Seeking Good Fortune

"Mm... Ning Zhe? Are you listening?" In the Monitoring Room, Feng Yushu stared at the pitch-black screen before her, feeling a little uneasy.

"I am." Ning Zhe's voice was as calm as ever. Though emotionless, it was reassuring. "Here's what we'll do, Auntie. I'm going to shut off the power now. Leave the Monitoring Room right away, and we'll meet Baizhi on the second floor. I've figured out what to do. When the time comes, follow my lead, and we'll kill that ghost."

"Eh? Already...?" Feng Yushu was taken aback. She felt as if she hadn't done anything, yet Ning Zhe had already solved every puzzle. He was going for a speedrun.

After a moment's thought, Feng Yushu decided to trust him. "All right. I'll go find her now. You be careful, too."

With that, she cut the power to the Monitoring Room, grabbed her umbrella, and hurried out.

Ning Zhe slipped the security guard Old Li's phone into his pocket. He glanced at the sealed electrical box embedded in the wall, then at Old Li, whose limbs he'd broken and who was sprawled on the ground, barely drawing breath. He'd dug up a few interesting things from Old Li's memories, like finding a joke book in the school's long-abandoned reading corner. They might come in handy later.

Ning Zhe closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"All right. Let the game begin."

In the changing room on the first floor of the Castle, Xie Ya'an and Liu Yunzhi waited tensely. A faint glow seeped through the gap in the curtains. It wasn't moonlight; there was no moon over the shrouded Bishuiwan Manor. The light came from the streetlamps on the distant lawn. In the corridor outside, the Crystal Lamp cast a hazy, suggestive glow.

But soon, even that last glimmer of light vanished. As the power was cut, the entire Castle sank into a pool of thick, ink-black darkness.

"Li Ge really shut off the power." Xie Ya'an sounded excited. She didn't know exactly how it worked, but she knew the most basic rule: if they hid in the dark, the ghost wouldn't be able to find them.

Now the entire Manor was pitch-black. Old Li had effectively expanded the safe zone to encompass the whole Castle.

Only the Outdoor Power Grid still hadn't been switched off. That was Tian Chengyun's job.

"Thank goodness. We'll be able to get out soon..." Xie Ya'an leaned against the wall and held her phone to her chest.

Seeing how upbeat she was, Liu Yunzhi couldn't help frowning.

Xie Ya'an was young, like Tian Chengyun: both had failed to find work after graduating from university. The difference was that Tian Chengyun had found a security guard job where he could coast along, while Xie Ya'an stayed home to study for civil service exams, though she hadn't passed.

In the end, they'd both wound up working at Bishuiwan Manor: one at the front desk, the other still as a security guard.

Unlike Xie Ya'an, a young woman who'd never really entered the workforce, Liu Yunzhi had only graduated from high school but had worked many different jobs. They were about the same age, but Liu Yunzhi had more life experience, a steadier disposition, and a more meticulous mind.

Liu Yunzhi nudged Xie Ya'an's relaxed shoulder and whispered, "Hey, don't you think something's strange?"

Xie Ya'an looked puzzled. "What is it?"

Liu Yunzhi shook her head and showed her phone screen. "Take a look. While we've been hiding in this changing room, I've tried calling my family outside the Manor, messaging them on WeChat and QQ, sending texts... I've tried everything, but nothing works. I can't get through, and my messages won't send. There's no internet, either."

"Maybe the signal's being jammed," Xie Ya'an mused. "I remember there are Signal Jammers in a few rooms at the very back of the Castle, with a limited range. I think that's where the big boss holds business meetings. They installed them for privacy."

Maybe someone had accidentally increased the Signal Jammer's power in the panic. Or maybe it had been deliberate.

"That still doesn't explain it." Liu Yunzhi shook her head. "Didn't you just finish a phone call?"

Xie Ya'an's expression froze. "Oh... right."

She'd been terrified earlier. When she saw Li Ge calling, she'd felt only excitement, and in her relief, she'd overlooked that detail.

"Why can't our calls get through, but Li Ge could call me?" Xie Ya'an couldn't make sense of it.

"Let me call you." Liu Yunzhi dialed her number.

A moment later, Xie Ya'an's phone rang.

"It really works?" Surprised, Xie Ya'an quickly hung up and tried calling her family outside, but her phone showed no signal. She slumped again. "What's going on? We can call and message people inside the Manor, but we can't contact anyone outside?"

On top of that, there was the invisible Evil Ghost that was drawn to light. The whole world seemed to be tilting toward the supernatural.

Knock, knock—

Suddenly, a clear tapping sound broke the silence in the changing room. Both women tensed up. Xie Ya'an covered her face with her hands and curled up in the corner, her shoulders trembling. "What was that...?"

Liu Yunzhi's expression grew grave. She turned off her phone screen and peered toward the sound, using the faint light that filtered through the curtain.

It came from a broad Mirror Wall, an enormous mirror covering the entire wall, much like the large mirrored wall in the Ballet Studio.

The tapping had come from the Mirror Wall.

Xie Ya'an crouched on the floor, burying her face between her knees and not daring to move. But Liu Yunzhi knew there was no point hiding. When the ghost had chased them earlier, if she hadn't followed Tian Chengyun and found this dark safe room, and had instead crouched where she was like a coward, she'd already be dead.

But what could she do now? Go outside? No... She might die even faster. Tian Chengyun hadn't shut off the Outdoor Power Grid's main switch yet. The streetlamps outside the Castle were still on, so it might be more dangerous out there.

Liu Yunzhi cautiously half rose and looked toward the Mirror Wall. There was nothing there, nothing at all. Only her and Xie Ya'an's blurry reflections were visible.

Her reflection was crouching on the floor, too. But for some reason, the indistinct figures reflected in the dim light gave her an indescribably eerie feeling, as if they were some kind of strange psychological suggestion.

Liu Yunzhi didn't dare look any longer. She knew what she needed to do.

She carefully edged over to the bed and pulled the curtain shut, closing the remaining gap. The changing room fell into complete darkness, and the reflection in the mirror disappeared with it.

That eerie feeling dissolved into the darkness, and she could no longer sense it.

At the same time, on the other side of the Mirror Wall, Ning Zhe silently looked away from the One-way Mirror before him.

He wore a brand-new men's suit. The fabric was excellent, but the loose cut didn't suit his build.

Ning Zhe pulled a few crisp red banknotes from the suit pocket and tucked them into his trousers. Then, from the suit's owner—a portly man lying on the ground—he took a Jade Gold Watch and put it on. The edge of its solid-gold face was covered in tiny scratches.

"Lucky me. I managed to get myself another life." Wearing a suit that didn't fit his build and a gold watch that clashed completely with his temperament, Ning Zhe left quickly and quietly.

Stealing Liu Yunzhi's identity had gone smoothly, like water flowing into place, with no obstacles at all. He'd never had such good luck before.

Believing in the Snake God really worked.

Today's fortune:

[Suitable: marriage, ground-breaking, planting, buying clothes, receiving wealth]

[Unsuitable: drinking alcohol, lighting fires, felling trees, building dikes, constructing houses]