The corridor on the fourth floor was also filled with thick smoke.
This dense smoke seemed to have engulfed the entire building.
Unlike the chaos downstairs, it was deathly silent here.
Lu Fei, holding the thunder-struck jujube wood stick, and Jing Jian carefully entered the corridor one after the other.
The eight doors on both sides were still tightly closed.
The double happiness character that had fallen to the ground was gone!
"Could it be related to the double happiness character?"
Lu Fei frowned.
Except for this double happiness character, the fourth floor was no different from before.
"Not here, where did it go?"
After scanning the corridor, Lu Fei tried to push the doors on both sides, but they were as if attached to the walls, completely immovable.
After a moment's thought, he turned his gaze upstairs.
"Look higher up."
Black smoke was continuously billowing from below the stairs, and it was uncertain how much longer the people down there could hold on; Lu Fei had to speed up.
He and Jing Jian quickly ran upstairs, giving each floor a swift scan.
Strangely, apart from some trash and stains, the upper floors were unusually quiet.
They couldn't go beyond the seventh or eighth floors, as piles of debris blocked the passage.
"Lu Fei, what should we do? We can't go up any further." Jing Jian, drenched in sweat and extremely anxious, sensed that the situation below was dire.
The scorching heat seemed to be spreading upwards, and the three people below appeared to be on the brink of giving up.
"Don't panic!" Lu Fei examined the blocked debris, squinting his eyes, "This is the fire escape. Is it possible that those people's deaths are related to the debris?"
"When a fire breaks out, the elevators cannot be used, and the only way to escape is through the fire escape.
"But the debris blocked their path, causing them to be burned alive..."
"Let's just give it a try first."
Without delay, Lu Fei immediately swung the lightning-struck jujube wood stick, channeling his magical power, and struck at the pile of miscellaneous items in front of him.
Smack.
The stick hit the miscellaneous items, emitting a sharp wooden sound.
There was no reaction from the items.
"Something's not right?"
Lu Fei tried with other items several times, but the result was the same.
"It seems these objects were left behind by the residents when they moved out in a hurry, not piled up here before the fire broke out."
Lu Fei couldn't help but frown.
He had searched both upstairs and downstairs, so what exactly was the main body of that great ghostly entity?
"Lu Fei, shall I go and help them? There's no rush, take your time to think." Jing Jian wiped the sweat from his face and spoke with effort.
"Alright, you've worked hard, try to buy as much time as possible."
Lu Fei knew that it was not the time for formalities, and nodded his head in gratitude.
Jing Jian grabbed the remaining ghost-restraining characters and rushed downstairs.
Below, black smoke billowed, and the split ghost, which had divided into three, let out eerie howls.
"How's it going, have you found the main body yet?"
The faces of Ku Deng and his two companions were already charred black from the smoke.
"Almost! Lu Fei will definitely find it!" Jing Jian shouted, throwing out the ghost-restraining characters ahead to share their burden.
"If we can't find it soon, we'll all be trapped in the stairwell! We won't be able to go up or down, and then we're done for..."
Lu Fei stood alone in the stairwell, looking around, his brain working hard. A voice full of anxiety from downstairs reached his ears.
"Wait, what did she say?"
"Trapped in the stairwell, can't go up or down!"
Lu Fei's eyes lit up when he saw the human-shaped charred mark on the wall, his heart pounding.
"Is it possible that the ghost's true form is actually the staircase?"
"I remember the news saying that when the residents were trying to escape, due to the panic, a stampede occurred on the stairs, causing many people to be unable to get out."
"They were trapped in the stairs, burned to death one after another, isn't that exactly what the ghost looks like now?"
Thinking of this, Lu Fei immediately took action.
He channeled his spiritual power.
He struck the wall, the floor, and the handrail with the thunder-struck jujube wood stick.
Boom!
First, a small blue arc flickered.
Then, like wildfire, the current rapidly spread along the stairs.
Immediately after, everyone felt a blinding flash of white light.
Boom!
The sound of thunder roared in their ears, and then, the whole world fell silent.
The scorching heat dissipated.
A few of them cautiously opened their eyes and found that the stairwell was filled with drifting black ashes. The three terrifying ghosts were gone.
"What just happened?"
Zhang Molin and Tie Shenglan looked at each other in shock.
"It was Lu Fei! Lu Fei must have found the ghosts' physical forms! I told you he would be fine!" Jing Jian laughed excitedly, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Did he really find it?" Tie Shenglan still couldn't quite believe it.
That ghost they all couldn't handle, was easily taken care of by that kid with the surname Lu?
"If it wasn't Shopkeeper Lu, who else could it be? The ghost couldn't have just vanished for no reason! Amitabha, this wicked ghost has finally been put to rest!" Kudeng plopped down on the ground, completely exhausted.
"This Shopkeeper Lu is truly impressive!" Zhang Molin's eyes were full of admiration. "If he hadn't known to find the source of the ghost, we would have been at a complete loss against it and probably would have been driven out of the building by now."
"Is everyone okay?"
At that moment, Lu Fei's voice came from above the stairs.
Everyone looked up, seeing that young and handsome face looking at them with concern, his eyes particularly bright.
"We're fine, nothing happened!"
Jing Jian waved forcefully at Lu Fei.
"That's great!" Lu Fei quickly descended the stairs, and seeing that everyone was safe, he felt relieved.
That was indeed too risky just now.
Fortunately, everyone held on, and he also found the ghost's main body in time.
"Manager Lu, it's a good thing you were here; I have once again escaped death," Kudeng said, supporting his plump body as he climbed up. He clasped his hands together and gave Lu Fei a Buddhist salute.
"Master, you flatter me. If it weren't for everyone working together to hold off the ghost, where would my chance have come from? I should be the one thanking everyone."
Lu Fei hurriedly waved his hands.
"Alright, let's not keep thanking each other. Let's go out and see if there are any other situations."
Everyone walked down the stairs and looked at the smoke-filled, riddled-with-holes hall, instantly feeling a sense of survival after a calamity.
"Are we only five left?" Zhang Molin showed regret, "Actually, if everyone had cooperated from the start, more people would have been able to hold on."
"It's truly not easy to enter the Lingyin Society!" Jing Jian sighed.
Tie Shenglan wiped the soot from her face and let out a long breath: "With such a terrifying ghost eliminated, we should be able to stay safe until dawn, right?"
"I'm afraid we shouldn't be too happy just yet," Lu Fei shook his head.
"Why?" Tie Shenglan was taken aback.
"Do you remember the divination by Master Xiang?"
"He said... there are three major calamities tonight,"
"That's right, those little ghosts were the first calamity, and this big ghost on the stairs is the second. The third one hasn't appeared yet."
After Lu Fei finished speaking, everyone's faces turned grim.
The big ghost was already terrifying enough, and if something even more powerful were to come, could they hold out until the end?
Zhang Molin clenched his fist, whether to boost the morale of the group or his own, he said, "It's okay, as long as we stick together and cooperate like we did before, we will definitely..."
At that moment, a figure suddenly emerged from the smoke.
"Who?"