Li looked at the bright moon outside the window.

　　As the hands of his watch crossed midnight, it meant they were now bound to this village.

　　They could only leave on July 8th at midnight, one month later.

　　A month…that was a long time, even by their standards.

　　He still vividly remembered Ye taking him to meet Yuan for the first time.

　　Yuan, who lived in room 1006, gave Li an immediate impression of disbelief.

　　He was the one who had lived in this terrifying place for four years (Yuan had lived there for four years before). Could it be true?

　　He wore rimless glasses and a crisp, well-ironed suit.

　　He was tall and had a refined, kind face.

　　He looked…nothing like the building manager Li had imagined.

　　"Are you the new resident?" Yuan accepted him easily, as if it were a common occurrence.

　　"Yes, . I…"

　　"Don’t say anything." Yuan immediately told him to sit down in the room and then said to Ye , "Ye, go and tell everyone about the new arrival."

　　Ye looked at Yuan at that time, her face flushed like a ripe apple.

　　She couldn’t even look directly at him.

　　Then, shyly, she nodded and walked out.

　　Yuan’s room was about the same size as Li’s.

　　However, it was more simply decorated.

　　"Don’t be too nervous," Yuan said with a smile, "Everyone who enters this apartment for the first time feels lost. And when I tell them the truth, they feel like their worldview is collapsing. It’s difficult to accept and believe."

　　"I…I’m still confused about all this." Li put his hand on his forehead and said, “Mr. Yuan…do I really have to live here forever?"

　　“Would you like coffee or tea?" Yuan didn't answer directly.

　　Instead, he took a ceramic cup from the cupboard and said, "I have Hangzhou Dragon Well tea. And for coffee, I have imported Colombian and Brazilian coffee beans. My parents send them to me from abroad."

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　　“Coffee…I always feel like it’s no different from Chinese medicine." Li said with a wry smile, “Hmm, tea is fine. By the way, no goji berries.”

　　“Okay. Would you like some chrysanthemums?”

　　“Sure.”

　　Yuan looked about twenty-four or five years old, a little older than Li, but he acted very mature.

　　After brewing the tea, he politely handed it to Li.

　　Then he said, "Believe what I’m about to tell you. I can assure you that I’m not lying. However, I can’t guarantee how much of it you’ll be able to accept."

　　"I…I understand."

　　Then, Yuan told Li everything.

　　When he finished, Li’s expression was one of complete shock.

　　He couldn’t accept such a bizarre explanation.

　　But…it was true.

　　He had tried to go outside the alley to look back at the apartment.

　　Sure enough…it had disappeared without a trace.

　　This was truly an inexplicable building.

　　“I understand how you’re feeling, but…I must tell you…you will die if you leave this apartment for more than forty-eight hours. If you don’t believe me, I can show you some videos. To convince people, I used to…”

　　“I believe you." Li accepted this very easily.

　　Then he said, "So…you’ve all encountered…encountered…" in those places instructed by the blood words.

　　"Yes." Yuan’s face turned pale. "Unfortunately, I’ve ceased to be an atheist since I entered this apartment."

　　“The existence of…the supernatural?” Li’s hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

　　Yuan pushed up his glasses and said, “I…looking back on my life, I’m shocked I’m still alive today. Just remembering it all makes me doubt how I even survived it."

　　Li then asked a question.

　　“You said…usually, there wouldn’t be more than six months between blood word instructions. So…for the same resident, how long is the usual interval between blood word instructions?"

　　“That’s hard to say." Yuan continued, "It will be faster at first, with a new set of blood words appearing every few months. However, the longer it goes on, the longer the intervals. I’ve completed five blood word instructions, and the last one was almost a year ago.”

　　“So…that means we have to live here indefinitely if there are no instructions?”

　　“Yes. There’s no other way. The story about completing ten blood word instructions and being able to leave was also told to me by the old residents when I first moved in. Those old residents are all dead now."

　　Li knew very well…he would probably have to live in this apartment for a long time.

　　Then, Yuan took him to meet the other residents in the apartment.

　　The following people left a deep impression on Li: Hua and Lian, a couple who lived in room 706.

　　The couple was very young, they seemed to have just graduated from university.

　　They had moved into the apartment a year before Li.

　　Li got along well with them.

　　There were also two other people who he couldn’t forget.

　　One was Tang, who lived in room 502.

　　The other was Oda Saki, who lived in room 402.

　　Tang was an extremely gloomy and taciturn young man with icy eyes.

　　He looked at everyone as if they were his mortal enemies.

　　Oda Saki was a Japanese college student studying in China.

　　She spoke Chinese very well.

　　She always had a calm and composed expression, making her seem inscrutable.

　　Another reason why Saki left a deep impression on Li was…she was so beautiful that Li was amazed.

　　She was a classic Gothic lolita.

　　Since Li moved into the apartment, he naturally met Oda Saki, his next-door neighbor, often.

　　At first, he wanted to get to know these experienced residents.

　　Ye was very easy-going, but Oda Saki always seemed very distant.

　　When she wasn’t busy, she was always reading a Japanese edition of “The Tale of Genji.”

　　Li remembered that he had specially gone to Oda Saki’s house with Ye to say goodbye yesterday when he went out.

　　She was still as cold as ever.

　　She didn’t say a word throughout the whole time.