At the door of Room 401.
Mu Anqi knocked on the door, but no one came to open it. Ji Huaichu didn't wait long—she twisted the lock apart with one hand, and with a light push the door swung open.
Inside was the warm yellow glow of lights, and at a glance one could see the living room. However, that single glance at the scene was enough to make one hardly believe their own eyes.
Six slender black ghostly figures were seated around the dining table, eating. Soft music played from the living room speakers. If one ignored those six elongated shadows, at first sight this might have even looked like a rather warm family gathering.
But the problem was… there were no dishes on the table—only a naked human body lying there. The thick stench of blood lingered in the air. When Ji Huaichu opened the door, one of the shadows was still cutting at something inside that person's abdomen with a small knife. Each of them had a cup full of fresh blood at hand, and beneath the wide-eyed, lifeless human corpse on the table was a large iron tray catching the blood that flowed out.
Mu Anqi turned her head away, the nauseating feeling of disgust overwhelming her, but this was clearly not the time for her to adjust herself. The moment General Ji pushed the door open, the six feasting shadows all turned their heads toward the doorway. The shadows had no features—their faces bore only sketch-like white eyes and mouths. The instant they saw her, those eyes suddenly bulged wide, and the white line of a mouth instantly split into a crescent shape. The sharp ends of that crescent tore backward, almost dividing the entire shadowy face into two.
The soothing music stopped.
The warm orange-yellow light abruptly went out.
In the pitch darkness, Mu Anqi tore apart the substitute paper doll, and blessings tumbled out one after another without pause: "Fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea, longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountain, good luck in everything, peace year after year…" One blessing followed another in quick succession. In the darkness, a rush of sinister energy suddenly surged in. For an instant, the orange-yellow light flickered back on, and Mu Anqi saw the slender shadow close in on her in a flash, biting off the paper doll's head in one snap.
"Boom!—"
An even colder, more violent wave of yin energy erupted. The shadow that had just bitten off the doll's head was the closest; in that instant it was struck by the surge of yin energy, exploding into pieces and scattering away as black mist.
Wine glasses, light bulbs… every fragile object in the room was reduced to powder under the shock of that energy. The room sank into darkness once again.
Mu Anqi gripped the token General Ji had given her. At this moment the token burned hot, faint red light spilling from her palm. In that dim glow, she could barely make out Ji Huaichu's figure. But Mu Anqi could hear the ghosts' shrill, anguished screams.
…Everything had ended far too quickly.
When Ji Huaichu dragged her long halberd to the doorway, showing Mu Anqi a gentle smile and saying, "Next one," Mu Anqi was still somewhat dazed.
She looked at the wrecked room, now unrecognizable as to what had even happened there, and never would have thought that in a house within this Blood Night Abyss, there would be such a plot as a "cannibal feast."
Mu Anqi went to Room 402 and knocked on the door again.
"Next one."
"Next one."
General Ji… seemed to be getting a little excited.
By the time they reached Room 502, the general was once more clad in full battle armor. The ghost mask of a blue-faced, tusked fiend covered her face, concealing the faintly frenzied zeal in her expression, leaving only a pair of crimson eyes brimming with an intense lust for slaughter. Ji Huaichu didn't even bother knocking anymore, simply blasting the residents' doors open with bursts of yin energy, rushing in like a fiend and skipping over all plot points for a straight massacre.
And when Mu Anqi followed behind the general out of the room, inside there remained only freshly restored walls.
Mu Anqi had never imagined General Ji could have this side to her! But the general had clearly already passed through the "Barrier-Breaking Stage" and entered "Kaiyuan." How was her display even more frenzied than the barrier-breaking ghosts themselves?! Just as Ji Huaichu stepped onto the sixth floor, Mu Anqi finally couldn't hold back and called out to her.
"General, are you all right?"
The scarlet eyes, like those of a vengeful ghost, fixed on her in an instant. In that moment, Mu Anqi felt an uncontrollable fear and unease. It was as if she were camping alone in the wilderness, sitting by a fire, and suddenly turned her head to see countless pairs of green beastly eyes glowing in the bushes.
"Of course." Ji Huaichu's voice was still gentle—whether she had deliberately softened it or not, it was hard to say. But those blood-red eyes remained locked on Mu Anqi as she suddenly lowered her head, the blue-faced, fanged ghost mask drawing close. "Are you afraid of me?"
Mu Anqi's mind went blank for a moment. For the first time, she was subjected to such crushing pressure from overwhelming yin energy, and in that instant she had no thoughts, no ideas at all. But staring at that blue face and fangs so close at hand, she instinctively raised her hand to press against it, wanting to push it away. The moment her hand touched the mask, the cold, hard texture sent a jolt through her. "…I am afraid."
"General, don't be so fierce with me…" Mu Anqi's hand still rested on the ghost mask, meeting those blood-red eyes. "I… I'm not used to it."
"Alright." Ji Huaichu gave a quiet reply, straightened up, and continued walking toward the sixth floor.
Mu Anqi watched her, pressing a hand to her heart that pounded wildly, whether from nerves or lingering fear, then stomped her slightly weakened legs hard and hurried to catch up. "General, let me do it."
