Orion was instantly filled with horror. Could it be that the female ghost was in this room? Had she been the one to close the entrance door just now? He immediately rushed to Jane's side and asked, "You... you said we could escape, right? But how?"
Jane was momentarily at a loss for words. When she said they could escape, it was on the premise that they could leave Room 401. She thought the female ghost wouldn't want their lives and had no reason to block their way to survival. However, the current situation was beyond their expectations. Could it be that the female ghost wanted to lock them in here?
To Orion's astonishment, Jane took out a plastic bag as if it were a precious treasure, then used a pair of tweezers to pick up the hair and put it into the plastic bag. She looked exactly like a police officer collecting evidence at a crime scene.
"If we can get out, this hair will be excellent research material."
She was truly crazy... To dare to collect the female ghost's hair and put it in her pocket like this. Even a man would be in awe of her courage. And she even said she would take it back for research...
Perhaps she was no less terrifying than the female ghost...
"Don't look at me like that. This is a great opportunity to directly understand ghosts, isn't it? Gathering information is very important."
That wasn't the point at all...
Orion looked at this terrifyingly rational woman and continued to look around the room. Where would the female ghost appear? Behind the door? On the wall? On the ceiling? Or outside the window? There was no furniture in the house, so there was no place to hide. Or perhaps...
"Jane, take pictures of the surroundings with a camera. Maybe we can see her!"
Jane was indeed efficient. Almost at the same time Orion spoke, she took out a camera and started taking pictures everywhere. However, the photos showed nothing strange, just the same scenes as in reality. Then, they went to several other rooms and took pictures, but still found nothing.
"It seems she might not be here." Although Jane said so, she couldn't be sure in her heart. And just because the camera couldn't capture anything didn't mean "she" wasn't there.
Just then, Orion suddenly noticed something behind the door of the "study". He opened the door and saw that it was...
Neil Lawson's paintbrush and palette!
Orion had been to Neil's house once before and had seen him painting. He was familiar with his paintbrush and palette. With his excellent memory, he could be certain that these were the items Neil had used. What was even more terrifying was that the paint on the palette hadn't dried!
Out of fear, he threw the paintbrush and palette out forcefully. As a result, the palette hit the floor, and the paint inside flowed out. However, what happened next left Orion and Jane almost gaping in horror.
The paint that should have dried long ago flowed along the cracks in the floor. Then, naturally, the various colors of paint combined and began to form an image!
Due to the shock of this scene, Orion and Jane stood rooted to the spot, not even daring to blink. In less than a minute, as if being controlled by someone, the paint started to form a hideous and terrifying female ghost's face. And it was exactly the same as the female ghost Neil had painted!
Then, the ghost face finally took shape, and its vividness was astonishing. Only then did Orion really react. He kicked at the ghost face on the floor! But when his foot was still in mid - air, the ghost face... actually began to become three - dimensional! It rose up from the floor!
The two of them didn't dare to stay any longer. They quickly ran out of the room, closed the door, and blocked it tightly!
Immediately after, blood started to flow out from the crack of the door, and strange laughter could be heard from inside. Then, they felt a pair of hands trying to push the door open.
Orion immediately used all his strength to hold the door. Logically, with both him and Jane, they should be able to hold the door. However, the force pushing the door was no less than that of a strongman. He almost exhausted all his strength just to keep the door closed.
This lasted for about a minute, and then the force suddenly disappeared. Orion was feeling strange when he suddenly remembered something extremely important. How could he have forgotten that!
There was a window in this room that led to the next room!
He was about to go and block the door of the next room, but it was too late. The door opened...
When Violet asked for leave from the newspaper office, Jack and the others were stunned.
"You're kidding, right, Violet? You're asking for leave too? I remember once you came to work at the newspaper office even when you were sick. Usually, even if you could leave work early, you would volunteer to work overtime. You're the 'workaholic' we all acknowledged! How could you..."
"My brother has something going on." She smiled shyly at her colleagues and said, "I have to go to the outskirts for something. I'm taking three days off this time..."
As soon as she said this, everyone's eyes widened even more. What on earth could be so important that she needed to take so many days off?
"Didn't your brother just publish a new book? What could be the matter now? Does he need you to assist him in gathering materials?"
"Well... you could say so."
Violet's smile was extremely awkward at the moment. Anyone could tell that there were eight words written all over her face: "I'm hiding something from you."
Although several colleagues were concerned about Violet, if she didn't want to say, there was no way to force her.
After leaving the newspaper office, Violet hailed a taxi. Looking at the address she had written down, she felt nervous. To be honest, she was quite afraid of ghosts and such.
Brother... you must be okay...
Thinking of the strange man with purple pupils yesterday, she remembered his last words: They would meet again in the future? Did he know her? And those purple pupils... Could he also be a person with a natural supernatural physique?
Who exactly was he?
Just then, a sudden intense chill rushed through her heart, and then she had a premonition.
"Is it in... three days? And this feeling is so strong... I seem to have had this kind of feeling before..."
If there was such a precedent, it meant one thing.
In three days, more than one person would die.
When she arrived at the outskirts, Violet met Orion at Neil's doorstep as he had previously instructed. Since the nearby farmhouses were messy and hard to find, but when she got there, she didn't see her brother.
What was going on? She then called her brother's cell phone, but no one answered. Then she called Jane's, and the result was the same. Violet immediately became nervous. Could something have happened to them?
At the same time, Ryan Anderson also called Orion and Jane, but like Violet, he couldn't get in touch with them. He also became nervous. Could it be that the two of them had been... by that female ghost?
