Chapter 14 Night of Sacrifice (10)
Damn it.
The door was slowly closing. Zhu Ming, flashlight in her left hand, the hard object in her right, lunged forward, agile as a black cat.
She brushed past an unseen, chilling presence, the beam of her flashlight shaking wildly. Just as the door was about to slam shut, she squeezed through the gap, tumbling onto the hard floor outside.
“Ow…”
With both hands occupied, she landed heavily on her elbows and knees, the pain shooting through her. To make matters worse, she bit her tongue.
Her body could handle the impact, but her tongue…
Tears welled up in her eyes. The flashlight beam wasn’t on her, and the stiffness began to return. Thankfully, Yun Zouchuan’s light found her in the next second.
Ignoring the pain, Zhu Ming shone her own flashlight on herself, scrambling to her feet and limping towards the stairs.
Slam!
The housekeeper’s room door slammed shut, then creaked open again. The same chilling wind that had swept through the basement rushed towards her, a clear sign of the housekeeper’s rage.
It had finished its patrol and was free to act!
And this time, the scream of the poster woman accompanied the wind. Even Zhu Ming, with her higher resistance, found the sound grating, and Yun Zouchuan was even more susceptible.
Attacks came from every angle, from the darkness beyond the reach of their flashlights. Zhu Ming nearly fell several times, her progress slowed by the constant harassment.
But she noticed something. The housekeeper was focusing on her, not A-Zou.
Because… she had something it wanted. The hard object!
As Zhu Ming reached the halfway point on the stairs, Yun Zouchuan was already halfway down the hallway. Zhu Ming yelled, and Yun Zouchuan turned to see a beam of light and a small object hurtling towards her.
She caught it easily. “Get inside and don’t open the door until morning!” Zhu Ming yelled.
Without hesitation, shielded by the combined beams of their flashlights, Yun Zouchuan ran into her room.
Exposed to the darkness, Zhu Ming was shoved forward, something sharp stabbing towards her. She rolled out of the way, grabbing the railing and pulling herself up, shining the flashlight on herself.
“Trying to kill me?” she sneered. “You’re not worthy!”
Crack! Her right foot went through a rotten section of the wooden staircase. Zhu Ming yelped, tumbling backward, landing hard on the step below. Her back and legs twisted awkwardly as she landed on the stairs, head pointing downwards.
Zhu Ming: “…”
When it rains, it pours. A rickety wooden staircase was bad enough, but did it have to be falling apart too?!
The housekeeper wouldn’t miss this opportunity. It kicked Zhu Ming’s wrist, sending the flashlight clattering down the stairs.
Plunged into darkness, Zhu Ming’s body began to grow cold and stiff. Reacting quickly, she grabbed the railing, pushing herself up to a sitting position, dodging the housekeeper’s next attack.
Thud! Something sharp pierced the wood beside her, stuck fast.
Zhu Ming knew that if she hadn’t moved, it would have been her heart that was pierced. Now it was a race against time. She had to free her foot before the housekeeper freed its weapon.
But the increasing stiffness slowed her movements, making even simple actions difficult. Her joints felt rusty and sluggish. She couldn’t even twist her foot out of the gap.
While she could still move, she pulled herself up, using the railing for support. Agility and finesse were out of the question. She would have to rip her foot free, even if it meant injuring herself.
Just as she was about to pull, a beam of light shone down on her from above.
The chilling stiffness receded like a tide, and just before she turned to stone, warmth and flexibility returned.
She looked up, startled. The source of the light was hidden behind the flashlight. Blinded by the beam, she could only make out a human silhouette.
Now able to move freely, she yanked her foot free and scrambled down the stairs. As she picked up her flashlight, the light above vanished. She shone her light upwards, but the second-floor hallway was empty.
Room 2004 was in the middle of the second floor. Zhu Ming ran towards the other staircase, the housekeeper close behind. Thankfully, she didn’t encounter any more rotten steps.
Dodging a few more attacks, she reached the top of the stairs, swung herself over the railing, and landed in the hallway.
The door to 2005 was slightly ajar. Yun Zouchuan shone her flashlight. “What took you so long?”
Zhu Ming rushed into 2004, slamming the door behind her. “Lock it!”
A furious pounding echoed from the hallway.
Zhu Ming leaned against the door, catching her breath, and flipped off the unseen housekeeper. “You want my life? Dream on!”
As her breathing returned to normal, she realized something. A-Zou hadn’t asked why she was late… Had it not been her with the flashlight earlier?
Then who was it?
Xiao Xue?
She would ask tomorrow.
Exhausted from the night’s events, Zhu Ming turned off her flashlight and went to bed, ignoring the heat and the lingering smell of sweat. The flashlight was dimming; she needed to conserve battery power.
