Chapter 15

Every guest room had one of those signs used to signal permission for cleaning staff to enter. It was just that no one had paid attention to them before.

Old Man Xu said, “It’s probably because I brought the ghost’s binding object into my room, so I was targeted.”

After being abruptly attacked last night, Old Man Xu had fainted due to his item’s aftereffects. When he woke up in the morning, he discovered the cleaning sign hanging on his door.

Subsequently, everyone began checking the rooms one by one and found that the sign originally came from Old Gao’s room. But once it was hung on Old Man Xu’s door, only Old Man Xu could take it down; no one else could remove it.

Since Old Gao’s door was open, no one knew who had done this. At the very least, the person must have acted between midnight and two in the morning. This realization planted seeds of doubt in everyone’s minds.

Driven by a need for unity and self-preservation, the group decided to destroy all the cleaning signs.

Zhu Ming understood. “I see. So there is indeed someone among you who’s not right.”

Her words made Miss Zhao uncomfortable. “Why target us? You’re the most suspicious one. Just yesterday, you said Brother Teng would be the next to die. And today, he’s dead.”

Zhu Ming almost laughed out loud. “Seriously? I’m wrong for having good judgment? Say whatever you want. I’m not planning to break my cleaning sign.”

“Why not? The cleaning signs only serve to help the ghosts open our doors, yet you insist on keeping yours. Could it be…” Miss Zhao looked at her warily, stepping back a pace.

Unbothered by their suspicion, Zhu Ming stated, “Don’t burn all your bridges, Miss Zhao. Who knows if it might be useful later?”

Yun Zouchuan chimed in, “Xiao Song didn’t break his sign either. Why must the boss break hers?”

Hmm? Xiao Song didn’t break his either? Zhu Ming couldn’t help but look over. She’d felt something was off about Xiao Song today. Usually the most vocal, today he was listless and wouldn’t speak.

Yun Zouchuan explained, “The rest of us destroyed our signs, including the one in Brother Teng’s room. But when it came to Xiao Song’s…”

That morning, after everyone had discussed and investigated, they decided to destroy all the cleaning signs. After breaking Xiao Xue’s sign in 2006, they moved on to Xiao Song’s in 2007. But then, they encountered something unexpected.

The door to 2007 wouldn’t open.

Xiao Song’s face immediately paled. He panicked and hid behind Miss Zhao, shouting, “I knew I wasn’t hearing things last night! This room has been taken over by a ghost! I shouldn’t have gone to your room!”

It turned out that the previous night, Xiao Song’s persistent pestering had finally paid off, and he’d moved into 1004. He and Miss Zhao were a couple, so it wasn’t inappropriate. But during the night, they kept hearing strange noises from upstairs, as if… someone was walking around.

Due to the villa’s layout, 1004 was directly below 2007. Now Xiao Song couldn’t open the door. No one knew if it was because he’d spent the night in someone else’s room, or because 2007 was occupied by something else.

Now, paranoid and fearful, Xiao Song was convinced he’d be the next to die. His cleaning sign was also impossible to deal with.

“I see.” Zhu Ming gave Xiao Song a meaningful look. “And here I thought you just couldn’t get into 2007 to begin with.”

Xiao Song erupted in anger. “What do you mean by that? Don’t go slandering others just because you’re a ghost yourself. I know! If you hadn’t interfered with the formation last night, maybe we’d all be out of here by now!”

Zhu Ming sneered. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Just thought it was… quite the coincidence.”

Zhu Ming refused to break her cleaning sign, and no one could force her. They had to drop the matter for the time being.

Like the previous two days, Zhu Ming headed for the kitchen as soon as she was awake. Unfortunately, she was late this time. Only a little food was left for her, all dry, unpalatable crackers she hated.

After eating two pieces, she couldn’t stomach any more and packed the rest away. Then, she took out the hard-won clues from the previous night to study them.

A-Zou also brought out the two items she had kept. They were all laid out on the coffee table: one mobile phone, one notebook, one large group photo, and one key.

The others silently gathered around.

Zhu Ming ignored them. As long as they didn’t disturb her, she didn’t mind them watching.

First, Zhu Ming checked the mobile phone. This time, there was no password. The wallpaper was the default system background. There was only one contact listed: “Brother Yu,” but there was more content in the text messages:

[SIM1 to Brother Yu: (2:13) Honey, everyone should be asleep by now. I’m waiting for you at the pool. Kisses~]

[Brother Yu to SIM1: (2:15) It’s too late. You should go back and rest. It’s not convenient with her nearby.]

[SIM1 to Brother Yu: (2:31) I wasn’t planning to confront the situation now, and I don’t want to hurt her. But… I really miss you. I can’t hold your hand openly like she can. TAT I’m not greedy, just spare a little bit of your time for me.]

[SIM1 to Brother Yu: (2:32) MMS (photo of a half-body in a red swimsuit and several bottles of alcohol by the poolside)]

[Brother Yu to SIM1: (2:35) Silly girl, I’ll come down. How could I feel safe leaving you alone?]

Xiao Cheng let out a “Whoa!” and made a gossipy expression. “A late-night secret rendezvous? Tsk tsk tsk.”

Zhu Ming turned her head to glance back at him. Xiao Cheng, who had unconsciously been craning his neck, gave an awkward laugh and pulled his head back.

“I saw this MMS photo in the butler’s room too.” Zhu Ming recalled. “The swimsuit beauty on the wall poster—it was exactly the same, except the woman in the poster showed her face.”

“And here.” Yun Zouchuan pointed to the large group photo. “This person is also wearing a red swimsuit.”

