Lying in bed, Zhao Mingyue found it hard to fall asleep. It was a normal reaction—anyone who had experienced the events of tonight would not have a peaceful sleep. The moment she closed her eyes, the ghostly monsters in this building surfaced in her mind.
The man’s melted face, the headless old man walking upside down, the human faces carved into the walls, and the female corpse and ghost in Room 506’s bathroom.
What was worse, she was living right here. Not just living here, but on the most dangerous fourth floor.
She had to remember that the residents on the fourth and fifth floors were all provisions specifically prepared by the old landlord for the fifth-floor female ghost. As long as she stayed, she would be eaten by that ghost one day. If her luck was bad, she might even be the first.
Besides the uncontrollable images of these ghostly faces surfacing in her mind, Zhao Mingyue was also pondering the details of the quest from beginning to end.
Thinking it over carefully, she already knew everything she should—the female ghost’s secret, the corridor’s secret, and the old landlord’s intentions. What she couldn’t figure out was why Lu Liangting, an outsider, was here.
Had he come here to do a quest as well? He seemed quite experienced; it probably wasn’t his first quest. He even had a ghost hidden on him, though it wasn’t a very powerful one.
If he truly was doing a quest, he should also have a black phone on him.
Another point: hadn’t Lu Liangting said he came with Xia Han? Why hadn’t she seen any sign of Xia Han?
And what were the police officers downstairs investigating? They still hadn’t left.
The thing that baffled her the most was Bai Yu’s attitude towards Lu Liangting. She didn’t know if it was just her imagination, but she felt Bai Yu was full of hostility towards him. Although, thinking about it, Bai Yu seemed wary of everyone.
Just as she sat up, deciding to open the black phone and look at the scrolling comments, a knock suddenly came from the apartment door.
She looked up, her eyes alert. A knock at this hour instinctively made her suspect a ghostly monster.
“Bai Yu, can you see who’s outside?”
“Police.”
“Police?!” Zhao Mingyue blinked her eyes and hurriedly scrambled out of bed. She was still wearing her frog pajamas, her short hair slightly messy.
“Coming.” Turning on the living room light, Zhao Mingyue stood at the door and looked out through the peephole, confirming that two police officers were indeed standing outside.
“Hello, officers from the Tianchang City Jinjiang District Police Station. Here is my ID. We have some questions for you right now, and we ask for your truthful answers.”
Two officers from the local precinct stood at the door, one male and one female. It was the female officer who spoke to Zhao Mingyue. Perhaps seeing that the person who opened the door was a young girl, and such a cute one at that, the officer’s gaze softened considerably, and her tone was polite.
Zhao Mingyue nodded gently. “Mm, please ask.”
The police had been called by Lu Liangting because there had been a death. Not the fifth-floor female ghost, but his cousin Xia Han.
When he came down from the fifth floor, he saw Xia Han’s body as soon as he reached the third floor.
Aside from that, the female corpse on the fifth floor and the possible bodies in the other fifth-floor rooms needed professionals to handle. Thus, the police comrades.
If not for Xia Han, he wouldn’t have called the police this early. He would have waited until at least five in the morning. Calling them now meant leaving the quest area, which signified quest failure.
The officers asked some basic questions, like when Zhao Mingyue started living here, whether she had gone out tonight, and if she had heard any noises in the corridor.
Zhao Mingyue was no fool. She lied, saying she hadn’t gone out at night and that she had heard some sounds but hadn’t checked them.
She was certain Lu Liangting wouldn’t reveal anything about her. If she didn’t lie now, she would definitely be taken to the station for a statement. If that happened, not only would the quest fail, she wouldn’t even be able to sleep.
After the female officer finished questioning her, she considerately hinted to Zhao Mingyue that it would be best not to go out at night these next few days. She left a good impression on Zhao Mingyue. Before the officer left, Zhao Mingyue even spontaneously asked for her contact information, thinking she would probably need it in the future.
Having sent the police away, Zhao Mingyue yawned and returned to her bedroom.
After this little interlude, drowsiness finally hit her. She curled up under the covers, said goodnight to Bai Yu, and quickly fell asleep.
Perhaps the only benefit of living in this building was not needing the air conditioner in the summer. Once night fell, the entire building was filled with bone-chilling cold.
As Zhao Mingyue slept, Bai Yu watched the black phone on the table.
One after another, comments scrolled across it. These were the “viewers.”
She didn’t know who the “viewers” were, or which world they came from. These people didn’t affect anything. They only appeared when a quest started, their perspective fixed on the black phone.
The phone had been left outside when Zhao Mingyue bathed earlier, so there was no worry about these “viewers” seeing what happened inside the bathroom.
Casually glancing at the screen and determining there was no useful information, Bai Yu sat down beside Zhao Mingyue’s bed, resting her chin on one hand.
Some useful information could be extracted from the viewers’ bizarre comments, which was a good thing. However, she was currently pondering another matter.
After midnight, it would be the weekend. That meant when dawn broke, the school term would start tomorrow.
Zhao Mingyue and Lu Liangting were both students at the same high school. Crucially, the lunatics who had been turned into beautiful girls were very likely also at this high school—either as students, teachers, or even staff members.
Honestly, tonight’s quest hadn’t been difficult at all. With her here, nothing could happen to Zhao Mingyue.
But school was different. The restrictions were too great.
She was a ghost. If she manifested during the day, her power would be weakened by more than fifty percent.
“I will definitely make sure you survive.” She glanced back at the soundly sleeping Zhao Mingyue. Bai Yu reached out and pulled the blanket up, covering her shoulders.
She murmured to herself. Not long after she finished speaking, she heard Zhao Mingyue mumbling in her sleep.
“Bai… Bai Yu, this dress is pretty too, put it on… Mmm… Let’s sleep together tonight as well…”
A somewhat silly smile appeared on her face as she hugged the blanket tightly. Bai Yu looked on, helpless.
·
·
“Ah, just let me sleep a little longer…”
Twenty minutes ago, Zhao Mingyue had said exactly this while turning off her alarm. And within those twenty minutes, she had obviously fallen back into a deep sleep.
Bai Yu stood in front of the bed and placed a single hand on the back of Zhao Mingyue’s neck.
In just half a second, Zhao Mingyue’s eyes flew open.
“Hiss, so cold.”
“Miss Zhao Mingyue, the time is now six fifty-eight.”
Bai Yu kindly reminded her. She could already imagine the expression on Zhao Mingyue’s face if she got up any later. She would be filled with regret for the entire day, then cast a resentful look her way, as if to say:
Bai Yu, why didn’t you wake me up this morning?
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