Chapter 87

Chapter 87

Wei Sen was just about to turn off the lights when Zhong Lingkun got up and headed for the balcony. Without a word, he pulled the blackout curtains shut.

Wei Sen had deliberately left the curtains open. That way, if something appeared outside the balcony, she would be able to tell at once whether it was human or ghost.

“Why did you close them?” she asked.

“Guest Room Rules, rule four,” Zhong Lingkun said, returning to his own bed.

Guest Room Rules, rule four: You may enjoy the Aurora from the balcony, but remember, do not make a wish while viewing the Aurora. Otherwise, your wish will come true in a way you could never have imagined.

Wei Sen understood what made that rule so terrifying. It looked like a rule, but in truth, it was a massive trap.

It was like the white bear effect. When people were told, “Don’t think of a white bear,” they would instead think of white bears constantly.

When an Order Keeper saw the Aurora, they would inevitably remember this rule, and from there, the wish in their heart would surface against their will.

The rule did not clearly state whether the wish had to be spoken aloud, or whether simply thinking it counted. So the moment someone looked at the Aurora and thought of a wish, the danger level would spike dramatically.

But as far as Wei Sen was concerned, she had no wish she wanted to make.

She wanted to recover her memories. She wanted to know the truth. But those things would only be within reach if she saw that so-called “God” again.

Besides… a wish was a beautiful expectation, something often difficult to fulfill, and therefore entrusted to a power beyond human ability.

A goal, however, was utilitarian and clear. Once she set foot on that path, she would reach the end no matter what.

Wei Sen knew exactly what she intended to accomplish. She was not placing a wish in the hands of ghosts or gods.

Still, this man was quite smart. He knew that as long as he could not see the Aurora, he would not think of the wish in his heart.

That also proved, from another angle, that there was something he desperately wanted to come true.

Wei Sen glanced at him but asked nothing more. She had never been interested in other people’s private affairs.

She lay flat and said, “Sleep.”

The two of them pressed their switches at the same time, and the room instantly sank into darkness.

Wei Sen knew this man had to be guarded against, but at least for tonight, there was no way he would do anything against her. So she temporarily lowered her guard and soon fell asleep.

Sometime in the middle of the night, Wei Sen vaguely felt a chill blowing across her face.

She snapped awake, but did not open her eyes right away, because she could clearly sense that the cold was coming from directly above her.

The balcony door was already shut, and cold wind could not possibly be blowing in from the corridor.

Then what was this chill?

It came in waves, one after another, with a distinct rhythm. Like… breathing.

Wei Sen pretended to be sleeping peacefully, while in reality, she was ready to fight at any moment.

Other people’s Anomalous Artifacts were carried on their person, but she had the System. Whenever she wanted to use an Anomalous Artifact, she only needed to summon it on the spot.

After a while, the chill receded bit by bit. Wei Sen could clearly feel something slowly moving away from her.

Only after she was certain that thing had completely left her did she slowly open her eyes. A dim yellow light entered her vision.

The door had actually been opened a crack!

The corridor light spilled in through the gap, making everything in the room faintly visible.

There was nothing beside her bed, but from the corner of her eye, she saw a black mass approaching Zhong Lingkun’s bed.

Wei Sen did not dare turn over at a time like this. It would definitely startle that thing. She could only continue lying flat, watching the dark silhouette from the corner of her eye.

It was a human figure!

It was the one that had opened the room door!

After Zhong Lingkun entered the room, Wei Sen had clearly locked the door from the inside, yet this thing had opened their locked door with ease.

Wei Sen watched as the person stood straight at the head of Zhong Lingkun’s bed, then slowly bent down toward him. Long hair spilled down in an instant, nearly brushing Zhong Lingkun’s face.

A shudder ran through Wei Sen’s entire body. It was hard to imagine that this “woman” had been staring at her like that for who knew how long just now.

“Not good-looking… not good-looking…” the woman muttered. Her voice was hoarse, like rusted iron chains scraping against each other.

As she spoke, the woman straightened up again.

Wei Sen hurriedly closed her eyes.

The woman returned to Wei Sen’s bedside once more, leaning closer and closer toward her face.