The group photo was taken in front of the pool behind the villa. There were nine people in it—four men and five women—exactly matching the number of nine participants. They were all wearing swimsuits or shorts, happily posing for the group shot. But there was one serious problem: everyone’s faces had been scribbled out.

As she studied it, Zhu Ming suddenly reached a hand backward. “Old Man, that phone of yours?”

Old Man Xu passed it over, asking, “What else did you find?”

Zhu Ming opened the butler’s phone, enlarging the lock screen wallpaper. Pointing to a man with an indistinguishable face in the group photo, she said, “They’re wearing the same wristwatch. If I’m not mistaken, this man was the butler when he was alive, and this red-swimsuit woman is the Female Ghost in the pool.”

Xiao Xue, who had a relatively cordial relationship with Zhu Ming and A-Zou, leaned closer for a look. “Interesting. Then who is the butler’s girlfriend?”

In the photo, the butler and the female ghost stood together, but their posture wasn’t particularly intimate. In contrast, another woman, who the butler had his arm around, looked every bit his girlfriend.

Combined with the text messages, it wasn’t hard to guess the dramatic love triangle between the three of them.

“Come to think of it,” Xiao Xue said, “I have a hairpin in my room that looks identical to the one this person is wearing.” She pointed to one person in the group photo.

Suddenly, everyone realized: there were nine people in the photo, and nine participants. And each of them possessed an item that corresponded to a person in the photo.

One by one, they identified themselves. Zhu Ming corresponded to a girl with a tattoo. But most people didn’t match the key figures. Only three stood out.

A-Zou matched the red-dressed female ghost. Miss Zhao matched the butler. Old Gao matched the butler’s official girlfriend.

“Old Gao is already dead. This proves nothing,” Miss Zhao said, seemingly unconcerned.

“True.” Zhu Ming smiled, put down the photo, and picked up the notebook.

The notebook was very thin. It contained copied excerpts of folklore, accompanied by strange, peculiar diagrams. These diagrams became more and more refined towards the end, eventually matching the one found in the basement.

The notebook didn’t specify the formation’s exact purpose, but the folklore excerpts preceding it mostly related to reincarnation, ghost fetuses, sending of children, and conception through supernatural means. Naturally, the true purpose of the formation wasn’t hard to guess.

“Let me have a look, will you?” Old Man Xu said. “I might find something else.”

Zhu Ming took photos with her phone, then tossed him the notebook. After that, she picked up the key and walked towards the storage room.

If she wasn’t mistaken, this key could open the storage room.

…

In the living room, Brother Teng’s body still lay there. His eyes were open, his face frozen in surprise and disbelief.

From his left eye to the back of his head was a bloody, mangled mess, as if a sharp, slender object had been driven straight through. Blood soaked the carpet around him.

No one dared touch the body, so he’d been left there. Passing by, Zhu Ming noticed a flashlight nearby and suddenly grew curious. “Brother Teng’s flashlight ran out of battery too?”

A-Zou said, “When we first found the body, there was a tiny flicker, but it was very weak. It died completely soon after.”

Having experienced the butler’s pursuit, Yun Zouchuan knew even having a flashlight on didn’t guarantee total protection against him.

Zhu Ming nodded. Suddenly, she lifted a foot and stomped down hard, smashing the flashlight on the ground into pieces.

Xiao Song cried out in shock, “The man is dead! Even if he offended you, is that really necessary?”

Zhu Ming said flatly, “If it couldn’t even protect its owner, what use was it anyway?”

Being unreasonable wasn’t her first time. Anyone who couldn’t outfight her just had to endure it.

Xiao Cheng patted Xiao Song reassuringly. “Forget these little things. If Miss Zhu and Miss A-Zou hadn’t risked themselves last night, we wouldn’t be able to open the storage room today at all.”

Xiao Song wasn’t entirely convinced, but with his own suspicion levels skyrocketing today, he didn’t dare say much.

The key was indeed the key to Storage Room 1002. Unlike the basement, opening the storage room released a cloud of stale, dusty air.

Yun Zouchuan covered her nose, sneezing repeatedly. It took a while for the air inside to freshen.

Zhu Ming switched on her flashlight and entered. Yun Zouchuan blocked the doorway, not letting anyone else in.

The storage room was piled with an assortment of dusty, miscellaneous items. Though not large, it was so cluttered that finding anything valuable seemed difficult.

Covering her nose, Zhu Ming made her way to the very back. Reaching out, she yanked the plastic sheet covering a stack of odds and ends. The motion sent another cloud of dust swirling into the air. Zhu Ming felt she was going to choke.

Beneath the plastic sheet was a brand-new window with small curtains. Behind the window… was a rusty—no, a bloodstained—old barbecue grill!

A short while later, Zhu Ming emerged, dragging the grill. Xiao Xue, who had been waiting by the door, brightened at the sight. “So this is the grill that killed the butler? What about the metal skewer?”

Zhu Ming said, “There wasn’t one.”

“How could there not be one!” Xiao Song was incredulous. “Did you hide it?!”

Zhu Ming rolled her eyes. “Believe it or not. It was simply not there.”

She had searched the entire storage room. Inside, she’d found quite a bit of old provisions, crackers, and various tools. Notable items were three: first, the new window; second, the barbecue grill; and third, a paper ball crumpled into a tight wad in the corner.

The material of the paper ball was exactly the same as the three sheets of paper, just dirtier. Unfolding it revealed a single line of text: There is a ghost among you. Sacrifice the ghost, and the deity will bless the people!