Chapter 19 Night of Sacrifice (15)
Miss Zhao and Xiao Song breathed a sigh of relief.
That request was easy enough to fulfill. Yesterday, when Xiao Song had revealed he couldn’t open the door to 2007 and then foolishly used the excuse of going to 1004 to cover his tracks, Miss Zhao had started thinking about the flashlight issue.
She had come up with a plan, but she needed a pretext. Hence, the 3 a.m. incident where Xiao Song was supposedly lured out of his room. This gave him a plausible reason for having a dead flashlight—he had taken Lao Gao’s.
Fortunately, Xiao Song had played along, making sure everyone remembered that his flashlight was dead. Now, everything made sense. Even if they remembered Lao Gao’s flashlight, Miss Zhao had an excuse: the housekeeper had taken it along with the other trash. Look, even the broken pieces of Teng Ge’s flashlight in the living room were gone.
But the flashlights provided in the rooms weren’t considered trash.
Miss Zhao turned on one flashlight. It worked. “This is mine,” she said.
She then held up the second flashlight. “This is Xiao Song’s. It died last night, so he threw it away. It’s still covered in dirt.”
She turned it on.
The bright beam was somewhat dim in the daylight, but still clearly visible inside the shaded villa.
Miss Zhao and Xiao Song froze.
Everyone stared at them.
Zhu Ming burst out laughing, a chilling sound. Then, she raised the cleaver and brought it down hard on Xiao Song’s neck.
Thwack—
The blade sliced through flesh and bone. Blood spurted everywhere. Xiao Song didn’t even have time to scream before his head rolled across the floor, coming to rest at Miss Zhao’s feet.
Miss Zhao shrieked, her face turning deathly pale. She collapsed onto the floor, staring at Zhu Ming in terror. She had no doubt that Zhu Ming intended to kill her too.
The sudden violence shocked everyone. The severed head, eerily lifelike, lay in a growing pool of blood by the door of 1004, the door and wall splattered with gore.
Zhu Ming tossed the cleaver aside, wiped the blood from her face, and kicked the headless corpse.
The release of pent-up anger left her feeling strangely invigorated. She took a deep breath. “You’re probably wondering why the flashlight still works. The answer is simple. Lao Gao’s flashlight was never dead. I took the batteries out that morning. Why are you so surprised? It’s not just ghosts that can lie. Humans can too.”
The morning Lao Gao died, while everyone else was by the pool examining his body, Zhu Ming had been the first to search his room.
She had quickly found his flashlight, lying in the corner under the sink, switched off, its batteries full.
Looking at the permanently open door, an idea had formed. She had removed the batteries, creating the illusion of a dead flashlight. No one would be interested in a useless flashlight. It would be left in the corner, forgotten.
But a ghost would be interested. If there was a real ghost among them, without a room or a flashlight, it would eventually be exposed. It would need something to maintain its disguise, and a discarded flashlight was the perfect choice.
After everyone left, Zhu Ming had found an opportunity to replace the batteries. The flashlight remained in Lao Gao’s room. Then, she had deliberately goaded Xiao Song into admitting he had gone to 1004 with his own flashlight. He and his accomplice had been forced to adapt, taking Lao Gao’s flashlight to create their alibi.
Xiao Song had claimed his flashlight had died during the night.
But now, it was fully charged!
The evidence was undeniable. Xiao Song’s true nature was exposed.
Seeing her boss take action, Yun Zouchuan, realizing Xiao Song was the one who had been leering at her, stomped on his corpse repeatedly, her face a mask of fury.
As the realization dawned on the others, the seemingly human corpse began to change, its body, clothes, and even the bloodstains turning translucent.
Zhu Ming kicked the corpse aside, giving Yun Zouchuan more room to vent her anger.
Xiao Song’s head suddenly turned, facing the doorway. The shock and fear from his death vanished, replaced by a look of pure malice. He glared at them, especially at Zhu Ming.
“You think you can kill me? Don’t be naive! I’ll haunt you forever, until you all stay here with me! Hahaha—”
Thud!
His head rolled out of 1004. Zhu Ming’s foot shot out, stopping it.
Xiao Song: “…?!”
Everyone stared at the doorway of 1004. Miss Zhao stood there, trembling, her face ashen. No one had expected her to kick the ghost’s head out of her room. “So he really was a ghost… That’s why my boyfriend, who isn’t Awakened, was brought here. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know he was a ghost. I didn’t know anything about the flashlight. He tricked me into suspecting Zhu Ming.”
Zhu Ming tilted her head, her messy hair falling around her face. She pressed her heel down on Xiao Song’s head, grinding it into the floor. “Really?”
“Really!” Miss Zhao insisted.
“I don’t believe you.”
Miss Zhao: “…”
But since she was offering an explanation, Zhu Ming wasn’t going to be polite. “Miss Zhao, there’s something I’d like to ask you.”
