Dark and Stormy Night

"Do you girls always have to be so competitive?"

Su Jie, having just witnessed a dramatic display of interpersonal conflict, finally spoke.

"No, it's just that I can't stand how pretentious and fake Zhao Xuanyuan is," Liu Yingying replied, feeling a bit self-conscious under Su Jie's gaze.

She admitted to having her own "tea art" skills, but she considered her own level of sophistication and character far superior to Zhao Xuanyuan's, at least she didn't keep a whole harem of admirers.

"Su Jie, you don't think too badly of me, do you? I mean, I like money, but I don't look down on others, and I haven't played with anyone's feelings."

"You're quite honest."

Su Jie gently touched Liu Yingying's flushed cheek and said, "Stay here tonight."

Liu Yingying's face turned even redder. She lowered her head, fiddled with her fingers, and softly hummed in agreement.

A smile on his face, Su Jie raised his wine glass and looked around. "Everyone, eat and drink to your heart's content. I'm feeling a bit unwell, so I'll head up to rest first."

With that, Su Jie put his arm around Liu Yingying and left the lawn, entering the villa.

Many people in the crowd understood what was happening and secretly marveled at Liu Yingying's good fortune in finding a powerful connection.

Following another round of passionate moans, a completely exhausted Liu Yingying fell into a deep sleep.

Su Jie lit a black candle. It was Soul-Soothing Incense, which aids in spiritual cultivation. For ordinary people, inhaling it would induce deep sleep, leaving them refreshed upon waking the next day.

Having done all this, Su Jie dressed and left the villa alone in the darkness, heading to the pier in the backyard.

Splash!

The Qingshui River, connected to the backyard, churned, and the Thousand-Hand Centipede emerged from the water.

"Let's go. We'll find some people to play with."

Su Jie patted the Thousand-Hand Centipede's head, then stepped onto its back. He let the creature carry him as they swam towards the eastern district of Linping City.

In a dilapidated, abandoned building in the eastern part of Linping City, several heavy trucks were parked in the desolate area.

The usually quiet abandoned structure was filled with boisterous noise from one of the buildings. Amidst the shouting and yelling, a group of tattooed men were happily drinking.

"Brother Hu, when can we go back? Drinking without any girls is no fun!"

"Yeah, yeah! We pulled off such a big deal, we deserve some rewards."

Fueled by alcohol, the group's true nature emerged, and they started looking for entertainment.

The one addressed as Brother Hu was a bald, muscular man nearly two meters tall. He chuckled and cursed, "Once the heat dies down, I'll take you to a nightclub for a whole month. For now, just behave yourselves and wait for the Boss's arrangements."

"Aren't you being a bit too cautious? We were so clean, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Hmph, our rivals probably have overseas connections. It's better to be careful."

Brother Hu pointed at the man who had spoken earlier and ordered, "Lei Zi, you little punk, stop thinking with your lower half all the time. This shipment going smoothly to the Boss is enough for you to live it up for years. You'll have all the women you want then. Just endure it for a few more days."

"Alright, alright, Brother Hu, I can't argue with you. Whatever you say goes."

Lei Zi scratched his crotch and put down his bottle. "I'm going to relieve myself."

"Lei Zi, you little wimp, are you going to bail?"

"Yeah, how many bottles of cheap booze did you even drink? And you already need to pee?"

"Screw you! You think I'm scared? Just you wait until I get back, I'll deal with all of you."

Lei Zi yelled back as he staggered out of the room with a swagger.

He didn't go far. Since it was an abandoned building with nothing but bare concrete everywhere, he found a corner and unzipped his pants to relieve himself.

Rustle, rustle!

Suddenly, Lei Zi heard a strange, faint sound.

It sounded like something was crawling. In the darkness, one's eyesight is impaired, but hearing becomes sharper, so Lei Zi heard it clearly.

"What was that sound?"

Startled, Lei Zi zipped up his pants and took a lighter from his pocket.

He used the flame to illuminate the area where the sound had come from.

He saw a huge dark shadow scuttling across the ceiling. It had a grotesque, black-purple exoskeleton, and numerous pale limbs writhed beneath its abdomen.

The terrifying and bizarre sight froze Lei Zi in place. His mouth hung open, and he was too terrified to make a sound.

Crack!

Suddenly, the terrifying figure on the ceiling stopped moving and lowered the lower half of its body.

Like an eagle snatching a chick, it bit down and dragged Lei Zi up to the ceiling. All that could be heard were the sounds of bones breaking, and then silence.

Inside the house, one of the men drinking suddenly said, "Why has Lei Zi been gone so long?"

"Maybe he fell asleep outside. Someone go check."

"Haha, I'll go take some embarrassing photos to mock him later."

Two tattooed men stood up, slinging arms around each other, and went outside to check on him.

Ten more minutes passed. Someone said, "Duanya Feng and Monkey are still missing. They went to find Lei Zi a while ago. What if they all got drunk and passed out outside?"

Brother Hu, who was playing cards, frowned and said, "Something's not right! Call them."

Clack!

Just then, the candles lit in the room all went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.

The group, who had been drinking and having fun, hadn't even registered what was happening before several screams echoed from all around.

"Get the flashlights, turn on your phones for light."

Brother Hu's face changed drastically. He roared at people to turn on their phones and fumbled to turn on his own flashlight.

When the light finally illuminated the room again, a scene that terrified everyone present unfolded.

Of the original dozen-plus people, five were gone. The remaining people, including Brother Hu, numbered only seven.

"Da Sha Hei, A Yun, Chen Lu Zi, Bing Ge, and A Gu are all missing."

Someone counted, their voice trembling.

Five people had disappeared in just over ten seconds, not to mention Lei Zi and the other two who had already vanished.

Eight people in total – no sign of them, dead or alive.

"Is it a ghost? There was a worker who fell to his death during construction of this unfinished building. Did we... did we provoke something unclean?"

Someone superstitious was so scared they were about to wet themselves. Their words made everyone even more tense, and they huddled together nervously like a flock of quails.

Brother Hu got goosebumps. He, who had never believed in ghosts, cursed loudly, drew his cleaver, and glared into the darkness beyond the light. "Who? Who's playing tricks? If you've got the guts, come out here! I'll kill you. You think this can scare me? If I flinch, I'll take your name!"

There was no response. In the darkness, only the cold night wind blew in through the unsealed windows.