Chapter 10 - Midnight Mansion (8) (1/2)

Pulled along by Bai Yi, Cheng Zhi Chu stumbled while trying to keep up with his steps. Along with Lu Wenjing, the three of them ran along the corridor on the second floor and through several rooms before finally managing to lose the ghosts chasing behind them.

At the very end, they ran onto a bedroom and the very last of the white shadows was finally gone. Bai Yi gently closed the door and stood behind it to listen for any sounds before turning to Cheng Zhi Chu and Lu Wenjing and saying in a quiet voice: “We’re safe now.”

“Phew……..”

Cheng Zhi Chu had used up all his remaining physical strength and he felt his legs go soft. No longer caring about whether the floor was clean or not, he laid down onto the dirty floor and gasped for air. He felt that he was about to die from exhaustion and had only managed to run this far purely because of his desire to live.

Lu Wenjing’s face was also covered in sweat. She similarly sat on the floor gasping for air and after a moment, she bit onto her bottom lip and said very uneasily: “…….Wang Jianming hasn’t caught up. I wonder how he is.”

Bai Yi and Cheng Zhi Chu didn’t say anything. After Lu Wenjing finished speaking, she also fell silent. If someone were to part from the group and be alone in a place like this, and if they didn’t have any particularly effective life-saving means, it is very likely that they will be met with a bad outcome. Earlier there were just too many ghosts and it was difficult for them to even protect themselves. If they chose to save Wang Jianming, it is likely that everyone would end up losing their lives.

But they didn’t hear his cry, so they still hoped that he is okay…….

“I think that these monsters……were probably attracted by the necklace.”

Cheng Zhi Chu recalled the strange emerald necklace. Still feeling creeped out, he couldn’t help but shiver: “Perhaps it has its own consciousness. It has the ability to disappear and appear on its own and even fall into my pocket. I’m very worried. What if………….”

He didn’t say the rest of that sentence but the meaning behind it is evident.

——-If it continued to follow them and would suddenly appear on them at any point in time, what should they do?

“We need to find a way to destroy it.”

Bai Yi thought for a moment and then said: “The source of power for cursed items are usually from resentment or fear. Maybe we need to find out what the the source of its power is. This would mean that we need to figure out who lingering grudges or regrets still remain.”

“I think that there are three suspects.” Cheng Zhi Chu finally had enough strength to sit up. He patted away the dirt from his shirt and said, “The scum Charlie, the mistress Mary…….”

“And Mrs. Mei Jie?” Lu Wenjing asked.

“I don’t think its her.” Cheng Zhi Chu shook his head. “Because the phrase engraved on the necklace was ‘Our future child will be called Joshua’. When Ren Xue was controlled by the necklace, she instead repeatedly asked if ‘Joshua’ is a good name. If it was Mrs. Mei Jie, she definitely wouldn’t care about what the mistress’s child is called. The only people who would ask this question would be Charlie, Mary and……….”

“Joshua himself.” Bai Yi calmly said.

“……..Yes.”

Cheng Zhi Chu covered his face. He thought back to the low chuckle that he had heard next to him when he came into contact with the necklace. It sounded like it belonged to a man. If the malicious source of the necklace is the boss of this instance, then it probably isn’t Mary. As for the remainder…….

Again, it’s a man……..

“Next, we should look for the hidden passage on the second floor and enter to basement to see what clues we can find there.”

Bai Yi looked over at Cheng Zhi Chu and Lu Wenjing as he said this and the two also agreed. After a short break and confirming that there was no movement outside, the left the room and turned on the flashlight to illuminate the corridor on the second floor. They carefully examined the floors and walls for anything that looked unusual.

The mansion had a very complex floorplan and the corridor turned and twisted like a winding labyrinth but fortunately Lu Wenjing had the skills to interpret the topography so it would at least guarantee that they wouldn’t get lost.

In addition to using their naked eye to examine the corridor, Cheng Zhi Chu would also activate his ‘Clue Prompt’ every ten minutes to double check whether or not there is a hidden door along the corridor that they had just passed through. But after multiple attempts, it all came back with no results. Instead, they ran into wandering ghost several times. Although most of them were just loitering around alone, they didn’t want to create too much of a disturbance so the three could only hide from them rather than eliminating them.

Why haven’t we found it yet……….

Cheng Zhi Chu was anxious to the point that his forehead was covered in sweat. The longer things dragged out, the more uneasy he was because he noticed that the interval between each ghost encounter was gradually getting shorter and shorter. The necklace itself was also like a ticking time bomb that would go off at any time. If it summoned those ghosts again………

“Wait a minute. This place……..seems a little different.”

Lu Wenjing who was groping around the floor let out a quiet whisper and gently used her palm to push down a piece of floor board. A little nervously she said: “Come and take a look. Do you think it can be opened?”

“Where?”

Cheng Zhi Chu who was closest to her walked over immediately with bright eyes. There was still another three minutes until he could use his skill again, so he decided to confirm it with his own eyes first.

“Here.”

Lu Wenjing stood up and pointed at a piece of floorboard. When Cheng Zhi Chu walked over, she suddenly looked up and revealed a smile

This was the first time that Cheng Zhi Chu had seen Lu Wenjing smile. This timid and introverted girl had always been nervous and uneasy ever since they had entered the instance and had never showed a smile. Now that he saw that cold smile of hers, Cheng Zhi Chu couldn’t help but feel a little scared.

Bai Yi sensed something and raised his head. When he saw Lu Wenjing’s smile, his pupils immediately constricted. At the same time, the floorboard under Cheng Zhi Chu’s feet suddenly opened to reveal a pitch-black hole. Before he had the chance to react, he had fallen straight into it.

The moment he fell, Cheng Zhi Chu saw a green glow coming from Lu Wenjing’s neck. She was wearing the emerald necklace but the next second it disappeared.

“Bang——”

The floor instantly closed up and left behind no traces. Bai Yi was surprised for a short moment before his face immediately darkened. Expressionlessly, and with a cold and terrifying look, he looked completely opposite to the demeanour he had when he was around Cheng Zhi Chu.

“Come out.”

He faced Lu Wenjing and quietly spat out those two words. Lu Wenjing just laughed and didn’t say anything. He angrily grabbed her throat and instantly made a red-blue handprint form on her neck. He again repeated his words coldly.

“Come out.”

“Long time no see.”