Chapter 13 Night of Sacrifice (9)
…Only a fool would answer that!
A chill wind swept through the stuffy basement as the ringtone grew increasingly shrill, like a death knell urging them to answer.
Xiao Cheng held the phone, caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. He didn’t dare answer, nor did he dare hang up. He looked at the other two for guidance.
Zhu Ming and Yun Zouchuan both took a step back. Trying to pass the buck? In their dreams!
Creak—
What was that sound?
Zhu Ming stumbled forward, shining her flashlight behind her. “Which one of you pushed me?!”
“Ah!” Yun Zouchuan gasped, swinging her fist backward, but hitting nothing.
They exchanged glances, understanding dawning in their eyes. Something was in the darkness with them!
Not only had they been attacked, but Xiao Cheng and Old Xu had also been targeted. And the attacker was cunning and elusive.
To make matters worse, in the chaos, Xiao Cheng accidentally pressed the “Answer” button. The call connected instantly.
A piercing scream erupted from the phone, hitting Xiao Cheng like a sledgehammer. His head swam, and he froze, nearly dragged away by the unseen entity in the darkness.
Old Xu yanked him back just in time. Xiao Cheng quickly hung up, but the phone immediately began ringing again.
Zhu Ming, sensing a chilling presence behind her, spun around and kicked. She stumbled forward, her expression hardening.
She was certain the enemy had been right behind her, but there was nothing there… No, that wasn’t right!
It wasn’t that there was nothing there, but that she couldn’t touch it. The enemy was like air, everywhere and nowhere, intangible.
There was no point fighting. They would only be sitting ducks. Zhu Ming made a snap decision, abandoning any pretense of camaraderie. Shining her flashlight on herself, she yelled, “Back to our rooms!”
Remembering that the attacks came from their blind spots, from the areas not illuminated by their flashlights, she added, “Keep the light on yourselves!”
Yun Zouchuan followed closely behind.
Old Xu smacked Xiao Cheng on the head. “Run!”
They scrambled up the stairs. Before they reached the second floor, Old Xu yelled at Xiao Cheng, “The phone!”
Xiao Cheng, his face pale, tossed the incessantly ringing phone to Old Xu. “Be careful!”
…
Back in her room, Zhu Ming cautiously swept the beam of her flashlight around, making sure there were no hidden enemies lurking in the darkness before turning it off.
Exhausted and overheated from running, she opened a bottle of water and gulped down half of it.
She placed a chair by the door and sat down, determined to stay awake. She was afraid she would fall back asleep if she lay on the bed.
About an hour later, she heard a faint rumbling sound.
It was coming.
Grabbing her flashlight, she quietly opened the door and slipped out into the hallway.
The darkness was silent. There was no chill wind, no unseen enemy lurking in the shadows.
But…
Afraid of attracting the housekeeper, Zhu Ming hadn’t turned on her flashlight. Now, a chilling coldness seeped into her skin, slowly reaching her bones.
Damn it! Being completely exposed to the darkness at night caused paralysis!
She quickly turned on the flashlight, the beam illuminating her like a beacon. The stiffness vanished instantly.
The housekeeper, pushing its cleaning cart up the stairs, stopped rumbling. “…”
Zhu Ming followed the sound. She could see the cart but not the ghost. She waved her flashlight. The housekeeper seemed to snap out of its trance and continued pushing the cart forward at its usual slow pace.
Zhu Ming understood. Due to some restriction, the housekeeper had to complete its task. It couldn’t attack the participants during its patrol, even if they were bathed in light.
While the housekeeper was invisible, like air, and couldn’t directly attack them, a sharp, murderous intent was directed at Zhu Ming.
Zhu Ming glared back, unfazed. “Do your job properly, or I’ll dock your pay!”
Housekeeper: “…”
Zhu Ming turned and sprinted towards the other staircase.
The housekeeper’s patrol route was 2001 to 2007 to 1003. It then collected the trash. That gave her a window of opportunity to test her theory. Even if the key was on the housekeeper, they could still access the housekeeper’s room while it was out on patrol.
Since the housekeeper was pushing a cart, its movements were restricted. It likely hadn’t locked the door. Of course, Zhu Ming also believed that the unlocked door was a rule of the instance. There had to be a way to complete the mission. The rules restricted both the participants and the ghosts.
Suddenly, someone tugged on her sleeve. Zhu Ming jumped, nearly colliding with the person. She turned and saw A-Zou.
“Why are you out here?” Zhu Ming asked, frowning, as they reached the first floor.
“I woke up when I heard you say ‘dock your pay’,” Yun Zouchuan replied. “You’ve figured something out, and you’re planning to do something risky, aren’t you?”
Zhu Ming chuckled nervously. “Not really. I just don’t trust Old Xu and Xiao Cheng, so I didn’t say anything in front of them. And I haven’t had a chance to talk to you.”
Yun Zouchuan wasn’t angry. “What are we doing?”
