Chapter 867: Chapter 477: Fear Spreads

“It’s impossible, there’s no way Wu Mayun would have followed us here!”

Zhang Xiaomo quickly dismissed the thought that sprang to mind.

After her transformation, Wu Mayun had engaged in indiscriminate killing; anyone who met her requirements for intrusion would be affected and killed, so it wasn’t possible that she was targeting someone specifically.

Therefore, the chance that Wu Mayun came here purposefully was almost zero.

Soon, she turned her suspicions toward Auntie Deng, who had just entered the room. The fleeting shadow seemed somewhat familiar; she wondered if it could have been Auntie Deng.

As soon as the thought arose, Zhang Xiaomo rushed to the kitchen door, turned on the magnetic glow, and with a quick glance, indeed, the kitchen was empty, but the faucet was still running, and fruits being washed were scattered in the sink below.

“She really went upstairs!”

Zhang Xiaomo gasped, immediately turned around, and dashed up the stairs.

This strangeness, even if not Wu Mayun herself, could still be related, so its strength should not be underestimated.

As she was about to reach the second floor, concerned for her mother Luo Wenli’s safety, Zhang Xiaomo immediately shouted, “Mom, hide right now! There’s something wrong with Auntie Deng, don’t respond to me after you hear this.”

After saying this, she stepped onto the second-floor corridor, and the light from the magnetic knife went out.

Zhang Xiaomo held the knife in both hands, angled in front of her, and slowly moved forward.

Right now, she thought of nothing else; since her eyes were completely useless in this thick darkness, her other senses were involuntarily heightened.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaomo’s sense of hearing and touch were extremely sensitive, capturing the movements around her. Any slight noise would make her stop immediately, with the blade pointing in that direction.

She was also very familiar with the layout of the rooms on the second floor. The room nearest the stairway was Zhang Chengjing’s study, Luo Wenli said she was going up to tidy up the bedding, so she was likely in the bedroom, not the study.

Further down the corridor, there was Zhang Xiaomo’s bedroom and a guest room. However, she hadn’t come upstairs last night as she had slept on the sofa with Yan Junze.

The last room in the corridor was used for storing clothing and bedding for different seasons, filled with tall cabinets. Luo Wenli might be in there as well.

But what if Luo Wenli stepped out after the sudden darkness?

Therefore, Zhang Xiaomo couldn’t ignore any room, moving silently in the dark towards the study, the knife blade touching the closed door.

She then felt for the doorknob, pressed it gently downwards, the lock making a slight noise as she pushed the door open.

Zhang Xiaomo, attentive to the movements around her body, stepped into the study when she perceived nothing amiss, but she didn’t venture in deep, instead standing by the door, softly asking, “Mom, are you there?”

No one answered in the dark.

Zhang Xiaomo called out once more, but still, there was silence.

She backed out and shut the door to the study.

Just then, a draft of air blew suddenly from behind her as if someone walked by and stirred the air.

Zhang Xiaomo spun around, the magnetic knife emitting a glow, the faint light dispelling the darkness around her. She looked quickly, but saw nothing.

In front of a large wardrobe at the end of the corridor, Luo Wenli tiptoed open the closet door, reached inside with both hands, pushed the bedding inside aside, and then stepped in.

She had already come out to stand in the corridor outside the bedroom before hearing Zhang Xiaomo shout, but noticed that there seemed to be some noise in the dark corridor.

Because it was too dark to see anything, a primal fear spread from inside her, and Luo Wenli originally intended to make her way downstairs in the dark.

However, the sudden noises in the corridor frightened her, and she turned around, fumbled back into the room, and closed the door.

The sudden darkness that had fallen seemed very unusual, as Luo Wenli, having spent years with Zhang Chengjing, was clear about the typical signs of paranormal activity, although she herself was not an Exorcist.

This situation was definitely not normal.

Shortly after, Zhang Xiaomo’s voice rang out. Luo Wenli was just about to respond when she heard Xiaomo’s warning not to make a sound.

She was startled, immediately covered her mouth, and a sense of foreboding rose within her.

Zhang Xiaomo’s instruction not to answer meant that making a sound would draw attention, which suggested that something could be lurking in the darkness.

After crawling into the wardrobe, Luo Wenli kept her breathing as steady as possible, then slowly began to close the sliding door of the wardrobe.

For fear of making a noise, she was very careful in closing the door, pulling it bit by bit until the wardrobe could not be further closed.

This barrier made her feel somewhat safer, but both inside the wardrobe and outside, it was eerily quiet with no sound at all.

In such an environment, Luo Wenli could hear the movements in the corridor outside very clearly.

While she was closing the wardrobe, she heard Zhang Xiaomo’s voice at the other end of the corridor calling out, “Mom, are you there?” then it went quiet again.

Because she was too far away, Luo Wenli didn’t dare to respond, worried that maybe something in the dark would come towards her sound before Zhang Xiaomo got close.

She would only respond when Xiaomo found this place and got closer to her.

For now, she was safe as long as she didn’t walk around in the dark; whatever was hiding might not be able to find her.