Chapter 1444: Chapter 894: The Plan
Wu Zhuo’s eyes darted around wildly. Yang Xiao immediately noticed that this guy had bad intentions, but he didn’t care. In his eyes, Wu Zhuo was already a dead man.
Yang Xiao had no intention to harm others proactively, but considering Wu Zhuo’s qualities, it was unlikely he would survive in the end.
Even if by some chance he clung to someone powerful and survived this time, he would quickly perish in the next Nightmare task. His potential was very limited.
Nowadays, Yang Xiao was considered an old hand in the Nightmare World, and he had some authority in judging people. Those like Wu Zhuo never ended well.
During this time, everyone was busy, at least Yang Xiao and Zhou Mingxiao were. They paid attention to the sounds around them while searching for clues in the office.
Yang Xiao turned on the computer and searched online for information about Rongjin Building and Chen’s Strange Film Industry, but the content was sparse, and even what was found was unclear. This scene was not unfamiliar to Yang Xiao; it was definitely being censored.
On the other side, Zhou Mingxiao was working on the client list. They had a batch of goods to deliver tomorrow, and he was wondering if he could use this connection to extract some clues.
As time ticked away, suddenly the urgent ringing of a telephone shattered the night’s silence, scaring Wu Zhuo, who was guarding the phone, into speaking incoherently.
Yang Xiao and Zhou Mingxiao immediately rushed to the telephone. A small black-and-white screen displayed a number. Zhou Mingxiao found it familiar, pulled out his phone to compare the contacts, and said, "It’s Munan’s number." Zhou Mingxiao frowned.
"Fake," Yang Xiao said decisively, "That guy is smart. Even if he wanted to call us, he wouldn’t use a landline. Isn’t it better to call your mobile directly?"
"Makes sense," Zhou Mingxiao put away his phone, which had long been set to silent.
"But what if it’s real?" Wu Zhuo cautiously questioned, "I suggest we send Munan a message to verify. It’s not troublesome."
Yang Xiao and Zhou Mingxiao didn’t have the energy to bother with him. They still didn’t know the Ghost’s methods of killing. Rashly contacting teammates could lead to a fatal outcome.
After the phone stopped ringing completely, Zhou Mingxiao quickly unplugged the telephone line. If it rang again, it would undoubtedly be the Ghost.
Before the three of them could settle down, another anomaly appeared, this time from above.
"Plop."
"Plop."
Clear footsteps sounded overhead, the kind made by heavy leather shoes with thick, hard soles.
"Tap."
"Tap."
"Tap."
...
There was also the brisk sound of high heels, as if the once-dead silent floor above had suddenly "come to life" with many people.
The three of them held their breath, with Wu Zhuo leaning against the wall, hardly daring to breathe.
The noise upstairs grew more chaotic, the footsteps quickly becoming disorderly and hurried, as if fleeing for their lives, crawling with both hands and feet, followed by crashing sounds of impact.
"It’s coming..." Yang Xiao whispered a reminder. He had heard Chen Moting speak of similar scenes.
Soon, accompanied by a dull "thud," it seemed a heavy door above had been slammed open, and moments later, frantic footsteps descended towards them, clearly coming for them.
Yang Xiao remained calm under pressure. His first reaction was to check the computer for the time in the lower right corner, aiming to confirm the exact timing of each night’s supernatural occurrences so he could inform the Night Watchman for preparation.
But things were far more complicated than he imagined. The computer read 1:44 AM, which was impossible.
Based on Yang Xiao’s judgment, the real time wouldn’t be more than 9 PM, certainly not past 10. This chaotic time was also affected by the Ghost.
Soon, the rapid footsteps reached their floor, just outside the corridor.
The footsteps approached, heading straight for their office. Through the semi-transparent frosted glass door, a faint shadow was visible.
But because of the frosted glass, the figure was blurry, only a rough outline could be seen, but it was clearly a tall man.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The man pounded on the door, shouting urgently through it, "Is anyone there? Come help! The office upstairs is on fire, and many people are trapped inside!"
At that moment, the three had already scattered and hid, all tucked to one side of the wall near the corridor, hidden in the blind spot from the glass door.
After all, Chen Moting had already explained a similar situation to them in detail. They had the benefit of predecessors’ experiences, though there were discrepancies from what Chen Moting described.
Chen Moting explained that it was a "woman" banging on the door for help, but this time, it was a "man" outside the door. What this represented, Yang Xiao didn’t know.
After a tense half-minute standoff, the man seemed to lose patience and turned to run away, knocking on doors on both sides of the corridor as he went, his cries for help full of desperation.
The sound indicated the man ran into a safety corridor, the footsteps gradually fading until they disappeared completely.
Only then did Wu Zhuo finally breathe a sigh of relief. In just those few short minutes, the part of his back pressed against the wall was soaked with cold sweat.
Indeed, only by experiencing it personally could one understand the dire circumstances that Chen Moting and Su Xiaomin faced the previous night.
