Chapter 9

Hearing the scream, Xia Tianqi and Wang Yazhi both subconsciously stopped in their tracks.

The sound came from behind them.

"I just heard what sounded like Feng Wei's voice."

Wang Yazhi, filled with fear, looked behind her, and in the process, her body drew closer to Xia Tianqi. Xia Tianqi could even feel the cold emanating from Wang Yazhi's body.

In fact, it wasn't just Wang Yazhi who was afraid; Xia Tianqi was also extremely uneasy.

"Yeah, I heard it too."

Although the sound was already very faint by the time it reached them, the bookstore was so deathly quiet that it still sounded quite clear.

Xia Tianqi didn't know what Feng Wei and Zhao Shuang had encountered, but he thought the most likely scenario was that the evil ghost had already appeared!

But no matter what the truth was, he had no intention of going over to join them. If it was real, he could only hope that the effeminate Feng Wei would find his own way out.

"Let's leave it to them and stay here. However, we need to be more cautious. Try not to make too much noise when we move. Can you do that?"

"Um..."

Wang Yazhi was very convinced by Xia Tianqi's decision. Although the ghostly situations he mentioned earlier hadn't appeared, she could still feel the intense eeriness of the bookstore building.

"I want to try calling a friend outside..."

Wang Yazhi suddenly requested.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the first floor of the bookstore.

Feng Wei rubbed his eyes hard, almost unable to believe what he was seeing, because everything before him... was just too bizarre.

He saw that the entire floor-to-ceiling window was slowly seeping with a liquid that looked very much like blood.

"What is that...?"

Feng Wei swallowed hard, then called out with a strained voice:

"Zhao Shuang, where are you? Come and take a look!"

"Zhao, Zhao Shuang?"

Faced with such a bizarre phenomenon, Feng Wei naturally didn't have the courage to face it alone, so his instinct was to call Zhao Shuang to his side.

However, Zhao Shuang didn't respond.

"Hey? Zhao Shuang? Are you there? Say something! Don't scare me!"

Feng Wei thought that with his current volume and the silence here, even people on the third or fourth floor could hear him clearly, so Zhao Shuang shouldn't have missed it.

"Sssss..."

Just as Feng Wei was screaming Zhao Shuang's name in fear, the blood-red liquid that was seeping from the window began to spread silently on the ground, and a vague figure could be seen writhing on it!

Just as Feng Wei was about to look at the window again, a beam of pale light suddenly shone on his face from the side.

"Ahh—!"

Perhaps the sudden appearance of the light, or perhaps the constant tension in Feng Wei's nerves, made him scream in fright.

"Can't you stop being so jumpy all the time?"

The sound of high heels "tap tap" approached, and Zhao Shuang walked over with a blank expression.

Seeing Zhao Shuang again, Feng Wei let out a long breath:

"Where did you go just now? I called you so many times and got no response. I thought you weren't here."

Feng Wei said this with a bit of displeasure, then suddenly remembered the window that was seeping blood, and hurriedly reminded Zhao Shuang:

"By the way, look at that window. There's a liquid that looks like blood seeping out. It's really bizarre."

"What kind of liquid?"

Zhao Shuang looked at the window, puzzled.

"It's... huh?"

Feng Wei was about to say it was on the window, but the words died in his throat.

The window was completely covered by closed curtains, and there was no sign of any liquid, not even the glass could be seen.

"Did you pull the curtains closed?"

Feng Wei looked at Zhao Shuang suspiciously.

"What are you talking about? I just got here."

Zhao Shuang rolled her eyes at Feng Wei and turned away, not bothering to respond.

"That's not right. I clearly pulled the curtains open just now. There are only the two of us here. I didn't move, and you didn't move. Could it be the ghost that did it?"

Feng Wei scratched his head in confusion, then muttered to himself:

"Never mind, I'll pull them open again for you to see."

Saying that, Feng Wei "swish" pulled the curtains open, but to his great confusion... there was no liquid on the window.

It was just an ordinary floor-to-ceiling window, glowing faintly under the moonlight.

"This... this can't be... I clearly saw it just now..."

"What did you clearly see? There's nothing there!"

Feng Wei tried to explain, but was immediately interrupted by Zhao Shuang, who clearly found his behavior of making trouble for nothing very boring.

