He Was the One Who Attacked Me

The tall building stretched forward along the passageway.

The passage was long and narrow; as soon as you entered, darkness spread out like tentacles, with only the dim light from the overhead bulbs illuminating the darkness.

The passageway had no forks and went straight to the end, which made Gao Lou start to feel uneasy after only a few steps.

Something's not right. This is clearly not right.

This passage should logically lead to the restrooms, which would not be located deep inside to serve guests. Yet, the corridor in front of him was so dark and deep that a red light could be faintly seen at the end.

After walking a few more steps, the red light exerted a great deal of psychological pressure on the tall building.

Damn it, this is a corridor that's obviously haunted!

He paused, closed his eyes, and focused intently on harnessing the power of "architecture".

As he sensed it, a white design drawing appeared before him. The drawing began to outline part of the barbecue restaurant's floor plan, especially the abrupt corridor.

However, closing your eyes in this environment really takes courage.

The tall buildings quickly became distracting.

He heard a series of hurried footsteps.

The footsteps approached from a distance, running at breakneck speed. Gao Lou, who still had his eyes closed, instantly broke out in a cold sweat.

He had just stepped into the corridor when he knew, of course, that the short section of corridor behind him wasn't nearly as long as he thought!

How could footsteps come from so far away?

What was running towards him?

Losing one's sight already makes one feel insecure; a sudden jolt from a tall building makes one stand still, facing a wall, constantly trying to hypnotize oneself.

"I'm here to investigate the building, I'm here to investigate the building..."

The footsteps grew more hurried and closer.

"I'm here to survey the building..."

The sound of footsteps passed by the tall building.

As the strange sound faded into the distance, Gao Lou breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it must have been some kind of ghost or clone, but his special ability had taken effect, and the other side hadn't noticed him.

This self-deceptive quality is envied by many, and it is also what allows Gao Lou to dare to explore alone.

Feeling temporarily safe, he opened his eyes.

What are you doing here?

A soft female voice asked.

Gao Lou froze, cold sweat pouring down his face.

How could someone be behind me?!

That footstep should have passed by, so why is someone still standing behind him?! When did this start?

He turned his head slowly, like a rusty mechanical doll, and in the dim light, he saw a delicate and pretty face.

This is...

Qu Xuanqing was holding a plate of food.

Her gaze fell on the tall building, and her smiling lips curled up because of her bad mood.

Are you mute?

Dressed in a chef's uniform, she appeared slightly different from the customer. She kicked the leg of the tall building where she was being punished. "The road is so narrow, why are you blocking the way? We already don't have enough waiters."

Those in tall buildings dare not speak.

This was clearly a clone of the intelligent woman in the group, and it looked menacing. He hadn't done anything yet, but he could feel the hostility emanating from the clone.

The tall building immediately turned sideways, giving the other person ample space to walk past steadily.

During this time, something flashed in his eyes.

Looking closer, they discovered that a fruit knife was tucked into the back of the belt of "Qu Xuanqing's " chef's uniform.

The fruit knife was so sharp it reflected light, and there were some dark marks left on it.

Gao Lou breathed a sigh of relief only after Qu Xuanqing's figure disappeared at the corridor exit, but then he saw his hands, which had lost their original color under the red light.

He instantly realized what was on that fruit knife.

So it was blood.

This realization sent a chill down Gao Lou's spine, but thankfully the clone had already left. He pulled up the route map he had drawn in his mind and strode forward, identifying his direction as he went.

It turned out that the kitchen was at the end of the corridor, and not far in front of it, there was an inconspicuous narrow passage leading to the restrooms and staff changing rooms.

He thought the corridor went on forever because the narrow passage was in his blind spot.

Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim light, he could see an arrow drawn on the wall.

[Restroom ahead]

The tall building hesitated for a moment.

He was torn between going to the restroom or the kitchen. He didn't really want to run into the woman's clone right now, and since the clone was wearing a chef's uniform, it must be working in the kitchen.

So...

Let's go check the restrooms; maybe we'll run into Little Heavenly Master and the others.

With that thought in mind, he turned into the narrow passage.

Upon arriving at the new passageway, a question mark vaguely surfaced in Gao Lou's mind.

He had never seen such an outrageous architectural design. Just that long corridor alone wasted so much usable space!

This arrangement can only mean that there's something the barbecue restaurant owner doesn't want people to discover in the area connected to the back of the corridor.

It is a clue, but it also represents endless danger.

Despite his seemingly sound theoretical knowledge, he genuinely didn't want to put himself in danger. He often relied on his seniority to make newcomers the cannon fodder. Over time, he gained more and more experience while avoiding direct involvement, creating a "virtuous cycle."

He had always thought that the deduction was this "simple," until he encountered a tough opponent today, and he realized that he had just been lucky all along.

Gao Lou cursed under his breath, then saw a small, glowing sign ahead.

The small sign had icons of boys and girls on it, clearly indicating the location of the restroom.

Seeing that he was so close to the restroom, Gao Lou held his breath and listened intently, trying to hear if there was any noise coming from the women's restroom.

As he drew closer, he indeed heard faint sounds coming from along the wall.

That sounds like... someone crying.

It was the sound of a woman crying.

The soundproofing of the walls was so good that even people in high-rise buildings couldn't hear anything clearly. He took out his self-defense knife and slowly moved to the door of the women's restroom.

