Encountering Ghosts

Cang Xing stood in place, gradually calming down. Right then, a knock sounded on the door, and Guan Zhou's voice came from outside: "It's late already, we should head out."

"Alright, I'll be right out," Cang Xing replied.

He composed his emotions and opened the door. Outside, Guan Zhou patted his shoulder: "Get some good rest. No matter what happens tonight, we must survive!"

Cang Xing lowered his eyes. He was hiding his identity as a demon; he had to kill or indirectly cause the deaths of all players to clear the game.

The two went downstairs together. The other three players were already sitting at the table, their expressions varied.

"I'm so cold," Zhan Qiuying said, lowering her head. The weather wasn't particularly freezing, but she was wrapped in a thick cotton coat, hugging herself and shivering violently.

Seeing this, Hong Ai looked at Zhan Qiuying strangely. After a moment of thought, she took a jacket out of her bag and handed it to Zhan Qiuying.

Zhan Qiuying reached out with trembling hands to take it and draped it over herself.

A loud whoosh sounded as the large doors opposite the living room swung wide open. The door hinges rotated, emitting a sharp, grating metallic screech.

All eyes were drawn to it. When they turned back, a red piece of paper had suddenly appeared on the table.

Ji Hanri frowned. He stepped closer and read the words on the red paper aloud:

"First clearance mission: Encountering Ghosts. The method to meet a ghost is as follows: Stand under the locust tree, spin four times counterclockwise, stop, cross your hands, and place them in front of you. You will then see a ghost.

Note: Please complete this mission before midnight, otherwise you will be eliminated."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhan Qiuying shivered even more violently, her teeth chattering loudly as if she were gnashing on something.

Hong Ai couldn't help but tighten her clothes as well. "Why is it so cold?"

Guan Zhou's expression was grave, his entire face cast in shadow. "So, we have to 'meet a ghost'?"

Ji Hanri looked up, the dark circles under his eyes prominent, and nodded.

"And what happens after we see it?" Guan Zhou looked at Cang Xing. "Can we escape from the ghost's clutches and save our lives?"

Everyone fell silent. They had no weapons to deal with ghosts. Moreover, among them, there was a hidden demon, while the players were exorcists who could only survive by hiding their tracks.

Zhan Qiuying suddenly looked up blankly. She looked around at everyone and said with chattering teeth, "Aren't you cold? I'm so cold..."

Hong Ai had already tucked her hands into her sleeves. Her lips trembled as she said, "It... it is very cold."

Cang Xing looked toward Guan Zhou beside him. Guan Zhou's entire face seemed frosted over, and even his hands on the table were trembling slightly.

Ji Hanri was no exception; his face was almost frozen stiff.

Yet Cang Xing did not feel the slightest bit of cold. He even felt very warm, as if he were leaning against a warm embrace.

Guan Zhou couldn't bear it anymore. He rubbed his arms, suddenly stood up, and walked outside. "Too cold... too cold..."

The five of them went outside into the courtyard. In the yard, the locust tree cast a large shadow, and the dry well beside its trunk looked like a bottomless black hole.

Cang Xing looked at the base of the locust tree with an expressionless face. There were no severed hands, nothing.

"Bên ngoài không lạnh như vậy." Guan Zhou let out a sigh of relief.

Hong Ai nodded. "Indeed, the living room was freezing, like being in a freezer."

Standing behind Hong Ai, Zhan Qiuying muttered, "It feels like something is breathing cold air right next to us..."

Ji Hanri's face grew even paler, his expression between his brows becoming more solemn. His gaze swept over the faces of the other four before he lowered his eyes to hide his emotions.

Cang Xing took in all of Ji Hanri's reactions, then shifted his gaze to Guan Zhou.

Guan Zhou sniffled. "Alright, let's start quickly..."

Ji Hanri rolled up his sleeves and looked at his watch. "Eleven-thirty, almost midnight."

"So fast?!" Hearing this, Hong Ai was pale with fright. "I remember night had only just fallen."

A cold wind suddenly blew, swirling fallen leaves across the ground, sending them spiraling toward the five of them.

While everyone hurriedly raised their hands to shield themselves from the flying leaves, out of the corner of his eye, Cang Xing caught sight of "people" standing densely among the scattering leaves, dressed in pale white clothes with black hair covering their faces.

These "people" reminded Cang Xing of the whispers He Nan had breathed into his ear; he had had a nightmare.

In the dream, by the window of the haunted house, those "people" stood there with crazed expressions, frantically pounding on the window and calling his name, "Star."

The vivid scene of the nightmare materialized in his mind. He could see the clothes of those "people"—it was a long, pale white mourning shroud.

At this moment, a gust of cold wind blew past his ear, followed by a sticky, spine-chilling call: "Star." The voice was very soft, very malicious, as if carrying evil intent from the abyss, wanting to drag him into hell.

The wind stopped, and the fallen leaves and dust settled. The five of them had different expressions. Zhan Qiuying covered her face in panic and screamed in terror, "Ghost!!!" With that, she turned and fled.

Guan Zhou was quick and caught Zhan Qiuying. "Don't act alone! Once you act alone, you won't even know how you died!"

Zhan Qiuying seemed unable to take it anymore and burst into loud tears.

No one had the energy to comfort her; everyone was looking out for themselves.

Hong Ai tried to ask, "Did you all see that just now?"

"We saw it," Ji Hanri tried to remain calm. "We are surrounded by... ghosts."

Guan Zhou wiped the cold sweat from his face. "We... we... must quickly complete the mission... If we don't, we will be... eliminated."

But who knew if they would be killed by ghosts while performing this "Encountering Ghosts" mission?

If they didn't do it, they would be eliminated by the game. If they did, they might be killed by ghosts.

It seemed like death either way.

The five of them walked forward in silence again, time ticking away minute by minute.

At the same time, the number of people entering the livestream room grew larger and larger. Various rewards dazzled the eyes, and a vast number of comments urged them to quickly complete the mission.

Guan Zhou gritted his teeth. "If we don't complete the mission, we will surely die. We have to try anyway, to survive the ghost."

Having said that, drawing on a surge of courage, he walked under the locust tree. He began to walk around it counterclockwise, his faint shadow cast on the ground, flickering.

After four rotations, Guan Zhou stopped. With almost no pause, he crossed his hands and placed them in front of him. Then, he looked out through the gaps of his fingers, his entire body trembling.