The Missing Corpse

　　The four of them trudged through the long road, braving the wind and snow, thankfully encountering no strange events along the way. 

　　They successfully returned to their lodging.

　　However, upon their return, they sensed an unsettling atmosphere in the house. 

　　Several people sat motionless in the living room, their faces pale.

　　A deathly silence hung in the air, an atmosphere even more dreadful than when they first arrived.

　　Lin scanned the faces of those present, swiftly confirming that no one was missing, which offered a slight relief.

　　"What happened?" Chi asked.

　　One of the men sitting there, trembling, said, "Upstairs, the corpse... it's gone."

　　"Just the corpse is gone?" Chi said, "Are you all newcomers? What's there to be afraid of, a corpse going missing?"

　　"It was eaten," a girl beside him whimpered, tears streaming down her face, "There was blood everywhere..."

　　Chi exchanged glances with Xiao, realizing that they couldn't get any useful information from these people. 

　　Thus, the four decided to check out the situation on the third floor.

　　As they climbed the stairs, reaching the second floor, Lin noticed something amiss—bloodstains appeared on the wall.

　　The house was made of wood, so the walls were also a brownish color. 

　　Lin saw some black spots clinging to the wall, like something had splattered against it.

　　"Be careful, there might be something up there," Chi, leading the way, warned.

　　Finally, they reached the third floor, and Lin finally understood what they meant by "eaten."

　　The spot where the corpse had been lay empty. 

　　If that was all, it wouldn't have been a problem. 

　　But the corpse was gone, replaced by something else. 

　　The floor was covered in shredded flesh and bones, as if the corpse had been savagely torn apart and devoured, leaving only scattered fragments.

　　Lin, upon witnessing this scene, couldn't help but turn pale, feeling a churning unease in his stomach.

　　"It ate pretty clean," Xiao said, accustomed to such sights, "I wonder what kind of thing it is."

　　"Sigh," Chi sighed, "Let's go. Lock the third floor, we'll all stay on the second floor tonight."

　　"Alright," Xiao nodded, "I'll go ask them about what happened."

　　They returned to the first floor and questioned them further about what had happened.

　　The people downstairs finally told them about what occurred in the house.

　　After Chi and the others left, the group searched the house. 

　　While searching the second floor, they heard a very strange sound coming from the third floor. 

　　It sounded like someone chewing on something, accompanied by the sound of gulping down food.

　　They then counted their numbers, confirming that no one from their group was on the third floor, and began to sweat cold.

　　They dared not go upstairs and froze on the second floor, observing the situation. 

　　When the chewing sound ceased, they mustered their courage to go up to the third floor—only to find the floor covered in shredded flesh and bones.

　　"It's terrifying," a senior girl in the group, her expression already dazed, said, "This is only my third time entering this place. Why am I encountering such a world? Can we get out of here alive? What is that thing..."

　　No one could answer her question, and the room fell silent.

　　Chi sighed softly, stating that he was hungry and wanted to find something to eat. 

　　He asked if anyone wanted to join him in the kitchen.

　　Lin said, "I'll go with you."

　　Ruan sat beside Lin, her voice soft and gentle, "Lin, I'm hungry too. I want to eat noodles."

　　Lin replied, "I'll see if we have any. If we do, I'll cook for you."

　　"Okay," Ruan smiled, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Lin, "Be careful, okay?"

　　Lin nodded.

　　The kitchen was on the left side of the living room. 

　　They didn't have gas, only a primitive wood-burning stove.

　　Chi and Lin didn't speak much along the way, only after Chi had lit the fire in the kitchen did he say, "I'm not going to tell them everything."

　　"What do you mean?" Lin was taken aback.

　　Chi glanced silently towards the doorway, ensuring no one was outside, before whispering, "I can't be sure that everyone in our team is human."

　　Lin felt goosebumps rise on his back at those words.

　　"This has happened before," Chi said, "We thought our teammates were actually teammates, but they were those things."

　　Lin asked, "Then why do you believe me? What if I'm one of those things too?"

　　Chi glanced at him, "You don't look like it."

　　Lin was speechless.

　　Chi continued, "And they don't act like people who've experienced this several times. They're all too panicked, even more than you."

　　Lin felt a little embarrassed at being praised like that, "Actually, I'm pretty scared too."

　　Chi chuckled self-deprecatingly at his words, "What kind of scared is that? The first night I entered this place, I peed my pants three times."

　　Lin thought of the terrifying woman from last night, silently glancing down at his own pants, thinking to himself that he had luckily managed to hold it in...