With a creak.

It wasn't the women's restroom door that opened, but the men's restroom door, which was directly behind him.

Gao Lou felt a chill run down his spine; he never expected the men's restroom door to suddenly open!

Even turning around to deal with it would take time, but the people behind him clearly didn't intend to give him a chance to react.

A hard object struck the back of the tall building, causing his vision to go black for a moment. The excruciating pain in the back of his head made him scream in agony, and he lost his strength and fell forward.

A chilling wind swept past his limbs, and he felt the offering in his hand being subtly taken away. Then he heard a familiar voice scolding, "I told you, there must be a clone trying to take advantage of this opportunity. Little Heavenly Master, see who it is!"

The pupils of the tall building contracted in fear.

He was hit again, his mind becoming even more confused. He could only feel warm liquid running down his head, and through the blur, he saw his own face.

That person... that version of myself, wearing the exact same suit as him, holding a brick I'd somehow acquired, pinned him down.

Seeing that the tall building was still conscious, the other "tall building" grinned and gave a provocative smile.

But then, he revealed a terrified expression and said to the Little Heavenly Master who came from behind to see what was happening, "This is my clone! It's my clone that's trying to harm Xiao Duo!"

Xiao Duo is the name given by the little girl among the candidates.

The tall building gaped open, trying to make a sound to tell the Little Heavenly Master the truth.

No... I'm not a clone, he's the clone!

Don't believe him... damn it!

Gao Lou watched helplessly as his clone, holding the sacrificial dagger he had just snatched from Gao Lou's hand, plunged it into his own throat.

No! No!... No no no no no no no no!

Gao Lou struggled desperately, but felt his strength rapidly draining away. He made a hoarse sound in his throat. The Little Heavenly Master seemed hesitant as well, and slowly said, "Wait a minute, there are still questions you haven't asked him."

Yes, yes, save me first! Save me first!

The skyscraper is a glimmer of hope that it has picked up from despair.

Just then, the door to the women's restroom was opened.

Xiao Duo's face appeared behind the door, her cheeks streaked with tears. She clung to the crack in the door, sobbing, "Aunt Wang is dead, she can't be brought back to life..."

She noticed the situation in the hallway as soon as she said a word.

Xiao Duo's eyes widened in terror as she pointed at the tall building. "It's him! It was him who attacked me with the fake Aunt Wang!"

Gao Lou, who had been speechless, suddenly looked at her, staring intently at her face.

The Little Heavenly Master frowned, a gut feeling telling him something was amiss, "But I can't be sure yet—"

"The clone can't produce a sacrifice, haven't we already verified that?" Xiao Duo's eyes darted around, and she subtly met the gaze of the clone high-rise building.

Tears streamed down her face as she looked utterly terrified. "They were easy to tell apart; it was this ghost on the ground that attacked me..."

The door to the women's restroom was opened a little too wide, and Gao Lou, on the verge of death, noticed that Xiao Duo also had stab wounds on her body.

Xiao Duo covered her wound, and no one would doubt her pitiful state.

A surge of resentment welled up inside Gao Lou. He gritted his teeth, his blood-stained hand gripping Xiao Duo's ankle tightly: "Ouch—"

"Ah!!" Xiao Duo screamed and struggled frantically, accidentally kicking the top of the building.

When people are in extreme fear, they can unleash tremendous power; with this kick, the tall building tilted to one side.

It fell off my neck.

Everyone fell silent for a moment.

Xiao Duo stared blankly at the scene, seemingly unable to believe that her kick had caused such a consequence—perhaps she was thinking about how to cover this up in front of the Little Heavenly Master.

The clone coughed and said to the Little Heavenly Master with a complicated expression, "They really are fake. Their bodies seem a little different from ours. That's a clue."

"Hmm... the body joints of a clone are more fragile than those of a real person." The clone, Gao Lou, said without changing his expression, straightening up. "My clone is dead. The system notified me that the mission is half complete. So killing the clone was a hidden mission."

"What a pity for Wang Shufen, she was killed by her own clone."

Xiao Duo started sobbing again. "Waaah, Aunt Wang..."

Behind her, the middle-aged woman's corpse lay in the very center of the toilet.

Her head was split open, her eyes were wide open, her face was full of disbelief and resentment, and she had already lost her breath.

"... In that case, I'll go and call E back." The Little Heavenly Master looked at the mess on the ground with a headache and explained to the two, "She suddenly wanted to go to the changing room to check. We just separated when you were attacked. Gao Lou just arrived. I don't know if she found anything yet. Let's regroup first."

"Where's the body? What should we do with the body?" Xiao Duo glanced at the middle-aged woman on the ground without saying a word.

"We'll have to leave them here for now. The bodies are already dead. Let's stop this pointless indecisiveness." The Little Heavenly Master sighed, then his eyes sharpened. "I also want to see how other people would react to these two corpses if they passed by."

"Alright." The clone wiped his blood-stained hands on his suit, just like his original self, and was quite the actor. "It's strange to see another version of myself lying here; it makes me nauseous. Let's go."

His face appropriately displayed a hint of disgust and fear.

The Little Heavenly Master glanced at him again, and was actually relieved by this reaction.

"Let's go to the locker room."