This time Jiang Luo didn’t have to remind him—Lu Youyi didn’t make another sound.
They stood by the door for who knows how long. Their legs grew numb, their feet soaked in the filthy water turned cold and stiff. Only then did they slowly retreat to the bed.
Once they finally sat down on the soft mattress, both of them let out a breath—at the exact same time.
For Lu Youyi, it was a breath of relief. For Jiang Luo, it was a breath of exhilaration.
In the dark, the young man’s dark eyes glowed even brighter.
He placed a hand over his chest, feeling the powerful beat of his heart—thump, thump—each beat full of excitement and force.
So thrilling.
Without the immediate threat of death, these waves of near-death encounters brought Jiang Luo’s emotions to a high, cresting again and again. In the dark, he covered the uncontrollable curl of his lips, his shoulders trembling lightly.
Was this what Chi You called the pursuit of madness?
It really was madness—completely imbued with Chi You’s personal charm.
He had to admit—Chi You really knew how to cater to his tastes. Even though Jiang Luo desperately wanted to punch him, he was utterly engrossed in this dreamscape.
A light blush spread across Jiang Luo’s cheeks before he calmed himself again. He pulled out his phone and messaged Lu Youyi.
[Jiang Luo: Don’t make a sound. There might still be something outside.]
[Lu Youyi: This dream is way too terrifying—my heart’s in my throat!]
[Lu Youyi: But Jiang Luo, why was that ghost calling you ‘wife’?]
[Jiang Luo: No idea. Must be blind. Lu Youyi, why did you guys end up in the same dream?]
Lu Youyi had no idea why they were all pulled into the same dream.
Something must have been done. But before they lost consciousness, everyone had been in Lu Youyi’s apartment. The door had been locked. No one from outside could have entered. Only someone from inside could have made a move.
But who would do such a thing?
Everyone in the apartment was someone Lu Youyi trusted.
The answer was already in front of him, but Lu Youyi didn’t want to believe it.
His expression dimmed, and he shook his head at Jiang Luo with difficulty.
Dead Ghost… was it you?
Jiang Luo didn’t ask further.
[Jiang Luo: When morning comes, let’s go find Cyril and the others.]
***
Bai Yefeng wobbled his way down from the third floor to the second. Outside Room 203, a dark figure was standing.
The figure asked, “He’s gone?”
Bai Yefeng replied in frustration, “You scared him off.”
“I scared him?” The figure stepped forward. Under the corridor’s lights, a handsome face was revealed. “Wasn’t it you who scared him?”
Bai Yefeng also stepped into the light. He and Qin Fan locked eyes—and then suddenly both doubled over, clutching their stomachs and laughing in low voices.
Their actions were exactly the same—even their laughter overlapped so perfectly that anyone else listening might have thought it came from one person.
Their muffled laughter slowly faded. At the same moment, they stopped laughing.
Bai Yefeng leaned against the wall. The dumb and clueless look on his face had vanished completely. His lips curled up slightly. With the shadow and light casting strange patches across the bridge of his nose, a sinister aura loomed faintly around him.
“He got scared by us,” he drawled maliciously, a cruel smile on his lips. “That expression… it was really something to be proud of.”
***
Humans have a subconscious belief that daytime is safer than nighttime.
As soon as dawn broke, Jiang Luo perked up, counting every minute until 7:30.
At 7:30 sharp, he heard a door slam from downstairs.
Bai Yefeng had gone to work.
Only after waiting patiently for another half hour did Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi carefully tiptoe down to the second floor.
Jiang Luo opened the door to Room 203. Sure enough, no one was inside. He told Lu Youyi to wait at the door, then went in alone and rummaged through everything, managing to find a decent amount of cash. Aside from the money, he also discovered a black-and-gold card under Bai Yefeng’s pillow.
The card had five words embossed on it: “Shunxin Gym.”
It was a gym membership card.
Whether it would be useful or not, Jiang Luo pocketed it first. After seeing nothing else of value, he left the room and exited the Inn with Lu Youyi.
The innkeeper was still sitting behind the front desk on the first floor. When he saw the two of them leave, his gaze turned vicious, as if he wished he could swallow them whole. His eyes followed them relentlessly until they disappeared, practically burning holes into their backs.
Lu Youyi shivered and stuck close to Jiang Luo as they hurried away.
Outside the inn, the world didn’t seem much different from reality. But on the otherwise quiet streets, ominous bloodstains splattered corners and walls. Some houses had their doors wide open, and the emptiness stretching from the entrance to the foyer clearly showed that something terrible had happened—people were gone, the homes abandoned and decaying in plain sight. Strangely, none of the passersby seemed to notice anything amiss.
The more they looked, the more disturbing it became. The fear sank deeper the longer they thought about it. Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi hailed a taxi by the roadside. They stared at the driver for several minutes, and only after confirming he was truly human did they get in.
The driver asked, “Where to?”
Jiang Luo gave him Cyril’s address.
At this moment, Cyril’s place was their best shot at staying alive. The people in their group had already agreed—based on Jiang Luo’s suggestion—to head to Cyril’s place this morning to regroup.
As the driver pulled onto the road, he glanced at them through the rearview mirror and said, “You two aren’t locals, are you?”
Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi exchanged glances but said nothing.
“Figured as much—saw you coming out of the Happy Inn,” the driver continued, unfazed by their silence. “Locals wouldn’t dare stay in that place.”
Jiang Luo finally spoke. “What’s wrong with that inn?”
