《I Can See the Correct Rules of Ghost Talks》


 CH 1

    Su Rong was pushing a shopping cart in the large supermarket outside the happy home community, carefully selecting from the food section. Her goal this time was to stock up on at least two months¡¯ worth of goods so she could spend summer vacation without worry.


    The world was so chaotic now. Although home was not completely safe, storing some food at home was always an extra security.


    In these troubling times, there were not many people in the supermarket. They were picking out their goods in twos and threes. Everyone¡¯s hands were in a bit of a hurry, as if they were being chased by something.


    The LED lights of the supermarket were dazzlingly white, shining on bodies so that everyone seemed to be covered with a miserable layer of paleness.


    Su Rong turned her head to look out of the glass windows, her originally calm expression suddenly broken.


    At some point, a thin layer of mist had risen outside the window. The trees behind the mist were blurred, dark and long, like distorted limbs. The concentration of fog increased at a speed visible to the naked eye, and in a blink, the distant scenery could no longer be seen clearly.


    She was not the only one who noticed the problem: a large auntie next to her had a frightened expression, her voice shrill with a faintly detectable tremor. ¡°Dear mother, what is that fog outside?¡±


    As she spoke, Su Rong was already pushing her cart and rushing to the cash register ahead of everyone else.


    However, the cashier who was there had disappeared at some point.


    Not only that, looking out the glass doors, there was also a milky white fog outside, tightly blocking the door.


    ¡±It appears we have been selected by a ghost talk.¡± A male voice stated definitively, an imperceptible heaviness in his tone.


    Su Rong turned around to see a tall, middle-aged man in a gray sweater with a strong stature standing behind her on her right. He was carrying a shopping basket in his hand and also staring outside at the thick fog.


    ¡±How do you know?¡± She asked, but deep inside she was already almost convinced of his judgment.


    Sure enough, the middle-aged uncle sighed, ¡°Because I once encountered a ghost talk. It was like this. It was foggy outside, and no matter how we walked we would eventually return to this place. Unless we can clear this ghost talk, we will either be contaminated by ¡°Him,¡± or be trapped here forever.¡±


    By this time, the middle-aged uncle had several people surrounding him: a girl in a yellow dress who was pushing a shopping cart like Su Rong; the auntie who had discovered the fog; a beautiful long-haired woman carrying a shopping basket; and a young man with overly fashionable green hair, holding two bags of potato chips and a package of hair dye.


    Of course, the youngest here was Su Rong. She had just recently passed her 18th birthday, but she¡¯d already completed her college entrance exams. She even got into the best school in the country, Q University.


    ¡±Is it the truth just cause you said so?¡± The green-hair scoffed with the characteristic arrogance of a small gangster. ¡°Who knows, maybe this fog was caused by you?¡±


    The middle-aged uncle glanced at him. ¡°Then you can just assume that what I said is wrong and try it out for yourself. ¡°


    After finishing speaking, he no longer cared about him and continued. ¡°Everyone has read the ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks,¡± right?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The crowd answered in unison, including the green hair just now. Although he liked to provoke, he still had the IQ of a normal person in the end. He didn¡¯t really try to go out and offer up his own neck.


    The ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks¡± was a guide published by the Global Ghost Talk Research Association. Published after countless revisions, it was applicable to almost every rule of the horror stories.


    Since the first ghost came to earth ten years ago, numerous stories with rules have come one after another over the years. And every time they came, it represented the demise of countless lives.


    During this time, it was naturally impossible for human beings to go down without a fight. The ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks¡± was what they came up with to increase the survival rate of humans.


    In addition, humans also found that these so-called ghost talks were just ¡°His¡± game. As long as you found the correct rules to clear the ghost talk, you could leave alive. If you could eliminate ¡°His¡± doppelganger, the source of contamination in the ghost talk, then you could end the ghost talk completely.


    Ten years of experience helped everyone to stop being helpless. When one encountered this kind of thing, they may secretly curse their bad luck, but at least they would not directly collapse.


    The middle-aged uncle nodded and pulled out a green ID card from his inner pocket, indicating his military status. ¡°My name is Wang Jianguo. I am a retired soldier who once entered a ghost talk.¡±


    Two short sentences left everyone in awe. If he entered a ghost talk and could still appear in front of them now, he must¡¯ve cleared the story. No matter how tragic the outcome of that game may have been, simply surviving was worthy of respect.


    Not to mention he was also a soldier, so his character was guaranteed. Everyone immediately gave him seven points of respect and three points of trust, at least superficially.


    ¡±So far no one else has gathered, so it seems only six of us were selected for this ghost talk.¡±


    Su Rong noticed that the eyes of the girl in the yellow dress were already red and she kept wiping away her tears with her hands. Not just her, but everyone else¡¯s expressions were also very sour.


    Even Su Rong herself couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    How could it be that she was chosen?


    Wang Jianguo also knew how unwilling everyone was, but there was nothing he could do. Sometimes fate was so unreasonable. ¡°Be happy, friends. After we get out of this ghost talk and report to the authorities, you will all become investigators!


    ¡°Investigator¡± was the collective term for all humans who had passed at least one ghost talk. After reporting, the government would gift these investigators very generous treatment and subsidies. Some investigators could even be invited to join the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡± and work their way to the top of the ladder.


    Thinking of such a bright future, everyone¡¯s expressions looked a lot better. At least for now, no one felt certain they were bound to die.


    ¡±If you¡¯re here, then you¡¯re safe. Since it¡¯s come to this, let¡¯s introduce ourselves first.¡± Wang Jianguo looked around the crowd and pointed to green hair. ¡°Starting with you.¡±


    Green hair scowled. After hearing Wang Jianguo¡¯s identity, he actually regretted running his mouth earlier. Seeing the other man singling him out first, he was even more sure that he had offended him.


    ¡°Just call me Zhao Peng. I work in a hair salon. Alright?¡±


    After he finished speaking, the wavy-haired beauty next to her brushed back her hair. Su Rong was behind her and could smell a strong fragrance of shampoo and a hint of coffee.


    ¡±My name is Min Jingyi. I¡¯m currently starting my own business and opening a coffee shop. If I can survive this time, I will treat everyone to free drinks.¡±


    When she said this, the originally gloomy atmosphere eased a bit.


    Getting out alive was the common dream of these six people.


    ¡±I¡¯m Li Hui, a resident of the community. I¡¯m 50 this year and just retired. I used to work in a factory.¡± The slightly round aunt introduced herself with a downcast gaze.


    It was hard to be in good cheer for someone who had just retired and could finally enjoy the happiness of family life but was suddenly pulled into this crappy place.


    Next was the girl in the yellow dress. She wore a pair of rimless glasses, but she took them off as she wiped her tears. Her red eyes were cute like a rabbit¡¯s. ¡°My name is Huang Tao. I¡¯m an elementary school teacher in training.¡­.. I just came to buy cat food, why am I so unlucky!¡±


    Her shrill crying made the whole supermarket look even more horrible. If it was any other time, other people would probably still have the leisure to feel pity for her. But in this kind of place, everyone was too busy taking care of themselves. Naturally, no one wanted to care for her.


    The green-haired Zhao Peng was full of annoyance. He rubbed his face and opened his mouth, cursing, ¡°Can¡¯t you stop crying? We¡¯re not dead yet, don¡¯t cry yourself to death!¡±


    Huang Tao hiccuped in fright but she really stopped crying. She shrank aside and sobbed softly. But such a voice was also very likely to make people irritated, so Min Jingyi hurried over to comfort her.


    Sighing, Su Rong opened her mouth to attract everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°My name is Su Rong. I¡¯m a student who just finished summer vacation. I¡¯m going to university soon.¡±


    In truth, she was also a time traveler.


    The unspeakable ¡°He¡± only liked people over the age of 18 to play with ¡°Him.¡± The unlucky original owner just finished her college exams not too long ago and encountered a ghost talk at home.


    Not surprisingly, the original owner died quietly at home. Su Rong, who had crossed over from another world, came back to life in her corpse and inherited her memories.


    The good thing was, because the original owner was already dead, the ghost talk had concluded. Otherwise, Su Rong would have to face a ghost talk as soon as she crossed, and it was estimated she would probably follow in the steps of the original owner.


    As for herself, she was a detective before she time-traveled. Unlike most private investigators in this world who could only be used for shady investigations, in her world, detectives were honorable, legal and a much-needed profession. In addition to receiving private commissions, good detectives could even receive commissions from the police.


    Obviously, she was an excellent detective who often received official commissions and worked together closely with the police.


    When cooperating with the police to arrest a criminal, she and her partner were trapped in a house buried in explosives in order to save a little girl. Then, the two were killed together in accident.


    Without waiting for her to reminisce more, Wang Jianguo continued his speech. ¡°Everyone calm down. Our primary goal now is to find the rules of this ghost talk. After you find it, please don¡¯t hide it and inform us directly. Hiding secrets in this kind of place will not do you any good and will harm other people. Understand?¡±


    He said these words with great severity, his eyes stern with fierceness and the aura of a soldier that could be felt at a glance. Everyone nodded their heads one after another, no one daring to say no.


    ¡±That¡­¡­¡± Su Rong raised her hand suddenly, picking up a piece of paper from the cash register. ¡°I think, I have found the rules.¡±


    Just now, when others were introducing themselves, she incidentally observed the nearest cash register. Her excellent detective¡¯s observation ability allowed her to quickly discover a piece of paper pasted by the staff.


    The top of the page had big bold letters¡ª


    ¡°Anle Supermarket Shopping Guide¡±


    Seeing the piece of paper she picked up, everyone immediately converged.


    Wang Jianguo took the paper and read it in a loud voice. ¡°Anle Supermarket Shopping Guide. In order to ensure that customers can buy what you want smoothly and safely, please be sure to comply with the following regulations.¡­..¡±


    ¡±.¡­..We wish all customers a safe and joyous time in the Anle Supermarket. A quiet and happy time, forever.¡±


    Su Rong¡¯s pupils trembled, looking at the rules that had turned inexplicably red on the rule sheet. She suddenly realized that the system notification that sounded in her ear that day might not have been fake.


    It seems she really could see the wrong rules!

 CH 2

    When she had just crossed over, Su Rong heard a strange, mechanical voice. ¡°[Contamination Alert] has been bound.¡±


    But it only spoke this sentence. No matter how she prompted again, it did not make a sound. Besides, Su Rong had just awakened at that time and soon forgot about this little episode.


    Just now, when she saw part of the rules turn red, she was suddenly blessed with fresh memories.


    Could it be that the notification was real?


    [Contamination Alert], could it warn her of contaminated rules?


    Su Rong looked at the rule paper in disbelief and couldn¡¯t help but ask Aunt Li next to her. ¡°The words on this paper¡­¡±


    She deliberately trailed off, not wanting to directly expose her ability. Whatever it was, it would be beneficial to hide it for the time being.


    The black letters turning into red was miraculous in itself, but if the auntie could also see it, she would definitely follow those words.


    However, it was clear the aunt didn¡¯t comprehend Su Rong¡¯s meaning and believed she meant the rules were difficult to understand. ¡°Girl, you don¡¯t understand the rules either, do you? What ¡®open mouths on the bags¡¯ and ¡®two pairs of sleeves on the clothes¡¯? How can there be such things in a normal place?¡±


    ¡±But this is not a normal place, right?¡± Su Rong replied subconsciously, still pondering over the golden finger she had suddenly gained.


    This time the aunt did not say anything. She thought of her current situation again, not in the mood to spit any words out.


    Su Rong¡¯s brow furrowed as she suddenly thought of another possibility. What if she had actually been tainted by ¡°Him¡±, and what she saw now was all fake?


    There are degrees of ¡°His¡± pollution. Generally speaking, mild contamination would lead to some hallucinations and tampering with certain perceptions. But as long as they were discovered in time and you did not continue to step into the trap, there was still a chance to clear the ghost talk.


    When the contamination was moderate, there were sanity and cognitive problems. Everything you could see and hear was affected by ¡°Him,¡± and you could only rely on the help of your teammates to pull you out of the ghost talk and then receive treatment.


    As for severe pollution, you were already completely bewitched, reduced to ¡°His¡± minion and becoming ¡°His¡± nourishment.


    So in her case, she may be lightly polluted.


    But the ghost talk had just begun, how did she already get polluted? If there was no violation of the rules, it stood to reason that ¡°He¡± could not have polluted herself.


    Or, was this really her golden finger?


    The more she pondered it, the more her head ached. Su Rong stopped thinking about it for the time being and decided to ignore the scarlet letters. She could verify whether it was true or otherwise later. There was no need to blindly trust it or to deny it completely.


    After giving everyone ample time to think, Wang Jianguo finally opened his mouth. ¡°There is a clock on the wall here. I have been watching it just now. It flows at the same rate as the watch I brought with me. So far, it seems this ghost talk has not tampered with the time. But we can¡¯t take it lightly, because it may not be the same afterward.¡±


    At these words, the crowd was stunned. One of the rules in the ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks¡± was [Please make sure you have the correct time in the ghost talk. It can help clear up your cognition.]


    But because it was everyone¡¯s first time to be selected into a ghost talk, no one remembered it under the duress.


    Now that Wang Jianguo said it, they suddenly remembered it. If it wasn¡¯t for him, perhaps they would have doubted time in the beginning, leading to a loss of cognition.


    Finally feeling the benefits of having a veteran around, everyone trusted Wang Jianguo a little more. In their view, Wang Jianguo was the most likely person to take them out alive.


    Wang Jianguo nodded in satisfaction, seeing what he just offered got immediate good results. He knew that in such a crisis-ridden ghost talk, if the humans themselves had internal strife, it would inevitably lead to the destruction of the group.


    So it was very important to have one person establish absolute leadership first.


    ¡±According to the known information, there are seven areas in this supermarket: the checkout area where we are now; the daily living area; the food area; the clothing area; the fresh seafood area; the bathrooms; and the warehouse. It says in the rules that non-staff are not allowed to enter the warehouse, so let¡¯s exclude it for now. The remaining six places, should the six of us explore them one by one?¡± Wang Jianguo asked.


    ¡±No!¡± Huang Tao, who was the least courageous, was the first to scream and object. Seeing that everyone was staring at her, she said weakly, ¡°If we move around alone in this kind of place, no one will know if something happens.¡±


    She had a point. Even Zhao Peng, who hated her very much before, nodded his head. He didn¡¯t want to wander alone. In a dangerous place, it was human instinct to stick together in a group.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s best to move in groups of two.¡±


    If everyone explored together in a group, the efficiency would be too slow. In ghost talks, the more time passed, the stronger ¡°His¡± contamination would be, and the harder it was to leave.


    In order to solicit opinions from the crowd, Wang Jianguo looked at the rules. ¡°Which of these six locations do you think we should explore first?¡±


    If they worked in groups of two, they could explore a total of three locations.


    ¡±The food area must be explored,¡± Aunt Li said immediately. She firmly believed that people depended on food and that the rules of the food area had to be confirmed first.


    After thinking, Su Rong offered two exclusions. ¡°We don¡¯t need to go to the daily living area and the toilet, because we will all go there in the end. The bathrooms are also over there.¡±


    Then the three places to be explored were determined: the food area; the seafood area and the clothing area.


    The next step was to divide the group. Aunt Li was the first to rush to Wang Jianguo¡¯s side, faster than ordinary elderly people. ¡°I am an elderly person who really needs to be taken care of. Jianguo, can you help me?¡±


    Wang Jianguo, who respected the elderly and loved the young, could only agree.


