The pounding of his heart was known only to Lu Zhi at that moment.
He dared not retract his gaze. The more afraid he was, the more calmly he could analyze the situation. The mirror could not possibly reflect their location, and the mannequin's eyes, merely looking towards the mirror, did not necessarily mean it had seen him.
As expected, in less than a minute, the mannequin's dark, viscous eyes rolled to the side. Lu Zhi's taut nerves finally relaxed, but it also left him drenched in a cold sweat, making him even more wary of whatever was on the third floor.
Lu Zhi confirmed that the mannequins flanking the elevator entrance on the third floor were problematic and mentioned it to Luo Shiyu and Lan Yushan.
"Hiss—" Lan Yushan hugged his goose-bumped arm and rubbed it vigorously. "You, you didn't even scream."
Luo Shiyu frowned. "I'll go take a look."
Lu Zhi wasn't certain what kind of entities these mannequins were. Luo Shiyu's family likely had him study information about the Cage, from childhood to adulthood, so he would know more than Lu Zhi and Lan Yushan.
"I, I don't think I'll go, will I?" Lan Yushan was actually quite timid, especially afraid of ghosts.
Lu Zhi thought for a moment and said, "You should still go take a look. We have to go up to the third floor later, so it's good to brace ourselves and get a heads-up."
Lan Yushan thought it made sense and, with an expression of "sacrificing oneself bravely," sidled up to Luo Shiyu. He had been peeking with one eye closed, but the next second, he leaped towards Lu Zhi like a startled rabbit.
"Holy cow, cow, cow!!!" Lan Yushan was so scared he couldn't even speak coherently.
Lu Zhi found it both amusing and exasperating. He hadn't expected this tall fellow to be so cowardly. He pushed Lan Yushan away slightly and told him the truth, "The third floor is the clothing section. There are mannequins everywhere."
Lan Yushan's breathing was still unsteady. He stammered a suggestion to Luo Shiyu, "Luo, Brother Luo, how about I wait for you on the second floor?"
Luo Shiyu frowned. "No, it's dangerous to be alone."
Lu Zhi nodded seriously. "That's right. In movies, those who go off alone usually encounter more terrifying things. It's better if we stick together." Seeing that the young man was thoroughly scared, he comforted him, "Think about it, it's not a ghost, it's just something creepy. Wouldn't it be better if you imagined it was an aberration that could control puppets?"
Lan Yushan thought about it. "It seems… a little better?"
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered. He put his arm around Lan Yushan in a friendly gesture and continued, "These mannequins might also be controlled by people, intentionally trying to scare us. Technology is so advanced these days, maybe these two mannequins have backup batteries inside their bodies, that's why their eyes move."
Lan Yushan's eyes slowly lit up. "Yeah, yeah, why didn't I think of that?"
Lu Zhi patted his back reassuringly. "When I came up earlier, I saw an advertisement posted at the entrance saying the mall owner is a foreigner and wants to make the third floor into a Halloween theme, right? Brother Luo, you saw it too."
As Lu Zhi spoke, he winked at Luo Shiyu.
Luo Shiyu looked thoughtful. Meeting Lan Yushan's expectant gaze, he nodded, "Mm, it does seem like there was something like that."
Lan Yushan's last trace of fear completely dissipated from his heart. He straightened his back and said with relief, "That's good, that's good."
Luo Shiyu glanced at his personal device and said, "Let's see if there are any other ways to get to the third floor besides the elevator."
Lan Yushan immediately volunteered to look for the fire escape.
"I'll go check out the service elevator." Lu Zhi turned, but Luo Shiyu stopped him, asking, "Were you deliberately misleading Lan Yushan to shift his attention? Why?"
Lu Zhi opened his personal device, which displayed his profile, including a bolded note about his 'Mental Contamination Index,' with Lan Yushan's and Luo Shiyu's indices below it.
The most striking were Lan Yushan's actual mental contamination index, which was 15%, and his virtual index, which was 50%, indicating Lan Yushan's highest contamination value at that moment.
"When Lan Yushan looked at the mirror earlier, I noticed his index was climbing." Lu Zhi's reasoning was quite simple. Although Lan Yushan was timid and afraid of ghosts, he wasn't this terrified. At most, he would be startled, but his hesitant and frightened demeanor just now clearly showed that his inner fears and negative emotions had been amplified.
In truth, the most terrifying aspect of the Cage wasn't confronting the strange phenomena, but rather being mentally contaminated by the Cage without realizing it, losing one's composure and judgment, and becoming easily assimilated.
Luo Shiyu understood. His tense expression softened considerably. He acknowledged, "You are very observant. Mental contamination is more terrifying than the strange phenomena themselves. If you hadn't noticed it in time just now, Lan Yushan's index exceeding 60% would have been very dangerous."
Lu Zhi smiled faintly and, after some thought, couldn't help but say, "Brother Luo, you shouldn't put too much pressure on yourself. Among the three of us, I am the weakest in terms of strength. My strengths lie only in these aspects. I will constantly monitor the mental contamination and alert you both."
"Yushan's abilities allow us to avoid many dangers. Although he's not very strong in combat, his footwork is effective. When we encounter anything on the third floor, feel free to go all out without worrying about us."
Luo Shiyu was surprised. He hadn't expected Lu Zhi to see things so clearly. Indeed, in his eyes, Lan Yushan and Lu Zhi were burdens. He might have been more at ease acting alone, without constantly worrying about their safety.
Although they were all new students who had passed the test together, Luo Shiyu ranked among the top in terms of combat power, and Lan Yushan's abilities were indeed good, serving as a scout to detect danger. But Lu Zhi…
Apart from keen observation and meticulousness, Luo Shiyu couldn't discern any special abilities in him, though he did possess some minor cleverness.
"I understand," Luo Shiyu, who was not good with words, still said, "We are teammates, you are not a burden." He was just accustomed to being alone.
Lu Zhi was surprised and smiled faintly, "Just don't find me too talkative, Captain."
Luo Shiyu's lips curved upward. He extended his fist and said, "I don't know what your abilities are, but… it's a pleasure to cooperate."
Lu Zhi's eyes sparkled with brilliance as he smiled and bumped his fist against Luo Shiyu's.
Men's friendship, sometimes, is truly that simple.
"What are you two doing?" Lan Yushan, having found the fire escape, widened his eyes. Although he didn't know what they were talking about, seeing them bump fists, he eagerly joined in, bumping his fist against theirs. "Heh heh, good brothers."
Lu Zhi's lips curved slightly. "Did you find it?"
Lan Yushan nodded repeatedly. "Come, this way."
The fire escape was beside the second-floor restrooms. The dark passage was so black that one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, whether going up or down.
*Clack.*
The beam of a flashlight illuminated the stairs. Lan Yushan voluntarily took the lead. "I'll go first."
His ability was, after all, in detection. By walking ahead, he could identify problems and avoid danger more quickly.
"What's wrong?" After taking two steps, Luo Shiyu noticed Lu Zhi suddenly bend down.
Lu Zhi replied, "My shoelace is untied. You go ahead."
Luo Shiyu said nothing and followed Lan Yushan.
Lu Zhi looked up to see Luo Shiyu ascend the corner. Only then did he, with a peculiar expression, reach into his pocket. The wooden figure Shen Qi had given him seemed to have moved just now.
To confirm, he took it out of his pocket and was so shocked his mouth fell slightly open.
What was originally just a wooden figure in human shape had now transformed into a miniature version of Shen Qi.
The puppet's eyes were closed, its features exquisitely perfect, as if molded from Shen Qi himself. It was either his son or an illegitimate child!!!