Travel · Hangzhou Arc (6): Midnight Mansion Frights (Middle)

Roccia: @All members, report your numbers.

Lynae: 1

Sigrika: 2

Augusta: 3

Crimson Snow: 4

One by one, the people who were still active reported their numbers. After Roccia them, she found that there were four more people who had not replied for unknown reasons.

Roccia: Miss Yangyang and Miss Suisui are in charge of the kitchen, right? Which of you who lives nearby could go check on it?

Chisa: I've finished checking the living room, I'm going there now.

Roccia leaned against the wall, her left hand wrapped around her right arm, her index finger tapping rhythmically as she waited for Chisa's reply.

A moment later.

Chisa: [Image]

Chisa: The worst-case scenario.

The picture clearly shows two cell phones left in the kitchen with their flashlights still on. The phones display their group chat interface, with the English words "Fifth" and "Sixth" in the text boxes.

Chisa: Judging from the situation at the scene, it seems that Ms. Yangyang went missing first, and then Ms. Suisui, which corresponds exactly to the order in the text box.

Lynae: But that doesn't make sense, does it? Shouldn't they be the third and fourth? Why did they jump straight to fifth and sixth?

Iuno: Lynae, didn't you notice there are still two people who haven't called out their numbers?

Lynae:... Huh? It's true, neither Little Ai nor Sister Nia gave us the numbers!

Roccia: Please check on their situation.

Sigrika:... No need...

Sigrika: [Image]

Sigrika: Yaya's doll, which I found in the room I reserved for Jinhsi. It had a number 4 drawn on it.

Augusta: Where is Aemeath?

Rover: [Image]

The Rover: Her rubber band had a number 3 drawn around it.

"Ha..." Roccia rubbed her temples.

It was already close to 1 a. m., and the number of missing persons had jumped from two to six, putting Roccia under considerable pressure.

Roccia: Keep searching. If there really is such a monster, find it, beat it up, and make it vomit up the truth.

"Crimson Snow, is there any situation on your end?" Roccia put down her phone and turned to Crimson Snow, who was beside her, to ask.

By the light of the flashlight, she could see a beautiful figure with long white hair, dressed in pajamas, also holding a flashlight and exploring the area.

"No abnormalities," Crimson Snow replied.

The two of them are now in the entertainment hall on the basement level, which includes a card room, a gym, a home theater, and even a pool table.

Overall, the space here is quite large, so there are two teams: one team consists of Cartethyia and Phoebe, and the other team consists of Roccia and Crimson Snow. Each team is responsible for searching half of the basement.

"Is there anywhere else we haven't seen?" Roccia confirm.

"We're still missing the home theater area," Crimson Snow replied. "I'll go check it out first."

"This is troublesome. I'll wander around here again and see if I've missed any clues."

After watching Crimson Snow walk deeper into the area, Roccia continued her second search of the gym area.

"I wonder if my camera can find anything..." Roccia pondered.

She took out her camera, walked around the gym, and took a few photos.

"Tsk, nothing at all..." Roccia frowned, even her own camera hadn't found any hidden clues. "Let's go find Crimson Snow and meet up."

Clang!

Wait a minute? Why is there a sound of a blade being drawn?

Sensing something was wrong, Roccia immediately pinpointed the source of the sound: the home theater. Crimson Snow had just mentioned going there to investigate, so the sound of a sword being drawn could only have come from her.

With a furrowed brow, she immediately rushed to the cinema, even activating her memory mode.

Upon arriving at the cinema entrance, Roccia tried to turn the handle, only to find the door locked from the inside.

But this is very unusual; it's just an investigation, and Crimson Snow wouldn't go to such lengths.

"There's no other way..."

With a bang, Roccia's long legs kicked open the movie theater door.

"Crimson Snow! Are you inside?!"

The room was eerily quiet, as if the sharp sound of a sword being drawn had been nothing more than Roccia's hallucination.

Moreover, she always felt that there was a pair of eyes watching her every move from somewhere in the room.

She took out her flashlight and shone it throughout every corner of the cinema. Finally, she discovered numerous knife marks on the floor and walls not far away.

The flashlight beam followed the marks downwards, Roccia immediately spotted the accessory that Crimson Snow usually wore on her head. On the right side of the accessory, a bloody "Seven" was written in dark red ink.

"Tsk... A step too late..."

Just as Roccia was about to search for any clues left by Crimson Snow, an untimely scraping sound instantly put her on alert.

"Swish... swish... sizzle..."

"What? You only dare to play tricks in the shadows, and don't dare to come out and confront me face to face?" Roccia said sarcastically in a flippant tone.

This time, instead of the abrupt scraping sound, she was met with a series of sinister and terrifying laughs.

Then, the projector in the cinema suddenly started up without power, projecting the following words onto the screen.

"Oh dear, beautiful lady, we're ghosts, not hiding in the shadows! Are we really going to stand in the blazing sun? Hahahaha!"

"Looks like we can finally have a proper conversation?" Roccia's voice was as cold as ice. "Tell me, where are they?"

"Them? Don't you know best where they are?"

"After all, you already know 'our' story, don't you?"

"I won't ask the same question a second time!" Roccia said in a deep voice, gripping the Nen Nail tightly in her hand, looking ready to take action at any moment.

"So eager? It seems you really care about them."

Don't worry, we'll reunite you with them soon.

"Reunion...?" Roccia something was wrong.

"Let me give you one last piece of advice."

Watch out behind you!

With a snap, the projector abruptly shut off, plunging the room back into darkness.

Roccia looked around warily, the feeling of being watched growing stronger, as if she were already easy prey for these monsters.

She knew very well that these guys were about to make their move.

Just then, a loud clanging sound came from behind her. Roccia reacted instinctively, making a graceful turn, and her Nen Nail drew a frosty, sharp line in front of her.

"Didn't hit them?!" Roccia's sense of foreboding suddenly intensified.

Without a second thought, she immediately kicked up her foot and delivered a lightning-fast roundhouse kick to the curtain behind her.

Snap!

Good news, you hit the target!

Bad news, it didn't hit a person.

The icy touch spread from her ankles throughout her body, giving Roccia goosebumps.

That whip kick was powerful and heavy; anyone would have to think twice before taking it. And you're telling her it was caught so casually?

Her purple eyes looked at the hand and suddenly realized that it had appeared out of thin air from the curtain.

"What a pity..." A gloomy, hoarse voice suddenly rang out, "Such a beautiful pair of legs, it's such a waste not to do something with them..."

"You shameless!" Roccia to break free, but was suddenly pulled into the curtain by that hand.

Then everything fell silent, as if nothing had ever happened.