Chapter 102: Chapter 102: Preparing to Take Action
"Don’t move! Move again and I’ll shoot you!" Beibei shouted.
The woman stopped, raised the knife in her hand, maintaining a posture ready to strike at any time, and slowly lifted her head, her eyes filling with an inhuman coldness and eeriness.
Yang Xiao recognized this feeling; it was just like the ghosts he had encountered in the Nightmare World.
The woman’s face was stained red with splattered blood, her wet hair clung together, and upon closer inspection, she turned out to be the red-clad woman who had earlier been making a scene at the security door.
"Swoosh!"
A knife flew towards them at high speed; the three barely dodged it, and the blunt knife embedded itself deeply into the wall behind them, its handle still trembling.
The woman pulled out the scissors that were stuck in the man’s back and charged at them.
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang!"
The instant the gunshots sounded, the woman’s right shoulder and the knee of her left leg burst open with blood, and she staggered, still trying to lunge at them. Beibei kicked the scissors out of the woman’s hand, and Yang Xiao rushed forward with a stool, smashing it onto the woman’s face and knocking her to the ground.
Landing the blow, Yang Xiao gave the woman no chance to fight back, swinging the chair down fiercely until the woman let out painful howls of agony.
"That’s enough, stop!" Beibei finally pulled him back.
Leaning on the folding chair, out of breath, Yang Xiao watched the woman writhing in pain on the ground, her pleas muffled and indistinct, "Don’t hit me anymore, please...stop hitting me..."
"Okay, that entity’s gone. Yu Shu, first stop her bleeding, then tie her up."
At this moment, Ximen Xiu and Da Xiong, who had been hiding outside, also came in. Ximen Xiu and Da Xiong helped hold the woman down while Yu Shu holstered his gun and took out a small first aid kit. He squatted down and roughly treated the gunshot wounds on the woman’s shoulder and knee.
Yang Xiao and Beibei went over to the office desk. The foreign man lay face down on the desk with a large gash in the back of his head caused by the blunt knife, half of his face completely mutilated. Only his left eye, slightly visible in a cocked glance, was wide open, as if he, too, hadn’t expected such an end.
Most of the wounds on his back were stab wounds from the scissors.
Next to the man’s hand was an overturned computer monitor that was still on, displaying dense figures and tables that looked like accounts of some sort.
"It seems they snuck in here to alter or destroy these account records out of guilt," Beibei concluded after a brief inspection, "only they didn’t anticipate awakening the ghost keyword by coming in."
"You’re referring to their boyfriend-girlfriend relationship," Yang Xiao remembered the words the woman had shouted in front of the fire escape earlier.
"Yes, you must’ve also noticed that the ghost only attacks people showing signs of being a couple. The Resentful Eye has a dormant period after each eruption, and there’s no reason for the ghost to awaken so quickly. It must’ve been the policewoman’s disturbance that caused the ghost to awaken ahead of time."
The situation was becoming more complex by the moment. Yang Xiao couldn’t help but urge, "Then we should head back to No. 5 Collection Room now, and use the Ghost Camera..."
"It’s no use. The ghost has already awakened, and it won’t return there for a while. We were looking for the Resentful Eye because the unawakened ghost stays near it. Normally, taking a picture with the Resentful Eye in the frame should capture the ghost, but not anymore. We need to actively find that thing now," Beibei said, her complexion souring as what was supposed to be an easy task became fraught with peril due to the intrusion of these two people.
"Who... who are you guys?" The red-clad woman gradually came to her senses. The moment she saw the body, she screamed, "Ah! Ah... Ah!! There’s a dead person!"
"Shut your mouth!" Ximen, who was furious about her thwarted attempt at claiming credit, pinched the woman’s chin and tore a decorative flag from the wall, stuffing it into her mouth in a wad.
After hastily tending to her wounds, Ximen Xiu and Da Xiong lifted the woman and firmly bound her to a chair. Yu Shu approached the computer, made a quick review, copied the accounts as evidence, then took several photos of the body, using the woman tied to the chair as a backdrop.
"What a mess now, with the ghost awake, where do we even start looking?" Xi Men bristled with anger at the red-clad woman, almost itching to beat her some more.
Da Xiong sighed, "The Resentful Eye’s influence isn’t very large; it should be on this floor. Let’s go out and find an open space, then use the detector again." It seemed he had no better idea.
Leaving the red-clad woman behind, the group exited the office and came to an open area outside where Da Xiong quickly set up the equipment and, with headphones on, started to search for the approximate location of the ghost using the detector.
But this time, there was a problem. Da Xiong walked around with the detector, east then west, almost making a full circle, his expression turning strange.
"What’s the issue?" Beibei realized something was off.
Da Xiong took off his headphones, "This... the signals here are chaotic, like there’s some other interference. Let’s try another spot."
