Chapter 14

Damn it.

The door began to slowly swing shut. With the flashlight in her left hand and the hard object in her right, Zhu Ming made a desperate flying leap, as agile as a black cat.

In that split second, she brushed past an invisible, intangible, chilling specter. The flashlight beam flickered and trembled wildly. Her vision blurred into dim chaos. At the very last moment, Zhu Ming dove through the narrowing gap in the door, crashing onto the hard floor outside.

“Ugh…”

With both hands occupied, her elbows and knees slammed heavily into the ground, the impact causing a sharp, numbing pain. To make matters worse, she’d accidentally bitten her tongue.

Forget her body, but her tongue—it’s so tender!

Pain brought tears to the corners of Zhu Ming’s eyes. Not illuminated by her own flashlight, her body instantly began to stiffen again. Luckily, Yun Zouchuan’s light found her the next second.

Ignoring the pain, Zhu Ming turned her light on herself, scrambled to her feet, and limped towards the stairs, running as fast as she could.

BANG!!!

The butler’s room door slammed shut, but immediately after, creaked open again. Here it came—that chilling wind from the basement howled towards Zhu Ming, a clear testament to the butler’s fury.

He had finished his patrol task. He could act freely now!

And this time, the female poster ghost’s scream accompanied him. Even if Zhu Ming had some resistance to it, prolonged exposure still irritated her. It affected A-Zou, with her weaker defenses, even more.

Attacks from the darkness came at Zhu Ming and Yun Zouchuan from every blind spot, impossible to fully guard against. Under this relentless harassment and assault, Zhu Ming nearly fell several times, her speed climbing the stairs drastically slowed.

However, she noticed something: the butler was targeting her more than A-Zou.

Because… she had something more important to him on her person—that hard object!

Zhu Ming was only halfway up the stairs when Yun Zouchuan had already pitter-pattered her way to the corridor. An idea flashing through her mind, Zhu Ming shouted for A-Zou. Yun Zouchuan turned back to see a beam of light hurtling towards her, a small object zipping through the light, streaking right at her.

Extending her hand with precision, Yun Zouchuan caught the item Zhu Ming threw. Zhu Ming barked, “Get inside, fast! Don’t open the door until daylight!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, using the flawless coverage of their flashlights shining on each other, Yun Zouchuan bolted straight into the room.

Now exposed to darkness, Zhu Ming was shoved into a sprawling face-plant. Something sharp stabbed down towards her. Rolling with the motion, Zhu Ming grabbed the handrail and scrambled up, immediately shining her light back on herself.

Zhu Ming sneered. “Want to kill me? As if you’re worthy!”

Suddenly, CRACK. Her right foot plunged through a step. Utterly bewildered, Zhu Ming fell, landing hard on her rear on the step below. Unstable, her legs and waist gave way, and her whole body flipped backward, head rolling down, leaving her sprawled across the staircase.

Zhu Ming: “…”

When you’re unlucky, even drinking cold water gets stuck in your teeth. A damn staircase made of cheap wood wasn’t bad enough—it also had to have rotted through!

Naturally, the butler wouldn’t miss such a perfect opportunity, with her completely exposed. He kicked out, striking Zhu Ming’s wrist and sending the flashlight clattering down the stairs.

Zhu Ming was completely exposed to the darkness. Her body began to grow cold and stiff, inch by inch. Reacting with incredible speed, she grabbed the railing and flexed her core, whipping herself upright from her sprawled position, dodging the butler’s next attack just in time.

Thunk! Something deeply embedded itself into the wooden plank, stuck and unable to be pulled out immediately.

Zhu Ming knew if she hadn’t dodged, that would have been her heart pierced through. Now, it was a race between her and the butler to see who freed themselves first: she, her foot; the butler, his weapon.

But her body grew increasingly stiff, making her movements more sluggish and clumsy. Actions she could normally perform with ease now became impossibly difficult. All her joints felt rusted shut, so much so that she couldn’t even do something as simple as twisting her foot out of the gap.

