Who Are You?

One step. Two steps.

The One-Eyed Cat prowled his territory with an elegant Cat-like gait. Every pawstep seemed to land on Meng Chengcheng's heart.

No. Don't come over here!

Curled up in the litter box, Meng Chengcheng didn't dare make a sound. She could only pray that the black Cat would leave.

But the footsteps grew louder, telling her it was all over.

"The captain and the others are dead. No one's coming to save me."

"Am I going to die too?"

At that moment, Meng Chengcheng sank into an abyss of despair.

As if one disaster weren't enough, a second black Cat entered the cattery.

Then, somehow, despite entering later, the second Cat reached the litter box ahead of the first and jumped onto Meng Chengcheng.

Meng Chengcheng, lying in the litter, knew none of this.

All she felt was a sudden weight on her back.

I've been found.

Despair swallowed Meng Chengcheng whole. She wanted to get up and run, to make one last stand, but fear had turned her body to lead. She couldn't move at all.

One second. Two. Three.

As the seconds passed, hope stirred in the heart that had just given up.

I'm not dead?

Why?

She could feel the black Cat on her back. It had undoubtedly found her, so why hadn't it attacked?

Did I trigger some rule? Find some way to survive?

Meng Chengcheng went over the rules again and again, but couldn't think of any reason the black Cat would spare her.

"Rule One: Obtain a mascot costume in the castle."

"Rule Five: Wear a mascot costume and survive for half an hour."

"Wait!"

The realization struck Meng Chengcheng like a bolt of lightning.

The mascot costume!

They had only seen Mouse Mascot Costumes in the castle. Because they were playing the mice in Hide-and-Seek, they had assumed those were the only costumes.

It was just like Goldfish Catching, where there had been a second kind of fishing tool.

What if there's another kind of mascot costume in the castle?

But they had searched the entire castle. If another costume existed, where could it be hidden?

Cats were as smart as people. Surely it couldn't be on one of the black Cats?

Are the black Cats actually people wearing mascot costumes?

Meng Chengcheng had never imagined someone could be even crazier than she was.

Hiding in a monster's den was brave enough. What did that make someone who dared to skin a monster?

No wonder the rules had given them thirty minutes of safety.

The game had hinted at it all along. Wearing a Mouse Mascot Costume made a player squeak and move faster. So these meowing monsters might well be humans wearing black cat costumes!

The rules said the cats would begin hunting after thirty minutes and warned the mice to be careful.

But why would the cats care whether the mice were careful?

Now that she had uncovered the game's secret, Meng Chengcheng had only one question left: Who's on my back?

"Meow meow meow (Fuck you), meow meow meow meow meow (What the fuck are you looking at), meow meow meow meow (Why are you still here)?"

Chen Feng hissed, trying to drive the One-Eyed Cat back.

But the One-Eyed Cat didn't budge.

Chen Feng knew the Mouse Mascot Costume was to blame.

After killing a black Cat, skinning it, and putting on its hide, Chen Feng had discovered that his strength, agility, and hearing had increased severalfold. He had also gained the ability to survive fatal wounds—and could smell something new.

The distinctive scent of a mouse.

So that's why no one wearing a Mouse Mascot Costume survived.

Chen Feng saw the One-Eyed Cat begin to hiss. It was clearly losing patience.

Black Cats wouldn't attack one another, but more and more were entering the cattery, drawn by the scent. Sooner or later, Meng Chengcheng would die beneath his paws—unless she had a black Cat costume too.

So where could he find one?

Chen Feng fixed his gaze on the One-Eyed Cat. Under that icy stare, every hair on its body stood on end.

"I need to borrow something from you. Don't be stingy."

"Meow!"

Sensing danger, the One-Eyed Cat spun and darted toward the door.

It was fast enough that the priest, Captain Wu, and Lin He had died beneath its claws before they could react. But against Chen Feng with the Sandevistan, it might as well have been standing still.

In an instant, everything changed. The weight on Meng Chengcheng's back lifted. One black Cat vanished from the room, and the faint smell of blood entered the air.

Had the other black Cat given up and left?

While Meng Chengcheng was still trying to make sense of it, something patted her and then pulled her out of the litter.

