In the pale hospital corridor, occasional neurotic shrieks echoed from unknown places. The sound was sharp, thin, and faint, as if someone were laughing at you from the ceiling.
Mu Anqi and the others tiptoed through the corridor and went straight into Room 404.
At this moment, the working ghosts on the second and third floors sensed something was wrong: "Why did they go straight to the fourth floor, to Room 404 where the key is?"
"No! Change the plan! Where's the chainsaw doctor on the second floor? Go to 404 and stop them!" The commanding ghost urgently adjusted the strategy. "The patients on the third floor… forget it, you guard the fourth-floor stairwell." The commander still remembered the background of this haunted house—having doctors and patients go out together to fight players seemed a bit off. He glanced at the ghost roster and continued contacting other floors' special "doctors" to rush to Room 404 to treat the players.
Mu Anqi pushed open the door to Room 404 with her candy cane. As soon as the door opened, she saw a seemingly wet red ribbon hanging down from the ceiling.
Reacting quickly, Mu Anqi raised her candy cane and shot the hot, spicy syrup at the ceiling. She quickly said, "Double Blessings of Longevity and Happiness." The ghost on the ceiling, waiting with its long tongue for emotional points to be credited, didn't even have time to feel pleased before being doused in hot syrup. It couldn't even let out a wail before being forced to do a backflip and crash violently onto the floor.
Mu Anqi swung her candy cane and beat it thoroughly. All those points spent practicing her stick techniques were not for nothing; even at a basic level, it was enough to give this little ghost a serious beating.
Si Suying hadn't even activated her skills yet, and the long-tongued ghost was already struck by Mu Anqi into a wisp of black mist that slipped through the door crack—well, it looked quite embarrassed.
Zhao Guogu looked at the red-and-white, somewhat cute candy cane in Mu Anqi's hand, then glanced at the long-tongued ghost that had completely disappeared. Silently, she gave Mu Anqi a thumbs-up.
Mu Anqi returned a fake smile. After all, she was walking at the front, and if she had just failed to react in time, whether she got licked by the long-tongued ghost or accidentally grabbed that red ribbon, she would have felt extremely grossed out.
"Split up and search, be careful. There are probably more ghosts."
Mu Anqi gripped her handgun. Inside were eight special bullets made for ghosts. She walked toward the bathroom in this room, and as soon as she opened the door, a shadow lunged at her! Mu Anqi felt her scalp tingle. Even though she was prepared, this sudden attack—"Wishing you success step by step, continuous good fortune, and abundance every year!"—three blessing words escaped her mouth in fright. Her mind went blank. Only when the shadow began to crouch did she barely react, raising her hand and shooting the shadow, scattering it.
The shadow's scream was exceptionally mournful. Clearly, these special bullets were painfully effective on ghosts.
Zhao Guogu, who had been planning to search the bed sheets, pillows, and under the bed, was startled. Before she could say anything, she heard a pitiful cat-like cry. Si Suying activated her ability, but the ghost that suddenly sprang out from under the bed immediately dropped to its knees and begged, "Don't shoot, don't shoot, wuwuwu… I'll tell you where the key is, let me go! Being a working ghost isn't easy, wuwuwu…"
Si Suying's tail flared up, but then the ghost pulled this stunt. She suspected she was dreaming.
Zhao Guogu tugged at the corner of her mouth and glanced at Mu Anqi, who was calming herself in the bathroom. She realized that Mu Anqi's escape game style was truly unusual… back at the Seven Nights Hotel, no one knew exactly how Mu Anqi had tormented the "Greedy" ghost.
Thanks to the confession of yet another "traitor" ghost, Mu Anqi and the others successfully obtained the key hidden in Room 404. The ghost had hidden it behind the bathroom mirror. Normally, even if a player entered this room, it would be difficult to notice a key behind the mirror—unless the mirror was accidentally broken during a fight.
But Mu Anqi and the others were never ordinary.
The ghost under the bed quietly crawled back under the bed and sighed in relief when it saw them take the key and prepare to leave. Just then, a piercing chainsaw sound suddenly rang outside the door.
Mu Anqi: "Wait, what's going on? Still calling for backup?!"
The ghost under the bed panicked: "No, really, it's not me! That's the Chainsaw Doctor—probably came running when it heard the noise! It has nothing to do with me!"
Chainsaw Doctor? This abandoned hospital really did have all kinds of ghosts. Mu Anqi didn't even know how to comment—chainsaw and doctor clearly didn't match at all. But that was fine; at least it was a close-combat fighter. Mu Anqi pulled out a smoke grenade and, hearing the Chainsaw Doctor getting closer outside the door, looked at Si Suying: "Plant two grenades near the door to predict its move?"
Si Suying nodded, then took a clay hand grenade from her backpack, gently pulled the pin, and rolled it to the door. "I only have three grenades left."
