Chapter Four: Don't Trust Anyone

All the sounds that shouldn't have been there stopped with that single blow. Yu Xing's chest heaved, dizziness swept over him, and his vision kept going black.

He'd always had less stamina than most people. After being scared over and over in such a short time, his limbs were already going weak. Even holding the camera and the wooden stick was a struggle.

"Grr..." The Female Ghost's eyes widened. Water had gotten into her mouth, and she seemed unable to believe what had just happened to her.

While the Female Ghost was stunned, he tried to lean against the door and catch his breath. But the moment he did, it swung open, and he nearly lost his balance and fell flat on his butt.

"Can we leave?" Delighted, he shook his foggy head, steadied himself, tossed aside the stick, and ran out.

Behind him came the sound of a trash can tipping over. Yu Xing looked back and saw the Female Ghost furiously forcing one arm out, bracing it against the tiled floor as she suddenly emerged a good deal farther.

"Ma'am, I'm sorry!" he blurted out in panic. Looking up, he saw Zhao Yijiu by the sink, having smashed the cloudy mirror with his hand. Zhao Yijiu turned toward him, too.

"This way!" Yu Xing had no idea what Zhao Yijiu had run into while he was trapped, but there was now a bloody gash on his cheek, and his mask had been torn off, revealing a stern face with sharply defined features. He called out to Yu Xing briefly, then immediately ran outside. "Stay away from the mirror! Run!"

Stay away from the mirror?

How many ghosts were there in this place?

Yu Xing had no time to think. He instinctively ran after Zhao Yijiu, glancing sideways at the shattered mirror as he went.

The glass was so clouded with grime, and he was so far away, that he couldn't make out anything clearly. But with his excellent eyesight, Yu Xing thought he glimpsed an eye peering out from within...

As the iron door leading to the narrow hallway opened, the eye in the mirror blinked.

"I'm blind, I'm blind. Didn't see a thing." Regretting his curiosity, he panted as he left the restroom, only for a strong arm to clamp over his mouth and pull him into the Exhibition Room, whose door had somehow opened.

"Mmph!" His pupils contracted. He struggled twice, but caught sight of familiar fabric out of the corner of his eye.

Zhao Yijiu gently shut the door with his other hand. When he saw that Yu Xing had stopped struggling and making muffled noises, he let go and whispered, "Crouch."

Dumbfounded, Yu Xing crouched with him. Zhao Yijiu had his ear pressed to the door, listening for movement outside, and Yu Xing couldn't help asking, "Why aren't you running out?"

When he'd left the restroom, he hadn't seen Zhao Yijiu. The iron door had clearly been open earlier, so he'd assumed Zhao Yijiu had run off ahead of him. He'd even thought it was a stroke of foresight to use a plank to keep the iron door from closing.

He hadn't expected Zhao Yijiu to open the iron door, then double back and hide in the room closest to the restroom. How bold was he?

Yu Xing kept his voice low. Anyone farther away than Zhao Yijiu would have mistaken it for the wind, so Zhao Yijiu didn't tell him to shut up. He simply replied, "They'll catch up with us sooner or later. Better to stay out of sight... They're here."

Yu Xing immediately fell silent, frozen in place like a stone statue.

The one chasing them out was probably the Female Ghost. She'd need some time to climb out of the toilet, which gave the two of them a chance to choose what to do.

By normal logic, she'd assume they'd used that time to run down the hallway toward the lobby, and chase after them.

But... what if ghosts didn't think normally?

Yu Xing slowly turned his head. He remembered there were two uncovered glass windows beside the Exhibition Room door.

"Cackle, cackle, cackle..."

A dozen seconds later, the Female Ghost passed by the door, her laughter in tow. From the sound of her footsteps, she was walking with purpose, not sparing a glance for the Exhibition Room right beside her.

Only after the laughter had faded into the distance and fallen completely silent did Yu Xing breathe a sigh of relief. He was just about to speak when Zhao Yijiu quickly clapped a hand over his mouth again.

Almost at the same time, something struck the window of the Exhibition Room. A shadow pressed against it, the sound of teeth clacking unusually clear in the silence.