Chen Feng pointed to the Imposter's corpse on the floor and the limp scraps of black Cat skin.

Meng Chengcheng understood at once. She hurriedly took off her Mouse Mascot Costume. "Thank you!"

An hour passed. The game ended.

Survivors of the second round of Hide-and-Seek: four.

Besides Meng Chengcheng and Chen Feng, the painter and the younger of the two brothers had survived.

The painter had escaped notice thanks to his excellent hiding skills and the fact that he hadn't worn a mascot costume.

The younger brother had found another loophole in the rules.

The rules said wearing a mascot costume for half an hour would earn them a Game Coin. They didn't say that half hour had to be spent surviving the hunt. So the brothers had put on their Rat costumes as soon as they entered the castle.

About forty minutes later, they had taken them off.

What they hadn't known was that even after they removed the Rat costumes, the scent would still draw the black Cats. When a Cat tracked them to the wine cellar, the older brother knew they couldn't both escape. He made a noise, sacrificing himself.

The rules had made it clear that Cats thought like humans. So after finding the older brother in the cellar, the black Cat naturally assumed no one else was hiding there.

It never expected the brothers to take the opposite gamble and put all their eggs in one basket.

And so the younger brother survived.

But his face was ashen. There wasn't a trace of joy at being saved.

As for Chen Feng and Meng Chengcheng, they hadn't intended to give up the costumes at first.

After all, the Cat Costumes increased their strength and agility and let them survive fatal wounds. But after a while, they noticed that the longer they wore them, the more violent they became. Flesh even began to smell delicious.

Before they lost their minds and became monsters, they hurriedly took the costumes off.

[Ding! Congratulations! You have successfully checked in at Horror Amusement Park's Hide-and-Seek attraction.]

Two more, and I'll get the points.

Chen Feng noticed that the sign in the vampire proprietor's hands had changed.

"Ten players per game has become seven."

"The captain killed three monsters for good."

His underlings had been killed, yet the vampire proprietor made no move against Chen Feng and the others. That was the thing about these strange tales: their monsters followed the rules more strictly than anyone. As long as you didn't break them, you wouldn't be attacked.

They left the castle.

Chen Feng felt someone tug at the hem of his coat.

He turned around.

It was Meng Chengcheng, her face streaked with tears. "Are you all right?" Chen Feng asked.

"Mm."

Meng Chengcheng sniffled and tried to look brave, but her red, swollen eyes gave her away.

"The captain's dead. What do we do now?"

What do we do? Make the best of it, I guess.

Chen Feng had never seen Meng Chengcheng like this. In his memory, she was always brimming with confidence, proud as a Sparrow.

Now she looked like a drenched little bird.

Only then did Chen Feng realize that, Medium or not, Meng Chengcheng was just twenty. Most people her age hadn't even finished college. It was a lot for her to endure.

So he comforted her. "It's okay. I'll get you out of here."

"Mm."

Back at the hotel.

It was the middle of the night.

Meng Chengcheng lay in bed, unable to sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, she heard his words again: "It's okay. I'll get you out of here."

That steady gaze, that absolute confidence—he made her feel completely safe.

Meng Chengcheng had a feeling she might be in love.

I never thought my first love would be him.

Maybe I should move over and stay with him.

His room has two beds. I checked. I can say it's for safety—there are monsters everywhere, and agents should look after each other anyway.

He'll be thrilled when he hears I'm moving in with him!

Lucky him! But if he tries to get handsy, I'm not agreeing so easily!

Meng Chengcheng sprang out of bed and was about to pack when she sensed the ghost that had been haunting her for so long return.

"You damn ghost, go away!"

Normally, a novice Medium could sense only those who had died nearby and recently. Ordinary souls faded with time.

Only people who died with an overwhelming obsession lingered in the world, unwilling to leave.

Well, it's a new day now.

I'll commune with it and find out what it wants from me so badly.

Decision made, Meng Chengcheng lit incense and candles. In an instant, an icy wind swirled through the room.

Her eyes rolled back, showing only the whites. She frowned.

"So it's you, Liu Xiaohu."

"You pestered me when you were alive. Now you're dead, and you still won't leave me alone?"

"Huh? Xiaohu?????"