Chapter 285: Chapter 246: Hide and Seek
Half an hour ago, Room 5042.
Qu Yi, feeling anxious, knocked on the door, and the person who opened it was a disheveled young man. Tall and thin, with pale skin, he looked as if he hadn’t seen the sun for a long time.
"Mr. Wen, I am Qu Yi. I hope I can help you with your troubles," Qu Yi introduced herself sincerely.
"Welcome," Mr. Wen smiled and stepped aside.
After entering the room, Qu Yi noticed that this room was slightly bigger than her own. The dark curtains completely covered the windows, and the only source of light was a dim desk lamp.
Apart from the basic furniture and living essentials, the most eye-catching item was the large desk against the wall, on which sat an old, bulky computer.
Due to age, the white shell of the computer had turned yellow. Under the light of the lamp, she could also see a computer mouse, a keyboard, and an open blank notebook on the desk.
Taking a glass of water from Mr. Wen, Qu Yi dared not drink it and quickly changed the subject, "Mr. Wen, what can I do for you?"
Sitting on a sofa far from the lamp, with half his face hidden in the shadows, Mr. Wen raised his left hand, pressing his temples with his thumb and middle finger, and spoke in a pained voice, "Just a moment, Miss Qu, my headache is acting up again."
"Do you need me to get you some medicine?" Qu Yi asked gently, showing great concern.
A short while later, Mr. Wen shook his head, "It’s no use, this is an old condition. Miss Zuo Qiu already operated on me, and it’s much improved... compared to before."
The word "operation" struck Qu Yi and made her think of the Surgery Ghost. She nodded subtly, quietly agreeing, "As long as you’re okay, Mr. Wen. I’m just worried about your health, um... it seems this Miss Zuo Qiu is a very skilled doctor."
"Of course, she is the best surgeon I know, unfortunately..." Mr. Wen’s voice paused, expressing regret with a shake of his head.
"Unfortunately, what?" Qu Yi pressed.
"It’s unfortunate that she can cure others’ illnesses but couldn’t treat her own child’s. Now she can only work as a caretaker in this apartment, which is truly a waste of talent," Mr. Wen sighed, his regret obvious.
Qu Yi’s heart skipped a beat. Able to perform surgery and also a caretaker in the apartment—wasn’t Miss Zuo Qiu the Surgery Ghost?
The so-called child must be the offspring of the two caretakers, and judging from the Writing Ghost’s insinuation, the child seemed to suffer from a difficult illness, one that even the best doctor, Miss Zuo Qiu, was helpless against.
These pieces of information were crucial. Qu Yi suspected there was much to discover about this sick child.
"Miss Zuo Qiu is so unfortunate," Qu Yi feigned concern, her eyes beginning to redden, "Mr. Wen, do you know which room Miss Zuo Qiu lives in? I’d like to cook something and visit that poor child."
The next second, Mr. Wen suddenly laughed out loud, catching Qu Yi off guard. After a moment, Mr. Wen finally restrained his laughter and explained, "I apologize, Miss Qu. It was inappropriate for me to laugh, but has no one ever told you that you’re a terrible actress?"
"I don’t understand what you mean," Qu Yi responded with an innocent look on her face.
"Never mind, let’s get down to business. I am a mystery writer in need of inspiration, which is why I invited you here," Mr. Wen explained, "Next, I’ll need your cooperation to play a little game."
"What game?" Qu Yi suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Hide and seek," Mr. Wen said with a laugh, his pale face void of any color, "The rules are simple: you hide, I seek. You have three chances in total. If you can escape me in any one of those, you win."
"Where will it take place?"
"Anywhere inside this house is fine. My room is relatively large, and there are two others nearby: a bedroom and my storage room. You can hide in any of them," Mr. Wen stood up and pointed out the two doors on the sides of the living room to Qu Yi.
"You will have three minutes to prepare each time, and I will get one minute per round to chase you. In the game, you’re the human, and I’ll play the Ghost seeking you."
"To be fair, I’ve also invited some readers to observe. They will make sure neither of us cheats, you can be assured of their impartiality."
"Readers..." Qu Yi’s spine chilled as she looked around, but she saw no one, "Where... where are they?"
Mr. Wen gave a mysterious smile, the hidden meaning behind it sending a chill down Qu Yi’s spine, "Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist."
Following the direction of Mr. Wen’s pointing, the old bulky computer had somehow turned on. The screen lit up faintly, emitting an eerie green light.
The screen flickered rapidly as comments popped up, most of them urging for updates to the novel, some pushing for the game to start soon.
Clearly, these were Mr. Wen’s readers.
Qu Yi swallowed nervously. She felt as though she had fallen into some horrific live-streamed game.
