Chapter 066 Is Something Going On?

Just now, when the flashlight suddenly flickered, the four of them instantly went on high alert, shining the light all around, but found nothing.

The main issue was that the flashlight’s illumination range was too small. Even with four people, it was difficult to cover all areas, and given the size of the hall, spotting a ghost of unknown appearance or nature, or even confirming if it had appeared at all, was nearly impossible.

Yet, despite not finding any ghosts, dodging the first supernatural event without harm was a good omen.

Ling Mo glanced around again, forcing himself to remain calm as he said, “We still need a more effective light source. This flashlight just isn’t cutting it.”

“But this is the only flashlight we have, what can we do? Can you conjure another one?” the chubby guy shrugged.

“I actually can.” Ling Mo put away his flashlight and raised his hands to start crafting his abilities.

Suddenly, many white lines appeared between his hands, gradually forming the shape of a flashlight. The entire process took a few minutes, and once completed, the white lines materialized into an entirely new flashlight.

This flashlight was significantly larger than the one they were using, even thicker than Ling Mo’s forearm—it looked quite impressive.

Seeing this, the chubby guy was momentarily stunned. “Oh right, I almost forgot about your abilities. Is this a high-intensity flashlight?”

Ling Mo nodded and looked at Xia Xinyan beside him, explaining, “This is one of the new items I unlocked in the last dungeon. I didn’t expect it to come in handy this time.”

Xia Xinyan smiled and nodded. “Mo Mo is amazing.”

He wanted compliments… so that was a compliment.

Upon hearing her words, Ling Mo instantly felt it was worth it.

His original intention was to showcase his new ability to Xia Xinyan. Although this dungeon was subpar, it would not be in vain if he achieved that goal.

“So how strong is this flashlight?” someone asked curiously.

“How strong, huh…” Ling Mo teased them a bit, raising the flashlight and aiming it down the corridor, flipping the switch.

Then—they saw the sun.

The illumination turned the hallway into daytime, and it’s not an exaggeration to say this brightness could blind someone instantly—truly blinding.

The chubby guy was left dumbfounded. “…Wow, the system definitely didn’t expect you could do this.”

The eerie atmosphere dissipated in an instant.

If they encountered a ghost, this brightness might actually purify it right away.

“Alright, now that the lighting issue is resolved, let’s go find the ghost,” Ling Mo continued. “The ghost earlier must have come looking for us; does Brother Haonan have any clues?”

“Uh… there are,” Haonan seemed to still be figuring out the various devices in the vehicle, and it was clear he was a bit flustered. “Um… I just found out there’s something here that detects activity levels. It seems the higher the activity level, the more dangerous the ghost—at least that’s the gist of it.”

After a pause, he continued, “The highest activity intensity just reached level 4, but now it’s dropped to level 0. There are still traces of residual activity on the map, and the last traces were… in the study on the second floor.”

“So we need to go to the study on the second floor?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, how do we get there?”

“Uh… isn’t there a corridor in front of you? If you go into that corridor, you should see the stairs to the second floor.”

I have to say, this villa is really huge. Even with Brother Haonan directing them from the outside via the map, they still fumbled around for a long time before finding the study on the second floor.

Throughout this, nothing unexpected happened; with Ling Mo’s sun-like flashlight, the horror effects were really reduced, and even Ling Mo wasn’t that scared anymore.

However, he did notice one thing: Xia Xinyan seemed completely unafraid from the very beginning, not showing even the slightest sign of fear.

Was she not afraid of ghosts?

He had even fantasized that Xia Xinyan would be so frightened she’d hide in his arms—wasn’t that the standard routine for couples watching horror movies? Perhaps that could have been a secondary motivation for him to push through this dungeon.

Unfortunately, it seemed… that was a bit hard to achieve.

—Xia Xinyan was indeed not afraid of ghosts.

She’d trained herself.

Even if she were scared, after experiencing dozens or hundreds of ghost-themed dungeons, she wouldn’t be frightened anymore.

To put it plainly, this game not only enhances players’ strength but also subtly works to address all their shortcomings, like timidity or recklessness—these flaws would be detrimental for player survival during the upcoming Cataclysm, so the game forces players to change in various ways.

Of course, it wasn’t all successful; there were many who couldn’t handle it and quit directly.

In her past life, after her first encounter with a ghost dungeon, Xia Xinyan had been so traumatized she didn’t touch the game for over a month.

So she understood better than anyone what Ling Mo was thinking right now.

But seeing him look scared and holding back his fear was quite amusing.

She had no intention of exposing him; after all, men are creatures that care about their pride, and she understood that. Plus, at the right moment, she would have to play along to satisfy some of Ling Mo’s ideas—she couldn’t let him end up being scared off the game for a month like in her past life.

The villa’s study was also quite large, and it was worth mentioning that as soon as they entered, they could distinctly feel a sudden drop in temperature.

The chubby guy immediately exhaled a breath of cold air, crossing his arms and rubbing them. “It’s really cold; I think it should be right here.”

Brother Haonan’s voice then came through the intercom. “Hey! Activity level has reached 6! There’s a response! Get ready, prepare the camera! Then just shout its name!”

“Is it just taking a picture?” the chubby guy asked.

“Um… seems like it; just do it and see.”

The camera was an older model, seemingly a must-have item for ghost hunting. Hearing Brother Haonan say that, the chubby guy suggested, “Let’s all find a corner to stand in. This way, we’ll definitely catch sight of the ghost and can take a picture in just one direction.”

The four of them then chose a corner with not much in it and all took out their cameras, aiming them at the room. The chubby guy took a deep breath, composed himself, and began to shout: “Zhang Qingfeng! Zhang Qingfeng, are you there?! Hello?!”

“There’s a response!” Brother Haonan’s excited voice came through, “Activity level is at level 8! Pay attention!”

However, nothing happened in the room.

After waiting for a while, the chubby guy could no longer hold back. “Are you sure this is how it works? Can we get some reliable info? The ghost isn’t showing up.”

“It shouldn’t be like this…” Brother Haonan pondered the files for a moment and then figured it out, “Oh, you need to use the Spirit Communication Device to talk to the ghost. If you shout directly, you’ll just attract its attention over to you.”

The Spirit Communication Device was like a radio, displaying a very familiar frequency—85.5 MHz.

Once they turned on the device, a continuous noise came through, with no human voice in sight. The chubby guy yelled once more: “Hey, Zhang Qingfeng, are you there? If so, just respond!”

“Zzz—zzz—zzz… Yes, is there something?”

Amid the chaotic noise, a very plain sentence suddenly mixed in.

The chubby guy froze.