Younger sister covered her ears with both hands. The sounds coming from the water tank were like piercing static, stabbing at her eardrums and making her head feel as if it would split apart.
Sister, too, held one hand to the side of her head, though she was not suffering as badly.
"Although Sister and I have the same talent, the voices she hears are much stronger than mine."
Ji Yan looked at the moss-covered water tank and asked, "What exactly is That Eerie saying?"
Sister clutched her head and said, "It says it's cold inside, so stuffy, that it can't breathe..."
"It's... it's calling for help."
Calling for help?
So That Eerie was trapped inside.
Who had thrown it in there?
Ji Yan pondered for a moment. "Stay here. I'll push open the water tank's cement slab and see if it comes out."
With that, Ji Yan got up and walked toward the water tank.
Perhaps because of the "100 Eerie Power" added by Eerie Grandmother's pot of Black Meat soup, the massive cement slab, weighing several hundred pounds, moved like a wooden board when Ji Yan gave it a slight shove.
The cement slab was pushed aside, opening a gap about an arm and a half wide.
The next second, a thick stench and black mist poured out from the water tank...
Ji Yan stared into the pitch-black interior of the water tank.
He vaguely saw a pair of ghostly pale eyes staring straight at him.
The next second, a swollen, blistered hand with bluish-black skin reached out and gripped the edge...
"Don't be nervous. I'm here to save you."
Seeing that it did not attack him immediately, Ji Yan attempted to communicate.
As long as he got this eerie out, the water tank's water contamination problem should be resolved.
However, the moment Ji Yan spoke, those pale eyes turned chillingly sinister. "Get lost!!"
The next second, that pitch-black hand lunged for Ji Yan's neck.
Ji Yan had been prepared. Before the hand could touch him, his Spike Hammer smashed down on it. With a hard yank, he tore off a chunk of rotten flesh.
The eerie inside withdrew its hand again...
"What the hell? It calls for help, but won't let anyone save it!"
Ji Yan looked at the chunk of rotten flesh and complained with a frown.
Elder sister Zhong Yi spoke from behind him. "That eerie creature will only allow its father to rescue it."
"No one else will do."
Younger sister Zhong Ting added, "It says this is a game of hide-and-seek. As long as dad hasn't found it, the game isn't over, and it hasn't lost yet."
"Hide-and-seek?"
"Which room's resident is it?"
The two sisters shook their heads.
"It's already pretty good that we can hear that much. It's been howling like a ghost the whole time!"
Ji Yan's eyes flickered as he suddenly thought of something. He picked up the chunk of rotten flesh.
Then Omniscient Understanding activated, and a piece of hidden information appeared before his eyes.
That day, Dad played hide-and-seek with me. He said that as long as he didn't find me, the game couldn't end. So I listened to him, ran out of Room 804, and hid in the water tank on the Rooftop. It's so cold, so stuffy... Why hasn't Dad found me yet?
Ji Yan's brows twitched.
"Room 804, an eighth-floor resident..."
His head began to ache.
The residents of the Eighth Floor were all ruthless characters. He truly did not want anything to do with them.
But their own child had hidden in the Rooftop water tank, and they still had not found it.
Were they careless, or had they deliberately chosen not to look?
He did not dwell on it. At least now he had a target.
"You know where its father is?" Sister Zhong Yi had sharp ears and caught Ji Yan's muttering.
"Room 804."
Ji Yan jumped down from the water tank and tossed away the chunk of rotten flesh. "Are you coming with me?"
"How did you get that information?" Sister glanced at the disgusting lump of rotten flesh and asked.
"Everyone has a talent, don't they?"
"What's your talent? It looks amazing."
"It's pretty useless. Nothing worth showing off." Ji Yan waved his hand and naturally refused to reveal it.
Sister's little face immediately flushed red with anger. "That's not fair! I told you mine."
Sister pulled Sister behind her and said, "You're going to the Eighth Floor?"
"The residents on the Eighth Floor are..."
"Why don't you go, and I'll stay here and keep watch?" Ji Yan asked in return.
Sister smiled faintly. "You should go. Sister and I will stay here. If we get any more information, we'll tell you when you come back."
"Don't worry. I have connections on the Eighth Floor."
Ji Yan patted the dust off his clothes.
Sister looked slightly surprised. "You have a strategy for the Eighth Floor residents too? How close are you?"
"We've been through life-and-death situations together. What do you think?"
He waved his hand, dropped those words, and turned to leave the Rooftop.
As soon as Ji Yan left, Sister tugged on Sister's hand. "Sister, he's dealt with Eerie Residents from the Eighth Floor. Should we try to get on his good side?"
Sister shook her head. "Do you believe everything people say?"
"Look how stiff his smile was. He was just putting on a brave face."
"His profile says he's survived less than seven days. Is that even possible?"
Eighth Floor.
The moment his footsteps landed in the corridor, his line of sight was severely obstructed.
It was utterly silent. Even the wandering nighttime eeries seemed afraid to set foot on this floor.
Ji Yan took out the flashlight he had obtained from Eerie Mother from the Tool Bar.
Its orange, cold light pierced through the ink-black darkness. The Eighth Floor was exceptionally tidy, with no trash, no bloodstains, and even a red carpet covering the floor.
Following the room numbers on either side, Ji Yan quickly found Room 804.
At the gate, a little boy wearing a dudou was squatting down.
He was playing with a dead bird in his hands. When he looked up and saw Ji Yan approaching with a flashlight, he raised the dead bird and asked with a grin, "Brother, this one's dead. What fun things do you have?"
Ji Yan looked at the half-open gate behind the Eerie Child and asked, "Are your parents home?"
The boy grinned. "Hehehe, give me something fun, and I'll tell you."
Ji Yan was in a difficult spot. The only things he could take out were three Coffin Nails and an eyeball he had pried from the Nether Eerie on the 7th Floor.
Just as he was thinking, the half-open gate opened.
A white-haired woman in pajamas walked out and picked up the child.
She glanced at Ji Yan, her gaze like one directed at a lowly Rat eating garbage in a filthy drain. "Good boy, did you forget Mother's words again? Don't talk to those things from downstairs. They're filthy all over."
"You're Mother's treasure. You're so clean—don't let them contaminate you."
Ji Yan: "..."
But the Eerie Child was unwilling. "Mother, I don't have any toys left to play with. This Brother has lots of fun things on him. I want them!"
Eerie Mother stopped, looking somewhat helpless.
Seizing the chance, Ji Yan said, "Sister, I'm looking for your..."
Eerie Mother interrupted him, bending slightly to reveal a large expanse of private, deathly pale skin through her V-neck collar. "Calling me Sister? Your mouth is rather sweet."
"Where do you live?"
Ji Yan could only answer first, "The 4th Floor."
"Oh, an outsider resident from the fourth floor."
Eerie Mother then asked, "Is this your first time on the Eighth Floor?"
Ji Yan hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Eerie Mother drew out another long "Oh," and her smile suddenly became meaningful. "So you don't have any background or connections on the Eighth Floor?"
Ji Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately sensed danger.
Just as he was about to react, Eerie Mother's smiling eyes turned arrogant and cold. One hand had already clamped around Ji Yan's neck.
It was as though Death God's scythe had hooked his throat. Ji Yan's entire body turned cold and numb...
Eerie Mother licked the corner of her mouth with her crimson tongue. "What a fine body."
"Who gave you the courage to come to the Eighth Floor alone in the middle of the night?"
Before you continue