The presence she had seen, which she thought was merely a reflection in the glass...
had actually been standing outside the window all along.
Waving at her.
Zhang Yue could barely hold back a scream.
Desperately suppressing the choke in her throat, she stumbled over to press the elevator button.
【Floor 1】
【Floor 3】
【Floor 9】
【Floor 12】
...
Why, why was it taking so long?!
The elevator was ascending rapidly, yet Zhang Yue felt as if her entire body were submerged in icy water, her joints practically rusting stiff.
She turned her neck, trying to search with her peripheral vision for the shadow's whereabouts.
Zhang Yue silently prayed that working for too long had just blurred her vision.
What grey ghostly figure? What person outside the glass?
They were all hallucinations brought on by overwork.
Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed.
Like moving through the surface of water, the grey figure slowly drifted into the office, walking in her direction.
Click—
The lights above the cubicles flickered, and the temperature inside the office plummeted to freezing.
It seemed as though a single breath could form white mist.
Under the flickering lights, Zhang Yue finally saw the man's appearance clearly:
His face was an ashen grey, his skull battered and mangled, crushed flat like a watermelon dropped on the ground. Brain matter mixed with blood smeared across his entire grey suit.
Half of his right arm was severed, hanging only by a strip of skin connected to the flesh. His thigh was crookedly twisted, and at the knee, a jagged white bone protruded outward, broken bone fragments clearly visible.
Half of the man's eyeball had burst, dangling precariously from his face, while two streams of bloody tears flowed from his pitch-black eye sockets.
He—no, or rather, it.
The thing opened its mouth, uttering an eerie sound straight out of a horror film:
“Heh-heh-heh-heh...”
“Heh-heh-heh...”
It sounded like a low groan after someone's windpipe had been severed.
Or like teeth grinding violently together, producing a cringeworthy crunching noise.
Slowly lifting its hand, it waved at Zhang Yue once more as two more streams of bloody tears ran down its face:
“Heh-heh-heh... heh-heh-heh-heh...”
“Fuck this shitty company! There really is a ghost!”
Zhang Yue’s frayed nerves snapped completely, large tears spilling from her eyes:
“Help! Help me!!”
Like a lunatic, she frantically jabbed the elevator call button, screaming at the top of her lungs:
“Ahhh! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry up! Why aren't you going faster?!”
Her hysterical screams rippled across the seventeenth floor, bouncing off the walls in echoing reverberations.
The grey figure grew more solid, and the temperature dropped even lower.
Zhang Yue was on the verge of bawling out loud.
Finally, a split second before the figure closed in on her, the elevator doors slowly slid open—
revealing two figures inside.
I'm not going to die!
I'm saved!
An expression of ecstatic relief spread across Zhang Yue’s face.
Ding—
The crisp chime of the elevator rang out. Amidst the gentle elevator music, a gorgeous woman in ancient attire stood inside, while a delivery courier in uniform sat slumped on the floor.
Without stopping to think, Zhang Yue squeezed into the elevator, shouting at the person inside with all her might:
“There's a ghost! Please close the doors, quick!! There's a ghost! Outside, there's—”
Before her words could fully leave her mouth, the expression on her face plummeted straight from heaven into hell.
The oddly dressed woman's gaze drifted over casually. Zhang Yue saw that she was holding a forearm-length blade in her hand.
The tip was gleaming bright, while the body of the blade was pitch-black; a closer inspection revealed it was the stain left behind by long-accumulated blood.
Inside the elevator, the delivery courier’s eyes were tightly shut, his life or death unknown. Beneath him was a puddle of red slime that dyed nearly half the elevator cab.
The beautiful, alluring woman slowly turned her head with an inhuman stiffness:
“Are you all right?”
A puff of white vapor exhaled from her lips.
Layer upon layer of white frost condensed upon the elevator doors.
Large frost patterns bloomed across the cold metal doors, and a bone-chilling cold swept in with the draft, seeping into Zhang Yue’s body bit by bit.
