The Act

Returning to the present, Bai Yuze set about making some makeshift Molotov cocktails while the two girls rested nearby.

Canned food had suddenly appeared in the room, which meant night had passed.

Bai Yuze took the cans of meat and reminded the two girls, "Eat something first, or your bodies won't be able to hold up."

The canned food didn't taste good, but given their circumstances, they were lucky just to have enough to eat.

As the three of them ate, a commotion came from outside.

Bai Yuze motioned for the two girls to be quiet. He slowly got to his feet and opened the iron door a crack.

Through the gap, he saw Zhu Daqiang standing outside Room 205 with a kitchen knife in his hand, shouting abuse.

"Damn it! Yuan Xing, get your ass out here! I've hated your guts for ages. One of us is dying today, and whoever chickens out is a coward!"

As he shouted, Zhu Daqiang hacked at the iron door with his kitchen knife, making a racket that was impossible to ignore.

"You idiot! You've been tricked and don't even know it," Yuan Xing shouted from inside Room 205. Zhu Daqiang's face lit up at the sound, and he hacked at the door even harder.

Crash!

The iron door flew away, carrying Zhu Daqiang's body with it.

"You fat pig! If you're looking to die, I'll make it happen!"

Zhu Daqiang's head couldn't withstand the impact and hit the ground. His body fumbled around for a moment before finally finding it, then casually set it back on his neck.

"You stupid pig! You've been tricked, and you're still helping someone else count their money!"

"Hah! Save it. Don't think you're so clever. Whether that information was true or not, you're dying today!"

With a roar, Zhu Daqiang grabbed his kitchen knife and swung it at Yuan Xing. Yuan Xing could only defend himself, keeping a safe distance from Zhu Daqiang.

Suddenly, Zhu Daqiang pulled off his own head and threw it at Yuan Xing. Though separated from its body, the head remained conscious. Its jaws gaped wide and clamped down on Yuan Xing's shoulder.

At the same time, Zhu Daqiang's kitchen knife reached Yuan Xing's neck. Unable to dodge in time, Yuan Xing was beheaded.

"Hahahaha! Aren't you usually so cocky? Where's that crappy knife of yours? Too weak to conjure it up? Why aren't you showing off now?"

As Zhu Daqiang laughed wildly, he hacked Yuan Xing into a pile of minced meat. His knife cut through the corpse as easily as if he were mincing meat.

"Heh, my knife's still the best. This thing took a lot of work to make!"

When he was done, he glared in the direction of Room 202. After setting his head back on his neck, he headed straight for it.

Seeing this, Bai Yuze shut the iron door. He picked up the knife he'd traded for from Yuan Xing with his right hand and a can of meat with his left, keeping his eyes fixed on the door.

Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!

A knocking sound rang out—or rather, someone was pounding on the door.

"Come on out, everyone in there. I took care of Yuan Xing, so you don't have to worry about anyone hurting you."

Bai Yuze signaled for the two girls to step back and said nothing. He didn't believe a word Zhu Daqiang said.

No one would hurt them—but the thing outside the door wasn't human.

When Zhu Daqiang heard no response, he pounded even harder.

"Hey! I know you're in there. Why won't you open up? Were you really trying to trick me? Open the door! I said, open the door!"

Zhu Daqiang's angry voice reached the three of them, accompanied by the sound of his kitchen knife hacking at the iron door. Bai Yuze shuddered with every blow.

Suddenly, the hacking stopped. As the two girls looked on in confusion, Bai Yuze motioned for them to cover their mouths and noses.

The two girls followed his lead. The next moment, a cloud of mist seeped through the crack beneath the door and into Room 202.

Before long, the whole room was filled with mist. Covering their mouths and noses with their hands was ultimately futile.

Tuanzi and Yukino felt their heads grow heavy and their consciousness grow hazy, but in the next moment, they suddenly came to.

Bai Yuze staggered over and opened the iron door, startling the two girls.

Seeing this, Zhu Daqiang's grin stretched to an astonishing width.

"Didn't expect that, did you? Under my mist, there's nowhere you can run."

"But why does the confusion wear off so quickly? Have I gotten stronger again?"

Before Zhu Daqiang could ponder that with his pointy head, Bai Yuze suddenly stabbed the can of meat in his hand with his knife, then shoved it into Zhu Daqiang's mouth. He promptly shut the door again.

"You! You were pret—cough, cough, cough!"

Zhu Daqiang tried to speak, but the juice from the can had already poured into his mouth.

His whole body doubled over, then collapsed helplessly to the ground, curled up in a ball.

Next, Zhu Daqiang's mouth gaped wide. A swarm of flies poured out first, followed by countless strands of hair. The hair gradually enveloped him.

Zhu Daqiang's body, which had been thrashing violently, slowly grew still.

Noticing that the sounds outside had stopped, Bai Yuze opened the door a crack to check.

"Is he... dead?" Yuigahama Yui asked cautiously.

"No, not yet. The rules apply to him too, but he's still a supernatural entity. He'll come back to life, though he'll be weakened for a while."

"What should we do now?"

Yuigahama Yui took a few steps back, while Yukinoshita Yukino picked up a Molotov cocktail. "How about we burn him while he's weak?"

"No. We can't be sure the Zhu Daqiang we're looking at is his real body. Better to wait until tonight and burn his whole room instead of just burning a corpse."

"Is Yuan Xing still alive?"

According to Bai Yuze, one supernatural entity couldn't kill another. So was Yuan Xing, who had been killed by Zhu Daqiang, still alive too?

"He might be hiding somewhere. His body's been destroyed, so he'll need time to recover. We've taken out one of them, at least. Let's rest for now."

"Um... I have a question. Why aren't you surprised? It's like you knew from the start that Zhu Daqiang would come after us."

Yuigahama Yui was baffled. The two people beside her were acting as if nothing had happened, and she couldn't make sense of it.

In response to Tuanzi's question, Bai Yuze didn't answer. He simply handed her a note.

It read, "Something above our heads is listening. Play along." Beneath the words was a crude sketch of a house, with two people and a cloud of mist inside it.

"Ah?!"

Yuigahama Yui let out a startled cry when she saw what the note said.

"It's gone now. Last night, I used notes to communicate with Yukino."

Bai Yuze explained what had happened to Yuigahama Yui.

As it turned out, when he'd first returned to Room 202, Bai Yuze had noticed the mist inside. He'd taken out paper and a pen, then written and drawn on it to guide Yukino to play along with him and ask questions.

"So you deliberately said that only one of the two supernatural entities could survive?"

"Exactly. There was never any such rule."

Bai Yuze smiled as he flipped the note around in his hand.

"Huh? Then they don't have a way to escape?"

"Not necessarily. Since the rules apply to them too, that means the way out for us is also the way out for them. We could work together, but they're still not human. If the number of people who escape turns out to be limited to the living, we won't be able to fight them off."

"That makes sense."

"I'm glad you understand."

Bai Yuze gave Yuigahama Yui a thumbs-up.

The three of them continued resting until midnight fell again.