Chapter 7

(Listening) (Since it's still the early stage of the new book, the updates won't be too fast, but I promise that once it's on the shelf, the updates won't be slow.)

Thinking about the possible situations he might encounter tonight, Xia Tianqi didn't dare to waste any more time and hurriedly found a nearby internet cafe to hide in.

"Old Hai, can we still get along? Didn't I tell you to report to the police immediately if I don't contact you within 24 hours? Why didn't you and Sun Long do anything!"

"Damn, you're the one with mental issues; we can't all be crazy just to keep you company!"

"I'm not joking around; I'm really in danger."

"Oh, what a coincidence, I'm in danger too. I just spent all the money for next year's tuition..."

Originally, Xia Tianqi called his college friends to seek their comfort and encouragement, hoping they could share his fear.

However, to his great disappointment, everyone thought he was joking and didn't take him seriously at all.

"These bastards, I really wasted my time being friends with them! Fortunately, I have good luck, or I would have been dead many times over if I had relied on those bastards to call the police and save me!"

Xia Tianqi kept cursing his college friends, but in fact, they had all lived under the same roof not long ago.

The reason he moved out of the school dormitory was to make job interviews more convenient and avoid the constraints of the dorm manager. Who would have thought he would suffer the consequences of his own actions.

Now, he couldn't find his grandfather, his classmates were unreliable, and even the police couldn't be counted on. He couldn't call the police and say he had encountered a ghost, or tell them that a ghost was killing people at the Xin Hua Grand Bookstore.

This was clearly unrealistic and unreliable.

After all, not many people would believe in the existence of ghosts.

"Ah!"

Xia Tianqi sighed in frustration. It was the first time in his life that he felt so helpless.

Fortunately, he was a resilient and optimistic person, so he wouldn't be easily defeated by difficulties.

When the enemy comes, resist; when water comes, block it with earth. He always believed that there were more solutions than problems, so when difficulties arose, he would find a way to solve them.

Looking at the time on the computer, it was 10:30 AM, and there was still a long time before he had to go to the bookstore for his shift.

Considering that he hadn't rested the previous night and his head felt like it was full of paste, Xia Tianqi decided to take a nap at the internet cafe. He would think about the night shift after he woke up.

After all, he needed a clear mind to think.

However, to his surprise, he slept until 4:00 PM. Although his body didn't get much rest, his mind was much clearer than before.

He went to the restroom to wash his face and then returned to the computer to start searching online.

"What to do if you encounter a ghost"

"How to avoid being chased by a ghost"

"Methods to control ghosts"

"How to kill a ghost..."

After searching for a long time on the internet, Xia Tianqi was thoroughly overwhelmed by the various answers.

There were all kinds of responses, and what made him feel like he had been hit in the knee by several arrows was that behind each answer, there were many people either maliciously attacking or harshly criticizing, making it impossible to determine who was right and who was wrong.

Which method was effective, and which was suicidal.

The only method with less controversy was the "ghosts fear evil people" theory he had tried the night before.

It said that when encountering a ghost, one should never be afraid but should act fiercely and aggressively, cursing and even attacking the ghost.

"I can't keep looking. If I continue, I might do something really stupid. No one on the internet is reliable!"

Since he couldn't find a way to deal with ghosts online, there was no point in staying at the internet cafe.

After logging off and leaving the internet cafe, Xia Tianqi took a taxi to a nearby supermarket near the Xin Hua Grand Bookstore.

He came here not only to buy some snacks but also to prepare for the upcoming "night shift."

After shopping until around 6:00 PM, he left with two large bags of items and then called another taxi to take him to the Xin Hua Grand Bookstore.

Since it was not yet 6:00 PM, the Xin Hua Grand Bookstore was still open for business. The store was very busy with many customers, and the staff were extremely busy. Xia Tianqi thought that if he hadn't experienced it himself, no one would believe that this place turned into a terrifying hell at night.

However, he wasn't too surprised that the bookstore was still operating normally despite the deaths. In China, such incidents were often suppressed, underreported, or not reported at all. So, the serious events here were likely also kept under wraps.

After standing outside the bookstore and observing the situation for a while, Xia Tianqi went to the parking lot on the street.

