Translator: Cinder Translations
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The night was very quiet. In the room on the east side, Ben Fu sat alone by the stove, warming himself. He was the one chosen to keep watch in this room. His shift was the second one, with the first shift being occupied by Yu Man in the next room.
There was no such thing as "ladies first" here. Everyone had to contribute to the team. The old rule was that everyone would take turns on watch for two hours, and after that, they would wake up the next person for their shift.
Ben Fu stared at the woman's watch placed in front of him.
His shift was almost over, with only 20 minutes remaining. Then, he could wake up Pei Qian, who was on the next shift.
Ben Fu slowly stood up and stretched his body. One of his hands rubbed the outside of his thigh—his legs had grown numb from sitting for so long.
Yawning, he lazily glanced diagonally forward. The room's window had a large hole in it, and through that hole, he could just about see the position of the front door.
But that one glance made it hard for him to look away.
In the darkness, he saw a familiar face.
Although it was only for a split second, he immediately recognized that it was Zhou Rong.
Zhou Rong had his back to Ben Fu, standing near the door beside the fence. His tall figure was slightly hunched, moving stealthily. There was another figure with him.
Ben Fu's eyes focused on the second person. His pupils constricted—it was Yin Zhiping!
What were these two doing out at this hour?
He immediately thought back to what happened earlier in the morning at the inn. Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping had gone to return the keys, but they lingered upstairs for more than ten minutes.
At the time, he had found it strange, and now, it seemed the two might have made some kind of deal.
Although Ben Fu was timid, he still had a clear sense of judgment when it came to big matters. His first instinct was that these two had found some clue. Otherwise, they wouldn't risk sneaking out at night.
And they were avoiding everyone else.
After thinking for a few seconds, he made a bold decision.
He didn't wake the other three people in the room. Instead, he carefully moved the wooden stick propping up the door and quietly slipped out.
Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping were being cautious. They chose a difficult path, trying to stay low to blend into the night.
The more they did this, the more Ben Fu felt something was off with them.
To his surprise, they didn't leave the courtyard. Instead, after circling around, they arrived at the abandoned building.
Ben Fu's throat tightened. He crouched behind a bush, pushing through the branches to peek outside. He saw Zhou Rong open his mouth and whisper something. Yin Zhiping, with a grim expression, nodded firmly.
The two of them found a window and climbed inside—one after the other.
This surprised Ben Fu. He hadn't expected them to be so bold.
The building in front of him gave him a very bad impression for some reason, an instinctual unease that he couldn't explain.
After waiting for about half a minute, Ben Fu quietly crept closer. He carefully chose where to step, afraid of stepping on a dry branch and making a sound.
By the time he was close enough, he couldn't help but admire Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping. They were experienced. Their footsteps were almost inaudible.
He hid under the window, took a deep breath, and then quickly stuck his head out to glance inside.
He caught sight of Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping disappearing around the corner of the stairs.
They were heading upstairs.
Could the clue be upstairs? Ben Fu's expression turned strange.
He stared at the last spot where the two had vanished. It was pitch black there, like the gaping mouth of a monster waiting to devour anything that came too close.
At the same time, veins started to show on his hand as he held onto the wall.
In that moment, Ben Fu felt like a different person. His twisted gaze revealed an uncontrollable mix of madness and confusion, and he was brewing a more daring plan.
He had to follow them and find out what was inside.
Though it was a bold idea, it was a desperate move.
He was just an ordinary person. He could clearly sense the indifference from his teammates. This group was much stronger than his last one.
That was good, but in a way, it was also bad.
In his mind, the lack of newcomers meant that this mission was more difficult, and that the number of survivors would be few. Three, maybe four. Even five, he bit his lip, but he didn't think he'd be one of them.
He was too weak—so weak that he wouldn't even realize if he walked into a trap set by a ghost.
So, to survive, he had no choice but to find another way.
Ben Fu silently calculated in his mind: Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping were no ordinary people. If they were taking such big risks, there must be some crucial clue inside.
Who knows, maybe this clue would be the key to his survival.
He wasn't too worried about being discovered because someone in the previous game had vaguely hinted that killing teammates in the nightmare would trigger terrifying consequences.
So, even if they noticed him, Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping wouldn't dare to do anything. Instead, he could use their secretive actions as leverage against them.
In other words, the cost of making a mistake was low, but the potential benefits were very high.
He hesitated no longer. After listening quietly for a while and hearing no unusual sounds, he placed his hands on the windowsill, tried several times, and finally climbed up.
Once inside the building, he realized it was far more luxurious than he had imagined. Compared to it, the rooms outside were practically outhouses.
But it was very dark, and he could only make out a little of the surroundings. He found a wall and leaned against it, slowly making his way toward the stairs.
"Bang!"
He was so focused on the stairs that he didn't notice his leg hitting something. The sound, though not loud, was jarring in the dead silence of the night.
Ben Fu felt a chill run down his spine.
He strained his ears to listen to the sounds upstairs.
There was no sound. It was as if Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping had disappeared into thin air.
Of course, they hadn't disappeared. Ben Fu guessed that they must have heard the noise from below and quickly hidden, too afraid to move.
With this thought in mind, Ben Fu stopped trying to conceal his footsteps and ran up the stairs with loud thuds.
As he emerged from the stairwell, his face, which had been tense, began to redden. He slowed his pace, trying to appear calm and confident.
"What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" he asked, walking toward the two of them.
Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping stood not far from him, looking at him coldly, their arms hanging naturally by their sides, not saying a word.
Ben Fu frowned. This wasn't what he had imagined.
He stopped, and after a long pause, he mustered up the courage to ask again, "Why aren't you speaking?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw Zhou Rong and Yin Zhiping slowly raise their right hands. In a strangely synchronized motion, they both pointed at him. Then, their necks suddenly twisted to the right with a sharp crack.
"Crack—"
Ben Fu turned and ran.
(End of the Chapter)
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