Chapter 31: Ten Ways To Summon Ghosts (10)

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

If this game won't end, then will the next game begin?

Would that make the Executors break some rules?

Or maybe, even if this game doesn't end, the next one will still start. Then, the ones hunting down the remaining Executors will be two evil ghosts.

No matter what, they have to deal with the ghost in the doll before time runs out. And now, there's less than twenty-four hours left.

But it's too strange that no sound has come from outside at all.

Shu Yushuang still decided to go out and check for herself.

She told Hu Yue, then carefully opened the door a little. After making sure nothing was wrong outside, she walked out.

Shu Yushuang went down the hallway, checking each room one by one.

Most of the doors were wide open. Shu Yushuang glanced into them casually and saw that the beds inside were all made up really neatly. There were no signs that anyone had ever stayed there.

On the whole hallway, aside from Shu Yushuang's room, there were only two rooms with locked doors. But Shu Yushuang didn't know which one was Liang Qi's and which one was Yang Zeng's.

She walked to those two rooms and listened carefully at the doors. But inside, it was just as quiet as the hallway.

No one inside? Or maybe...

The straight hallway let her see all the way to the end. It was clear there was no sign of the doll.

What confused Shu Yushuang was, if the doll was still playing the game with the Executors, it should be walking in the hallway to look for them. But right now, there was nothing.

No sound. No doll.

Could it be that Yang Zeng already got rid of the doll?

For some reason, a chill suddenly rose in Shu Yushuang's heart.

She didn’t go back to her own room. She just picked a random empty room and went in.

Right now, she didn’t really trust Hu Yue.

Even though Shu Yushuang couldn’t say what exactly was wrong with Hu Yue, her instincts told her to stay away from that woman.

She waited tensely in the empty room for more than half a day until she finally heard a soft shuffling sound coming from the hallway.

It was finally here.

If danger only appeared during a certain period of time, then it must be the kind of danger that could get her killed.

One hand gripping the stone knife, and the other tightly holding the lighter Fang Xiqiong lent her, Shu Yushuang listened as the sound stopped outside her door.

Without hesitation, she yanked the door open.

Just as she expected, the doll wasn’t there. There was only one person.

“You finally killed Yang Zeng?”

The person outside, covered in blood from head to toe, was Hu Yue.

Shu Yushuang didn’t know when she had been replaced, but it must’ve been when she was hiding in the wardrobe of Room 201.

Just the thought that she had been alone with a ghost for that long made even someone like Shu Yushuang’s scalp tingle.

“Yeah, he was hard to kill,” Hu Yue gave her a chilling smile, “but I still managed it. After I kill you, I’ll go take care of Liang Qi.”

“Why not kill Liang Qi first?”

“Because you finished the game first.”

“But if that’s the case, why did you target Hu Yue? She clearly went after me.”

“That has nothing to do with the order.”

Shu Yushuang stared at Hu Yue and suddenly asked, “You can’t kill me right now, can you?”

Seeing that Hu Yue—or rather, the ghost possessing her—didn’t respond, Shu Yushuang went on, “I’m guessing you need certain conditions to kill someone, or maybe the Executor has to break some rule. And I haven’t broken any rules. You were finally able to kill Yang Zeng because you lured him into breaking one, right? Are you trying to do the same with me?”

Hu Yue’s expression suddenly twisted.

Shu Yushuang made a split-second decision. She lit the fire with the lighter and threw it at Hu Yue.

The flame caught instantly, flaring up violently the moment it touched her—even though there didn’t seem to be anything flammable on her.

Right now, Shu Yushuang was incredibly glad she hadn’t told Hu Yue about this step earlier. If she had, the ghost would've been ready.

Hu Yue’s face distorted further in the firelight as Shu Yushuang stepped back and silently watched.

As her body burned, there was no scent of flesh. Instead, there was the smell of fabric burning, mixed faintly with the scent of scorched rice.

When Hu Yue’s body was completely consumed, only a few blackened scraps of cloth remained on the floor.

Shu Yushuang stared thoughtfully at the mess. Just then, a door at the end of the hallway creaked open.

Liang Qi stepped out, her face blank as she glanced at Shu Yushuang and the scorched remains on the floor. After a pause, she finally asked reluctantly, “Is it done?”

“It’s done.”

“Then…” Liang Qi hesitated, clearly wanting to say something. When she saw Shu Yushuang turn to head back to her room, she finally spoke. “Now there’s only the two of us left. Let’s… call a truce, for now.”

“I never saw us as enemies. I’m sorry she died, I really am. But I hope you understand—it wasn’t my fault.”

Liang Qi bit her lip hard, her face pale, staying silent.

Shu Yushuang didn’t wait for a reply. With less than half a day left before the next ‘game,’ she needed rest.

Of course, Liang Qi knew it wasn’t Shu Yushuang’s fault. But she needed someone to blame—someone to lash out at. And now, ten games in total, only three had passed, and there were just two left. One of them was her. The other? The person she had always taken her anger out on.