She felt as though the blood inside her veins was slowly freezing solid.
Clatter-clatter-clatter...
What was that sound?
It turned out to be the sound of her teeth chattering.
In the cramped space, pungent odors rushed aggressively into her nostrils.
Zhang Yue took a clear look at the woman’s features.
Under the elevator lighting, the woman’s complexion was pale greenish, and the angle of her turning neck carried an inhuman dread.
—Upon her face, flawless to the point of unreality, not a single blemish could be found.
It was just like...
just like a flawless wax figure meticulously sculpted by a master artist. Though unblemished, it invoked a primal terror deep in the human heart.
“Don't come near me! Stay back!!”
Zhang Yue collapsed onto the floor, feeling behind her only to touch a handful of sticky slime.
She lifted her hand, seeing only bright crimson coating her palm.
Is... is this blood?
For a moment, Zhang Yue froze in a daze, looking at the young man beside her whose clothes were drenched in red.
Was he still alive?
Having bled so much, how could he possibly be alive?
And those scattered chunks of meat on the floor...
Was that human flesh?
Zhang Yue touched her face, feeling tears and snot dripping down her chest, soaking right through her shirt.
Trembling, she spoke in a voice so faint even she could barely hear it:
“Y-You... stay away.”
The woman was taken aback at first, then tilted her head to inspect her for a moment. As if confirming something, she then drifted out of the elevator like a specter.
Beneath the fluttering hem of her skirt, Zhang Yue caught sight of a pair of dainty, trembling little feet that practically floated above the floor.
Motherfucker, there really is a ghost in the building.
And what's more, there’s more than fucking one.
Garbage company.
Garbage building.
Closing her eyes in despair, she felt the world spinning around her, and with a heavy thud, she collapsed unconscious inside the elevator.
...
“Why does every single person faint the moment they see a ghost?
I always thought people passing out from shock was just TV nonsense.”
Nan Zhi glanced back at the young man and woman lying together in the elevator, patting the corner of her skirt:
“What was she screaming about just now? Did she get that worked up seeing her takeout spilled?
That's a bit much, it's just a portion of yellow braised chicken.
Speaking of which, which place made this yellow braised chicken? Smells surprisingly good, and it even comes with fresh tomato juice. Maybe I'll order from them tomorrow to try it out.”
—Just a moment ago, Nan Zhi, wearing the Paper Skin Garment, had given a fright to the delivery courier who tried to harass her.
She hadn't expected that despite his audacious lust, he was actually a complete coward; with a loud thump, he had fainted flat onto the ground.
The sound of his head hitting the floor had sounded painful.
As a result, the yellow braised chicken and tomato juice in the takeout order had exploded all over the elevator.
In Nan Zhi's line of sight, the familiar game panel appeared once again.
【Cultivator: Nan Zhi】
【Bone Age: 18】
【Level: 15】
【Cultivation: Qi Refinement level 4】
...
【Currently Equipped: “Butcher’s Daughter”, “Nan Village Slaughtering Knife”, “Paper Skin Garment” (Combat Power +50, Constitution +20, Reputation -30)】
【Paper Skin Garment (Blue Quality): This is the Painted Skin Ghost's most beloved human skin. Once worn, it conceals the wearer's human aura and temporarily disguises them as a ghostly entity.】
【Special Bonus: Daily Fortune Bonus (Luck +9)】
Qi-Supplementing Pill: packed.
To replenish energy at any moment.
Blood Supplementing Pill: packed.
To restore health on the fly during combat.
Hemostatic grass: packed.
If she started bleeding heavily, she could immediately chew on a couple mouthfuls.
Nan Village Slaughtering Knife: packed.
She had even sharpened the blade before setting out, ensuring that a single slash could cleave right through bone.
She had even made a special trip to the City God Temple to draw divination lots, rolling a luck bonus!
Nan Zhi glanced at Chen Ping's ghost not far away, who hesitated to draw near, and squeezed out the kindest smile of her life:
“Excuse me, do you have any wishes?”
Rate on N.U.
