Che Quan spoke. Though his eyes were fixed on Jiang Cong, his words were directed at the others.
"Someone pick that thing up. We're going to the third floor."
Chang Jianfeng hurried to comply. Unable to hide his fear, he approached the ghostly figure and reached out with trembling hands. Not wanting to waste what little time they had left, he steeled himself, squeezed his eyes shut, and quickly hauled it up.
Only after picking it up did Chang Jianfeng realize it didn't seem quite so terrifying.
Then they followed Che Quan, without even time to ask why, and headed straight up to the haunted villa's third floor at a brisk pace.
The moment they reached the third floor, darkness engulfed them.
With their vision obstructed, the group noticeably slowed down.
Miao Rouning and Yuan Zhou, the two most timid of them, even let out quiet, involuntary shrieks.
"It's so dark, so cold..."
"Ah! It felt like something just breathed into my ear!"
Chang Jianfeng brought up the rear, dragging the ghostly figure that was still playing dead, and couldn't help feeling uneasy and confused.
The third floor was pitch-black, without a single light. Its sinister ghostly aura was the strongest, and it looked the most dangerous. Would they really be all right coming here...?
Besides, he had no idea why they were dragging this ghostly figure up to the third floor.
While Chang Jianfeng's thoughts ran wild, Che Quan, who was leading the way, abruptly stopped. He seemed to be asking Jiang Cong, "Which room did you wake up in?"
Jiang Cong answered succinctly, "Left."
Che Quan led them into the room on the left.
The room was pitch-black too, but the ghostly aura seemed a little weaker than outside.
Chang Jianfeng, still at the back dragging the ghostly figure, hesitated at the doorway and asked, "Should I drag this inside too?"
What if this thing woke up after midnight, underwent a complete transformation, and became a threat to them?
But Che Quan replied, "Yes."
Chang Jianfeng said, "Okay."
He dragged it inside without hesitation.
They shut the door.
Chen Yuxiang asked cautiously, "Is everyone inside?"
Ning Dantong counted them. "Everyone's here."
No sooner had she spoken than a long, eerie chime rang out from the second floor.
It was midnight.
The restrictions on the ghosts were all gone.
Everyone except Che Quan and Jiang Cong felt a deep chill run through them.
Chang Jianfeng wanted to ask something, but at that moment, he didn't dare make a sound.
Because anyone, no matter how slow on the uptake, could now clearly sense it-ever since the chime announcing midnight had sounded, everything outside their door had fallen deathly silent.
It was as though every sound had vanished, swallowed up by soundproofing foam or some sort of black hole.
An eerie sense of an impending storm spread unchecked through every crack in the air.
The live comments grew extraordinarily excited and expectant.
[Aaaaah, is the chase finally about to start?! Hahahaha, I'm so excited!]
[I don't think the little beauty picked a good spot. You could figure out with your toes that the third floor is the big boss's lair. This could easily get the whole party wiped out ε=(´ο｀*))) sigh]
[Doesn't matter, the big shot will handle it. I'm waiting to see it, hahahaha]
[Am I the only one dying to know why the little beauty brought that ghostly figure, the one that seems to have been knocked out, up to the third floor?!]
[You're not alone]
[Same here]
Suddenly, the sound of a door opening broke the deathly silence outside their room.
The sound was piercing, like long fingernails scraping across glass.
Yuan Zhou trembled, not daring to make a sound. Miao Rouning, who could spare no thought for anything else and could only huddle close to him, was equally terrified.
They strained their eyes wide, staring without blinking at the faint outline of the door in the darkness, afraid some horrifying ghost would tear it open in the next second.
Only then did they realize the sound hadn't come from the door in front of them.
It had come from... the room on the right side of the third floor.
But how could anyone be in that room?
Overwhelmed with fear and drenched in sweat, Ning Dantong and Chen Yuxiang couldn't help wondering whether they should move something heavy against the door to keep the monster outside from getting in.
Including Chang Jianfeng, all five of them were thinking about how to keep the monster out.
They stayed in the room, unbearably tense and holding their breath, praying that the monster with the heavy footsteps would leave quickly and never discover them hiding inside.
Perhaps their prayers worked. The monster didn't linger outside their room at all, instead heading straight toward the second floor.
Throughout, they all clearly heard water dripping onto the floor, accompanying those heavy footsteps.
Only when the footsteps had completely faded did everyone go limp with relief, as though the ordeal had taken half their lives.
Miao Rouning slid straight down to sit on the floor.
Ning Dantong kept her voice as low as she could. "Was that... Qiao Qiao outside just now?"
Chang Jianfeng was still keeping watch over the ghostly figure nearest him. At her question, he answered, "I think so. I remember the feet that appeared in that graduation photo were wearing shoes with really thick soles. They'd definitely make heavy footsteps, and those feet were dripping water too."
After hearing that, Ning Dantong wanted to ask something.
But just then, Che Quan walked over to the door and opened it outright.
The door made a fair amount of noise, and Che Quan's cool voice sounded in the darkness. "Stay here. Don't move."
Everyone's heart jolted. They couldn't understand what Che Quan was doing. Even the viewers who had been waiting for a thrilling show exploded in the comments at his sudden opening of the door.
[What the hell?! Has the little beauty gone crazy?]
[Opening the door like that right after the monster leaves? Isn't he afraid he'll die on the spot???]
[Calm down, little beauty! That's not how you play this instance]
[Wait, did the big shot follow him out too?]
The viewer who posted that comment hadn't seen anything. Their screens were still pitch-black, so dark they couldn't have seen a hand in front of their faces. There was no hope of making out any image at all.
Only when a ghost encountered a player would the instance's livestream switch to night vision, allowing the viewers to see what was happening.
But Che Quan's displeased warning came through the screen, his voice deliberately lowered. "Don't follow me."
The next second came Jiang Cong's calm reply. "No."
Inside the instance, Che Quan was momentarily stunned by how matter-of-factly Jiang Cong said that one word.
Why did this Jiang Cong refuse to follow the script at all?
The viewers, who hadn't expected to get this little shipping moment, also froze for an instant.
Then they erupted into excited screams.
[No way, no way! Not only did the big shot princess-carry the little beauty of his own accord, now he's following him everywhere too?]
[What did I just hear? Am I allowed to hear this without paying?!]
[I came here to watch how the players survived this instance, but that "No" from the big shot... sob, that was seriously so swoon-worthy]
While Che Quan was still stunned, Jiang Cong suddenly leaned down close to his ear and whispered so softly that only the two of them could hear.
"You're going to need me."
Before you continue