Translator: CinderTL
"Will... will I be retaliated against?" Chu Jiu looked terrified, her small face filled with such pitiful distress that it tugged at everyone's heartstrings.
But no one could comfort her with concrete evidence, only offering empty words of reassurance. It seemed even Chu Jiu herself didn't believe them.
"I'm sorry," Chu Jiu suddenly bowed deeply to everyone, saying, "I lied to you all."
This statement immediately drew many eyes. "What did you lie about?" Liu Guo frowned, seeming particularly sensitive to the word "lie."
"I... I'm actually here for the first time... my first time in a place like this," Chu Jiu looked up and said, "But I was scared because I read a horror novel where the plot was very similar to here. I thought if I admitted to being a newcomer, others might look down on me."
"Or even use me as a sacrificial pawn to kill!"
Hearing this, everyone was momentarily stunned, their expressions subtly changing.
"That won't happen," Yu Lan said with an unnatural attempt at comfort, "Here, we're all together and will take care of each other."
"Really?" Chu Jiu asked.
"Hehe," an incongruous laugh sounded, "Of course... it's true," said Lu Huaxu, wearing black stockings.
From beginning to end, no one had seen the face beneath those stockings.
Since there were few clues and they were quite scattered, and the ghosts threatening each building were not the same, everyone agreed to return here for a meeting before dark and then dispersed.
"Doctor," Fatty walked alongside Jiang Cheng after separating from the group, worriedly saying, "Why do I feel something's off?"
Jiang Cheng didn't even look at him, "Go on."
"Look, Doctor, in the past, the scenarios we experienced usually only had one ghost, but this time, three popped up at once."
"And they almost simultaneously attacked our teammates scattered across three buildings," Fatty said as he walked, frowning as he looked at the doctor, "What's even stranger is that they didn't kill anyone and were actually dealt with by someone."
Finding a quiet spot, Jiang Cheng sat on the steps and looked at Fatty, "Anything else?"
After leaving the crowd, they wandered aimlessly nearby, with Fatty sticking close to the doctor, not leaving his side.
Fatty thought for a moment, then answered, "Nothing else for now, Doctor," he licked his lips, eagerly rubbing his hands together, "Doctor, have you thought of something?"
"Didn't you notice the commonality before they got into trouble?" Jiang Cheng asked.
After a moment, a light flashed in Fatty's eyes, "Doctor," he said excitedly, "Are you talking about that knocking sound?"
Indeed, in the accounts of the three, they all mentioned the presence of a knocking sound.
However, Banana Wolf was more specific, while the other two were vague in their descriptions.
Wei Jinting used the word "should," and when it came to Chu Jiu, it became "possibly."
But upon closer thought, Banana Wolf was in the living room and hadn't slept all night, so naturally, he would be more aware, while Wei Jinting and Chu Jiu were both in their beds in the bedroom.
When the knocking sound occurred, one was asleep, and the other was half-asleep.
So it was normal.
According to the doctor's reasoning, they were all awakened by the knocking sound.
"Doctor," Fatty asked, "Are you saying these ghosts knock on the door before entering? To give them a heads-up?"
Jiang Cheng nodded, he quite liked the term "harassment" that Fatty proposed.
After all, in his view, direct confrontation between humans and ghosts was unrealistic, let alone harming them with a knife or a screwdriver.
That was too far-fetched.
There could only be two answers: first, because the death conditions weren't triggered, the ghosts couldn't kill them.
Second, they were already dead, or at least one of them was, and the ghost that killed them had replaced them.
Just like Shi Liaozhi in the last scenario.
"Doctor," Fatty blinked, "But why would ghosts give a heads-up before coming to kill?"
"I don't know," Jiang Cheng patted the dust off his pants and stood up, "That's what we need to figure out."
In the next hour, Jiang Cheng and Fatty detailed the methods and habits of the three ghosts, which would be very useful for their next steps.
Building 1.
The ghost in the apartment building where Jiang Cheng lived had harassed Chu Jiu in room 707 last night.
According to Chu Jiu, the ghost crawled out from under her bed while she was half-asleep, all wet, with disheveled hair.
It was most likely a woman in life.
Actually, Jiang Cheng wanted to say it was a woman, but after the image of Hua Luo flashed in his mind, he decided to be more precise.
After all, in a big forest, all sorts of monsters dare to come out and wander.
For convenience, let's call her the Long-haired Ghost.
Her method of attack was also that eerie long hair.
Building 2.
The one harassed last night was a young man named Banana Wolf, in room 404.
According to him, the ghost made very creepy rubbing sounds everywhere, first in the bedroom, then suddenly under the sofa where he was.
With a ghostly hand that had very sharp nails.
Of course, this hand had now been resolutely cut off by Banana Wolf and taken as his own.
Thinking about it, Jiang Cheng was happy for him.
After all, no one knew if the ghost would pick a good day to come back and ask for its hand.
This ghost's method of attack was undoubtedly the ghostly hand, as Banana Wolf also said that it was this ghostly hand that finally grabbed his foot.
This ghost, Jiang Cheng called it the Nail Ghost.
Building 3.
The one harassed last night was a man named Wei Jinting, who didn't look very old, probably even younger than Jiang Cheng by two years.
According to him, last night he felt someone watching him in the dark, and it wasn't a normal gaze, but a malicious one.
As if with ulterior motives.
At the time, some people didn't understand what kind of feeling this was, but Jiang Cheng was different, he had also experienced these malicious gazes.
But not from ghosts, but from drunken, lecherous rich women.
To prevent some unavoidable groping, Jiang Cheng would even wear leggings inside.
Of course, this wasn't necessary in the company of young ladies.
Wei Jinting introduced that the ghost peeking at him wasn't just one.
In the living room, bathroom, behind the door, in the wardrobe, under the table... there was that feeling everywhere.
Until he poked a one-eyed ghost hiding in the bedside table with a screwdriver, these eerie, peeping sensations disappeared.
Based on its habits, Jiang Cheng called it the Peeping Ghost.
"Doctor," Fatty hid in a shady spot, the sunlight overhead a burden to him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "Why was only one ghost harassing Chu Jiu and Banana Wolf, but a group of ghosts harassing Wei Jinting?"
"Could it be..." Fatty widened his eyes, "Because there are more ghosts in Building 3?"
Jiang Cheng slowly shook his head, "Fatty," he suddenly said, "Do you remember the scenarios we've been through before?"
Fatty nodded, "I remember."
It was probably something he couldn't forget even if he wanted to, it was too thrilling.
"How many times did no one die on the first night?" The next second, Jiang Cheng's voice suddenly changed.
Monthly tickets, brothers!! Thanks, everyone.
(End of the Chapter)
---
Read (NS) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c456. [+4]
Early Access at $1.
Translated (5) Series, (2.2K+) Chapters, (2.9M+) Words.