“Did you see that just now? My reactions were so fast! I didn't even know I was this capable!”
Nan Zhi’s face was filled with the perfect amount of relief and the joy of surviving a disaster.
“Are you okay? That scared the life out of me. My god, why did that bulb just explode like that?
If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve stayed in the office in the air conditioning. Don't you agree?”
The suspicion that had just begun to rise in Zhang Qiuyu’s mind slowly dissipated.
The other girl didn't have a Third Eye; how could she have known something was going to happen?
It was probably just quick reflexes.
“It’s all thanks to you, Nan Zhi. Otherwise, I’d definitely be among those getting stitches at the hospital right now!
Did you see Sister Liu from Finance? A shard of glass sliced her scalp, and the flesh was practically turned inside out.”
Zhang Qiuyu took a deep breath and gestured with her hands.
“It was such a long gash; it’s definitely going to leave a scar.
And then there’s Chen Jie. He’s the most pathetic one. The supervisor just called and said Chen Jie’s arm is broken. He’ll probably need a cast.”
As she spoke, she began to complain.
“What is the building management even doing? The office lights have been flickering for days, and no one ever came to fix them.
And today, the lights on the sixteenth floor just explode. I bet they’re going to have to pay out a lot of compensation for this.”
A nearby colleague chimed in.
“Exactly! I nearly jumped out of my skin when the bulb burst. I really thought it was a ghost!”
“You were clearly the one screaming the loudest. We all heard you, okay?”
“It really was terrifying, though.”
“That master just grabbed his bag and ran. I think he was a fraud. He couldn't keep up the act anymore, so he just bolted.”
“Today was a total loss. I didn't even get to see the full drama, and I almost got hurt. Ugh! I’ve learned my lesson. I’m never crowding around like that again.”
Despite the number of people who had been watching the spectacle, most felt it was just an accident.
It was like an ancient person traveling; they would only ever think of riding a horse or a carriage.
Even if someone told them that in the future, iron birds dozens of meters long would fly in the sky or iron fish hundreds of meters long would swim in the sea, they would only marvel at the story.
They wouldn't truly view airplanes and ships as tools for travel.
Because they had never seen an airplane, much less a ship. Even if they could imagine them, they wouldn't believe such things truly existed.
Similarly, even if someone saw a ghost or was forced to encounter various supernatural events...
Their brain would automatically fill in the gaps to make these events seem logical and easy to explain.
A lightbulb always flickering?
Probably old wiring or an unstable current.
The sound of glass marbles bouncing on the floor in an empty room?
That’s just the sound of steel reinforcements in the concrete settling.
When faced with something outside their cognition, the human brain instinctively rejects it to protect itself.
The people in this building were no different.
But Nan Zhi finally understood how the protagonists in those low-IQ horror movies felt when they were sabotaged by their idiotic teammates.
In the past, when she watched movies, she was always confused as to why the protagonists would keep courting death even when they knew a ghost was present.
Now she understood.
Even though the master had just finished his earnest lecture, telling everyone to be respectful and to keep a distance even if they didn't believe...
The very next moment, Chen Jie had to run his mouth, causing Chen Ping’s ghost to be provoked into a frenzy, using lightbulbs like shotguns to spray the onlookers indiscriminately.
Before leaving, Master He had mentioned that for these three days, Chen Ping’s ghost would be exceptionally weak.
To Nan Zhi, this was a rare and perfect opportunity to complete her mission.
She planned to explore the building at night and meet Chen Ping.
...
To be safe, Nan Zhi observed for another two days.
During those two days, just as Master He had predicted, Chen Ping remained hidden and did not appear.
The seventeenth floor regained a brief sense of peace, as if the previous supernatural events had merely been a collective hallucination.
After such a major incident, Manager Huang was fired by the advertising company, and the building property management sent people to conduct a major inspection of the entire building’s electrical system.
No one mentioned that day anymore.
It was as if it had been nothing more than a minor, harmless interlude.
Except for Chen Jie, who came to work with his arm in a cast.
Finally, on the morning of the third day, Nan Zhi ran into Chen Ping’s ghost at the elevator bank.
He seemed somewhat dazed, not knowing where he was, standing woodenly behind two money trees.
Compared to two days ago, his body was covered in bloody welts that looked like they had been whipped into him, covering his chest and back. He looked quite wretched.
Ding—
The elevator bell rang, startling Chen Ping’s ghost awake.
Only then did he realize he was clutching a sparrow with a snapped neck in his hand.
The bird’s fragile neck was broken, and blood slowly seeped into his palm, yet Chen Ping could feel no warmth.
It was happening again.
Chen Ping was unexpectedly calm. He buried the sparrow in a flowerpot with practiced ease.
People came and went; countless office workers flowed in and out.
