Fortieth Chapter: Alice's Hell (11) - Blood and the Cabinet

Shall we shower together?

"Isn't that unnecessary? There's an hour to go."

"You've all seen the bathroom, right? Who wants to shower first?"

As Yu Xing walked across the cashmere red carpet to the bathroom, she saw two men standing at the door, discussing something.

It was hysteria and Han Zhiyong.

Yi tried asking Han Zhiyong if they wanted to take a shower together, but Han Zhiyong refused.

Besides these two, neither Han Xinyi nor Huang Bai came, and White Face was also absent.

No one was wearing masks at the moment; the straps behind the masks were tied around their waists.

Yu Xing could see that the two people had scratches of varying degrees on their bodies and bruises on their faces, so they probably had both encountered ghosts. However, he didn't know which one made the noise upstairs.

In short, they seemed less anxious, probably finally realizing the danger of reserving a room, and calmed down.

Upon seeing Yu Xing arrive, Han Zhiyong immediately ceased all discussion, instead shutting his mouth and giving him a provocative look.

Yu Xing: "..."

Oh ho, glaring at me?

Yu Xing returned Han Zhiyong's smile.

Although Han Zhiyong had just rejected Ye, he didn't plan to leave after Yu Xing, Zeng Lai, and Huai arrived. Everyone wanted to finish showering as soon as possible and then go to reserve rooms in peace, which was better than reserving rooms while worrying about whether any emergencies would cause them to miss their shower time.

Alice dislikes being late, a fact that has been repeatedly reminded of by the nun and the butler within just a few hours. Clearly, this condition must be followed, or the consequences could be dire.

"Oh, you're all here."

The next moment, two girls walked over.

Huang Bai had run into Han Xinyi sometime during the night, and they came over together. She looked at the men blocking the doorway with a puzzled expression, then waved her hand. "I don't know what you guys are doing, anyway... good luck?"

Huai: "Keep it up!"

Zeng Lai: "What kind of oil?"

Yu Xing said, "You keep it up too."

Huang Bai happily turned into the women's bathroom. Han Xinyi pursed her lips, smiled at Yu Xing, and followed her in. Zeng Lai then turned to Yu Xing, bewildered, and asked, "What kind of oil?"

Yu Xing didn't know either; he didn't understand Huang Bai's thought process and just answered casually.

He shrugged. "It's not important, let's go inside."

Huai remained silent, stepped forward, and seemed unwilling to cause a ruckus like Zeng Lai.

After everyone went inside, Han Zhiyong, who had just rejected the hysteriac, frowned deeply.

Never mind, let's go together.

The tables always turn so quickly.

Everyone had checked the bathroom before, but it wasn't shower time, so there was nothing there.

When they entered, the bathtub in the center of the bathroom was already filled with water, steaming upwards, and the mist fogged up the mirrors embedded in the walls.

The light from the various gemstones refracted in the water, creating an eerie effect, as if a Witch had mixed potions together and made a pot of poison.

Huai stepped aside from the large public bath and walked towards the individual wooden bathtubs surrounding it. "I'll use this bathtub..."

He stopped mid-sentence.

Yu Xing then walked towards a bathtub, and then, her eyes were filled with bright red.

The once empty bathtub is now overflowing with blood!

You don't notice it from a distance, but once you get closer, you can smell the unique scent of blood lingering around your nose.

An unsettling feeling spread through the air.

Zeng Lai paused for a moment. "Do we still need it?"

Huai: "... No."

Yu Xing silently stopped and walked towards the bath with a blank expression.

What does it mean that blood appeared in the bathtub during their designated time?

I don't know, nobody knows.

They instinctively moved away from the bathtub, then looked around and asked, "What do we do? Just wash like this? Where are our changes of clothes?"

"Go check the wardrobe," Yu Xing said.

He remembered there were eight locked wardrobes; since the time was up, maybe they could be opened.

Sure enough, when the group walked to the wardrobe, the cabinets that couldn't be opened before could now be opened, and there was a label on the door.

Please put your clothes in the locker after you've changed out. New clothes will be automatically placed in the locker after you finish showering.

Below the prompts, each person's title is written, corresponding to one of the eight wardrobes.

Just then, White Face also entered, arriving silently and with an almost frighteningly low profile.

Huai found his wardrobe and said calmly, "Alright, there doesn't seem to be any real danger for now. Let's wash up and leave as soon as possible."

After saying that, he took off his shirt.