She was drifting off to sleep when a frantic knocking woke her.
Or rather, it wasn’t the knocking itself that woke her, but a sudden, inexplicable feeling that banished her drowsiness. She was instantly alert.
“Zhu Ming, come out! Someone’s dead! Everyone’s panicking!” Yun Zouchuan yelled from outside.
Zhu Ming rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. “Tell them to die quietly,” she mumbled.
“…”
Meanwhile, a similar scene was playing out at room 1003.
“Teng Ge, come out! Xiao Cheng and the others broke the barrier! The ghosts are going crazy! Everyone’s trying to leave! Hurry!”
The exciting news jolted Teng Ge awake. He had been tossing and turning all night, disturbed by strange sounds.
“Really? So fast?”
“Yes! Come out! We’re waiting for you!”
He started towards the door, then hesitated. Was it a trap? But the knocking ghost had been gone for hours… No, he needed to be sure. He couldn’t be fooled.
Proud of his caution and intelligence, he walked to the window and carefully peeked through the curtains. Several people were standing outside with flashlights, as if waiting for someone.
Seeming to notice him, they turned, their eyes gleaming in the darkness. “Teng Ge, come out! We’re waiting for you! Teng Ge, come out! We’re waiting for you! Teng Ge, come out…”
They repeated the phrase over and over, men and women, high voices and low, a hypnotic chorus.
The words echoed in his mind, his heart pounding. He was drawn to their glowing eyes in the darkness.
Teng Ge, come out! We’re waiting for you!
Yes, he thought excitedly. They were waiting for him. He had to hurry and join them before he was left behind in this terrifying villa!
He turned on his flashlight and opened the door. The hallway was empty.
A cold breeze brushed against his legs, making him shiver.
…
The next day, Zhu Ming was forced to wake up early.
Not too early, but earlier than the previous day. The persistent knocking on her door, combined with the heat, had made her sleep restless.
Yawning, she opened the door, nearly knocking over the person standing outside.
“Trying to send me to an early grave?” she grumbled, still half-asleep. “What is it now?”
Xiao Cheng said urgently, “Someone’s dead!”
Zhu Ming: “Oh.”
Perhaps due to another death, Miss Zhao seemed even more distraught than before. She glared at Zhu Ming, her voice strained. “What did you do last night? We need to determine if you’re a ghost.”
Zhu Ming scratched her ear, wondering if she had heard correctly. “Suspecting me again? Where’s A-Zou? I was with her last night. Ask her.”
Yun Zouchuan raised her hand. “Here. I already told them everything, but they insisted on confirming it with you, to make sure I wasn’t lying.”
Zhu Ming leaned against the doorframe, yawning. “Fine. I went to the housekeeper’s room last night.”
There was no point hiding it. The villa was small. Any activity on the first floor would be noticed. She planned to investigate the storage room later; there was no way to avoid being seen.
Since her account matched Yun Zouchuan’s, their suspicions eased, and their expressions softened slightly.
However…
Zhu Ming looked at Xiao Xue. “You didn’t see me last night?”
Xiao Xue looked surprised. “I was in my room all night. I never opened the door. How could I have seen you?”
Zhu Ming: “?”
Strange. The flashlight beam hadn’t been A-Zou’s or Xiao Xue’s. It couldn’t have been Xiao Song’s, could it?
She asked the others, but no one admitted to being in the hallway.
Was she seeing new types of ghosts now? Confused, she decided to let it go for now.
“Why are you all so serious?” she asked. “What happened?”
Xiao Xue explained, “This morning, we found Teng Ge dead in the living room. His left eye was… gouged out.”
Zhu Ming: “Huh? What does that have to do with me?”
Xiao Xue continued, “We compared notes about last night. Everyone experienced illusions trying to lure them out of their rooms. A-Zou said she didn’t see Teng Ge’s body when she went to the basement at midnight or to the housekeeper’s room at 2 a.m. We think he was tricked by the illusion and opened his door.”
Zhu Ming was even more baffled. “And you still suspect me?”
Xiao Xue shook her head. “If that were all, we wouldn’t be so worried. It’s because…”
“Because of me,” Old Xu said, looking much older than before, his face wrinkled and pale, his usual energy gone. “My door opened by itself when the housekeeper knocked last night. Luckily, I had a way to protect myself.” He had used up the life-saving reward from his previous instance. The next one would be even more dangerous.
Zhu Ming was finally intrigued. She straightened up. “Why did your door open by itself?”
Old Xu held up a small sign. “Because of this.”
It was an ordinary “Please Make Up Room” sign, the kind found in most hotels.
Leave a Reply