“Who?” Zuo Si pushed himself off the ground with both hands, slowly retreating.
With the moonlight, he could vaguely see the entire room’s environment. He aimed to back away to the window; although there was a security net, it offered the best view, and if he truly wanted to escape, there was still a chance.
His eyes widened in fear as he scanned the surroundings.
Just as he retreated halfway, he suddenly felt something cold beneath his right hand.
It was chilling… Zuo Si immediately halted his movements and looked down, only to find that beneath his hand was a bare human foot! He quickly turned around to look behind him, but he couldn’t even see a shadow.
“I must stay calm! I have to stay calm! I absolutely cannot be afraid!” At this moment, Zuo Si had a faint realization that fear was the food for these ghosts and monsters.
The reason they scared people was to consume their fear, thus making themselves stronger. Therefore, Zuo Si had to maintain his composure! Fear and terror would not help him; they would only hasten his descent into the abyss.
“Come out! Hiding and lurking is worthless, you piece of trash!” Zuo Si stood up and began to curse, hoping to bolster his courage. “Damn it! You ghostly thing that has killed so many people, do you think you’ll have a good ending? Hahaha, encountering me, you won’t even have the chance to go to hell! You’ll just be left with your soul scattered!”
Bang!
Suddenly, all the windows flew open, and a chilling wind howled, blinding Zuo Si. For a moment, he couldn’t see anything at all. Ha~ He could even hear someone breathing near him, devoid of warmth, only a sense of coldness. Zuo Si rubbed his eyes vigorously and suddenly opened them wide. In the blur, he saw a figure crouching like a spider in the corner of the ceiling, twisting its head to stare at him.
“Have the guts to come down and fight me properly! Stop playing these useless games! I’m not afraid!…”
Just as Zuo Si finished speaking, a shadow flew from behind, wrapping around him tightly. Breathing became difficult, and darkness enveloped him once more, rendering him blind to everything.
Through touch, Zuo Si realized this must be the blanket on the bed. He struggled to throw the blanket aside, but something held him tightly, making it impossible to break free. This was an attempt to suffocate Zuo Si in fear! In dire situations, a person’s potential is limitless. Zuo Si, fueled by desperation, decided to use his teeth to tear apart the blanket since he couldn’t escape.
His face turned red, veins bursting in his eyes, Zuo Si fiercely bit into the blanket he had in his mouth. With renewed strength, he grabbed the hole he had bitten through and pulled hard.
Rip…!!
The blanket was torn in two!
“Is that all you’ve got? With such little ability, you can’t even kill me!” Zuo Si panted heavily, remaining on guard, but he had underestimated the ghostly entities’ elusive nature.
Just as he turned his head, he found a charred human face appearing right in front of him, almost nose to nose!
Those eyes, nearly devoid of pupils, with just a single black dot in the middle, looked so eerie.
“Get lost!” Zuo Si’s pupils constricted, and he kicked out, but he missed entirely. The force of his kick caused him to fall instead.
Bang!
Zuo Si hit the ground hard, dazed and disoriented. However, he couldn’t afford to dwell on that; he quickly scrambled to his feet.
The room suddenly fell silent, as if nothing had happened, with only the pile of cotton on the floor proving that what had just occurred was not an illusion.
As Zuo Si scanned the surroundings, he was suddenly uncontrollably flung into the air. He landed directly on the security net.
Creak… creak…
The already decayed security net shook violently, threatening to break apart.
Zuo Si looked down in the moonlight. Below him lay various construction debris, steel bars, concrete, and some broken ceramic pieces. Although it was only the second floor, if he fell from here, even if he miraculously survived, his life would be ruined!
“Die…”
A chilling voice echoed in his ears, and Zuo Si suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. But at that moment, he had no mood to discern its origin. He struggled to escape back into the house, yet an invisible force kept pulling him back. The decaying security screen looked as if it could no longer hold.
Just as despair was about to engulf Zuo Si, a red shadow flashed by, appearing in the center of the room, facing away from him.
“Ge Hong!” Zuo Si exclaimed in delight; she was the only one who could save him now.
Due to Ding Ruxiao, he hadn’t immediately included Ge Hong’s T-shirt in the horror scenario. Little did he know, this decision had saved his life.
“Ge Hong possesses the special ability of ‘Shadow Concealment,’ which is why she wasn’t detected by that ghostly entity. But why did she only appear now?” Zuo Si thought to himself, “Could it be that she knows she’s no match for that ghost?…” With this thought, the relief he had just felt surged back into anxiety.
“However, there’s another possibility: Ge Hong’s affinity with me isn’t high enough.”
“The black phone clearly indicates that only ‘My Ghost Employees’ can be brought out of the haunted house to carry out tasks, but Ge Hong only has two stars of affinity with me and isn’t one of my ghostly members. For her to stand up for me now must have taken immense courage.”
With Ge Hong’s appearance, the force binding Zuo Si vanished, but the surrounding environment grew increasingly cold.
Zuo Si crawled back into the house, staring at Ge Hong’s unmoving figure, unsure of what to say.
“As for Ge Shan…” Before he could finish, a mass of black shadow lunged at Ge Hong.
The black and red phantoms instantly clashed. The furniture in the room was tossed about by the waves of dark energy, creating chaos.
Zuo Si couldn’t help but hide aside and watch the battle unfold.
But soon, the red phantom found itself at a disadvantage, clearly no match for its opponent. Each attack from the black shadow dimmed Ge Hong’s form a little more. It wouldn’t be long before she would be utterly defeated.
Without thinking further, Zuo Si immediately pulled out the black phone, only to discover a task notification on the screen. He didn’t bother to read it and focused on boosting Ge Hong’s strength first.
After a series of clicks, Zuo Si fed Ge Hong five thousand points of fear.
Boom!
The dark energy surged instantly, and the red phantom, which had been at a disadvantage, was now able to counterattack! Seeing that the situation was temporarily under control, Zuo Si let out a sigh of relief and glanced at the phone’s notification.
[Dear Soul Keeper, congratulations on triggering the hidden task ‘Reap What You Sow.’]
[Recruiting a strange soul as an employee without any understanding may seem to solve the problem, but it has buried a huge hidden danger. Now, it is time for you to pay the price!]
[Task Objective: Cause Liu Wenguang to be utterly defeated within two days.]
[Task Reward: None.]
[Task Penalty: Death.]
“……” Zuo Si stood frozen in place; he should have anticipated all of this.
‘Liu Hong… Liu Wenguang… both share the surname Liu. Liu Hong has been lurking in the amusement park for years just to prevent people from buying the haunted house? Could there really be such a kind-hearted person? I should have investigated him sooner.’ Zuo Si felt a wave of regret, but then another thought struck him!
‘Isn’t Meng Miaoxue watching over Liu Wenguang? Since Liu Wenguang has left the haunted house, doesn’t that mean Meng Miaoxue is in grave danger…!?’