After everyone had left the abandoned bathhouse, in the darkness unseen by any, ripples suddenly appeared on the water's surface. Chen Jingyue's pale, ghostly face slowly emerged from the water—half exposed above the surface, half submerged, with wet hair hanging loose. She silently stared in the direction where Lin Tianheng and the others had departed.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap—a series of footsteps echoed through the pitch-black corridor. Hearing this sound, Pan Long immediately halted, his expression turning solemn. After a moment, when he finally saw the figure emerging from the darkness, he let out a sigh of relief and said, "So it's you."
The person stepping out of the darkness was Jiang Rou.
"What, is the Ninth Group down to just you?" Pan Long looked her up and down, his eyes shifting slightly. "Knowing we're here and deliberately letting us notice you—Jiang Rou, aren't you afraid we'll make a move again?"
"No, I'm not," Jiang Rou shook her head with a gentle smile. "Because you wouldn't dare."
"You!" Pan Long's expression flickered, but he didn't budge. He snorted, "So, you've figured it out too."
Jiang Rou nodded. "Yes. In this mission, not only does using your own student card mark you as a target for the ghosts, but forcibly taking someone else's card also triggers a dead end."
"So, let's cooperate."
"Cooperate? With you?" Zhou Chuhan scoffed dismissively from the side. "The Ninth Group is down to just you, and participants can't snatch cards from each other in this mission. What's in it for us to work with you?"
"Sometimes, numbers aren't necessarily an advantage, and being alone doesn't mean there's no benefit to cooperation."
Jiang Rou spoke slowly, winking playfully. "Besides, I can give you another piece of information: I already have two signed student cards in my possession."
"What?" Even Pan Long's face changed this time. "Why didn't the ghost kill you? No, you're not using your own card—how... how did you manage that?"
"You don't need to worry about that. In short, I've already completed half of this mission for you. Isn't it a good deal to cooperate with me?"
"Brother Long, what do you think..." Zhou Chuhan's earlier disdainful expression turned awkward.
"And what do you get out of it? In this mission, participants absolutely cannot use their own student cards. We have two cards too, but we won't be swayed by your words into walking to our deaths."
"Exactly." A woman's voice echoed eerily from the darkness, carrying a strange, seductive tone.
"Let me put it more plainly: this mission has a loophole. The rules don't forbid participants from using force—they forbid using force to snatch others' cards. Think carefully about the difference..."
After a brief pause, Pan Long nodded. "I understand."
"Brother Long? Understand what?" Zhou Chuhan looked from Pan Long to the other person, utterly confused.
"Zhou Chuhan, come here. I'll tell you." Pan Long raised a hand and beckoned, signaling him to step closer.
"I'll tell you what this woman means..."
Zhou Chuhan couldn't hear clearly, so he leaned in, bringing his ear closer. But at that moment, Pan Long's expression turned terrifying. From somewhere, he pulled out a sharp knife and plunged it into Zhou Chuhan's back.
The sudden, searing pain made Zhou Chuhan's body convulse. His face showed disbelief, his wide eyes seeming to scream in furious accusation.
Why! Why are you doing this to me!
Pan Long frowned, pulled the blade out, wiped it on Zhou Chuhan's clothes, then kicked the corpse aside. He glanced at the woman opposite with some disgust.
Half her face hidden in the shadows, Jiang Rou showed no surprise. Instead, she nodded solemnly, walked over to Zhou Chuhan's body, and took a card from his pocket.
"So, you've chosen to cooperate with me."
"Choosing to cooperate with you is purely for the mission's benefits and survival. Beyond that, don't think I have any personal connection with you. In my eyes, you're more terrifying than a ghost."
"Is that so? But you still chose to cooperate with me because you know that in this mad world, only by making yourself more fearsome than a ghost can you guide us to survive here."
Standing up again, Jiang Rou cast a cold glance at Pan Long with her beautiful eyes. "At least for this mission, I hope you remember that, no matter what."
"But it's strange."
"What's strange?" Despite his disgust for the woman, Pan Long couldn't help asking.
"I'm wondering why we haven't run into the Seventh Group."
"The Seventh Group? Weren't they with you at the start?"
"No, we split up after the first encounter with that flashlight ghost." Jiang Rou pondered, still puzzled. "In this mission, you have to take someone else's student card to avoid being marked by the ghosts. But why hasn't the Seventh Group tried to contact anyone at all?"
"Could they be planning to just hold out until morning?"
After a moment's thought, Jiang Rou shook her head. "I doubt it. Even though the ghosts are still restricted now, you should know that these restrictions will gradually loosen over time. By the mission's end, they'll be completely lifted by the story. And this isn't an ordinary horror story—it's a team-level mission. Do you really think a ghost with all restrictions removed in such a story can be endured with props until time runs out? If we had that confidence, why would we be struggling here to find a way into the principal's office?"
"True... Now that you mention it, it is suspicious. Unless..." A flicker of complexity crossed Jiang Rou's eyes.
"Unless what?"
"Unless they've found another path to survival."
"What? Another path to survival in this mission?" Pan Long's face showed shock.
"I've had my suspicions before." Jiang Rou's expression turned cryptic. "Have you noticed that besides that unsolvable flashlight ghost, there are other ghosts in this school?"
-- PS: Here's the first update. I have something to do at noon, so the second update will come in the afternoon.