Chapter 32: Ten Ways To Summon Ghosts (11)

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

But soon, Shu Yushuang realized she was worrying too much.

In the pitch darkness, she could faintly hear footsteps behind her.  

Though soft, the sound was clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Someone had already started moving.

The light footsteps lasted less than a minute before the first person—or ghost—reached the next corner.  

After a brief pause, another set of footsteps followed.

This time, the steps were heavier, and the sound of shoes scraping against the floor echoed sharply—shrrrk.

Shu Yushuang heard the noise coming closer and closer.

A cold hand landed on her shoulder.  

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she still shivered uncontrollably.

It was her turn.

Shu Yushuang took a step to the side, leaving the corner vacant.  

The “person” behind her stepped forward to take her place—their positions now switched.

She noticed the corner directly across from her was empty,  and the second set of footsteps had come from her right.  

That meant the first player had moved counterclockwise.

Shu Yushuang slowly walked toward the next corner.  

The person standing there was Liang Qi.

She gently tapped Liang Qi’s shoulder, and Liang Qi stepped aside.

Cough!

The cough echoed through the silent, empty room, adding a chilling edge to the game.

After coughing, Liang Qi stepped past the empty corner and continued walking to the next one.

The game went on.  

Shu Yushuang moved forward in a daze, tapped the shoulder of the person in the corner, and took their place once they left.

Then a hand tapped her shoulder again—and she suddenly snapped back to awareness.

How long had it been since she last heard a cough?

She realized that at some point, a sound had begun to echo in the room.  

It wasn’t footsteps.  

It sounded more like… something hitting the ground and bouncing back up.

The ghost that was supposed to be summoned by this game had arrived.

Shu Yushuang dragged her nearly numb legs to the next corner.  

The room was getting darker and darker.  

Before, she could still vaguely make out a few shadows—but now, she couldn’t see a thing.  

She had to rely on memory, feeling her way forward bit by bit.

This time, before tapping Liang Qi’s shoulder, Shu Yushuang lowered her voice and whispered by her ear,  

“It’s already here. Can we try to end the game?”

Liang Qi stayed silent for a long while before replying,  

“I’ll pass the message to them.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Shu Yushuang tap her shoulder, signaling her to move on.

When the player in the corner beside her walked up again, a cold voice whispered,  

“After the next round, we’ll end the game together.”

“Understood,” Shu Yushuang answered softly.

A cold hand tapped her shoulder.  

She groped along the wall, stepping forward again.

She repeated what the ghostly player had told her to Liang Qi.  

Liang Qi responded with a quiet “mm” and also moved from the corner.

Shu Yushuang listened closely to the footsteps.

Liang Qi’s… Deng Yue’s… and the ghost player from before—  

Shu Yushuang carefully tracked all three sets of footsteps.

When a cold hand landed on her shoulder again, she closed her eyes and said clearly,  

“Game over.”

But right after, she heard a few scattered voices saying the same thing.  

The timing wasn’t quite in sync.

Would that cause a problem?

Shu Yushuang opened her eyes—but it was still pitch black.

Did the game actually end?

She held her breath, straining to hear any movement in the dark.  

That fifth sound, the one different from all the footsteps, when had it disappeared?

A chill swept through her body.  

Something round—like a ball was pressed against her face.

No— not a full sphere.  

It was a half-sphere.

Shu Yushuang tensed. 

She’d been gripping the stone knife tightly this whole time.  

Now, she raised her hand and slashed hard at the side of her face.

Her blade struck something solid.  

The icy cold vanished a little.

Just then, the room lights flicked on, flooding everything in harsh brightness.

Shu Yushuang squinted, her eyes tearing up from the sudden light.  

She turned her head slightly, and finally saw what had been pressed against her face.

It was half a human head.

That half of a human head probably belonged to the dead Executor— the one Shu Yushuang still didn’t know by name.

Liang Qi and Deng Yue were nowhere to be seen.  

Shu Yushuang couldn’t recall hearing the door open earlier.  

But now… she looked toward it.

It was firmly shut.

The Executor with half a skull was crouched on the ground, carefully picking up the other half of her head.

Shu Yushuang couldn’t tell if the ghost’s slowed movements were because of her attack, or if it was shock at seeing her own ruined body.  

Either way, she just stared at the broken piece in her hands— frozen in place like she had lost her mind.

Shu Yushuang took that chance and slipped out of Room 201.

She didn’t think the game had ended properly.  

After all, if it had, she wouldn’t have been attacked like that.

But this wasn’t the time to dwell on what went wrong.

She rushed back to her own room and shoved heavy furniture up against the door.

Ever since entering this dungeon, she had been stuck in a repeating cycle—summon ghosts, hide, fight back, hide again.

Shu Yushuang suddenly felt deeply exhausted.

To clear this death game completely, all it takes is to survive ten dungeons.  

But in just this one dungeon, Shu Yushuang had already faced ten ghosts.

She didn’t know if it was her ghost-attracting constitution acting up again, but she was never lucky to begin with.

Meanwhile, Deng Yue pulled Liang Qi into the room she once lived in.  

The moment the lights switched on in Room 201, she had fled with Liang Qi at her side.

“Xiao Yue… how did you… you’re back…can we leave this place together now?”  

Liang Qi’s voice trembled.

Deng Yue looked at her and gave a sorrowful shake of her head.  