While she could still move, Zhu Ming stood up, bracing against the railing. Finesse and agility were beyond her now. Steeling herself, she resolved to yank her foot out by force, even if it meant injury.

Just as she was about to strain, a beam of light shone down from above, illuminating Zhu Ming.

The deathly cold stiffness receded like the tide. Just before turning to stone, Zhu Ming regained her softness and warmth.

Startled, she looked up. The source of the light was hidden behind the flashlight’s glare. Blinded by the beam, Zhu Ming could only make out a vague human silhouette; she couldn’t discern anything else at all.

There was no time to dwell on it. Her flexibility restored, Zhu Ming pulled her foot free and bolted down the stairs. The moment she scooped up her flashlight from the floor, the light from above vanished. Zhu Ming instinctively shone her light upward, but the second-floor corridor was empty.

Room 2004 was located in the middle of the second floor. Zhu Ming ran directly to the other staircase to go up, the butler in hot pursuit. Luckily, no more stairs collapsed this time.

After dodging several more attacks, Zhu Ming reached the upper part of the stairs. Grabbing the bannister, she vaulted directly onto the corridor floor.

The door to Room 2005 was open a crack. Yun Zouchuan signaled with her flashlight. “What took you so long?”

Without stopping, Zhu Ming rushed into 2004, slamming the door behind her while shouting, “Close it!”

A series of frantic, furious banging erupted against the door from outside.

Bent over, hands on her knees, Zhu Ming panted heavily. She couldn’t help but extend a middle finger at the door. “Your grandpa! You want my life? Dream on!”

But once she caught her breath, Zhu Ming suddenly noticed something. A-Zou didn’t know why she was late… Could it be that the person who’d helped her with the flashlight earlier wasn’t her?

Then who was it?

Xiao Xue?

Forget it, I’ll ask tomorrow.

Exhausted after such a harrowing night, Zhu Ming was tired. She decided not to examine the clues right away. Turning off her flashlight, she endured the stuffiness and the smell of sweat and fell asleep.

The flashlight beam was already somewhat dim. The remaining battery power probably wasn’t much; she needed to conserve it.

But just as Zhu Ming was drifting into a deep, groggy sleep, a frantic pounding on the door jolted her awake.

Actually, ‘waking up’ wasn’t quite accurate. The moment the knocking started, an indescribable sensation washed away all drowsiness, making her instantly and unnaturally alert.

“Zhu Ming, come out quickly! Someone’s dead, everyone’s panicking!” Yun Zouchuan’s voice called from outside.

Irritably, Zhu Ming rolled over and pulled the blanket she’d kicked away over her ears. “Suggest they die farther away. Keep it down.”

“…”

Meanwhile, Room 1003 experienced a similar ordeal.

“Brother Teng, come out, quick! Xiao Cheng and the others broke the barrier! The ghosts have gone mad! Everyone’s trying to leave—if we don’t go now, it’ll be too late!”

Hearing this exciting news, Brother Teng, who’d been kept awake all night by strange sounds outside, leaped out of bed with joy.

“Really? So fast!”

“Yeah, hurry out! You’re the only one we’re waiting for.”

Brother Teng was about to head for the door but stopped in his tracks. Could there be a problem? But the Knocking Ghost had left quite a while ago. It should be fine… No, he still needed to confirm things. He couldn’t let himself be tricked.

Deeply proud of his thoroughness and cunning, he strode to the window and carefully peeked past the curtain. Several people stood outside holding flashlights, seemingly waiting for someone.

As if noticing Brother Teng had opened the curtain, they turned their heads in unison. Their eyes stared directly, fixedly at Brother Teng, urging, “Brother Teng, come out quick! You’re the only one we’re waiting for. Brother Teng, come out quick! You’re the only one we’re waiting for. Brother Teng, come out quick…”

They repeated it over and over, a chorus of male and female voices, high and low pitches blending together, harmonious and strangely mesmerizing.

The words wormed their way into his ears and etched themselves into his mind. Brother Teng’s heart raced. He was utterly captivated by those glowing eyes in the darkness.

