Chapter 40: A Perilous Arrival at the Fifth Floor

[Qin Wei's Friendliness: 70] (Eager to be a lackey)

Duan Ming fell into deep thought looking at Qin Wei's friendliness value... As if!

He had just pulled the guy back from the gates of hell, and that only yielded 10 friendliness points?!

That was a life-saving grace, you know!

Duan Ming (_) looked at Qin Wei, who happened to look back at him and flashed a flattering smile.

Duan Ming took out one hundred million ghost coins.

Qin Wei's eyes instantly lit up as he received them with both hands: "Big Bro, how could I be so embarrassed?"

[Qin Wei's Friendliness +1]

Damn it!

He silently took the banknotes back: "Oh, I just took them out to look at them."

Qin Wei: "???"

Duan Ming shook his head.

It was temporarily not worth investing any more in this guy. The further they went, the more money he would demand. Handing over all his wealth might not even max out the meter.

Anyway, right now, because of Ying Hongyan, Qin Wei would obey his every word. It was better to save this money to use for crying.

At that moment, Han Lingling suddenly said, "Done!"

Duan Ming looked over. The ghost cloth that had been spread over the bed had completely vanished from sight. When he touched it, it was still there.

Somewhat annoyed, he asked, "Since you had this invisibility potion, why didn't you take it out earlier?"

"The other day, just as I was about to pull it out, didn't you go off competing with me in ghost energy? Besides, this thing has an expiration time; it only lasts for ten minutes."

"Oh, right."

Qin Wei was stunned: "Are you guys really going out at night? Do you need any help?"

As a Fierce Ghost-tier entity, although he maintained some caution toward the indigenous residents of the ghost realm, he wasn't as terrified of them as wandering spirits and malevolent ghosts were.

Duan Ming shook his head: "Not for now. The ghost cloth can't fit three people. If we really need to, I'll cry you up here."

"Uh, alright." Though it sounded a bit strange, Qin Wei agreed anyway.

The siblings exchanged nods, draped themselves in the ghost cloth, opened the door, and stepped outside.

The ghost cloth treated with the shadow potion was not like before; not only could people outside not see them, but their own vision wasn't blocked from the inside either.

Inside the room, they hadn't felt much, but once they reached the corridor, all sorts of mournful wails instantly flooded their ears. It was hard to imagine what kind of torture those ghost spirits were enduring inside the wards.

After adapting slightly, the two continued forward, and soon, the ghost spirits guarding the stairway entrance that Han Lingling had mentioned came into view.

Except there were not two.

There were three.

Fierce Ghost One, ghost energy 75,423.
Fierce Ghost Two, ghost energy 74,595.
Fierce Ghost Three, ghost energy 86,597.

A direct assault was impossible.

Han Lingling gasped in a low voice: "What is going on? The previous two nights, there were always only two guards!"

The difference between two and three guards was massive.

According to their previous observations, the two fierce ghosts stood on the left and right, leaving just enough space in the middle for two people to pass through. Now, the three guardians completely blocked the corridor airtight; squeezing even one person through would be difficult.

Han Lingling made a decisive call: "Plan canceled. Let's go back."

"Wait, I want to try again," Duan Ming said in a deep voice. "Sister Lingling, I saw you had ghost talisman paper in your inventory earlier. Give me one."

"What do you want that for?" As she spoke, she shoved a stack over. "Take them all, there are forty or fifty sheets."

Duan Ming took them, pulled out a single sheet, and chanted silently. The ghost talisman paper in his hand instantly underwent a drastic transformation, turning into...

"Photobook of Ghost Idol Yumemi's Passion."

Han Lingling: "???"

"Pfft, pervert."

Duan Ming didn't reply. He quietly placed the photobook by his feet and then controlled the ghost cloth to lift a corner of its cover.

Fierce Ghost One: "Huh? Yumemi's photobook?"