From Yu Xing's angle, he could look up at a twisted, pale face pressed tight against the glass. Its eyes were wide, the pupils darting around as it surveyed the room.

Cold sweat instantly ran down Yu Xing's temple, slid down his neck, and trickled beneath his collar, making him shudder.

Neither his nor Zhao Yijiu's position was safe. If the Female Ghost moved her head just a little, she'd almost be able to see them.

Fortunately, she didn't turn her head that crucial bit. It was as if she simply had to check every room. She soon moved to the window of Office 03, one junction away, and there was another thump.

Yu Xing stared wide-eyed. Only after the Female Ghost let out an angry "Hmph!" and opened the half-shut, rusty iron door did he signal Zhao Yijiu to take his hand away.

"That scared me to death." He wiped his mouth with distaste and gulped down air. Zhao Yijiu, by contrast, seemed completely calm.

They stood up. Yu Xing hadn't even had time to celebrate when his vision went black and he pitched forward uncontrollably. He didn't hit the ground face-first; Zhao Yijiu grabbed his arm and steadied him, half supporting him.

"Are you hurt?" Zhao Yijiu asked. His tone revealed no concern, and remained as cool as ever.

Yu Xing took a moment to recover. "No, I'm... I'm anemic."

"..." Zhao Yijiu seemed at a loss for words. After a moment, he scoffed. "Sickly."

Yu Xing: Well... I can't really argue with that.

Then he remembered. "How'd you get that cut on your face? Is it bad?"

"After you went into the stall, I saw a battery in the sink and went to get it." Zhao Yijiu touched his wound and came away with blood on his finger. Unconcerned, he wiped it off on his sleeve. "A figure suddenly appeared behind me in the mirror and reached out to cover my eyes. I knew something was wrong, so I smashed the mirror. But the figure's fingernails still scratched the face of my reflection, and it left a mark on my real face, too. It's not deep. The bleeding will stop soon."

He described his real-life encounter with a ghost so casually that Yu Xing couldn't help thinking, Wow.

Before Yu Xing could ask, Zhao Yijiu continued, "By the way, I've figured something out about the pattern behind the ghosts' appearances."

"I figured that out, too." Hearing what had caused Zhao Yijiu's injury and putting together what had happened before, Yu Xing had little trouble working out the pattern. He sighed. "As soon as we touch a battery, the ghosts sense it and come looking for us."

The first time, he'd taken the battery from the mouse hole, and a ghost hand had reached out and clamped around his wrist. The spot was already bruised.

The second time, Zhao Yijiu must have taken the battery from the desk, causing Yu Xing, who was searching the cabinets, to have his perception distorted and mistake a glass marble for an eyeball.

The third time, he'd been minding his own business in the restroom when Zhao Yijiu touched the battery in the sink, and that was what brought both ghosts after them.

...Thinking about it, he'd really gotten the short end of the stick.

Why was it that every time, no matter who touched the battery, the ghosts came after him? What gave? Was he their type or something?

That couldn't be right, could it?

"Right. I took the third battery. That's what gave me the idea to come into the Exhibition Room. As long as we don't touch the battery hidden in here, the ghosts won't find us." From Zhao Yijiu's tone, he evidently knew his actions had nearly gotten Yu Xing killed before he'd even had time to pull up his pants. His voice softened a little.

"...So looking for the batteries was a trap?" Yu Xing lowered his head without thinking, only then realizing that fear had kept his left hand clenched tightly around the camera the whole time.

Nearly half an hour had passed since midnight, and the camera's battery indicator was glowing a warning red.

Assistant Hao had sent them off to look for batteries with bad intentions. Was he actually giving the ghosts their location?

Watching the battery power run low, Yu Xing fell silent for a moment, then took the battery he'd found in the mouse hole out of his pocket and replaced the camera's.

His instincts told him that, while the batteries were directly linked to the ghosts, letting the camera die would be even worse.

Zhao Yijiu replaced a battery, too, then said, "Let's go. It's too dangerous here. We should get out as soon as possible."

He opened the Exhibition Room door and went out first.

