Jiang Li

Chapter 17 Jiang Li

Calm down, calm down... Jiang Li told herself over and over again.

She was not a timid person, or rather, her upbringing had forged a personality that was daring to the point of recklessness.

But that did not mean she was incapable of feeling fear.

She remembered clearly that after she and Li Yuejun had staged Ding Lei's office to look like it had been burglarized, she had gone to the restroom at the end of the sixth floor.

However... when she stepped out of the restroom, she was horrified to discover that "herself" was standing right next to Li Yuejun!

An intense sense of dread surged in from all directions, nearly suffocating her.

Jiang Li covered her mouth, watching helplessly as Li Yuejun and "Jiang Li" stepped into the elevator.

What to do... what should she do?

That was clearly a ghost! What happened to Li Yuejun? Had the ghost done something to her?

What should I do...

Jiang Li fell into a state of extreme agony and inner conflict.

She clutched her head and slumped into the corner, her heart tangled in a web of complex emotions.

"Damn it!"

Jiang Li clenched her fist and slammed it hard against the wall, making a decision.

Warn them... she had to warn them!

Eleven o'clock was the time for everyone to regroup; if they couldn't realize that "Jiang Li" was a fake, everyone might die!

Even if... even if they couldn't tell the real one from the fake, as long as there was suspicion, suspicion would be enough...

Thinking of this, Jiang Li hardened her heart, glanced at the pitch-black emergency stairwell, and turned to walk inside.

Everything went as she had expected.

But it also exceeded her expectations.

Jiang Li had indeed stirred up fear and suspicion among the group, but Jiang Li herself had also been subjected to a grave threat!

When "Jiang Li" turned her head along with the others to look at her standing at the emergency exit, the undisguised malice in that gaze was something only Jiang Li could see...

Terrified, she turned and ran.

"I've done all that I could..." Jiang Li leaned against the stairwell wall on the fourth floor, a sense of despair permeating the air.

Just then, a scream suddenly rang out!

"Wh-what is happening! Help! Is anyone listening? Someone, save me!"

Zhang Xiaohong's shrill, feminine voice pierced through the walls from somewhere on the first floor, reaching Jiang Li's ears.

"Whose... whose scream is that?"

The fear and despair conveyed in the scream were bone-chilling, and Jiang Li's first reaction was—leave! Get away from the fourth-floor area immediately!

It wasn't for any other reason, but... it seemed as if she were the only one who could hear this sound!

Logically, such a scream should have caused a commotion in the hotel, but in reality, everything remained calm and quiet, as if nothing had happened at all.

Jiang Li gritted her teeth, just about to leave.

But then, she suddenly heard a sound.

"Tap—tap—tap—"

Slow, rhythmic footsteps echoed on the stairs below, growing clearer and clearer!

Jiang Li's pupils constricted, and goosebumps broke out all over her body.

It's here; it's coming for me!

Jiang Li didn't hesitate any longer. Originally, she had intended to conserve her energy and avoid any strenuous physical activity.

But now, she couldn't care about any of that.

The approaching footsteps sounded like a tolling funeral bell, and the realization that the "ghost" was about to be right beside her took root in her mind.

This scalp-tingling sense of terror disrupted all of Jiang Li's plans. By the time she stopped, she was gasping for air, her body limp as she leaned against the wall.

She had reached the sixth floor, back to where she started.

The layout of this hotel had stairs at the left end and two elevators at the right end.

They were connected by a long, narrow corridor.

At this moment, Jiang Li was right next to the elevators on the sixth floor.

She had just used every ounce of her strength to sprint from the stairwell, across the corridor, to the elevator bank.

"...I should have... shaken it off, right?"

Jiang Li stared fixedly at the stairwell at the end of the corridor; that pitch-black space looked like the exit to hell, chilling to the bone.

Fortunately... the "ghost" didn't seem to have followed her.

Jiang Li finally let out a sigh of relief.

However, just at this moment, the elevator Jiang Li was leaning against suddenly chimed!

"Ding—"

The crisp ring made Jiang Li's entire body tremble violently. She looked up: the fifth floor!

Someone—or something—had taken the elevator to the fifth floor!

Who was "he"? Was "he" even human?

Grotesque and bizarre thoughts surged through Jiang Li's mind; she found it increasingly impossible to calm herself down.

No... this couldn't go on like this...

Hide, she had to find a place to hide!

Jiang Li pounded her own head, forcing herself to stay calm as she looked left and right, searching for a possible place to conceal herself.

Finally... she spotted a storage closet.

Jiang Li scrambled inside without a moment's hesitation, ignoring the musty stench, and pulled the door shut, hiding herself among a pile of cleaning tools.

In fact, this storage closet was merely a space for cleaning supplies, a tiny, hollowed-out nook in the corner of the wall. It was dark, low, and cramped, barely large enough to fit one person, but fortunately, Jiang Li was neither tall nor bulky.

The human will to survive is a terrifying thing, and that was exactly the state Jiang Li was in now.

Despite her extreme terror, she managed to control her breathing and her body, not making a single unnecessary sound.

The darkness inside the storage closet gnawed at Jiang Li's heart like tiny ants.

Staying here for even one more minute felt like a form of torture.

One minute...

Three minutes...

Five minutes...

Jiang Li felt her pulse, silently counting the approximate time.

Although her pulse was unreliable due to her excessive tension, it was, at the very least, a way to distract herself and shift some of her fear elsewhere.

Just then, the elevator not far away chimed!

"Ding..."

The person on the fifth floor had arrived!

What should she do?

What should she do?

What was she supposed to do?

Jiang Li clamped her hands tightly over her mouth, her eyes wide open.

The door to the storage closet couldn't close completely, leaving a sliver of a gap through which a faint light leaked in.

No one knew she was here... perhaps they even thought she was a "ghost"?

Jiang Li's thoughts began to spiral and twist; she even started to resent her own decision to warn the others.

If not for her self-righteous sense of heroism, perhaps she wouldn't have been targeted by the "ghost"...

Now, all Jiang Li could do was pray that "he" wouldn't come over here, that "he" wouldn't open the storage closet.

"Don't... don't open the door... please, don't open the door..."

Jiang Li's silent prayer cut off abruptly, her eyes widening to an unnatural degree out of sheer terror.

Because, footsteps had begun to sound from the direction of the elevator.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Closer, closer—"he" was approaching!

What to do, damn it, what was she supposed to do!

An intense wave of fear surged into her heart. Jiang Li covered her mouth, tears streaming out uncontrollably, and despair filled every corner of her soul!

"Tap, tap."

The footsteps stopped.

Through the crack in the door, Jiang Li saw a blurred, black silhouette.

"He" seemed to be staring at her with malice.

It was over...

The string holding Jiang Li together snapped silently, her eyes glazing over in despair...