Chapter 1780: Chapter 1020: Major Discovery (Part 2)
"Oh." Sato Shouta dared not offend Yang Xiao, so he shut his mouth.
However, after confirming that Yang Xiao wasn’t interested in him and they were still good brothers, Sato Shouta felt relieved. Strangely enough, just seeing Yang Xiao gave him an inexplicable sense of peace; this friend was really cool.
"Mr. Yang, you haven’t answered my first question yet. What do you plan to do after you get out?" Sato Shouta asked, "Is there any gift you want, do you like sports cars? I have many. If you like, you can visit my garage and pick one you fancy, I’ll gift it to you."
"No, thanks."
"Do you have a suitable job? Would you like to work at my father’s company? With your skills, my father would certainly make good use of you." Sato Shouta just wanted to do something for Yang Xiao; otherwise, he would feel guilty.
"You want to help me?" Yang Xiao looked up at Sato Shouta.
Sato Shouta nodded eagerly, with a solemn, almost sacrificial seriousness: "Of course, through fire and water, Mr. Yang!"
"Then please shut up. I want some peace and quiet, I’m begging you, okay?" Yang Xiao was annoyed by this guy’s chatter.
"I’m doing this for your own good. Earlier, those guys might have been targeted by a ghost because they were talking to themselves out of boredom. Mr. Sato, you don’t want to be targeted too, do you?" Yang Xiao lowered his voice to intimidate.
"Mr. Yang, don’t joke like that, it could... it could scare someone to death." It was obvious that Sato Shouta didn’t quite believe Yang Xiao’s words, but he didn’t dare to take the risk.
Finally, the room fell silent, and time ticked by second by second. Soon, it was 2:30 in the morning, and Yang Xiao remained tense and on edge.
Finally, a scream shattered the quiet night. Yang Xiao’s heart tightened; he knew the inevitable had arrived. Qingshui Cangjie’s method was useless; tonight... the ghost had still come knocking.
But the target wasn’t them; it was downstairs. Yang Xiao immediately opened the door and ran downstairs. He knew from the floor he was on, the only possibility for hearing the scream was that the ghost had targeted Tong Han and her group.
But the voice just now wasn’t Tong Han. He didn’t hear it clearly; it was a woman, for sure. It should be Shibuki Naoko, who lived with Tong Han.
When Yang Xiao and the others arrived, Qingshui Cangjie was already there, pounding on the door. Shortly afterward, Heize Lin, who had gone downstairs to give the alert, also arrived with several other teammates. The group worked together and broke open the door.
Upon entering, the scene before them sent a chill through everyone. Tong Han and Shibuki Naoko lay on the floor separately; one by the side of a chair, the other at the bathroom door. Both were unconscious.
From time to time came cries of agony from Shibuki Naoko by the chair. It was evident that in the last moment before the Ghost Dream arrived, she was sitting in the chair. Tong Han, lying at the bathroom door, with her head facing the room door, seemed to have sensed something and wanted to escape, but it was too late for her as well.
In such circumstances, there was no taboo about gender. Jiu Shan Sha Yue and Nishimura Yuna jointly took action, removing Shibuki Naoko’s outer clothes, discovering wounds on her arms and back, bloody at the injury sites, and she screamed with each new injury that appeared.
In contrast, Tong Han’s condition was peculiar. She didn’t scream, nor did any wounds appear on her body, but she just wouldn’t wake up.
Heize Lin leaned close to Shibuki Naoko to listen if she was saying anything, as they had agreed earlier. Whoever was targeted tonight should leave a clue, but clearly, Heize Lin didn’t get the answer he wanted.
"Bastard! Selfish bastard!" Heize Lin cursed in anger.
Yang Xiao knew Shibuki Naoko was a veteran player. She wouldn’t believe in Qingshui Cangjie’s ghost talk, and for her, tonight, if there was a chance to escape the Ghost Dream, all the better. If she couldn’t survive, she wouldn’t leave clues for others, wishing to drag everyone down with her.
