Chapter 106
Chapter 106
Cheng Miao met the Pregnant Woman’s gaze without expression while Lin Zhu tore paper into strips and rolled them into balls.
There were only fifteen lots today. Everyone swallowed nervously at the sight of them, but Cheng Miao was still the first to reach out and take one.
The four selected for the game were Little Green, Brother Wang, Qi Jiajia, and Gu Jian.
Gu Jian’s face fell. He let out a despairing “Ah!” When no one reacted, his expression changed in an instant. Grinning, he flopped back against his chair.
Even a fool could tell he was enjoying himself and was not afraid in the slightest.
Little Green and Brother Wang were another matter. They both looked ready to cry.
Cheng Miao was not worried about Qi Jiajia. If nothing else, the barrette on the girl’s head made her the safest person among them.
Little Green clung to Little Red’s dress and refused to let go. Brother Wang came to Cheng Miao with trembling lips. “Miss Cheng, what taboos does this game have?”
Cheng Miao glanced at Qi Jiajia. “Don’t run around or scream. As long as that thing is still there, you can’t end the game.”
Qi Jiajia lowered her eyes. Games like this were the most annoying. They wasted time.
Time passed quickly under the pressure of their fear. Before long, midnight arrived. Qi Jiajia took the lead and opened the door to Room 201.
Fan Tiantian’s body was gone, leaving only faint bloodstains on the floor. Little Green burst into tears at the sight.
Qi Jiajia frowned at her. “Close the door. Turn off the lights.”
Brother Wang knew Qi Jiajia was not someone he could afford to provoke, but this was a matter of life and death.
He rubbed his broad hands together and spoke in a conciliatory tone. “Let’s decide who stands where and who starts first.”
Qi Jiajia gave him a mocking look. “Anywhere is fine. I don’t care.”
Gu Jian was running his fingers over the bloodstains on the floor. He looked up with a smile. “Anything works for me too.”
Brother Wang and Little Green wanted to weep. Drawing such a terrifying game was bad enough. Why did they have to play it with these two?
In the end, Qi Jiajia stood in the upper-right corner, Gu Jian in the upper left, Brother Wang in the lower left, and Little Green in the lower right.
They reasoned that the first person to move might be safer, so Little Green would start and proceed clockwise.
“Is everyone ready? I’m turning off the lights.” Brother Wang glanced at the two unconcerned experts, then switched off the light under Little Green’s despairing gaze.
Outside, all the other players waited in their chairs.
Su Yang quietly reassured Old Zhao and Xiao Song. Little Red stared at the door to Room 201 while biting her lip. She bit too hard and split the skin open.
Baili Qianqiu rested with his eyes closed. Among Cheng Miao’s three-person team, Lin Zhu watched the door tensely. Qin Musong cleaned his handgun, a trace of worry in his eyes.
Cheng Miao was a little concerned as well, but she trusted Qi Jiajia more. The girl’s abilities were nowhere near as harmless as her age suggested.
Cheng Miao looked at the Longtime Tenants seated opposite, half their faces lost in darkness, and considered what the Landlord had revealed before his death.
They now knew that the five Longtime Tenants lived in Rooms 603 and 604, as well as on the seventh floor.
The Landlord had said there were only three apartments on the seventh floor because a construction mistake meant Room 704 did not exist.
But the Landlord had also said that Shen Xin, who drowned, had once been a tenant in Room 703.
If both statements were true, there was only one possible explanation. Shen Xin and one of the current Longtime Tenants had been family!
Cheng Miao’s knife-sharp gaze swept across the Longtime Tenants one by one.
Which one was it?
Inside the room, Little Green was gingerly making her second circuit. Behind her, Qi Jiajia coughed in the corner where Little Green had originally stood, then walked over and patted her shoulder.
Hearing the cough allowed Little Green to relax slightly. At least everything was still normal. Nothing had joined the game yet.
If Brother Wang had known what she was thinking, he would have told her she was far too naive.
Brother Wang had known something was wrong from the moment he turned off the light.
The apartment faced the street. According to Mohawk, although he had not turned on the lights the night before, enough light came through the window to reveal the room’s layout. There had been nothing unusual about it.
Yet when they switched off the light in that same room, Brother Wang found the darkness profoundly unnatural.
There was no window, no outside light. The entire room seemed filled with ink. They were as blind as if they had lost their sight.
Only an inexperienced player like Little Green, terrified nearly out of her mind, could believe things were still normal.
After an unknown number of circuits, Brother Wang began to feel cold. Alarms blared in his head.
But he waited, and nothing happened. Little Green was still sobbing. The two experts had not made a sound.
Had he imagined it?
Gu Jian followed Qi Jiajia. For all his usual carelessness, he had not caused any trouble during the game.
At some point, Qi Jiajia noticed that whenever she walked, there were two sets of footsteps.
Behind her own came a much softer tap, tap. If Qi Jiajia’s five senses had not been exceptionally sharp, she would never have noticed it.
It sounded as though someone were walking on tiptoe behind her.
She did not know whether it had chosen only her or was following everyone. Qi Jiajia shrugged and continued circling, unconcerned, wondering when this boring game would finally end.
After several more circuits, the footsteps drew closer. Something brushed the back of her head.
It was not hard to imagine the thing behind her tiptoeing closer.
Black hair veiled its face. As it walked, the strands swayed and stroked the back of Qi Jiajia’s neck.
The cold intensified. The sensation of hair trailing across her skin grew more pronounced. Qi Jiajia, who had pretended not to notice for so long, finally lost her temper with the endless game.
A vicious light flashed in her eyes. Without breaking stride, she reached her right hand behind her shoulder and caught a fistful of sticky, foul-smelling hair.
Then she yanked down hard.
Had it belonged to a human, Qi Jiajia would probably have ripped their scalp off.
The thing behind her had not expected such ferocity. The saying that ghosts feared vicious people was true. Before Qi Jiajia could do anything else, it vanished.
Qi Jiajia withdrew her hand and rubbed her fingers together. Nothing remained on them.
The greasy, tangled sensation of hair soaked in blood was gone too, but she still wiped her hand against the wall in disgust.
Little Green was extremely tense. Belatedly, she too realized something seemed to be following her. She did not dare open her eyes. Huddling in on herself, she moved slowly along the wall.
The sensation grew stronger. She could almost picture a long-haired female ghost pressed close behind her, red eyes peering greedily through the black hair covering its face.
Little Green began to break down. Clenching her hands, she muttered, “Amitabha… Bodhisattva, protect me…”
Her voice grew louder, as if volume alone could make her feel safe.
Then, to her delight, she realized the sensation of someone following her had disappeared.
She almost cried out in joy.
Without warning, Little Green stumbled forward. She caught herself against the wall before she fell, but could not straighten. A heavy weight seemed to press down on her body, making it hard to breathe.
A dreadful possibility slowly occurred to her. Trembling, she reached above her head and touched a mass of rank black hair.
Someone was sitting on her shoulders!