The other ghosts stared at Gu Jiu. Apart from the mirror ghost and the faceless ghost, their expressions held a mix of hesitance and yearning.
Gu Jiu pointed at the six ghosts, explaining, “The pregnant ghost was an ordinary person in life, killed and trapped here afterward. The headless ghost was once a player; she was beheaded by the villa’s owner and now works for them. The faceless ghost was also a player; the villa’s owner peeled his face off…”
As Gu Jiu revealed each ghost’s background, the players around her grew increasingly astonished.
Three of the six ghosts were players, while the others were ordinary people who had died tragically, leaving their souls confined within the villa.
“If they want to escape the villa owner’s control, they need scapegoats. And we’re the ones they want as their replacements,” Gu Jiu concluded.
This revelation sent a chill down everyone’s spines. They now eyed the six ghosts with heightened wariness.
The ghosts hadn’t expected her to expose their identities and intentions so directly, and they exchanged uneasy glances.
The mirror ghost snarled, “So what if you’ve figured it out? One way or another, tonight, you’ll all die here and become our replacements.”
Summoning his courage, Xu Chenfeng said, “Wait a minute! There are only six of you; you’d need just six replacements, so why do you want to kill all of us?”
There were sixteen of them here, after all.
The mirror ghost chuckled darkly. “Six of you are for us. The remaining ten are for the master to enjoy.”
By “master,” he meant the villa’s owner.
The players glared at him with rage, wishing they could hit him with a Holy Light Talisman if they weren’t confined to the “Fortress Barrier.”
The mirror ghost continued to taunt them, casting provocative glances at Gu Jiu, hoping to incite her anger. He hoped that this temperamental young lady would lose her patience, burst out in fury, and step outside the safety of the barrier.
As long as she left the barrier, she’d be fair game.
But just as the mirror ghost was relishing his plan, his expression twisted in pain, and he let out a wretched scream. His entire form was thrown into the air. The others focused on his spot and saw a paper frog, its mouth opening and closing as if chewing on something. Then they noticed the mirror ghost’s missing foot—and understood.
The paper frog had bitten off his foot and eaten it. The mirror ghost, both terrified and in agony, staggered forward, rage contorting his face as he tried to crush the frog.
The paper frog leapt back into the “Fortress Barrier,” and the mirror ghost missed his target, slamming into the barrier and getting thrown back.
Seeing the mirror ghost’s plight, the other five ghosts silently backed away a bit.
Enraged and humiliated, the mirror ghost cursed at them, “You cowards! Why are you just standing there? The master is watching you—if you do nothing, the master will be angry.”
The pregnant ghost rubbed her belly and said, “We can’t get in there. What do you expect us to do?”
The other ghosts nodded silently. They weren’t about to make the same foolish move as the mirror ghost by picking a direct fight.
The mirror ghost was so furious that his form flickered as if coming undone.
Suddenly, Gu Jiu pointed out the window. “Look, what’s that?”
Everyone, including the ghosts and the giant eye outside, instinctively turned to look. Even the eye seemed suspicious, glaring at Gu Jiu with a mix of rage and uncertainty.
Silence filled the air—there was nothing there.
Under all those questioning gazes, Gu Jiu nonchalantly shrugged and said, “Oh, my mistake. Sorry about that.”
Her apology was devoid of sincerity, and both the mirror ghost and the eye outside looked like they wanted to wring her neck. The others, though puzzled, kept quiet.
A moment later, Gu Jiu exclaimed again, “What is that?”
Once more, everyone, including the eye outside, turned to look. And once again, there was nothing.
The eye’s gaze burned with fury, seeming almost ready to explode. If it could, it would have gladly eliminated this infuriating woman.
Gu Jiu shrugged, feigning innocence. “I just thought it was too quiet, so I wanted to lighten things up with a joke. Honestly, can’t you guys take a little fun? Especially you,” she pointed at the eye, “you’re kind enough to let us stay in your villa, so a joke or two shouldn’t hurt, right?”
