CHAPTER 60: CHAPTER 43: UPSTAIRS (9)

"Doesn’t it say here not to casually enter other people’s rooms?" Xu Yichao asked Sang Que in a low voice.

Sang Que pried open the door with a crowbar, looking serious, "It says not to enter other tenants’ rooms. The security is not a tenant; this is the employee quarters!"

Xu Yichao was taken aback, as if... there’s nothing wrong with that!

"All the clocks outside pointed to 12 o’clock just now. Look at the position of the moon again; it must be midnight. Security guard Old Tian will patrol outside. The duty room is safe for the moment."

The two slipped into the duty room; it was dirty and chaotic inside, dust swirling, with only a desk by the window, and two rusty bunk beds inside. The bedding on the bed was ragged, revealing brown cotton wadding inside, emitting a pungent stench.

Sang Que took out a black mask and put it on, starting to search the desk.

"How do you have everything?" Xu Yichao marveled. Without a mask, he could only cover his nose with his hand, shining a flashlight for Sang Que.

As Sang Que searched, he said, "If you have decent night vision, turn off the flashlight. Now, we’re unregistered outsiders and can’t get caught by security guard Old Tian; otherwise, that guy who fell from the building earlier might be our fate."

Xu Yichao’s scalp tingled, and he quickly turned off the flashlight, seeing a register book on the desk, quickly asking, "Can I register now?"

Sang Que paused his hand that was flipping through the book, "Better not. I figure it won’t work with a fake name, and if we use real names, I’m afraid that ’village resentment’ might use it to restrict us."

"Since we came in, we haven’t called each other by real names, right? Just nice, if something happens, call me Mulan; don’t call my real name. You should think of a nickname for yourself too."

"Meticulous!" Xu Yichao gave Sang Que a thumbs up, "Then call me Thanos."

Sang Que looked up at Xu Yichao, and Xu Yichao’s face turned red to the ears.

"Ahem~ Just a joke to ease the tension, call... call me Run Tu. I cosplayed Run Tu in class before, you must have missed it. They all said it was spot on."

"Found it."

Sang Que looked at the register book in his hand, which detailed the names, contact information, and workplaces of each floor’s tenants.

"Where do we go next to find Room 404?" Xu Yichao asked.

Sang Que was also clueless. She thought for a moment and said, "In the video on Zheng Letian’s phone just now, he said Grandma Xu is also in the building. She must have gone to Room 404 before, so let’s find her first."

"Right! Sang... Mulan, you’re really smart!"

"You’re from Xujiawan Village; see if there’s anyone you recognize in the register, think about where Grandma Xu might hide if she wanted to."

Sang Que handed the register book to Xu Yichao, took out her phone, and used its screen light to help illuminate the words.

Xu Yichao looked carefully, "The first floor is all the landlord’s family’s residences. I saw they were all locked just now. As for the second floor... 202 Li Dafu! It’s the butcher shop’s Uncle Fatty. You just killed him outside, so surely he won’t appear in this building again, right?"

"Besides, he was genuinely a good person in life. He helped Grandma Temple Guardian collect scrap materials, repaired water pipes, and when he found a partner and was ready to marry, the Eight Characters were also composed by Grandma Temple Guardian."

Sang Que glanced at Xu Yichao, "How do you know all this?"

Xu Yichao scratched his head, "I heard it all from my grandma. She has a great relationship with my mom, always chatting while I did homework."

Sang Que considered the route; in a while, they would head up from the north staircase, and the left-hand corridor, 202 was the middle unit.

"I’ll go out and take a look first."

Sang Que folded the tenant notice and torn-out register page into her pocket, quietly opened the door, and went out.

Listening carefully for a while, the footsteps sounded farther away; security guard Old Tian must’ve gone upstairs. She waved to the room and moved toward the north staircase from under the eaves.

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly saw a hint of red behind her. Sang Que’s eyes sharpened, turning to swing a fruit knife but abruptly stopping.

Xu Yichao stood frozen, holding a Tang blade, wearing a red vest.

Seeing Sang Que’s eyes filled with murderous intent scanning his red vest, Xu Yichao quickly whispered an explanation.

"I found it in the cabinet. I thought wearing red might deter those filthy things, making them think twice before killing me, because I’d become a Red-clothed Ghost!"

Sang Que rolled her eyes silently, taking a long look at the Tang blade in Xu Yichao’s hand. The remaining marks of the Ghost Soldier Talisman were still there, things Wandering Souls and Evil Spirits couldn’t fake.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sound of high heels was heard from Room 101, soon followed by the cry of a baby.

Xu Yichao was surprised, "101 is the residence of the landlord’s eldest daughter’s family, and Xu Jiayi is a night-shift nurse at Kangmin Clinic. Now, if it’s midnight, shouldn’t she be at the clinic?"

Xu Yichao had fully accepted the bizarre rules and settings in this building, beginning to think like the tenant notice suggested.

Sang Que kept her gaze straight, "This has nothing to do with us, don’t be overly curious."

"I’m just curious whether Xu Jiayi’s family was truly wiped out or if, as people say, they escaped to another place. She was a really nice person. It’s a pity that year a patient’s uproar led to her scar, causing a miscarriage, I hope she’s alive and well."

Sang Que said nothing, spotting a tightly closed rolling gate beside the stairs, connecting to the street outside, the usual entrance and exit for this building’s tenants.

Sang Que thought to herself, if they were to leave this building later, they’d probably need to get the key from security guard Old Tian.

Why do these evil spirits and ghosts prefer to kill according to a specific set of rules?

Sang Que wondered for a second before dismissing the thought, ascending the staircase soon reaching the second-floor staircase entrance.

The Skywell Building was ’口’-shaped in layout. Upon arriving, they faced two corridors on the left and right; 201 was right in front of them. All room doors were uniform green wooden doors, with rusty, peeling corridor railings displaying retro pink floral bed sheets, stained with large patches of black-brown blood.

A dirty and broken little rocking horse lay across the corridor center, facing them, creaking and swaying as if ’someone’ were riding it, watching them.

The sinister wind sent goosebumps all over Xu Yichao’s body. Sang Que noticed the black silhouette of a little girl with pigtails on the rocking horse, her face obscured.

"Walk along the wall, don’t run, and don’t speak loudly; remember the sixth tenant notice. Let’s go straight to 202."

Just as the two reached the door of Room 201, the sound of keys clinking suddenly came from the public restroom at the end of the corridor. Shortly after, a silhouette in security uniform appeared from the men’s restroom.

"Damn, can this security guard Instant Teleport?"

Creak——

The door of Room 201 opened on its own. At the last moment, Sang Que yanked Xu Yichao and dashed into Room 201.

Another half-second delay, and security guard Old Tian would’ve seen them.

Once inside, the door, unsurprisingly, closed on its own.

Through the faint light from outside, Xu Yichao scanned the small room, "So messy, was it robbed? I remember Room 201 was the home of the Liar and her mother. Her dad worked outside."

The room wasn’t large, with a faucet near the entrance, separated by a makeshift kitchen. Inside was the bed, wardrobe, and desk, all visible at a glance.

Now the wardrobe was overturned, and the bed was chaotic, pots, pans, and broken pieces of an old-style thermos scattered all over the floor, with some blood splatters on the walls.

Except...

Sang Que walked to the desk by the window. Only this desk was covered with an unusually clean cloth, with watercolors, crayons, sketchbooks, and some children’s books neatly arranged.

On the wall beside the desk, many crayon drawings done by a child were posted, but the colors and content of those drawings made Sang Que’s hair stand on end.