    Huang Tao also found Min Jingyi immediately. Min Jingyi had comforted her before, and her first impression was not bad. The most powerful Wang Jianguo had already been claimed first, and it was more reassuring to have her in the same team.


    Min Jingyi, who was pulled by the arm, glanced at Su Rong apologetically, then nodded and agreed to form a team.


    In fact, she had wanted to be in a group with Su Rong. After all, Huang Tao¡¯s first impression had been quite unconvincing. But the girl had already approached her pitifully, and Min Jingyi¡¯s upbringing did not allow her to refuse cruelly.


    The remaining Su Rong and Zhao Peng automatically became a group.


    Su Rong was not very satisfied about teaming up with Zhao Peng, but there was no other way. She took the initiative to fight for her own interests. ¡°Since we are the last to form a team, can we choose where to explore first?¡±


    Upholding the principles of fairness and justice, Wang Jianguo naturally had no objection. The Huang Tao duo also felt guilty for leaving behind Su Rong, a little girl, and chose to agree.


    ¡±Good going!¡± Zhao Peng didn¡¯t expect Su Rong, a female student, to allow him to choose the place to explore with just two sentences. His attitude towards her immediately became much better. ¡°I want the food section.¡±


    His concern was just to eat and drink.


    Su Rong had no objection and nodded.


    After they made their decision, the remaining two locations were quickly divvied up. The girl¡¯s group went to the clothes section while Wang Jianguo and Aunt Li went to the seafood section.


    ¡±By the way, what about the items we shopped for initially?¡± Su Rong suddenly remembered that she still had something in her hands¡ª her cart.


    Wang Jianguo hesitated for a moment. ¡°Wait until we finish exploring, then put them in the daily living area.¡±


    After speaking, he began to emphasize the precautions. ¡°The rules say we should rest in the daily living area at night. We can¡¯t be sure when the so-called ¡®night¡¯ will start. So to be on the safe side, gather here at 5:30 and we¡¯ll go there together. It¡¯s 4:00 now, you all have your watches, right? Don¡¯t forget the time!¡±


    Ever since ghost talks came to the world, the government has emphasized that everyone should wear a watch at all times. So all the six people present had a watch on their wrist. Comparing with each other, their times were the same.


    The food area was the closest to the cash registers. As Su Rong and Zhao Peng walked in, there were rows and rows of brands they had never seen before. The good thing was, the packaging was the same as ordinary bagged potato chips packaging. There was nothing strange in particular.


    Ignoring Su Rong¡¯s obstruction, Zhao Peng casually opened a bag and took out a potato chip, stuffing it into his mouth. He said while chewing, ¡°What¡¯re you scared of? There¡¯s no other food here, you¡¯ll have to eat it sooner or later. ¡°


    To survive in this ghost talk, they would have to come to the food section frequently to obtain food. That was also the reason why they came here to check. If they kept being hesitant or timid, sooner or later they would have a big problem.


    Passing by a row of shelves, a bag of potato chips placed in the second row suddenly opened its mouth full of fangs when the two passed by as if trying to eat them.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Su Rong was startled, let out a small cry and stepped sideways in apprehension. If she were to step backward, she may bump into the shelf behind her instead.


    Frightened by her scream, Zhao Peng quickly turned his head and saw the mouth on the shelf trying to bite them.


    He gulped, ¡°This thing¡­should be the expired food, right?


    ¡±It should be.¡± Su Rong nodded, some fear in her heart. ¡°We better stay away from it. If it suddenly pops out, we will definitely get hurt.¡±


    The two hurriedly scanned the entire food area again, then scurried back to the registers. Not long after, Wang Jianguo and Aunt Li also returned. They did not encounter the two situations mentioned in the rules as stated in the seafood area.


    ¡±Where are Jingyi and the others? Why haven¡¯t they come back?¡±


    **


    Min Jingyi and Huang Tao took a brief look after they arrived at the clothing section. There were a lot of white mannequins in the clothing area, placed in different poses.


    Each mannequin faced the entrance of the clothing area. Although they had no facial features, Huang Tao had a feeling that they were all watching her.


    As the rules said, these models had intact clothing, but they were in line with the aesthetics of normal humans. The only thing was those life-like poses gave people a very strange feeling.


    ¡±You go over there and have a look. I¡¯ll look over here.¡± Min Jingyi reminded, ¡°Don¡¯t forget the rules: close your eyes for ten seconds.¡±


    Although it looked a little weird here, Huang Tao was not so nervous because of the beautiful clothes. After hearing Min Jingyi¡¯s order, she held back the fear in her heart and walked to the right in order to prove herself. ¡°I remember, Sister Min. You should also be careful.¡±


    There seemed to be no problems on her side. After exploring two rows, Huang Tao was ready to go out.


    As soon as he turned around, her pupils constricted violently and her heart almost burst out of her chest.


    She didn¡¯t know when, but at some point, there was a pure white mannequin at the end of the aisle!


    The mannequin faced her in a hugging gesture. The clothes on its upper body were bulging and the skirt on the lower body was upside down, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The clothes were styled on the model in a way that did not conform to the common sense of physics. Very strange.


    It was the situation mentioned in the rules!


    The sudden appearance of a mannequin startled Huang Tao, but she instantly judged it and closed her eyes. Praying that nothing would happen, she kept silent for ten seconds.


    ¡±Ten, nine¡­¡­¡±


    It should be fine, right? After all, the rules already gave them the solution. As long as she followed the rules, she¡¯d be okay. Surely, there would be no problem!


    She thought this but subconsciously slowed down her counting.


    ¡±Eight, seven¡­¡­¡±


    There was no sound around, even the sound of Min Jingyi¡¯s footsteps had disappeared. Only the violent ¡°pounding¡± heartbeat from her own chest remained. Beads of sweat rolled down from her temples and slid down her cheeks.


    Ba-thump¡­ Ba-thump¡­ Her heart beat violently.


    ¡±Six, five, four¡­¡­¡±


    Wasn¡¯t the air conditioning too strong? Why was she shivering from the cold now? Huang Tao swallowed, rubbing her legs together and began to count down from three in her mind.


    ¡±.¡­..Three, two, one.¡±


    Opening her eyes, there was really no one in front of her. Huang Tao breathed a sigh of relief and turned to leave.


    And the moment she turned her head, a completely empty face, though absent of any facial features was just like a real person¡¯s, suddenly occupied all of Huang Tao¡¯s vision.

 CH 3

    Ming Jingyi was trying to see if there was a hidden passage in the clothing area. If she could discover a hidden passage, it could be the key to their customs clearance.


    As she walked, she vaguely felt that there was a sense of discord. Min Jingyi stopped and pondered for a while, then suddenly realized where the sense of wrongness came from.


    ¡ª¡ªThe sound of Huang Tao¡¯s footsteps disappeared!


    The clothing area was not too big and pretty empty. Before, she could always hear Huang Tao¡¯s footsteps. But now, her voice was the only sound left in the entire clothing area.


    Did Huang Tao encounter the situation mentioned in the rules?


    Min Jingyi didn¡¯t dare to call out to the other party rashly in this strange place for fear that Huang Tao would be tricked by her influence. She quickly walked out of the clothing area and waited anxiously at the entrance.


    While waiting, Min Jingyi looked at her watch. The clothing area was quite far from the cash registers. If Huang Tao didn¡¯t come out by 5:20, she would have no choice but to leave her and go back alone.


    Although the two were now a team, they were essentially strangers. She did not yet have the intention to abandon the larger group for a stranger.


    Fortunately, footsteps finally sounded from the clothing department at 5:15. Huang Tao¡¯s figure emerged from among the many mannequins and walked out swiftly.


    She was the same as before she went in. She exclaimed meekly, ¡°Sister Min! I just encountered the situation mentioned in the rules. A mannequin suddenly appeared in front of me, and it was really scary! But fortunately, I followed the rules. I closed my eyes and counted for ten seconds. When I opened my eyes, I was completely safe.¡±


    ¡±Why is your face a little red?¡± Min Jingyi queried suspiciously. Shouldn¡¯t her face be pale if she was frightened? But Huang Tao¡¯s face healthily flushed, which looked very strange.


    Huang Tao showed an innocent expression. ¡°Maybe the blood rushed to my face due to being scared?¡±


    This seemed to make sense, but it was still a bit odd. It tugged at the back of Min Jingyi¡¯s mind for a bit before she continued. ¡°Since you¡¯ve encountered weirdness in the clothing area this time and nothing happened while acting in accordance with the rules, then that proves the rules are correct.¡±


    Behind Min Jingyi, a strange smile appeared on Huang Tao¡¯s face. The smile gradually stretched bigger and bigger, eventually surpassing the arc that normal people could make. The corners of her mouth cracked all the way to her ears.


    ¡±Yes. This is a rule that everyone should follow.¡±


    **


    ¡±We can¡¯t wait any longer.¡± Wang Jianguo declared decisively at 5:25. ¡°Grab the things you bought earlier. We¡¯ll head to the daily living department first.¡±


    If the two did not return for so long in this dangerous ghost talk, it was highly likely they were in danger.


    Just as they were about to leave, two figures suddenly walked over from a distance. It was Min Jingyi and Huang Tao. Holding hands, the two girls trotted over. ¡°We¡¯re back, sorry for the lateness.¡±


    Seeing them return, the crowd couldn¡¯t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Wang Jianguo asked, ¡°What happened? Why are you guys back so late?¡±


    Huang Tao took the initiative to speak and described the oddly dressed mannequin she met in the clothing area. That she was safe after closing her eyes according to the rules. She concluded, ¡°So the third rule is correct. I don¡¯t think we need to be afraid of the clothing area.¡±


    Hearing her words, Su Rong¡¯s eyes flashed and she couldn¡¯t help but glance at the white paper with the rules on it again.


    In bold letters, [Please close your eyes for ten seconds. After ten seconds everything will be back to normal.] This sentence was clearly as bright red as blood.


    According to her original speculation, if the changes on the rules paper were truly caused by the [Contamination Alert], then the red words were polluted by ¡°Him¡±.


    But now, according to Huang Tao, the red words were true. Could it be that the crimson letters on this paper really were a hallucination induced after being contaminated by ¡°Him¡±?


    Su Rong didn¡¯t want to jump to conclusions. Firstly, she had no reason to be polluted as soon as she entered the ghost talk. Secondly, when she crossed over, she truly did hear the sound ¡°[Contamination Alert] has been bound.¡±


    Compared to what happened while inside the ghost talk, Su Rong was more willing to believe what occurred outside in reality.


    Assuming the hints given by the [Contamination Alert] were correct, you should not close your eyes and pray when you encounter strangely dressed mannequins in the clothing section. Did that mean Huang Tao was lying?


    But why would she lie?


    Su Rong didn¡¯t think that a girl as timid as a mouse would lie about this matter. Unless, Huang Tao had already been polluted by ¡°Him¡± because of her wrong methods of dealing with the weirdness, and her cognition had changed.


    Considering this, Su Rong shuddered and she became vigilant. Regardless of whether there was a problem with Huang Tao, the most important thing was to confirm Min Jingyi¡¯s credibility. This related to whether she would have to defend against two people, or just one.


    ¡°Sister Min, did you see the mannequin mentioned in the rules?¡± Su Rong asked suddenly.


    ¡°Me? I was lucky not to meet one.¡± Min Jingyi shook her head happily. Even if she knew the solution, she didn¡¯t want to encounter any weirdness in the ghost talk.


    Hearing this, Su Rong breathed a sigh of relief. As a detective who often discerned lies, she could tell whether Min Jingyi was lying or not.


    But strangely enough, it didn¡¯t seem Huang Tao was lying either.


    Aunt Li urged anxiously, ¡°Let¡¯s discuss later once we go to the daily living area. Or we¡¯ll be late and die here together.¡±


    After saying that, she immediately spat out three times. ¡°Heavens, what am I saying!? This mouth of mine!¡±


    Older people always believed metaphysic disasters came from the mouth.


    Wang Jianguo nodded without further delay. ¡°Let¡¯s go. Go to the daily living area together.¡±


    Su Rong pushed her cart filled with only a bag of rice and a case of mineral water, following the large group to the daily living area.


    To get from the checkout counters to the daily living area, they had to cross through the food section and then pass through an open space. Su Rong and Zhao Peng had already described in detail the abnormalities that would appear in the food area while they waited for the others. As long as they were not frightened, there was no danger at present. The group passed through without any incident.


    The daily living department was a bit far from the registers, but luckily they left early and arrived on time before six o¡¯clock.


    There seemed to be a new room here, with towels and pillowcases and other supplies placed on the shelves against the left wall, and toiletries placed on the shelf next to the door. Additionally, there were pots and pans. It was worthy of being the daily necessities area.


    As stated in the rules, there were six beds in the center of the room. The wooden brown bed frame was layered with a thick, light-colored bedding. The edge of the bed was surrounded by thick wooden planks of the same color as the bed frame base. The overall shape seemed to be a coffin, specially tailored for the six of them.


    ¡±This¡­¡­ is too unlucky, isn¡¯t it?¡± Aunt Li expressed what several people had in their mind.


    Zhao Peng frowned, tousling his green hair. ¡°There isn¡¯t anything wrong with the bed right? It¡¯s designed to look like a coffin, isn¡¯t this just cursing us to die?¡±


    He grumbled and walked over to touch the mattress inside the bed. ¡°At least the mattress is not too bad.¡±


    Because Zhao Peng had berated her once before, Huang Tao, who was afraid of him, made a suggestion in a quiet voice. ¡°The style of these beds is terrible. Why don¡¯t we sleep on the floor?¡±


    Aunt Li, who originally thought this kind of coffin bed was very unlucky, was won over by this suggestion deep inside her heart. ¡°I think we should! Isn¡¯t there bedding on the shelves? If we directly lay it on the ground, shouldn¡¯t it be alright?¡±


    Wang Jianguo stared at the rule paper he brought over. ¡°But the rules specifically mention the trial bedding. I think it may have an effect.¡±


    ¡±What effect can it have?¡± Aunt Li immediately retorted. ¡°Aren¡¯t there also false rules? Maybe this broken bed is a trap set by ¡®Him¡¯ for us.¡±


    Now Wang Jianguo also hesitated, unsure whether he should sleep in the bed. Without enough information, the six coffin beds did look a bit weird.


    While they were conversing, Su Rong was surveying the area. The LED lights on the ceiling over the beds were very bright, but they were not as pale as outside, infused with a warm yellow glow. Except for these beds, the overall appearance was mostly normal. There was no strangeness


    Suddenly, she noticed a corner of white paper at the back of the shelves. You wouldn¡¯t notice it without looking closely. She went to pick it up and unfolded it. It turned out to be another sheet of rules!


    ¡±Look! There are rules here!¡±


    ¡°Rules for the Daily Living Area¡°


    The rules in the daily living area were a little less than those in the entire Anle Supermarket.


    What caught Su Rong¡¯s attention the most was that, compared to the text in the ¡°Anle Supermarket Shopping Guide¡°, this ¡°Rules for the Daily Living Area¡± had a total of only two sentences marked in red.


    ¡ª¡ª[The power will never be cut off.]


    ¡ª¡ª[You can remove the boards around the bed.]


    Su Rong eyes drifted to the coffin-like beds again. Although sleeping in a coffin was indeed unlucky, what if this design was to protect them? If the surrounding wooden boards were removed, would the protective device be destroyed, giving ¡°Him¡± an opportunity?


