Though everyone was staring at her, Tang Jiao was no pushover. An idea struck her, and a layered scheme took shape in her mind. Folding her arms across her chest, she leaned back in her chair and gave everyone a challenging look.
"Are you sure you want to know this clue?"
Noticing something off about her expression, the man with glasses asked:
"Is there something unusual about it?"
Tang Jiao had nothing to fear.
"Of course. Otherwise, I would have told you already."
"The hidden clues I discovered about the Binding-Evil Shrine and Fangcun Pond carry a certain amount of danger. People who know these clues... might encounter something unholy tonight."
"Are you sure you still want to hear them?"
As she spoke, her voice grew noticeably more sinister. A faint, chilling smile hung on her lips, making the three newcomers hesitate at once.
If that was true, then Tang Jiao had good reason to withhold the clue. In a way, she was even protecting them.
Seeing Tang Jiao's provocative expression, how could Bai Xiaoxiao fail to understand what she was thinking?
This cunning woman simply wanted to goad her.
In Tang Jiao's imagined scenario, what happened next was this-Bai Xiaoxiao would refuse to believe her warning and insist on hearing the clue, then die under mysterious circumstances tonight. That would prove Tang Jiao's claim. Not only would the three remaining newcomers be deeply grateful to her, but their trust in her would reach new heights. They would become easier to control, perhaps even turning into her puppets!
Of course, Bai Xiaoxiao had already seen through all of it.
She was a seasoned veteran who had passed through many blood gates herself. She had seen more than enough deceit and treachery, and encountered countless people like Tang Jiao.
Still, she decided to play along.
"I'm not afraid. Tell me the clue."
"While I'm at it, I can help everyone find out whether this veteran who claims to have passed through five blood gates is the real deal."
The members of the bespectacled man's group looked slightly pleased at that.
This young woman was all right.
"Thank you, Miss Bai!"
Bai Xiaoxiao waved a hand.
"No need."
The three of them left the room. Tang Jiao also sent out the young girl she had brought with her, leaving only four people inside.
Tang Jiao then openly took a wooden plaque from her pocket and placed it on the table. The other three looked at it. Sure enough, it was the identification plaque bearing the name Ruan.
"This is the clue I found."
Bai Xiaoxiao feigned surprise.
"That's it?"
Tang Jiao nodded.
"That's it."
She had no intention of explaining anything to them. She simply picked up the wooden plaque and turned to leave the room.
It seemed that, in Tang Jiao's eyes, Ning Qiushui, Liu Chengfeng, and Bai Xiaoxiao were already dead. Saying another word to them would be a waste of breath.
Only after Tang Jiao had left completely did Liu Chengfeng swear.
"Fuck. Every time I see that bitch's face now, I want to slap her twice!"
Bai Xiaoxiao lightly tapped her pale fingers against the table and smiled leisurely.
"So do I."
"But there's no point getting angry with a dead woman."
"She probably won't survive tonight either."
Night soon fell.
Everyone stayed in their own rooms, thinking over the clues that might help them survive.
In truth, most of them could not figure anything out, because they had never obtained a useful clue in the first place.
Outside the window, the moonlight remained bright and cool. Yet when it shone through the glass into the room, it carried an indescribable chill.
At some point, a strange sound woke Ning Qiushui from his sleep.
He listened closely and soon realized it was the same sound he had heard the night before-the terrifying, charred ghost crawling across the floor!
The shrill scrape of its nails against the floor was like an iron needle gouging viciously at his heart!
This time, however, the charred ghost did not enter Ning Qiushui's room. Instead, it crawled past his door, inch by inch, and continued onward...
As the sound receded, Ning Qiushui slipped quietly out of bed. He opened his door a crack and cautiously watched the thing crawling along the floor...
The corridor was dark, but moonlight fell in from the balcony on one side, allowing Ning Qiushui to make out the blackened shape crawling across the floor-
It was a corpse with only an upper body, burned alive until it had turned to charcoal!
The upper body was small. It must have belonged to a child.
At its abdomen, he could still make out the spine and internal organs dragging behind it, though they were all charred black. A thick, burned stench radiated from its entire body as it crawled along the floor on its two arms...
The instant he saw the corpse, Ning Qiushui suddenly remembered the explanatory notes he had seen at the Binding-Evil Shrine that day.
They had described how Guang Xiu's wife and son had been locked inside the Misty Rain Tower. Later, lightning had struck the tower during a torrential storm, setting it ablaze. Even the pouring rain had failed to extinguish the fire...
Something suddenly clicked, and he took out the memorial tablet he was carrying.
-Guangchuan.
That's it...
This must be Guangchuan... Guang Xiu's son!
So this so-called guesthouse is actually the Misty Rain Tower that Guang Xiu's family once built for the village!
As he pieced together the truth, Ning Qiushui's heart clenched violently!
The villagers of Rain-Praying Village had actually converted a haunted building into a guesthouse for outsiders like them!
What... were they trying to do?
Why were they so eager for visiting tourists like us to die?
While Ning Qiushui was pondering this, the sound of a door opening came from a room farther down the corridor.
Click-
Before long, a woman's terrified scream suddenly rang out from that room-
"No... it wasn't me... you've got the wrong person... the wrong... aaah!!!"
Ning Qiushui knew that voice all too well.
It was Tang Jiao!
He had no idea what she had encountered inside the room, but her screams were exceptionally piercing. Before long, they gradually weakened, and the sound of something chewing came from within...
The sound made Ning Qiushui's scalp prickle. He quietly closed his door, then climbed back into bed.
Tang Jiao's screams had been extremely loud.
That night, no one on the floor slept. They all curled up beneath their blankets, trembling.
Only when dawn arrived did a frightened, helpless sob come from the far end of the corridor:
"Tang Jiao... Tang Jiao!!!"
P.S. Good night!
Before you continue