Shush

When handling the corpse, blood inevitably got on his hands. The dark red of the blood contrasted with the pale skin, exuding a seductive yet panicked aura, hinting at something unusual.

Yu Xing bent down and arranged the corpse into a more presentable pose. He wiped his blood-stained fingertips on his pants and turned around upon hearing Fang Rui's surprised voice.

He smiled, "Shh... aren't I calm now?"

Fang Rui was skeptical. He wanted to move further away from the corpse but was afraid of being too far from Yu Xing in case something happened. After all, horror movies often showed people leaning against a wall being dragged away by hands that emerged from it.

He didn't know what to do now. This damned factory, he couldn't get out, and he couldn't take the batteries or not take them. Was he just asking for death?

"How about we... chat for a bit?" He scratched his head, trying to avoid thinking about despairing things, and started negotiating with Yu Xing.

Yu Xing readily agreed, "Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"Um... I heard before that you just graduated from university. Where did you study?" Although they didn't know each other before today, they had a little information about the applicants they were competing against.

Clearly, Yu Xing's information had been leaked by someone at some point, and Fang Rui happened to overhear it.

"Ruibo University, in this city," Yu Xing stood up and, with nothing else to do, walked towards the lockers in the changing room.

The opened locker had been rummaged through messily. Yu Xing didn't even need to use his forensic knowledge; he could tell at a glance that the person searching was in a hurry, so much so that they didn't care about the items inside the locker.

Dusty shoes, discarded work hats, and masks were thrown carelessly on the floor, leaving relatively clean patches on the locker boards.

Yu Xing thought to himself: Zhang Shuya had desperately searched for batteries here before but didn't find any. A place this large couldn't possibly have no batteries. Were they taken beforehand, or were the batteries in a locked cabinet?

"Ruibo?" Fang Rui asked curiously, "I'm from Ruibo too, but I'm a year ahead of you. I'm your senior!"

Yu Xing, who was about to open a locked cabinet, paused when he heard this, his expression changing slightly.

In the next sentence, Fang Rui asked uncertainly, "Why didn't I see you when I was at school? With your looks, you should have been the talk of all the girls in any department, right? I never saw your name in the forum's campus heartthrob or department heartthrob polls either."

"Well..." Yu Xing, with his back to Fang Rui, narrowed his eyes under his bangs. "I have poor health and applied for distance learning. I only need to come to school for midterms and finals. So, it's not strange that many people haven't seen me."

"Ah? You don't look that unhealthy," Fang Rui leaned closer, examining Yu Xing with the camera. "Oh, your complexion is a bit off, too pale. Even with night vision, I can tell your skin lacks color. May I ask... what illness do you have?"

Generally, the response to such a question would be either to answer honestly or to politely say they didn't want to disclose it.

But Yu Xing glanced at Fang Rui, who was obstructing his lock-picking, and casually said, "If you know it's rude, perhaps you shouldn't ask?"

Yu Xing's bluntness made Fang Rui a little awkward. He let out a dry "haha," watching Yu Xing skillfully pick the lock with a wire, and then changed the subject, "So, I'm from the journalism department. Which department are you in?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the locked cabinet clicked open with a "snap."

Yu Xing decisively opened it and saw two cold batteries lying inside.

They were indeed here.

"Ah, if only I had known, Zhao Yijiu wouldn't have had to walk. What a shame, I should have tried the locked cabinets earlier." Yu Xing didn't answer Fang Rui's question but let out a regretful sigh.

"Yeah, at least here he could have saved travel time. But if the ghosts come, we'll be in trouble too." Fang Rui tugged at Yu Xing. "Let's only touch them when our cameras are about to die. The ghosts will come as soon as we pick them up!"

The thought that batteries might represent ghostly creatures sent shivers down Fang Rui's spine. "Let's just close it. I'm getting a phobia of batteries now."

He reached out to push it shut, but Yu Xing grabbed the cabinet door, stopping him. His fingers then brushed against the back of Fang Rui's hand.

"Since you're from the journalism department, I understand. I wanted to say this when I helped you up earlier," in the darkness, a hint of excitement flickered in Yu Xing's eyes, glowing faintly. He said softly, "Are you cold? Your skin is so icy. So cold... like a corpse."

Zhao Yijiu ran, camera in one hand, and drew a sharp little knife from his pocket with the other.

The knife had a peculiar design, with a double-edged blade. The wooden handle was inlaid with a dull stone shaped like a heart, with blood-colored fine lines spreading out like a spiderweb.

His palm felt a slight warmth as he gripped the knife. His pace was swift and his movements agile. Just as he predicted, at this speed, he would make it in time.

However, the moment he stepped into the narrow corridor on the right, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking more than half of his path.

A short-haired girl was squatting in the corridor, her head buried in her arms, and faint sobbing could be heard. It was Tang Yuan.

Hearing Zhao Yijiu's footsteps, Tang Yuan flinched in fear. When she looked up and saw him, her despair turned into surprise. She whispered, "Why are you..."

"Don't block the way, move aside!" Zhao Yijiu interrupted her coldly, not slowing down.

"No, there's a ghost inside! I just got separated from my brother. I saw a female ghost drag my brother away! Don't go in--" As Zhao Yijiu ran past her, Tang Yuan urgently reached out and grabbed him.

