The First Victim

Li Xing looked at the staff members crouching obediently on the ground, at a loss for what to do. Just then, he saw Ji Li turn and leave the lobby, heading for the stairs above.

This left him even more bereft of support. He hurriedly called out, "Manager, where are you going?"

Without looking back, Ji Li said coldly, "Leave this place to you. You don't need to manage them. From now on, no one in this building can leave alive. Just stand guard here."

"I..." Li Xing pursed his lips. Although he was deeply wary of Ji Li,

Ji Li had at least given him some confidence. Now, he was the only hotel employee left in the entire lobby. How was he supposed to watch over these staff members?

Especially when their companion had just died at Ji Li's hands...

Li Xing looked at the corpse in the distance, which was gradually turning cold. He could not help shrinking back, pressing himself against the glass entrance doors without being able to say a word.

Ji Li could already hear increasingly dense footsteps coming from the stairs above. Most of the employees were still trying to go home.

Li Xing alone might not be able to intimidate those employees, but Ji Li could roughly calculate that since the mission had begun and the location was sealed within the building,

they would not be able to escape no matter what. Once they realized they could not leave, they would inevitably remain on the first floor.

After all, a corpse there would still keep them intimidated for a while. There would not be any major unrest in the short term.

By then, the two groups led by Tong Guan and Fang Shenyan would have completed their tasks and returned to the first floor.

This gap in time was what Ji Li needed. He had to find the building's maintenance personnel.

The power had to be restored as quickly as possible!

Ji Li looked at the employees beginning to emerge above him, casually grabbed a man, and asked in a low voice, "Where is the building's maintenance department?"

The man was drenched in sweat and had no mind to answer Ji Li's question. He tried to break free.

But then he discovered a pitch-black gun barrel pressed against his temple.

Ji Li asked expressionlessly, "I'm asking you, does this place have a maintenance department?"

The man froze. The employees behind him could not see what was happening in the darkness. They left the man behind and hurried downstairs.

"It's... it's at the corner on the seventh floor... But I'm not sure where they are now. When the power went out, they probably went to repair it immediately."

After receiving his answer, Ji Li nodded in satisfaction. He did not press the matter further and let him leave.

Even now, he still did not know why the building had lost power.

Although it was most likely the ghost's doing, Ji Li still wanted to try. If the power could be restored, he would gain a major advantage.

The Monitoring Room!

Until now, the ghost's form and method of killing had not been revealed.

And he did not hold much hope for his plan to gather all forty-three employees together.

He was almost certain that they could not all be assembled. Those left behind would likely encounter the ghost's attack first.

Ji Li urgently needed an advantage that would allow him to oversee the entire situation and survey every corner!

But all of this depended on whether the power could be restored. The key now was to find the maintenance personnel and see whether there was a chance to create those conditions.

Just as Ji Li sprinted up the stairs, he suddenly heard a commotion beside him.

It was extremely close!

Ji Li inwardly cried out in alarm and abruptly turned his head, only to see the crowd of employees part slightly, every gaze fixed on one person.

The man's back was dimly outlined. One foot was stepping forward, his body leaning ahead as though he had been fleeing just moments ago, only to be forcibly frozen in place!

The people around him looked at him strangely, seemingly unable to understand why he had suddenly stopped moving.

Someone beside him placed a hand on his shoulder and called to him several times.

"Xiao Liu? What's wrong?"

Ji Li took out the Hotel Phone from his pocket. Unlike ordinary phones, it possessed an inexhaustible supply of power.

When it was unclear whether the electricity would be restored, using it gave him an advantage over an ordinary phone.

The flashlight's Light Source came on, and only then did Ji Li realize that this frozen man was the employee he had just asked for directions.

Ji Li was suspicious. He quietly took a few steps closer. This strange situation was practically a sign that the ghost had made its move.

But he could not imagine why the man had stopped moving...

As he gradually approached, he suddenly saw the man's arm rise to clutch his own head, followed by a series of sharp cracks from bone and joints.

It was as if his body had suddenly become abnormally stiff, making even the smallest movement of his limbs difficult.

Ji Li's gaze deepened. From the man's bizarre movements, he seemed to see where this was heading.

His forward motion had become a backward one.

The man pressed both hands against his jaw and temples. Before everyone's stunned eyes, he wrenched hard!

Crack!

He had forcibly snapped his own head around. The force was unimaginably great, twisting it a grotesque one hundred and eighty degrees!

It was as if every bone in his neck had been torn apart. His face, filled with terror and pain, twisted around to face backward!

His head had been completely reversed!

Those eyes, which did not understand why they were dying even at the moment of death, emitted their final glimmer as they stared fixedly at Ji Li behind him!

"Ah!!!"

For the first time, the bewildered employees had witnessed a supernatural attack. Like headless flies, they fled in all directions in blind panic.

They only wanted to get away from this hellish place as quickly as possible.

Only Ji Li remained, quietly watching the scene as he paced back and forth several times beside the body that had already stiffened.

He glanced at his watch and confirmed the time of death: "10:13:50."

"Possession killing...?"

Ji Li touched the first victim's joints and found an indescribable chill lingering in his body.

It felt as though he was not touching someone who had just died, but a dead man who had long since been stripped of the aura of the living!

His limbs were stiff as if he had been placed in an ice cellar. This seemed to explain why his neck had broken so easily.

Ji Li was somewhat bewildered. This method of death was unique.

Possessed by a ghost and controlled into committing suicide—the method of killing carried a cruelty so simple it was absolute.

Yet it seemed able to kill only one person at a time. There had been so many people in the crowd, but it had selected only this man named Xiao Liu.

Ji Li did not linger any longer. He began running quickly toward the seventh floor to find the maintenance personnel. Restoring the power was the most important thing now.

While running, he could not help turning his head to look at the dead man.

In the darkness, he saw the man's clouded eyes glimmer with an unusual sheen before it vanished in an instant.

At the same time, a question gradually settled over his mind.

"Where did the ghost come from?"