When Gao Tian gave the order, the two men called Crocodile and Gray Wolf changed expressions. They might not have been well educated, but they weren't stupid. They knew their boss was using them to test the waters, sending them up first to see whether there was any danger.
Neither man believed that vengeful ghosts existed, but they knew that whatever was laughing upstairs wasn't anything good. And with "Zhao Qiang" looming over them, they didn't dare refuse outright. They stalled and hesitated, lingering at the foot of the stairs and refusing to go up.
Gao Tian saw through them and said flatly:
"Everyone who's out in this line of work has their head on the line. You're not afraid of people, so why are you afraid of ghosts? If you're scared, ask the bullets in your hands whether they're afraid of ghosts.
"Whoever goes upstairs first will get fifty thousand yuan transferred to their account on the spot, whether or not they find a jar of gold up there. If you're too chicken to earn that money, get out of the way and stand there quietly."
He had inherited most of Zhao Qiang's memories, so he knew the other man's bank account number and roughly how much money he had. Given Zhao Qiang's wealth, a hundred thousand yuan for the two men was nothing. As long as Crocodile went upstairs, Gao Tian would transfer the money to him on the spot.
There was no such thing as a coward under a great reward. Crocodile and the others were hardened men, tough as old boots. There was no way they'd really let a woman's laughter upstairs scare them off. They were just trying to bargain with their boss. If they still hesitated to go upstairs with that much money on offer, word would get around, and they'd never be able to show their faces in the business again.
Shou Hou sneered:
"Brothers, this is easy money. Just walk upstairs and the cash is yours. If you don't want it, then your Brother Monkey will gladly take it."
The strange cackling in their ears continued. Crocodile steeled himself, flicked off the safety on his gun, and sneered:
"Damn it, I've been in this business since I was twelve. What haven't I seen? If you don't make a fuss over strange things, they'll lose their power. Let's see what the hell is making that noise upstairs. Even if ghosts are real, I'll put two bullets in it and see if it's still laughing."
Spurred on by the money, he took the lead and stepped onto the stairs. His heavy frame made the wooden floorboards creak beneath his feet. Seeing him go, Gray Wolf wiped the blood from his mouth and cautiously followed.
For men in this business, reputation was everything. If word got out that he'd been too afraid of ghosts to take the fifty thousand yuan on offer tonight, he'd never be able to show his face in the business again. He'd miss out on every decent job, like guarding a venue.
Gao Tian and the others waited downstairs for them to investigate, ready to see whether they would trigger any Killing Rule.
About three minutes later, the strange cackling slowly died away. Footsteps sounded upstairs. Two minutes after that, Gray Wolf and Crocodile appeared on the stairs. They'd put their guns away and didn't seem to have suffered any injuries, but their expressions were confused.
"Brother Qiang, we checked upstairs like you asked.
"There's no Living Person up there, not even a Ghost. It's all a pile of junk, plus a broken toilet that leaks. We couldn't find where the cackling was coming from."
The Ghost wasn't on the Second Floor?
Gao Tian said nothing. As promised, he promptly transferred fifty thousand yuan to each man. The others took note of how generous "Brother Qiang" was.
"Come on. Let's go upstairs and take a look."
At Gao Tian's command, Crocodile and Gray Wolf stayed behind to guard the first floor, in case anything unexpected blocked the way out. The other five filed up the stairs toward the Second Floor.
The Second Floor was much like the first. A stale, strange odor hung in the air, as if no one had lived there for ages. Water stains spread around the toilet, their yellowish color deeply ingrained in the tiles. They probably couldn't be scrubbed off.
They hadn't even started searching when the strange cackling started up again, buzzing like a fly. This time, though, they were prepared. The sound was coming from the Third Floor.
Gao Tian's heart sank.
Had the thing making that sound moved to the Third Floor?
No wonder Crocodile hadn't found it on the second floor.
He gave San Hu and Shou Hou a look. They knew this time their chance to earn some money had fallen to them. Without a word, they raised their pistols and cautiously climbed to the Third Floor, heading toward the source of the incessant cackling.
Meanwhile, Gao Tian waited on the Second Floor, weighing the situation.
The thing making that sound had been able to move from the Second Floor to the Third Floor. There was no floor above the Third Floor, just a small attic. It would have nowhere left to hide.
Crocodile and Gray Wolf had been lucky. San Hu and Shou Hou wouldn't be so fortunate. Once they went upstairs, they were bound to come face-to-face with that unclean, laughing thing.
After the two men climbed upstairs, the unpleasant cackling died away again. The three thugs waiting on the Second Floor relaxed a little, thinking Shou Hou and the others would be back soon.