He was thinner than he looked, somewhat gaunt, and didn't seem like the kind of strategist who relied on physical skills.

Yu Xing also opened the cabinet and looked around. There was a white bath towel hanging inside, and there was another shelf on the top shelf.

Since everyone present was a man, and Yu Xing wasn't one to hold back, she quickly undressed, wrapped a towel around her waist to cover her private parts, and then rummaged through the pockets of her pants.

A wire...

A padlock...

A utility knife...

A small mirror...

These were all things he had taken from the second-floor storage room. Since he had gone into the storage room, there was no reason not to take something.

He put the item in the compartment, then glanced at the mirror again, but didn't see his "good friend" in it.

So far, apart from the bathtub, there have been no further abnormalities.

The group went down into the bath. Although the lighting in the bath was grotesque, it had an immediate effect on relieving fatigue.

The hot water enveloped her skin, Yu Xing let out a soft breath.

His constitution gave him a natural affinity for warm things; warmth was always better than cold, better than the chill and curse that flowed through his limbs and etched into his bones.

The group quieted down, immersing themselves in a brief moment of comfort.

About two or three minutes passed like this.

In the midst of the silence, Zeng Lai couldn't hold back any longer.

Taking a bath is supposed to be relaxing, especially for those who are more capable and less nervous. Once you're relaxed, you're more likely to talk to others.

He glanced at his side; Huai's curly hair was drooping from the dampness, and he was closing his eyes, seemingly lost in thought, while Xing had a slight frown, looking somewhat uneasy.

Zeng Lai's eyes lit up as he found a topic to talk about. He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Yu Xing: "... It's nothing."

Yu Xing brushed the hair from her forehead back with her hand, closed her eyes, and silently calculated the time in her mind.

Zeng Lai refused to give up. "You don't look too good."

Yu Xing sighed, feeling he shouldn't have a rosy complexion, and replied, "Anemia."

That's right, he was calculating his bath time. Due to his physical condition, he couldn't soak for too long, otherwise he would faint.

Alas... people's joys and sorrows are not shared.

As he said this, Huai opened his eyes and glanced at him with some surprise, then interjected, "I thought your abilities were related to ghosts... I didn't expect it to be a physical reason."

Han Zhiyong, Yi, and White Face also looked over, originally wanting to see just how bad Yu Xing's complexion was. But after a glance, they realized that only one thing was magnified in their gaze—that was...

This guy's looks are truly captivating.

The three of them then angrily looked away.

As for her complexion, it seems that Xing has always been pale, so it doesn't matter.

After a while, he said hysterically, "Um, should we consolidate our current information on ghosts? After all, ghosts are our common enemy. In order to survive, perhaps we should temporarily..."

Han Zhiyong interrupted him, "No."

"But..."

"Don't forget, it's not just ghosts who are enemies; we are enemies too," Han Zhiyong sneered. "As long as we have a conflict of interest, as long as someone else's death benefits us, then cooperation is impossible."

Zeng Lai also said, "Look, some people don't want to cooperate. Forget it, it's unrealistic for all eight people to cooperate in a deduction. Just be careful on your own."

Splash...

Yu Xing pushed herself up and sat on the edge of the bathtub, casually picking up a folded white towel and draping it over her upper body. Without discussing the topic of cooperation, she simply said, "I'm not taking a bath anymore."

Not participating is also a form of statement, so he sighed and had no choice but to give up.

Yu Xing wiped himself with a towel for a while, then walked to his cabinet, opened the door, and took out the change of clothes that Alice Castle had prepared for him.

How should we evaluate this...? Besides the necessary clothing, Alice also prepared a new set of clothes for them printed with "[Alice's Hell Tour Group]".

The clothes were arranged in the top compartment, but the old clothes were gone. However, the things he had taken from the storage room were still there. Yu Xing changed calmly and glanced at the closet space in front of him, which could fit one person.

Several empty clothes racks hung forlornly on the wooden bar, not affecting the volume of the space at all. He raised his eyebrows slightly, feeling that in a terrifying environment, such a cabinet was just like an indispensable element in some horror Yugi.

The flashlight is like Dad, and the cabinet is like Mom.

Yu Xing had a gut feeling that it would come in handy...

Come to think of it, it was only after leaving the bath that he realized the air in the bathroom wasn't actually stuffy; on the contrary, it had a subtle chill that gradually cleared his head, which had been a little drowsy from being in the hot water.

The temperature seems off.

"Ah!!"