Zhu Ming lowered her voice. “We’re going to the housekeeper’s room.”
Without another word, they passed through the living room, where Zhu Ming, in a display of public indecency, kicked over the trash can. They reached the housekeeper’s room, 1001. Zhu Ming pushed the door tentatively. Creak—
That was the sound!
The door opened.
The windowless room was pitch black, the flashlight beams struggling to penetrate the darkness.
Zhu Ming and Yun Zouchuan had worked together many times and were well-coordinated. They angled their flashlights to illuminate each other’s backs, ensuring neither was fully exposed to the darkness while also checking for anything lurking behind them.
The room was small, containing a single bed, a desk, a chair, a trash can, and a poster.
The poster featured a sexy woman in a red swimsuit, her black hair a voluminous cloud. She was beautiful, but her face was deathly pale, her eyes unsettlingly dark. Meeting her gaze in the darkness felt as if she were staring back.
Having established their search areas, they began working.
Zhu Ming, not afraid to make a mess, ripped the sheets and blankets off the bed, tossing them aside. The housekeeper already knew they were here; she wasn’t worried about offending it further.
She felt something hard inside the pillow. Ripping it open, she pulled out a cell phone, sending feathers flying.
She pocketed the phone and continued searching, but she found nothing else on the bed.
Rumble, rumble… The housekeeper was on the first floor.
Yun Zouchuan’s ears perked up. She turned sharply. “I found a notebook.”
Zhu Ming instinctively lowered her voice. “Take it.”
“I’ll check if the storage room is open.”
Yun Zouchuan rushed out of the housekeeper’s room and tried the storage room door. It was locked. The housekeeper had already knocked on the door of 1004 and was now knocking on 1003. Once it finished collecting the trash, it would return to its room. There was no telling what would happen then.
Yun Zouchuan, making a snap decision, ran to the kitchen and began creating a diversion. The food wrappers from their earlier meal were still in the trash can. She tossed them around the room, scattering the trash everywhere, hoping to keep the housekeeper busy.
Inside the housekeeper’s room, even though A-Zou had already searched the desk, Zhu Ming decided to take a look.
A-Zou was thorough when she focused, but sometimes, things were easily overlooked.
Zhu Ming’s gaze fell on the empty trash can. She kicked it over, revealing a crumpled photograph stuck to the bottom. Cunning.
She peeled the photo off and pocketed it, then walked over to the poster of the woman in the red swimsuit, lifting the bottom edge. “There’s always something behind posters.”
The wall behind the poster was bare… She let go.
Suddenly, she heard Yun Zouchuan yell from outside.
Had the housekeeper finished its tasks already?!
“It’s attacking me with a broom!” Yun Zouchuan yelled, running. “Keep searching, Boss! I’m fine!”
The broom seemed to have some kind of power. After being hit, Yun Zouchuan had fallen uncontrollably, rolling on the floor with her flashlight clutched tightly. She didn’t dare run too far. She was afraid that if she went upstairs, the housekeeper would go after Zhu Ming.
She noticed a pattern. The closer she was to the scattered trash, the more frequently she was attacked. But if she ignored the trash, the housekeeper would quickly clean it up and finish its task.
She decided to run and kick the trash out of the housekeeper’s path, buying herself more time.
Inside the housekeeper’s room, Zhu Ming frowned, scanning her surroundings. She had found a phone and a photo. A-Zou had found a notebook. They had found so many things, but she still felt like something was missing.
“Hurry!” Yun Zouchuan yelled, as the amount of trash dwindled.
“I know!” Zhu Ming hurried towards the door, then stopped, turning back. “What are you looking at? I’ll gouge your eyes out!”
She walked back to the poster of the woman in the red swimsuit and poked her fingers into the woman’s eyes. “I knew something was off about you.”
It wasn’t her imagination. The eyes of the woman in the poster moved, her gaze turning malevolent. She opened her mouth, revealing a dark cavity, and let out an ear-piercing scream.
The scream hit Zhu Ming like a wave, sending her stumbling backward until she hit the bed. She steadied herself and returned to the poster, shoving her hand into the woman’s gaping mouth.
“You don’t even have a tongue, and you’re screaming?”
Sexy Swimsuit Woman: “…”
Shock! Why wasn’t this person affected? Suspicion! She should be dizzy and hallucinating by now. Rage! How dare she put her hand in her mouth!!!
Zhu Ming fumbled around inside. The woman might be beautiful, but she wasn’t alive. Instead of the warmth and softness of flesh, there was a cold, slimy texture, and as her mouth opened wider, a foul stench emanated from within.
Found it!
A grim smile spread across Zhu Ming’s face, revealing her teeth.
She knew there had to be something behind the poster.
Clutching the cold, hard object she had found, she pulled her hand out, her fingers coated in a foul-smelling slime. From outside, Yun Zouchuan screamed, “It’s closing the door!”
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