This time, Wei Sen not only felt the biting chill, but also clearly sensed the “woman’s” hair falling beside her ear. It was like withered wild grass, and when it brushed her skin, it even carried a faint sting.
The woman’s icy breath brushed against Wei Sen’s face.

“So pretty…” The hoarse voice was close enough to touch.

Wei Sen held on to her patience and kept her breathing even.

If this “woman” did not make the first move, Wei Sen could not strike first either. After all, she did not have many Merit Points left. If killing this Eerie Entity dropped her Merit Points into the negatives, that would be a dead end too.

A long while passed. Wei Sen was almost about to fall asleep when the cold air blowing against her face finally moved away.

The room remained silent. That “woman” made no footsteps at all when she walked.

But the sound of the door hinge turning was especially grating in the night. Only after the door shut did the room sink back into darkness. Then came the click of the lock being turned from the outside.

That “woman” had the key to their room!

The first person Wei Sen thought of was Meiya.

But Meiya had short hair that reached her ears. The length did not match.

The person who could have a guest room key had to be someone from the inn. Yet the inn only had one employee.

Which meant the one just now was most likely the owner who lived on the fourth floor!

Thinking this, Wei Sen opened her eyes and looked around the room. The door was already closed. Everything in the room was as usual, and Zhong Lingkun was still sleeping soundly in the other bed.

Wei Sen lay back down and prepared to continue sleeping. But she had always been a light sleeper, and now that she had woken in the middle of the night, it was difficult to fall asleep again right away. All she could do was close her eyes, rest, and try to coax her drowsiness back.

Outside the window, the wind and snow howled. Inside the room, the steady breathing from the bed beside hers filled the silence.

“Ah! Ah!”

Before long, a shriek rang out, tearing through the stillness of the long night.

“Help! Help me!”

The woman’s screams and the sound of her footsteps as she fled for her life were painfully clear.

“Save me! Please, open the door! Save me!”

Wei Sen heard the woman knocking on door after door in the corridor. With that much noise, it was impossible for anyone to still be asleep.

“It’s coming! Ah, it’s coming!”

The woman screamed in terror, then suddenly threw herself against the door of Wei Sen’s room. If the door had not been locked from the outside, it would have been smashed open already.

“Open the door! Hurry, open the door and let me hide inside!” the woman pounded on the door in hysterics.

Their room was at the very end of the third-floor corridor. This woman had knocked her way down room by room, and now she could only pin all her hope on this last one.

“Hurry! Hurry! Ah… it’s here! It’s here! Open the door, please, I’m begging you!” The woman’s voice trembled with sobs, and she struck the door with even greater force. The entire wall shook with each blow.

The guest room’s Hidden Rule stated that only two people could stay in one room. If they let the woman outside in now, they would definitely violate the rule.

Wei Sen thought for a moment, then pulled the blanket over her head. The commotion outside was so loud she could not sleep.

“Ah! No! No! Get away! Get away from me!”

The woman’s voice outside grew even more terrified, as though she had seen something horrific. She desperately pressed herself against the door, but unfortunately, the door remained tightly shut.

Suddenly, with a crack, the knocking stopped dead. The woman’s cries for help ended like a taut string snapping all at once.

The entire world instantly fell silent again.

Immediately after, the sound of fabric rubbing against fabric came from outside the door, as though something was being dragged across the floor.

Wei Sen lifted the blanket and listened carefully to the sounds beyond the door.

Apart from the scraping noise of something being dragged, there was also the thudding sound of something lightly striking the floor.

What exactly was out there?

That crack just now had sounded like the neck of the woman begging for help being twisted and broken.

The dragging sound was the woman’s corpse being moved.

Then what, exactly, had killed her? And what was dragging the body?

Why was it making that thud, thud, thud sound?

Wei Sen did not know who the dead person was, but from the voice, she could be sure it was not a teammate from Purple Team.

It also was not the long-haired “woman” who had slipped into their room earlier, because that “woman” had the key to their room. If she wanted help, she could have simply opened the door and come in.

As for the thing that killed the woman, it most likely was not that “woman” either. After all, she made no sound at all when she walked, while the thing outside made a thud, thud, thud as it moved…

Wei Sen turned these doubts over and over in her mind, but could not make sense of them no matter how hard she tried.