Chapter 8

Hearing that Xia Tianqi had a question to ask them, the three new employees cooperated and stopped moving, standing in place.

Seeing the new employees' cooperation, Xia Tianqi didn't waste any time and got straight to the point:

"Do you know anything about this company? Or, how much do you know about the company you're working for?"

"What do you mean?" The three of them were a bit confused:

"Can you be more specific?"

"What I mean is, how much do you know about the company that hired you? Do you know what the company does, and why they hired you?"

Xia Tianqi repeated his question.

"Well... I really don't know."

The three new employees finally understood what Xia Tianqi meant, but they had no idea about the questions he asked.

"Mr. Xia, do you know anything about this company?" The effeminate new employee asked.

Xia Tianqi glanced at the effeminate one but didn't answer his question. Instead, he continued to ask:

"Was the person who interviewed you the middle-aged man who brought you here not long ago?"

"Yes, it was him. He looks quite intimidating." The three new employees nodded in agreement.

"What is your salary?" Xia Tianqi added:

"My probationary salary is 20,000, and I was also given an Audi. What about you?"

"I have the same as you."

"Me too."

"Me as well."

The three of them answered in surprising unison, indicating that everyone's probationary salary and benefits were the same.

After confirming this, Xia Tianqi pondered for a moment and then continued to ask:

"During your interview and on the way here, did the middle-aged man say anything to you? For example, how long it would take to become a regular employee, or why you had to come here for a probationary period, or the basic information about the company...?"

Xia Tianqi then thoroughly questioned the three new employees, learning their names in the process.

The effeminate man was named Feng Wei. The two women, with soft voices, were named Wang Yazhi, and the cold one was named Zhao Shuang.

However, apart from these details, he didn't gain any valuable information. In other words, these three new employees, like himself, knew very little about the company.

The reason they had readily signed the labor contract and agreed to work here was, in simple terms, for the attractive salary and benefits. Even if they thought it wasn't entirely reliable, they were willing to take a risk and try.

Of course, before coming here, they had all informed their families or friends, so they weren't worried about the company playing any tricks.

When Xia Tianqi learned the reasons why the three new employees had signed the contract, he couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration, as he had thought the same way. However, only he knew what the seemingly attractive salary and benefits truly meant and what would happen tonight.

Lowering his head and thinking quietly for a moment, Xia Tianqi clenched his teeth and decided to tell them the truth he had learned.

He wasn't doing this because he was particularly kind or upright, but simply because he felt that sharing the burden with four people was better than bearing it alone. Although he wasn't sure if the three new employees would believe such an unbelievable story, as they hadn't experienced it.

Having made up his mind, Xia Tianqi looked up and said seriously to the three of them:

"Let me give you a heads-up. What I'm about to say might sound like nonsense or a ghost story, but I'm being serious. Everything I'm about to say is true, based on my personal experience.

So you must believe me, or something bad might happen."

"Don't be so scary, you're scaring me." Wang Yazhi said, somewhat frightened.

"Yeah, you're making my hair stand on end."

The effeminate one and Zhao Shuang chimed in, especially Feng Wei, who nervously shone his flashlight behind him.

Seeing the three of them looking like they were listening to a ghost story, Xia Tianqi couldn't help but frown and emphasized:

"I'm being very serious!" Xia Tianqi then added with more emphasis:

"The company we signed with is extremely evil and malicious, in short, a fraudulent company. They use high salaries and benefits as bait to lure us in.

Once we sign the contract, we have to follow their arrangements and orders.

For example, we are specifically assigned to work here on probation."

"Working here on probation isn't that bad, right? It's just staying here at night!" The effeminate one interrupted Xia Tianqi, unconcerned.

Xia Tianqi glared coldly at the effeminate one and said with more emphasis:

"If there was nothing here, staying here at night wouldn't be a problem, but the question is, do you know what's here?"

"What's here?" Zhao Shuang asked.

"Ghost! A ghost that likes to kill!"

Xia Tianqi almost shouted this, and the more he said, the more afraid he became.

But since he had come this far, he had to continue, even if he was scared:

"This company is very mysterious. Once you sign a work contract with it, they will assign you to a haunted place.

