Humanoid Demon

This time, Fang Shenyan stood at the very front. Without the slightest hesitation, he shoved open the glass doors of Bogou Building.

At that very moment, the clock turned exactly ten at night.

Whoosh!

Starting from the Seventeenth Floor, the entire building rapidly lost power.

After Yu Guo, the last person, entered the building, nothing but darkness remained before them all!

The scene was utterly silent, save for the rain that had gradually grown sharper as it battered against the glass doors!

Yet that stillness lasted less than half a second before Ji Li suddenly heard distant curses and commotion from employees working overtime on the floors above.

He turned to look across the street, where the lights were still blazing. Only this building had lost power.

What that meant was self-evident.

The ghost was about to appear!

"Our task is to protect the forty-three employees currently inside the building. We need the smallest possible space and the most concentrated group of people!

Split into pairs and head to different locations. Bring all forty-three employees to the first-floor lobby!"

Fang Shenyan was the first to move. Naturally, he headed for the western stairwell with Yu Guo and rushed upstairs.

Tong Guan had no objections to Ji Li's suggestion either, and he headed for the eastern stairwell with Chang Nian.

Only Ji Li and Li Xing, whose legs had already begun to tremble, remained in the lobby without moving.

Ji Li still stood by the main entrance with his back to the rainy night. He showed no intention of moving and even took out a Cigarette Case from his pocket to light himself a cigarette.

Li Xing had been waiting for Ji Li's orders, but when he turned around, he saw that Ji Li had already started smoking.

"Manager Ji... don't we need to go find people?"

Ji Li glanced up at him, took a deep drag, and exhaled a smooth smoke ring. "What did you do before this?"

Li Xing clearly had not expected such a question. He answered instinctively, "An ordinary office worker?"

"If you were working overtime until midnight and the company suddenly lost power, what would you do?"

"What else could I do? Go home..."

By the time Li Xing said that, he had realized the problem and instantly understood why Ji Li had not acted.

In truth, Fang Shenyan and Yu Guo, along with Tong Guan and Chang Nian, were already enough to notify people and bring them over. Most employees would head for the main entrance to return home anyway.

Their job was merely to block all the employees leaving work in the lobby!

Li Xing could not help feeling some respect for Ji Li's mind. He walked to Ji Li's side and asked softly,

"But there are forty-three ordinary people who have no idea ghosts exist. How can we keep them under control?"

Ji Li said nothing. He simply smoked in silence and waited for the office workers to arrive.

Before long, a rustling wave of footsteps drew near. Ji Li finished his cigarette at just the right moment, and his eyes lit up as he stared ahead.

Groups of three to five employees, each carrying their briefcases, hurried toward the exit.

It could be said that the brightest place in the entire building was the first floor. There was another office building across the street.

It had not lost power, and its lights even illuminated most of Bogou Building.

"This is seriously messed up. The boss told me to hand in my proposal tomorrow morning, and the power just had to go out tonight!"

"Yeah, I haven't even finished my work. Who knows what time I'll get home? I might have to pull another all-nighter."

Listening to the approaching footsteps and conversation, Ji Li slowly placed his backpack on the floor and reached behind his waist.

The sound of boots stepping on tiles rang out. With his back to the light, Ji Li's shadow stretched across the floor, appearing before the group.

"Everyone, your lives have stopped tonight.

"If you want to survive, you must cooperate with me."

His clear voice echoed through the empty lobby. Li Xing's eyelid twitched. He had not expected Ji Li to be so direct.

At the same time, he felt worried. He still did not know how Ji Li intended to stop these people and make them obey his orders.

"Who the hell are you? Move aside, we're in a hurry!"

"What are you people even doing? Are you insane?!"

The middle-aged man at the front of the employees looked exceptionally anxious. After he spoke, the people behind him began shoving as well. It was obvious that everyone was in a terrible mood under these circumstances.

"She insulted me—the woman in the back!

Ji Li, handle this. Don't give me any face!" The Second Personality was as irritable as ever, repeatedly fanning the flames for Ji Li.

Ji Li did not get angry. He merely smiled faintly and finally withdrew his right hand from behind his back.

What appeared in his palm was not the knife he usually carried, but a pitch-black handgun...

The employees could not see it clearly, but Li Xing, standing behind them, saw everything. The sight nearly made him bite his tongue.

Li Xing had just opened his mouth when a deafening muffled blast rang out beside his ear!

Bang! The female employee who had just insulted them was sent flying backward!

Her once-exquisite makeup was instantly ruined, and blood streamed from her abdomen. Only then did she realize what had happened and let out a pained wail.

Ji Li blew on the smoking muzzle of the gun, held it upside down, and walked toward the remaining employees, who had been scared senseless.

He passed through them and stopped before the female employee. Hearing her shriek at the top of her lungs, he frowned.

Bang!

Another gunshot rang out. A neat wound appeared in the woman's forehead, killing her completely.

"Ahh!! Robbery! Murder!"

"Don't run. You can't escape.

You have three breaths to stay obediently in the lobby. I won't hurt you again."

Ji Li looked at the few people who had already fallen into hysteria and spoke loudly.

"D-Don't! Don't shoot! We'll listen to you!"

Led by the middle-aged man, the remaining people all crouched in the center of the lobby.

Li Xing watched everything unfold before him, his eardrums still ringing. He was completely dumbfounded.

"Ji Li...

He's the manager, but... is he even human?"

"From now on, I order you to stay here and not move.

Even if you need to use the bathroom, do it where you are.

Soon, many more people will be here with you, so don't worry about me hurting you again.

What I'm telling you is that there is something in this building far more terrifying than I am.

The thing truly threatening you is not me, but it.

Once you see it with your own eyes, you'll know just how merciful I am."

Ji Li's smiling expression made him seem no different from a demon at midnight in the eyes of every living person.

They had never seen such a ruthless desperado who could take lives so swiftly while speaking and laughing so casually!

Though they only half understood his words, they did not dare move at all. They could only resign themselves to their fate.

Ji Li had no time to patiently persuade them one by one and convince them to obey.

In other words, everyone had their own way of acting. No matter how much he said, he could not possibly control all of them.

That left him with only forceful methods.

He did not disregard life. He only valued the purpose behind it.

The woman's death had indeed cost them one person from their protection quota, but it would more effectively control the remaining forty-two.

Ji Li's style was to choose the most rational and quickest method, and it had undoubtedly achieved the best possible result.

Most importantly, he had no time to remain in the first-floor lobby and guard these people.

There was still something he needed to do personally, something that could not be entrusted to anyone else!