Still, no one could see him.
No one spoke to him. There was no sound of breathing, no heartbeat, no gurgling sound of blood flowing through veins.
In this world that was quiet enough to drive one mad, he was the only one.
Chen Ping looked around helplessly, his gaze falling exactly on Nan Zhi.
She was staring at the money tree, seemingly lost in thought.
With a glimmer of hope in his eyes, Chen Ping hurried over and grabbed the elevator door.
“Miss, can you see me?”
“Can you hear me speaking?”
“Could you please give my wife and child a message? Tell them I miss them very much!”
“What is that smell in the stairwell? It’s so foul. I’ll have to call someone to check it out tomorrow morning.”
Nan Zhi muttered a sentence to herself and walked into the elevator without looking at him, pressing the floor button.
Chen Ping’s eyes grew dim.
As another person stepped out of the elevator, he pressed himself toward them again, two streams of bloody tears leaking from his pitch-black eyes.
“Hello, can you hear me?”
“Could you please give my wife and child a message...”
The elevator doors slowly closed.
Standing inside the elevator, Nan Zhi let out a slow breath.
In her eyes, besides the shroud of resentment, Chen Ping had a half-empty health bar floating above his head.
【Chen Ping: 50 points (Injured)】
Master He was right.
He was indeed quite weak right now.
It was time to act. Tonight would be the final opportunity.
Speaking of which, the Painted Skin Ghost had also been injured back then.
What was she? An expert at picking off the weak?
Nan Zhi wasn't entirely sure.
...
That night, neon lights flashed throughout the city, and the sky was wrapped in a velvet-like darkness.
Under the scattered lights, the stars were rendered dim and colorless, leaving only the moon to hang high and bright in the night sky.
At the elevator bank of Hongxing Mansion, a small-footed woman with charming features walked into the elevator as if she were floating.
This woman was dressed very strangely.
She had long black hair gathered into an elegant, ancient-style bun, held in place by a wooden hairpin.
Her upper body was clad in a yellow short shirt with a bright red bodice tied over it, and below that was an ancient-style pleated skirt.
Even though it was nearly midnight, there were still many people working overtime.
A delivery rider was in the elevator. When he saw the woman, he was stunned for a moment before his expression turned to one of understanding.
A period-costume enthusiast. He understood.
He just felt the way she walked was a bit odd.
“Hey beauty, which floor are you going to?”
The rider grinned, his eyes scanning the woman’s figure without any reservation.
“Working so late? You guys really have it rough.”
“The seventeenth floor, thank you.”
The woman’s eyes shimmered, and her voice was like that of a yellow oriole in a valley, making one’s ears feel tingly.
Damn!
Even her voice was that beautiful!
The rider’s heart skipped a beat, feeling as if ants were crawling over him.
From his angle, he could just see the woman’s tender nape and the small patch of fair skin beneath her ear.
Late at night.
A confined space.
A beautiful woman in vibrant clothes.
The rider grew bolder. As the elevator ascended, he deliberately lowered his voice.
“I heard this building is haunted. Did you know that?”
The woman seemed startled, turning her body slightly to reveal her exquisite face.
It was a face of a beauty with profound classical charm.
The rider became excited, his gaze growing even more bold as it swept down toward her skirt.
“I heard someone jumped from the twenty-seventh floor last year. His soul wouldn't leave, and his ghost has been wandering this building ever since.
A few days ago, the news even reported that this building was haunted. It was a huge sensation. Aren't you afraid, working overtime all by yourself?
Why isn't your boyfriend with you? If I were your boyfriend, I definitely wouldn't feel right letting a beauty like you work late like this.
But people always say, ‘To die under a peony flower is to be a romantic even as a ghost.’ If you were my girlfriend—”
“Oh?”
The woman let out a small cry, her body trembling as the other half of her face finally turned toward him.
“Really?”
The woman’s voice was still melodious and moving, only now it held a hint of urgency.
“Would you really be willing to die for me?”
“That’s wonderful.”
The woman smiled sweetly, revealing her entire face.
What kind of face was it?
The lifeless skin was a misty, ashen gray, and there were no eyelids on her eye sockets.
Her bulging eyeballs rolled comically, and a jagged wound tore straight back to her ears, revealing protruding fangs.
Half beauty, half demon.
“Look, my feet hurt from walking so much. Why don't you carry me up?”
The woman giggled, the extreme beauty and extreme ugliness contrasting sharply.
Her hemline fluttered slightly, revealing a pair of small feet in three-inch embroidered shoes.
Lotus-tip small feet, floating weightlessly above the floor.
That was absolutely not a movement a normal human could make.
The rider finally remembered what was so strange about her walking posture.
She had floated all the way in.
His eyes rolled back, and he fainted dead away.
Rate on N.U.