For example, this bookstore that is only haunted at night!

If we don't go or choose to run away, we will be relentlessly pursued and retaliated against by the ghosts until they kill us...!"

To make the three new employees understand their situation better and help each other, Xia Tianqi didn't hide anything from them.

He almost recounted all the strange and terrifying experiences he had had in the past two days. However, to his surprise, the three new employees didn't believe him at all.

"Can I say you're a great storyteller? That ghost story is quite scary."

Despite being a bit scared and hugging her shoulders, Zhao Shuang didn't believe him.

With Zhao Shuang leading the way, the effeminate one, who didn't trust him much, added:

"What evidence do you have to prove what you're saying is true?"

"If I could summon the ghost, we'd all be dead!"

Xia Tianqi thought the effeminate one was an idiot and ignored him, turning to Wang Yazhi and Zhao Shuang:

"You don't believe me either?"

"I don't disbelieve you..." Wang Yazhi, seeing Xia Tianqi getting angry, said softly:

"It's just a bit strange. If what you say is true and it's so dangerous here, why did you come back?"

"I already said, only by following the company's arrangements and coming back to work can we survive. Otherwise, running away or staying at home will lead to death."

Xia Tianqi emphasized this again.

"I think he's telling the truth..." Wang Yazhi seemed to believe Xia Tianqi and said to Zhao Shuang, but was interrupted by the effeminate one:

"I think we should split up and find the switch for the lights. It's really too dark here."

Xia Tianqi knew the effeminate one was deliberately saying this, so he firmly disagreed:

"We can't split up! If we do, and one of us encounters the ghost alone, it's hard to say we won't be killed."

"Calling you Brother Xia, you must have been scared a lot. Talking about ghosts all the time, there's no such thing as ghosts in this world! We're not paying attention to you, so just shut up. Why are you still talking about this?"

Zhao Shuang's blunt rebuttal made Xia Tianqi want to hit someone, but he held back because she was a woman:

"Believe it or not, I have a clear conscience. I don't blame you for not wanting to be a good person; being a good person is not for humans!"

Xia Tianqi had completely laid his cards on the table with the three new employees. Since they didn't believe him, saying more would be pointless.

"We didn't mean it that way." Wang Yazhi didn't want them to have a falling out.

"Let's just ignore him and find the switch." The effeminate one said to Wang Yazhi.

Wang Yazhi looked at the effeminate one, then back at Xia Tianqi, who was frowning, and hesitated before replying:

"You go first, we'll look over here."

Hearing Wang Yazhi wanted to stay with Xia Tianqi, the effeminate one huffed in annoyance and walked away with Zhao Shuang.

Xia Tianqi was actually quite surprised that Wang Yazhi stayed behind. After all, the three of them had come together, and there was another woman with them. But he couldn't deny that he felt some comfort.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Xia Tianqi's tense face relaxed a bit.

"I just feel you're not lying, of course, just in case."

Wang Yazhi then covered her mouth and giggled softly.

"Right, someone as handsome as me wouldn't lie. Only those two idiots wouldn't believe me."

Xia Tianqi didn't want to get angry with the effeminate one anymore. After all, the priority now was to stay alive, and no one knew when the ghost would come out to kill.

"Let's go find the switch..."

Although Wang Yazhi looked soft and weak and wasn't particularly attractive, having someone by his side at least helped ease the psychological pressure.

"This building is really strange, we can't even find a switch!"

Feng Wei grumbled as he walked along the windows, stopping every few steps to look behind him.

In fact, since separating from Xia Tianqi and the others, he had felt like he was being followed, but when he looked back, he saw nothing. He still had some doubts about what Xia Tianqi had said, but he didn't want to admit it.

After passing two windows, Feng Wei noticed that the curtains in the building were all tightly drawn, which was why the entire floor was pitch black.

Stopping at another window, Feng Wei didn't ignore it this time. He pulled the curtains open, and a flood of bright moonlight poured in.

But with it came...

Feng Wei instinctively looked out the window and froze.

"Ah—!"

In the next instant, a scream full of terror broke the silence.