"Hey, wait." Yu Xing fiddled with the camera, muttering under his breath as confusion rose in his eyes.

Since less than five minutes had passed since the recording had stopped, he took the chance to check the camera's footage. Besides the half-hour he'd filmed, there was another video, only a dozen seconds long.

Zhao Yijiu hadn't heard him and had already walked off. Since he still had time, Yu Xing opened the video. Assistant Hao's chubby face immediately filled the screen.

Unlike his usual warm and courteous demeanor, Assistant Hao looked terrified in the video, his face even streaked with blood.

The footage shook as if he were running. Gasping for breath, he snarled at the camera, "The ghost is hiding among the applicants! Don't trust anyone!!"

A shadow appeared behind Assistant Hao. It was an exact copy of him, except it wore a standard smile, carried a bag on its back, and held a knife in its hand.

In the video, Assistant Hao ran in terror for only a few steps before the "thing" behind him caught up. The blood-speckled knife rose high—

Swish—

Something splattered across the lens.

The video ended.

Yu Xing watched in silence, tilting his head.

That had been the real Assistant Hao—the one who'd given them the camera... Had he been killed?

Wait, what was the important part?

The ghost was hiding among the applicants?

Don't trust anyone?

Like Zhao Yijiu, for example?

As if compelled by some strange impulse, Yu Xing looked up toward the doorway.

His heart suddenly tightened. Zhao Yijiu, who should have been some distance away by now, was standing gloomily in the doorway, staring at him coldly.

Yu Xing: Oh, well, look at that! From this angle, he really does look like a ghost! He walks without making a sound, too!

Zhao Yijiu watched his eyes. Up close, the bloodstain on his face was especially noticeable. "What were you looking at just now?"

Yu Xing: Oh, well, look at that! I just remembered I poked the Female Ghost in the face with a stick. Quite a coincidence, huh? Except for the gender...

The unusually gloomy young man suddenly curled his lips into a faint smile that seemed almost illusory.

"Did you... find something?"

The atmosphere turned dangerous in an instant. In the darkness, Yu Xing's bangs were a little messy, falling over his lowered face and obscuring his expression. No one saw the strange look that briefly crossed his face. Then he "happily" lifted the camera. "Look, look! Check this out! A huge discovery!"

Zhao Yijiu paused, then leaned over to look. Yu Xing replayed the video he'd just watched, and the jarring murder once again became the background music of the dark space.

The camera had contained an extremely direct clue, yet no one had thought to check it at the start.

If they'd seen it sooner, the applicants would have been much more careful. At the very least, they wouldn't have naively assumed that the strange events were a test arranged by the company.

"..." After watching, Zhao Yijiu gave Yu Xing a deeply conflicted look. "Now I'm not sure whether 'timid' or 'bold' suits you better."

"Hm?" Yu Xing looked at him, puzzled.

Zhao Yijiu hesitated, then gave a cold laugh. "Aren't you afraid I'm the ghost? Now that I know I've been found out, I could just kill you."

"Of course not. I'm only afraid when there's a logical reason to be afraid. Think about it: if the ghost kills me just because it's been exposed, doesn't that mean the clue is very bad for it?" Yu Xing smiled in a way that was hard to read. His naturally upturned eyes instantly softened the fear and tension that had been lingering in his expression, giving Zhao Yijiu the strange impression that he didn't have a care in the world. "If that's the case, I should be happy. Even ghosts have things they're afraid of."

"The real question is, Assistant Hao said the ghost was among the applicants, but the ghost that killed him looked just like him. That means the Assistant Hao who gave us the camera was both a ghost and not an applicant. So what side is it on?"

"And what's the point of this test we're taking...?"

As he listened to Yu Xing's analysis, Zhao Yijiu glanced at him without drawing attention to it, a hint of confusion rising in his mind.

He felt that after watching the video, Yu Xing seemed different from before. It was as if he'd suddenly calmed down... No, Yu Xing had always been fairly calm when no ghosts were around. There had to be another word for it, but Zhao Yijiu couldn't think of one.

Right.

It was a sense of incongruity.