If this went on, her rating was going to drop to C again.
Ji Huaichu didn't say anything, only stood silently, watching the little money tree rush to the door of Room 601 to knock.
601 was also fitted with a security door. After Mu Anqi knocked, the door gave a harsh screech and slowly opened on its own.
"Go on." Since the little money tree wanted to prove herself, Ji Huaichu glanced at the layout inside 601 and said softly, "I'll wait outside for you."
"…Alright."
Mu Anqi took a deep breath and stepped into the room.
The moment she entered, Mu Anqi knew she had fallen into a trap again.
Another illusion! Why?! None of the other rooms had illusions, and the ones she'd entered together with Ji Huaichu hadn't either. Only when she was trying to work hard to boost her rating and avoid being judged as a carried C-rank did she step right into an illusion. What kind of luck was this?!
Inside the illusion, there was only darkness.
What was going on this time? Mu Anqi thought she had already been through plenty of games and experienced many kinds of illusions, but… an illusion where she couldn't see anything at all upon entering—this was the first. She stood there blankly, feeling her legs heavy, and that kind of pain… a fracture? A cast? And the crutch in her hand? Just then, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching from far to near.
"Xiaoxiao, what are you doing standing here in the middle of the night?"
It was a woman's voice.
"…Looking at the night view."
"…" The woman was silent for a moment, then laughed. "Xiaoxiao, don't be too upset. Ah Hong didn't mean it. We're already trying to find a way to treat you—your eyes will get better."
Ah… a role-playing illusion scenario? The protagonist is blind? Xiaoxiao… a young girl? From the sound of it, this wasn't congenital, but man-made afterward.
"I'm not upset." Mu Anqi spoke while speculating about what was happening inside 601, lowering her voice. "And I'm not angry either."
A cold hand pressed down on her shoulder, and the woman's voice sounded above her head: "Xiaoxiao, Auntie knows you're feeling bad, and knows you resent Ah Hong, but Auntie has no choice either. Your parents passed so suddenly… ai." With a sigh, the woman helped Mu Anqi toward the inside of the house. Mu Anqi hesitated, but in the end didn't resist. First, because this was likely an illusion. Second… she couldn't see anything right now, and her leg seemed broken—there was no way she could gain the upper hand. Blessing this person would only expose her immediately, and with neither the handgun nor the candy cane being useful in her condition, if that "Ah Hong" attacked from behind, she would most likely be caught off guard and fail. At the very least, she had to wait until all the ghosts in this house revealed themselves.
But Mu Anqi still felt somewhat relieved.
If the protagonist of the illusion couldn't speak, then she would truly be miserable.
The woman helped Mu Anqi back to the room and guided her to sit on the bed. "It's getting late, Xiaoxiao. Rest early, don't be too upset."
"Mm." Mu Anqi responded, then heard footsteps heading out, followed by the distinct sound of the door closing. She touched the bed beneath her—the sensation was clear enough. That woman had called herself "Auntie"…
Blinded "by accident" at Ah Hong's hands, now living at this "Auntie's" home, parents apparently dead in an accident…
Just as Mu Anqi pieced the limited clues together, trying to guess what had happened to the girl, she suddenly felt something unusual on the other side of the bed. It was the sensation of weight sinking down—as if someone else in the room was silently crawling onto the bed…
Mu Anqi forced herself to remain calm, sitting still as her fingers clenched tightly around the substitute paper doll. With her vision gone, her other senses sharpened; she could clearly feel the faint movements on the bed. When that unknown presence drew closer and closer, she suddenly burst into action—
"Boundless longevity!" she cried, unleashing the blessing as her dagger slashed down hard—
Mu Anqi clearly felt the blade cut into something, and at the same time heard a boy's scream followed closely by the sound of crying.
"Ah Hong!" This time Mu Anqi didn't hear footsteps, but the slap of bare feet running across the floor. The door was flung open, and then came the woman's furious voice: "Xiaoxiao, what are you doing?!"
It seemed "she" had injured Ah Hong.
"I—I don't know… I thought, I thought there was a ghost in the room…" Mu Anqi's voice trembled as if she were terrified. The dagger and paper doll in her hands were all stowed away into her storage ring. She could feel something coming close to her, and just as she was about to lash out again, planning to take down both Ah Hong and the aunt to forcefully break free from the illusion, she heard the sound of a door opening.
Someone else had come back.
"But you can't just grab Ah Hong like that!"
"What happened?" The sound of leather shoes stepping on the floor followed, then a mature male voice. "Children roughhousing is normal. With Xiaoxiao's family… turning out that way, and Ah Hong accidentally pushing her down the stairs, it's natural that Xiaoxiao would dislike him."
"Ah Hong, you're the older brother, you mustn't bully Xiaoxiao anymore."
The woman seemed to lift the boy up and turned to leave the room. The man, however, remained. Mu Anqi felt someone's gaze on her. She waited silently, until she heard a sigh. "Rest early."
The sound of leather shoes grew distant, and the door closed. Outside, voices spoke, but Mu Anqi couldn't make out what they were saying. Mixed in was the boy's crying. Later she heard the man say something, and then all sound faded away.