And the ‘villager’ who delivered the meat soup returned to this building in the end. So…
Zhou Rong’s face darkened further. At that moment, a hand suddenly reached out to tap him. It almost made him scream. He whipped his body around and saw Jiang Cheng’s serious face. Jiang Cheng pointed behind Zhou Rong.
Zhou Rong started. Then, he swallowed nervously. He slowly turned around. There was a small, wooden picture frame hanging on the wall behind him. The frame was old and covered in dust. The surroundings were too dark, so no one noticed it earlier.
Zhou Rong frowned and carefully removed the frame. The wooden frame had already shown signs of decay. He used his hand to gingerly wiped away the dust on the picture. It was a group picture with six people.
The couple who sat at the front was a pair of an old married couple. Behind them stood four middle-aged men. Clearly, they were the couple’s sons. The elders looked normal, but their clothes and appearance were clearly not. The elderly woman was rather thin and had a shrivelled face. Her eyes were lifeless. She wore gold rings and bangles around her hands. A pearl necklace strung around her neck.
The elderly man sat upright in his chair. He had on boots with animal fur and carried a pipe. His small eyes narrowed cunningly. One glance and one could tell this was the man of the family.
The four men behind them were tall, large and muscular. One carried a hunting rifle. One carried an abacus. One carried a book. One wore a light blue floral apron. Due to a lack of care, some of their faces couldn’t be seen clearly anymore. Overall, this family gave off a bad first impression. They should be the bullies of this village.
The travellers were instantly reminded of the Qian Family. But… Bei Qian frowned. It didn’t match up. Based on what the village chief said… The Qian Family had four children but it was three sons and one daughter. The youngest daughter died when she was a baby…
Wait a minute… Zhou Rong suddenly raised his head as if he had just realised something. He turned to the door. The strange chopping sound… had disappeared.
Bei Qian looked distressed. He walked over and stared at the picture frame Zhou Rong was holding. His eyes burned with a greedy flame. It was like he was going to snatch the picture for himself the next second. It finally dawned on Zhou Rong. There was probably something wrong with this picture. It was an important clue related to the ghost.
Jiang Cheng nudged forward to block Bei Qian’s view of the picture. A few seconds later, Bei Qian blinked like he had just woken up. When he came to, his eyes returned to normal. He instantly understood what had happened.
Jiang Cheng reached out to grab the frame, opened it, took the picture out, folded it and stuffed it in his chest. Bei Qian and Zhou Rong were stunned.
It was true that the picture was a clue but no one was sure if taking away the picture might attract the ghost’s wrath or not… not to mention, the ghost was literally one door away from them. If they were attacked, Jiang Cheng would definitely die.
Even though the sound had disappered, the three were certain that the ghost was still in the house because a chilling aura kept seeping out of the door. They were experienced players. They had similar feelings when around ghosts in the past.
Zhou Rong didn’t even dare to breathe. He couldn’t understand it. Based on his observation, the ghost definitely knew they were there. Then, why didn’t she attack them?
Bei Qian was as tensed as Zhou Rong. He looked around with panic. Since last night, he has been observing this building. He knew very well where the doors and windows were. That was why he dared to enter this building. Based on his memory, about four meters to the left of the slightly open door, there was another door that could lead outside. However, it was currently shrouded in darkness. Even though the ghost had sealed up the windows, she couldn’t do anything to the doors. The nightmare realm always left them with a way out. He believed there was a 50 percent chance that the door would lead him to safety.
At that moment, the door finally opened. Through the dimness, a broken and hunched-up figure appeared at the door. The moment it did, the chill gripped the trio.
The ghost… finally showed up.
It was too late to turn and run. If they did so, there was an even higher chance they would be targeted by the ghost. The travellers held their breath. At that moment, they could only pray… Pray that they were not the ghost’s first target.
In the nightmare realm, the ghost rarely attacked multiple people at once. If one were not the ghost’s main attack target, one had a high chance of escaping.
The three tried to move as close to the wall as possible. Zhou Rong, who was at the forefront, felt a lot of pressure. His body started to shake uncontrollably. The ghost’s face appeared like it had been applied with the blur filter. However, from its posture and mannerisms, it should be a woman. The way she moved was very strange. It was like a worm wiggling. It seemed to suggest that all the bones in her body had been broken.
After leaving the kitchen, she surprisingly didn’t come after the three but slowly wiggled to the left. After she moved for a few metres, there was a click. Then, a ray of light pierced in. The three were blinded for a moment. Then, the door slammed shut.
The three didn’t dare to budge. They finally accepted this reality a few minutes later.
Bei Qian’s face was filled with disbelief. He tried to ask in the calmest tone possible, “Has… she left?”
Zhou Rong took a deep breath and nodded. “It appears that way.”
“Did she not notice us?”
“It’s probably because we didn’t trigger the mission taboos.” Zhou Rong corrected him. His eyes never left the door as if worried that the ghost might decide to return. He continued, “If we reacted too loudly when we heard the sound or saw her…”
Indeed, if they had a newbie with them, they would have turned and run or lost their mind.