No, that wasn’t right. She had become a character in a novel—Mr. Wen’s novel.
And she might die in this game.
"Oh, right, there’s something very important I forgot to tell you," Mr. Wen said, his previously easygoing expression suddenly serious, "My book friends will also take part in this game. They’ll score your performance, with a perfect score being ten points. After three rounds of scoring, if your average score reaches eight or above, even if I find you three times, you’ll still win."
After saying this, Mr. Wen took a piece of black cloth from his pocket, covered his eyes with it, then turned around to face the wall and started timing.
"Miss Qu, make haste, the game... has started."
Qu Yi rushed towards the door on the right side of the living room and pushed it open; it was a bedroom. The room wasn’t large, and Qu Yi quickly scanned it, realizing there were very few places to hide.
She turned and ran towards another door; this one was an old wooden door with cracks along the frame, making it evident that it hadn’t been opened for a while.
"Creak—" The door hinge made a grating sound, and when the door was fully open, Qu Yi saw a pile of clutter, and it was quite dark inside.
Bracing herself, Qu Yi entered and found broken furniture, various wooden boxes, and cabinets, and there was even a rusty old bicycle thrown in the back.
The boxes and cabinets were large; some indeed could fit her inside, but Qu Yi thought this place was too obvious and would certainly be thoroughly searched.
"One minute left!"
Hearing Mr. Wen’s voice from outside the door, Qu Yi steeled her heart, deciding to try ’hiding in the light.’ She deliberately made noise in the cluttered room as if she had crawled into one of the boxes to hide, then suddenly quieted down and tiptoed out.
The cluttered room was covered in dust, worried about leaving footprints that could give her away, Qu Yi quietly removed her shoes just outside the door, holding them in her arms.
Time was running out; she bent down and crawled into the gap behind the living room sofa.
Luckily, Qu Yi was petite and managed to squeeze in.
And that sofa was very close to Mr. Wen, who was still counting down; it was directly to his side and rear. Qu Yi decided to take a risk, betting he would overlook this spot.
"Time’s up!" Mr. Wen turned around, pulling off the black cloth from his eyes.
At that moment, Qu Yi couldn’t see outside and could only curl up in the gap behind the sofa, her body trembling involuntarily. A few seconds later, she finally breathed a sigh of relief as footsteps headed straight to the cluttered room.
"Miss Qu?"
"Miss Qu, where are you hiding?"
Mr. Wen’s eerie voice mixed with the sound of leather shoes striking the ground, exerting tremendous pressure on Qu Yi.
From the cluttered room came the sound of heavy objects being knocked over; after a search, it was evident that Mr. Wen found nothing. The footsteps quickly left and rushed toward the bedroom, and at this moment, Qu Yi silently counted in her head; at least 30 seconds had passed.
If she could delay a little longer, she might have a chance.
But then something strange happened. After Mr. Wen dashed into the bedroom, his footsteps disappeared, and Qu Yi could no longer discern his location by sound.
The unknown fear is the most terrifying. Qu Yi was unclear about what had happened—is Mr. Wen standing still, or...
Thinking this, Qu Yi slightly twisted her head, intending to peer through the gap above, knowing that the lamp light in the room would cast shadows on the wall.
If Mr. Wen was quietly moving around in the living room, she could use the shadows on the wall to pinpoint his position.
But as Qu Yi struggled to turn her head in the narrow gap, the sight above her nearly scared her to death. A pale face peered out from over the back of the sofa, hanging overhead and staring coldly at her.
"Miss Qu, so you were hiding behind the sofa," Mr. Wen reached out his hand, and like a hawk snagging a chick, he dragged Qu Yi out from behind the sofa.
In his other hand, he was holding a pair of leather shoes; he was now only wearing socks.
"Ah ah! Don’t kill me, please don’t kill me!!" Qu Yi screamed in horror, kicking and hitting Mr. Wen.
But Mr. Wen didn’t mind; he even smiled and reassured her, "Don’t worry, Miss Qu, no one will hurt you before the game ends. How are you, do you need a drink of water to calm down?"
The sudden fright had almost robbed Qu Yi of her judgment. After calming down, she realized that this was not a regular ghost-catching task with immediate death but rather a total of three rounds; she had three chances.
Sitting in front of the computer, Qu Yi took the cup of water handed to her by Mr. Wen and sipped it lightly. Mr. Wen stood behind her, thoughtfully massaging her shoulders and neck.
The computer screen was flooded with countless comments scrolling by, most of which were still urging updates; not many people were following this terrifying game.
Soon, based on some book friends’ opinions, the scores came out. Unfortunately, Qu Yi only received five points in this round; the corresponding comment was "Courage surplus, cunning deficient."
