Chapter 10

"Xiao Ming, are you kidding me? What kind of secret could there be in this bookstore?"

Following Zhao Shuang up to the fourth floor, Feng Wei felt an inexplicable sense of unease, as if something bad was about to happen.

"Don't be in a hurry, you'll know once we get there."

Zhao Shuang's voice was as stiff as before, and now it sounded even more like an emotionless robot.

The unease in his heart intensified, and the temperature around him seemed to drop even further. Feng Wei instinctively hugged his shoulders, but it did little to stop the cold from seeping in.

"Why is it suddenly so cold? I'm freezing!"

Feng Wei, hugging his shoulders, jumped in place and complained to Zhao Shuang, who was walking ahead.

"If you're cold, let's go inside."

For some reason, perhaps because he heard Feng Wei's complaint, Zhao Shuang suddenly stopped and then opened the door to a lounge.

"It's right here, come on in quickly."

Although Zhao Shuang looked a bit strange, Feng Wei still walked over quickly.

In his heart, he was somewhat excited. After all, they were alone here, and Zhao Shuang was being somewhat proactive... Although he spoke in a somewhat effeminate manner, he wasn't gay.

Standing next to Zhao Shuang at the door of the lounge, Feng Wei instinctively shone his flashlight inside but didn't see anything unusual.

"Are you sure there's a secret in here?"

Feng Wei was now 90% sure that Zhao Shuang was tricking him, and there was no secret at all.

As for the reason he was tricked... Feng Wei glanced at Zhao Shuang, who was close to him, but the dim light prevented him from seeing Zhao Shuang's expression.

At this moment, Zhao Shuang stepped into the lounge.

Seeing Zhao Shuang go in first, Feng Wei hurriedly followed, but to his surprise, the door of the lounge slammed shut as soon as he stepped in.

Before Feng Wei could turn around, two icy arms wrapped around his neck.

"Zhao Shuang..."

Feng Wei, still holding the flashlight, finally saw Zhao Shuang's face clearly in the light—it was deathly pale!

"I want to..."

Despite Zhao Shuang's terrifyingly pale face, which looked like a vampire's, her coquettish voice immediately lowered Feng Wei's guard.

As Zhao Shuang's face drew closer, Feng Wei's body shivered again because her body was so cold.

"I want to..."

Zhao Shuang, now closer, panted again.

Feng Wei, who was naturally reluctant to refuse, responded in a flirtatious tone:

"What do you want?"

"I want to..."

Zhao Shuang's face was now completely pressed against Feng Wei's.

"What do you want?" Feng Wei's hands began to fumble with Zhao Shuang's clothes.

"I want... to take... your... life!"

Zhao Shuang's voice suddenly became hoarse, and at the same time, Feng Wei felt a nauseating stench fill his nostrils...

At a stairwell on the first floor of the bookstore, Xia Tianqi and Wang Yazhi were waiting.

"What did you say? Zhao Shuang is a ghost?"

Wang Yazhi almost doubted his ears; it was hard to believe that a living person could be a ghost.

"I just said it's a possibility. The middle-aged man only mentioned bringing two new people, and 'she' only appeared after he left."

Thinking back to how the evil ghost had once disguised itself as the librarian Zhang Xiaoshun to deceive him, Xia Tianqi felt even more certain that his guess was correct.

"If what you say is true, then... then Feng Wei..." Wang Yazhi was too terrified to speak.

Xia Tianqi gestured for her to calm down and then shook his head.

"I don't know. We can only hope for the best. We're in enough trouble ourselves and could be discovered at any moment."

At this point, perhaps to prevent Wang Yazhi from breaking down, Xia Tianqi added:

"But there might be a way. I've heard that evil ghosts fear evil people. If we act more aggressively, we should be safe."

"Really?" Wang Yazhi seemed to see a glimmer of hope.

"Yes." Xia Tianqi nodded and continued:

"Also, I have another idea. The evil ghost might be afraid of light."

"Afraid of light?"

