33: Chapter 33 Tap...tap...tap...

Night fell.

Occasionally, short screams echoed from the distance, only to be quickly swallowed by the deathly silence.

An invisible pressure permeated the air, making it difficult to breathe.

Several people leaned against the walls of the corridor; no one spoke, leaving only the sound of suppressed breathing.

Another shrill scream drifted over from a nearby building.

Tang Ningfei immediately turned her head to look at Gu Changming, who had been standing at the corner of the stairs, her voice strained. "Is it... coming toward us?"

Although the two newcomers, including Zhao Chenghan, didn't know why Tang Ningfei was asking, they also looked toward Gu Changming.

Gu Changming glanced outside. After a few seconds, he withdrew his gaze and responded flatly, "Yeah. It's coming."

He could share the Mimic Beast's vision, so he could naturally see the Shadow Devourer's movements.

Although he had intended to lure the creature over, it had proactively approached his side before he could even act.

As his words fell, their hearts sank, and their bodies began to tremble slightly.

Gu Changming took in their reactions, his tone still devoid of emotion. "Hide well."

Not long after Gu Changming finished speaking...

The sound of "tap... tap..." footsteps clearly drifted up from the stairwell below.

"It—it's coming up! Should we run? We'll definitely run into it!" Beside them, Lu Shiyao's voice carried a hint of a sob.

Tang Ningfei pursed her lips tightly and instinctively looked at Gu Changming, wanting to ask for his opinion.

Although they had only been in contact for a day, she had already subconsciously come to see him as the decision-maker of this squad.

"Hide," Gu Changming said. "It doesn't necessarily know we're here. If we don't proactively expose ourselves, there's still a good chance we can avoid it."

Once he finished speaking, Gu Changming was the first to take action.

His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. Then, with a nimble leap, his hands grabbed a concrete beam above the stairwell. Using his core strength, he pressed himself against the ceiling like a gecko, blending into the shadows.

Unless someone specifically looked up and checked carefully, it would be extremely difficult to spot him.

Seeing him act first, the others immediately moved as well.

Zhou Tunan and the other two retreated back into the corridor, quickly ducking behind their own apartment doors. Only half a face and one eye were visible as they nervously observed the movements in the stairwell.

Meanwhile, Zhao Chenghan and his companion ran to the very end of the corridor, hiding behind the corner of another emergency exit door in the distance.

Watching their actions, Tang Ningfei didn't follow. Instead, after glancing at Gu Changming, she immediately cast a Light Feather Technique on herself.

Following Gu Changming's example, she jumped up and nimbly clung to the shadows of the pipes on the other side of the ceiling, holding her breath.

After everyone had hidden, the footsteps drew closer and closer.

"Tap... tap..."

The sound echoed in the empty stairwell, exceptionally clear.

Gu Changming held his breath, his eyes locked onto the corner of the stairs below.

Finally, after a brief pause in the footsteps, a distorted figure, seemingly composed of dark shadows, slowly appeared from the corner below.

The entity didn't seem to notice the hidden group or Gu Changming's presence. It simply followed some instinct, continuing to walk up with that slow, unsettling rhythm.

One step, then another.

It walked directly beneath Gu Changming and Tang Ningfei.

They were so close that Gu Changming felt as if he could smell a bizarre scent from it, even though the creature actually had no odor.

Gu Changming shifted his eyes slightly, glancing at Tang Ningfei ahead of him.

She was pressed tightly against the cold pipe, her lips a thin line, not even daring to let her eyelashes flutter.

Seeing her like this, Gu Changming's original intention to intentionally reveal a flaw subsided.

He had originally planned to make a small noise to let the Shadow Devourer discover them. That way, he could use the ensuing struggle to guide them toward discovering the hidden rules of this Assessment.

However, seeing how terrified she was, Gu Changming worried that if he feigned an opening and she panicked or failed to react in time, it might cost her her life.

However, when Gu Changming withdrew his gaze...

He found that the Shadow Devourer's footsteps had stopped.

It had stopped on the landing of this floor.

That blurred shadow head turned slightly, seemingly "looking" at the empty iron frame of the emergency exit door they had dismantled earlier.

Then, it walked toward the doorway.

Just as it neared the frame, it stopped again.

Then, its blurred head leaned forward, "extending" into the corridor at an inhuman, extremely eerie angle, as if sensing something.

Hiding in the shadows behind a door, Zhou Tunan abruptly pulled his head back, his back instantly drenched in cold sweat.

Further away, Lu Shiyao and her companion covered their mouths, terrified of making any sound.

The airIt seemed to have frozen..

Time felt as if it were being stretched out at that moment.

Tang Ningfei stared fixedly at the stationary shadow below. Her fingertips trembled slightly, and an impulse to strike first surged in her heart.

Since they were going to be discovered anyway, striking first might give them the upper hand...

Of course, in the end, her reason firmly suppressed this impulse.

She knew she was just too nervous and afraid of being found.

The Shadow Devourer stood at the doorway, its blurred head maintaining its position leaning into the corridor for several full seconds.

For Zhou Tunan and the others, every second felt like a year.

Finally, it slowly withdrew the part of itself that had extended into the corridor. Its blurred head swayed slightly twice, as if confirming something.

Then, it turned around and resumed its eerie pace, unhurriedly walking toward the upper floors.

"Tap... tap... tap..."

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away.

Only when the distorted figure had completely disappeared around the bend of the stairs did the frozen air in the stairwell seem to flow again.

"Whew..."

Tang Ningfei, hiding above, let out a sigh of relief.

After waiting quietly for a moment and confirming there was no more movement, Tang Ningfei dropped lightly from the pipe she was hiding on, as if her strength had left her. Her toes made almost no sound when they touched the ground.

Gu Changming also jumped down nimbly at the same time, without making any sound.

Tang Ningfei looked at Gu Changming, her voice still carrying a trace of imperceptible tension. "It should... be okay now, right?"

Gu Changming nodded. He was about to say "We're safe for now," but his expression suddenly froze, and the words died in his throat.

Tang Ningfei immediately noticed something was wrong with his expression. Her heart tightened, and she asked urgently in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Gu Changming didn't answer immediately. Instead, he looked up slightly toward the stairs leading to the floor above, his brow furrowed.

He listened intently; the corridor was deathly silent.

"The footsteps... are gone."

Hearing this, Tang Ningfei's eyes also widened instantly.

When the entity came from below, its eerie footsteps could be heard from far away. How could it have gone up for such a short time and now be completely silent?

At the same time.

At the other end of the corridor, at the distant corner of the emergency exit.

Zhao Chenghan stood with his back to the stairwell, and in front of him...

Lu Shiyao covered her mouth tightly, her eyes bulging with extreme terror as she stared fixedly behind Zhao Chenghan.

At the open emergency exit...

That distorted figure, like a flowing shadow, had somehow appeared there silently.

No sound, no warning.