He made a swift lunge forward, wanting to grab it, but was abruptly pulled back by Fierce Ghost Two.

"What do you think you're doing! I dropped that!"

"What do you mean you dropped it? I saw it first!"

"Hey, are you being reasonable? I worked so hard to buy this photobook."

"As if I'd believe you! You think I don't know which ghost bint's belly your money went into? You'd have money to buy this thing? Stop talking crap, I saw it first, so it's mine."

"Heh, and you think you're in the right? First come, first served, ever heard of it?"

Seeing the two malevolent ghosts fighting fiercely over a photobook, Han Lingling cursed internally once more: "Ugh, all men are perverts!"

Duan Ming: "???"

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Do you need me to dig out all the DVDs in your room? There are thirty-two of them in total."

"Ha, haha, never mind."

While Fierce Ghost One and Fierce Ghost Two were currently embroiled in a fierce battle, the third fierce ghost, Fierce Ghost Three, remained completely motionless in place, his gaze fixed on the exposed, bending rear ends of the other two, watching with great relish.

Unfortunately, this final obstacle happened to be standing right in the middle. There were still gaps on either side, but passing through them required squeezing.

The two siblings exchanged nods.

This risk was worth taking.

Duan Ming in front and Han Lingling in the back, they inched closer, shrinking their bodies to slip through the gap. Even though they knew no sound from inside the ghost cloth would leak out, the two still couldn't help holding their breath.

It was insanely thrilling.

Duan Ming could even see maggots writhing inside Fierce Ghost Three's agape mouth.

The distance of barely a few dozen centimeters took nearly three minutes to traverse.

When they finally made it through, the two let out a simultaneous, long sigh of relief.

What came next should have been simple—barring accidents, they just needed to walk straight up.

Then, an accident happened.

The invisibility potion expired.

The moment his vision went black, Duan Ming reacted immediately, shoving Han Lingling down into a squat. Yet even though they were positioned extremely close to the wall, the sudden tiny hint of a shadow still alerted Fierce Ghost Three.

"Huh?"

He looked upward in confusion and began slowly walking up the stairs.

"Go, go, go!" Duan Ming urged, pushing Han Lingling from behind repeatedly.

Ultimately, the goddess of fortune still favored the bully siblings. By the time Fierce Ghost Three looked their way, the two had just vanished from the corner.

However, Fierce Ghost Three didn't turn back; instead, he continued stepping upward.

Listening to the footsteps drawing closer and closer, Duan Ming felt frantic with anxiety. He lifted a corner of the ghost cloth to check his surroundings.

Just as Han Lingling had said, the scene on the fifth floor was drastically different from the lower four levels. A sea of startling crimson met the eye everywhere, and the shrieks echoing in their ears were countless times more shrill than those below.

Yet every single ward door was closed.

Only room 513 at the very end of the corridor stood wide open, but there was simply no time to run that far.

What should they do?

Right at that moment, he suddenly felt his left hand being pulled.

"This way."

Han Lingling had actually discovered that a door right beside them could be opened, and she immediately pulled Duan Ming inside.

The two pressed tightly against the door, controlling their breathing. Soon, Fierce Ghost Three's puzzled voice sounded right outside, followed by footsteps fading away into the distance.

They were saved.

Aside from the relief, Duan Ming finally had the bandwidth to inspect the room.

This was a utility room, neatly stocked with cleaning supplies such as brooms and trash cans.

"Sister Lingling, you've never been in this room?"

Han Lingling shook her head: "That day, I noticed room 513's door was open and went there first, and then I started trying the ward doors from that end of the corridor. I hadn't gotten around to trying this door yet."

Duan Ming: "Let's look around. We might find something."

"Mhm."

"Huh? Duan Ming, listen, what is that sound?"

Duan Ming turned his ear, automatically screening out the wails from outside, and soon, a faint, rhythmic sound became clear.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Crisp and regular.

It sounded like a skull slamming against the ground.

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(End of this chapter)