Just as I was thinking about it, a scream suddenly came from the women's bathroom next door; the voice sounded like Huang Bai.

Everyone was stunned. Yu Xing even thought for a moment that Han Xinyi had attacked Huang Bai.

A few seconds later, Huang Bai shouted again, "Huai!!! It's gone! Quick, get out of the way!"

She only reminded Huai, but it made no difference; all the strategists in the men's bathhouse changed their expressions.

What's coming from here?

Where to hide?

"Splash--"

With a few splashes of water, they got up one after another, not even having time to change their clothes, just grabbing white towels and draping them haphazardly, watching the bathroom entrance as if facing a formidable enemy.

Huang Bai was still shouting, "Don't let it see you! It can't sense human presence, it only relies on sight! Hide quickly!"

Cannot be seen? Is it a regular type of ghost?

Everyone looked around and saw Yu Xing standing in front of the cabinet, and naturally they also saw the space inside the cabinet.

His eyes lit up. "Hide in the closet! We'll deal with this after it leaves!"

Zeng Lai said, "Okay, hurry!"

Yu Xing frowned as she watched them run to their respective closets. She took a small item from the top shelf of the closet, but instead of going into the closet, she reached out and grabbed the towel around Zeng Lai's waist.

Zeng Lai slammed on the brakes, grabbed the towel to keep it from falling, and gave Yu Xing a big question mark in her eyes.

Yu Xing said softly, "Remember the bloodstains we saw in the other cabinets before? Where do you think... that blood came from?"

Zeng Lai was taken aback, then his pupils contracted.

"Damn it, I almost got scammed."

He swiftly grabbed Huai: "Wait, don't go in—we'll hide somewhere else, don't go into the closet!"

At the same time, a shrill, ghostly howl came from outside, rapidly approaching and sending chills down one's spine.

Huai hesitated for a moment, then was dragged away by the strong Zeng Lai. He thought that Zeng Lai had no reason to harm him at this time, so he followed him.

--This is probably the advantage of gambler Zeng Lai being Righteous Path star predictor; in times of crisis, even those who have a good relationship with him won't suspect him of having bad intentions.

Zeng Lai had a loud voice; if only Zeng Lai could hear Yu Xing, then everyone could hear Zeng Lai. Even though Yu Xing's hand was on the cabinet door, after thinking for a moment, she obediently didn't go inside.

The bathroom was only so big; besides the wardrobe, the only things that could block the view were those bathtubs filled with blood.

It's not about getting completely immersed in it—if you did, who knows what other things might happen.

The bathtub itself is large enough that an adult male could hide behind it without being discovered.

Zeng Lai pulled Huai to squat behind the bathtub and found that Yi Ye had also found a bathtub to use as cover. She didn't say anything, and then she looked up and saw that Yu Xing was still by the cabinet!

At the doorway, amidst the rising steam from the bathroom, a blurry, Black Shadow appeared, twisted and deformed—undoubtedly a ghost.

Hey, what's this idiot waiting for?

He shouted urgently, "Xing, why don't you hide right now!"

Yu Xing turned her head, smiled at him, and fiddled with the thing in her hand for a moment.

Han Zhiyong and White Face ignored Zeng Lai's advice and decisively crawled into the cabinet, closing the door behind them.

The White Face man was taciturn and extremely aloof; Yu Xing had never heard him speak. Han Zhiyong, however, still insisted on entering the closet, probably out of some kind of distrust...

He's on the opposite side of Yu Xing. What if Yu Xing and the others were prepared for the current situation and deliberately lured him away from safety?

With this in mind, Han Zhiyong hid in the closet, where the light was blocked, plunging him into darkness.

He was very familiar with this; in fact, he felt safer in the dark.

However, the next moment, he heard a soft "click".

Then came a dull thud as something hit the cabinet door.

Han Zhiyong was taken aback, then pushed the door open.

I can't open it... Damn, it's locked!

He narrowed his eyes and asked in a grim tone, "Who!"

The voice outside was even more somber than his, magnetic yet tinged with mockery, and a chilling coldness. "Who else could it be?"

"Yu Xing! What the hell do you want?!" With the ghost nearby, Han Zhiyong didn't dare raise his voice too much, and could only grit his teeth and ask.

Outside the wardrobe, Yu Xing fiddled with the lock; this was the item he had just taken from the clutter. A subtle smile appeared on his lips.

"Since you made the wrong choice and gave me a chance... then you should handle it well."