiu Yufei asked a second time, then he nodded gently: "Maybe...right."

What do you mean by maybe?

Qiu Yufei looked over in confusion, but Xu Ming ignored her again, and his lips tightened imperceptibly. Something

is wrong.

There is definitely something wrong.

She remembered very clearly that when she went out to throw away the garbage in the evening, there was no such paper. And how could a property do maintenance so late at night on weekends?

The condition of the words was also strange. Most of the words were a little blurry, but the sentence "If you need to go downstairs, please go through the escape passage" was written in pen, and the handwriting was exceptionally clear - and this sentence was deliberately emphasized, on the contrary. It looked strange.

And there was the signature on it...

Xu Ming frowned, pressed one hand on the notice, and moved his face and the light closer.

There was no unit written in the signature on the notice, only an official seal. And it was obviously not carefully stamped, the red mark was blurry and missing something. Xu Ming squinted for a long time and could only see the word "company", but she was very sure that this was definitely not the official seal of their office building property.

Apart from other things, the number of words alone didn't match.

"..." He stared at the paper suspiciously for a while, but could not see any more clues. After a little thought, Xu Ming finally stood up and prepared to go down the stairs with Qiu Yufei.

The stairs were in another direction, and they had to walk for a while. Qiu Yufei hugged Xu Ming's arm and grumbled unhappily. Xu Ming stared at his palm without saying a word. After a moment, he suddenly said: "Yufei, can you accompany me back first?"

"Ah?" Qiu Yufei paused, looking confused, "What?"

"Go back, back to the company." Xu Ming still spoke in that calm tone, but his fingers holding the phone tightened slightly, "Sorry, I just suddenly remembered that I didn't bring my lunch box."

"Hey, Mingming, did you bring your lunch today?" Qiu Yufei was stunned for a moment, then waved her hand, "Nothing, nothing, then go back, luckily you remembered early, we haven't gone downstairs yet."

"Well, thank you for trouble." Xu Ming responded, letting Qiu Yufei lead him to turn in a direction, and his back was sweating slightly.

While Qiu Yufei was not paying attention, she raised her hand again and looked at her fingertips and palms.

——When she was reading the notice just now, she had pressed her palm on the paper. As a result, she didn't know if the printing quality of the paper was poor, but a lot of black marks were stained on the paper.

Xu Ming originally thought it was ink, but it didn't feel like it. It was not until just now that she tried to smell it that she was really sure that

what was on her hand was ash.

It was the kind of black ash produced after something was burned.