"Yes, don't you find it strange that this building is almost completely dark? All the windows are covered with curtains, and the light switches are hard to find. Most importantly, the evil ghost only appears at night.

So I think it's either afraid of light or heat. Besides, in those domestic horror movies, ghosts are always terrified of light!"

After explaining his theory, Xia Tianqi didn't wait to see if Wang Yazhi understood and continued:

"So we should start preparing now!"

"Prepare? Prepare for what?"

"Of course, we need to create some light. The flashlight isn't enough. Let's start by pulling back the curtains on this floor."

Xia Tianqi wasn't the type to wait around. He didn't like leaving things to fate or letting others control his destiny.

Leading Wang Yazhi, Xia Tianqi cautiously approached a window. But before he could pull back the curtain, a few warm drops of liquid fell unexpectedly from above.

"What...?"

Xia Tianqi instinctively touched the liquid on his head and then slowly raised his head, shining the flashlight upward.

"Ah—!"

When they saw what was above them, Xia Tianqi and Wang Yazhi both gasped in horror.

Above them was... a hanging corpse!

The flashlight flickered, and behind them, Wang Yazhi's scream pierced their ears.

Although he only glanced up for a moment, Xia Tianqi recognized the corpse. It was none other than Feng Wei, the effeminate man who had separated from them earlier.

However, Xia Tianqi didn't recognize Feng Wei by his appearance but by his clothes.

Feng Wei was no longer human; his body was severely deformed, and his head, covered in brain matter, was hanging by a thread from the chandelier.

The liquid that had dripped onto them was brain matter from Feng Wei's head wound.

"When did he get hung up there...!"

Xia Tianqi's mind went blank, and his body began to tremble. Wang Yazhi, who had been following him, had already disappeared.

Xia Tianqi rubbed his cheeks, trying to calm himself.

Feng Wei's death didn't surprise him, but what terrified him was how close the corpse was to them.

This clearly meant that the ghost was nearby!

"We have to get out of here quickly!"

Xia Tianqi didn't hesitate and ran toward the nearest stairwell, planning to escape to a higher floor.

But before he could run far, he felt a strong sense of being watched. The feeling was so intense that he knew something was right behind him.

His feeling was correct. As he was about to turn around, something grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the ground with a force he couldn't resist.

"Ah...!"

Falling to the ground, the fear that Feng Wei had barely suppressed finally erupted.

The flashlight he had been holding rolled to the side, either broken or out of battery, leaving him in complete darkness.

The darkness and despair enveloped Xia Tianqi like a raging sea.

Xia Tianqi screamed and tried to get up, but he felt something wet soaking his body, followed by a heavy weight pressing down on him.

Something... something was on top of him!

But... he couldn't see anything.

"Am I going to die...?"

Xia Tianqi felt true despair for the first time, a mix of extreme helplessness and hopelessness.

Suddenly, he remembered something that might save his life: the amulet his grandfather had given him!

He had foolishly thrown one amulet into the toilet, but he still had one in his pocket.

Thinking of the amulet, Xia Tianqi's will to survive flared up again. He struggled to pull the amulet out of his pocket and placed it on his body, regardless of whether it would work.

As he held the amulet, his hand felt like it was sinking into thick mud, but then small red sparks appeared, illuminating his vision.

To his horror, his hand was on fire, or rather, the amulet in his hand was burning fiercely. Strangely, he felt no pain.

Using the light from the sparks, he finally saw what was on top of him.

It was the evil ghost that had disguised itself as Zhang Xiaoshun and nearly killed him that night!

Its body was still covered in sores and pus.

The burning amulet had a clear effect on the ghost. Its body trembled as if electrified, and it retreated until it completely left Xia Tianqi's body.

Xia Tianqi didn't waste any time. He quickly got up and prepared to run.

By now, the amulet was almost completely burned out.

In other words, Xia Tianqi had lost his last line of defense. To survive, he had to run. But before he could, a bright white light suddenly shone in his face.

"The person behind you is not simple. I wonder what level of official they are!"

To Xia Tianqi's great surprise, the middle-aged man's voice suddenly came from the side.