The Strange Arrival 2

Ye Zhao fought the urge to bolt, her mind racing as she summoned an Exorcism Talisman from her Personal Space into her palm and slapped it onto the Child Ghost without a second thought!

"Agh—!" The Child Ghost was sent flying by the Exorcism Talisman, letting out a shrill, agonizing scream. Ye Zhao took off running, abandoning her suitcase entirely; it would only hinder her escape, and she sprinted so fast she was practically a blur.

She ran for ten kilometers in one breath, and only when she was certain the Child Ghost wasn't following did she finally exhale, hailing a taxi to return to her hotel room.

That was terrifying.

With trembling hands, she unwrapped a milk candy and popped it into her mouth, pacing the room to ensure it was secure. Only then did her taut nerves begin to fray, and she collapsed onto the sofa to recover her lost Sanity Value.

After two hours of lying there, her Sanity Value increased by 2, bringing it to 82. But as she recalled the grotesque sight of the Child Ghost's head covered in eyes, she couldn't help but shudder, and her Sanity Value dropped by another 10.

Seeing her Sanity Value plummet to 72, Ye Zhao felt a pang of heartache and quickly shook her head, forbidding herself from letting her imagination run wild.

The Child Ghost shouldn't be able to track her here, right?

When she was fleeing, she hadn't run straight to the hotel precisely because she feared the Child Ghost would discover her lair and hunt her down to claim her life.

It's fine, it's fine, Ye Zhao comforted herself, forcing herself to calm down.

She pulled out her binoculars and pressed against the window to scan the ground below. Seeing no sign of the Child Ghost, she prayed it hadn't followed her.

Shaken by the encounter, Ye Zhao didn't dare step outside for the time being. She decided to rest today and see how things looked tomorrow.

"Knock, knock, knock." A soft rapping sounded at the door. "Guest, your delivery has arrived. May we bring it in for you?"

Hearing that her supermarket order had arrived, Ye Zhao felt a flicker of joy—at last, some good news. She rolled off the sofa, ready to open the door.

But the trauma of the Child Ghost made her sharp mind jolt. Ghosts could manifest during the day, and she could see and hear them indiscriminately. What if the waiter outside was a ghost in disguise?

If she gave even the slightest reaction, she would be dead.

Ye Zhao sat back down in silence and picked up the landline to call the front desk. "Hello, this is the guest in 909. Has the order I placed at the supermarket arrived? If so, please have the young man who checked me in today bring it up. I was very satisfied with his service."

The front desk replied, "Certainly, guest. Your items just arrived, and we were about to bring them up. Please wait a moment."

Cold sweat poured down Ye Zhao's back. She felt incredibly lucky to have kept her wits about her and made that call.

Sure enough, it seemed the thing outside had heard her voice.

The soft knocking turned into a violent, rhythmic banging: "Open the door! Open the door! I told you to open the door—!"

Ye Zhao remained motionless, as steady as an old dog.

She didn't know how much time passed—it felt like a century—but eventually, the banging subsided back into a soft knock. The young man's familiar voice spoke up: "Miss Ye, hello. This is Qiao Ping. I'm here to deliver your items."

Ye Zhao let out a sigh of relief. It was his voice; surely, it couldn't be a ghost in disguise?

Clutching an Exorcism Talisman, she walked to the door. She didn't dare look through the peephole, fearing she might see something she shouldn't and lose more Sanity.

She pulled the door open directly. If it was a trap, she'd just waste a talisman!

Outside, the delicate-looking young man smiled gently. "Miss Ye, your supermarket order is here. Would you like me to help you count it?"

He was human.

Ye Zhao let out a silent breath, her legs turning to jelly as she leaned against the doorframe. "Bring it in."

Qiao Ping was a smart man. Though he was puzzled as to why someone who could casually drop a hundred thousand yuan on a hotel room would buy so much instant food, he didn't ask.

Ye Zhao pulled a stack of cash from her pocket as a tip and instructed, "Don't let anyone else knock on my door from now on. I have a manic disorder, and hearing noises triggers episodes. I'll contact you if I need anything. Can we add each other on X-Messenger?"

Qiao Ping took the money and pulled out his phone, his smile growing even warmer, as refreshing as a spring breeze. "Of course, Miss Ye. Just let me know whenever you need anything."

Ye Zhao liked smart people like him. She grabbed a handful of milk candies and shared them with him. "I want to go to the restaurant. Escort me there."

She casually spent 1 Creation Point to manifest a pair of sunglasses and perched them on her nose. Ye Zhao decided that from now on, she would look down on everyone; no one would ever catch her eye again.

Qiao Ping led the way, and Ye Zhao soon reached the Chinese restaurant on the third floor, where she ordered several vegetable dishes and ate until she was full.

When she left the restaurant, Qiao Ping was already waiting outside. He escorted her all the way back to her room. Her ten-thousand-yuan tip had clearly been worth it; she felt completely secure.

Back in her room, Ye Zhao organized the pile of goods and moved them into the bedroom. She unpacked the boxes and stored all the food in her Personal Space. Her space was 3 cubic meters, so it held everything with room to spare, leaving only the empty boxes to serve as a cover—though she didn't plan on letting anyone inside for the next month anyway.

The afternoon remained quiet, with no ghost-staff coming to knock.

In the evening, she prepared a self-heating hot pot and a cup of instant noodles, turning on the TV to watch the news.

As she watched, she felt something was off. The female anchor suddenly winked at her! There was a faint, unsettling feeling that she was about to crawl out of the screen...

[Sanity Value: -10.]

Ye Zhao instantly lost her appetite!

She had spent all afternoon struggling to get her Sanity back up to 80, and now it was back down to 70!

No, no, no. If it dropped to 60, she would start hallucinating. She couldn't let it fall any further, no matter what.

Although she had sedatives, she didn't know what might happen next, so she had to use them sparingly.

With a blank expression, she changed the channel. These ghosts were truly pervasive; she couldn't even find peace while hiding in her room.

She flipped through dozens of channels, feeling like there was nothing worth watching, and clicked the TV off.

Even though she had lost her appetite, she knew she had to eat. The days were dangerous enough, with traps at every turn, and she had no idea what the night would bring. Driven by hunger, she quickly finished off the two boxes of instant food.

After dinner, Ye Zhao lay on the sofa, scrolling through her phone.

The internet was calm; no one was discussing the ghosts at all. Instead, the entertainment industry was buzzing about a charity gala that most celebrities were reportedly attending. Every day brought new announcements, and the fans were bickering, making the online space quite lively.

Ye Zhao: Human joy and sorrow are not shared.

Ye Zhao had originally planned to spend the month rotting in her room and watching TV, but that seemed impossible now. She didn't even dare play games, fearing that her teammates might turn into ghosts or that she would become too engrossed and ignore the dangers around her.

At ten o'clock in the evening, she went to bed.