Gu Jiu stuffed the scowling doll back into her pocket and made her way up to the second floor of Old Li’s house.
Fatty quickly asked, “Sis, what are you going upstairs for?”
“Obviously, to rest! Gotta be well-rested to work hard tonight.”
Without looking back, Gu Jiu replied, holding onto the railing as she climbed slowly. The creaky stairs groaned under her weight.
Everyone present exchanged glances.
Although they had heard Wu Yang mention that they would leave that night, they still felt a bit hesitant. The dangers of Qingshan Village at night far exceeded those of the day, and none of them were mentally prepared.
But they also didn’t have the courage to stay behind. When Wu Yang made the decision, none of them objected.
Still, they hadn’t expected Gu Jiu to be so nonchalant about it. Compared to her, they seemed almost cowardly.
Then, they watched as Lu Ji followed Gu Jiu’s footsteps upstairs.
“Fine, let’s go rest too,” Fatty said, tugging his brother along as he climbed, muttering, “Bro, I’ll be counting on you to protect me tonight. I don’t want to end up as ghost bait with all this weight I’ve packed on.”
Skinny patted his round arm. “Don’t jinx it.”
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping watched the four of them go upstairs. Seeing even Wu Yang opt to rest and save energy for the night, they couldn’t help but follow along, worry and fear notwithstanding.
Gu Jiu lay down on the bed, placing the doll beside her pillow.
The doll’s face had returned to a smiling expression. After a while, she actually found it rather cute.
She reached out to poke its chubby face, tugging at the floral jacket it wore, muttering something to herself. Instantly, the doll’s smile turned into a miserable frown, its human-like eyes glowering at her ominously.
Rather than being frightened, Gu Jiu chuckled and continued to poke it.
If Lin Dandan and the others had seen this, they would probably have flipped out. Knowing the doll was some kind of spirit, yet daring to mess with it so fearlessly—Gu Jiu was the only person they knew capable of such a thing.
Lu Ji lay on the other side of the bed, unable to resist glancing at her, only to be met by her gaze.
Since it was rest time, she wasn’t wearing her glasses, and her eyes seemed to be clouded, not bright or clear, yet somehow this didn’t detract from her beauty, adding instead a unique allure.
She said softly, “Sister Lu, my waist still hurts.”
Lu Ji thought to himself, what does her waist pain have to do with him? But this woman had unusually thick skin; she had gone from calling him the formal “Miss Lu” to the more intimate “Sister Lu” and was staring at him with those clouded eyes, her meaning unmistakable.
In the end, Lu Ji gave in. “Alright… I’ll massage it for you.”
Gu Jiu happily lay on her stomach, burying her face in the pillow, her voice full of cheer. “Thank you, Sister Lu. You’re so kind.”
Expressionless, Lu Ji began massaging her lower back, a faint blush creeping onto his pale ears.
He had never met a woman with such unabashed audacity.
—
Shortly after noon, only a couple of hours seemed to have passed before the sky grew pitch black.
Just as Lu Ji lit the oil lamp, he heard a knock at the door, followed by the Fatty’s voice from outside. “Ladies, it’s dark. You better come out.”
His voice held an anxious edge. The unusual events of that day had caught them all off guard.
Rubbing her eyes, Gu Jiu reached for her glasses on the pillow, slipping them on. She picked up her light coat and, without hesitation, grabbed the doll by her bedside.
Seeing the doll’s face turn sour again, she casually stuffed it into her coat pocket.
Lu Ji held up an oil lamp to open the door, where he found the brothers and Wu Yang, each also holding an oil lamp.
When Wu Yang saw them emerge, he nodded slightly and said, “Miss Gu, Miss Lu, it seems we need to move earlier than expected.”
The unusual darkness was the game’s way of warning the players. Even if they didn’t want to take the risk, they had no choice but to play along with the rules.
Gu Jiu acknowledged with a hum, grabbed her rolling pin, and stepped out of the room.
