7 AM.
The sky was still dark.
Not even a hint of dawn broke through. Thick, gray fog pressed down over the city like a soaked, freezing cloth, smothering everything beneath it. Even the sunlight seemed locked out.
The police car moved along the empty road.
Tires rolled through shallow water, sending up faint splashes that echoed dully inside the silent vehicle.
No one spoke.
The silence was heavy.
Oppressive.
Lin Wan sat in the passenger seat, her face pale—paler than the fog outside.
She hadn't slept all night.
A dull, throbbing pain pulsed at her temples, spreading slowly through her skull, as if something inside was knocking… again and again.
—"You will end up like them."
That voice.
Cold. Hoarse.
It clung to her mind like a nail driven deep, impossible to pull out.
"...We're here."
Zhang's voice finally broke the silence.
The car came to a stop.
The engine died.
And the stillness outside rushed in.
Ahead of them lay a fenced-off wasteland.
Rust-covered wire mesh surrounded the area. Dead weeds swayed weakly in the wind.
A crooked iron gate hung loosely on its hinges, its seal long faded and peeling, barely clinging to the metal.
Beyond it—
A building stood in silence.
Nanling Sanatorium.
Larger than expected.
Deader than imagined.
The entire structure looked like a corpse abandoned for decades—cold, lifeless. The windows were hollow black holes. The walls were cracked, peeling, on the verge of collapse.
But the strangest thing—
Was the silence.
No birds.
No insects.
Even the wind seemed to vanish the moment it touched the building.
"This place… isn't right," Zhang said quietly.
Lin Wan didn't respond.
She had already opened the car door.
The moment her foot touched the damp ground—
She froze.
A chill shot up from beneath her feet, racing through her entire body.
Not cold.
Something else.
The feeling of being watched.
Clinging. Cold.
Like something brushing against her skin.
Slowly—
She looked up.
Third floor.
The middle window.
Dark.
Empty.
Like a single eye, staring straight at her.
Her breath hitched.
Then—
Something moved inside the window.
Fast.
Too fast.
But she saw it.
Her eyes narrowed instantly.
She stared.
Nothing.
The window was empty again.
"...What is it?" Zhang asked, stepping closer.
"Someone was there," Lin Wan said quietly.
Zhang's expression darkened. "Impossible. This place has been sealed for three years."
Lin Wan didn't argue.
Her gaze remained fixed on the window.
Then she spoke.
Softly.
"It doesn't have to be… a person."
The air grew colder.
Zhang fell silent.
After a moment, he stepped forward and pushed the rusted gate open.
"Creeeak—"
The sound tore through the silence.
They walked inside.
Each step crunched against gravel, echoing far too loudly in the dead stillness.
The closer they got to the building—
The colder it became.
The air slipped through their clothes, seeping into bone.
They stopped at the entrance.
Lin Wan suddenly halted.
"Wait."
Zhang turned. "What?"
She didn't look at him.
Her eyes dropped to the ground.
Footprints.
Fresh.
Clearly pressed into the damp soil.
Not washed away.
Not disturbed.
A single trail.
From the entrance—
Leading straight into the darkness inside the building.
Zhang's face changed instantly.
"Someone went in before us?"
Lin Wan shook her head slowly.
Her voice was low.
Cold.
"No."
She stared at the footprints.
"They haven't come out yet."
A gust of wind suddenly swept from behind them.
Cold. Sharp.
"BANG!"
The iron gate slammed shut.
Hard.
Both of them turned instantly.
The gate was closed.
Locked.
No one had touched it.
Silence returned.
Heavier than before.
Lin Wan slowly turned back toward the entrance of the sanatorium.
The darkness inside seemed deeper now.
Watching.
Waiting.
Her voice was almost a whisper.
"We're not getting out."
Zhang frowned. "What do you mean?"
She exhaled slowly.
White mist formed in the cold air.
Then she said—
"It won't let us leave."