Chapter 9: The Doorbell Rings Again

"What on earth is going on?" Linghu Shiyu gazed at Zhou Ke, who wore a faint smile, her brow furrowed in confusion. She could not fathom how he could manage to smile at a time like this.

Out of kindness and for her own peace of mind, she offered a reminder: "The sun is setting. You all should hurry and find a way back to your rooms."

Her words had no effect on Zhou Ke, but they spurred Louis into action. The muscle-bound man, who possessed a deep vanity, strode to the door of Room 3. He clenched his hand, his fist—the size of a sandbag—reflecting light with the cold sheen of marble.

"Hah!"

With a gust of wind and the faint sound of a trumpeting elephant, his fist collided with the solid wood. In that instant, the contest between flesh and timber was decided.

The door groaned in agony as his fist, transformed into a piercing lance, punched straight through, burying itself up to his forearm with a terrifying ease. Louis leaned against the door, twisted his arm, and unlatched the lock from the inside.

His companions watched in stunned silence, having never imagined such a barbaric way to unlock a door.

"Was it really necessary to wreck the door?" Zhou Ke squinted, muttering, "A room without a door is no different from a public restroom. It’s practically inviting the doorbell ghost in to take a dump, haha."

"Haha, it’s no big deal. I have a large wardrobe in my room; I’ll just move it over to block the opening once I’m inside. It’ll look just as cool," Louis said, nonchalantly smoothing his curly hair. As he looked down again, a hint of lewdness flickered in his eyes. "By the way, any delicate little beauties willing to share a room with me? I’m cool and strong—I can protect you!"

Seeing Louis’s lecherous expression, as if he were on the verge of drooling, Chen Minqun felt a wave of disgust. *All men in this world are cut from the same cloth, nothing but animals ruled by their lower halves!*

Despite her inner contempt, her face shifted into a coy, submissive expression: "Oh, yes, please! I’ll entrust my safety to you, Brother Louis!"

The practiced, high-pitched "cutesy" voice made Zhou Ke shudder.

Louis walked over, ignoring Chen Minqun’s feigned fragility entirely, and stopped in front of Li Hua and Zhou Ke.

"You two little beauties, look at your tender, delicate skin—you’re pale with fright. Don't you want to relax against your brother’s cool, rock-hard biceps?" Louis deliberately flexed his arms, his muscles bulging like two small hills.

"Oh my god, oh my god!" Meeting Louis’s intensely seductive gaze, Li Hua completely lost control of his facial expressions.

"Sorry, I’m not interested," Zhou Ke refused flatly. If the female ghost wanted his brains, this guy was clearly after his virtue—he wanted neither.

"Uh... me neither." After a long hesitation, Li Hua gritted his teeth and chose chastity over the possibility of survival. In Mr. Zhou’s opinion, Li Hua deserved a memorial arch for his virtue.

"I see. What a pity. You’d better try your best to stay alive and stay cool," Louis said, shaking his head in disappointment. He didn't press the matter and returned to his room.

Chen Minqun, who had been passed over entirely, stood there like a roadside statue—unnoticed and ignored. Only, this statue could blush with shame and grit its teeth in resentment.

Li Hua leaned in close to Zhou Ke and whispered, "Ke-zai, want to room together?"

"Doesn't make much sense," Zhou Ke said rationally. "Your 'truth' is close-quarters combat, and mine is summoning a wolf. Neither works against this kind of intangible supernatural entity. Being together would just mean one extra corpse. It’s better to split up; the odds of individual survival are higher."

"Fair enough." Li Hua didn't argue. He turned and headed toward Room 6. That was the room he had emerged from, and with its solid wood door, it was the only one left in relatively good condition.

Chen Minqun’s Room 4 and Zhou Ke’s Room 7 both had weathered, aging doors with no locks. The advantage was that they opened without effort; the disadvantage was that security relied entirely on a small iron latch inside.

Just as the others wondered how Li Hua would open Room 6, the lad swung his hand and pulled a key out of his pocket.

Sensing the stunned gazes behind him, he twirled the key ring, his suppressed grin the ultimate form of mockery: "Oh, my, it’s really strange—didn't any of you think to look for your keys before you left?"

Zhou Ke twitched the corner of his mouth. He didn't know whether to call this guy thick-headed or secretly meticulous for remembering his keys at such a time.

"See you all in the morning."

Everyone chose their preferred room, exchanged goodbyes, and locked themselves in. The moment they turned their backs and stepped inside, the light vanished. Their faces were swallowed by shadows, each bearing a different expression.

The only certainty was that every one of them held the same, universally understood resolve: "The one who survives until tomorrow... will be me!"

The sun sank below the mountain range, and the darkness arrived as promised.

A cold, sinister aura permeated the air, filling the hallway like toxic gas, seeping into the wall cracks and chilling one's very marrow.

"About two hours. This daylight is even shorter and more pathetic than the fairy tales I write," Zhou Ke murmured, leaning against his door as he estimated the time from when they had left their rooms to the sunset.

The hallway beyond the peephole was almost pitch black, with only faint glimmers of light leaking from the gaps in various doors. This was different from the previous night. Last night, there had been lights in the hallway, making the scene outside clearly visible.

"Did the lights break?" Zhou Ke recalled that the reason he could see out clearly the night before was due to a lamp at the top of the corridor. Now, he could see nothing, making it impossible to gather more information about the female ghost.

*Ding-dong!*

Just as Zhou Ke was deep in thought, the sound of a doorbell rang out in the silent night, feeling jarringly abrupt.

"The sound has an echo, making it hard to tell which room it’s coming from, but I can at least be sure it’s not my door," Zhou Ke, that rascal, thought with a touch of schadenfreude.

However, the very next second, the doorbell stopped, and the faint light leaking from Room 7 was half-obscured by something.

*Ding-dong!*

The doorbell rang again.

This time, it was very close!

"Damn, is it coming for me?" Zhou Ke sensed danger and moved to pull away, but his body wouldn't budge.

A frigid, ghostly force surged from behind, slamming into the back of his head and pinning his face hard against the door. He struggled with all his might, glancing back to see a pale, blue-black hand with fingernails packed with mud.

The hand pressed down on his head, and an invisible, icy aura seeped into him, freezing his entire body as if he were encased in ice. He found it incredibly difficult to even move a single finger.