Lin Dandan, Wang Peiping, and the brothers were visibly tense, and even the usually calm Wu Yang appeared on edge. The eerie sky was a clear sign: the spirits of Qingshan Village were getting restless.
The seven of them headed toward the staircase.
Wu Yang led the way but abruptly stepped back as he approached the stairs.
A piercing creak sounded from below, and a chilling wind swept through. In the silence of the dark, an unsettling croak echoed, familiar to everyone.
Gu Jiu and Fatty peered down, spotting a shadowy figure crouched between the stairs.
By the glow of their lamps, they recognized the shadow as the ghostly old lady they had seen in the Old Li house during the day. This same ghostly lady had been shoved back onto her bed by Gu Jiu’s rolling pin, struck several times until she’d been left too frightened to resist.
The ghostly old lady clung to the stairs like a lizard, limbs pressed to the ground, crawling up towards them with her face turned upward. Upon seeing Gu Jiu, her gaunt, ashen face twisted into a look of venomous resentment.
Fatty shivered and instinctively ducked, wishing he could hide his plump self behind his brother.
“Gh-gh-ghost…” Wang Peiping stammered, retreating quickly with a scream.
Lin Dandan, equally terrified, scrambled backward, desperate to distance herself from the apparition on the stairs.
Wu Yang kept a vigilant eye on the ghostly lady. She was blocking the stairs, meaning they’d have to face her to get down.
He grimly pulled out a blood talisman.
The blood talisman, a consumable item, could be used five times. He’d already used it twice in a previous game and twice in this Qingshan Village scenario, leaving only one use. Once it was gone, it was gone for good.
Just as Wu Yang prepared to use the talisman to drive back the ghostly old lady, a rolling pin appeared in front of him.
Gu Jiu said, “You all move back. I’ll handle her.”
A faint smile graced her face—not gentle by any means, but her classical beauty and naturally serene demeanor gave her an oddly warm and charming look, even as she faced off against a spirit. Somehow, her wicked deeds rarely stirred resentment in others, and those she tormented often forgave her easily.
Fatty didn’t hesitate, pulling his brother back with him.
Wu Yang hesitated but, recalling how Gu Jiu had dealt with the ghostly old lady earlier that day, decided to trust her.
Though her specific abilities were unclear, she had clearly proven effective in handling spirits.
Seeing Gu Jiu approach her willingly, the ghostly old lady let out a gurgling laugh, her gaze full of malice. She might have been helpless in the daytime, but at night, when spirits reigned supreme, she felt confident. She wouldn’t let this woman escape!
The ghostly old lady shrieked in fury and crawled toward them, her limbs pressed to the ground.
Her hands had morphed into black, ghostly claws, sharp enough to puncture the wooden steps with ease as she scrambled up at an alarming speed, slithering upward like a lizard.
The staircase creaked with each step, a sound everyone remembered well from their first night in Qingshan Village when it had kept them awake.
Now they finally understood the source of the nightly creaking sounds—clearly, this ghostly old lady hadn’t been sleeping at night but rather crawling up and down the stairs.
As the ghostly old lady reached the top of the stairs, Gu Jiu calmly extended her rolling pin, pressing it against the ghost’s shoulder.
The hand holding the rolling pin was delicate, with thin skin so translucent that the blue veins beneath were visible—a sight utterly enticing to a ghost. The old lady couldn’t help but swallow hungrily, her face twisted in a voracious expression as she imagined devouring this human’s flesh and blood.
Just as the ghostly old lady prepared to pounce, she realized she couldn’t move forward. The rolling pin pressed firmly into her shoulder, holding her in place.
A flash of terror crossed the old lady’s face as she remembered the pain from Gu Jiu’s earlier blows during the day.
Gu Jiu smiled at her. “I told you, there’s no need to be so eager.”
With that, she swung the rolling pin and struck the old lady, sending her tumbling down the stairs.
The ghostly old lady rolled down, letting out a terrified shriek.
Gu Jiu looked down the dark staircase, dragging her rolling pin along as she took the lead downstairs, saying nonchalantly, “Let’s go.”
