Chapter Fourteen: A Total Subversion
“You’re insane!”
Neither Fang Shenyin nor Yu Guo, who were discussing the plan, voiced any objections. On the contrary, Cao Yuan, who had been a mere bystander until now, suddenly charged forward.
At the same moment, he tried to snatch the knife from Yu Guo’s hand!
The panic draining all color from his once youthful face left it deathly pale.
“Are you out of your minds? What’s next door? A ghost! I’ve already endured you provoking it, but now you want to go even further? You’re playing with everyone’s lives!”
Yu Guo frowned as he looked toward the cave entrance. The ghost was nearly there, and he could see those straight legs approaching.
He placed a hand on Cao Yuan’s shoulder and sneered, “Brother, didn’t you hear Ji Li’s speculation? Don’t worry, even though it’s a ghost, it can’t harm us right now.”
Cao Yuan, usually timid, suddenly snapped. He swung his arm fiercely and growled through gritted teeth, “Ji Li? Why should I trust his guess? At least for now, we’re still alive, still unscathed. If your reckless decisions trigger a full outbreak leading to death, who will be held responsible?”
Fang Shenyin’s expression darkened, his eyes behind his glasses cold and merciless.
“If we’re wrong, then so be it. We’re all going to die anyway.”
“Damn you, Fang Shenyin! You’ve lived long enough, but I haven’t! I’m only seventeen!”
Cao Yuan’s eyes reddened. He was cowardly and foolish, yet what he said wasn’t entirely without merit.
Neither Fang Shenyin nor Yu Guo fully trusted Ji Li’s theory on the killing pattern, which was why they kept testing it, trying to ascertain its accuracy.
Such an approach inevitably risked extreme situations. Cao Yuan’s fear was understandable.
“Enough talk! The arrow is on the string; it must be released!”
Yu Guo had no strength left to argue with Cao Yuan; his attention was fixed on the cave entrance.
He could hear footsteps opposite and sensed the ghost beginning to stoop down.
Fang Shenyin glanced at the still-frantic Cao Yuan and smirked slightly.
Then, without warning, he kicked Cao Yuan squarely in the chest!
The force was overwhelming and sudden. Cao Yuan, still trying to stop Yu Guo, never expected his comrade Fang Shenyin to strike him!
He felt his chest tighten, as if hit by a truck, and was flung backward, sliding several meters across the smooth tile floor.
He only stopped when his back slammed against the bed frame.
“Phut!”
A mouthful of blood burst from his nose and mouth. Fang Shenyin’s kick had been merciless, as if intent on killing him.
Cao Yuan’s breathing grew more rapid. His head leaned against the bed frame as he weakly groaned one name: “Fang... Shenyin!”
---
Fang Shenyin approached the nearly unconscious Cao Yuan, habitually adjusting his glasses.
“Regardless of whether our guess about the escape route works... I’m sorry, Cao Yuan.
Your immobility might make you the ghost’s primary target, buying more time for those of us who can still fight.
Your life may not be worth much, but it depends on how it’s used.”
Yu Guo frowned nearby, wanting to speak but biting his tongue, offering no protest.
He was now certain Fang Shenyin was no ordinary teacher.
He was a cold-blooded madman, but one thing Yu Guo had come to accept after witnessing the ghost was this:
“Life here... is truly worthless!”
...
“Stop it! Stop the ghost from killing...”
Ji Li’s toes still pressed against the ledge of Room 701’s window. After only two minutes, his feet were numb, but his mind raced with ways to block the ghost’s killing spree.
He had no knowledge of what was happening with Fang Shenyin’s group but had reached the window of Room 702.
But when he looked inside, he froze.
He saw the ghost, clad in a raincoat, darting straight toward the corner — apparently Fang Shenyin and the others had devised a way to block it.
“What are they doing?”
“How the hell should I know? You want me to ask who?” His second personality, overwhelmed by chaos and information, had lost reason.
Only his third personality muttered analysis:
“Judging by the ghost’s behavior, it seems Fang Shenyin and the others drew its attention and provoked it enough to abandon killing that woman...”
“But something’s off...”
“It is off!”
Ji Li’s experience far exceeded that of Fang Shenyin’s group. He had even tried provoking the ghost himself to redirect its attacks toward the staff.
But that plan was immediately discarded.
His repeated encounters with the ghost left him with one impression: ghosts possess no emotions, no complex temperament.
They exist solely to kill.
Perhaps more powerful ghosts can calculate and manipulate the living, but they cannot be angered by ordinary words or actions.
Such complex behavior implies humanity—something a ghost should never have.
Ji Li’s eyes flickered as he watched the increasingly bizarre scene in Room 702, shaking his head to clear it before focusing again on the bedroom.
The room was far less tidy than 701; here, it was obvious someone lived.
Objects were scattered haphazardly throughout the space, creating a disordered mess.
---
Ji Li cast only a fleeting glance, unwilling to delve deeper. His attention was drawn to the raincoat-clad ghost—and the woman lying motionless on the bed.
She was the second person deeply involved in this mission, of special status.
The owner of Room 702—the woman being watched.
From Ji Li’s vantage point, her disheveled hair covered her face, and she wore a simple dress, lying flat on the bed.
If not for the slight rise and fall of her chest, Ji Li would have thought her dead.
Yet, the longer he stared, the stranger she seemed.
No reason explained it; just seeing her body lying there stirred an uneasy, repulsive feeling within him.
At that moment—
The raincoat ghost, bent over near the corner, suddenly let out a deafening, ear-splitting scream!
Even through the thick glass, Ji Li’s eardrums felt like they were tearing apart.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the ghost wildly retreating, blood gushing onto the floor.
Its right eye socket looked like a burst lychee, blood and grime dripping down its pale face.
After thrashing and howling in agony several times, the ghost fled in panic.
Just then, Ji Li’s eyes narrowed sharply.
He wiped the glass vigorously with his sleeve and noticed a cellphone left behind where the raincoat ghost had fled.
The phone was ordinary, but face-up, Ji Li clearly saw a silly yet adorable cartoon image on the back.
A pink stuffed bear!
A thunderous clamor erupted in Ji Li’s mind. He froze as if struck by lightning.
“The raincoat man...
That perverted man, this supposed ghost—his phone case has a pink stuffed bear on it!”
As Ji Li was caught in this mental storm, the woman lying on the bed suddenly moved.
Her head twisted 180 degrees in a posture no human could achieve, contorted to the extreme.
Her tangled black hair fell away, revealing a horrific visage that was monstrous and grotesque.
She turned to Ji Li with a soul-piercing, savage grin.
Ji Li’s scalp tingled as if it were about to explode. Only now did he fully realize.
Room 701, Room 702...
This ghost mission, born from voyeurism, concealed a shattering, disruptive truth.