To his relief, his Audi was still parked there.

Opening the car door, Xia Tianqi eagerly got in, feeling somewhat excited.

His mother, although a Chinese teacher at a key high school, was not a head teacher and did not give private lessons, so she had no extra income. His father was a small employee in a public institution and also had no extra income.

So, strictly speaking, his family's situation was neither good nor bad, just an ordinary family.

Of course, this did not include his grandfather. He didn't know much about his grandfather's situation because his grandfather usually lived with them and, as far as he could remember, he had never seen his grandfather take money out of his pocket.

Because he came from an ordinary family, Xia Tianqi's dreams from childhood were related to material satisfaction.

For example, living in a large villa, driving a good car, and having a good job.

If described by one of his college friends, his dreams were completely lacking in technical skill and were as vulgar as they could be.

So, the Audi was a huge surprise to Xia Tianqi, despite the accompanying great shock.

Xia Tianqi remembered that the middle-aged man would also come, so he wasn't in a hurry to go to the bookstore.

Turning on the car radio and switching to a channel playing light music, Xia Tianqi hummed along contentedly. In a short while, the gloom that had enveloped his heart dissipated.

After staying in the car for about an hour, Xia Tianqi reluctantly got out and walked heavily to the Xin Hua Grand Bookstore.

When Xia Tianqi arrived at the bookstore, it had already closed, and the nearby street was deserted, with almost no people or vehicles passing by.

However, at the entrance of the bookstore, there were three people standing there. Two women and one man.

Seeing these three people blocking the entrance, Xia Tianqi instinctively looked in the other two directions but found it strange that he didn't see the middle-aged man.

"Excuse me... are you Xia Tianqi, Mr. Xia?"

While Xia Tianqi was looking for the middle-aged man, a soft female voice suddenly reached his ears.

"Yes, I am."

Although he had already guessed that these three people were likely the new recruits the middle-aged man mentioned in the morning, Xia Tianqi still asked uncertainly:

"Who are you?"

"We are here for the trial shift. The uncle said you would be here, so he asked us to wait for you."

"Oh." Xia Tianqi nodded as if he understood, then thought for a moment and asked:

"Where is he? Why can't I see him?"

"He was here earlier, but he seemed to have some urgent matters and left."

This time, the one who answered Xia Tianqi was a man with a "3-7" hairstyle and glasses, and his voice sounded like... a eunuch.

Xia Tianqi's face immediately turned strange, and he barely managed to suppress a laugh, saying in a deep voice:

"Alright, we are all in the same boat, so we'll rely on each other tonight."

Without giving the three people time to react, Xia Tianqi unlocked the bookstore door and walked in first.

The bookstore was still pitch black, with almost no visibility.

Thinking about the ghosts that would haunt the place at night and might even kill people, Xia Tianqi felt a chill run down his spine, and his legs trembled slightly.

Saying he wasn't afraid would be a lie.

Although the three new recruits were unaware of what was about to happen, they still showed varying degrees of fear in the pitch-black environment.

"How can it be so dark here? It's completely pitch black, and we can't see anything!"

"Yeah, at least there should be some lights. This is too scary."

"Be careful where you step. I'll turn on my phone's flashlight..."

Only when one of the new recruits turned on the flashlight function on their phone did the bookstore have some visibility.

Seeing some light, Xia Tianqi temporarily put down the items he was carrying and took out three flashlights.

He kept one for himself and gave the other two to the three new recruits.

"There are two flashlights. You three can use them for now. I don't actually know where the light switch is."

The reason Xia Tianqi bought one less flashlight wasn't to save the dozen or so yuan but because he thought the middle-aged man would only bring two new recruits.

Considering them was inevitable since they would all be staying here for the night.

The three new recruits were somewhat surprised that Xia Tianqi had prepared flashlights, clearly thinking that finding the light switch would be enough and that flashlights wouldn't be necessary.

"Um... why don't we split up and look for the light switch? There must be one here."

One of the new recruits suggested after Xia Tianqi finished speaking.

The other two new recruits agreed with the suggestion, but Xia Tianqi shook his head and said:

"Before that, I have a few questions for you."