Zhao Yijiu didn't think much of it at first, but when he was pulled off balance, his expression changed, and a coldness rose in his eyes.

How could this Tang Yuan have so much strength?

Right, the female ghost, he and Yu Xing had both seen her.

Among the applicants, there were only two women. One was dead, so the remaining one...

But she would have to be a bit foolish to remind him of this now. Did the ghostly creature not know about the clues left by Assistant Hao in the camera?

Zhao Yijiu's thoughts raced. This would also bring Tang Li into the picture – these two were siblings, and one of them was a ghost. Could the other be human?

Yu Xing was initially pulled by a ghost's hand near the rat hole. That hand was a man's hand.

So, there were two ghostly creatures, Tang Li and Tang Yuan!?

He regained his balance, calculating the time, his brow furrowed.

He couldn't waste time here. Tang Yuan wasn't attacking him now, simply because he hadn't triggered the death condition.

A brief delay was fine, but if the five-minute limit passed, this Tang Yuan might just crawl onto him – poke his eyes out, or rip his head off?

"Get lost."

Zhao Yijiu was just as blunt as Yu Xing.

"I'm telling the truth, you'll die if you go..." Tang Yuan pushed her hair behind her ear and stood up, leaning against the wall. Her eyes were red, and she looked like a weeping beauty, which was quite striking.

"It's none of your business if I die, don't make me waste any more time." Zhao Yijiu broke free from Tang Yuan's grasp, shot her a warning glance, and then quickened his pace toward Office 02.

There were two batteries in Office 02, inside the cabinet. They weren't hard to get.

Just as he was about to push the door open, his sleeve was grabbed again.

"It's in there!" Tang Yuan had silently appeared behind him, her voice a hushed plea. "Don't go in. My brother is already gone, and I don't want anyone else who's applying with me to get hurt. This job application is problematic..."

"You're really kind, then." Zhao Yijiu said sarcastically. He was annoyed. He hated people who were so whiny. Even if she wasn't a ghost, he wouldn't listen to someone who forced their own opinions on others.

Some people in his life who he had to interact with called him heartless.

Heartless? Maybe. He'd never been close to anyone, and his way of thinking was just like this. Believe it or not.

"No!" Seeing Zhao Yijiu still trying to go in, Tang Yuan reached out to grab his arm. The next moment, a sharp blade flashed coldly in the darkness, slicing through her sleeve.

"Don't touch me." Zhao Yijiu's temper flared. He was in a hurry, and yet some ghostly creature, who thought it hadn't been exposed, was putting on a show of concern.

"There's no time." Tang Yuan, however, flashed a victorious smile. In a race against time, her interference had successfully made Zhao Yijiu waste precious survival time.

The surroundings suddenly became silent and chilling.

Zhao Yijiu's pupils contracted, and he lunged forward. The next moment, the door to Office 02 burst open, and a pale arm reached out from inside, grasping at empty air.

"Brother~" Tang Yuan giggled coquettishly at the arm. "You didn't catch that woman in the toilet, and I slipped through the cracks. Why haven't you caught him yet? Hehehe..."

As she spoke, her entire body began to swell and wrinkle, gradually losing its human form.

A white face appeared behind the door.

The glasses perched on the white face fell to the ground. This made Zhao Yijiu, who had just gotten up, even more certain that this ghostly creature with its tongue hanging almost to its chest was the seemingly refined and gentle Tang Li!

In the nick of time, Zhao Yijiu remained calm, keenly observing the positions of the two ghosts.

They were blocking the door, still preventing me from entering the office... Could it be that after five minutes, when the death condition is triggered, it's still safe to replace the batteries?

There's a chance!

Recalling his own speed and the speed of the female ghost earlier, Zhao Yijiu felt he could still salvage the situation.

He gripped his knife, turned, and ran, intending to lead them on a chase.

Because someone had told him that in deductions, ghosts were invincible. Only the correct method could make them disappear. Resistance could only temporarily delay death, not solve the problem fundamentally.

This newcomer test... this recruitment test, also followed these rules.

Instantly, one person and two ghosts began a high-speed chase along the path Zhao Yijiu had come from.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the word "ice" seemed to have flipped a switch.

Seeing Fang Rui's expression suddenly turn grim, Yu Xing let out a joyful laugh. "As expected, this test isn't difficult at all."

He released his hand and picked up the two batteries. "Temperature was the most obvious clue. Assistant Hao gave everyone a chance to touch his hand when he handed over the camera, and then left video evidence in the camera proving he was a ghost, telling the living people that ghosts have a different body temperature than normal people.

"The only difficult part is that out of the six applicants this time, only three are alive. You, Tang Li, and Tang Yuan are all ghostly creatures."

Fang Rui looked at Yu Xing's fearless demeanor, and blood suddenly seeped from his eyes. His body turned a purplish-white. He let out a strange laugh, and his swollen hand grabbed the nearby Yu Xing, choking him.

Yu Xing felt pressure on his throat, his breathing obstructed.

He casually waved the batteries, his tone even laced with disdain. "Yo, you can attack now that you have the batteries, right? Come on, look, I've got both of them~ Attack me, at least put some effort into it~"