Travel: Hangzhou Arc (VIII): Midnight Mansion Horror (End)

When Sigrika arrived at the tea room on the second floor, everyone who was still able to move had already gathered there.

"Sigrika, you're back?" Lynae greeted her. "Huh? Where's Lupa?"

Sigrika's face paled slightly, then she stammered, "Lupa... she's been taken away..."

Upon hearing this bad news, everyone fell silent.

It's 2:30 a. m., and the wind and rain outside are still relentless, banging against the windowpane with a clanging sound.

Now, only seven people remain sitting in the tea room.

The three members of the academy group—Tsubaki, Liang Yu, and the Mia —Rover are the only remaining members.

"Let's go over what's happened since the incident," the Rover said. "Shall we start with Chisa?"

"Okay!" Chisa nodded calmly.

The remaining members then compiled a list of all the events that had occurred from the time of the incident until now, while the Rover acted as the recorder, typing down important information in his phone's notes app.

after a while.

"In other words, these monsters lurking in the shadows have suddenly become increasingly aggressive in their actions," Chun summarized with a snap of her fingers. "From initially just taking advantage of our inattention to later directly dragging people away in front of us, less than four hours have passed."

"That makes sense," the Rover nodded.

"What should we do now...?" Sigrika, her voice trembling.

"Let's try to contact the outside world," the Rover decided immediately.

"It didn't work, I tried, it's out of service area," Liang Yu replied. "Check your phones, the signal is blocked."

Everyone present immediately took out their phones to check and found that their phone signals were blocked.

"The worst-case scenario..." Lynae's voice turned cold.

"I think there's another way," Mia said quietly, raising her hand. "Since those monsters only hurt people in the dark, if we stay in the light, they won't be able to do anything to us, right?"

"Ah~ Speaking of which, there's still one place we haven't checked yet~?" Chun prompted with a smile, "The power control room."

"Aemeath is in charge of that area. She said the power system is temporarily out of service, and if we need to repair it, the earliest we can do so is dawn," Chisa added.

"You believe her just because she says so? That girl is incredibly shrewd; eight out of ten things she says are true, but you can hardly guess which two things she'll lie about."

"Yes, Chun makes a good point. We should definitely check it again." The Rover immediately decided on the next plan. "Besides, this is our last hope for turning the tide, isn't it?"

Everyone nodded in unison, fully agreeing with the Rover's proposal.

"Check your phone battery, then let's get ready to go," the Rover said in a deep voice. "Stand together, don't fall behind."

"Good!"

The group walked out of the tea room and formed a six-pointed star formation. Lynae and Chisa led the way, while Liang Yu and Mia stood on Sigrika's left and right flanks to keep watch, and the Rover and Tsubaki chose to bring up the rear.

"By the way, you should have guessed the truth behind this midnight mansion horror story by now, right?" Chun said softly to the Rover beside her.

"Yes," the Rover nodded.

Upon closer examination, this sudden incident actually has many illogical aspects.

Without giving too many examples, Cartethyia and Aemeath, one as a Resonator of the Sentinel and the other as a Lament of the Tacet Discord, even if they were stripped of most of their power, would they really be so easily defeated by these monsters who only dare to play tricks in the shadows?

And what about Hajiling? Is he really that easy to capture? He's been strengthened several times, and his physique is no longer what it used to be. From a cultivation perspective, he's at least a Qi Refining Great Perfection.

After this analysis, only one answer remains for them.

"Let's go," the Rover said with a smile. "This game, we have to play it until the very end."

The journey to the power control room went smoothly; having chosen to act as a group, no one got lost along the way.

"The control room is just ahead. Maintain formation and be aware of your surroundings at all times," the Rover commanded sternly.

"Okay," everyone responded in unison.

They walked slowly along the path, getting closer and closer to the control room door, as if final victory was already within their grasp.

Will it really go that smoothly?

"Huh? That's weird. Why is my flashlight broken?" Liang Yu asked, puzzled, looking at the suddenly extinguished flashlight. "But my phone still has battery!"

"Hmm? Let me see?" Mia turned her head to look at Liang Yu, her back to the wall, and the beam of the flashlight shone on her.

If a blind spot suddenly appears within a previously airtight and comprehensive security perimeter, the final outcome is predictable.

"Bang!" That was the sound of a phone falling to the ground.

Everyone shone their lights on the area where the sound was coming from and found Mia clinging to the wall in a bizarre and terrifying posture, as if something was pulling her into the wall.

"Help... help... uhhhh..." Mia was about to cry for help when her mouth was suddenly covered by a pale, bony hand that came out from inside the wall.