"I've still got a few smoke grenades, no problem." Mu Anqi, listening to the chainsaw getting closer and closer, held a smoke grenade in one hand and her gun aimed at the door with the other. Closer… even closer…
"Let me see which patient isn't listen—"
"Boom!—"
The grenade explosion cut off the Chainsaw Doctor's fake scary line. Two grenades exploded simultaneously, covering the doctor in dust and debris. He seemed injured—or maybe revealed his true form. Two streams of bloody tears dripped down his cheeks. His originally pale face became pitted and corroded, as if some chemical had eaten away at it, and the eyeball in his right eye was completely dead. Enraged by the grenade blasts, he swung his giant chainsaw with one hand and leapt toward the players in the room!
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Mu Anqi fired three shots in quick succession. The first bullet grazed the doctor's white coat, the second hit his shoulder, and the third flew past his right ear. "Good luck and great fortune!"
The Chainsaw Doctor's body stiffened. In that moment, Mu Anqi fired a fourth bullet, finally landing a precise headshot.
"Ho—" The doctor's entire ghost trembled, layers of sinister energy rising from him before dissipating into black mist.
Of course, ghosts in the Mirror Fragment Continent don't die. This doctor was merely heavily injured and retreated. Well, with employee insurance, his work injury leave would probably still be paid.
The haunted house project commanding ghost shouted: "What? The doctor's dead? Impossible! Where are the other ghosts? Why haven't they provided support yet? On the way?—Those patients at the fourth-floor door, what are you waiting for? Charge! Push them downstairs! Eliminate them if you can!"
"Inform those two groups of tourists who haven't found the secret passage that there are three player tourists here." The commanding ghost thought for a moment and decided to resort to extreme measures. The ghost taking the order said something, which annoyed him: "I know! Can't you just stay hidden? There's no surveillance or live broadcast on the ghost side. Who wants to watch ghosts scare other ghosts? So boring!"
After issuing the new orders, the commanding ghost couldn't help but wonder: "Where did these players get so many props? Really strange. Players of this level shouldn't be sent into a game with obstacle-phase ghosts, right?"
Smoke?
How many smoke grenades did they use?! What the hell is going on with these players! The commander slammed the table in anger and glanced at the emotional points the players had gained recently—good grief, only 120 in fright points, but 230 in excitement? And what's this? 10 points in shyness?! Which player would be shy in a haunted house? This isn't some dating game!
"Ridiculous!—"
Both the haunted house commander and Mu Anqi shouted in anger simultaneously.
The horror ward—what kind of hospital has doctors and patients who are all insane, perverted murderers?! Is this a hospital for treatment or a monster hub? Why, just after taking down the Chainsaw Doctor, did suddenly a dozen or so patients appear out of nowhere, charging at them like madmen, ready to die with them? The sheer recklessness scared Mu Anqi badly.
So Mu Anqi freely threw two smoke grenades, and as the smoke rose, she raised the hot, spicy syrup and sprayed wildly toward the patients. Si Suying let out a stiff cat-like cry, leapt in the direction where screams accompanied the syrup, and with a flurry of cat-like punches, struck the ghosts in the smoke, turning them into black mist as they fled.
"Wishing everyone good health, may all your wishes come true, good fortune, success in everything, family harmony, and happiness for the whole household…" Mu Anqi quickly recited blessings to control the ghosts in the smoke.
Zhao Guogu followed along, adding, "Smooth sailing in everything, peace year after year, abundance every year!"
"Abundance every year… didn't I already say that?" Mu Anqi replied, then recited the other two blessings as well. Here, she handled the blessing control, Zhao Guogu assisted her, and Si Suying wielded her cat-like fists as a smoky phantom cat, harvesting ghost heads.
Calculating the time, Mu Anqi suddenly reminded, "Time! The smoke grenade duration is almost up! Retreat!"
Since smoke grenades were limited, Mu Anqi wouldn't waste them carelessly. She still hadn't encountered the remaining two teams of ghostly tourists, so she couldn't squander them on NPCs.
At her reminder, a white figure quickly leapt out of the smoke: "Got it, meow."
Mu Anqi glanced at the cat tail and pink paw pads on Si Suying's hands, silently looked away, and quickly retreated together.
She did want to exclaim, "Wow! The cat is so cute!" but knowing that Si Suying was thin-skinned and strongly opposed to it, she could only hide her admiration for the fluffy creature deep in her heart.
Since they might encounter more battles ahead, Si Suying did not deactivate her ability. They quickly retreated from the other side of the fourth-floor stairs. The secret passage entrance was in the absurdly located principal's office on the seventh floor—a passage that somehow led underground. If it didn't lead straight to the elevator, Mu Anqi reasonably suspected the haunted house designer had some serious issues.
Hmm, come to think of it, this horror ward really didn't feel much like a haunted house at all.
As Mu Anqi thought this, she caught out of the corner of her eye that Si Suying, while walking, couldn't help but press against Zhao Guogu. The white-cat older sister kept a cold expression, but her tail quietly brushed Zhao Guogu's arm.
Damn it! Is this the power of catnip? So unfair! She wanted to snuggle with the fluff too! She wanted to pet the cat!