The group continued towards the corridor. Yang Xiao lost focus for a moment and found himself lagging behind the team. As he watched his teammates’ backs, a strange feeling suddenly took root in his heart.
One, two, three, four, five, six...
Six people!!??
How... how did an extra one appear?
What was more terrifying was that as Yang Xiao checked his teammates one by one, although he clearly knew there was a problem with one of them, he just couldn’t figure out who it was.
The back of every person gave him a sense of familiarity, and he could name each one; Yang Xiao gasped for air, his consciousness and senses severely distorted, his mind reeling with dizziness as a force seemed to influence him.
"Hold on!"
Yang Xiao stopped the team. He wanted to immediately point out that something had infiltrated their ranks, but he wasn’t sure if he would be attacked by the Ghost, complicating the situation further. After some thought, he chose a method he deemed more prudent, practically gritting his teeth as he said, "Brothers, look... look at us here, once we get out, I’ll treat all 6 members of our team to hot pot!"
The number 6 was spoken through clenched teeth, and sure enough, when Beibei and the others turned around, they quickly realized something was off. The seven of them immediately spread out to keep their guard up.
"What’s happening?" Xi Menxiu was on the verge of tears, "Brothers, I... I can’t see your faces clearly, no, it’s not that I can’t see, it’s that... I can’t recognize you anymore!"
The other teammates deeply shared Xi Menxiu’s feelings, a terror too difficult to describe. Yang Xiao could clearly see each of their faces, even the subtle changes in their expressions, but he was unable to distinguish who was who or determine who was speaking.
"Don’t panic!" Beibei shouted, "That thing has gotten in amongst us, and we must flush it out. Now listen to me, Xi Menxiu, raise your hands."
The next second, Yang Xiao took a deep breath, only to see the other six people all raising their hands.
"I told Xi Menxiu to raise his hand!" Beibei panicked.
"I... I didn’t raise my hand, but I saw all of you raise yours," Da Xiong said with a faltering voice.
"Da Xiong, take a step back."
All six people in front of Yang Xiao took a step back, clearly showing that this method was useless.
"You said before, this thing is just in its first state of contact; it can only affect perception, not physical touch. So let’s circle up, hold hands, and if someone can’t hold on, that one is the problem!" Yang Xiao analyzed, enduring his headache.
"No way!" Zhuge Zhijie immediately rejected the idea, "The so-called inability to touch means the Ghost won’t actively touch us, not that we can touch it. Initiating contact with that force could lead to unknown consequences."
Staring at each person, Yang Xiao’s mind grew increasingly muddled, but he knew that these people were his teammates, his most intimate friends.
Hmm?
Most intimate friends?
That’s not right, he’d known these people for less than a day; the term ’intimate’ shouldn’t apply. Gradually, Yang Xiao realized something even more frightening: his feelings for his teammates were heating up rapidly, as if... as if they were lovers.
In his mind, strange images began to appear: Beibei giving him chocolates at the office and then there was Yu Shu, the girl lying in his arms, both of them watching the sunset by the lake, the setting sun casting its glow on Yu Shu’s delicate profile, a sight too beautiful to behold...
"Damn it, I... I think I’ve fallen for Beibei, it’s terrifying!" Xi Men panickedly howled, "What the hell is this thing, wasn’t it supposed to affect only women?"
Beibei’s voice also became strange, as if she was trying hard to control herself, "Shut... shut up, Ximen, if you dare to be distracted, I’ll cut you down with a knife!"
"It’s getting stronger, quick... find a way! Its influence over us is growing!" Da Xiong said, breathing rapidly.
Xi Men was on the brink of tears, "I... I dare not think about Ms. Bei and Yu Shu, Ms. Bei has a knife, and Yu Shu has a gun, Zhuge Zhijie, don’t blame me!"
Zhuge Zhijie: "??!!"
After intense elation came the frustration of loss and then a strong, twisted desire to possess. The moment Yang Xiao closed his eyes, he imagined his girlfriend cheating on him. A surge of intense resentment swiftly took root, and he wanted to rush over and kill that traitorous wretch!
With everything at hand, he wanted to smash the woman’s head, to crush it into a pulp!!
The face of the girlfriend kept changing, sometimes Yu Shu, sometimes Beibei.
Seeing the situation spiraling out of control, Yang Xiao viciously bit his tongue tip. The sharp pain brought him a moment of clarity, "Brothers, listen to me! I have a plan. One thing is for certain, the one we want to attack is definitely one of us, so if we lose control one by one and keep the sequence, the last one remaining must be the Ghost!"
"For instance, if I go for Yu Shu, then our identities will be clear because we will end up grappling together, and the rest should follow in the same way. Make sure you remember to pull us apart; I’m worried I might actually kill her!"
Choosing Yu Shu was a difficult decision after much deliberation, as she could not lose control; she had to be controlled first since she had a gun.
"I’m going to stop repressing myself, brothers, get ready to move!" Yang Xiao roared.