Liang Qi didn’t really want to team up. She just hoped Shu Yushuang wouldn’t stab her in the back.

Shu Yushuang picked a random empty room.

After every game with casualties, some unknown force would clean the rooms spotless. There would be no trace of death. So Shu Yushuang didn’t feel any pressure staying there.

She slept straight through till dusk.

Clearly, the fear inside her had been building for too long. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have dreamed of that village again.

Shu Yushuang pressed her hand over her eyes in frustration—only to feel something wet.

Did she… cry in her dream?  

That has not happened in years.

For some reason, Shu Yushuang thought of the harmless ghost from the first game.  

Aside from being a ghost, she was truly gentle—gentler than most humans.

Shu Yushuang suddenly wanted to see her again, even though she knew it was impossible.

Qin Su sat by the edge of a school field, staring blankly.  

Ever since she left the dungeon Shu Yushuang was in, she had not been able to care about anything.

She was worried, wanted to go back and see her, but she had no way of leaving her own dungeon on her own.

Every day, Qin Su stubbornly prayed dozens of times for Shu Yushuang’s safety.  

But in this cursed place, could a ghost’s prayer really bring someone luck?

If ghosts existed, then surely gods did too, right?

That night, as usual, the details of the next game were sent to the Executors’ phones.

Ten Ways to Summon Ghosts, Part 4: The Four Corners Game

This task requires four Executors.  

Due to low player count, substitutes will be chosen at random.

“Four Executors must enter Room 201 at midnight. Each will stand in one of the room’s four corners, facing the wall. Don’t look back.

At the start of the game, the person standing in one corner (let’s say A) walks clockwise to the adjacent corner and lightly taps the person there (B) on the shoulder. Then, B walks to the next corner and taps the third person (C). C does the same, tapping the fourth person (D). 

After D is tapped, D walks to an empty corner. When they reach the empty corner, they must cough once, then move past that corner and continue to the next one. The cycle repeats just like before.”

What does “substitute” mean? Could the dungeon really pull in new Executors halfway through the game? 

Wouldn’t that be unfair to Shu Yushuang and Liang Qi, who’d already survived three “games”?

With these questions in mind, Shu Yushuang arrived outside Room 201 ten minutes early only to find that Liang Qi was already there.

Seeing Shu Yushuang again, Liang Qi looked a little awkward. But she knew Shu Yushuang would never speak first, so she took the initiative.

“Did you get some rest? Got any thoughts about today’s game?”

She started with small talk but quickly got to the point.

Shu Yushuang just shook her head. “Nothing stands out. But this game is pretty well-known, even I’ve heard of it. Right now, what concerns me is that ‘substitute’ mentioned in the details.”

“Mm... do you think the substitute is a person or a ghost?”

Shu Yushuang pressed her lips together and shook her head again. She avoided the question and said,  

“It’s almost time. Let’s go in.”

“Wait—you know how to break this game, don’t you?”

“I don’t...”

“After summoning the ghost, all four participants must close their eyes at the same time and say the game is over.  

Then they open their eyes. If all four are people, the game ends easily. But now it’s just the two of us—  who knows what the other two are?”

Shu Yushuang understood how serious this was, but she didn’t show it. She only said, “Let’s talk inside.”

They walked into the room together, only to see two “people” already there.

The moment Liang Qi saw one of them, tears fell down her face.  

“Deng Yue!”

When she called out, the person turned around and smiled at her.

But to Shu Yushuang, the face was purple and full of death. That was no living person.  

Still, Liang Qi seemed not to notice and rushed over to tightly hug her.

The “revived” Deng Yue also hugged her, gently patting her back—while staring straight at Shu Yushuang.

Those pitch-black eyes were empty of all emotion. Shu Yushuang sighed and looked away.

She turned to the other “person” in the room but realized she had no impression of them at all.

Although Shu Yushuang could tell the woman was also one of the Executors who had died earlier, she didn’t know her name.

Compared to the purple-faced Deng Yue, this woman—or ghost—looked more normal.  

Even though only half of her head was left, the remaining half still had a normal complexion.

Two ghosts had already appeared before the game even started—was there still a point in continuing?

At that moment, the ghost and the human who had clung tightly to each other finally separated.

They each stood in a corner, ready for the game to begin.

Shu Yushuang casually picked one of the two remaining corners and stood there.

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

Zhu Yao didn’t know what it meant for her to regain consciousness again.  

She didn’t know whether she was truly dead now or not.

Her head hurt—so much that she wished she could die again.  

That is, if she really had died before, only then could she say “again.”

Right now, Zhu Yao just wanted to rest. Sleep, or do anything, really.  

But her body moved on its own, heading toward the only unoccupied corner in the room.

Once the two humans and two ghosts had each found their spot, the lights in the room suddenly went out, as if someone had been secretly watching the Executors' every move in the dark.

The game had officially begun.

Only then did Shu Yushuang suddenly remember— they were supposed to agree beforehand on who would start first.

But now... who was supposed to begin?