Brother Teng, come out quick! You’re the only one we’re waiting for!

Yes! A delighted thought bloomed in Brother Teng’s mind: I’m the only one left. I have to hurry and catch up, or I’ll be left behind in this horrible villa!

Of course, he didn’t forget to turn on his flashlight for illumination. But, for some reason, when he opened the door, there was no one outside.

A cold breeze snaked around his calves. Brother Teng shuddered involuntarily.

…

The next day, Zhu Ming was forced to wake up early.

Not too early, admittedly, but not as late as the first morning. The person outside had been persistently banging on her door, and the heat had kept her from sleeping deeply anyway.

Yawning, eyelids drooping, she went to open the door. The person knocking nearly tumbled inside.

“What’s with the death knell this early in the morning?” Zhu Ming mumbled, listless with sleep. “What is it now?”

Xiao Cheng urgently said, “Someone’s dead!”

Zhu Ming: “Oh.”

Perhaps because another person had died, Miss Zhao’s mood seemed even worse than the previous two days. She looked at Zhu Ming with a mix of anger and exhaustion. “What did you do last night? We need to determine if you’re a ghost.”

Zhu Ming picked at her ear, doubting she’d heard correctly. “Suspecting me again? Where’s A-Zou? I was with A-Zou last night. Just ask her directly.”

Yun Zouchuan raised her hand. “Here. I already told them everything. They said they need to cross-reference it with your account to make sure I’m not lying.”

Zhu Ming leaned against the doorframe, yawning. “Fine, fine. Talk, talk, talk. I went to the butler’s room last night.”

There was no point in hiding it. For one thing, it wasn’t necessary; for another, this kind of thing couldn’t be kept secret forever. The villa wasn’t that big—any movement on the first floor would eventually be noticed. Zhu Ming planned to investigate the storage room next, and there was no way the others wouldn’t see her.

When her story matched Yun Zouchuan’s, her suspicion level dropped significantly. Everyone’s gaze towards Zhu Ming softened somewhat.

However…

Zhu Ming looked at Xiao Xue. “You didn’t see me last night?”

Caught off guard by the question, Xiao Xue looked puzzled. “Last night, I stayed in my room the whole time, never opening the door. How could I have seen you?”

Zhu Ming: “?”

This was strange. The light last night wasn’t from A-Zou, nor Xiao Xue. It couldn’t have been Xiao Song, could it?

Finding it rather unbelievable, Zhu Ming asked around, but no one admitted to it.

Had she seen a new type of ghost? Unable to figure it out, Zhu Ming put the matter aside for now.

She asked, “Why the sudden heavy atmosphere? What exactly happened?”

Xiao Xue explained, “It’s like this, Miss Zhu. This morning, we found Brother Teng dead. He was lying in the living room. His left eye had been gouged out.”

Zhu Ming: “Hah? What’s his death got to do with me?”

Xiao Xue continued, “After we woke up, we compared notes about last night. Everyone experienced an illusion trying to lure them to open their doors. Miss A-Zou said that when she went to the basement at midnight and the butler’s room at two in the morning, Brother Teng’s body wasn’t there. We’re all in agreement that Brother Teng was lured into opening his door by that illusion and was killed.”

Zhu Ming was even more exasperated. “Then if we’ve established that, why are you still suspecting me?”

Xiao Xue shook her head. “If it was just that, we wouldn’t be so tense. It’s because…”

“Because of me.” Old Man Xu looked exceptionally aged today, his wrinkled face seeming to have completely lost the vitality of the previous day. “When the butler knocked yesterday, my door opened on its own. I only survived because I had a life-saving measure.” The reward from the last dungeon, meant for self-preservation, was just used up like that. Sigh, the next dungeon will be even more dangerous.

Zhu Ming finally seemed a bit interested, standing up straighter. “Why did the door open automatically?”

Old Man Xu held up a sign for Zhu Ming to see. “Because of this.”

It was a very common sign, found in almost every hotel room: Please Make Up Room.