"She’s speaking! She’s speaking!" On the other side, Jiu Shan Sha Yue, crouched by Tong Han, said excitedly.
Yang Xiao also noticed Tong Han’s lips were slightly moving, the motion small but indeed moving. This stirred something in him, knowing she was leaving clues for them.
With Tong Han’s skills, she surely knew being chosen tonight was a deadly situation, but because they were here, or rather, because he was here.
"Everyone shut up!" Qingshui Cangjie roared, gaining control of the room. Almost no one dared to breathe heavily just to allow Jiu Shan Sha Yue to hear exactly what Tong Han was saying; this might be key to breaking their predicament.
"Paper, give me paper and pen!" Jiu Shan Sha Yue, crouched by Tong Han, requested.
Receiving the paper and pen handed to her, Jiu Shan Sha Yue listened and wrote simultaneously, fearing she might forget something, for these were clues gleaned from Tong Han’s very life.
Not long after, with a heart-wrenching scream, Shibuki Naoko’s head tilted, and she ceased to breathe. Immediately, wounds began to appear on Tong Han’s body, a bloody cut on her fair arm along with puncture wounds from a compass.
During the infliction, Tong Han scarcely cried out, only occasionally letting out low grunts from her throat. Yang Xiao could tell she was enduring, seizing every chance to leave them as many clues as possible.
Without any surprises, the same fate befell Tong Han. Minutes later, or possibly even sooner, the heaving of Tong Han’s chest finally stilled, marking the end of her life.
With Tong Han’s passing, Jiu Shan Sha Yue rose with the piece of paper, facing Tong Han solemnly.
Qingshui Cangjie also uncharacteristically removed his hat, the atmosphere at the scene somber and oppressive. For the first time, everyone showed a profound respect for a lifeless body.
Yang Xiao removed his jacket, gently covering Tong Han’s upper body, concealing her face, as he knelt to bid his close friend a final farewell.
At this point, there was no need to hide one’s identity, for the very act of Tong Han risking her life to leave clues was proof enough that amongst the survivors was someone she cared about; otherwise, no one would go to such lengths.
"Mr. Yang Xiao, please accept my condolences. Ms. Tong Han was a hero, and everyone here will remember her with respect for the rest of their lives," Qingshui Cangjie bowed deeply to Yang Xiao, "Please allow me to represent everyone in paying tribute to your beloved. She was an extraordinary person!"
"Mr. Yang, may I also offer my respects to Ms. Tong Han!" Heize Lin, too, shed his usual arrogance and adopted an unusually solemn demeanor at this moment.
In the Japanese Gang, such self-sacrificial acts are traditionally revered, and objectively, all were beneficiaries of Tong Han’s efforts.
"Thank you all on her behalf," Yang Xiao stood up and returned the gesture to Qingshui Cangjie and the others.
Even at this moment, Sato Shouta had not completely recovered, stunned by the loss of two vibrant lives in just a few hours. The fragility of life was on full display, shaking his beliefs. Could they really make it out alive this time?
Tong Han and Shibuki Naoko weren’t inexperienced newbies; they were seasoned players, yet met death so effortlessly.
Including them, they had lost half their team, a total of eight people, and still had not found any clue as to the ghost’s method of killing.
Tonight was over, and Sato Shouta had no idea how they would get through tomorrow night or the night after, or if he would even see that day.
Tears uncontrollably streamed down Sato Shouta’s face, and Takeuchi Tomoya hid behind the crowd, staring at the corpses, silently weeping.
The collapse of hope and belief often happens in an instant. If these veteran players could die so effortlessly, what hope did they have?
"Everyone, there’s no time to be sad. These are the clues left by Ms. Tong Han. There’s a lot of information, and she’s made a major discovery," Jiu Shan Sha Yue stated with utmost seriousness, clutching the paper in her hand.
