"Oh, right. A little over ten days ago, two guests died unnatural deaths on the path from the restaurant to the guest rooms. When their bodies were examined, they were found carrying weapons. They seemed to have been plotting to murder someone, but on their way to the guest rooms, they accidentally fell into the lake and drowned," Supervisor Wu added.
Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes and turned to glance at the lake, its surface still beneath the night sky, its ripples dark and quiet.
Drowning again.
Several of the resort's ghost stories seemed to be connected to the ghost in this lake.
The guest-room attendant had been killed after seeing the water ghost, the Gardener had died in the lake, and now those two Conspiring Ghosts had drowned in it too!
"This water ghost is probably far from ordinary. Maybe every secret in this resort has something to do with her."
"Zheng Shaoming and Steward Zhang went into the mountains. They must have something to do with what happened tonight, too. What exactly are they trying to achieve?"
Jiang Chen murmured to himself, then ignored Supervisor Wu and headed toward the restaurant.
There were no lights outside the resort's buildings, and the night was as black as ink. The closer he got to the restaurant, the colder the air became. There was definitely more than one ghost inside!
Jiang Chen pushed open the glass door and stepped inside. The smell of blood hit him immediately. He felt his way through the darkness, only to trip over something.
Jiang Chen switched on his phone's flashlight and looked down. A human hand came into view. He followed it upward and saw a dead face in the darkness, its eyes wide open. A knife was buried in the man's neck, and he wore a Mountain Villa employee's uniform.
Thick blood had pooled across the floor. Jiang Chen reached down and touched it. It was still slightly warm; the man probably hadn't been dead long.
"This man was most likely killed by the two Conspiring Ghosts. Before they kill someone, they seem to discuss their plans out loud beside their victim, then wait a while before murdering them."
"Li Jie got tangled up with these two ghosts as well. Unless something changes, he'll be killed tonight. But from the looks of it, they haven't gone after him yet. They should still be in this restaurant!"
Jiang Chen pulled the knife out of the employee's neck, gently closed his staring eyes, then got up and headed toward the restroom.
As soon as he reached the corridor leading to the restroom, he heard heavy breathing and someone calling out cautiously.
"Old Yang... Old Yang, where are you? Are you still alive?"
"Fuck! This stupid phone! Why won't the call go through when I need it most? I don't want to die..."
The voice sounded angry, but beneath that anger lay barely suppressed fear.
Jiang Chen recognized him as Zhao Xiaodong, a decent classmate from his college. He often volunteered to help other students, carrying books and welcoming freshmen, and was well liked.
He took a few steps forward and saw someone in the corridor with his back pressed tightly against the wall. The man frantically tapped at his phone, his face covered in sweat, occasionally scanning his surroundings in panic as though watching out for something.
The restaurant's circuit breaker seemed to have tripped. There were no lights here, only the glow of his phone in the darkness.
The corridor was eerily quiet. Zhao Xiaodong looked increasingly terrified because he knew he wasn't alone here. Or rather, those other two weren't human at all!
As Jiang Chen looked over, he noticed a deathly pale face in the darkness beside Zhao Xiaodong, illuminated by the light from his phone. It stared at him with malicious intent, yet Zhao Xiaodong hadn't noticed a thing.
"Zhao Xiaodong!"
Jiang Chen shouted.
Zhao Xiaodong flinched and looked up. "Who's there? Who?"
"It's me! Jiang Chen!" Jiang Chen turned on his phone's flashlight and strode over, deliberately answering in a loud voice.
As he did, he saw the deathly pale face turn and give him a long, penetrating look before retreating into the darkness.
Just as I thought. The Conspiring Ghost prefers to kill in secret. Once discovered, it temporarily abandons its intent to kill.
Jiang Chen drew that conclusion silently.
He had realized that ghosts all followed particular rules when they killed. Once he figured those rules out, he could deal with them more effectively.
"Jiang Chen, what are you doing here..." Zhao Xiaodong froze, a flicker of conflict crossing his eyes. Finally, he said gravely, "Don't come any closer. Go find the teachers and call the police. There are... there are... ghosts here!"
Although he knew saying that might scare away the only other living person here, Zhao Xiaodong still told him.
For one thing, he was a decent person by nature. Even facing certain death, he wouldn't drag another classmate down with him.
For another, his only chance of surviving was for Jiang Chen to get out and bring back more people, or the police.
"Yeah, I know." Jiang Chen's response caught him completely off guard.
He walked over and looked at the stunned Zhao Xiaodong. "What happened? Tell me everything."
"Huh? You..." Zhao Xiaodong wanted to say more, but when he met Jiang Chen's piercing gaze, he shuddered involuntarily and suddenly understood something.
He hurriedly said, "I was using the restroom earlier when I suddenly heard two people plotting in the next stall. They seemed to be planning to kill someone. They said they'd cut the power first, then use the darkness to stab that person from behind..."
"The more I listened, the more frightened I got, because their plan was really thorough. They even discussed details like disposing of the body and fabricating an alibi."
Jiang Chen nodded. This was much the same as what Li Jie had told him earlier. It seemed they had encountered the same ghost.
"But do you know who they wanted to kill?" Zhao Xiaodong's eyes widened in terror. "Zhao Xiaodong! They said the person they wanted to kill was Zhao Xiaodong!"
"I thought Yang Zhi was playing a prank, so I called out to him. But the moment I spoke, the voices next door stopped. I called Yang Zhi, and when he answered, he said he'd already gone upstairs to wander around the second floor. He hadn't been waiting for me in the restroom."
"I hurriedly pulled up my pants and came out, but do you know what I found?"
Jiang Chen finished for him. "There was no one in the restroom, and the next stall was covered in the word 'die.'"
At those words, Zhao Xiaodong's eyes widened, and he stared at Jiang Chen in horror. "Holy shit, you're a ghost too!?"
Jiang Chen: "..."
"Enough. If I were a ghost, I would've killed you already. What did you do next?"
Zhao Xiaodong thought that made sense and continued, "I was scared, so I rushed out of the restroom. But the moment I came out, I heard a click, like a circuit breaker tripping. Then all the lights here went out."
"Those two plotting ghosts had really started carrying out their plan. They cut the power. I got even more scared, but before I could take more than a couple of steps toward the exit, I was stabbed in the back."
"In my panic, I remembered they'd said they would kill me from behind, so I pressed myself against the wall. That's how I've held out until now."
Jiang Chen nodded, giving Zhao Xiaodong a somewhat surprised look.
An ordinary person had actually survived an encounter with ghosts by exploiting the rules they followed when killing. He had a cool head and was fairly brave by ordinary standards.
All in all, Zhao Xiaodong was someone with potential. He would probably amount to something in the future.
"You did very well. Now take two steps forward," Jiang Chen said.
Zhao Xiaodong took a deep breath and stared at him for a long time. Finally, he gritted his teeth and nodded. "All right!"
He chose to trust Jiang Chen.
Zhao Xiaodong moved away from the wall, exposing his back. There was indeed a knife wound across it, neither shallow nor deep, with wisps of resentment seeping from it. Enduring the pain, he took two steps forward.
As he moved, he kept his head half turned, anxiously watching behind him.
Two minutes passed, but no knife struck from the darkness.
Zhao Xiaodong finally let out a long breath of relief, his pounding heart settling.
"Looks like the Conspiring Ghost won't attack when someone else is around," Jiang Chen murmured. He placed a hand on Zhao Xiaodong's back and dispersed the resentment, then walked forward. "Stay close."
Jiang Chen intended to check the restroom and see what kind of plan those two ghosts would come up with to kill him!
Before you continue