“I can’t leave anymore. You have to live.”

Liang Qi clutched her cold hand tightly, voice rising with emotion.  

“No. I’m bringing you with me. If I have to live without you, then what’s the point?”

“Qiqi, don’t be so stubborn. You still have family. What will they do if you die?”

“And what about you? I don’t want to leave you alone here. It’s too lonely here...”

Deng Yue gave a bitter smile. She raised her hand and wiped away the tears on Liang Qi’s face. Her fingers were so cold that they made Liang Qi tremble deep inside. It was also only then that Liang Qi realized her whole face was full of tears.

"Qiqi, don’t talk about that now. What matters most right now is getting through this level."

But Liang Qi still shook her head stubbornly.

"It doesn’t matter anymore. Right now, I just want to be like you. I want to die in this dungeon."

"What kind of stupid stuff are you saying?"

"I'm not saying anything stupid. I'm serious.”

Deng Yue was so mad that she couldn’t speak, but when she saw Liang Qi’s teary eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to get angry.

While the two were arguing like crazy, Shu Yushuang ran into trouble again.

The stone knife wasn’t working as well anymore, and Zhu Yao quickly chased after her, holding her own half a head.

Her footsteps were super heavy. Even Deng Yue and Liang Qi, who were fighting hard, heard the sounds outside the door. And of course, they heard it stop not far away.

One human and one ghost realized at the same time—Zhu Yao had stopped right outside Shu Yushuang’s room.

They both went silent at once.

Deng Yue tried to go out, but Liang Qi grabbed her. She turned around, smiled, and patted Liang Qi’s hand. “I’ll go take a look. If I can, I’ll try to save her. There are only two of you humans left now. I can’t let you face this dungeon alone.”

Liang Qi, eyes red, said, “Then stay here with me! She’s the one who got you killed. I won’t let you save her!”

“Qiqi, don’t be so stubborn. After this game ends, I have to leave. The only one who can help you stay alive now is her.”

But Liang Qi still held onto Deng Yue tightly and refused to let go.

“I don’t want to stay alive. I want to go with you!”

Deng Yue looked at Liang Qi helplessly. Then she suddenly raised her hand and knocked her out with a chop.

She held the limp girl in her arms and gently laid her on the bed.

“Don’t blame me. Have a good sleep. When you wake up, this game will be over. I can’t let you die with me.”

Deng Yue looked at Liang Qi one last time with longing, then turned and left the room without hesitation.

Right after stepping into the hallway, she nearly bumped straight into Shu Yushuang. Behind her, Deng Yue saw Zhu Yao’s twisted face.

At this moment, Zhu Yao had somehow stuck her half head back to the other half. But the pieces didn’t line up well. One of her eyebrows was sticking into the spot where the other eye was supposed to be, making her whole face look both funny and terrifying.

When Zhu Yao broke into the room just now, Shu Yushuang used the stone knife again. But she quickly realized that in this dungeon, that tool didn’t work anymore—Zhu Yao only froze for two seconds after getting hit.

But those two seconds were just enough for Shu Yushuang to escape.

Still, Shu Yushuang knew that was just her last struggle. The tool had lost its power. The ghost was chasing her, and she had no way out.

After almost bumping into Deng Yue, Shu Yushuang felt even more hopeless.

Even if she didn’t think about the grudge Deng Yue had with her when she was alive—Deng Yue was still a ghost now! Even if she kept her mind, she wouldn’t let her go.

In this narrow hallway, there was a ghost in front and one behind her. This time...

Shu Yushuang gritted her teeth and threw herself hard at Deng Yue. She didn’t want to give up until the very last second.

But to her surprise, she hit nothing but air. Then Deng Yue grabbed her hand and pulled her into the room nearby.

Before Shu Yushuang could figure out what was going on, Deng Yue had already stepped back out, leaving Shu Yushuang alone and confused inside the room.

Zhu Yao stared at the returning Deng Yue with a fierce, hateful glare.

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

Even though they were technically on the same side now, Zhu Yao didn’t have the slightest good feeling toward this “teammate” who was also a ghost and kept ruining her plans.

After Zhu Yao fully understood she was dead, she also figured out her mission for coming back here.

She knew she was just a low-level vengeful spirit for now, but if she could finish the mission, maybe she would get the chance to become a powerful ghost. And her mission—was to kill the last two living people.

The ghost standing in front of her was also an Executor, also a vengeful ghost. Zhu Yao had thought they shared the same goal. But for some reason, this one kept getting in her way.

Of course Deng Yue knew what her mission was now. But she would never do something like that. She couldn’t kill her own girlfriend. And for her girlfriend’s safety, she wouldn’t kill her girlfriend’s only teammate either.

Deng Yue looked at Zhu Yao and finally spoke carefully, “We’re all Executors. You know how hard it is to get through a dungeon. We’re all just people sharing the same misfortunes—why don’t we just let them go?”

But Zhu Yao only gave her a look like she was stupid.

Zhu Yao didn’t want to waste another word with Deng Yue.

She was dead. She was stuck here forever. So why should those two still get to live? She couldn’t accept it.

After waking up from death, Zhu Yao felt like her whole personality had turned upside down.

She used to be quiet, shy, and afraid to talk to others. But now...

Maybe it wasn’t really her personality that changed. Maybe death had just set free the true self she’d always kept hidden inside.