Others likely need help from adjacent floors to completely clear the corpses on their own floor. If they only focus on removing the corpses on their floor, they might end up with surplus corpses from neighboring floors.

Gu Mian traced his fingers on the grid on the screen as he considered this.

He was on the fifth and sixth floors, with four floors beneath him and two above. The others must have the same limitations, only able to move between two adjacent floors.

He mentally divided the building, as shown on the grid, into four parts from bottom to top.

The first and second floors formed one part, with one group of people.

The third and fourth floors were another part, with a second group.

The fifth and sixth floors, where he was, constituted the third part.

The top-most seventh and eighth floors held the final group.

Eight people had entered this instance in total. Gu Mian guessed that besides himself, Fatty, Chu Changge, and Keke, 007 had likely joined, along with the three men locked in the first-floor storeroom. That made exactly eight people.

Special items couldn't be used in this instance, so Gu Mian was unable to communicate with the others via group chat.

He had no idea which floors the others were on.

Gu Mian himself wasn't in a hurry to clear the corpses. Even if the corpses on his floors turned into ghosts, they would most likely just end up in a staring contest with him. Surely a dozen or so ghosts couldn't gang up and beat him, could they?

He'd entered the instance so abruptly this time that he hadn't brought his chainsaw.

Fortunately, the instance left all the murder weapons in the rooms, allowing players to clearly see how each death had occurred.

For example, the room with the drowned corpse contained a large water tank where it floated. The room where the Binge-eating Ghost died had a long table laden with food. The corpse that was strangled still had a few loops of rope around its neck. Next to the burnt corpse was a bucket of gasoline and a lighter.

The dismembered corpse's room was rather gory; arms and legs were scattered about, and a bloody axe leaned against a corner.

Gu Mian took the large axe from one of the rooms, figuring that if the corpses here turned into ghosts after five hours and tried to gang up on him, the axe in his hand could at least serve as a deterrent.

The countdown showed only four hours and twenty-nine minutes remaining, but Gu Mian still hadn't seen any sign of a task.

I need to complete tasks to find out the locations of corpses on other floors. Only by knowing which floors have surplus corpses can I help the others. Gu Mian frowned, looking at the screen which only displayed room numbers on its grid.

The instance is supposed to issue tasks periodically, but half an hour has passed and I haven't seen a shadow of one. Do I have to trigger it myself?

Thinking this, Gu Mian looked at the corpse on the floor with a swollen belly, as if it had swallowed a washbasin. This was a corpse that had died from overeating.

It had originally died comfortably, sitting in a chair by the dining table, until Gu Mian set his sights on the seat beneath its buttocks.

After searching two floors, Gu Mian wanted to find a place to sit and rest. He came to this room, violently pushed the pitiful Binge-eating Ghost off its chair, and plopped down himself.

Perhaps these corpses issue the tasks? Maybe I need to interact with them to trigger one? Gu Mian pondered.

With this in mind, he approached the round-bellied Binge-eating Ghost on the floor, contemplating how to interact with it.

This corpse was still clutching food when it died; it clearly wanted to eat even in death. If I stuff all the food from the table into its mouth, it will surely be moved enough to give me a task.

As he thought this, Gu Mian turned to look at a large watermelon on the table.

Just as he rolled up his sleeves, preparing to get to work, the large screen on the adjacent wall suddenly flashed a few times. Then, a line of text appeared on it—

[The lady in Room 608 seems distressed lately. Apparently, she lost her silver necklace with a strawberry pendant. She hopes you can help her find it. As a reward, she's willing to reveal the locations of two corpses in the building.]

Gu Mian paused the hand that was about to commit a misdeed, stood up, and looked at the text that had suddenly appeared on the display.

So this is one of the tasks the instance issues periodically?

Helping a ghost find her necklace... this task seems quite mundane.

Gu Mian remembered the charred black corpse in Room 608. It was burned so badly that its gender was indeterminable. Unexpectedly, even in such a state, it was still concerned about its necklace.

Completing this task will unlock the locations of two corpses. Gu Mian glanced at the large screen again, then looked away.

The instance only released the first task after half an hour. If tasks are released at this rate, they won't be able to unlock all the corpse locations in the building within the five-hour limit.

Mulling this over, Gu Mian headed toward Room 608 and soon arrived.

The scorched corpse lay right in the middle of the room's floor. Not far from it were a half-empty bucket of gasoline and a lighter.

Gu Mian squatted down to examine the body on the floor. This must be the lady who issued the task.

He observed the corpse at his feet for a moment, then reached out to lift it and check the ground beneath—perhaps the necklace was simply trapped under her.

After confirming the necklace wasn't pinned beneath her, Gu Mian searched the corpse from top to bottom, wondering if she might have hidden it on herself.

The corpse was charred; it crumbled at the slightest touch. There was nowhere on it to hide anything. Gu Mian found nothing.

Next, he searched the entirety of Room 608, even checking the gasoline bucket, but still found no trace of the silver necklace.

Since it's not here, it might be in another corpse's room.

Perhaps it was stolen by another corpse.

The ghosts in this instance really have low moral standards. Stealing a necklace from someone burned to such a state is truly unethical.

Gu Mian immediately went to the other rooms, intending to find the thieving corpse.

He searched from room to room and quickly located the necklace.

It was around the neck of the corpse in Room 605. Unfortunately, the occupant of Room 605 had drowned; their body was submerged at the bottom of a huge water tank.

Gu Mian peered through the tank at the necklace around the corpse's neck. It indeed had a strawberry pendant. It seems the corpse in the tank stole the necklace and put it on.

The corpse had sunk to the bottom. To get the necklace from its neck, he would have to jump into the tank.

Jumping in probably wouldn't lead to anything good. The corpse inside might suddenly reach out and scratch me. I'd be at a disadvantage in the tank.

So, Gu Mian emulated Sima Guang: he picked up the axe and smashed it against the transparent glass tank with all his might.

Gu Mian used his full strength. A crisp sound of shattering glass instantly filled the room. The glass tank was smashed in one go; shards splattered onto the floor and were then washed away by the gushing water.

Soon, the water level dropped to the bottom.

Gu Mian smashed the axe around the broken opening a few more times to widen it, then reached in to drag out the bloated, waterlogged corpse.