Blood vessels of rage seemed to creep into the eye, filling its sclera with red as the whole villa trembled. The chandelier above swayed violently, and even the ghostly shadows and six ghosts were thrown off balance, staggering around.
Gu Jiu remained unbothered. “No need to get so upset. After all, no matter how angry you get, you still can’t come in here and kill me.”
Everyone: “.…” Miss Gu, please, stop provoking it!
The players, by now, understood that Gu Jiu was deliberately provoking the villa’s owner, though they weren’t sure of her ultimate plan.
Then, with a soft clinking sound, everyone and the ghosts turned to the source of the noise. A small paper crane had somehow flown into the safe circle, holding a key in its beak.
Seeing this, the eye outside grew so furious it looked like it might burst, letting out an enraged roar.
The villa shook violently once more, this time so powerfully that even those within the “Fortress Barrier” were jolted, struggling to stay on their feet.
Lu Ji reached out, and the paper crane landed in her hand. She untied the key and handed it to Gu Jiu.
“Oh dear, don’t get so mad,” Gu Jiu said with a fake, casual smile as she accepted the key.
“I really was just joking around. I had no idea you’d fall for it so easily. With an intelligence this low, it’s a wonder you even became the villa’s master. Maybe… brainless and brawn-heavy?”
The owner of the eye was so infuriated by this blatant insult that it seemed like it might literally explode.
Furious! But unable to touch her!
After all, as the saying goes, the “cage owner” can’t very well climb into the cage just to beat up the “birds” making him angry. Unless he could somehow shrink himself to the size of the “birds,” entering was out of the question.
It was undeniable that the villa, while trapping the players, also served as their sanctuary, sparing them from a direct confrontation with the boss.
The players looked at the key in Gu Jiu’s hand, eyes wide with astonishment and delight, feeling as if they could barely process it all.
Now they understood Gu Jiu’s taunting had been a clever distraction, allowing Lu Ji’s paper crane to slip unnoticed to the rose bushes and retrieve the key.
Though it seemed like a simple task, drawing the boss’s attention the entire time was no easy feat. If the paper crane had been detected by the boss, all their efforts would have been wasted. And once the “Fortress Barrier” lost its protective effect after six hours, Gu Jiu would face the boss’s fiercest retribution. This was not a task any ordinary person would dare take on—yet she did it without hesitation.
With the villa owner’s furious gaze fixated on her, Gu Jiu calmly ordered, “Ah Ji, bring out the other keys.”
Lu Ji took out the remaining five keys he’d been holding and placed them on the ground.
Then, Gu Jiu added her newly acquired key to the pile.
Under the players’ watchful eyes, an incredible sight unfolded: the six keys snapped together like magnets, forming a single, new key.
Gu Jiu smiled slightly and looked directly at the eye, whose gaze seemed on the verge of splitting with rage.
“This key,” she said, “should be the key to open the main door of the villa, right?”
Though the eye said nothing, the panic in its expression confirmed her suspicion.
As if to provoke it further, Gu Jiu continued, “The six rooms in the villa, the bloody stains, and even the six ghosts—they’re just a ruse to mislead the players. I suspect these shadowy apparitions cannot enter those six rooms. If, after finding no way out tonight, we’d decided to risk using the rooms as a safe haven, we’d likely end up like previous players, dying in those very rooms.”
The reason for throwing the final key into the rose bushes outside was clear: it was to prevent players from leaving the villa willingly. Going outside would expose them to the boss lurking nearby, making it easy for the villa owner to hunt them down.
Past players in the “Caged Bird” instance knew the sixth night was extremely dangerous. In desperation to survive, they’d follow the ghosts’ guidance to collect keys, thinking that if they hid in the ghosts’ rooms, they’d be safe. But that assumption was dead wrong; no safety was guaranteed.
The key lay in obtaining the sixth key.
If players failed to find it, they’d have to endure until the seventh day, when they could finally escape.
Gu Jiu’s explanation served a dual purpose: infuriating the villa owner while enlightening the players present.
