Che Quan was deeply unaccustomed to having someone so close.
He could practically feel the warm breath spilling from Jiang Cong's lips as he spoke, brushing the tips of his ears.
Che Quan immediately backed several feet away.
Ignoring Jiang Cong and no longer bothering to check whether he followed, Che Quan took the ghostly shadow from Chang Jianfeng and dragged it mercilessly toward the room on the right.
Standing behind Che Quan, Jiang Cong watched his beautiful, defiant figure retreat. The corners of his lips lifted slightly, the curve vanishing almost at once.
Jiang Cong followed Che Quan, silently pulling shut the door to the room where everyone else waited.
Che Quan arrived at the door to the room on the right.
Though the door stood ajar, simply pushing it open was out of the question.
Of course, Che Quan's objection had nothing to do with fearing that the noise might attract the monster from earlier. He simply had no desire to hear that grating sound a second time.
It felt disgusting.
So Che Quan stood before the door and thought for a moment-less than a second, really.
Che Quan stuffed the ghostly shadow in his hand into the gap in the doorway.
The ghostly shadow, which had been knocked unconscious and remained so until just now, opened its "eyes" to discover that it had arrived at the room of the "person" it feared most in its life. It immediately tried to shriek and flee through the door.
But the moment it opened its "mouth," it felt an even stronger, terrifying pressure.
Following that presence, the ghostly shadow met a pair of glistening eyes as crimson as blood lotuses.
Being watched by those utterly impassive eyes was as terrifying as having several more layers of its skin peeled away.
Huh? Why did I say "more"?
In any case, the ghostly shadow was scared out of its wits and surrendered at once.
Once Che Quan saw that the ghostly shadow was cooperating, he curled a finger, beckoning it closer to listen carefully.
He murmured a couple of sentences. As the ghostly shadow's "expression" gradually twisted into one of absolute terror at his words, he tilted his head slightly and pulled back his lips, revealing his snowy white, cold-blooded fangs.
The threat was unmistakable.
The ghostly shadow stared at Che Quan in terror, and the fear that had filled it just moments ago suddenly seemed remote.
The boy before it was clearly far more horrifying.
The ghostly shadow had no choice but to obey.
It was a mass of murky black mist to begin with, able to change its shape freely and slip soundlessly into any place with a gap. Naturally, this tiny crack in the doorway was no exception.
The ghostly shadow drifted inside and began searching for the "thing" Che Quan had ordered it to retrieve.
Outside the room on the third floor.
With nothing left to do, Che Quan leaned against the wall in utter boredom, waiting for the ghostly shadow to present that "thing" to him.
Jiang Cong, standing beside him, was thoroughly ignored, as though he were nothing but air.
Che Quan closed his eyes to rest.
Screams began rising from downstairs.
They came from the first floor.
Those piercing screams, like air escaping a punctured balloon, could not have come from humans. They could only be the mutated ghostly shadows being slaughtered.
Che Quan leaned against the wall and listened quietly. His eyes remained closed, but the corners of his lips curved with faint appreciation.
Although he had anticipated this situation, the sheer resentment harbored by this "Qiao Qiao" still exceeded his expectations.
She could clearly have made those ghostly shadows her followers and slaughtered the humans who wandered in with their help. Yet that "Qiao Qiao" still chose, time and time again, to first kill the ghostly shadows who had once been her classmates.
Only then would she take her time tormenting the six people she hated most.
The cycle repeated, trapping her forever in this unending hell.
It really was... very much to his taste.
He, too, drew such a clear line between love and hate.
Meanwhile, in the room on the left, Chang Jianfeng and the others were trembling nonstop with fear. Tears streamed down Miao Rouning's face.
The screams below were so loud that they remained perfectly audible even through a tightly closed door, making their blood run cold.
Chen Yuxiang fought back her fear and asked, "Are we really going to stay here the whole time? Could they be in danger out there...? I-shouldn't we go help?"
Ning Dantong pressed her lips together and said nothing. She, too, was engulfed in overwhelming unease and panic, unable to think calmly anymore.
Yuan Zhou was shaking all over and had stopped listening to anyone. When another scream rose from downstairs, he fainted outright from fright.
Though Chang Jianfeng could not see the others' expressions or movements, he could still feel profound hopelessness rising through the oppressive atmosphere.
He forced himself to take deep breaths and reassured everyone. "Let's stay here for now. I trust that they have a plan. We shouldn't go out and get in their way. It's relatively safer here, too."
Chang Jianfeng's voice was deep and steady, helping everyone calm down a little.
Outside the door.
Che Quan remained unhurried, his eyes closed as he waited for the ghostly shadow to bring out the "thing."
Beside him, Jiang Cong silently moved closer. His excellent night vision allowed him to see Che Quan's profile with perfect clarity.
Including the two pointed fangs resting lightly against his lips.
Vampire.
Pureblood.
Arrogant noble.
...Several impressions surfaced in Jiang Cong's mind.
Jiang Cong studied the boy within arm's reach without looking away.
An unknown amount of time passed.
The screams on the first floor gradually subsided.
Those heavy footsteps, accompanied by the dripping of water, began climbing to the second floor.
That was where the rooms originally prepared for "them," the honored guests, were located.
That "Qiao Qiao" would probably discover very soon that the rooms were empty, then storm up to the third floor in a fury.
Che Quan calculated the timing in his head, while also beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable-
Although he genuinely treated Jiang Cong as nothing but air, he still found it difficult to completely ignore such blatant staring.
Gradually, displeasure and irritation piled up within him. Che Quan grew somewhat restless, his fingertips unconsciously tapping against the wall, once, then again.
This was an unconscious habit Che Quan could never quite suppress whenever he felt agitated.
Suddenly, another timid notification sounded in Che Quan's mind:
[Warning! As Player 002, Che Quan, has drawn the most boss aggro, the effects of his skin hunger syndrome buff will immediately increase by 1000%, and the episode will be extended to fifteen minutes! Please find someone who can relieve the symptoms immediately and obtain relief without delay!]
Che Quan: "..."
His fingertips instantly stopped tapping the wall.
His perfect face icy, Che Quan clenched his fist and slammed it hard into the wall to vent his anger.
A huge hole instantly appeared in the wall. The doorframe shattered outright, jolting the door to the room on the right and making it let out an utterly piercing screech.
The commotion was so loud that the boss frantically searching the second floor for victims, the people hiding and trembling in the room on the left, and the ghostly shadow searching the boss's room for Che Quan's "thing" all fell silent for a moment.
Having no idea what had happened, the ghostly shadow assumed Che Quan was expressing impatience with its slow search. It immediately began rummaging faster, as though it had wind-and-fire wheels beneath its feet.
Fear, dread-it threw them all to the back of its mind for the moment. The most terrifying thing now was the exquisitely alluring, icy vampire boy outside the room.
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