Come Upstairs

Bishuiwan Manor blazed with light. From the ornate Crystal Lamp hanging from the foyer ceiling to the restaurant's dim, suggestive ambient lighting, and even every lamppost in the garden and along the building's corners, not a single light was off. The glare was so dazzling it was hard to keep your eyes open.

Horror movies often used darkness and confined spaces to create a sense of danger. But Feng Yushu was walking through a bright, spacious foyer, and a glance to the side was enough to see the stone pillars and statues outside through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Vast, bright, silent.

Now and then, a corpse leaned against a wall or lay sprawled on the floor. There was hardly any blood or sign of a struggle. Like dolls that had run out of power, they lay motionless, their limbs twisted into strange shapes.

With one hand against the wall, Feng Yushu carefully navigated the scattered bodies and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

The corpses scattered through the foyer and halls included people in work clothes: gardeners and cleaners in charge of the Manor's daily upkeep, as well as the renovation workers and construction-site safety officers who had stayed behind to make final adjustments before the Manor's official opening.

Others wore pajamas. They were executives and employees of the New Homeland Group who had come here on a company trip. Along with Bai Fugui's family, they had become the first guests at Bishuiwan Manor before it officially opened to the public.

They had all died here.

In the quiet night, muffled sobbing and hysterical screams occasionally rang out. Each life lost meant Feng Yushu had even less time. The sounds chased her forward like a death knell, urging her to hurry, hurry faster.

Feng Yushu ran barefoot across the soft burgundy carpet and hurried up to the second floor of the Manor.

"Hmm?" Ning Zhe stood on her shoulder and tilted his head.

Bishuiwan Manor was enormous, and this European-style Castle had a great many rooms. Among all those brightly lit rooms, one stood out: the only one with its lights off.

In the resplendent, brightly lit Manor, that one patch of darkness was the most conspicuous of all.

"It's... Azhi. That's her room." Feng Yushu suddenly grew excited, her steps quickening.

Ning Zhe frowned, moved in front of Feng Yushu to shield her, and followed her toward the only dark room.

"Azhi? Are you in there? It's Mom..." Feng Yushu pounded on the door, her face full of worry. "Are you asleep? Wake up! We have to go!"

After knocking for several minutes without getting a response, Feng Yushu, frantic with worry, suddenly remembered she had a spare key. She hurriedly fumbled through her small handbag, pulled it out, and put it in the lock.

The lock rattled as she twisted the key back and forth, but the door wouldn't open.

She turned to Ning Zhe, standing on the windowsill beside her, her eyes pleading. "What do we do, Ning Zhe? I can't open it..."

Ning Zhe looked up. Bishuiwan Manor was certainly well built. Marble slabs covered the exterior walls as insulation, and every room had a heavy solid-wood door, probably made of a hardwood like maple. For an unarmed person, forcing one open wasn't merely difficult—it was practically impossible.

Even War Wolf couldn't do it.

But Ning Zhe could.

Ning Zhe dropped to the floor, grabbed a vase from the windowsill, and smashed it against the closed window. With a loud crash, the glass shattered, and a muffled scream came from inside the dark room.

"Azhi!" Feng Yushu grew even more concerned.

Even with the glass broken, the window's security bars left too little room for an adult to squeeze through. Ning Zhe braced one hand against the frame, transformed into a small bird, and slipped smoothly through the gap, landing steadily inside.

But the moment his feet touched the floor, he heard a rustle in the pitch-black room. He instinctively dodged, then heard metal clang against the stone wall.

"Miss, are you trying to get into Biographies of Assassins?" Ning Zhe turned sideways, found the light switch by the door, and, as the room lit up, swiftly stomped down on the figure lunging at him in the dark.

Only once the lights came on could he see clearly. A girl in a loose dressing gown lay face-down on the floor, her hair disheveled and her face pale. Ning Zhe's Martin Boots were planted on her delicate neck. Though he had her by the throat, she continued to struggle violently, reaching for the dagger that had fallen to the floor after striking the marble wall...

"Hmm?" Ning Zhe took a closer look. It wasn't a dagger, but a sharp metal hairpin.

"Stay still. Don't move." Ning Zhe crouched down and pinned the girl's hands behind her back, locking them firmly in the crook of one arm. With his other hand, he tried to turn the doorknob.

But after a few attempts, it wouldn't budge. The girl had filled the gaps around the doorknob and the keyhole with wood glue.

"Wood glue? Do you make wooden models?" Ning Zhe asked casually.

The girl ignored him. Even with her hands pinned, she struggled violently, trying to bash her head against the wall.

No—more precisely, she was trying to hit the light switch on the wall.

"Do you want the lights off?" Ning Zhe asked.

This time, she finally stopped struggling. She gave a slight nod and let out a barely audible "Mm."

"If you have something to say, just say it. How am I supposed to understand if you don't?" Ning Zhe shook his head and switched off the light. The room plunged into darkness again.

Once the lights were off, the girl seemed much calmer. She stopped acting frantically and trying to attack him, but Ning Zhe could still feel her heart thumping wildly beneath his arm. She must have been terrified.

"Are you Bai Zhi?" Ning Zhe carefully loosened his hold and asked.

"How do you know?" The girl's weak voice sounded especially clear in the darkness.

"I came with your mom. Didn't you hear her calling you?" Ning Zhe sounded exasperated. "Or did you think she was a ghost?"

"Mm. I thought a ghost was trying to lure me into opening the door... Wait." Bai Zhi's voice suddenly grew excited. "You know ghosts exist?!"

"I know they exist, but first, tell me why you turned off the lights and hid in your room." Ning Zhe asked in return. "A lot of people have died in the Manor. A lot—so many people. And you've managed to survive until now, so I think you might know something."

Something about the vicious Evil Ghost in the Manor.

"It's the light. The ghost needs light to kill." Bai Zhi answered without hesitation. "Contrary to common sense, in the area where this ghost is active, light means danger and darkness means safety. As long as you hide in the dark, it won't find you or kill you."

Her voice was full of hope, as if she was terribly afraid Ning Zhe wouldn't believe her.

"Fine..." Ning Zhe provisionally accepted her explanation. After all, the fact that Bai Zhi had survived until now was the best proof.

So the question was, how could they open this door with its damaged lock and get Bai Zhi out?

As he considered this, a stifled sob suddenly came from the hallway outside. It was Feng Yushu's voice.

"Ning Zhe, the ghost... the ghost came upstairs..."

As her words faded, a clear sound—like a Porcelain Bottle striking marble—echoed through the silent Manor.

Knock, knock.