    As she thought about it, the others also gathered around because of this new discovery. Min Jingyi pat Su Rong¡¯s head. ¡°Su Rong, you¡¯re amazing! You discovered the rules twice.¡±


    Su Rong pretended to be embarrassed and smiled. ¡°In fact, these two pieces of paper were placed on the table. It¡¯s not difficult to find them, I just happened to see it first.¡±


    ¡±Oh, how come there¡¯s another rule?¡± Aunt Li frowned, ¡°I can¡¯t even understand one of them, what¡¯s the point of having another one?¡±


    At the edge of the crowd, Huang Tao bit her nails nervously. It was unknown what she was thinking.


    Wang Jianguo picked up the piece of paper and examined it carefully. He made a decision after a while. ¡°We¡¯d better sleep in the bed at night.¡±

 CH 4

    ¡±Why!¡± Huang Tao was the first to yell. Then, seeming to realize she had overreacted, she immediately quieted down. ¡°I¡­I hate it, sleeping in a coffin bed. It¡¯s too ugly.¡±


    Feeling the same, Aunt Li echoed, ¡°That¡¯s right! This bed is so unlucky, ah! If you want to sleep in it, you can sleep in it! But I won¡¯t sleep in it.¡±


    Finished speaking, she plopped down cross-legged on the floor, pulling Huang Tao¡¯s clothes to let her sit with her. The two sat side-by-side in a demonstration.


    Wang Jianguo frowned. ¡°Look at these two rule papers. There are four places where this bed is mentioned, and it¡¯s recommended to sleep in bed at night. If you refuse to go to bed, you will be polluted by ¡°Him.¡± Don¡¯t blame me for tying you up when you do, regardless of any affections.¡±


    ¡±Who cares about them?¡± Zhao Peng sneered, ¡°They have packed their bags for the afterlife. At least the two of them won¡¯t be alone on their way to hell.¡±


    An aunt with so many complaints and a big coward who he hated since the beginning, it was better for them to die!


    It could be seen that Zhao Peng really didn¡¯t care about their life or death, and spying Wang Jianguo¡¯s cold face, Aunt Li shivered. She stood up embarrassingly. ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, aren¡¯t I just afraid of problems? Sleep, we¡¯ll just sleep in the bed.¡±


    ¡±What about the rest of you?¡± Wang Jianguo glanced at the remaining few.


    Min Jingyi and Su Rong, who thought that the bed was safer, expressed their opinions. ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll sleep in the bed.¡±


    Seeing Li Hui betray her so easily, Huang Tao was quick to change her tune and briskly stood up. ¡°Then it¡¯s okay if we remove the wooden baseboards around the bed, right? It also said so in the rules.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes! It won¡¯t be as unlucky if we remove them.¡± Aunt Li, the grasshopper on the wall, jumped up again.


    ¡±That¡¯s¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Su Rong couldn¡¯t help standing up to refute.


    Although she still wasn¡¯t sure whether the scarlet letters she saw were polluted, as Wang Jianguo pointed out, three of the four rules showed the importance of the bed. How could they remove it so easily?


    The fourth rule was likely to be contaminated by ¡°Him¡±.


    She concealed the matter of the scarlet letters and offered her own speculations. Min Jingyi immediately nodded in agreement. ¡°I think so too, let¡¯s not touch the bed. Let the coffin be a coffin, as long as it is safe.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I found the toilet!¡± Zhao Peng suddenly interrupted their discussion, pointing to a door behind the daily living area and shouting.


    Posted on the wall were signs with male and female symbols on the left and right sides of the doors. The left side was the men¡¯s toilet while the right side was the women¡¯s.


    ¡±There should be no problems with these signs. If you need to use the bathroom, do it quickly. Don¡¯t forget to pay attention to whether there is paper in the toilet.¡±


    Although he said so, no one dared to take the lead. Bathrooms have been a breeding ground for horror incidents since ancient times, and humans had an innate fear of them.


    ¡±Wait?¡± Zhao Peng suddenly thought of something. ¡°Why can¡¯t we just urinate on the ground? Knowing that this place is dangerous and still heading in, aren¡¯t we just looking for death?¡±


    This method made everyone¡¯s eyes shine. If they didn¡¯t have to go inside the restroom, there would be no better outcome.


    However, Wang Jianguo stopped him with a solemn face. ¡°No, that is absolutely not possible!¡±


    ¡±Why?¡± Zhao Peng questioned with dissatisfaction.


    ¡°Have you forgotten the ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks¡°? In ghost talks, we must conform to our roles. We are now customers. Would customers urinate and defecate freely in the mall?¡±


    After Wang Jianguo finished speaking, he was the first to go in and lead the charge.


    Everyone looked at each other in blank dismay, not daring to follow in.


    After thinking about the rules she saw, Su Rong resolutely walked in on behalf of the girls. She chose to temporarily believe in the rules and the red letters she had seen. The sign on the toilet was fine and there was paper in the toilet, so the bathroom was safe.


    The toilet was enclosed with only a small window sealed by frosted glass. A dim orange chandelier hung on the ceiling, flickering from time to time, looking ghastly. A faint stench lingered in her nose, and there was also a faint smell of blood-like rust.


    This kind of space would undoubtedly give people a great sense of oppression. The chandelier swayed making a creaking sound, and the ¡°drip drip¡± sound of water leaking from the water pipe. All made people shudder and want to run out directly.


    Su Rong quickly pulled open the door of the stall and there was toilet paper in it. She quickly solved her physiological problems in the small confined space, flushed, washed her hands, then opened the door and went out.


    She did not breathe out in relief until she reached the door. Facing everyone¡¯s questioning eyes, she shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s okay, there¡¯s no danger inside. It¡¯s just scary.¡±


    Still a little scared in her heart, Min Jingyi glanced at Huang Tao, hesitated for a moment, then turned to Li Hui. ¡°Auntie Li? How about we go inside together?¡±


    Noticing this scene, Su Rong¡¯s eyes flashed thoughtfully.


    Min Jingyi was avoiding Huang Tao? Why? Did she notice anything?


    However, Aunt Li shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t want to go now.¡±


    Seeing her refusal, Huang Tao was puzzled why the other party didn¡¯t find her first. She was overjoyed and opened her mouth to speak. ¡°I¡ª¡±


    Su Rong interrupted her in time. ¡°Sister Min. I¡¯ll accompany you inside one more time.¡±


    As she spoke, she walked up and held Min Jingyi¡¯s arm. Under Min Jingyi¡¯s grateful gaze, the two walked into the toilet together.


    When they got inside, she deliberately asked with suspicion. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you want to come in with Huang Tao just now?¡±


    Surprised by her cautiousness, Min Jingyi smiled wryly. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m overthinking it. After we came out of the clothes department, I felt a little change in Huang Tao.¡±


    ¡±What change?¡±


    ¡±I can¡¯t say exactly, but I still remember when she came out of the clothing section. Her face was rosy, which was really weird. And she stayed in there for too long. From the time when the sound of her footsteps stopped to the time when she came out, it was well over ten seconds.¡±


    This was what Min Jingyi thought of later. The loss of her footsteps should mean that the other party met the mannequin mentioned in the rules. Then if she did what she said, the mannequin would have disappeared after ten seconds. With Huang Tao¡¯s timid personality, she would definitely run out immediately after finding out that she was safe.


    But no, she dragged her feet for two or three minutes before coming out.


    Remembering she had walked alone with her for a long time, Min Jingyi immediately had goosebumps on her arms, feeling deeply afraid.


    Su Rong originally suspected that Huang Tao was polluted by ¡°Him¡±, but now she was even more sure that at least the scarlet letters pertaining to the clothing area in the rules were completely wrong.


    ¡±Maybe the solution to the abnormality in the clothes section is wrong.¡± She frowned slightly. ¡°But how can we convince the others of this?¡±


    Min Jingyi had already finished using the bathroom and spoke while washing her hands. ¡°Let¡¯s head out first. We¡¯ll find a chance to talk to Brother Wang. There¡¯s nothing in the clothing area, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems in the short term.¡±


    Walking out, the two tacitly agreed not to say anything more and each found a bed to lie on.


    It was the first time for everyone to experience a coffin bed, which was really novel. Min Jingyi originally came to the mall to buy snacks and distributed them to everyone for dinner. After eating hastily, they were ready to rest.


    It¡¯s a bit early to rest at 7 o¡¯clock, and the daily living area is brightly lit so everyone couldn¡¯t help but chat.


    The greatest concern was naturally the place where they were trapped now. Aunt Li¡¯s voice conveyed the uneasiness of living in an unfamiliar environment. ¡°Is it really okay to live in the daily living area?¡±


    Wang Jianguo nodded. ¡°I was selected for a ghost talk before. There was also a similar safety zone there. During the early stages, ¡°He¡± cannot enter until a specific amount of time.¡±


    ¡°If the lights in the daily living area are turned off, will something dangerous happen?¡± Min Jingyi queried.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± Zhao Peng sneered, ¡°It definitely will! Why else would it tell us to come back immediately after the lights go out?¡±


    Su Rong thought of something. ¡°In that case, when we go out to explore tomorrow, we should leave a person in the daily living area. If the lights turn off, they can alert others.¡± After thinking about it, she added, ¡°Make that two. You will feel insecure if you are alone.¡±


    Truthfully, the reason she asked to keep two people was that if Huang Tao was alone, she might play some tricks in the safe zone. Su Rong couldn¡¯t trust her for the time being.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± This was what Wang Jianguo wanted to say. ¡°When we go out to explore tomorrow, we¡¯ll choose two people to stay here in turns. If the lights are suddenly turned off, one person will come out to call others, and the other will stay behind.¡±


    Everyone gradually fell into a deep sleep as they chatted.


    Late in the night, Li Hui suddenly felt the urge to pee. She didn¡¯t go to the toilet earlier because she didn¡¯t want to urinate. Now she couldn¡¯t hold back in the middle of the night, so she had no choice but to wake up.


    When she came to the door of the toilet, she deliberately looked up at the sign at the door.


    ¡ª¡ªA water drop-shaped yellow head.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Aunt Li was frightened and crawled back into bed screaming.


    The others were awakened by her and Zhao Peng cursed at her blearily. ¡°What are you screaming for!? Did you see a ghost?¡±


    ¡°I did see a ghost.¡± Auntie Li sobbed. ¡°That toilet, the sign on top wasn¡¯t human!¡±


    Su Rong was sleeping shallowly at first, but she woke up to the commotion. Hearing this, she looked past and sure enough, the symbol on the sign seemed different from before.


    ¡°Wait and go again.¡± She comforted. ¡°It should change back in a bit.¡±


    After waiting for more than ten minutes, Aunt Li held back for a long time in shock and fear. But she finally couldn¡¯t help it and walked over again. Fortunately, the signs above this time were the normal symbols for men and women, and there were no abnormalities.


    She breathed a sigh of relief and her desire to urinate welled up. She couldn¡¯t help rushing into the toilet quickly, opening the door of the nearest stall and quickly squatted over the bowl to relieve herself.


    She breathed a long sigh of relief after relieving herself and reached for the toilet paper with her opposite hand.


    After feeling for it twice, there was nothing. Aunt Li turned her head in confusion and found that the place where the toilet paper should have been was empty.


    Aunt Li froze, suddenly remembering that she was in a hurry when she came in and forgot to check whether there was toilet paper in the stall.


    And one of the rules was ¡ª if there is no toilet paper in the bathroom, please don¡¯t use the toilet.


    ¡°Knock knock knock.¡±


    Someone rapped on the toilet door from outside. The abrupt knocking sound was especially noticeable in the quiet bathroom. Aunt Li turned around stiffly, unable to make a sound as if her voice was broken.


    Something spread from the toilet door to the woman¡¯s feet, soaking the toes of her shoes.


    Aunt Li¡¯s eyes widened in terror, teardrops rolling down her pale face uncontrollably.


    ¡°Crack.¡±


    The door opened. A human voice, seemingly synthesized by machinery, softly asked, ¡°Are you here to play with me?¡±

 CH 5

    Woken up by the urge to urinate early in the morning, Min Jingyi looked at the time. It was only 7:18 am. She scratched her frizzy hair casually, got up and went to the bathroom.


    Although she had just woken up, she still remembered what the rules said and examined the signs vigilantly.


    It was a normal male and female sign. Min Jingyi breathed in relief and walked into the toilet.


    As soon as she opened the door of the first stall, she saw the bright red tragedy inside. Min Jingyi¡¯s eyes widened in horror. Two seconds later, she screamed out and crashed down into the floor.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    This scream was like the sound of a police siren, immediately alerting the several people who had not slept soundly. They opened their eyes on the bed at the same time.


    Su Rong rubbed her eyes and judged that from the direction of the voice, it should be coming from the toilet. She quickly jumped out of bed and ran over with Wang Jianguo, who also got out of bed quickly.


    When they arrived at the door of the toilet, Wang Jianguo deliberately stopped her. After confirming there was no problem with the sign, the two of them ran in together.


    Directly opposite the first stall in the women¡¯s bathroom, Min Jingyi was sitting on the ground and leaning against the wall. She was covering her mouth with her hands, breathing rapidly and looking ahead in horror with tears in her eyes, as if she had seen a ghost.


    What was in the toilet?


    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t go in.¡± Seeing Wang Jianguo inch forward, Su Rong hurriedly stopped him. ¡°Don¡¯t forget that we are customers. Males are not allowed in the women¡¯s toilet.¡±


    The originally clean toilet was now covered in scarlet. Severed limbs and pieces of meat were scattered everywhere as if they had exploded. The wall was spattered with blood, which had now turned dark red after a night of settling.


    And inside the stall, Aunt Li¡¯s head was floating in blood.


    She did not die peacefully. Her yellow eyes were full of extreme fear and despair. Just one glance made people shudder, it was impossible to imagine the pain she had suffered during her death.


    As a detective in her previous life, Su Rong had seen dead people. But it was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had witnessed such a horrible scene. Even if she was prepared, it was inevitable that her heart would tremble. The strong stench of blood and urine pierced her nostrils. Her breathing became stagnant, nausea rising from her stomach.


    ¡°Urgh.¡­.. It¡¯s Aunt Li who died¡­¡­ *gag*¡­¡­¡±


    Thanks to the lack of food in the morning, Su Rong dry heaved. She put a hand on her chest and barely suppressed her urge to vomit. She went to Min Jingyi and supported her. ¡°Sister Min, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I.¡­.. I¡­¡­ *sob*!¡± Min Jingyi, who had always been calm, unexpectedly collapsed and burst into tears. Unlike Su Rong, she saw this scene unprepared. And the first time she saw a dead person, she saw such a horrible death.


    The bloody scene of a dismembered corpse coupled with the head in the toilet was a scene that would make the whole movie theater scream as soon as it appeared in any horror movie. Let alone, witness it with your own eyes?


    Wang Jianguo took Min Jingyi and helped her out. Su Rong took a deep breath, closed her eyes and walked out quickly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhao Peng and Huang Tao gathered around, looking at the appearance of these three people. Coupled with the disappearance of Aunt Li, Zhao Peng actually already had a guess in his mind.


    ¡°Aunt Li is dead.¡± Wang Jianguo announced somberly.


    Sure enough. Zhao Peng nodded with understanding. ¡°How did she die?¡±


    ¡°She should have triggered the abnormality in the toilet.¡° Su Rong couldn¡¯t help shivering when she recalled Aunt Li¡¯s miserable state. ¡°She died very tragically.¡±


    Working as a detective, especially in those underground investigations, she often saw dead people who died in strange ways. Su Rong quickly came to terms with the scene of Aunt Li¡¯s death she witnessed just now.


