“It’s possible the entire building is alive.”
Chen Xi withdrew her hand, her fingertips stained with a bit of grayish-black ash. “Lin Jianguo didn't go missing. He was eaten.”
“But why... why did it only eat the people in Room 1703?”
Kang Xiaojia was bewildered. “Our room has walls too, so why are we fine? Could it be a ghost that came in from the outside?”
Yes, why?
The group couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of dread.
Was the place they slept not actually a safe house?
All four rooms had the same wooden and concrete walls. Why was it that only Lin Jianguo and Wang Lei in Room 1703 were attacked?
Logically speaking, Room 1703 should have been the safest.
Room 1701 had a water ghost.
Room 1702 had the family from the portrait.
Room 1704 had the memorial tablet spirit.
After all, Lin Jianguo had rushed to move in precisely because he liked that it had "no yin energy."
—Who could have imagined that this very "safe room" would end up becoming his grave?
A sudden realization flashed through Chen Xi's mind.
The first taboo: Do not let the residents see your "difference."
What was this "difference"? It was their identity as living humans.
Then, was it possible that in rooms occupied by ghosts, the ghosts' yin energy would mask the living humans' yang energy, preventing the building from "smelling" them?
In an empty room without ghosts, the yang energy of a living human stood out in isolation like a torch in the dark, making them an instant target for the building.
That was why the walls would come to "eat" them.
In other words, the living had to live with ghosts to use their yin energy to mask their own yang energy, thereby avoiding detection.
Just as this thought surfaced, the system text floated into view:
【Taboo 4: Living humans must reside with ghosts; do not occupy vacant, ownerless rooms.】
Everyone fell completely silent, and the corridor became frighteningly quiet.
Lin Jianguo had calculated everything, only to choose a dead end.
They had all fallen into a cognitive trap, assuming that the absence of ghosts meant safety, without realizing that the rooms with ghosts were the true sanctuaries.
“Uncle Lin... is just gone, like that,” Zheng Wenxuan murmured, a bitter feeling rising in his chest.
A teammate who had entered the Instance with them was gone in less than half a day, with not even his bones remaining.
“Oh, my condolences.”
Jiang Chen's tone was flat, devoid of emotion. “But this does teach us that in an Instance, you can't let your guard down for even a single second.”
Chen Xi didn't say a word. She pulled out the Raw Glutinous Rice Lime Pack and scattered another ring of it along the doorways of the rooms.
“Captain Chen, what do we do now?” Jiang Chen asked in return. “Night patrol is about to start. With one less person, can we still complete the quest?”
Just as Chen Xi was about to speak, another text prompt popped up.
【Daily Quest Triggered: Second Night Patrol】
【Quest Requirement: Offer incense in front of the doors of all forty-four households in the building before 4:44 AM.】
【Time Limit: 44 minutes】
【Failure Penalty: Activity level within the building will increase, and the malevolent entities will become more aggressive.】
Everyone's expression changed.
Forty-four minutes, forty-four households.
This meant they had to climb thirty-three floors in an extremely short amount of time.
There was simply not enough time to stay together; they had to split up.
The system was forcing them to take on solo tasks.
“We have no time to waste,” Chen Xi immediately made a decision. “We must complete the quest. It will only be more troublesome if we fail. Jiang Chen, take Kang Xiaojia and Zheng Wenxuan downstairs. You guys are responsible for floors one through sixteen, which have twenty-seven households in total. I will go up. I'll handle floors seventeen through thirty-three, which have seventeen households.”
“No way!”
Zheng Wenxuan immediately objected. “Captain, Granny Lai is up there, along with the old residents on the higher floors. It's too dangerous for you to go alone...”
Clearly, the unfortunate Wang Lei had been completely ignored.
“I acquired some items, so I have means to defend myself.”
Chen Xi patted the revolver behind her waist. “I have other items too. If I can't beat them, I can run. The floors on your end are lower and more densely populated, so offering incense will actually take you more time.”
She paused, her tone leaving no room for argument. “It's settled. I'll come down to find you after I'm done lighting the incense.”
Zheng Wenxuan wanted to argue further, but he opened his mouth and ultimately said nothing.
He knew Chen Xi's temperament; once she made up her mind, no one could change it.
Besides, she was telling the truth. If they tagged along, they would only hold her back.
“Don't worry.”
Chen Xi turned around, hoisted Wang Lei—who had been crying and begging "don't leave me behind"—off the ground, and walked away.
Perhaps because of his paper transformation, Wang Lei was incredibly light and had almost no weight. Carrying him on her shoulder felt like carrying half a bag of cardboard.
“Captain Chen... will I completely turn into a paper doll...”
“Captain Chen, you absolutely must not leave me behind...”
“Captain Chen, am I going to die here?”
“Captain Chen, you make me feel so safe. You're like my mom...”
“Shut up.”
—Even as she bounded up the stairs in a few strides, the others could still hear Wang Lei's sobbing remarks and Chen Xi's slightly irritated replies.
Watching their figures disappear up the stairwell, Jiang Chen also turned to hand out the incense and candles. “Let's go too. We need to hurry.”
The three of them walked quickly downstairs, none of them mentioning Lin Jianguo again.
In an Instance, grief was the ultimate luxury.
The living had to survive first before they could worry about anything else.
...
Fortunately, the second night patrol went by without any major incidents.
On her way, Kang Xiaojia encountered a child's ghost who tried to drag her along to play.
