Acting

Returning to the present, Bai Yuze began crafting simple Molotov cocktails while the two women rested nearby.

Canned food suddenly appeared in the room, signifying that the night had passed.

Bai Yuze took the meat-based cans and reminded the two women.

"Eat something first, or your bodies won't be able to hold up."

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

Just as the three were eating, a burst of noisy commotion came from outside.

Bai Yuze gestured for the two to be quiet; he slowly stood up and opened the iron door just a crack.

Through the gap, he saw Zhu Daqiang standing in front of Room 205, brandishing a kitchen knife and shouting.

"Damn it! Yuan Xing, get your ass out here! I've been sick of you for a long time. Only one of us is walking away today—whoever chickens out is a coward!"

Zhu Daqiang hacked at the iron door with his knife while shouting, the resulting clamor impossible to ignore.

"You idiot, you don't even know when you've been played."

Yuan Xing's retort came from inside Room 205. Hearing this, Zhu Daqiang grew excited and began hacking at the door even more vigorously.

Bang!

The iron door flew off its hinges, taking Zhu Daqiang's body along with it.

"You fat pig, if you don't want to live, I'll grant your wish!"

Zhu Daqiang's head couldn't withstand the impact and tumbled to the ground. After his body fumbled around for a moment, it finally found the head, and he casually placed it back onto his neck.

"You stupid pig, you're being played for a fool and still helping them count the money!"

"Heh! Save it! Don't think you're so smart. Whether that information is true or false, you're dying today!"

Zhu Daqiang roared, grabbed his kitchen knife, and slashed at Yuan Xing. Yuan Xing was forced to defend himself, keeping a safe distance from Zhu Daqiang.

Suddenly! Zhu Daqiang ripped off his own head and threw it at Yuan Xing. Though the head was detached from his body, it remained conscious, opening its blood-filled maw to bite down on Yuan Xing's shoulder.

At the same time, Zhu Daqiang's kitchen knife reached Yuan Xing's neck. Yuan Xing couldn't dodge in time and had his head chopped off.

"Hahahaha! Aren't you usually so arrogant? Where's that broken blade of yours? Is your body too weak to manifest it? Why aren't you showing it off now?"

Amidst Zhu Daqiang's wild laughter, he hacked Yuan Xing's body into mincemeat, the blade striking the corpse as if it were chopping ground meat.

"Heh, my blade is stronger after all. This thing cost me quite a bit of effort!"

After finishing, he glared in the direction of Room 202, placed his head back on his neck, and headed straight for Room 202.

Seeing this, Bai Yuze closed the iron door, picked up the knife he had traded from Yuan Xing with his right hand, grabbed the meat can with his left, and stared intently at the iron door.

Clang, clang, clang! Clang, clang, clang!

Knocking sounded, though it was more like someone smashing the door.

"People inside, come out. I've finished off that guy Yuan Xing, no need to worry about anyone hurting you."

Bai Yuze signaled for the two women to step back. He didn't make a sound; he didn't believe a single word of what Zhu Daqiang said.

No one would hurt them, but the thing outside the door was certainly not human.

Seeing no response, the Zhu Daqiang outside the door began pounding even harder.

"Hey! I know you're in there, why aren't you opening the door? Are you really trying to trick me! Open up! I said open the door!"

Zhu Daqiang's irritated voice reached the ears of the three, accompanied by the sound of the kitchen knife hacking at the iron door, making Bai Yuze tremble.

Suddenly, the hacking stopped. Just as the two women were confused, they saw Bai Yuze gesture for them to cover their mouths and noses.

The two women followed suit. The next moment, a cloud of mist seeped into Room 202 through the door gap.

Before long, the entire room was filled with mist, and covering their mouths and noses proved to be in vain.

Tuanzi and Yukino felt their heads grow heavy and their consciousness blur, but the next moment, they suddenly snapped awake.

They saw Bai Yuze swaying as he opened the iron door, a move that startled the two women.

When the Zhu Daqiang outside saw this, the corners of his mouth curled into an alarming angle.

"Didn't expect that, did you? Under my mist, you have nowhere to hide."

"But why did the confusion wear off so fast? Did I get stronger again?"

Before Zhu Daqiang could ponder this with his pointed head, Bai Yuze suddenly used the knife to puncture the meat can in his hand and shoved it violently into Zhu Daqiang's mouth. After doing so, he slammed the door shut again.

"You! You were faking... cough, cough, cough!"

Zhu Daqiang tried to speak, but the juices from the meat can were already flowing into his mouth.

His entire body arched, and he collapsed weakly to the ground, curling into a ball.

Immediately after, Zhu Daqiang's mouth opened to its widest extent. A swarm of flies flew out first, followed by an endless stream of hair that began to envelop him.

Zhu Daqiang's body, which had been struggling violently, gradually grew still.

Sensing that there was no more movement outside the door, Bai Yuze opened a small gap to check the situation.

"Is he... dead?"

Yuigahama Yui asked cautiously.

"No, not yet. Although the rules apply to him, he is a ghost after all. He will resurrect again, but he will be weakened for a period of time."

"Then what should we do now?"

Yuigahama Yui took a few steps back, while Yukinoshita Yukino picked up a Molotov cocktail.

"How about we take advantage of his weakness and burn him to death right now?"

"No. We can't be sure if the Zhu Daqiang in front of us is his true form. Rather than burning a corpse, it's better to wait until night and burn his house down along with him."

"Then is Yuan Xing still alive?"

According to what Bai Yuze said, ghosts cannot die when killed by other ghosts, so was Yuan Xing, who had been killed by Zhu Daqiang, still alive as well?

"He might be hiding somewhere. After all, his physical body was destroyed, and he needs some time to recover. We should take them out one by one, but for now, let's get some rest."

"Um... I have a question. Why aren't you two surprised? It's as if you knew all along that Zhu Daqiang would come to attack us."

Yuigahama Yui was very confused. The two people beside her were acting like nothing had happened, which left her completely baffled.

To Tuanzi's question, Bai Yuze did not answer, but simply handed her a slip of paper.

On the paper was written, "There is something above our heads monitoring us, play along." Below the text was a rough sketch showing a house with two people inside, and a mass of mist inside the house.

"Ah?!"

Upon seeing the contents of the note, Yuigahama Yui let out an involuntary exclamation.

"It's gone now. I communicated with Yukino through notes last night."

Bai Yuze explained the sequence of events to Yuigahama Yui.

It turned out that as soon as they returned to 202, Bai Yuze had noticed the mist in the room. He took out paper and a pen to write and draw, guiding Yukino to cooperate with his act and ask the right questions.

"So you said that only one of the two ghosts could survive on purpose?"

"That's right. In reality, that path doesn't exist at all."

Bai Yuze flipped the note in his hand with a smile.

"Ah? Then doesn't that mean they have no way to escape?"

"Not necessarily. Since the rules apply to them as well, it means our path to survival is their path to survival. Although we could cooperate, they are not human after all. If the number of people allowed to escape is limited to the number of living humans, we won't be able to resist them."

"That makes sense."

"I'm glad you understand."

Bai Yuze gave Yuigahama Yui a thumbs up.

The three of them continued to rest, waiting for midnight to descend once again.