This night's blood-curdling screams echoed differently than prior shrieks Qiu Shi had heard. Mixed amidst the cries were sounds of heavy crashing, enraged shouting, frantic footsteps racing down the corridor, and agonized pleading.
"Help...help me...someone's trying to kill me, help!" The faintly familiar voice screamed with raw desperation, as if exerting her last ounce of strength.
Qiu Shi couldn't discern if the cries were real or imagined. His breathing grew uneven as the screams drew closer.
"Help...!" The woman dashed down the second floor hallway, pounding wildly on every door. "Someone's going to kill me, please open up!! Please, I'm begging you, open the door!"
Only silence answered her pleas. The rooms' occupants seemed locked in deep slumber, oblivious to the chilling screams.
Still lying in bed, Qiu Shi also remained unmoved, until the frantic woman reached his door.
"Please, save me, please!" She sobbed, slamming the wood. "He's gone mad, he wants me dead! I'm begging you, please, please—I don't want to die! Please save me!"
Qiu Shi slowly rose from his mattress but didn't stir, silently weighing whether to let her in.
Ruan Bai Jie, who should have slept soundly at his side, softly spoke. "Do you want to save her?"
"Can I?" Qiu Shi asked.
After a pause, Ruan Bai Jie murmured, "If you want to."
Sensing a real human's cries outside, and with Ruan Bai Jie showing no objection, Qiu Shi swiftly crossed over and unlatched the door with gritted teeth.
The sight made him recoil in shock. Blood drenched the sobbing girl's body. Clutching an injured arm with her other hand, she collapsed into the room. "Help me!"
"What happened?" said Qiu Shi.
"He tried to kill me!" she screamed. "He wants me dead!"
Qiu Shi stepped back, allowing her inside. "Who wants you dead?"
"Cheng Wen!"
Qiu Shi vaguely recalled a man by that name from their group. Before he could inquire further, crashing sounds erupted from the stairwell. A battered wooden door separating the first and second floors had likely slowed the killer's advance.
Qiu Shi gestured for Wang Xiao Yi to come in and reflexively locked the entrance.
She shook uncontrollably, terror etched across her face.
More violent pounding resounded as their pursuer shattered through the feeble barrier. Cheng Wen's rushed footsteps stormed up the blood-smeared steps. "Where did you go? Hand Wang Xiao Yi over! Don't let her inside!"
At his shouts, Wang Xiao Yi's sobs grew muffled.
Ruan Bai Jie also rose from bed. Facing the chaos, she betrayed no hurry, leisurely finger-combing her hair.
Cheng Wen halted outside their room, the bloody trail ending at Qiu Shi's door. Realizing Wang Xiao Yi's location, his voice turned savage. "Open up! Qiu Shi! Is Wang Xiao Yi in there?!" More battering followed. "Get out here now! We can all leave once someone dies!"
Qiu Shi stayed silent.
Ruan Bai Jie softly called, "Why make such a racket this late?"
"Hand her over!" Cheng Wen demanded. "She's no human! Don't fall for her act!"
Qiu Shi asked, "What do you mean?"
Cheng Wen sounded increasingly agitated and ruthless. "She's really not human, trust me!"
Wang Xiao Yi wailed anew. "You're the inhuman one! You want to kill me with that excuse? You think murdering me lets you survive?"
Hearing this, Cheng Wen's tone grew chilling. "Drop the act! You're the monster hiding among us. Your secret's exposed! Get out here!" More slamming followed, seemingly ready to persist indefinitely.
Their door's already-fragile state likely couldn't withstand an enraged man's sustained assault. As Qiu Shi stood guard, he shouted, "Even if you kill Xiao Yi and escape, you'd still be a murderer!"
"Stay out of this!" Cheng Wen yelled back.
"Like hell I will," Qiu Shi fumed. "Try getting in here, I'll kill you first." Ripping up his sleeves, he scoured the room for makeshift weapons.