    Wang Jianguo also noticed this and couldn¡¯t help but glance at Su Rong. Although he didn¡¯t know what it looked like in the toilet, Min Jingyi, who had been calm since the start, was quite shaken. So he knew that it was absolutely terrifying inside.


    Could a normal female student really adapt to that scene so quickly like Su Rong?


    While they were talking, Huang Tao cuddled close to Min Jingyi who hadn¡¯t recovered from her fear. She comforted her in a low voice, ¡°Sister Min, are you okay?¡±


    Min Jingyi shook her head, couldn¡¯t help her eyes turning red again and hugged herself. That scene was so horrific that she felt like she would have nightmares about it for the rest of her life.


    ¡°Aunt Li.¡­.. Aunt Li just retired this year and was supposed to enjoy her old age peacefully.¡­..but¡­¡­ *sob*¡­¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t help but cry again, but she didn¡¯t know whether she was feeling sorry for Aunt Li or whether she was venting her fears.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sad.¡± Huang Tao embraced her, patting her on the back comfortingly.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be safe, just like me.¡±


    Her last words were said softly, and Min Jingyi, who was sobbing quietly, didn¡¯t hear.


    Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Wang Jianguo sighed and raised his voice. ¡°Although I am very sad about Aunt Li¡¯s death, I have to remind you that when someone dies in the ghost talk, ¡°His¡± strength will also increase accordingly.¡±


    This was news that no one knew. Everyone stared with wide eyes and panic.


    Wang Jianguo coughed heavily, ¡°So we don¡¯t have time to be sad. We have to hurry out and find clues.¡±


    Only the first batch of selected people could leave permanent clues inside these ghost talks. If they could find those clues, there was a possibility of clearing the level.


    Of course, not all ghost talks contained such clues. After all, those chosen were too busy taking care of themselves. They may not have had a chance to leave anything behind.


    Seeing Min Jingyi, whose eyes were red and swollen and obviously still mentally unstable, Su Rong couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Let Sister Min stay and guard.¡±


    Wang Jianguo also knew that Min Jingyi¡¯s state was not suitable for going out to explore. ¡°He¡± was used to bewitching people¡¯s hearts, and Min Jingyi¡¯s mental state is not good. Going out now would equal death.


    ¡°Okay, Jingyi. Can you stay in the daily necessities area alone?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Min Jingyi wiped away her tears.


    ¡°Then for the rest of the group¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be with Huang Tao!¡± Su Rong said immediately, giving Huang Tao a friendly smile after speaking.


    Huang Tao had no real objection and nodded with a happy expression.


    Knowing that there was something wrong with Huang Tao, Su Rong¡¯s conscience could not allow her to hand over the ticking time bomb to someone unaware. Because there was no evidence, she couldn¡¯t report Huang Tao together with Min Jingyi. It would be troublesome if they were suspected instead.


    But Su Rong knew that she had a problem anyway, so she could be on guard.


    Zhao Peng and Wang Jianguo were automatically divided into one group. The two groups left the daily necessities area and started exploring separately.


    After thinking about it, Su Rong pulled Wang Jianguo aside and whispered in his ear. ¡°Don¡¯t go to the clothing area.¡±


    The rules of the clothing area were likely problematic. If they went to the clothing area now, there would be a second ¡°Huang Tao¡± on their hands.


    Hearing this, Wang Jianguo looked at Su Rong in surprise. Zhao Peng hummed and hawed next to him, but was also inquisitive. ¡°Hey! What¡¯re you whispering?¡±


    Su Rong clasped her fingers together, looking embarrassed. ¡°There is none in the daily living area. I wanted Brother Wang to help me look for sanitary napkins in this place. I feel that my day is coming soon.¡±


    No one paid attention to this matter, so naturally, they didn¡¯t know that Su Rong lied.


    Excluding herself, the expressions of the three present froze. Wang Jianguo gave her a deep look, then nodded stiffly. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    After parting, Su Rong went straight to the food area with Huang Tao. According to the rules and her previous experience, the food area was the safest. Here, even if there is a problem with Huang Tao, there shouldn¡¯t be any trouble.


    ¡°Rong Rong, can I call you that?¡± Huang Tao asked cautiously while walking on the road.


    Su Rong nodded. ¡°Of course, then I¡¯ll call you Tao Zi.¡±


    The exchange of names visibly made Huang Tao a little happier. She glanced at the road Su Rong was taking. ¡°Are you going to the food section? Haven¡¯t you been there before? Why don¡¯t we go to the clothing area?¡±


    Hearing the words ¡°clothing area,¡± Su Rong understood and finally confirmed that there was definitely something wrong with Huang Tao. It is impossible for a girl who is as timid as a mouse to take the initiative to ask to go to the place where she encountered weirdness before.


    She remained calm and replied, ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to the clothing section before?¡±


    ¡°The clothes in the clothing section are very beautiful! The outfit I¡¯m wearing now smells. I want to go to the clothing section to change.¡± Huang Tao begged, ¡°Rong Rong, come with me! Please!¡±


    This trick was completely useless to Su Rong. She had encountered a lot of nonsense. In the face of nonsense, just directly treat others the same way. ¡°Tao Zi, I really want to go to the food section! Please, just go with me.¡±


    The two voices attacked each other, and it was obvious that the shameless Su Rong was the better one. The corners of Huang Tao¡¯s mouth twitched and she stopped talking.


    When they arrived at the food area, Su Rong observed Huang Tao without any trace while carefully avoiding expired food. She was also focused on seeing if there were any clues on the ground. She was quite busy, doing all three things at once.


    Huang Tao didn¡¯t have much thoughts after seeing Su Rong was able to avoid the expired food very accurately. She stopped trying to do anything and focused on looking for clues.


    Her excellent powers of observation showed their effect this time. After browsing the entire food area, Su Rong finally saw a note behind a pack of snacks.


    She glanced at Huang Tao, hesitating for a moment. She wanted to secretly take the note away, but Huang Tao was more sensitive than she thought and looked over right at that moment.


    Su Rong had no choice but to pretend to be surprised and took out the note. ¡°Look, I found a clue!¡±


    For an instant, Huang Tao¡¯s face darkened, then morphed into the same surprise as Su Rong at an extremely fast speed. If Su Rong hadn¡¯t been paying attention to Huang Tao all this time and had an extremely precise grasp of facial expressions, she might not have been able to sense it.


    The two looked at the slip of paper together. There was only one note on it.


    ¡ª¡ª¡°We are customers! Hahahahaha we even forgot that we are customers! The way to get out is ¡ö¡ö¡ö¡ö.¡±


    In the end, the most critical part was blurred, and it should be ¡°him¡± who did it. Su Rong frowned, keeping a safe distance from Huang Tao and began to ponder in her heart.


    Customer? Both Su Rong and Wang Jianguo were aware they were customers. But what did that have to do with getting out?


    Suddenly, Su Rong turned her head abruptly.


    She didn¡¯t know when Huang Tao had come over and stood behind her.

 CH 6

    ¡°Why are you so close to me?¡± Su Rong asked warily and took a few steps back.


    Huang Tao didn¡¯t try to get closer, standing still with an innocent expression. ¡°I wanted to read the note again.¡±


    Su Rong couldn¡¯t find fault with this. She licked her lips, ¡°Sorry. I¡¯m just a little startled now because I found a clue. Let¡¯s go back first, shall we?¡±


    The daily necessities area was relatively safer, and with Min Jingyi there, she also felt a little more secure. If Su Rong stayed alone with Huang Tao, who knew what she might do?


    ¡°Okay.¡± To Su Rong¡¯s surprise, Huang Tao agreed directly and walked back with her obediently.


    **


    The daily living area.


    After sitting for a while, Min Jingyi felt that her spirit had eased up quite a bit. She also felt a little embarrassed when she remembered how badly she was crying just now.


    The empty daily living area was very quiet. Everyone else had left to find clues and Min Jingyi felt pretty bored staying alone for a few hours. She climbed out of bed and counted the supplies idly.


    Lighters, pillows, plastic cups, toothbrushes¡­¡­ posters¡­¡­


    Huh? Since when was there a half-covered poster here?


    Min Jingyi instinctively glanced at it.


    It was a very ordinary promotional poster of the Anle Supermarket with an empty lobby in the background.


    What exactly was the word that was covered up? Min Jingyi didn¡¯t realize that she was gradually approaching the poster, so focused she was unable to look away.


    Getting closer, and closer¡­¡­


    She was so curious. What was it?


    ¡°Sister Min! What are you doing!?¡± A voice suddenly screamed.


    Su Rong rushed forward in a flash, ignoring everything else and pushing Min Jingyi hard.


    With a bang, Min Jingi was shoved to the ground, stunned.


    Moments later, she seemed to come back to her senses, blinking slowly and puzzled. ¡°What happened just now? I remember¡­¡­ I think I saw¡­¡­ a poster?!¡±


    Her eyes widened as she suddenly recalled the rules of the ¡°Daily Living Area¡± ¡ª ¡°If you see a poster, please ignore it. Do not open it.¡±


    Su Rong had just stepped into the daily living area when she saw Min Jingyi looking possessed, her right hand just a step away from a rolled-up poster. Frightened, she rushed directly to push her away, thus avoiding a tragedy.


    The one most afraid was obviously Min Jingyi. She covered her heart with one hand and breathed heavily, her chest palpitating with lingering fear. After a while, she thanked Su Rong gratefully. ¡°Thank you, Su Rong. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would have already¡­¡­¡±


    She clearly remembered that she was out of control at the time, fully focused on the poster. If Su Rong hadn¡¯t pushed her away in time, she would have been contaminated by ¡°Him¡± now.


    Su Rong shook her head. ¡°You were terrified by what happened to Aunt Li, and you were the only one here. ¡°He¡± chose such a time to seduce you, it¡¯s so insidious and cunning.¡±


    Min Jingyi¡¯s face was pale. The repeated shocks she faced today made her spirits even worse, so she reluctantly asked, ¡°Why have you returned now?¡±


    ¡°I found a clue.¡± Su Rong took out the note and showed it to her. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    After reading the note, Min Jingyi¡¯s good-looking eyebrows frowned slightly. ¡°Customer? Is there anything special about being a customer?¡±


    This was also what Su Rong wanted to know. The word customer, how could it become the key to their escape?


    Huang Tao seemed to have given up on thinking, holding an open bag of potato chips and munching as she offered some to them. ¡°It¡¯s easier to use your brain when you eat something.¡±


    Probably because she was comforted by Huang Tao before, Min Jingyi subconsciously took out a chip and put it in her mouth. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t eat for now.¡± Su Rong was still ruminating over the note, not paying much attention to them.


    There were footsteps outside and Wang Jianguo and Zhao Peng walked back quickly with a rare look of joy on their faces. ¡°We¡¯ve found a clue!¡±


    Su Rong smiled and waved the slip of paper in her hand. ¡°We found one too.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± Wang Jianguo immediately took out their note. ¡°This is our clue.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°Since one person will always have to be sacrificed, why not choose someone who is not destined to survive?¡±


    Compared with Su Rong¡¯s note, the content of this note was decidedly less pleasant.


    ¡°One person will always have to be sacrificed? Why would anyone have to be sacrificed?¡± She had a vaguely negative premonition in her heart.


    The word used was ¡°sacrifice,¡± which proved this person was not simply killed by ¡°Him,¡± but died for the sake of the others who survived.


    And who was the person ¡°destined not to survive¡±? Were they the ones tainted by ¡°Him¡±?


    ¡°I think we should be able to get more answers from the seafood area and the warehouse.¡± After reading Su Rong¡¯s note, Wang Jianguo concluded, ¡°There is no place in ghost talks that are useless, especially in a small area like this.¡±


    Since the time he was lucky enough to escape from his first ghost talk, he had been searching for related knowledge to enrich himself, but he didn¡¯t expect it to come in handy again in his lifetime.


    Zhao Peng bristled, his expression disgusted. ¡°Then go tomorrow! I hate puzzles!¡±


    ¡°By the way, Su Rong. What you told me before¡­¡­¡± Wang Jianguo originally wanted to say something, but he was suddenly interrupted by a scream.


    Min Jingyi fell to the ground, wailing in pain. There was a big hole in her clothes at some point, exposing her bloody stomach. There was a hole in her abdomen, still expanding little by little. Inside, blood and intestines were spilling all over the floor.


    ¡°Sister Min! What¡¯s wrong!?¡± Su Rong ran over in a panic, trying to help Min Jingyi cover her stomach. The white intestines were soaked in blood, still writhing slightly. When she went to block them, they felt wet and hot, the steaming feeling rushing straight into her palms.


    But even this was useless. Her breath of life was gradually drained as the hole in her tummy grew in size.


    ¡°Help me! Help me! It hurts so much!¡± Min Jingyi sobbed, her forehead drenched in sweat. Her expression was fierce because of the severe pain, but her voice shrank smaller and smaller.


    The others also rushed over and stood next to Min Jingyi, unable to do anything.


    Wang Jianguo made a sudden discovery. ¡°Look at her stomach. It seems to have been bitten open by something.¡±


    Su Rong took a closer look. Sure enough, there were teeth marks around the edges of her abdomen, as if something bit her stomach open bit by bit. Just, the teeth marks were not human. More similar to animals with sharp fangs.


    Wait? Sharp fangs?


    Su Rong suddenly recalled something, turning her head sharply to look at Huang Tao. ¡°Did you just feed Sister Min expired food?¡±


    ¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡± Huang Tao looked anxious and seemed to be heartbroken for Min Jingyi, but still replied, ¡°Wasn¡¯t it you who gave those potato chips to Sister Min?¡±


    She didn¡¯t expect Huang Tao would retaliate. Su Rong immediately looked toward Min Jingyi, hoping she could prove her innocence.


    However, unknown if it was fate, Min Jingyi happened to pass out at this time.


    Looking at the wound that was impossible to treat, everyone knew that Min Jingyi would never wake up again after falling asleep.


    But no one had time to grieve for her. Everyone¡¯s eyes were on Su Rong and Huang Tao.


    It was obvious one of them told a lie. And the one who lied was the murderer who killed Min Jingyi!


    ¡°Rong Rong, why are you framing me?¡± Huang Tao¡¯s face was desperate with grief, her eyes red and bursting into tears. ¡°I thought we were friends.¡±


    The truth was, even if Su Rong didn¡¯t know the truth, she would not be tricked by her. Her expression was wrong. A person¡¯s first reaction to a false accusation should be surprise, not sadness like hers.


    And the reaction was too fast. If she was really framed suddenly, she should have been taken back for a moment instead of instantly crying and refuting.


    Unfortunately, she wasn¡¯t currently a judge, but a plaintiff facing the other side in court.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been polluted by ¡°Him¡± in the clothes area already, haven¡¯t you? The rules in the clothing section are simply wrong.¡± Su Rong regretted she did not directly expose Huang Tao before, though she had no evidence at the time. Though even if she did, no one would necessarily believe it.


    ¡°Sister Min and I had already discovered this problem, but we lacked the evidence to expose you. I didn¡¯t expect you to kill Sister Min like this.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! Everyone knows I have a good relationship with Sister Min, right? Don¡¯t talk nonsense just because Sister Min is unconscious!¡± Huang Tao showed an angry expression, making her red eyes as cute as a rabbit which easily aroused a desire to protect in others.