"Mia!" Sigrika was about to reach out and snatch Mia back, but the owner of that hand was faster, immediately swallowing her into the wall.

Before the group could even grieve, the eerie rustling sound rushed toward the remaining members with incredible speed, and countless hands began to emerge from the wall, ready to attack them.

"Run!" the Rover commanded.

So everyone started running, heading towards the power control room at the end of the road.

Sigrika, Lynae, and Chisa ran ahead, followed closely by the Rover and Liang Yu, while Tsubaki had fallen a little distance behind the main group.

Then the name of the next victim is naturally a foregone conclusion.

With a thud, Chun tripped over something and fell to the ground. Then, countless hands reached out from the ground, grabbed her, and dragged her inside.

"Chun!" The Rover noticed Chun had been captured and was about to turn around to try to save her.

"Sorry... it seems this is the best I can do..."

"Everyone... keep moving forward... don't look back..."

After delivering the declaration of defeat, Tsubaki completely disappeared from the spot.

Liang Yu was the third victim. Her long, dark hair became her death warrant. A hand reaching out from the wall precisely grabbed her hair, causing her to crash into the wall. Other hands immediately came to pull her into the wall.

"Damn it..." Liang Yu said with a ferocious expression, biting the hand that was covering her mouth hard, and a shrill scream immediately echoed throughout the corridor.

"It must be painful... and you should be feeling terrible. You harmed my comrades, and even if it means my death, I will avenge this!"

The scene shifts, and after losing three companions, the remaining four finally arrive at the door of the power control room.

"Lynae, you and Sigrika go in first, we'll hold them off here." The Rover drew his sword.

"I'll stay too. More people means more strength!" Sigrika said decisively.

"There's no need for that." Chisa summoned Tankiri and assumed a battle stance. "I've checked; the power control system has many switches. It will take at least two people working together to restore power as quickly as possible."

"Don't worry, we're very strong, don't fret about us," the Rover said with a smile and a nod.

"But..."

"Let's go, Sigrika- senpai!" Lynae immediately pulled Sigrika into the power control room.

Once inside the control room, the two began to take deep breaths.

The sounds of fighting could be heard outside, suggesting that the Rover ' battle was quite intense.

"Time is of the essence, let's hurry," Lynae said seriously.

"Yes!" Sigrika nodded vigorously.

So, using the light from their flashlights, the two began to activate the switches in the power control room one by one.

"Power's back on!" Lynae exclaimed excitedly as she saw the lights come on in the motor control room.

"Then let's hurry!" Sigrika didn't waste any time and pulled the switch again.

The process was going smoothly; as each switch was pulled, a section of lights came on.

They pressed on with great speed and efficiency, activating the remaining switches.

With a click, as the last switch was pulled, power was immediately restored to the entire mansion.

"Ha... it worked..." Lynae collapsed to the ground in relief.

"We did it..." Sigrika also breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems quiet outside now, shall we go out and take a look?"

Lynae nodded, and then the two walked side by side to the door.

With a click, Lynae opened the door, leaving only the Rover's sword and Chisa's Tankiri in the doorway.

"Everyone..." Sigrika was on the verge of tears.

"Let's go outside first, it's not safe here," Lynae said softly.

"Go out? Where do you want to go?"

With a hissing sound, the lights that were working fine suddenly began to flicker.

"What happened?!" Lynae exclaimed in horror.

"No, no, I don't know...!" Sigrika shivered.

"Wait, wait... I think I saw the principal and the others..."

"Don't scare me! Aren't they already...?!"

"Really... look...!"

Sigrika looked intently in the direction Lynae pointed, and there she saw a familiar purple-haired figure appear before her.

But she had no feet; she was floating in the air!

No, not just her, but Aemeath, Yaya, Cartethyia, Professor Morning... all those who mysteriously disappeared now appeared before the two of them as ghosts!

"Run!" Lynae shouted angrily, grabbing Sigrika was sprawled on the ground and running towards the door.

The spirits of Xiao Ling and her group followed closely behind them, but maintained a distance, giving them the illusion that they could escape.

(In a way, isn't this a case of the person running ahead while the soul chases after them?)

Upon reaching the door, Lynae tried to break it open, only to find that the seemingly fragile wooden door was as hard as iron and she couldn't kick it open no matter how hard she tried.

"I'll give it a try!" Sigrika pulled Lynae behind her, then unleashed a powerful punch—

However, the wooden door remained completely still.

"What do we do...?" Sigrika cried out in panic, "We can't escape..."

