Chapter 26

Chapter 26

How could he have forgotten about Canyue Wushuang?

Qiao Yu had originally intended to warn him not to enter the Basement, but he had been sidetracked by the sudden appearance of Doctor Zhuang, and then it just slipped his mind.

Tsk, how annoying.

“Back to your rooms, now!”

Pozhan made a split-second decision, spinning around and sprinting back upstairs.

The others snapped out of their daze and rushed back to their rooms before the Ghosts in the Basement could catch up.

At the very least, they wouldn’t be in immediate mortal danger inside their own rooms… right?

As soon as Pozhan entered his room, the coffin under the bed began to hiss and rattle, as if it had grown tired of waiting.

It sounded like a pair of hands with long, sharp nails were desperately clawing at the coffin lid.

Today, the coffin’s resistance was particularly violent, clanging and banging as if it were ready to burst open at any moment.

On the other side, just as Wulong Tea latched his door, a blast of cold air instantly stripped away his body heat. He shivered, instinctively hugging his arms.

What on earth was happening?

It had only been one day. Why was his room colder than the Antarctic?

If the temperature wasn’t at least twenty degrees below zero, he’d chop off his own head and let the viewers in the Live Stream Room kick it around like a ball!

“Weave, weave, weave a flower basket, weave a flower basket to take to South Mountain. South Mountain is in full bloom with red peonies…”

“Weave, weave, weave a funeral wreath, weave a funeral wreath to take to the Western Paradise. The Western Paradise is in full bloom with white peonies…”

“Weave, weave, weave a child, weave a child to come out and play, hahahahaha…”

Unlike the high-pitched, hollow voice heard every other day, the person singing now sounded like a man. The volume wasn’t as loud as before; it was more like a low, rhythmic chanting murmuring through the room.

For some reason, the singing gave First Blood a splitting headache. He immediately tore two strips of cloth from his bedsheets and stuffed them firmly into his ears.

But it did little to help. The singing was pervasive, as if it could seep through his very skin. The eerie nursery rhyme continued to echo in his mind.

“My skin… have you seen my skin?”

“Aaaaah! Don’t come any closer!” Man-Eating Crocodile squeezed himself into the narrow gap between the wardrobe and the bed, his teeth chattering uncontrollably from fear. Meanwhile, that exquisitely crafted human skin sofa stood menacingly behind the bed. Blood slowly dripped from its seams, creeping toward the thin boy hiding in the crevice.

Man-Eating Crocodile let out a sob and buried his head in his arms, clutching his weak, helpless, and pathetic self tightly.

The streamers had long since vanished from sight. Qiao Yu trailed behind, taking the stairs at a leisurely pace, and ran straight into Hou Yuanyuan, who was clutching several House Number Plates.

“Thanks.” Qiao Yu took them from her. A quick shuffle through his fingers revealed there were only four.

“Where is the House Number Plate for Room 4003?”

Hou Yuanyuan shook her head innocently. “I don’t know. When I got there, only these four were on the floor. The Landlord Uncle probably took the other one, right?”

If the Landlord had taken it, didn’t that mean it had already been marked as the next target for the hunt?

Qiao Yu heard the heavy thudding of someone-or something-pounding against the Basement door. He said succinctly, “Then go get the one for Room 4003 as well.”

Hou Yuanyuan replied, “…That will cost extra.”

Fine, forget it!

Qiao Yu turned his head and ran upstairs, clutching the remaining House Number Plates.

The sound of things being smashed and the shuffling noise of skin rubbing against the floor echoed from the Basement. No matter how brave Qiao Yu was, he didn’t want to face that many mindless Ghosts at once. Retreating was the better part of valor.
Perhaps because he hadn’t entered the Basement today, the Ghosts didn’t pursue Qiao Yu relentlessly. Even after he had run back up to the fourth floor, they continued to linger by the stairs on the first floor.

Qiao Yu glanced at the tightly shut door of Room 4003, the boy’s sincere cries of “Dad!” echoing in his mind over and over again.

He couldn’t help but sigh. Shifting his steps, he arrived at Room 4003 and knocked on the door. “Brother Crocodile, open up!”

This really was a case of ‘I call you brother, you call me dad’-we’ll just each have our own way of addressing each other.

A trembling voice soon came from inside the room, laced with a hint of pleasant surprise. “Dad, is that you?”

Qiao Yu wanted to say it wasn’t, but he didn’t want to waste time bickering. He could only give a helpless grunt of affirmation before continuing, “Hurry up and open the door. I’m giving you the Review Card.”

“A Review Card? You actually have a Review Card?”

But why wasn’t he keeping it for himself? Why give it to him?

“Yeah, stop talking nonsense and come out and get it, or I’m leaving!”

“No, no, no! Dad, wait-” Brother Crocodile reached out a desperate hand. He looked warily at the human skin sofa blocking his only exit, then at the wall behind him, nearly crying from anxiety. “I… I can’t get out!”

Standing at the door, Qiao Yu felt like stabbing the guy himself on behalf of Li Xiaoqin. He was a grown man, yet he couldn’t even speak clearly; he was wasting so much time!

He didn’t bother asking why the guy couldn’t get out. He ran a few steps toward Room 4009, picked up the wire he had used to pick the lock last time, and forced open the door to Room 4003 once again.

Upon entering, he saw the human skin sofa arrogantly blocking the gap between the bed and the wardrobe, while Man-Eating Crocodile huddled in the corner, shivering violently.

Tsk, no wonder he said he couldn’t get out.

Almost the instant Qiao Yu entered the room, the human skin sofa seemed to break some kind of restriction. The skin attached to the wooden frame wrinkled slowly before lashing out toward Qiao Yu with flailing limbs.

“Watch out-”

Qiao Yu’s eyelids twitched. He reached out and grabbed a loose section of the skin where the stitching had come apart, then made a cutting motion with the room number plate.

The number plate was made of iron, and the edge of the thin metal piece was exceptionally sharp. With a few slashes, he cut through the extending skin.

A man’s shrill scream erupted from the severed skin. Qiao Yu looked up and glared at the dazed boy, shouting, “Run! What are you waiting for, an invitation?”

“Oh, right!” Brother Crocodile scrambled to his feet. As he ran, he slapped his numb legs, stumbling out of Room 4003.

Qiao Yu followed closely behind, immediately slamming the door of Room 4003 shut to lock the mutated human skin sofa inside.

After Man-Eating Crocodile left his room, Qiao Yu led him back to Room 4005.

The moment they entered, Qiao Yu pulled the Review Card out of his pocket and shoved it into the other man’s hand. “Here, keep the Review Card safe.”

Man-Eating Crocodile hadn’t expected Qiao Yu to actually give him such a precious item. Only a limited number of Review Cards dropped in each Instance, and they couldn’t be purchased in the shop at all. They were like carrots dangled in front of the streamers-something that would only deal a heavy blow to their morale when they were in despair, as they were always visible but never attainable.

Qiao Yu must have obtained this Review Card through sheer luck. That kind of luck wasn’t something just anyone had.

“Why give it to me?”