"Never mind, maybe I was just seeing things, or it was a reflection from outside."

Feng Wei muttered to himself, finding a way out, then suddenly thought of something and asked Zhao Shuang:

"By the way, where did you go just now? Why didn't you respond when I called you for so long?"

"I was over there the whole time." Zhao Shuang pointed to the nearby staircase.

Feng Wei looked in the direction of the staircase and asked suspiciously:

"You went upstairs?"

"Um-hum." Zhao Shuang nodded, then leaned close to Feng Wei's ear and deliberately lowered her voice:

"I found a secret upstairs."

...

Xia Tianqi and Wang Yazhi symbolically walked around the area. Although they didn't find the switch to control the lights, at least they didn't encounter any danger.

During this time, Wang Yazhi tried calling her friends several times, but all attempts failed to connect.

What was even more bizarre was that the signal bars on her phone were full, but when Xia Tianqi tried, he couldn't even dial the emergency number, which also failed to connect.

This bizarre situation made Wang Yazhi's heart almost collapse, and Xia Tianqi's mood also began to sink.

The oppressive darkness filled with silence weighed on everyone's nerves.

"I don't want to stay here anymore. I want to go back to the dorm!"

Wang Yazhi, perhaps because of her fear, suddenly grabbed Xia Tianqi's arm and said with a sob.

"Good idea, we can try." Xia Tianqi dryly agreed, then changed the subject:

"But even if you escape from here tonight, won't you still have to come back tomorrow?

Unless you get killed before you return!

I've already told you about my experience the other day!"

Xia Tianqi's words were not just because he had a good impression of Wang Yazhi and wanted her to survive, but more importantly, if Wang Yazhi fled, he would be left alone again.

"Don't scare me... I don't want to die..."

Wang Yazhi, as she spoke, really started to sob, and her emotions became increasingly agitated:

"I just wanted to earn more money to send to my parents... that's why I left the school..."

"Why do I have to face this... I don't want to die..."

Wang Yazhi cried harder, her voice growing louder, clearly heading towards a loss of control.

In fact, what Xia Tianqi found most unbearable and helpless was encountering a crying woman.

This situation would be a headache for him even outside, let alone here. After some thought, Xia Tianqi could only threaten her with a stern tone:

"If you want to live, and don't want to die so soon, then shut up!

Your crying will easily attract it, and then neither of us will survive!"

Although being harsh to a woman was ungentlemanly, in a matter of life and death, who cared about such things, especially since Xia Tianqi was not a sexist.

In fact, his words were very effective. Wang Yazhi immediately covered her mouth in terror, as if the slightest sound would get her killed.

Seeing Wang Yazhi's emotions somewhat recover, Xia Tianqi's expression also relaxed, and he comforted her:

"There are always more solutions than problems in this world, so everything will be fine!"

Xia Tianqi's words were undoubtedly meant for both Wang Yazhi and himself.

In fact, his mood was also very bad. The entire first floor was completely silent except for them. He didn't know what had happened to Feng Wei, or if Zhao Shuang and Feng Wei were still alive.

This hellish waiting was undoubtedly the most agonizing, because no one knew when a hand might reach out from behind and tightly strangle their neck!

Perhaps influenced by Xia Tianqi, Wang Yazhi's emotions temporarily calmed down.

At this moment, Xia Tianqi suddenly remembered something:

"By the way, there's something I forgot to ask you.

When you first came here, was the place already closed? Or did you see any staff pulling the curtains?"

"No, when Feng Wei and I came here, it was already closed."

Wang Yazhi shook her head, indicating she didn't know, but then she thought of something and said:

"Zhao Shuang might know, since she was here the whole time."

"What do you mean?" Xia Tianqi, not quite hearing clearly, asked again:

"Didn't the three of you come here together with the middle-aged man?"

"No." Wang Yazhi shook her head and explained:

"Only Feng Wei and I were brought here by the middle-aged man. As for Zhao Shuang, she came out of the bookstore after the middle-aged man left."

Hearing this, Xia Tianqi felt a chill run up his spine.

"I will bring two new probationary employees over later..."

It was only then that Xia Tianqi suddenly remembered what the middle-aged man had said to him earlier.

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