"That..." The middle-aged man in the vest gazed at the woman's profile, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. Only when he opened his mouth did he realize he didn't know her name. A trace of awkwardness appeared on his face. "Could I ask your name?"
The woman glanced at him and said coolly, "Yu Wen."
Her voice was distinctive, with the weathered, raspy quality of a rare smoker's voice.
The woman's willingness to answer seemed to give the middle-aged man in the vest a glimmer of hope. He quickly straightened up, adopting the serious air of a negotiator. Leaning forward, he spoke with a hint of ingratiation. "Hello, Ms. Yu. I'm Zhou Taifu. My family is in the jewelry business."
Yu Wen turned her head and regarded him with interest. "Go on."
Zhou Taifu licked his lips. "I can tell you're no ordinary person, Ms. Yu, and you seem to have some experience dealing with situations like this, so..."
"So you want me to protect you, then pay me a hefty fee once we get out." Yu Wen suddenly smiled. "Is that right, Mr. Zhou?"
Zhou Taifu nodded hastily. "That's right, Ms. Yu. As long as you can protect me and get me out alive, the payment won't be a problem. I'll make sure you're satisfied."
"Make sure I'm satisfied." Yu Wen rubbed her chin, as if she were genuinely considering it.
Seeing Yu Wen's attitude, the other man sitting beside the middle-aged man in the vest couldn't sit still either. He spoke up at once. "Ms. Yu, I hope you'll help me too. I'm not as wealthy as Mr. Zhou, but if I can leave here alive, I'll give you everything I have."
"Oh?" Yu Wen tilted her head, seemingly interested in his offer as well.
To Zhou Taifu's surprise, the man he'd thought would be his ally wasn't having it. He pointed at the other man and scolded him loudly. "Ms. Yu agreed to help me first! What do you mean, bringing him along too?"
He turned to Yu Wen and said bluntly, "Ms. Yu, you only need to focus on keeping me safe. No matter how much this poor nobody offers, I'll pay double. No!" He swept his hand through the air. "I'll pay ten times as much!"
"How very generous of you," Yu Wen sighed.
Zhou Taifu pressed his lips together. Suddenly worked up, he shakily stood and asked, "So, Ms. Yu, does that mean you agree?"
Yu Wen didn't answer directly. Instead, she looked out the window. After a long moment, she asked with a curious expression, "Mr. Zhou Taifu, the jeweler, what do you think is the point of nightmares?"
"The point?" Zhou Taifu was taken aback. Did the point even matter?
Shouldn't they be focused on figuring out how to get out alive?
Or sitting down and negotiating a price?
Yu Wen didn't even look at him. She gave Zhou Taifu the impression that it didn't matter whether he had an answer, and that impression made him extremely uncomfortable.
But he was the one asking for help, so he had no choice but to put up with it.
"My line of work is rather unusual," Yu Wen said slowly, leaning back in her chair in a remarkably relaxed pose. "People pay to hire us to do certain things. Of course," she added, "not in places like our country, but in war zones. That's why some people call us mercenaries."
Her eyes gradually lost focus, as if she'd fallen into memories from long ago. "The place was terribly poor. Money was the only thing that could attract us, and for money, we were willing to do anything." She paused, then lowered her head and repeated, "I said anything."
Zhou Taifu felt that the conversation was going in a strange direction. He stammered, "M-Ms. Yu, what are you trying to say?"
"Nothing." Yu Wen reached up and brushed the hair at her temple.
Strangely, the gesture held none of the feminine beauty it might have on someone else. Instead, it carried a killing chill, like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
Both the middle-aged man in the vest and the man beside him felt a chill in their hearts.
"I just think it's unfair." She looked up, and that icy feeling returned to her eyes. Her dark eyes seemed capable of swallowing all light.
"In the real world, wealth and power let you do whatever you want. But understand this: this is the Nightmare World. Everything you were proud of and flaunted in the real world is worth nothing here."
"The only way to survive here is to rely on this." She curled her fingers and tapped her head, then suddenly smiled. "That's also why I like this place."
"So please respect this place and its rules."
Room 407.
Dinosaur Pajamas Girl huddled on the bed, trembling. The blanket completely covered her, leaving only her two little eyes exposed.
"Qipao Sister," she said in a trembling voice, "that sound is still there. It seems like it's right on the other side of the wall."
Qipao Woman's expression was no longer calm. Just over ten minutes ago, Dinosaur Pajamas Girl had suddenly told her she'd heard a strange scraping sound.
That immediately reminded her of the sound the two people in Room 405 had heard.
Had that thing changed targets?
She couldn't help growing tense.
But when she calmed down and thought it over, it didn't seem likely. If that thing had really targeted the people in Room 405, it usually wouldn't switch targets.
The only thing Qipao Woman could be grateful for was that she still hadn't heard the scraping sound herself.
In any case, they couldn't stay in Room 407 any longer. That thing had its sights on them, and it was highly likely that Dinosaur Pajamas Girl, who knew nothing about any of this, would be tonight's first victim.
"Little sister," Qipao Woman asked, "can you still hear that scraping sound?"
She was making one last confirmation.
"Mm." Dinosaur Pajamas Girl nodded repeatedly. She was clearly terrified. "But it's not as obvious as before. It seems to keep moving."
She traced the sound's location with her finger, following along the wall until she pointed to a spot near Qipao Woman.
"Sister," Dinosaur Pajamas Girl said, almost in tears, "the sound seems to be right above your head."
"What?!"
Qipao Woman jerked her head up, but there was nothing above her.
Even worse, she still hadn't heard a single sound.
To her ears, the night was as silent as death.
Her thoughts raced. Could her initial judgment have been wrong? Was hearing the scraping sound not a sign that a ghost was about to kill someone? Could the person who couldn't hear it be the target instead?
The more she thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
The reason was simple: if the people who heard the scraping sound were the ghost's targets, then the two people in Room 405 should have died first.
In other words, if the people in Room 405 had already died, then no one else should die tonight. Why would the scraping sound go out of its way to find them?
Thanks to Qingmeng Yunying for the tip!