    Zhao Peng was the one who was hooked. ¡°Huang Tao is so timid, I don¡¯t think she would do that kind of thing. Su Rong, on the other hand, doesn¡¯t behave like an 18-year-old schoolgirl at all, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    At that, Su Rong¡¯s heart sank. Transmigrating into another body had really left a hidden danger for herself. Her identity as a detective was already so far from that of a good schoolgirl. She had to pay more attention to playing her role next time.


    If there was a next time.


    Just when she was thinking about how to survive this situation, Wang Jianguo suddenly opened his mouth.


    ¡°I trust Su Rong.¡±


    The sound made everyone look at him.


    Wang Jianguo continued to explain to Zhao Peng. ¡°When we left, what Su Rong secretly whispered to me was not asking to find sanitary napkins, but telling me not to go to the clothing area.¡±


    ¡°It turned out to be like this?¡± Zhao Peng was not a fool. Once he thought about it, he understood. If she had said this before, then what she claimed just now was in line with what was already established. In other words, Su Rong didn¡¯t lie. The one who lied could only be Huang Tao.


    Su Rong didn¡¯t expect her momentary kindness before would become a life-saving straw to her now.


    Among all the harmony, only Huang Tao¡¯s expression was cloudy and uncertain. Her foot moved slightly outward.


    Su Rong, who had been diverting some of her energy towards Huang Tao, noticed this keenly and immediately shouted, ¡°She¡¯s trying to run! Catch her!¡±


    Wang Jianguo immediately stepped forward and clutched Huang Tao¡¯s wrist with one hand. Zhao Peng also tactfully found a thick hemp rope from the shelf. The two of them worked together to tie up the struggling Huang Tao.


    Wiping off his unnecessary sweat, Zhao Peng spat, ¡°This little girl, almost tricked me! What should we do now? Throw her outside?¡±


    ¡°Leave her here. Maybe she is moderately contaminated. She can still be saved.¡± Wang Jianguo looked at the pleading Huang Tao, sighing.


    Although she had just killed a person, she should be punished by the law, not them. Wang Jianguo firmly believed in this.


    Zhao Peng frowned, thinking this guy was a real ¡°holy father¡± type. But he didn¡¯t refute, just stretched his waist. ¡°Now we should be safe for the time being¡­¡­¡±


    Before he finished speaking, the lights in the daily living area suddenly went out.

 CH 7

    Wang Jianguo immediately reacted and made a decision. ¡°Get in bed!¡±


    ¡°What about Huang Tao?¡± Su Rong couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    At this critical moment, Zhao Peng obviously didn¡¯t want to care about this polluted teammate. ¡°What do you care about her? Let her die!¡±


    Wang Jianguo hesitated for a moment before turning around and carrying Huang Tao into a bed. Then he went into his own, not forgetting to arrange his shoes.


    No one dared to speak except for Huang Tao, who kept struggling against the coffin bed, shouting angrily. ¡°Let me down! ¡°He¡± is coming! ¡°He¡± came to pick me up!¡±


    In the quiet darkness, there was only her struggling and shouting.


    Suddenly, there was a ¡°clang¡± and Huang Tao¡¯s screeching came to a halt.


    There was no longer a sound in the darkness.


    Su Rong covered her mouth and curled up in bed, careful not to let herself breathe too loudly. She felt cold air slowly flow around her, as if ¡°His¡± eyes were falling on her!


    The feeling of being stared at made Su Rong¡¯s heart thump loudly. She almost wanted to jump up and run away. But she held back and remained motionless, as if dead.


    The sound of running water, the sound of something striking the bottom of the coffin, going ¡°clack clack clack.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but imagine what was going on around her to make such a noise.


    I have to think of something else, Su Rong told herself. She realized that if she kept paying attention to those strange noises, she would become affected by ¡°Him.¡±


    What should she think about? She considered the differences between her two worlds.


    When she first came to this world, Su Rong was actually quite surprised. This world was so peaceful. The utopia she had dreamed of became reality after she had died and transmigrated. It felt like a joke from hell.


    In her world, there were as many criminals as there were dogs. New murders occurred almost every week. Normal criminals could still be caught, but criminals with high IQs could only become a dozen unsolved cases in a portfolio.


    A hundred ghosts walked at night, everyone was in danger.


    That¡¯s why she became a detective. Not for anything else, just to find the truth and restore the innocence of the world.


    The nemeses of criminals were no longer the police, but detectives. In this situation, Su Rong¡¯s daily life was actually quite dangerous. Too many people wanted her dead so the world could become their oyster again.


    Compared to her old life, the dangers of these ghost talks were quite similar. At best, just a little more unscientific.


    Thinking like this, Su Rong was suddenly less afraid.


    The time seemed to drag on. After an unknown period of time, the lights suddenly turned on again.


    Su Rong blinked, sat up and inadvertently looked toward Huang Tao.


    The coffin that was originally standing there was turned over at some point. It converged into a line of flesh and blood. At the end of the line was Huang Tao¡¯s head.


    Unlike Aunt Li, who died tragically before, Huang Tao¡¯s face didn¡¯t have any fierceness to it. Although her eyes were also open, her expression was very serene with a strange smile on her face staring in their direction, looking very eerie.


    ¡°Shit! It¡¯s scary to die!¡± Zhao Peng was agitated by this bizarre scene and couldn¡¯t help cursing.


    The ground was filled with blood, flesh and limbs, grinning heads, solid wooden coffin beds, and miserably white lights. The small daily living area seems to have gathered all the scenes needed for a ghost movie.


    Su Rong has also seen this type of smiling corpse. There was a former case where a criminal who liked to kill used to sew the corners of their victims¡¯ mouths into a smile with a needle and thread, then murdered them.


    At any rate, Huang Tao died voluntarily, unlike victims who died in endless pain.


    Su Rong felt a little sorry for this sudden thought, licking her dry lips and looked to Wang Jianguo. ¡°What next?¡±


    The only one among them who had experience in ghost talks was Wang Jianguo.


    At this time, Wang Jianguo¡¯s expression was gloomy. ¡°If this area, which said it wouldn¡¯t turn off their lights has had their power cut off, it means ¡°His¡± strength is increasing. His influence has already invaded this area.¡±


    ¡°This is the only safe zone.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhao Peng was also frightened by his words. ¡°The daily necessities area isn¡¯t safe anymore?¡±


    Although this was a hard fact to admit, Wang Jianguo nodded. ¡°We must find a way out as soon as possible. Otherwise, we may not even survive until tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Way out? Hah! What way out!¡± Zhao Peng showed a crying-like smile. ¡°We¡¯ve searched everywhere, there is no exit! This ghost talk just wants us dead!¡±


    The disappearance of the safe zone and the death of two people in one day made Zhao Peng¡¯s already precarious mentality on the verge of collapse. He was just a punk, when did he ever experience something like this?


    ¡°Calm down!¡± Wang Jianguo shouted sternly. ¡°Do you also want to die with them? In this kind of place, the most important thing is to keep yourself calm. Once your emotions crumble, you are not far from being contaminated.¡±


    This was indeed the case. Su Rong couldn¡¯t help but think of the deceased Min Jingyi.


    In her impression, Min Jingyi was a very smart and calm person.


    Until, she was frightened by Aunt Li¡¯s corpse.


    After that, Min Jingyi¡¯s mind started to drift. And after they all went out, she was almost polluted by the posters, then finally killed by Huang Tao. If she hadn¡¯t been frightened and kept calm, she would have never died so easily.


    So in ghost talks, it was important to stay rational and calm.


    ¡°There are still two places I haven¡¯t been to,¡± Su Rong raised her voice. ¡°The seafood area and the warehouse.¡±


    Zhao Peng took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. He didn¡¯t want to die. ¡°Isn¡¯t it impossible to go to the warehouse? Then let¡¯s visit the seafood area.¡±


    This was for the best, Wang Jianguo nodded. The three of them walked to the seafood area together. There was no sound in the silent supermarket, but Zhao Peng always had a suspicious feeling that a dark shadow was passing by them.


    At this time, he also felt his mentality was a little problematic. But, ¡°He¡± wouldn¡¯t give people any time to recover. Zhao Peng tried to calm himself down, but he still couldn¡¯t help cursing in his heart.


    The heavy smell of seafood assaulted their nostrils as soon as they stepped into the area, making them sick. Su Rong was sure she could also smell a hint of blood. Any detective living in her world would be very sensitive to this smell.


    Several transparent water tanks that only appeared in aquariums were placed in the middle. There were some water stains on the floor, as if the fish were splashing about.


    The creatures in the tanks looked normal, like fish from the seafood section in a supermarket.


    The only difference was that their pitch-black pupils seemed to hold an indescribable wisdom, staring at Su Rong and the others.


    ¡°These fish¡­¡­¡± Zhao Peng gulped. ¡°They¡¯re aren¡¯t human, right?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk nonsense!¡± Wang Jianguo reprimanded immediately with sternness. ¡°They are just fish. Fish will not turn into humans, and humans will not turn into fish.¡±


    Although he didn¡¯t know if there was something wrong with these fish, it was generally acknowledged that they wouldn¡¯t be changed by them.


    Noticing the sticky note pasted to the corner of a water tank, Su Rong leaned over to read. ¡°Money clams are safe when they are trembling. But when the clams are quiet, it is dangerous.¡±


    ¡°What does that mean?¡± Zhao Peng was full of doubts. ¡°Speaking of which, do you have some kind of radar? Every time, you find the clues.¡±


    Given the reminder, Wang Jianguo also noticed this and gave a thumb-up. ¡°Very impressive.¡±


    Su Rong thanked them calmly. As a detective, her professionalism made her subconsciously pay attention to details and be more sensitive wherever she goes. However, the rules in this ghost talk actually weren¡¯t that difficult to find. She deserved the praise.


    ¡°So what is a money clam? Is it something that predicts danger? I don¡¯t see any clams in these tanks though?¡± Zhao Peng asked a lot of questions in one breath, looking very nervous and confused.


    Likely because there were only three people left now, his temper had been restrained by a lot. After all, he also knew Wang Jianguo had the experience and Su Rong had high IQ. He was the most useless of the three.


    These questions were what everyone wanted to know. So far, a number of clues had been found, but they were scattered and hard to piece together. It seems there was still a key piece missing.


    ¡°Money clam¡­¡­ Customer¡­¡­¡± Su Rong quietly pondered all the clues that they had found so far, and her eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°I think I understand!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Knowing that Su Rong was smarter, Wang Jianguo asked her immediately when he heard her speak.


    Su Rong¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t hide her surprise. She was almost ecstatic when she turned around. ¡°I know how we can get out! Why didn¡¯t I think of it earlier? Customers! We are customers!¡±


    Without waiting for the other two to ask again, she directly explained the method of leaving. ¡°As customers, as long as we pay for the items we intended to buy before, can¡¯t we leave?¡±


    One sentence woke them up from their stupor.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡± Wang Jianguo thought carefully and found what Su Rong had said was really right. Customers who bought something and want to leave the store should of course pay first.


    The money clams may be the key props for them to get out.


    ¡°Great! We can finally get out!¡± Zhao Peng¡¯s eyes were red. ¡°Where are these money clams? I want to leave this hellhole now!¡±


    He had enough of the days of fear and the constant threat of death. He didn¡¯t want to stay here for a moment longer.


    ¡°Wait, there¡¯s one more question.¡± Wang Jianguo suddenly recalled. ¡°How much do we have to pay? We¡¯ll have to give the exact amount to get out, right?¡±


    His question made Zhao Peng frown. ¡°I remember¡­¡­ the things I got seem to cost 10-ish dollars? I just bought some shampoo products, definitely not expensive. As long as we cough up enough money, shouldn¡¯t we be good?¡±


    ¡°No, we must be cautious heading out.¡± Wang Jianguo refused. ¡°What if we let ¡°Him¡± get out because we gave too much money?¡±


    ¡°Fuck! Why is it so troublesome!¡± Realizing what he said might be right, Zhao Peng ruffled his hair carelessly. ¡°Do we have to pay for the food we ate in this ghost talk?¡±


    Su Rong, who had calmed down, said in a pensive voice, ¡°The rules said that everything here is free. Then we should only pay for the products from the normal supermarket.¡±


    ¡°What if that rule is false?¡± Zhao Peng asked back.


    Because that rule was in black, Su Rong thought it was true. But she definitely couldn¡¯t say that, so she could only find an excuse. ¡°The products here don¡¯t have any price tags. If we had to pay for them, then we¡¯d be as good as dead, no?¡±


    That was true. Zhao Peng didn¡¯t intend to give himself trouble, so he nodded his head and agreed with Su Rong¡¯s point of view.


    Suddenly, a black shadow flashed past everyone¡¯s vision.


    Zhao Peng, who was already mentally weak, jolted in shock and almost fell down. ¡°You¡­¡­you saw that, right? That black shadow!¡±


    Wang Jianguo had already assumed a fighting stance. ¡°I saw it. What was that?¡±


    ¡°I suddenly remembered something.¡± Su Rong abruptly asked an unrelated question. ¡°Why do you think the lights in the daily living area turned off earlier?¡±

 CH 8

    This question made Wang Jianguo freeze for a moment before answering hesitantly. ¡°¡­¡­Because of a power outage?¡±


    The rules of the daily living area stated that there would never be a blackout, but Wang Jianguo unconsciously remembered the element of power outages not knowing whether this rule was true or not.


    Su Rong¡¯s face became increasingly ugly as she continued to ask. ¡°If even the daily living area that won¡¯t have any power outages went out, then what do you think will happen to the other places in the supermarket?¡±


    ¡°Of course, the power will also be cut off!¡± Zhao Peng was about to collapse. ¡°What the hell have you been talking about? Have you been polluted?¡±


    Su Rong sighed helplessly. She didn¡¯t mean to stall for time, but she was just trying to straighten up her mind. ¡°If the entire supermarket had a blackout, then is the refrigeration in the seafood area also gone?¡±


    Wang Jianguo immediately reacted to this statement. ¡°You mean some seafood has escaped?¡±


    ¡°But don¡¯t the rules say the escaped seafood is safe?¡± Zhao Peng cried, guessing the desolate possibility in his heart.


    Thinking of the rule that had long been bright red, Su Rong¡¯s lips twitched. ¡°What if that rule is false?¡±


    ¡°Then that means the seafood crawling outside of their tanks¡­¡­are extremely dangerous.¡±


    Successfully creating a silence, the three glanced at each other as Wang Jianguo barked out an order. ¡°Run!¡±


    Just as they were running out of the seafood area without looking back, the black shadow swept past them once again. The difference was that everyone could see that the black shadow was getting closer to them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill me!¡± Zhao Peng shouted desperately. ¡°That woman over there is way more delicious! Go and kill her!¡±


    Shit! This guy!


    Su Rong cursed inwardly and tried to increase her running speed. As we all know, when facing a tiger, you don¡¯t need to be the fastest runner. You just need to not be the slowest.


    Unfortunately, Su Rong was the slowest.


    Compared with men, women were inherently weaker in physical strength.


    There was a burst of despair in her heart. She didn¡¯t want to believe that she would die here. However, she seemed to be condemned by the gods. She could not catch up with the two figures in front of her, even though she tried her best.


    In the blink of an eye, the black shadow rushed to the head that had been screaming.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Zhao Peng screamed, flopped to the ground and frantically pulled at the thing on his head.


    Su Rong and Wang Jianguo stopped involuntarily. In their sight, they saw an octopus on Zhao Peng¡¯s head. It was a dark blue octopus, the size of a person, emitting a fishy odor. Eight tentacles tightly grasped at Zhao Peng¡¯s face and its mouthpiece wrapped around his head, devouring him little by little.