Although he thought so, even if he was given ten guts, he wouldn't dare to go to Room 401 of the opposite apartment. Even if he called the police, the police wouldn't believe him. What should he do now? Without the two of them, wasn't he doomed?
When he got home at night, he used the telescope to look at the window of the opposite apartment again. Everything was the same as in the morning.
"Why... is she still there... Yes, that female ghost... she's there!"
Should he run away? But where to? How about staying at Zachary's place for a few days?
But he immediately rejected this idea. Zachary's situation was no better than his. Even if he stayed at his house, it might not be safer than here. Perhaps it was better to stay here. If the female ghost was behind the curtains, at least he could monitor her situation with the telescope at any time. If she made a move, he could run away immediately.
Orion opened his eyes, and it was pitch - dark all around.
And in front of him was... the floor!
He felt his body was tightly bound by something, and he couldn't even open his mouth. Looking closely, he was shocked to find that he and Jane were bound to the ceiling by thick strands of hair, with their hands, feet, and mouths tightly wrapped, unable to move at all. These thick black hairs seemed to grow out of the ceiling, completely covering it.
He immediately understood. If they were to be bound here by these hairs all the time, then when the female ghost attacked the other three people who were still alive, he and Jane wouldn't be able to do anything... These hairs would probably only untie when all three of them were dead.
The hairs were tied so tightly that he couldn't even move his body slightly, and with his mouth sealed, he couldn't call for help. He only remembered that after the door opened, he blacked out and fainted. When he woke up, he was in this state.
How long had he been unconscious? In this situation, he couldn't check his watch.
Orion was extremely anxious and desperate, so he immediately released his supernatural ability. However, almost at that moment, the hairs tightly wrapped around his neck, almost choking him, and then the release of his ability stopped...
Then, the hairs wrapped around his body even more tightly, even covering his eyes. He and Jane were thus fixed on the ceiling, with no way to break free.
At this moment, an image of Ryan Anderson appeared in his mind...
Unfortunately, Orion hadn't told Violet the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the three people. The only clue, Gary Johnson, was now dead, and his body hadn't been discovered yet, so it was impossible to follow this clue. She could only go from farmhouse to farmhouse in the vicinity to ask if the two of them had stayed there.
Just as she was searching, her cell phone rang. The caller ID showed it was her brother's cell phone! She immediately relaxed and answered the phone, asking, "Brother? Where are you now?"
"Violet? We changed the plan temporarily, so you go back to the city first. I'll contact you again."
"You're being unfair... How long have I been waiting for you guys? Now you want me to go back to the city? Stop joking!"
"Be good, Violet. It was a sudden change. You go back first, and I'll contact you again."
"Okay... Oh, right. In the next three days, more than one person will die. Brother, you must pay attention to this!"
"Okay, I understand."
Then, the phone hung up.
Violet looked at the vast night sky, feeling very frustrated. She thought: Alas... If I go back now... I wonder if I can catch the last bus? And why do I feel that my brother is acting so strange?
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
"Could they be dead? What should we do now?"
At Ryan Anderson's house, the three of them gathered to discuss what to do next. If they continued to procrastinate, Gary's body might be discovered. And without Orion and Jane, they wouldn't know the death date.
Today was the death date of two of the three people.
"I suggest... since we're going to die anyway," Zachary said, looking at the window opposite, "we might as well fight to the death and go to that house. With three of us, there should be a way, right?"
"No, no!" Lily Cooper objected first. "Mr. Miller and Miss Parker are so experienced, and they still haven't returned. If we go, we're definitely going to die!"
"Listen to me... Maybe our death date hasn't arrived yet. In that case, the other side won't kill us, and this is our biggest advantage! And since all three of us are still alive, at least in the worst - case scenario, two of us have this advantage today. What do you think? With three of us together, our chances of winning are still quite high..."
"Are you kidding me?" Ryan almost shouted. "I've been praying every day that she doesn't come for me, and now you want us to take the initiative to find her? After all, Zachary Thompson, it's all your fault! If it weren't for you, would we have gone to that place? Would we be in such a precarious situation now?"
"I remember you were also very enthusiastic about gathering information at that time."
"But you were the one who suggested that place! Okay, if you're so brave, and we're not, then you go there alone and bravely kill that ghost! If it's not your death date today, you should definitely be able to do it. Go ahead!"
Lily quickly tried to mediate. "Why are you two arguing? Aren't you good friends? Please stop arguing! At a time like this..."
"Get out! Both of you get out!" Ryan shouted. "Listen, I'm not going! If that female ghost dares to come, I'll fight her to the death!"
Zachary shook his head and said, "Forget it, Lily. He's not calm right now. There's no point talking to him. Let's just go first."
"But, but..."
"Didn't you hear me? Get out! I don't want to see you!"
Lily's eyes were filled with tears. She covered her eyes and left with Zachary. After they left, Ryan locked the door tightly, then, like Gary before, he went to the kitchen to get a knife and shouted at the empty room, "Listen to me! I'm not afraid of you! If you have the guts, come out. I'll cut you to death with one knife! Come out! Come out!"
As he spoke, he swung the knife at the empty air around him, and several times the knife hit the wall and the sofa.
"Get out here! If I'm afraid of you, I'm your slave! Come out, come out!"
After about ten minutes, he was tired and lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
Back in the study, he picked up the telescope again to observe the window opposite. However, he was horrified to find -
Although the curtain was still obviously bulging, but... the position had clearly changed!
Could it be that "she" was about to start moving?