Countdown to Death

Even though he had been prepared beforehand, when Fang Yuan saw the terrifying face of the smiling woman, he was unable to control himself.

In shock, he could not help but take a few steps back and almost lost his footing and fell to the ground.

Fortunately, he was lucky that the stone statue of the three-headed creature stood behind him and supported his body.

However, even then, the bloody face of the woman remained etched in his mind and it was impossible for him to forget.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Before Fang Yuan could recover from the shock, a loud banging came from the stone door he had just now closed.

Looking up, he saw that the door was shaking violently as if a ferocious beast was pounding on the other side.

Moreover, because of the years of neglect, the walls seemed unable to withstand the force of this banging, and they shook together with the stone door.

For a moment, Fang Yuan had the illusion that an earthquake was taking place and the temple was about to be destroyed.

Although his intuition told him that this place was safe and that the woman should not be able to get in, he didn't dare to stay near the door any longer.

Without any hesitation, he rushed deeper into the temple, trying to find a place to hide, or even better, a way to escape.

The temple's rooms were connected through a long, straight corridor, and as Fang Yuan walked through it, he noticed many rooms on both sides.

When he peeked inside, he found that these rooms were also in ruins just like the room he was previously in, with broken items everywhere on the floor and moss growing on the walls.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find a suitable place to hide in these rooms and he had to continue walking.

The deeper he went, the more damaged the rooms were and it seemed as if a battle had taken place inside this temple.

If possible, Fang Yuan wouldn't want to stay in this place any longer, but the loud noise behind him reminded him that he had no other choice.

The banging on the door echoed in his ears and as time passed, it became increasingly violent.

After he threw the match that had now stopped burning to the ground, Fang Yuan lit another one and continued walking.

As he passed by a room, he paused for a second and looked inside and was then about to take his head back, when a strange glow deep inside the room attracted his attention.

It was only then that Fang Yuan noticed that this room was not only bigger than the previous ones but also way more luxurious and the items on the floor were way more.

At that moment, Fang Yuan was faced with two options.

He could either keep walking through the corridor and hope that he would be able to find a hiding spot, or he could enter the room and investigate this room and that strange glow.

It only took a split second for Fang Yuan to make a decision.

Raising his right foot, he stepped inside, having decided to explore further.

As he stepped in, he discovered that the room was dilapidated and filled with ruins, shards of glass and wooden debris scattered across the floor.

Moreover, there was a strange liquid in the gaps in the floor, making this place look a little eerie.

Fang Yuan stepped carefully over the debris, not wanting to hurt himself, and then moved deeper into the room and closer to that strange glow.

Although his body was weak and he had been running for quite some time, the threat of life seemed to have simulated his body's potential and his movements were very fast.

Soon, he was about to reach the other side of the room, when the match on his hand unexpectedly went out.

He took a few steps forward before he realized, but then, his movements stopped and he took out the box of matches to light another one.

The continuous banging noise that came from behind made him a little anxious and his fingers trembled, causing him to struggle to light the match.

Thankfully, after a few more tries, Fang Yuan finally succeeded.

The light of the match cut through the surrounding darkness, allowing him to see again.

However, when he raised his head, he instantly regretted lighting the match.

Right in front of him stood a figure facing his direction with their back pressed against the wall, while metal chains bound each of their four limbs and held the figure upright.

The person's clothes were mostly torn and the color of the fabric had faded away, revealing their old age.

Fang Yuan had trouble identifying this person's gender, as their skin had turned pale and was covered in strange spots, while they had lost most human characteristics.

Obviously, the person in front of him was dead and they had been dead for quite some time.

If he had seen this corpse before, Fang Yuan's first reaction would have been to run away and leave this place as soon as possible.

However, having already gone through death once and having seen the terrifying appearance of the smiling woman, he was able to remain strangely calm.

He took a deep look at the corpse and studied it closely, but found that it was perfectly normal and there was nothing special about it.

He was about to turn around and continue his investigation of the door when he noticed the eyelids of the corpse in front of him flutter slightly.

The next moment, the eyes of the corpse opened wide and its black pupils stared straight at him.

Slowly, a gentle expression appeared on the corpse's face and the corners of its mouth curved upward, revealing a mouthful of rotten teeth.

If that wasn't enough, at that moment, a familiar sound rang in Fang Yuan's ears.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

When he turned his head to look, Fang Yuan found that the middle-aged smiling woman had unknowingly appeared behind him, creating a trail of blood as she walked.

With slowly but steady steps, the woman approached him, while the corpse behind him also rushed forward.

An unbearable stench assaulted Fang Yuan's nose as the corpse opened its mouth and waved its arms, looking ready to pounce on him.

"Bang!"

Fortunately, the chains that bound the corpse made a rattling noise and just when it was a few steps away from him, the chains restrained it, preventing it from moving any further.

But Fang Yuan didn't feel relieved at all.

Although the moving corpse behind him was stopped, the woman in front of him continued moving.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Ten steps, five steps, three steps...

The smiling woman slowly inched closer and Fang Yuan was certain that his life would soon come to an end.

Just when he thought that his death was near however, the woman's steps stopped abruptly.

Fang Yuan looked up in confusion and noticed something strange.

Although the woman was still smiling brightly and seemed to be the same, he could detect a hint of worry in her eyes.

However, this worry didn't come because of him, but because of the match he held in his hand.

"Is she afraid of fire?", Fang Yuan couldn't help but think, and wanting to test his theory, he raised the match in his hand and took a step forward.

In response, the woman also took a step back and the distance between the two of them remained roughly the same.

Seeing this, Fang Yuan became a little excited.

He felt that he had finally found a way to save himself.

Without hesitation, he took another step forward and the smiling woman did the same as before, taking a step back.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Their footsteps resounded in the room, while the rattling sound behind his back continued, as the chains restrained the corpse.

Even so, Fang Yuan didn't turn his head to look back but stepped forward with the match in his hand.

Every time it seemed like the match was about to run out, he would light another one, making sure that there was at least one source of fire at any given time.

Soon, a bizarre scene unfolded inside the temple, as a man held a harmless match in his hand and was chasing after a smiling woman with a bloody face.

It wasn't that Fang Yuan didn't try to run away, but each time he did, the woman would chase right after him, always maintaining a distance of a few steps between the two of them.

Facing each other, he and the smiling woman reached the door of the room and then continued walking through the corridor.

However, although it seemed that the situation was going well for him, Fang Yuan didn't become happy.

Lowering his head, he glanced at the now empty box of matches and then at the match that was slowly burning in his hand.

He knew that this was the last match he had on him, and soon, it would completely burn out and with it, his life would come to an end.

Indeed, a few seconds later, the fire on the match went out and darkness swallowed Fang Yuan's figure.

Then, an animalistic growl sounded, followed by the splatter of blood.