    Zhao Peng only felt a sharp pain on the top of his head, as if the roof of the sky had been opened. He wanted to scream, but a tentacle blocked his throat and tore away his tongue. He could only let out a desperate, muffled groan. His eyes bulged outwards from the suction as if they were about to burst out at any moment.


    Pain, endless pain. In extreme despair, Zhao Peng was finally given death.


    Outside, Su Rong could vaguely hear the sound of his skull being crushed by the octopus¡¯ mouth with a ¡°squelch squelch.¡± Zhao Peng¡¯s voice was muffled inside its mouth, getting smaller and smaller. The only thing that could be seen was blood leaking down between the crevices, and flowery yellowish-white brain chunks.


    Observing this terrifying scene, she suddenly realized that the octopus was clearly much faster than them. So the routine of running ahead wouldn¡¯t apply here at all. Zhao Peng¡¯s yelling should have been what attracted its attention, so he was the first one attacked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look, run!¡± Wang Jianguo¡¯s bellow awakened the dazed Su Rong. She came back to her senses and hurriedly rushed out.


    It wasn¡¯t until they left the seafood area that the two stopped, panting heavily.


    The supermarket was as quiet as when they entered, and the pale lights reflected their bloodless faces. Wang Jianguo¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°What should we do now? There are only two of us left. If we can¡¯t find a way out today, we¡¯re definitely dead.¡±


    ¡°We have to go to the warehouse.¡± Su Rong answered, licking her lips. ¡°Do you remember the note we just saw in the seafood area?¡±


    ¡°Money clam?¡± Wang Jianguo asked.


    Su Rong nodded. ¡°What we need is money. Doesn¡¯t the name imply something to us? There may be a stock of money clams in the warehouse. No matter how bad it is, there should be a way for us to find money clams from the seafood area.¡±


    ¡°But it says in the rules that non-workers are not allowed entry in the warehouse.¡± Wang Jianguo had a good memory. He hesitated before speaking, ¡°Could this rule be fake?¡±


    Su Rong now believed she could see the wrong rules. Given the rule was black, she naturally wouldn¡¯t doubt it.


    She frowned. ¡°We must have overlooked something.¡±


    Only the staff could enter the warehouse, but they had searched all over the supermarket and there was no one other than them. Since there were no staff, was the warehouse not unlockable?


    But that was obviously impossible, because they¡¯d now reached a bottleneck. In any case, there should be a way for people to escape this ghost talk. Otherwise, wouldn¡¯t it be better to just kill them all in the beginning?


    Suddenly, Su Rong¡¯s brain flashed. ¡°Employee? I know!¡±


    ¡°What did you think of?¡± Wang Jianguo asked hurriedly, his spirit lifted.


    Su Rong showed a rare smile and walked impatiently toward the front. ¡°The cash registers! On the chair where I found the first rules, there was an employee uniform!¡±


    Wang Jianguo, who followed her, suddenly understood her intention. ¡°You mean, if we wear the employee uniform, we can enter the warehouse as employees?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my guess.¡± Su Rong affirmed. ¡°Otherwise, there is no way.¡±


    Although it didn¡¯t sound that reliable, if nothing else the impossible had become possible.


    When the two reached the checkout area, they saw the staff uniform on the chair. It was an ordinary-looking red uniform.


    Su Rong picked up the uniform and looked at it. As if she suddenly thought of something, her eyes became dark. ¡°There is only one. Who will wear it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Let¡¯s go to the warehouse first.¡± Wang Jianguo said casually. ¡°We have to go through the clothing area first to reach the warehouse. Do you remember the rules there?¡±


    Su Rong recalled the incident after being reminded by him and quickly said, ¡°There should be something wrong with the rules of the clothing area.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡±


    ¡°Do you remember Huang Tao? She became like that after she went to the clothing area. With her timid character, she shouldn¡¯t have violated any rules. But something still went wrong. From this, it can be concluded that the rules are wrong.¡±


    Wang Jianguo nodded, convinced. The reason Huang Tao had a problem was most likely because of the rule, [If you see a strange mannequin, you should close your eyes and pray for ten seconds.] There was an error in this rule.


    But in case the situation arised again, what was the correct course of action?


    After hesitating for a while, Wang Jianguo took the initiative to ask. ¡°Is it possible we need to do the direct opposite of the rules? That is, to run away as soon as we see the mannequin?¡±


    The rule was misleading in itself, and some rules only needed to be followed in reverse.


    Su Rong herself had no idea about this and nodded affirmatively after hearing the words. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s the case.¡±


    The two looked at each other and headed to the clothing area with the courage to lie down with death.


    Neither of them had ever been to this place. When they first saw the mannequins, they were almost taken aback. They thought they encountered something strange as soon as they came here. Wang Jianguo reacted first. ¡°The clothes on these models fit well, so there should be no problem.¡±


    Su Rong breathed in relief, following him in and treading cautiously. Walking between the tight rows of hangers, there was no noise except for the sound of footsteps. Both of them were very fast, trying their best to make it through this area.


    However, the strengthened ¡°Him¡± couldn¡¯t possibly grant them what they wished for. In the blink of an eye, a mannequin with a very strange shape suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor.


    It wore four pairs of short sleeves and black trousers with eight legs.  The eight legs formed a ring, as if tentacles would protrude from it at any moment.


    It was clearly a pale, plastic dummy without facial features, but it gave the feeling of a real person standing there.


    Seeing this mannequin, Su Rong¡¯s eyes suddenly widened and she turned around, running away. Wang Jianguo followed closely behind, the narrow corridor making it impossible to squeeze past the girl in front.


    He only felt a warm breath coming from behind him inexplicably, as if something was following him. Wang Jianguo began to wonder if their method was wrong, if they shouldn¡¯t turn tail and run. He wanted to stop and close his eyes in accordance with the rules, and he had an urge to see what was going on with the mannequin behind him.


    Keenly aware that Wang Jianguo¡¯s footsteps behind her began to slow down, Su Rong¡¯s heart tightened and she spoke without turning her head. ¡°Brother Wang, are you okay?¡±


    Wang Jianguo¡¯s mind was pulled back by this sound, and he quickened his pace to catch up with her. ¡°I¡¯m fine. We¡¯ll be out soon.¡±


    The two ran wildly all the way and finally made it out of the clothing area. Su Rong was out of breath and smiled wryly. ¡°The amount of exercise I¡¯ve had today is more than the amount I¡¯ve had in my entire summer vacation.¡±


    ¡°Then you should exercise more.¡± Wang Jianguo chided. He didn¡¯t look tired as he gazed at the closed iron warehouse doors in front of him. ¡°This is the warehouse.¡±


    Su Rong slowly took out the employee uniform and handed it to Wang Jianguo. She frowned, her eyes fixed on the uniform as she clenched her teeth, as if experiencing some sort of violent psychological struggle. ¡°You¡­¡­¡±


    Wang Jianguo reached out to pick up the uniform. At the same time, he asked with concern, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    When he was about to touch the clothes, Su Rong retracted her outstretched hands together with the uniform with a ¡°swish,¡± and breathed a long sigh of relief. ¡°There¡¯s something I need to tell you in advance.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­If you put on this uniform, there is a possibility that you may never be able to leave again.¡±

 CH 9

    Wang Jianguo was stunned. ¡°Why?¡±


    Seeing light at the end of the tunnel, it turned out they just fell into another trap. Su Rong swallowed the bitterness in her throat. ¡°The clearance method we discussed before is under the premise we are customers. But if we wear this uniform, then we will lose our identity as customers. Can we really leave in the same way then?¡±


    This was the question that suddenly occurred to her when she picked up the uniform. Don¡¯t blame her for being paranoid. There were really too many pitfalls in this ghost talk.


    Especially since Su Rong recalled the words on the note they found ¡ª ¡°Since one person will always have to be sacrificed.¡±


    What situation could make it necessary for one person on the team to be sacrificed? It could only be this situation.


    Hearing Su Rong¡¯s answer, Wang Jianguo realized the problem. Indeed, in ghost talks, one¡¯s identity was very important. If he wore an employee uniform, there was a high probability of actually becoming a staff member.


    Customers could leave the market by paying, but what about employees? You couldn¡¯t go to ¡°Him¡± to resign, could you?


    ¡°¡­¡­Thank you for telling me about this.¡± Wang Jianguo said suddenly after a moment of silence.


    With a little thought, it was easy to understand how valuable it was for Su Rong to tell the truth under these circumstances.


    It could be seen that if the two of them really competed, it was impossible for Su Rong to defeat Wang Jianguo.


    And if he didn¡¯t know the truth, Wang Jianguo likely could only find out about it when they took the money to the cash register at the end. At that time, he would only be able to blame himself for being unlucky. It would be impossible to know Su Rong had guessed the truth long ago.


    Although not telling the truth would do her no harm, Su Rong still chose to tell it. The courage to speak the truth alone was beyond compare.


    Su Rong shook her head, saying softly, ¡°Thank you for the past two days.¡±


    She saw very clearly that, from start to present, if not for Wang Jianguo¡¯s absolute suppression of everyone to maintain order, she might not be alive now, even if she could see the wrong rules.


    The other side had done their best of benevolence and righteousness, so she should also have a clear conscience.


    Wang Jianguo closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were full of determination. ¡°Then let¡¯s each rely on our own ability. Put the uniform in the middle and walk a certain distance. I will count down from three, then we¡¯ll make a grab for it. Whoever puts the costume on their opponent first wins.¡±


    Ignoring the physical differences between men and women, this method was fair. But Su Rong didn¡¯t ignore her opponent¡¯s clenched fists after putting the uniform on the floor and the toes that had half-turned after walking away.


    Based on her years of understanding criminals, such actions were precursors that they were about to violently attack and hurt others.


    Su Rong felt a little nervous. With her back to the uniform and Wang Jianguo, she was ready to run to the clothing area to take refuge when he counted down to one. No matter what, she couldn¡¯t admit defeat like this.


    However, before she even heard ¡°three, two, one,¡± she heard Wang Jianguo¡¯s voice with a slight smile coming from behind. ¡°Turn around.¡±


    ¡°Why did you¡­¡­¡± Su Rong turned around suspiciously and saw that Wang Jianguo had already put on the red staff uniform, looking at her kindly.


    Wang Jianguo came over and patted Su Rong on the head. ¡°No matter what, I¡¯m a soldier. I can¡¯t let you, a young girl who just turned 18, die.¡±


    Su Rong stared at him blankly, her nose suddenly stinging and her eyes red. However, he no longer looked at her and only focused on the warehouse door. ¡°In truth, I can see that among the six of us, you are the smartest, Su Rong. No need to refute, I¡¯m not a fool. If you have entered the world of ghost talks once and successfully passed, you will be marked by ¡°Him¡± and definitely be pulled in again in the future. I will probably die in the next ghost talk, but you are different.¡±


    He looked at Su Rong deeply. ¡°You must live longer than me.¡±


    After finishing speaking, he ignored Su Rong¡¯s reaction and pushed open the warehouse door, walking in slowly as his figure gradually disappeared into the darkness.


    Su Rong stood where she was, a little dazed. She thought if she cleared this ghost talk, she would be safe and sound. After all, there were so many people in the world, it was unlikely she¡¯d be picked again.


    But if what Wang Jianguo said was true, then she would never be able to be rid of ¡°Him¡± for the rest of her life, until she died.


    No, you can¡¯t think that way, Su Rong shook her head violently. She already had such a powerful gold finger. If she gave up so easily, wouldn¡¯t she waste this second life in vain?


    Even for the sake of Brother Wang who sacrificed himself for her, she had to work hard to live.


    First, she had to set a small goal for herself to drive ¡°Him¡± out of this planet.


    Not long after, Wang Jianguo came out of the dark warehouse with obvious joy on his face. ¡°I found where the money clam is!¡±


    According to his description, the warehouse was not dangerous apart from the darkness. But the rules on the door said that open flames and excessive noise were prohibited.


    Soon, Wang Jianguo found the storage area of the seafood department. Under the label of money clam, there was a partial explanation: if you wanted to find the money clam, you had to go to the water tank in the middle of the second row. No matter what was in it, stretch your hand into its mouth and inside would be the money clam¡¯s pearl.


    ¡°What about the animals that escaped their tanks because of the power outage? How do we put them back?¡± Su Rong had not forgotten the big, terrifying octopus that killed Zhao Peng.


    Speaking of the issue, Wang Jianguo¡¯s expression suddenly became complicated. ¡°Ah, the rules of the warehouse said that those things would go back by themselves when they were satiated. So if we go in now, we should be safe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡­¡± Su Rong was going to say that wasn¡¯t very good, but after a pause, suddenly understood Wang Jianguo¡¯s complicated expression.


    If they didn¡¯t leave at that time but took advantage of when the octopus was eating people to rummage through the aquariums, maybe neither of them would have to die.


    But in fact, that wasn¡¯t really possible. Not to mention the danger of the other tanks if they didn¡¯t enter the right aquarium. Just from the information from the warehouse, it could be seen the clams were not so easy to be discovered.


    Wang Jianguo also understood this, quickly calming down. ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the seafood section.¡±


    The second time they walked into the aquatic area, it was different from the quietness before. This time, there was a dense noise that seemed to be tapping against the glass with ¡°clicking¡± sounds, making the scalp feel numb.


    If it was not clearly written in the rules ¡ª ¡°Money clams are safe when they are trembling,¡± Su Rong and Wang Jianguo may have evacuated the seafood area immediately.


    Finding the middle tank in the second row, there was no money clam in it. What lived in it now was clearly the blue octopus that had killed Zhao Peng.


    ¡°This is clearly ¡°His¡± doing,¡± Su Rong said with certainty. ¡°This should be a hallucination or something. I¡¯ll just stick my hand inside.¡±


    Wang Jianguo stopped Su Rong¡¯s hand that was about to reach in. ¡°I¡¯ll get it. I¡¯ll be fine if something happens, but you must leave safely.¡±


    He directly reached into the tank, enduring the fear in his heart to search for the mouth of the octopus. Fortunately, because he saw the octopus eating Zhao Peng, even if he was unfamiliar with this creature, he also knew its mouth was in the middle of its eight legs.


    Noticing Wang Jianguo¡¯s expression became strange, Su Rong hurriedly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Wang Jianguo frowned oddly. ¡°This thing only has a small, soft and slippery thing in its mouth. It feels like a small octopus.¡±


    ¡°Take it out.¡± Su Rong decided firmly.


    Trusting her, he decisively took out what was inside the octopus¡¯ mouth. When he took a gander at what was in his hands, it was clearly a couple of banknotes!


    The patterns on the bills were mysterious and cumbersome. Except for those few numbers, they couldn¡¯t understand anything else. After just a few glances, the two of them felt dizzy for a while.


    But this didn¡¯t stop them from being in a good mood. Su Rong counted the money, restraining her desire to burst out laughing, saying excitedly, ¡°Let¡¯s go to the cash register!¡±


    She bought a total of 36 yuan. Among these banknotes, there was one 20, two 10s, one 5, and five 1s, which was enough for her to pay.


    Wang Jianguo was also happy for her. ¡°That¡¯s great! Now you can leave this damned ghost talk!¡±


    Looking at his heartfelt happiness, Su Rong once again felt a stinging in her nose. But she didn¡¯t say anything more. No matter what she said, it would only add to the sentimentality.