　　Chi said, "I suggest you keep some clues to yourself too, don't reveal everything."

　　Lin nodded, "I understand. Thanks for reminding me. Can I ask, how many times have you entered this place?"

　　Chi replied, "Six times."

　　"Oh..." Lin tried to process the information Chi had given him, about the door, the team, and some hidden clues.

　　"Thinking about it won't help, just try to survive," Chi chuckled wryly, "Though I think this world is a lost cause."

　　The fire in the stove was ignited, heating the water in the iron pot to a boil.

　　Lin found a basket filled with ingredients nearby, containing noodles, eggs, and even some green vegetables. 

　　He put the noodles in the pot, then fried an egg.

　　The aroma of food filled the kitchen, dispelling the chilling fear. 

　　Chi complimented him, "You have good skills."

　　"It's alright," Lin smiled.

　　He cooked four bowls of noodles, for Chi, Xiao, Lin, and Ruan.

　　He couldn't be bothered with the others.

　　Ruan was also hungry and began to eat her noodles. 

　　Most people make some noise when eating noodles, but she ate the entire bowl silently, not leaving a drop of soup. 

　　After finishing two bowls of noodles, the coldness from being outside finally subsided. 

　　Chi ate while sharing the information they got from the woodcarver, but he didn't reveal everything, keeping the final clue about filling the well a secret.

　　"Could the key be in the coffin?" A man named Zhang, one of the calmer individuals in the team, suggested, "Since the coffin is the key clue, I think it's highly likely..."

　　"Sigh, I hope so," Chi said, "I'm planning to go to the mountain to cut down trees tomorrow morning. All the men will go, the women can accompany them. If it's too cold, they can stay inside the house. But if something happens inside the house, we won't be able to help."

　　After discussion, everyone agreed to Chi's suggestion. 

　　Though some found it too dangerous to go up the mountain in such stormy weather, the real danger in this world wasn't the weather, but those elusive dirty things. 

　　Finishing the coffin and leaving this place as soon as possible was obviously the best option.

　　As they lingered, darkness fell once again.

　　After nightfall, everyone washed up briefly, having no heart for other activities. 

　　They went to their rooms early. 

　　Lin asked why they couldn't all gather together. 

　　Chi explained, "Because if we gather together, everyone will fall asleep at a cirtain time."

　　"What do you mean?" Lin was confused, "You mean everyone will fall asleep at a certain time if they're in the same room?"

　　"Yeah," Chi said, "Maybe it's the mechanism of this world. If the number of people in the same room exceeds a certain threshold, everyone will fall asleep at a fixed time. By then, no matter what happens, we'll be helpless."

　　"Then won't we be at their mercy?" Lin frowned.

　　"Actually, those things can't kill people at will," Chi said, "They need specific conditions to kill people. The higher the difficulty of the door world, the more lenient the conditions, and some conditions are very…unintelligible."

　　Lin asked, "For example?"

　　Chi said, "For example, they can kill people who are wearing shoes."

　　Lin was speechless. 

　　He silently looked down at the shoes on his feet.

　　Seeing his expression, Chi laughed, "I was just giving an example. What if the condition of this world is that they can kill people who aren't wearing shoes? You take off your shoes and die instead. Besides, these conditions aren't singular, some require multiple conditions to be met. Therefore, after summarizing the patterns, it's actually safer to sleep from nightfall to dawn." He paused and continued, "Of course, this is assuming you can actually sleep."

　　Lin's words triggered memories of last night's events. 

　　He glanced at Ruan, who was casually cracking sunflower seeds while sitting beside him, feeling like he had just narrowly escaped death.

　　It felt like one wrong move, and he would become one of those two cold corpses on the third floor.

　　"Go to sleep," Chi said, "Goodnight."

　　Lin nodded, "Goodnight." 

　　He then called out to Ruan, asking her to go to bed.

　　Ruan yawned, casually putting the remaining sunflower seeds on the table. 

　　She rubbed her eyes, muttering, "I'm so sleepy. Let's go to bed early tonight."

　　Lin said, "Alright, let's go to bed early."

　　The third floor, due to last night's incident, was completely unusable, so everyone moved to the second floor.

　　Lin continued to sleep in the same bed with Ruan. 

　　This time, he was prepared and decided to lock the window first. 

　　He also planned to draw the curtains, but they seemed to have been untouched for a long time, and he couldn't move them no matter how hard he tried.

　　Ruan, wearing her pajamas, lay in bed, humming softly, "Lin, it's so cold."