Aside from Qi Yuheng, the other players looked uncomfortable. Initially, they’d also considered that the ghosts’ rooms might be special sanctuaries, places to hide from the dangers of the sixth night.
Fortunately, this bold young lady was fearless enough to confront the boss directly, without relying on the rooms as a last resort.
“So that’s why there was so much blood in those rooms—it was all left behind by previous players,” Ai Ruyi and the other newcomers looked visibly shaken, realizing just how close they’d come to making a fatal mistake.
Gu Jiu continued, “I guess those players’ bodies were crushed like balloons by the ghostly shadows, their bones and flesh pulverized, and the blood forced out of their veins, splattering everywhere. Like squeezing a corpse until it bursts.”
Everyone: “….” Please, just stop!
Qi Yuheng quickly asked, “Miss Gu, now that we have the key, shall we clear the game?”
This filthy place was unbearable for him—he just wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Gu Jiu nodded. “Yes, we can leave, but before that, there’s something I’d like to do.”
“What?” The group looked at her, bewildered. What else did this young lady have in mind?
She pointed to the bloodshot, furious eye in the window and said, “How about we get rid of this disgusting thing and set them free?”
By “them,” she meant the ghosts trapped in the villa.
The players looked at the six ghosts, momentarily stunned.
Ge Guang was the first to speak up, “Miss Gu, whatever needs doing, just let us know.”
He, too, felt a twinge of sympathy for these ghosts, forcibly bound to the villa and used as mere tools by its owner.
Gu Jiu shook her head. “Honestly, I’m not entirely sure, but it might have something to do with this key.”
Just then, the headless female ghost spoke up. “I know. Use the key to attack that eye. But once you use the key on it, you won’t be able to open the door and leave. You’ll have to wait another day until the game time expires.”
This revelation caused everyone’s faces to change.
They wanted nothing more than to leave the villa immediately; the thought of staying one more day was almost unbearable.
“I’m fine with it.”
The voice belonged to Qi Yuheng. Seeing everyone’s surprise, he replied lazily, “Finding the key was Miss Gu and Miss Lu’s accomplishment. How it’s used is up to them. As long as we get out in the end, that’s all that matters.”
With the expert’s approval, the others had little room to object. Despite their reluctance, they nodded, leaving the decision in Gu Jiu’s hands.
Gu Jiu chuckled softly and thanked them, her voice unusually gentle. A serene smile graced her classical beauty, so warm and captivating that every player, regardless of gender, found themselves blushing, as if they’d drunk a potent, heady wine.
One of the players, a housewife, clutched her chest, mumbling, “My husband doesn’t hold a candle to her! I almost want to switch sides and find a sweet wife to raise kids with.”
Everyone else: “….” Wake up. She’s a fierce young lady, not exactly gentle!
Even the ghosts stared at Gu Jiu in a daze, at a loss for words.
Gu Jiu handed the key to Lu Ji. “Ah Ji, you’ve got strength. Throw it right at that thing—give it a good, hard throw.”
She pointed at the eye in the window.
Lu Ji met her gaze, returning Gu Jiu’s encouraging smile, and nodded without hesitation.
The key gleamed with a metallic sheen in Lu Ji’s pale, snow-white hand. As he flung it toward the window, it transformed midair into a sharp, metallic blade, piercing the eye with force.
A harrowing scream echoed across the sky as the eye burst with a loud pop and disappeared.
With its destruction, all the ghostly shadows floating around the villa shattered instantly, vanishing like smoke.
Now, only the sixteen players and six ghosts remained.
At that moment, the “Fortress Barrier” lost its defensive effect, allowing the ghosts to touch the players.
The mirror ghost’s face contorted with malice as he stared coldly at Gu Jiu, a sinister intent flickering in his gaze.
Gu Jiu looked at him, raised an eyebrow slightly, and simply uttered, “Hmm?”
Immediately, the mirror ghost shrank back, his viciousness evaporating into fear as he desperately wished he could vanish on the spot.