    The two of them came all the way to the cash register. Su Rong looked at the register she had seen at the beginning and suddenly asked a question. ¡°When the ghost talk reopens, will everything be reset?¡±


    Wang Jianguo nodded. ¡°Well, everything will be reset except for the clues left by the first batch of people who experienced this ghost talk.¡±


    ¡°In that case, what do you say if I destroy this cash register?¡±


    Seeing she was seriously considering this possibility, Wang Jianguo was full of question marks. ¡°Ah? Why do you want to do that?¡±


    ¡°Pollution source.¡± Su Rong only spit out these two words.


    Once the words came out, Wang Jianguo immediately widened his eyes. ¡°You suspect this cash register to be the source of pollution?¡±


    Su Rong nodded. ¡°Pollution sources vary in form, but it is often the core part of a ghost talk. Don¡¯t you think this cash register is very suitable?¡±


    She also thought of this the moment she saw the cash register. They left the most critical thing, it was suspicious no matter how she thought of it.


    This really was the case. After thinking about it, Wang Jianguo agreed. ¡°You¡¯re right. But if this cash register isn¡¯t a pollution source and you destroy it, won¡¯t you be completely trapped in this ghost talk, unable to get out?¡±


    Su Rong held up a five-yuan bill that was soaked with water. ¡°The machine will break if it encounters water, right? What if I put this bill in last?¡±


    ¡°Then you can clear the ghost talk and destroy the machine!¡± Wang Jianguo¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Su Rong, you are so smart!¡±


    However, Su Rong, who was praised, was not very happy. ¡°Sorry. I did not think of this first, and harmed you¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with you?¡± Wang Jianguo interrupted without hesitation. ¡°No one can predict the future, you¡¯ve done a good job. Maybe if you destroy the pollution source, I can go out with you?¡±


    ¡°Now, put the money in.¡±


    Holding onto the beautiful fantasy of what he said, Su Rong pursed her lips and nodded. She carefully put in the 20 yuan, the 10 yuan, and one 1 yuan bill into the cash register. The few bills were sucked in automatically.


    The last one left was the wet 5 yuan bill. She got courage from Wang Jianguo¡¯s eyes and put it in along with him.


    Half a second later, the cash register suddenly made a strange ¡°crack¡± sound, and sparks came out of the top box. Before Su Rong could say anything, she felt a wave of dizziness. When she opened her eyes again, she had already appeared in a busy supermarket.


    Everything that had happened before was like an illusion.


    Suddenly, a strange female voice rang in her ear. ¡°Please decide your name within ten seconds. Otherwise, the broadcast will use your real name.¡±


    Su Rong didn¡¯t have time to react to what this meant, so she could only follow according to its request and blurted out, ¡°Coffee!¡±


    Instant (Su Rong) coffee.


    The next second, everyone in the world heard the sound of the broadcast from the sky.


    [Congratulations to Chinese investigator ¡°Coffee¡± for destroying the source of pollution of Anle Supermarket. The ¡°Anle Supermarket Ghost Talk¡± will no longer appear in the China district.]

 CH 10

    The whole country was in an uproar the moment they heard the news.


    This was not the first time someone had resolved a pollution source in China, so everyone had more or less heard this world broadcast several times.


    But this was the first time everyone heard of the name ¡°Coffee.¡±


    In other words, a new star investigator had been born in China.


    ¡°Who is this ¡®Coffee¡¯? An investigator newly trained by the country?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never heard this name before.¡±


    ¡°There is one less ghost talk involving supermarkets. We won¡¯t have to worry so much when we go shopping in the future. How great!¡±


    At the same time, China¡¯s ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡± also quickly launched a meeting.


    The tablet computer was flashing lights, a video conference in progress. On screen, a hale and hearty old man was saying something seriously.


    ¡°¡­¡­It stands to reason that if multiple people helped in clearing the customs, then at least a few assistants would be attached to the broadcast. This time, the broadcast only reported ¡®Coffee.¡¯ Either they participated in a single-person ghost talk, or the others have already been¡­¡­ Qin Feng! Are you listening?¡± Noticing the man who was doing the bare minimum, the old man suddenly became angry.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening, I¡¯m listening.¡± Qin Feng¡¯s charmingly beautiful phoenix eyes showed a regal temperament the moment he raised his face. With good temperament, he yawned, ¡°Yesterday¡¯s ghost talk of ¡°Happy Children¡± took longer than expected.¡±


    As soon as he heard this, the old man¡¯s expression eased a lot. Although he knew Qin Feng was probably talking nonsense, it was an indisputable fact that he had just solved a ghost talk.


    ¡°Do you have any thoughts on ¡®Coffee¡¯?¡± He asked kindly.


    Qin Feng casually rolled up the sleeves of his black shirt to reveal his strong, sturdy arms. Resting his chin on one hand, he lazily said, ¡°No idea. They just solved a pollution source.¡±


    For the director of the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡± who had solved countless pollution sources and was currently the number one investigator in the world, a mere pollution source was nothing.


    ¡°But you, old man. Don¡¯t tell me you convened a meeting just for this person. I still want to go back and catch up on sleep.¡±


    The others in the conference couldn¡¯t restrain their laughter. Everyone liked hearing of the boss¡¯ shortcomings from the hands of their ace.


    The old man choked, losing his temper instantly. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t have asked you, you have nothing good to say. And you guys, what are you laughing at!¡±


    After reprimanding the others, he continued. ¡°We can¡¯t find ¡®Coffee,¡¯ and it¡¯s hard for those foreigners who are eyeing them to find them¡­¡­ In short, it¡¯s the same old story. Send the media to convey our goodwill and strive to recruit them into our ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡±. Be sure to find this person before the other countries do!¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    He paused and finally got to the point. ¡°This meeting, in addition to ¡®Coffee,¡¯ the main matter is to discuss No. 0.¡±


    As soon as ¡°No. 0¡± was mentioned, the people who were still sluggish became more energized. Qin Feng also sat up straight. ¡°Did that guy appear again?¡±


    The old man nodded. ¡°Our investigator ¡®Xie He,¡¯ who was deeply involved in the ¡°Thirteenth Middle School,¡± risked his life to send us this information with his ghost talk props. No. 0 came to the school today and met with the principal in his office. He has no way of knowing what happened after that.¡±


    ¡°So it seems our former deduction was wrong. ¡®No. 0¡¯ may have a higher status in the world of ghost talks than the rulers of the four major [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks], even though he appeared later than them.¡± Tang Ling¡¯s beautiful face was filled with a serious expression. She was one of the members of the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau.¡±


    ¡°We think so too. The danger level of ¡®No. 0¡¯ has been raised to SSS. Our next goal is to fully explore his identity.¡± After saying this, the old man sighed. ¡°Since the appearance of ¡®No. 0¡¯ two years ago, the difficulty of ghost talks has risen to a higher level. We have to eliminate him at all costs, understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes sir!¡±


    On another side, many foreign forces have also begun operating.


    ¡°Damn it. Why isn¡¯t this ¡®Coffee¡¯ one of our citizens? Isn¡¯t ¡®Coffee¡¯ a standard match with our beautiful people?¡±


    ¡°Give all you have to find this person. They are surely not an official investigator of China. Find them, then recruit them or dispose of them!¡±


    ¡°Our country needs such talents. China already has a lot of talents, so I¡¯m sure they won¡¯t mind sending one to us.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    In just ten minutes after the news was released, the whole world began searching for this famous investigator named ¡®Coffee¡¯.


    ¡®Coffee¡¯ herself was already on her way home.


    After dying in a ghost talk, you would not die immediately. Instead, your memory would be wiped and you would die randomly due to various reasons within a week. No one has been able to prevent this random death so far, the situation comparable to a reaper¡¯s call.


    As the sole survivor, Su Rong wanted to take a last look at her former companions. But during the time they had chatted casually, they had discovered everyone was taken from supermarkets across the country into the ghost talk, so Su Rong couldn¡¯t find anyone at all.


    But this also greatly protected her own privacy and safety. Not counting Wang Jianguo, everyone else had lost their memories, and they would die within a week. Naturally, it¡¯d be hard to reveal her identity.


    And Wang Jianguo¡­¡­


    Su Rong pursed her lips and couldn¡¯t help sighing. She didn¡¯t know what happened to Wang Jianguo. According to the previous broadcast, she had successfully destroyed the ghost talk. But Wang Jianguo had already become a staff member at that time. It could be even said he was integrated into that ghost talk.


    The story was destroyed, could he really survive?


    Arriving at her door, she put her hand in her pocket to grab her house key.


    ¡°Huh? What¡¯s this?¡±


    She frowned and took out a key and a black wallet from her pocket.


    The key was the key to her house, but where did this wallet come from?


    As a qualified modern person, Su Rong was proficient in using various functions such as mobile pay, so naturally she didn¡¯t carry a wallet on her. What¡¯s more, this was clearly a man¡¯s wallet.


    Was it stuffed in at the supermarket? Su Rong frowned, quickly opening the door and getting inside before opening the wallet.


    Surprisingly, there was nothing inside except for two banknotes.


    And these two 100 yuan bills turned out to be the banknotes used to clear the customs in the ¡°Anle Supermarket¡± ghost talk!


    Su Rong¡¯s eyes were wide, quite puzzled. ¡°How did I bring this out?¡±


    After a few seconds of surprise, her brain began to analyze automatically.


    First of all, these two bills could not be used in reality, but only in the world of ghost talks. If that was the case, then perhaps this was a reward for eliminating the source of pollution.


    But what concerned her more was the wallet.


    She was sure that the black wallet had another purpose. After all, if this wallet was simply for holding bills, why not just put the money in her pocket, rather than giving her another purse?


    She needed more knowledge to answer these questions. Her original body¡¯s knowledge about ghost talks was too shallow, not enough to answer her queries.


    But before that¡­¡­


    Su Rong rubbed the center of her eyebrows tiredly, took a quick shower, then collapsed on the bed. After just two days and one night, the drawbacks of ghost talks finally showed up. Now she only felt mentally weak and drowsy.


    In the ghost talk, her spirits were always highly tense, and she had to face various textual and psychological traps. She had even witnessed various corpses. Even for Su Rong, a detective who often assisted in police investigations, it was overwhelming.


    Sleeping until the moon reached the treetops, Su Rong woke up leisurely. She lay in a daze for a while, then jumped up from bed and went to the computer desk to search for news about ghost talks.


    As soon as she clicked into the search engine, her eyes were attracted to the link at the top of the webpage¡ª ¡°Investigator ¡®Coffee¡¯, please click here.¡±


    After a moment of hesitation, Su Rong chose to click it.


    She was not afraid of revealing her identity. After all, this link was visible to everyone, and there must¡¯ve been a good number of curious folks who clicked on it too. No one could track her down from the visitor data.


    The only ones who could put this link at the top of the official browser was obviously the government. The government chose to look for her at this time, simply to solicit and disclose some information.


    She currently didn¡¯t have any ideas about the other party¡¯s solicitation, but she was very interested in the information she lacked.


    Su Rong¡¯s speculation was right.


    ¡°Dear Investigator ¡®Coffee,¡¯


    The ¡®Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡¯ sincerely invites you to join us. With us, you will get more information and better training. If you have any concerns, please read the following content carefully. It contains some basic information that investigators who have eliminated pollution sources need to know.¡±


    The four messages were short, but fully showed the government¡¯s sincerity. All four of these points were useful.


    The first point¡¯s purpose was to clear up what the black wallet was. Presumably, it was the so-called reward item. The second was to warn her. After all, although the money couldn¡¯t be used, she could¡¯ve used the wallet. The black wallet itself was also a gift from the ghost talk. If she did use it, there was no guarantee she wouldn¡¯t be contaminated by ¡°Him.¡±


    These damned ghost talks really dug pitfalls for investigators everywhere.


    The third message was telling Su Rong that she would definitely enter the world of ghost talks again, and it wouldn¡¯t take long. In Anle Supermarket, Wang Jianguo told her that investigators would enter the world of ghost talks for a second time, but it was clear the government was deliberately concealing this information.


    As for the last bullet point, it gave Su Rong some privacy and security so she didn¡¯t have to worry about her identity being revealed, and so she wouldn¡¯t have to rush to make a decision.


    These messages were so sincere, they surprised her a little. At least, if she were the one in power and wanted to take her into the organization, she wouldn¡¯t have revealed this information.


    If she didn¡¯t know this information, she would definitely worry about the potential security risks caused by the leakage of her real face. Knowing that many forces were looking for her, she must choose a side to protect herself. The official organization, the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau,¡± was the best choice.


    Facing such a sincere invitation, Su Rong couldn¡¯t help but feel unsure. Should she join the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡±?

 CH 11

    The ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡± had shown a lot of sincerity, but after careful consideration, Su Rong felt she didn¡¯t need to join them for now.


    They must¡¯ve had more information about ghost talks, and they should also have a lot of props in their hands. But Su Rong, who had only experienced a ghost talk once, knew that these could only play a supplementary role. The only way to pass ghost talks was to understand the rules.


    And her biggest cheat was precisely the [Contamination Alert], which allowed her to see the wrong rules.


    The first thing she needed to do was get a better understanding of her golden finger, so she could deal with others without exposing herself. This obviously required more experience to do.


    What¡¯s more, she was also a time traveler. Even with the original memory, Su Rong was not confident in keeping her tail hidden. After all, she had just finished high school, still fresh in her classmates¡¯ memories.


    Once these two buffs were superimposed, Su Rong dared not to face anyone who had her information. This world was already haunted by weirdness. If she didn¡¯t behave like the original owner, she would be considered contaminated.


    Closing the interface, Su Rong searched for information about ghost talks as she had intended to before. The first entry that caught her eye was the ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks.¡±


    This was something every Earthling had to memorize since the ghost talks came to the planet ten years ago. It was also the ghost talk related information the original owner was most familiar with.


    Although she already knew the contents, Su Rong still clicked in. She wanted to read it a few more times to imprint the basic rules into her heart.


    But that no longer mattered, as the dazzling red color caught her eyes and made her thinking come to an abrupt halt.


    Why were there also wrong rules in the ¡°General Rulebook of Ghost Talks¡±?!


    [The General Rulebook of Ghost Talks]


    Among the six rules, two of them were red. Namely, the fourth and the fifth rule.


    In the last ghost talk, Su Rong had already determined the rules highlighted in red were incorrect. In other words, two of the rules that everyone must know, summarized by the entire world, were wrong!


    How terrible!


    This world was really doomed!


    Taking a deep breath, Su Rong carefully re-read the rules. It didn¡¯t take long for her to discover the problem.


    First of all, the fourth rule. [The more rules you find, the easier it is to attract ¡°His¡± attention.] But the third rule already stated that they should look for as many rules as possible, so these two rules contradicted themselves.


    Su Rong was not sure whether it was dangerous to find more rules, but she was sure that if she shrank away in fear due to the fourth rule, she would definitely die in future ghost talks.


    As for the fifth rule, it contradicted the first rule. The first rule emphasized the investigator¡¯s human identity, while the fifth rule said, [You can be any species.]


    This was clearly problematic.


    According to the hints in red, the latter was wrong. That was to say, human beings could only be human beings. Once they thought they were a different species, there was only death waiting for them in the end.


    But the problem was that although these contradictions were relatively subtle, they weren¡¯t necessarily undetectable. Why did no one around the world raise an objection?


    The knowledgeable Su Rong keenly realized that this likely involved some confidential rules about ghost talks. Probably only by joining the ¡°Ghost Talk Investigation Bureau¡± would she be able to deepen her understanding.


    She stopped thinking about it. It was fine for the time being as long as she knew about the authenticity. Su Rong sighed, exited the page, and looked at the next entry.


