Chapter 26: Deduction?

Earlier, Li Ruoke had emphasized that this villa was situated in a secluded corner of the new district. Even though there was a main road nearby, traffic was so sparse that catching a taxi was difficult even during the day, let alone at two in the morning. Everyone’s phones were useless; they couldn’t even call the police. Yang Han tried the landline in the living room, but as expected, the receiver was dead silent.

“The internet’s down too...”

Qi Yan let out a bitter laugh. “They managed to wreck all the cars—what’s cutting the internet compared to that?”

“Who is this? What do they want from us?” Yang Han finally exploded in a string of curses, but it was pointless.

Qi Yan and Li Ruoke didn’t bother to explain further, knowing that saying more would only amplify the others’ fear, and what good would endless panic do? After cursing furiously, Yang Han finally voiced what he thought was the most likely scenario: “Murder? Is there some twisted killer already in my house?”

Though he’d only just spoken the words, it was hardly better than suggesting it was a ghost. Shi Xiaoxue grew even more frightened. “A killer? Who? Why would they want to kill Yudong?”

“How the hell should I know?” Yang Han shouted, agitated.

Qi Yan tossed away his cigarette butt and decided it was time for a warning. “Are you sure it’s just your boyfriend, Wang Yudong, they’re after? If so, why go through the trouble of skinning him? You all saw the body—it was savagely brutal. No matter how deep the hatred, would anyone go through all that trouble just for revenge? And if it was only him they wanted dead, why drain the gas from every car? Clearly, they want all of us trapped here. At least until daylight, we’re not getting out.”

Li Ruoke, however, was puzzled. “Trapped? Even if the electricity, internet, and phones are out and the cars are useless, this place isn’t some mountaintop villa. It’s too remote for that. We could still use our legs, couldn’t we? Even if we can’t reach the city, we could run to somewhere nearby for help.”

Yang Han nodded in agreement. “Yeah, this house is a bit far from the others, but the nearest residential area is only about two kilometers away—right off the main road.”

Qi Yan had already considered this. It wasn’t until he realized every car had been sabotaged that he gave up on the idea of escaping on foot. “If there were a dozen of us, we could all rush out together and no one could stop us. But as things stand—with Cheng Ziyue missing and Du Zhou dead drunk—there are only four of us left. Who here dares to risk running outside? I hate to scare you, but I think that would only get us killed faster.”

“Nonsense!” Yang Han snapped. “Even with just four of us, if we all grabbed kitchen knives and ran, I’d like to see who could stop us!” They still clung to the idea that the threat was human, suspecting a killer, not daring to consider the supernatural; it was only natural, after all, they were ordinary people.

Qi Yan could no longer hold back. He took a deep breath and pressed the point. “Are you really sure? This ‘killer’ you’re talking about was able to skin and torture Wang Yudong—the biggest, strongest one among us—without anyone noticing. Do you honestly think ordinary means will work against that?”

Shi Xiaoxue interjected nervously, “Yes... I’m still so confused. Yudong didn’t even leave the room. I was out for just a moment, and then he ends up dead in the pool? Even if this killer had some amazing skills, Yudong was fine when I left, and I would have heard something if anyone had dragged a body to the pool. Unless... only a ghost could do that.”

When she finished, everyone turned to stare at her.

Li Ruoke and Qi Yan thought to themselves: At last, someone’s catching on... it took long enough.

But Yang Han was different. He was still trying to reason things out in worldly terms. “Hey, Shi Xiaoxue! Don’t tell me it was you—you killed Wang Yudong, dumped him in the pool, then ran back to the third floor to scream and get our attention? You were the only one with him, so it would’ve been easy to lie.”

His theory sounded plausible at first, but it fell apart under scrutiny. Before Shi Xiaoxue could defend herself, Qi Yan stepped in. “Young Master Yang, I’ve said it before: to skin an adult so completely and thoroughly takes immense strength and time. From when everyone went back to their rooms to when we found the body, less than an hour had passed. She couldn’t have done it alone, even with help. And after something so bloody, do you think she’d have not a drop of blood on her? Could she have cleaned every trace except what was in the pool?”

“Even if she somehow managed the murder, skinning, and dumping the body, would she also have had time to sabotage the electricity, the internet, and all the cars? You were with her when you tried the cars, remember? If Shi Xiaoxue isn’t the killer, then what she described must be the truth—meaning Wang Yudong never left his room, and so it’s nearly impossible that an outsider committed the crime.”

Yang Han, unable to argue, grew both frightened and frustrated. “Then what do you think happened? Was Wang Yudong killed by a ghost?”

Now they were back to the heart of the matter, but Shi Xiaoxue ignored him and kept thinking about their situation. “Even if there’s no cell signal, emergency calls should still go through, right? Like the kind you use in mountain rescues?”

Qi Yan didn’t dismiss the idea outright, but he had little hope; he and Li Ruoke had already classified this as a supernatural event. He shrugged. “Try it and see.”

Shi Xiaoxue quickly dialed the emergency number, but even this last hope was dashed—the call wouldn’t connect, even though the phone was on.

The group fell silent. No matter how much they tried to avoid the thought, they could no longer ignore the obvious.

“There’s a ghost... it’s real... there’s really a ghost!?” Yang Han stammered, his voice trembling. In truth, he’d considered the possibility—most people, when faced with inexplicable horrors, can’t help but think of the supernatural, even if they’re afraid to admit it to themselves.

But it was simply too terrifying to say out loud...

Now, darkness enveloped both the inside and outside of the villa. Apart from Du Zhou’s snoring, everything was eerily quiet. Even the scent of blood from outside was beginning to drift in.

Thud... Thud... Thud...

As the group sat in tense silence, a strange, rhythmic banging echoed from upstairs—dull and regular.

At a time like this, in such an atmosphere, any odd noise was enough to send a chill down the spine.

Qi Yan, Li Ruoke, and Shi Xiaoxue all jumped in fright, while Yang Han suddenly remembered—his girlfriend was still missing.

“Xiaoyue... Xiaoyue?!”

Now, desperation overcame his fear. Even though his legs were trembling, he rushed for the stairs.

Qi Yan and Li Ruoke tried to stop him, but it was too late—they had no choice but to follow, with Shi Xiaoxue hurrying after for fear of being left behind.

“Xiaoyue!” Yang Han shouted as he climbed, and when they all reached the second floor, they switched on their phone flashlights, sweeping the beams around.

The second floor was slightly brighter than the first, and since this was Yang Han’s house, he knew the layout best. He was the first to move his light toward the corridor leading to the bathroom—where, in the beam’s reach, a human-shaped shadow appeared, twisted and contorted...