Everyone else: “….” What just happened? How did she manage to knock a ghost down the stairs with just a rolling pin?
Lu Ji followed Gu Jiu with the oil lamp, glancing at the hand holding the rolling pin. In the dim light, he could faintly see that her fingernails had grown longer and turned a blood-red color, clearly no longer normal human nails.
The ghostly old lady landed at the bottom, sprawled across the floor by the stairs.
Seeing Gu Jiu descending leisurely, she let out a piercing shriek, dropped to all fours, and pounced like an animal, mouth open wide to reveal her ghastly teeth as she lunged at Gu Jiu.
Gu Jiu, impatient, kicked her away. “Old lady, you’re no match for me, so stop struggling. Otherwise, I’ll have to get rough with you.”
The ghostly old lady, now kicked three meters back: “….” Isn’t she already being rough?
Out of breath, Gu Jiu leaned on her rolling pin, reached into her pocket, and pulled out the doll, tossing it to Wu Yang. “Brother Wu, Brother Fatty, go open the door to the middle room.”
Wu Yang nodded, grabbing the doll, and along with Fatty and his brother, hurried toward the middle room.
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping stood behind Gu Jiu, uncertain of what to do.
At this moment, they both felt that being near Gu Jiu was probably the safest place.
Lu Ji stood beside Gu Jiu, holding the oil lamp to provide light, his face expressionless as he observed the scene.
The ghostly old lady, noticing Wu Yang and the others heading to break down the door, panicked. Ignoring Gu Jiu, she charged in their direction, only to be intercepted by Gu Jiu once more.
The rolling pin landed on the ghost’s waist, and she let out a bloodcurdling scream.
Although the blow had seemed weak, it hurt her immensely, as if Gu Jiu’s attacks contained a unique power targeting spirits, making it unbearable for them.
Gu Jiu laughed cheerfully, “Getting hit in the waist hurts, doesn’t it? A woman’s waist injury can be pretty serious, you know. So, next time, don’t attack someone else’s waist so easily.”
Lin Dandan asked in a daze, “Miss Gu, was it this ghost who controlled the doll that attacked you last night?”
“No idea,” Gu Jiu replied nonchalantly. “But whoever it was, all the ghosts need to learn that a woman’s waist is not to be attacked lightly.”
Everyone: “….”
So, she’d targeted the ghost’s waist just now as payback for last night’s doll attack on her waist?
Such a vengeful spirit… Fortunately, they hadn’t wronged her.
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping both felt a surge of relief, casting a quick, furtive glance at Gu Jiu. They had to admit, they’d misjudged her—she wasn’t a delicate young lady at all but a fierce, revenge-driven one.
With Gu Jiu holding off the ghostly old lady, Wu Yang and the others managed to reach the middle room smoothly.
Just as they prepared to kick down the door, a ghostly figure lunged at them. Wu Yang dodged swiftly, but the ghost still managed to claw his arm, tearing away a chunk of flesh.
Skinny pulled Fatty to safety, and upon closer inspection, they realized this ghostly figure was Old Li himself.
Old Li, also a ghost, was even more powerful than the ghostly old lady. Wu Yang, Fatty, and Skinny struggled to fend him off, each of them sustaining various scratches and wounds from his attacks.
The places where they’d been scratched burned with a stinging pain, making it clear they couldn’t afford to let their guard down.
Seeing that Wu Yang and the others were pinned down, Gu Jiu quickly called out, “Lin Dandan, you two go open the door!”
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping, feeling lost and helpless, instinctively rushed over and threw themselves against the door.
The door that had stubbornly refused to budge during the day gave way immediately upon impact, nearly causing the two of them to stumble inside.
The room was dimly lit; the oil lamp barely illuminated a small area, leaving the rest of the room cloaked in darkness.
The moment the door swung open, countless blood-red eyes gleamed in the darkness. The doll in Wu Yang’s hand wriggled free, darting into the shadowy room.
The ghostly old lady and Old Li let out resentful wails at the sight.