The driver looked at them again, then gave a sinister smile. “That place? Several people have died there. Only outsiders who don’t value their lives dare stay in it.”
Hanging below the rearview mirror was a blood-red teru teru bozu doll with no facial features. Lu Youyi pointed to it and asked quietly, “What’s that?”
The driver stroked the doll affectionately. “This here’s a good-luck charm I found in the Ghost Tower Building. It’s kept me safe.”
Ghost Tower Building?
Jiang Luo wanted to ask more, but the driver was now focused entirely on the road and said nothing else.
An hour later, they arrived at Cyril’s residence—Glory Hotel.
Glory Hotel was located in the city center, bustling with people. The crowd dispersed the eerie atmosphere.
Cyril and the others were already waiting for them downstairs. Apart from Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi, everyone else had arrived.
Cyril led them back to his room. After venting their frustrations, everyone started analyzing what this dream could possibly mean.
“I tried as soon as I woke up yesterday,” someone said. “I pinched myself and could still feel pain. My senses are all real. If I didn’t know this was a dream, I wouldn’t have noticed at all. I pinched myself several times, but I couldn’t wake up.”
“And none of the things we’ve learned work here either.”
Zhuo Zhongqiu added, “I’ve trained both body and soul, but it’s useless. When I run into ghosts, all I can do is hide. I can’t fight them at all.”
Ye Xun suddenly said, “Don’t you all think it’s strange that we entered this dream together?”
All the other voices of complaint stopped. Everyone turned to look at Ye Xun.
That look clearly said—they’d noticed too but hadn’t voiced it.
Wenren Lian spoke flatly, “Let’s be direct. Last night, we were all staying in Lu Youyi’s apartment. Everyone currently here—except for Dead Ghost—is accounted for. He’s the one who did this to us, who dragged us all into the same dream.”
Lu Youyi was silent for a moment. “…Why would he do that?”
It was the first time he’d been betrayed—and by someone he trusted completely. Lu Youyi lowered his head and picked at his fingernail, nose stinging with emotion. “We trusted him so much. Was it all fake? It’s my fault… If I hadn’t brought him back to the apartment, none of this would’ve happened.”
His voice began to tremble, and suddenly he wiped his eyes with his sleeve, pulling himself together. Anger replaced sorrow on his face. “Once I get out of here, I’m going to ask him to his face—why the h*ll did he betray us!”
Jiang Luo patted him on the shoulder and added fuel to the fire. “Lu Youyi, do you know Dead Ghost has another name?”
Lu Youyi’s anger paused. He hesitated. “Jiao Jiao?”
“…” Jiang Luo said, “I meant his name before he lost his memory.”
Lu Youyi shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“His name is Teng Bi,” Jiang Luo said in a low voice. “A few months ago, after we completed our mission in the entertainment industry, he regained his memory. I heard him call himself ‘Teng Bi.’ But for some reason, he kept pretending that he hadn’t recovered and stayed by our side. I wanted to find out what he was up to, so I didn’t tell you. I’m sorry.”
Lu Youyi looked at him, stunned.
Ye Xun silently raised his hand.
Lu Youyi turned to him, disbelief all over his face.
Ye Xun looked a little guilty under his stare. “Jiang Luo told me about it. The decision not to tell you was made by both of us. You’re too easy to read—whatever you’re thinking shows right on your face. It wouldn’t take much for someone to get the truth out of you. I’m not saying you’re dumb, but… well, you’re not exactly sharp either…”
“If we told you this secret, someone like you wouldn’t last a day before Dead Ghost figured it out.” Ye Xun shrank behind Kuang Zheng, trying to hide. His words spilled out faster and faster as nerves took over. “To avoid tipping him off, we both kept it from you… I’m sorry.”
Lu Youyi froze, then after a moment wiped his face and burst into laughter. “It’s fine, it’s fine. So what if you knew long ago that that Dead Ghost had regained his memories? Hahaha, it’s no big deal, really—it’s not your fault.”
His smile gradually twisted, fists clenched, eyes blazing. “It’s all because of that Dead Ghost… No—his name’s Teng Bi, right? Teng your f***ing Bi! When I get back, I’m beating him to death!”
“He mooched off me, acted like some clueless Dead Ghost just to eat and sleep under my roof,” Lu Youyi gnashed his teeth, getting more furious the more he thought about it. “When I get back, I’m gonna ask him if he thought I was brain-dead when he was playing me!”
Seeing Lu Youyi in this state, Jiang Luo wisely avoided the topic and instead turned to Ge Zhu. “Ge Zhu, do you know a temple called ‘Bailu Temple’?”
“Bailu Temple?” Ge Zhu was clearly taken aback, then asked suspiciously, “Where did you hear that name?”
The look on his face said everything—he knew it. Jiang Luo was pleased. “Don’t ask me where I heard it. Where is this temple now? Why have I never heard of it before?”
Ge Zhu replied, “Bailu Temple is the temple I used to stay at before I left the Buddhist order.”
Now it was Jiang Luo’s turn to be stunned. “Didn’t you say you came from ‘Dazhao Temple’?”
Dazhao Temple was one of the top six sects, the symbol of Buddhism. Its disciples were surnamed “Ge,” which is why outsiders referred to it as the ‘Buddhist Ge clan.’ Jiang Luo had studied up hard on this—there was no way he was mistaken.
“It’s called Dazhao Temple now,” Ge Zhu explained patiently, “I grew up in the Buddhist order and know a lot of things outsiders don’t. Although it’s called Dazhao Temple now, two hundred years ago, it used to be called ‘Bailu Temple.’”