While passing the twenty-second floor, Wang Lei was startled by the barking of “Ah Kun,” the large dog kept by Sister Lan.
When Zheng Wenxuan passed a certain doorway, a hand reached out from under the door and grabbed his ankle.
Jiang Chen, on the other hand, was plagued by an unknown red envelope ghost.
After the two groups reunited, they briefly exchanged information.
...
“How did it go?” Chen Xi asked.
“They're all placed.”
Zheng Wenxuan nodded. “There are more households on the lower floors, but since they're lower down, it went fairly smoothly. The little ghost's memorial tablet on the third floor almost grabbed Kang Xiaojia, but we scolded it away.”
Kang Xiaojia scratched her cheek in embarrassment. “It called out to me using Captain Chen's voice, and I almost answered it. Fortunately, it didn't know my name, which gave it away.”
“It's good that you're okay.”
Chen Xi thought for a moment and added, “From now on in this building, do not call each other by our names. Refer to each other by class, or by nickname if you don't have a class. I am the ‘Constable,’ Xiaojia is the ‘Physician,’ Zheng Wenxuan is the ‘Pill Master,’ Wang Lei is the ‘Paper Doll,’ and Jiang Chen—”
Jiang Chen immediately followed up, quickly adding, “I am the ‘Believer.’”
Chen Xi glanced at him. Although she found the nickname baffling, she let it slide.
【System Notification: Daily Night Patrol Quest Completed.】
【Rewards: 50 points, gold ingot x3】
...
With the gold ingots received, they finally didn't have to worry about being kicked out by Uncle Biao for failing to pay the rent.
The group let out a small sigh of relief.
However, out of the corner of her eye, Chen Xi noticed a bulging red envelope lying in the shadows of the stairwell landing, though she had no idea when it had appeared.
It was made of bright red paper, about the size of a palm, with a crooked character for “Double Happiness” embossed on the front. Its gold borders had worn away, making it look quite old.
It was bulging on the inside, as if stuffed with money.
“Was... that thing there just now?”
Chen Xi looked at Jiang Chen with some uncertainty. Following her gaze, his expression turned slightly grim.
“It followed me up... I encountered it on the landing of the tenth floor, but I didn't pick it up.”
“A red envelope with a ‘Double Happiness’ character...” Chen Xi's tone grew solemn. “It either contains a ghost marriage proposal or is meant for borrowing longevity.”
According to folklore, picking up a red envelope at a crossroads meant accepting a ghost marriage betrothal gift, and doing so would bind you in a marriage with the deceased.
Near some hospitals, people would even place a patient's hair and fingernails inside a red envelope.
They said this was used to borrow longevity; whoever picked it up would have their life span siphoned away.
In any case, no matter which one it was, anything appearing in this haunted building was not to be touched.
“It hasn't posed any danger yet.” Jiang Chen shook his head. “Let's just pretend we didn't see it.”
Kang Xiaojia couldn't help but look back.
The red envelope was still lying there, quiet and still, as if someone had accidentally dropped it.
She always felt that the red envelope resembled a red embroidered shoe.
...
After a brief rest, the group could finally get some sleep.
No matter what, Wang Lei refused to sleep in the water ghost room, and he was even less willing to go back to Room 1703 to be eaten. In the end, he had no choice but to squeeze into the memorial tablet room with Zheng Wenxuan and Jiang Chen.
The space was already cramped, and with an extra person, there was clearly even less room to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Jiang Chen truly couldn't stand Wang Lei's neurotic behavior anymore, so he hung him on the wall—since half of Wang Lei's body was a paper doll, he actually managed to sleep while hanging.
In any case, the physically and mentally exhausted group finally managed to fall asleep.
Hazy and unsure of how long she had slept, Chen Xi rubbed her temples to ease a slight headache when she heard a knock at the door:
“Knock, knock, knock.”
Three knocks, very light and polite. It didn't seem like Uncle Biao's style, nor did it sound like a ghost banging on the door.
A faint trace of “sunlight” filtered in through the window. Although it was bright, it didn't bring the slightest warmth when it fell on their skin.
Awakened by the knocking, Kang Xiaojia sat up dazed and rubbed her eyes.
“Don't make a sound.”
Chen Xi walked over to the door. Instead of opening it immediately, she pressed her ear to the gap to listen to the movement outside.
“Hey, I know someone's in there.”
A girl's voice came from outside, carrying a bit of a Hong Kong Mandarin accent with a rising, casual tone. “Open up! I don't mean any harm. I'm Granny Lai's granddaughter from the twenty-second floor!”
Chen Xi frowned and reached out to slide open the door bolt.
The door opened a crack, revealing a girl of about seventeen or eighteen standing outside.
She hadn't looked closely during the night patrol, but now she noticed that the girl's hair was dyed, with some pink highlights at the ends. Her school uniform had also been altered, tailored narrow and ending short above her calves.
“Oh?”
Li Yafei leaned against the doorframe, tilting her head as she sized up Chen Xi, her eyes filled with curiosity.
“My name is Li Yafei. My grandma calls me Sai Mui. I know you guys aren't ghosts, so I came here specifically to find you.”
No sooner had she spoken than—
Shua!
Chen Xi drew her gun, chambered a round, and pressed the muzzle against the girl's forehead. The sequence of actions was seamless, moving so fast it left only afterimages.
With the cold muzzle pressed against her brow, the girl froze instantly.
Raising her hands, her eyes went wide and round.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Madam! No need for such a huge reaction! I don't mean any harm! I'm a living person too!”
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