Miss Zhao looked at the others pleadingly. Yun Zouchuan was still gleefully stomping on the translucent corpse. Xiao Cheng frowned, unsure whether to believe her. Old Xu, smiling serenely, clearly sided with Zhu Ming. As for Xiao Xue, she simply smiled, her expression unreadable.
Zhu Ming kicked Xiao Song’s head like a soccer ball back into 1004. He roared in anger, his headless body thrashing, but Yun Zouchuan held it down effortlessly.
Zhu Ming smiled. “Miss Zhao, are ants fun to play with?”
Miss Zhao’s expression changed instantly, the mask of innocence and vulnerability shattering. She glared at Zhu Ming, then slammed the door shut without a word.
Xiao Cheng finally understood. Miss Zhao had been acting. He had to admire her quick thinking. She and Xiao Song were much better actors than some of the celebrities on TV. He hadn’t suspected Xiao Song at all and had almost been fooled by Miss Zhao’s performance.
But…
“What’s with the ants?” he asked. Why had Miss Zhao given herself away with those two words?
Zhu Ming cracked her knuckles, realizing Xiao Song’s “tuition fee” might finally be useful. “Remember the skewer I used on the water ghost by the pool? You asked me how I did it. I can tell you now. It was a lie. Two lies, actually.”
Xiao Cheng: “???”
He looked at Yun Zouchuan. She was close to Zhu Ming; she must know, right?
Yun Zouchuan had picked up the discarded cleaver and was now hacking furiously at a certain part of the translucent corpse, though ordinary weapons couldn’t harm it.
Xiao Cheng: “…” He turned to Xiao Xue. She had helped him understand before.
Xiao Xue thought for a moment. “I think I understand. The housekeeper and the water ghost initially wanted us to think there was only one ghost. So when someone found the housekeeper’s blood, the water ghost pretended to react to the skewer, leading us to believe it was her blood. That’s the first lie.
Miss Zhao doesn’t seem that close to Xiao Song. She must have been suspicious of him. Yesterday, she had to pretend he had stayed in her room. Being so meticulous, she must have anticipated having to prove it, so she took the skewer, just in case. Inviting a ghost into your room is dangerous.
Of course, Zhu Ming didn’t do anything special to the skewer. She just told you that, knowing you would tell Miss Zhao. That’s the second lie. Right, Xiao Cheng? You did tell Miss Zhao, didn’t you?”
Xiao Cheng: “…Yes.”
They were all participants, meant to help each other. Miss Zhao had asked, and he had told her… He felt a strange sense of disappointment. He looked at Zhu Ming, incredulous. She had been planning this while he was still completely clueless.
Zhu Ming smiled. “I didn’t think that far ahead. I just knew that whoever was working with the ghost would be paying close attention to the skewer. I used it and threw it away. Most people would assume I had some special ability, not that the skewer itself was important. But the accomplice would be wondering if the blood on the skewer would actually affect the ghost.”
She raised her voice slightly. “Well, Miss Zhao? Did you try it? Did it work? I even skewered an ant for you. Quite noticeable, isn’t it? So thoughtful of me—”
The door to 1004 opened a crack, and a translucent head rolled out. The door slammed shut.
Zhu Ming raised an eyebrow, stepping on Xiao Song’s head just as it rolled towards her. He turned his head with difficulty, cursing. “You kicked me again! You’re dead!” This woman had clearly abandoned all pretense of civility.
Miss Zhao’s muffled voice came from behind the door. “I don’t care. You forced me to do this. You’re the one to blame. It has nothing to do with me.”
Xiao Song’s head was about to explode with rage. Just as he was about to yell again, Zhu Ming grabbed his hair and lifted him up, her eyes cold.
Xiao Song: “…”
“I said I would skin you alive,” Zhu Ming said softly. “Did you think I was finished?”
Xiao Song’s expression turned ferocious. “Foolish! You can’t harm me now! Since I’ve been exposed, I’ll tell you everything! That ritual actually works! My goal from the beginning was to leave this place with you. What’s so hard to understand about wanting to live again? Complete the ritual, let me be reborn through any of you, the barrier will break, and you’ll complete the mission. It’s a win-win!”
He licked his lips greedily, glancing at Yun Zouchuan. “It would be even better if it were her. Her life force is so strong… If it were her… Xiao Yan and I could be reborn together.”
Zhu Ming scoffed. “A pair of adulterous lovers becoming siblings? How touching.”
Even decapitated, he was still obsessed with impregnating someone. Yun Zouchuan was livid. She stepped forward. “Boss, can I have his head? I want to punch it.”
Zhu Ming tossed it to her. “Don’t lose it. We need to find something that can actually kill him.”
Xiao Song’s bravado faltered. Even though Zhu Ming hadn’t done anything yet, he felt a sense of dread.
Yun Zouchuan caught the head, punched it hard, and nodded. “Okay!”
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