When the second hand struck the hour, the tune of a nursery rhyme echoed down the corridor.


    Qin Nuo nced nervously to both sides. Although the rm clock''s ring was much quieter than a gunshot, he wasn''t sure if it would attract the White Shadow fromst night.


    Tap, tap...


    A few crisp sounds emerged in the darkness. The firelight could only illuminate a limited space, and Qin Nuo wasn''t sure what it was, but he had already picked up the rm clock, ready to dash back into the room at any moment.


    A chill crept down from above.


    Qin Nuo looked up abruptly and saw a head peeking down from the doorframe.


    A grayish head, with pitch-ck eyes, revealed a horrifying grin: "Hee hee, little brother, I''m here!"


    Qin Nuo tightened his grip on the Grave Ghost Stone in his hand, ready to hurl it, but upon seeing it was the child, he breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Can''t you just walk over normally? I almost had a heart attack," Qin Nuo said, clutching his chest."I wanted to give you a surprise!" the child grinned.


    "Rece ''surprise'' with ''scare''," Qin Nuo replied, closing the door and handing the rm clock back to the child, holding an oilmp in one hand and slipping the other into his pocket.


    The child hugged the rm clock and flipped onto Qin Nuo''s shoulders.


    It wasn''t heavy, but it was very cold.


    Qin Nuo was a bit speechless: "Can you not sit on my shoulders?"


    "Brother hasn''t ridden a horse, so little brother has to listen to big brother, giddy up!" The child swung his body energetically.


    Qin Nuo shook his head helplessly and let him be.


    In the deathly silent asylum, a young man in a white coat, carrying an oilmp, with a gray little ghost sitting on his shoulder, walked through the long corridor filled with horror and danger.


    "Little brother, where are we going?" the child looked around, blinking eagerly.


    "The hospital hides many exciting and fun things, and we need to find them."


    As Qin Nuo spoke, he returned to the ce where he heard the singingst night, pushed open the window, and the bleak night wind blew in.


    "The singing I heard yesterday came from outside. Could there be patients outside the asylum?"


    Qin Nuo murmured to himself.


    The main door on the first floor was locked. He had once tried to secretly break the iron lock to see the world outside the hospital.


    But it seemed as if some forbidden power was at y; even using all his Ghost Power, the iron lock couldn''t be broken.


    During the day, thick fog would envelop the windows,pletely blocking the view, making it impossible to even determine if the asylum had a backyard or a garden.


    Clearly, the asylum waspletely sealed off, and the instance''s range was confined to the hospital.


    "If it''s sealed, how did the singinge from outside?"


    Qin Nuo wondered, looking up, and suddenly noticed an open-air balcony on the upper floor, and he immediately understood.


    Retracting his body, Qin Nuo rushed upstairs. After wandering around the corridor on the fourth floor, he quickly found an alcove leading to the open-air balcony outside.


    Opening the door, Qin Nuo stepped outside. The balcony wasn''trge, with tiles painted with various things,cking any logic, as if mischievous patients had painted them casually.


    The balcony was empty and very quiet.


    "The singer isn''t here, do they appear irregrly? I can''t just squat here all night, can I?" Qin Nuo thought.


    "Little brother, it''s ufortable outside, let''s go back," the child suddenly said.


    Qin Nuo thought for a moment and had to nod.


    Unable to find the singer, he could only focus on searching for puzzle pieces for now ande backter when he had time to try his luck.


    As Qin Nuo turned to leave, his vision gradually brightened.


    Looking up, he saw that in the starless night sky, dark clouds slowly drifted by, revealing a crescent moon. The eerie blue moonlight poured down.


    "So the Horror World does have a moon," Qin Nuo murmured.


    Having stayed in the pitch-ck asylum for so long, Qin Nuo had thought that even though the Horror World had day and night, there was no such thing as a sun or moon.


    "La~...~..."


    Just as Qin Nuo was about to push the door open, a familiar song suddenly echoed in his ears.


    The singing came from behind, carrying an ethereal quality.


    Qin Nuo turned his head and saw that, at some point, a barefoot girl had appeared on the railing.


    The girl looked about eleven or twelve years old, wearing a white shirt and shorts, looking very fair. Her small feet danced on the palm-wide railing, lost in her own world, performing ballet.


    Qin Nuo raised an eyebrow: "When did this girl show up?"


    Though he asked, he felt a sense of excitement.


    He had found the source of the singing!


    Qin Nuo walked over, smiling kindly: "Little sister, why are you here alone? Where are your parents?"


    After speaking, Qin Nuo felt something was off. Did he sound like a kidnapper?


    The girl didn''t respond, or perhaps she didn''t hear him, continuing to hum the tune of the ck Swan, rising on her toes to spin, like a light elf dancing joyfully under the dreamy moonlight.


    "Do you want to chat her up? I can help you," the child said.


    Qin Nuo didn''t reply, looking at the girl''s fair face, pondering something.


    The child continued, "Your flirting skills are too low; I have experience, let me teach you!"


    Qin Nuo nced at him, "Can you just keep quiet for a moment?"


    At that moment, the girl''s dance suddenly stopped, her eyes dimmed, and her expression turned sad, as if she couldn''t remember the next part of the song or dance.


    Qin Nuo seized the opportunity to speak again: "Little sister, do you need any help?"


    The girl''s gaze finallynded on Qin Nuo, her eyes lighting up: "I lost something. Can you help me find it?"


    "What did you lose?"


    "A music box. I forgot who gave it to me, but its song helps me remember how to dance the rest of the ballet," the girl said softly, her eyes clear like a pure spring, devoid of any impurity.


    "Do you remember where you lost it?" Qin Nuo asked. A music box is usually palm-sized, and the asylum is sorge, it wouldn''t be easy to find.


    "In a room, it was lost inside, but I''m too scared to go in and look."


    "There''s a very fierce olddy in there!" the girl shrank her head, speaking fearfully.


    "Do you remember the room? Take me to see it, and I''ll try to help you get it back," Qin Nuo offered, like a warm-hearted big brother.


    In reality, he knew there must be a reason the clue pointed to the little girl.


    The little girl must be hiding some secret, and the way to get someone to open up and reveal their secrets is to build a rtionship and gain their trust.


    The hospital''s patients were generally easy to talk to, and for those who weren''t, Qin Nuo could make them easy to talk to.


    Retrieving a music box shouldn''t be too difficult.


    "Really? Thank you so much, you''re such a good person!" The girl''s eyes showed gratitude as she held Qin Nuo''s hand, very thankful.


    Her small hand''s skin was delicate and very cold.


    The child tilted his head and said, "Kids these days are so naive, falling for it so easily."


    Qin Nuo ignored the child''sment and smiled, asking, "What''s your name?"


    The girl opened her mouth, about to answer, but the name seemed stuck in her throat. She fell into thought, then furrowed her brows in distress.


    After a long moment, she shook her head and said, "I don''t seem to have a name."