Noticing Qiu Shi's rage, the pounding briefly slowed. Cheng Wen hoarsely offered, "I'll be the villain today. Hand her over. We can all leave once someone dies."
"In your dreams," Qiu Shi spat.
Cheng Wen started, "You—"
"Just go," Qiu Shi interjected. "I won't let you kill her."
Incredibly, retreating footsteps followed. Qiu Shi wondered at Cheng Wen abandoning his quest so easily.
"He left," Qiu Shi assured Wang Xiao Yi.
She sobbed in reply.
The three occupants remained awake late into the night. While Qiu Shi tended Xiao Yi's injury, Ruan Bai Jie silently gazed out the window.
When Qiu Shi asked what she was looking at, Ruan Bai Jie murmured, "The well outside."
Qiu Shi said, "What's there to see?" He held no fondness for that ominous pit.
"It doesn't hurt to look a bit more," Ruan Bai Jie replied. "I might be joining it soon."
Qiu Shi stated firmly, "I won't let you go into that well."
Ruan Bai Jie laughed softly. "You're quite interesting."
Though her right arm suffered damage, Wang Xiao Yi had narrowly escaped with her life.
Qiu Shi assumed Cheng Wen would sheepishly avoid the next morning's breakfast. Shockingly, he appeared as if nothing had transpired, nonchalantly eating in the first floor hall.
Catching sight of him, Wang Xiao Yi recoiled behind Qiu Shi, on the verge of tears again.
Qiu Shi coldly challenged, "You still have the nerve to show your face?"
Cheng Wen glanced at Qiu Shi as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "Why wouldn't I?"
"You tried to kill Xiao Yi!" Qiu Shi couldn't grasp his casual attitude. "She's a living person!"
Cheng Wen just sneered silently.
Hearing their exchange, some members shot Cheng Wen looks of disgust while others remained numb, as if murdering a teammate meant nothing.
Xiong Qi also seemed unhappy. "If you wanna kill something, go after the ghosts instead of our own."
Cheng Wen ignored him, continuing to ravenously shovel food into his mouth. Qiu Shi watched him warily in case he lashed out unexpectedly. Something seemed off about Cheng Wen's state, but Qiu Shi couldn't pinpoint what.
After the meal, back in their room, Ruan Bai Jie abruptly asked, "Do you think that evil spirit will keep killing over the next three days?"
Puzzled, Qiu Shi echoed, "What do you mean?"
"That thing's clearly intelligent," said Ruan Bai Jie. "If I were it, I wouldn't kill anyone for the next three days."
Qiu Shi waited silently.
Ruan Bai Jie slowly peeled a sweet potato, imprinting it with neat rows from her teeth. "If after three days, we still lack dead things to fill the well, what do you guess happens next?"
Qiu Shi grasped her implication, swallowing hard. "More than one Cheng Wen emerges from the group."
Ruan Bai Jie nodded.
Qiu Shi suddenly missed the days when getting police help was easy...Cheng Wen was practically guaranteed prison time for attempted murder.
Qiu Shi sighed. "What should we do?"
"Wait," Ruan Bai Jie said softly. "Things always end, one way or another."
Everyone awaited nightfall with bated breath, though none admitted it aloud. In truth, most privately hoped the first fatality would surface. But contrary to expectations, the next two nights passed uneventfully, transforming the typically dangerous hours into undisturbed stillness. Aside from wind and snow, all remained quiet.
When Qiu Shi asked the carpenter what would happen without dead offerings for the well after three days, the reply came they must chop wood and worship the temple again.
This news further dampened spirits. Lacking time for repetition, more losses jeopardized group-wide annihilation.
"No need to worry so much," Xiao Ke consoled. "At least one person always survives from each group." She laughed mirthlessly. "What if you're the one?"
No one else spoke, fully aware the gamble's stakes were too high. No one could bet on being the lone survivor.