"I told you... you can't escape..."

"Eek--!" The two little ones cried out in fright and retreated until they had nowhere left to go.

And so they could only watch helplessly as the group of demons, bearing the likeness of their companions, drifted toward them.

As the saying goes, people can unleash boundless courage when they are in extreme fear.

"Go to hell, take this bullet!" Lynae pulled out her pistol and fired a shot directly at the ghost's head.

The bullet then pierced the ghost's head and struck the wall, creating a hole in it.

Sigrika was equally unwilling to back down, and threw another deliberate punch at the evil spirit in front of her, only to hit nothing but air.

Realizing that physical attacks were ineffective against these guys, the two little ones had only one thought in their minds—

I'm going! My life is over!

The evil spirits surrounded the two poor little ones who had no way to escape, and the two little ones clung tightly to each other, and Sigrika's sobbing whispers could even be heard.

"I don't taste good... I'm skinny and bony, and I get stuck in your teeth... Don't eat me..."

The two huddled together, trembling for what seemed like forever. After what appeared to be a long time, they realized they hadn't been eaten, and their fear instantly turned into surprise and disbelief.

Could it be that these evil spirits intend to torment them?!

Just as they were brainstorming, a voice that sounded incredibly familiar and warm to them suddenly rang out lazily.

"I knew it! Ling, you went too far!"

"Haha... it seems I went a bit too far..."

"So? This is a prank?" Lynae asked again after finishing another glass of water and calming herself down.

"That's right," Xiao Ling nodded.

"And you all knew it was a prank, yet you still enjoyed it?" Lynae questioned.

"That's right," Yangyang and the others replied in unison.

"So, only Sigrika and I were kept in the dark?!" Lynae blurted out in a national treasure, "You guys have no idea how scary you were just now?!"

"An impenetrable door, an inescapable corridor, and a bunch of ghosts that look like my companions! You poets?!"

"Seriously, I really thought my life was going to end at that moment."

"If you want compensation for emotional distress, go find Xiao and Aemeath; they're the masterminds behind this." Roccia shamelessly betrayed the instigators of this farce.

"Brother, I really have to beat you up." Lynae didn't waste any words and went up to Xiao Ling, unleashing a Burning Heart Flame attack that shattered his body.

If she can't beat Aemeath, can't she at least vent her anger on Hajiling?

Xiao Ling couldn't dodge in time and was knocked down by Lynae with a single punch. What followed was Lynae's mercenary skills, which beat Hajiling so badly that he screamed like a banshee.

"So... so... what is the truth?" Sigrika asked, still shaken.

"Tell me the truth... it's actually like this." Dania recounted the whole story in detail.

The incident began when Aemeath planned to scare Hajiling by reenacting a ghost story, but Xiao Ling's killing intent sense caught her red-handed.

Then the two demons got together and decided to stage a big show on the spot to involve everyone.

Thus, the scene at the beginning of the story unfolded, with Xiao Ling disappearing first, and Professor Morning disappearing after giving a brief account of what happened after Xiao Ling's disappearance.

Following a brief discussion, the group decided to split up. During this time, Xiao Ling could use Aemeath's ghost-like ability to arrest the members who had fallen behind.

Those who were captured also joined the "Evil Spirit Army" at the invitation of Xiao Ling and Aemeath.

"It's strange, but my ability seems to have been amplified in A-Yu. He used his power to turn the captured members into ghosts," Aemeath explained. "By the way, the power system wasn't actually broken; I just secretly turned it off to make the effect more realistic."

"Can Aemeath's ghost form also affect other people?"

"I don't know the exact reason, but that's the reality."

"Ha..." Roccia rubbed her temples. "You guys had a good time. If it weren't for this show, I would have been sound asleep four hours ago."

Lynae Sigrika: I've never had any fun.

"It's already 3 a. m. on the second day!" Suisui pointed to the clock.

"Ah~ I'm so sleepy..."

People don't get tired when they're doing bad things, but once the excitement wears off, everyone who's supposed to be sleepy will be exhausted.

At the entrance to the living room, Heartfox was staring intently at Xiao Ling's entire family inside.

"There was quite a bit of fun tonight, and it wasn't for nothing that I gave it a little push."

After dispelling the illusion attached to the mansion, she picked up a piece of osmanthus cake and stuffed it into her mouth.

"However, the charioteer is quite fortunate with women—he has so many stunning beauties by his side."

She picked up another piece of osmanthus cake and swallowed it in a few bites. "Mmm~ This is definitely the kind of thing I like best."