An Ling was no longer so shy. After her bath, she was standing in front of the mirror, tilting her head as she dried her hair.
“Having such long hair really is a pain. It takes forever to dry…”
She held up the hairdryer until her arm ached, unable to stop herself from complaining.
Once her hair was dry, An Ling started getting dressed. There was always a chance something unexpected might happen at night, so she had to sleep with her clothes on. Only then could she react quickly enough.
It was half past ten now, and she planned to take care of her dinner.
A can of eight-treasure porridge and a bag of cream bread filled her up simply enough. Just as she was about to open a bottle of mineral water for a drink—
Tap tap!
A heavy footstep suddenly echoed from the corridor outside, making her heart leap to her throat.
An Ling immediately turned off the light, then groped her way in the darkness to the bed and lay down, pulling the blanket over herself.
The room instantly sank into silence and darkness, so quiet she could even hear her own heartbeat clearly.
Tap tap!
The footsteps grew closer and closer. She suspected the person was right outside her door!
But soon, the sound faded away, as if it was leaving. An Ling finally let out a sigh of relief.
She felt like there must be something wrong with her head. Why couldn’t the person outside be another survivor?
Just like what Chen Rui had asked her today—do you believe in ghosts in this world?
An Ling didn’t believe, but she still had to show respect.
It was like how some people never believe in gods or ghosts, but during the New Year, they still burn incense for Cai Shen.
She sat up in bed, wanting to check the situation at her door.
The corridor lights were on, and the door wasn’t perfectly sealed; a sliver of light was visible under the bottom.
She carefully tilted her head to look, and saw a warm glow spreading from the crack under the door, forming a beam of light. But in the middle of that beam were two black spots, breaking it into three segments.
An Ling’s pupils shrank. Someone was standing silently outside her door!
Knock, knock, knock!
Just then, the sound of knocking startled her, making her tense nerves jump even more.
An Ling immediately held her breath, covered her mouth so she wouldn’t make a sound, and quietly returned to bed.
“Jie, open the door, it’s me, Chen Rui. I’ve found some really important information. It’s about the secret of this manor—I have to tell you right now!”
It was Chen Rui.
An Ling instinctively started to get out of bed, but then froze.
No, Chen Rui was so timid, there’s no way she’d come out at this hour. If something happened, she would definitely wait until tomorrow to talk about it.
She lay back down, closed her eyes, and ignored the voice at the door.
“Jie, open up!”
“Did I do something wrong? Why are you ignoring me?”
“Let me in!!”
Bang bang bang bang!
The person outside seemed furious, knocking more and more urgently.
An Ling became more certain of her suspicion.
She had no idea how much time had passed before the voice at her door finally disappeared, as if it had left.
Still, she didn’t dare get out of bed, just lay there quietly with her eyes closed.
But to make sure whether there was a Curse of Power Outage outside, she had to get out of bed and look at the room at the end of the corridor. That was only possible if the lights outside hadn’t gone out.
Today, An Ling didn’t have the Blessing of Steadfastness; her stamina was just that of an ordinary girl. After a whole day of traveling, she was already completely exhausted.
Lying on the soft bed now, she soon drifted off into a daze.
She didn’t know how much time had passed when, suddenly, the corridor lights outside went out. Not just An Ling—all the survivors entered into slumber at that moment.
The entire manor, shrouded in the misty Forest, was plunged into total darkness. Seen from afar, it was gloomy and terrifying, with an eerie sense of foreboding.
Ah!
A shrill, blood-curdling scream pierced the night, echoing throughout the manor.
Instantly, chaos broke out. An Ling was jolted awake by the scream. She quickly got out of bed and looked toward the door. The light outside was off. She pressed the switch.
Click!
The light didn’t come on. The manor had suffered a Curse of Power Outage!
An Ling immediately groped for her backpack, slung it on her back, and hurried out of the room.
It wasn’t completely dark in the corridor. Even though the power was out, Emergency Lights glowed at every corner, enough to see the surroundings.
At the same time, other survivors on the Third Floor opened their doors—including, of course, Chen Rui.
They exchanged a glance, but said nothing. An Ling could even see a trace of terror in Chen Rui’s eyes.
But the Warning only said to leave your room after a power outage—it never said exactly where to go.
The Hall on the third floor was empty. Clearly, everyone was supposed to gather in the main Hall on the First Floor. An Ling and Chen Rui ignored the others, hurrying downstairs.
Sure enough, most of the people had already gathered there, and Qin Xiao was present too.
“What was that sound just now?”
“Did someone get killed?”
“Thank goodness I saw the Warning on the door.”
“What Warning? I heard the commotion, realized there was a power outage, and came down when I saw everyone else going downstairs.”
People all around were discussing noisily. Some, like Chen Rui, had fear written all over their faces. Others were blank, not even knowing what had happened.
“I heard your knocking at night. You’re a careful person, so you must have seen the Warning, so I didn’t open the door,” Qin Xiao said coolly, looking at the two of them as they arrived.
An Ling was stunned for a moment. Their rooms were in a row; Qin Xiao’s room was right next to hers. If there was knocking, she should have heard it too.
“I only heard the knocking at his door,” An Ling added, glancing at Chen Rui. Qin Xiao understood instantly.
“It seems the knocking is something only we can hear.”
As for Chen Rui, he’d also heard knocking, but at Qin Xiao’s door. He’d been asleep at the time, and when he was startled awake, Qin Xiao was already cursing angrily outside the door.
It was strange, so he hadn’t opened the door either.
The three of them all guessed that the earlier scream was likely the consequence of opening the door after hearing the knocking.
Half an hour passed quickly, and almost all the survivors had gathered here.
There weren’t many people in this group with obvious traits—a bald Killer, the Martial Artist Qin Xiao, the only woman in the group An Ling, and Chen Rui, who followed her, had all become the focus of the others’ attention.
Clearly, these people were the first to be observed, to figure out who was missing.
“It’s the bald guy. He’s not here!”