Chapter 188
Chapter 188
The Players found nothing useful in the bathroom.
“Who knows what’s causing all this trouble? Forget it. Let’s go back for tonight.”
The Second Young Master brushed dust from his clothes.
He was the first to turn away.
The silent Butler suddenly spoke.
“The villa has been unsettled lately. Young Masters, remember to lock your doors when you return to your rooms. Even if someone knocks in the middle of the night, it would be best not to open.”
Everyone froze.
The Second Young Master frowned. “What do you mean? Do you know that someone is causing trouble in this villa?”
The Butler smiled faintly.
“Whether the culprit is human or ghost remains unknown.”
The Young Master shoved aside the people in his way, seized the Butler by the collar, and lifted him from the floor.
Narrowing his eyes, he watched the Butler warily.
“Damn you. Are you the one causing trouble in this villa?”
Even dangling in the air, the Butler remained perfectly calm.
“Young Master should not accuse people without evidence. I merely offered a friendly warning. Whether you listen is entirely your decision.”
The Second Young Master stepped in to smooth things over.
“Enough. He probably wouldn’t dare. Now that he’s said all that, this place suddenly feels sinister. We should return to our rooms.”
The Young Master snorted and finally dropped the Butler from midair.
“I’ll let you off for tonight!”
The Butler fell to the floor, and a cold gleam flashed through his eyes.
The others turned and went back to their rooms.
Only after the hallway emptied did the Butler switch off the lights, slowly descend the stairs, and enter his own room.
After hearing his warning, Shen Mingzhen tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
He kept wondering what the Butler’s words truly meant.
Sigh…
This Instance offered no direction at all. Who knew what the Game actually wanted?
No matter how long Shen Mingzhen thought, he reached no answer. Tomorrow, he would try getting close to Yun Youyou and coaxing some inside information from her.
Once he made his plan, his eyes gradually closed.
The moon was hazy that night, and the darkness deeper than usual.
The villa that looked spacious by day became eerie and desolate after nightfall.
Creak… creak…
Whether it came from rubbing floorboards or the wind, a soft rustling whispered beside Shen Mingzhen’s ears.
The sleep he had struggled to summon began slipping away again.
Irritated, he rolled over and covered his ears with a pillow.
Outside, everything fell quiet for a while.
Thump!
Thump!
Faint, muffled knocks seeped through the pillow.
Shen Mingzhen’s closed eyes snapped wide in the dark.
Knocking!
Who was outside his door this late?
The blanket had felt stuffy only moments ago. Now cold pierced straight through it, nearly freezing his heartbeat.
Shen Mingzhen curled beneath the covers without daring to breathe.
He felt profoundly grateful that he had locked the door the moment he entered and even pushed the coffee table against it.
Knock, knock!
Two more knocks came from outside.
Shen Mingzhen’s heart answered with two violent beats.
His hand clenched a dagger beneath the blanket, ready to resist if whatever stood outside forced its way in.
Fortunately, when no one answered or opened the door, the creaking sound began again.
The thing had probably moved somewhere else.
Shen Mingzhen’s grip on the dagger loosened, and his heart finally began beating again.
He lifted the blanket, crept silently on tiptoe, and pressed himself against the door to listen.
Knock, knock!
Two urgent knocks traveled through the thin door pressed against Shen Mingzhen’s ear.
Only a single panel separated him from the thing outside.
His heart stopped. If he had not caught the wall, his knees might have given out beneath him.
So the thing had only pretended to leave. If Shen Mingzhen had opened the door, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
His mind went blank. The only sound he could hear was his own heart pounding inside his chest.
When no one opened the door, the thing slowly moved toward another room.
Knock, knock!
This time, the sound came from farther away. It must have knocked on the door across the hall.
If Shen Mingzhen remembered correctly, that room belonged to the Young Master.
Knocking at midnight was no different from deliberately ruining someone’s sleep.
Inside the dark room, the Young Master rolled over irritably.
Knock, knock!
The visitor refused to stop.
The Young Master had been half asleep. Being woken filled him with rage, and the Butler’s warning vanished completely from his mind.
“Who is it? Knocking in the middle of the night? Are you in a hurry to reincarnate?”
He yanked the locked door open.
It slammed heavily into the wall.
The Young Master glared outside.
The hallway was empty.
“Damn it! Who’s playing tricks? If I catch you, I’ll cut off your head!”
His roar echoed through the corridor.
With nowhere to vent his anger, the Young Master cursed several more times and slammed the door shut again.
The moon finally emerged from behind the clouds, spilling pale light through the glass windows.
The Young Master yawned and returned to bed.
He lay on his side, directly facing the room’s enormous floor-to-ceiling window.
The moonlight seemed unusually bright tonight.
Half asleep, he opened his eyes and wondered whether he should close the curtains.
Pale moonlight lay across the transparent glass, turning it into a mirror for the room.
The Young Master sat up with half-open eyes and suddenly saw a person standing beyond the window.
He jumped.
Why would someone stand outside in the middle of the night? It looked terrifying.
The Young Master decided the person was ridiculous.
He rose to close the curtains, then remembered something. His body stiffened, and cold sweat erupted across his skin.
If everything in the glass was only a reflection of the room, then the person standing outside…
The Young Master’s heart thundered. He whipped around.
In the darkness, someone stood beside his bed, smiling at him.
Two birds were already chirping outside at first light.
Unable to bear the noise, Yun Youyou stormed to the bed and yanked the curtains open.
“Can’t you be quiet this early and let me sleep?”
She practically pleaded with the two sparrows outside.
“Chirp?”
The sparrows perched on the windowsill without fear, merely tilting their heads at Yun Youyou.
She waved a threatening fist.
“The early bird gets the worm, but the early bird also gets beaten by a ghost.”
The two sparrows seemed to understand.
With a rush of wings, they flew away.
Yun Youyou remained by the window, yawning alone.
Her room was larger than everyone else’s because it was the master bedroom. A small balcony extended beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
From the balcony, she could see the flowers in the courtyard.
Yun Youyou stepped outside and enjoyed the fresh morning air.
Below, the Butler was watering the flowers with a can.