Clones That Kill

Ji Li could already be called a seasoned veteran. Through one Reception Mission after another, he had developed an exceptional sensitivity to the presence of ghosts and death.

Generally, wherever ghosts lurked, there was an unmistakable chill.

Yet he had sensed nothing before Xiao Liu's death just now.

It was only the commotion in the crowd that had alerted him to the ghost's appearance.

Ji Li's hair streamed behind his head, his brows tightly furrowed.

Either this ghost existed in some unusual form, or his senses had been weakened.

"Third, did you notice anything before Xiao Liu died?"

Ji Li could only pin his hopes on the Third Personality. Judging by their two previous missions, Third had the keenest perception and sensitivity of them all.

The Third Personality seemed to have anticipated Ji Li's question and promptly answered:

"No more than ten seconds after we spoke to Xiao Liu, he was attacked by the ghost.

"But I genuinely sensed no supernatural power around us.

"My guess is that this ghost is extraordinarily powerful.

"It didn't even give us the slightest chance to sense it!"

Hearing that answer, Ji Li fell silent. He had been thinking the same thing.

The missions were bound to grow progressively harder. The last one had already proved that, and this one would probably be even more difficult.

Worst of all, the ghost was supposed to kill all forty-three employees within six hours.

That number might not seem high, but divided among six hotel staff members, it was overwhelming.

If they could not detect the ghost's movements at all, they would have no way to prevent the deaths...

And in his heart, Ji Li had already accepted that a large portion of those people would have to die.

Without deaths, they could never uncover the pattern behind the killings, much less find a way to survive.

Realizing this made Ji Li even more desperate to secure the crucial Monitoring Room. It was the key to identifying the ghost's targets!

As Ji Li raced upstairs, the seventh floor soon came into view.

With a flashlight strapped to his head and the Hotel Phone in his palm, Ji Li searched door by door. At last, at the far end beyond a corner, he found a door bearing a sign that read, "Maintenance Department."

He shoved the door open. It was unlocked.

But with the entire room laid bare before him, he found no one inside.

Ji Li pursed his lips, then considered that the maintenance workers might already be working to restore the power.

Just then, the Hotel Phone in his hand buzzed and its screen lit up. Fang Shenyan was calling.

The hotel staff generally communicated using the phones issued by the hotel. After all, they always had power and reception.

"This is Ji Li."

"Yu Guo and I just brought the remaining employees from above the Tenth Floor to the first-floor lobby. I'm on the first basement level now. Someone has died here."

Fang Shenyan's voice was rather cool. He succinctly reported everything they had just done.

Ji Li frowned, unsettled. Why had someone else died already?

"What happened?"

"I found several maintenance workers on the first basement level. They're making emergency repairs to the power supply.

"But while we were waiting, one of the employees suddenly died. He snapped his own neck with his hands.

"This ghost kills by possessing people and forcing them to commit suicide!"

The situation on Fang Shenyan's end was straightforward, and it also answered Ji Li's question.

The Maintenance Department on the seventh floor was empty because its workers had gone to the first basement level to make repairs as soon as the incident occurred.

What made Ji Li frown, however, was that the ghost now appeared to be killing in different locations at the same time.

"Do you know roughly when that employee died?"

On the other end, Fang Shenyan answered almost without hesitation. "Ten thirteen and fifty seconds!"

Ji Li raised his wrist and glanced at his watch, then his expression grew even more puzzled.

"I'm outside the Maintenance Department on the seventh floor right now. Someone also died just as I was heading upstairs. Based on the timing,

"he and that employee on the first basement level died almost simultaneously!"

"Simultaneously?" Fang Shenyan sounded a little puzzled. He found it hard to believe.

"Including the man who just died, there are only four maintenance workers here. They told me there should be seven.

"But the other three are unaccounted for."

Ji Li's face gradually darkened. He merely said quietly:

"I'm on the seventh floor. I'll look for the other three."

Then he hung up and called Tong Guan, who was with the other group.

The moment the call connected, Tong Guan and Ji Li spoke almost in unison.

"Someone has died here."

"Has anyone died over there?"

Tong Guan paused, then seemed to realize something. "Someone died on your end too?"

Ji Li let out a long breath. He seemed to have confirmed a suspicion, but unwilling to give up, he still asked, "Roughly when did the person on your end die?"

"Ten thirteen and fifty seconds!"

"Same here."

After saying that, Ji Li hung up and stood where he was, his expression shifting.

Then the Third Personality spoke softly inside his head, voicing a terrifying reality.

"This ghost has a cloning ability..."

It was killing in multiple locations at the same time. There might even be deaths they had yet to discover!

Ji Li had begun to glimpse an answer to why he had never found the source of the supernatural power. Perhaps none of the ghosts doing the killing were the original!

This was far worse than they had initially anticipated.

They had thought that, with forty-three employees ahead of them, finding a way to avoid death within six hours by studying the deaths and the rules would not be too difficult.

After all, based on what the information had indicated, hotel staff like them should be the last to come under attack.

But things were changing too quickly. Barely twenty minutes had passed, and three people had already died, not counting any undiscovered victims!

If the ghost had clones, killing everyone in an extremely short time would be easy!

At that thought, Ji Li's head began to ache even more.

"Bang, bang, bang! Is anyone there?"

Just then, Ji Li suddenly heard a series of muffled thuds from the far end of the corridor.

That was where the elevator was!

Ji Li's eyelid twitched, and he immediately understood what had happened. Someone had been trapped inside the elevator when the power went out.

What a pain, he thought, taking a steel knife from his bag and walking toward the elevator doors.

"Is someone out there? Hurry and help us open the doors!"

Perhaps the people inside had heard Ji Li opening the door earlier. Their hope rekindled, they began shouting desperately.

Otherwise, Ji Li really might have missed them.

Gripping the dagger in one hand, Ji Li inserted its tip into the gap between the doors and used the strength of his arm to pry the sealed elevator doors apart.

Little by little, the gap widened, and the beam from the flashlight on his head shone into the elevator.

Boom!

By the time Ji Li finally forced the doors open, his head was covered in sweat. He was just about to speak.

But the sight before him made even this hotel manager, who had grown immune to fear, feel his scalp crawl!

The elevator car was stuck between the sixth and seventh floors. Even bending down, Ji Li could see only a small portion of it.

And within that small portion, he saw three bodies facing him.

Yet all three heads were positioned identically, twisted a full hundred and eighty degrees!

Their bodies faced forward, but their heads faced backward!