Chapter 528: Chapter 456: High Heels
"Get up," Yang Xiao said, "After all, you are the manager. In the future, don’t kneel so easily. Where are Guardian Yun and Guardian Snake?"
Ling Yanyu got up from the ground, "They are both downstairs. Since they saw the Sect Hierarch resting, they didn’t dare to disturb."
Yang Xiao had planned to leave today, but the arrival of the Ghost Script disrupted his plans. He had called everyone together to give them some final instructions. Now, he decided to stay in Xiang Ma Town and deal with the Ghost Script first.
But by evening, there was still no news from Beibei. Yang Xiao couldn’t sit still any longer. He called Beibei, but no one answered.
Then, he received a call from Xi Menxiu. After picking up, Xi Menxiu told him that Beibei had gone to the neighboring office to check the records. Everyone was in the office, all searching for clues about the blue skirt.
But the results were minimal, after all, the clue was too vague. The blue skirt could be a sign of the Resentful Eye, or a characteristic of a ghost, or maybe just some kind of imagery. Without an accurate name, it was difficult to pinpoint.
However, based on the clues in the other three photos provided by Yang Xiao, they preliminarily deduced that the incident was related to workplace bullying or school violence. Beibei had gone to coordinate with other offices, pooling their efforts to filter through the information.
"Captain, based on my experience, the background of this script is difficult to trace. You should be prepared to deal with it alone," Xi Menxiu stated frankly.
After hanging up the phone, Yang Xiao took a deep breath. The image of the vague figure in the three photos flashed continuously through his mind, and the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.
According to his experience, tonight, he might be found by that ghost and pulled into the Nightmare World.
Closing his eyes and leaning back on the couch, Yang Xiao closed his eyes to rest. Perhaps due to recent tension, his head throbbed with pain.
Unconsciously, Yang Xiao’s head slowly tilted to one side, and he slipped into deep sleep.
After who knows how long, Yang Xiao awoke abruptly in his sleep. The lights in the room had somehow gone out, and it was pitch black all around.
Within seconds, Yang Xiao was fully awake, acutely aware that something was not right. The feeling was all too familiar.
Outside, it couldn’t be called silent, as it had started raining. The curtains were drawn, a habit of Yang Xiao’s. At this moment, only a faint light penetrated from outside.
Using this faint light, the surroundings weren’t completely dark, but blurry. Dark black silhouettes appeared all around, likely various pieces of furniture and decorations. But it wasn’t possible to completely rule out that something else was mixed in.
Yang Xiao sat unmoving in the darkness, his breathing barely audible.
"Whoosh—"
The tense atmosphere was shattered by the sudden sound of flushing from downstairs, coming from that dark, cramped bathroom.
This time, Yang Xiao had no doubts: the ghost had come because he had already sent away the people keeping watch downstairs ahead of time.
In other words, in the Nie Family Teahouse, including the outside courtyard, he was the only one present.
"Creak—"
"Thud."
"Thud."
"Thud."
Someone had pushed open the broken door of the bathroom and was heading towards the staircase. Soon, they stepped onto the first stair.
It was a woman.
Yang Xiao heard the sound of high heels.
The sound was getting closer, like a scythe beckoning death, causing his heart to leap into his throat.
The door of the room he was in faced the stairs, and fortunately, it was closed at the moment. Though it might not be foolproof, it at least provided Yang Xiao with some reassurance.
With no intention of ambushing from behind the door, Yang Xiao retreated step by step, his footsteps light, until the crisp sound of the high heels disappeared outside the door.
It didn’t disappear, rather, the other party had stopped. A person and a ghost stood face to face through the door, a scene eerily familiar.
As time ticked away, Yang Xiao grew more and more anxious, this fear of not knowing when it would strike was the most torturous.
He tried to summon the Soul-Capturing Mirror to hide, but now the connection between him and the Drama Robe was gone, as though it had become an ordinary piece of clothing.
Following a flash of lightning came a rolling thunder, and at that moment, Yang Xiao felt the hairs on his back stand on end and couldn’t help but widen his eyes.
He wasn’t startled by the sudden flash of lightning and boom of thunder; he wasn’t so fragile. It was because, in the instant that the lightning tore through the night sky, he saw a shadow reflected on the wall opposite him.
The shadow’s shape was twisted, like that of a person whose bones had all been crushed. Even more terrifying was that, according to the shadow, its owner was right behind him.
Yang Xiao spun around in an instant, and the scene before him made his breath stop. He saw a rigid ghost figure standing out of thin air outside the tight curtains. The next second, the stiff ghost figure, through the curtains, fell towards him.
...
He did not know how much time had passed when Yang Xiao was suddenly awakened by a piercing ring. As he slowly opened his eyes, the scene before him had completely changed.
He was lying on a large white bed, not far away was an old-fashioned, big-headed TV with a black casing, and the noise that woke him was coming from an old-style red telephone set on the nightstand to his left.
It was a hotel room with a strong sense of the era. He sat up, also noticing an elegantly shaped plush carpet on the floor.
He was the only person in the room.
After calming his mind, Yang Xiao chose to answer the phone, but he didn’t intend to speak. He just wanted to listen to who was on the other side.
On the other end of the phone was a sweet young voice, very youthful and vibrant. After listening for a while, Yang Xiao understood – it was the front desk of the hotel, tasked with waking him at this time and reminding him to go to suite 8018 on the eighth floor, saying someone was waiting for him there.
Throwing off the covers, Yang Xiao was only wearing a pair of red underwear, very old-fashioned in style. In the wardrobe, he found a set of his own clothes, all at least 20 years out of date. Through these, and the decoration of the hotel, Yang Xiao could roughly deduce the timeline of this mission – it was probably 20 years ago.
After dressing neatly, he cautiously stepped out of the room. His room was on the 10th floor of the hotel, meaning he would need to take the elevator down two floors. As he passed the elevator, whether by coincidence or something else, the originally closed elevator doors suddenly opened, empty inside.
Yang Xiao turned and walked away; he had never considered taking the elevator.
He found the emergency stairs and began descending. What puzzled Yang Xiao on the way was the extreme quietness. It seemed there were few guests, and many places had bilingual signs, suggesting this was a hotel designated for foreign guests.
With his doubts, Yang Xiao arrived outside room 8018 on the 8th floor. But before he could knock, the door "clacked" open. The man who opened the door was in his forties, with a gloomy face and eyes full of wariness.
After a stare-down, the man stepped aside, and with a harsh, raspy voice that was quite uncomfortable, said, "Come in, we’re waiting for you."
As the man stepped aside, Yang Xiao noticed that the room was filled with people.