Some of them even felt jealous of Shou Hou and San Hu. They'd only have to go upstairs to walk away with fifty thousand yuan. What a sweet deal! Meanwhile, they had to bust their backs for a whole month just to earn a fraction of that.
The clock on the Second Floor, which had long since lost all sense of time, kept ticking away with an irritating sound. Three minutes passed, then five. Nearly ten minutes went by. After Shou Hou went upstairs, not only had the strange cackling stopped, but so had every sound from the two grown men.
Something wasn't right. The White House had terrible soundproofing. When Crocodile and Gray Wolf went up to the Second Floor, Gao Tian and the others downstairs had clearly heard their footsteps. Now Shou Hou and San Hu were on the Third Floor, so why hadn't they heard anything at all?
Even if they'd been attacked upstairs, they were both armed thugs who'd been in countless fights. Surely they could have struggled a little, fired a couple of shots, or made some noise.
How had they just vanished on the Third Floor? Had they gone up and dropped dead on the spot?
After fifteen minutes, a middle-aged thug with tattoos covering his neck couldn't take it anymore. He cursed toward the floor above:
"Damn it, whatever you've seen up there, at least make some noise! If you're going to sleep up there all night, does that mean I have to sit here on the Second Floor and wait for you all night?"
No matter how much he cursed, the two men upstairs remained as silent as if they'd fallen into an endless abyss. The strange cackling started up again, as though it were mocking the men downstairs for waiting so long in vain and wasting their time.
Gao Tian knew something had happened to them on the Third Floor. They'd probably triggered an extremely dangerous Killing Rule, one that killed as soon as it was encountered. He said:
"The three of you, go up and take a look.
"When you reach the middle of the stairs, one of you will go up to the Third Floor while the other two stay in the middle, guns ready to provide support.
"At least find out what happened on the Third Floor."
The thugs weren't stupid. There was no point earning fifty thousand yuan if they didn't live long enough to spend it.
"Boss, tell us the truth. What's going on with this White House?
"We've felt uncomfortable ever since we came in. And at first, you said we were only here tonight to take care of someone, and that we could leave as soon as the job was done. You never said we'd be exploring a Haunted House abandoned in the middle of a Desolate Mountain."
Gao Tian cut him off and coldly held up two fingers.
"Two hundred thousand.
"Go upstairs and check whether Shou Hou and San Hu are alive. It doesn't matter whether they're alive or dead. Each of you will get two hundred thousand when you come back down."
Two hundred thousand. How long would it take these low-level thugs, who sold their strength for a living, to earn that much on their own?
How long could they take off after bringing home two hundred thousand? How many women could they spend it on?
The prospect of a huge payday clouded their judgment. Even if there really were a Ghost upstairs, they had guns. What man in this business hadn't paid his respects to Guan Gong? Why should they fear these Evil Spirits?
The lure of money once again made these hardened men forget their fear. The middle-aged thug discussed it with the other two and volunteered to lead the way, taking the most dangerous position. In return, the two men behind him would each give him fifty thousand yuan.
It was only fair for him to get a bigger share, since he'd be taking the riskiest spot.
Once they'd agreed, they followed "Brother Qiang's" instructions and prepared for the worst. With their guns raised and their backs bent, they filed up the stairs that had swallowed Shou Hou and San Hu.
Cackle, cackle, cackle...
The eerie laughter grew even more unrestrained when it sensed someone else coming upstairs. Perhaps the thing up there had regained some strength after feeding on the two men.
"Quit messing around and die!"
Halfway up the stairs, the middle-aged man aimed toward the general direction of the laughter in the darkness above and pulled the trigger. Two shots rang out, jarringly loud in the dead silence of the house, and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.
In the darkness, he didn't think he'd hit anything. But whether or not his bullets had done the trick, the cackling stopped again, as if the thunderous gunshots had frightened it into silence.
"Damn it, keep messing with your grandpa!"
Seeing that the pistol seemed to have worked—that he'd hit the thing on the Third Floor that had been laughing incessantly—the middle-aged thug regained some of his courage. He motioned for the two men below to follow and slowly made his way toward the Third Floor.
At that moment, Gao Tian was still on the Second Floor, watching the stairs closely for any sign of movement.
All at once, he saw something white flash through the gap between the stair railings on the Second and Third Floors, moving incredibly fast.
It must have been something like a mouse scurrying across the Third Floor.
Of course, it was round and deathly white. It definitely wasn't a mouse.
When Gao Tian realized what he'd glimpsed, he felt as if the blood in his body had frozen.
"Get away from the Third Floor! Come down, now!
"Quick! Quick! Quick!"
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