Lin Mo lowered his head and saw a pair of pale feet.
They looked very much like corpses in a morgue.
Right behind him, no more than a hand's width away.
A chill spread from behind, feeling like a block of ice pressed against his back. Lin Mo couldn't help but shudder.
Lin Mo slowly stood up from the ground.
He still didn't feel any fear, even though he knew that the terrifying ghost was standing right behind him.
The situation was already very clear.
This terrifying pale ghost shadow moved extremely fast, able to stand behind living people without anyone noticing. It was suspected to be able to control people's actions, but for now, Lin Mo could still move and walk according to his own will.
Thinking carefully, both Lao Zhang and Liu Ying only went berserk after their necks were broken.
It's possible that only after people die can they be controlled by this ghost.
This wasn't certain.
What was certain was that, like the hanging female ghost from before who couldn't be spoken to or screamed at when facing her, this thing also had a taboo.
That is, you can't turn around to look at it.
Lao Zhang had his neck broken when he turned to look while knocking on the door.
The same happened to Liu Ying.
With these two precedents, Lin Mo naturally knew what he should do.
In the silent hallway, Lin Mo just stood there quietly, not speaking or moving.
He was waiting.
Besides not being able to turn around to look at it, would there be any other taboos after being targeted by this ghost shadow?
At least now Lin Mo could be sure that as long as he didn't turn back to look at it, he was temporarily safe.
If you don't move, I won't move either.
Just wait it out.
Time slowly passed, and the chill from behind grew increasingly intense, as if it could penetrate through clothes and skin, seeping into blood and bones.
This feeling was extremely uncomfortable.
But Lin Mo had no choice. He needed to confirm one thing right now: if he didn't turn around, would the other party be unable to do anything to him?
At this moment, a shrill scream came from upstairs.
Lin Mo knew that someone must have died at the hands of some terrifying killer or fierce ghost.
Since he was at a stalemate with the ghost behind him anyway, Lin Mo had nothing else to do, so he began to carefully ponder the events of tonight.
From what he could see so far, this place could be considered a nightmarish world full of eeriness, madness, and despair.
Lin Mo didn't have emotions like fear or dread, so he couldn't possibly be having a nightmare. This must be someone else's dream, and it was a shared dream that multiple people could join.
This was something Lin Mo needed to confirm further.
Also, if someone died in this dream, they might die in reality as well.
The video Mao Mao Hen Dan Da sent earlier, along with those bizarre mysterious death incidents and the police warnings, all corroborated this point.
Of course, whether this was true or not, he would know once he woke up.
From what he could see so far, many people had already died here, including Lao Zhang and Liu Ying whom he knew. If they were also dead in reality, this speculation could be confirmed.
As Lin Mo was deeply engrossed in thought, he suddenly felt someone pat his shoulder.
He frowned.
Nobody would be happy to have their train of thought interrupted while seriously pondering a problem.
But Lin Mo quickly realized that he couldn't get angry yet. He understood that the ghost behind him had grown impatient and was trying to actively lure him to turn around.
"Even if you pat me, I won't turn around," Lin Mo thought to himself.
Perhaps the ghost behind him was truly annoyed. A moment later, a pale hand, clearly twice the size of a normal person's, slowly rested on Lin Mo's shoulder.
In an instant, Lin Mo felt half of his shoulder go numb.
A terrifying chill pierced straight through his internal organs.
At the same time, it felt as if something was blowing air against his ear.
Lin Mo really couldn't take it anymore, but he still didn't turn around. Instead, he reached out and slapped the ghost's hand on his shoulder hard.
The pale ghost hand immediately retracted.
Lin Mo hurriedly rubbed his numb shoulder vigorously, taking a while to recover.
The ghost behind him made no further movements.
But Lin Mo knew it was still standing behind him.
"So, I can move, and even touch it... these aren't taboos," Lin Mo had acted on impulse earlier, and although it was risky, it had proven some things.
He could move freely and, to some extent, touch this ghost.
Looking at it this way, the ghost behind him wasn't all that impressive, aside from not being able to turn around and it being a bit cold.
The issue of turning around couldn't be resolved, but the problem of it being cold was relatively simple to solve.
Lin Mo stepped into the room from earlier.
He remembered there was a wardrobe inside.
After some rummaging, he found a green military coat in the room.
It had a vintage style.
Lin Mo put it on without hesitation.
It was much warmer now.
The ghost behind him occasionally made some strange noises, clearly trying to lure Lin Mo to turn around at all times, but Lin Mo chose to ignore it.
Passing by the bodies of Lao Zhang and Liu Ying, Lin Mo thought for a moment, then dragged their bodies into the room and twisted their necks back into place.
"I'm sorry, this is all I can do for you."
Lin Mo sighed.
He couldn't help Lao Zhang and Liu Ying. In fact, if either of them had been able to resist the fear in their hearts and refrain from turning around to look, they wouldn't have died.
Unfortunately, at that time, Lin Mo himself hadn't figured out the situation either.
After closing the door, Lin Mo, wearing the green military coat, began to search the second floor.
He wanted to see if there were any other survivors.
At this point, even if someone saw him, they probably wouldn't dare to make a sound. A person wrapped up tightly in a green military coat, with a tall ghost shadow standing behind him, emanating a chilling and terrifying aura - normal people would avoid him at all costs.
There were eight households on the second floor in total, and Lin Mo searched them one by one.
Some rooms were empty, without even furniture.
Other rooms had furniture and decorations, but the styles and eras were not consistent.
Besides these, Lin Mo also found several corpses. They had died the same way as Lao Zhang and Liu Ying, with their necks violently twisted, presenting a horrifying sight.
There was also one room that couldn't be opened.
The door was locked from the inside.
Lin Mo knocked on the door.
There was no response, so he didn't continue knocking.
Just then, Lin Mo suddenly heard a tinkling sound.
The sound grew from soft to loud, gradually becoming clearer.
The next moment, Lin Mo felt dizzy, and with a sensation of weightlessness, he plunged into darkness.
Suddenly opening his eyes, Lin Mo found himself lying on his bed at home, with his phone ringing incessantly beside him.
It took him a while to come to his senses.
"Am I awake?"
He picked up the phone and looked at it. It was Pang Zi from the studio.
After answering, Pang Zi started shouting on the other end of the line.
"Brother Lin, what happened? Why is the community sealed off? I can't get in."
Lin Mo was stunned: "The community is sealed off? How come I don't know about this?"
Jumping out of bed, Lin Mo instinctively looked down at his feet. Behind him, there was no pale ghost following, nor did he feel that chilling sensation at his back.
Although he knew he was no longer in the dream, Lin Mo still didn't turn around to look. Instead, he walked out, glancing at the mirror as he passed by.
There was nothing behind him.
Looking out the window, Lin Mo found the community extremely quiet.
Although it was just after 6 AM, on normal days it would have already been bustling with activity by now. But now, it was eerily silent, with almost no one in sight.
Occasionally, someone would walk by, but they were all wearing protective suits.
Protective suits?
Lin Mo realized something was wrong.