    Next was the [Fixed Rules Ghost Talk].


    This concept was only half-understood by the original owner, and she didn¡¯t really understand it. After all, she didn¡¯t think she would enter any ghost talks in the first place, so she didn¡¯t actively search for it. But Su Rong was different. She was very interested in this.


    There were a few so-called [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks] located in the world of ghost talks. What Su Rong had just experienced was a [Random Rules Ghost Talk], which appeared at random and pulled people in indiscriminately to participate.


    In a sense, the locations of [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks] could be considered to be on land that has been contaminated and taken over by ¡°Him.¡± ¡°He¡± has polluted these places and made them into his own paradise.


    These [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks] were also a collection of various ghost talks with various rules. One wrong step and you could face death.


    Currently, there were four known [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks] on Earth. Namely, ¡°Thirteenth Middle School,¡± the ¡°Big Smiley Eyes Playground,¡± ¡°Goat Manor¡± and the ¡°Rosemary Community.¡±


    These [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks] would open every once in a while, and the government must select enough humans to play with ¡°Him¡± or the ghost talk would expand and more people would be randomly selected to participate.


    The governments of various countries gave priority to investigators to enter these ghost talks, and there was no way for investigators who had been selected to refuse. That was why investigators in today¡¯s society had such a high status and various welfare subsidies.


    But despite this, it was still an honor to be an investigator. After all, there were only a small number of people selected, and not many people knew the dangers of ghost talks. Most people could only see the short-term advantages, and obviously the subsidies and benefits were very real to them.


    A few hours of tireless knowledge acquisition allowed Su Rong to understand the world better. It wasn¡¯t until a series of mobile alerts woke her from the sea of learning.


    She picked up her phone and took a look, only to find that the original owner¡¯s high school group was sending messages. They wanted to hold a class reunion during summer vacation and were asking for the number of participants.


    After thinking about it, Su Rong typed back, ¡°I¡¯ll participate.¡±


    As she thought before, she needed to know more about the original owner. It was also necessary to leave an impression of her new change in the hearts of her former acquaintances. Only when there was no worry about the future could she take great strides forward.


    The next morning, Su Rong put on a simple white short-sleeved shirt and jeans, arriving at the agreed-upon restaurant by her classmates. She herself was an orphan who relied on government subsidies, so it was fine for her to wear something simple.


    There were already a lot of people in the private room, about seven or eight of them, with drinks, tobacco, alcohol, and melon seeds on the table.


    ¡°Su Rong, you¡¯re here!¡± A slightly fat girl sitting at the table inside waved to her.


    This person was called Li Qianyue, who was the owner¡¯s lunch buddy in high school. Their relationship wasn¡¯t that good, but she was indeed the closest person to the original owner in her class.


    ¡°Long time no see.¡± Just as Su Rong was about to walk over, her eyes swept over the people at the table and paused. She blinked and sat down to the left of Li Qianyue without making a sound.


    Not far from her right, there was a person the original owner may not want to meet¡ª¡ªXie Hoho.


    Xie Hoho¡¯s grades were not good, but his family was rich, which was the direct opposite of the original owner. The reason why Su Rong avoided him was because he pursued the original owner in high school.


    The problem was that Xie Hoho was a pure and naive child who fell in puppy love. Not annoying, but definitely not the right person for a relationship. Not to mention that they were still in school at the time, so he was rejected by the original owner without accident.


    At this time, Xie Hoho had grown a lot compared to high school. The originally doll-like face with baby fat had added a bit of boyish handsomeness with edges and angles. A pinch of blue was dyed inconspicuously in his hair, which added a bit of evil to his originally well-behaved appearance.


    As long as he didn¡¯t speak, he had a great aura.


    Hearing the commotion, Xie Hoho glanced in Su Rong¡¯s direction. Then he ¡°evilly¡± raised the corners of his mouth, turning his head to chat with others. He didn¡¯t forget to deliberately and loudly mention, ¡°Ah? I don¡¯t have a girlfriend yet!¡±


    Su Rong¡¯s expression suddenly became numb. This guy was still the simpleton from the original owner¡¯s memory.


    Li Qianyue didn¡¯t notice the undercurrents at the dinner table, asking Su Rong curiously, ¡°I heard the Q University will leave homework for students who have not yet entered school. Is it true?¡±


    The moment these words came out, Su Rong¡¯s face instantly fell. Li Qianyue was right, she did have homework. And the original owner hadn¡¯t finished it, so she had to make up for it.


    Su Rong: cat in tears.jpg


    But it was good that the original owner¡¯s memory was still there, otherwise Su Rong would have to suffer. She sighed helplessly, ¡°It¡¯s true.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so unlucky.¡± Li Qianyue sighed, but she was not interested in academics itself. After asking casually, she started a more interesting topic. ¡°Did you hear the broadcast of ¡®Coffee¡¯ that day?¡±


    She was not the only one concerned about this topic, the people next to her were also discussing it smoothly.


    Over the years, there have been many investigators on the global broadcast. But in fact, there have only been ten names in the last ten years. Last year, there wasn¡¯t even a single new face, which was why ¡°Coffee¡± attracted so much attention.


    Investigators were very honorable, let alone investigators on the global broadcast. Some people speculated that ¡°Coffee¡± was a new talent trained by the government, while others guessed that ¡°Coffee¡± was already a seasoned investigator.


    No one would have thought that ¡°Coffee¡± was a young girl who had just come of age, sitting at the same table with them.


    After three rounds of drinks and five flavors of food, the class president suddenly stood up with a red face, smiling with pride like a blooming flower. ¡°Students, I want to announce something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Everyone looked over in confusion, quieting down and waiting for the host to speak.


    The class president didn¡¯t play coy and went straight to the point. ¡°In our class, a glorious investigator has been born!¡±

 CH 12

    The whole class burst into an uproar.


    ¡°Who? Who?¡±


    ¡°An investigator? Oh my god, we have an investigator in our class!¡±


    ¡°What a breakthrough! Is it you, class president?¡±


    Su Rong was horrified, thinking her identity had been exposed. But judging from the class president¡¯s performance, the investigator he was talking about should be someone else.


    She didn¡¯t expect that there were people capable enough in her class that could pass through a ghost talk. A trace of curiosity also arose in Su Rong¡¯s heart.


    The class president smiled and waved his hands. ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m not that good. The real investigator of our class is¡ª¡ª¡°


    He stretched out his sentence, and someone immediately urged him impatiently. ¡°Class president, stop holding out on us and tell us quickly!¡±


    ¡°¡ª¡ªIt¡¯s Xie Hoho!¡± The class president announced loudly.


    In an instant, Xie Hoho became the focus of the class. Everyone stared at him with wide eyes, and those with quick reactions began to flatter.


    ¡°Brother Xie, I could tell you were very gifted when we were in school. Sure enough, you weren¡¯t just a small fish in a pond, but a dragon!¡± Zhao Li, who was sitting opposite him, raised his glass. ¡°I pay my respects. A toast!¡±


    They were just high school students, but they had already learned a lot about the habits of society.


    Xie Hoho felt proud being boasted about. With a smile on the corners of his lips, he glanced at Su Rong as if nonchalant and said, ¡°It was just luck. It¡¯s a pity I couldn¡¯t save the others in the ghost talk. Out of ten people, only three survived.¡±


    There were no levels of difficulty determined for ghost talks, but over the years everyone has concluded a rule: the more people participating in a ghost talk, the more difficult the ghost talk would be.


    Like the [Fixed Rules Ghost Talks], every time they opened, they would need at least 50 participants.


    It was extremely difficult to survive in a ghost talk of ten people. The room became more lively, and everyone complimented and praised Xie Hoho. The braver ones even asked for details about the ghost talk.


    ¡°I was involved in a children¡¯s room ghost talk. It was my bad luck. I had just gone to my cousin¡¯s house to babysit when I was selected for no reason.¡± Speaking of the ghost talk itself, Xie Hoho¡¯s face immediately turned sour. He casually said a few words to skip the topic and started bragging about his extraordinary performance.


    To be honest, Su Rong was surprised that Xie Hoho could pass a ten-person level ghost talk. In her impression, Xie Hoho really did not look like someone who could survive in a ghost talk.


    But it could be that the preconceptions she extracted from the original owner¡¯s memories ran too deep, and in reality, Xie Hoho wasn¡¯t that stupid.


    ¡°By the way, Brother Xie,¡± Li Qianyue questioned curiously. ¡°I heard that after coming out of a ghost talk, your physique would improve to a certain extent. Is that true?¡±


    This question was right in line with what he liked. Xie Hoho nodded triumphantly, picked up a silver fork in one hand, and squeezed hard. The fork was instantly bent in half under the pressure.


    ¡°Wow!¡± The students were instantly astonished.


    Su Rong was also shocked. She was originally preoccupied with reading and didn¡¯t pay much attention to these things, so she wasn¡¯t aware of this at all.


    And she herself was not familiar with this body. She was pulled into the world of ghost talks within two days after her time travel. She didn¡¯t pay attention to whether her body had changed after coming out.


    She quietly took a spoon underneath the table and exerted force with one hand. She really felt the spoon gradually bend under her strength. This was definitely not something the original Su Rong could do.


    It turned out her physique was also transformed by the world of ghost talks!


    A look of surprise flashed in her eyes. Su Rong calmly bent the spoon back and returned it to the plate.


    Xie Hoho noticed Su Rong¡¯s movements, thinking she had not said anything, and finally couldn¡¯t help but speak. ¡°Su Rong. It¡¯s been a while.¡±


    Before she could reply, a girl who had just gone to the bathroom opened the door in a panic. ¡°There¡¯s a fire downstairs!¡±


    ¡°Are you joking?¡± Xie Hoho was taken aback for a moment, then snorted. ¡°If there¡¯s a fire, then how come there¡¯s no commotion outside?¡±


    He was right. Looking outside the window, people were coming and going on the street. Nothing unusual. If the restaurant was on fire, a crowd would have already formed due to their habit of watching the excitement.


    The others thought it was just a joke by the girl.


    However, the girl was so anxious, she was about to cry. ¡°No, I don¡¯t know why, but you¡¯ll see if you come out.¡±


    Su Rong could see she was genuinely afraid. She frowned and got up, walking out of the booth.


    Sure enough. Although she couldn¡¯t feel it in the room because of the air conditioning, as soon as she stepped into the corridor, she felt the hot air evaporating the moisture from her skin at an accelerated rate.


    The original noise and yelling that was well shielded by the door of the private booth became constant after they came out. Everyone was shouting fire. A group of people blocked the stairs, no one daring to go down.


    Su Rong went over to take a look and was immediately dissuaded by the looming flames below. With this intensity, if nothing else, the first floor was toast. Going down now was a dead end!


    ¡°May I ask why the downstairs is on fire? Have you called the police?¡± Su Rong grabbed a waiter and asked rapidly.


    The waiter was also very anxious with a crying face and obvious fear in his eyes. ¡°We don¡¯t know why the downstairs is suddenly on fire. The cell signal has been cut and no one can get in touch. The most frightening thing is the people outside can¡¯t seem to hear our cries. Now we can only hope to put out the fire on the first floor and escape.¡±


    There were quite a few people who came out of the room with her. When they heard what the waiter said, someone ran to the window and yelled with all their might. ¡°There¡¯s a fire here! Can anyone hear me?¡±


    However, just as the waiter said, no one outside heard him. The entire second floor of the restaurant seemed to be isolated from the world.


    Soon, the whole class was aware the restaurant was on fire.


    The class president¡¯s forehead was covered in cold sweat, struggling to operate his cell phone. A few moments later, he slumped into his chair sullenly. ¡°There¡¯s no signal. Nothing can be sent out.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡± Xie Hoho¡¯s expression was ugly. ¡°It must be an abnormality!¡±


    Su Rong also had the same judgment. To isolate the restaurant and trap them in this fire, it was likely only possible by an abnormality. Was this another ghost talk?


    ¡°Hey hey, can you hear me? My dear sacrifices!¡±


    Suddenly, a voice resembling a vicious villain in an anime came over on the intercom.


    The originally noisy sound on the second floor seemed to have been put on hold with a pause button, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to struggle. This place has been enveloped with ¡°His¡± power. The changes inside can¡¯t be felt outside, and those inside have no chance of getting out.¡± The man announced happily.


    As soon as this remark came out, the faces of the people in the booth turned pale.


    ¡°You should be honored to contribute your share of power to ¡°Him.¡± And ¡°He¡± will take you to the only wonderful paradise in this world.¡±


    ¡°Who wants to go to that shitty paradise!¡± A strong man outside the door suddenly cursed. ¡°You cultists deserve to die!¡±


    Yes, it was clear this was the work of the cult. In today¡¯s society, these so-called cultists surrendered to ¡°Him¡± and were contaminated by ¡°Him.¡± In fact, they could no longer be called humans. The term ¡°abnormal¡± was more correct.


    One part of these abnormals were people who were polluted by ¡°Him¡± in the ghost talks. People like Huang Tao, who Su Rong had met. They became completely alien and no longer possessed any humanity.


    The other part were, for various reasons in the real world, people who have voluntarily submitted to ¡°Him,¡± also known as ¡°disciples.¡±


    These people had been ¡°blessed¡± by ¡°Him,¡± and at the same time, they had to offer sacrifices to ¡°Him.¡±


    She didn¡¯t expect this day to be so unlucky, being caught up in cult activity.


    The abnormal in the broadcasting room heard what the man said and laughed. ¡°Don¡¯t say I won¡¯t give you a chance. There are currently 43 people on this floor, but ¡°He¡± only needs 30 people as sacrifices. If you can offer enough sacrifices before the hour, then the fire downstairs will naturally disappear. But if 30 people aren¡¯t dead in half an hour, then you will all die by fire and become ¡°His¡± sustenance.¡±


    After his words, he laughed morbidly. ¡°Give ¡°Him¡± your best performances, dear sacrifices!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡­¡±


    There was dead silence. The people in the booth had different expressions, various thoughts floating in their minds.


    The lifestyle committee member in high school abruptly stood up and said, ¡°We can¡¯t fall for his tricks! The cult just wants us to kill each other!¡±


    ¡°Then how do you think we should escape? It¡¯s better for 30 to die than all of us, don¡¯t you think?¡± Another boy retorted with guilt and fear on his face.


    The health committee member looked out the window. ¡°This place is only the second floor. If we jump down, we might only break a leg at most.¡±


    At the words, everyone¡¯s eyes lit up. But Su Rong knew in her heart it would never be that simple.


    ¡°Yes, you are so right Lao Li!¡± The class president patted the health committee member on the shoulder. ¡°You jump first. Then you can call the police directly.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡­¡±


    In fact, the health committee member didn¡¯t want to jump down first. After all, though it looked safe now, under the effect of strangeness, who knew what would happen if he jumped down. But the words had already been said. If he didn¡¯t jump, wouldn¡¯t he be slapping himself in the face?


    Thinking about this, he gritted his teeth. Under the expectant eyes of everyone else, he climbed to the window, stepped out, and jumped down ruthlessly.


    The moment he completely left the restaurant, a greenish-black flame like a will-o-wisp suddenly appeared, wrapping around his clothes and spreading at an extremely fast speed.


    ¡°Ahhhhh! It hurts! Help!¡±


    The health committee member stopped in mid-air, bathed in fire, screaming shrilly and desperately reaching back.


    However, how could the ghost fire give him such an opportunity? In less than five seconds, the health committee member was burned to death, leaving scattered black ashes floating in the wind.


    He died.