Wang Heng listened to Yuan Kejie’s words, his initial fear turning into immense shock.
He glanced at the calm group and stammered, asking Yuan Kejie, “Aren’t… aren’t you scared at all?”
What he really wanted to say was – At this point, does it matter whether it’s a Chinese ghost or a foreign ghost?!
Yuan Kejie pointed to the oil painting. “Afraid of who, afraid of it?”
Wang Heng looked in the direction she pointed. The woman in the painting that had been glaring at them had disappeared along with the red-haired spirit that floated away earlier.
Seeing only the background in the painting, Wang Heng felt a chill in his heart again. He deeply felt that if this continued, he might just have a heart attack and die here.
Being in a reality scarier than a horror movie, he wanted to scream, cover his eyes, or even run away… He turned to look at the others, finding everyone staring straight at him – Lu Chu with a gentle smile, Yuan Kejie with encouragement and trust, Qi Li indifferent and cold, and even the thirteen-year-old Luo Qi with a mocking, expressionless face.
Suddenly, Wang Heng felt like an idiot.
After a moment, Lu Chu broke the awkward silence. “We should continue searching the floors.”
The group looked at the two doors in front of them.
The door on the left was where the red-haired ghost had entered, possibly full of dangers; the door on the right might offer temporary safety.
According to the “rules,” since the ghost had gone through the left door, it indicated that following her direction would lead to some clues – this was the hope given by the “rules” at the start of the game. Even without considering the “rules,” they should follow the direction where the spirit disappeared.
Yuan Kejie pointed to the two doors and said to Wang Heng, “Come on, big brother, you choose the door.”
Wang Heng was stunned, pointing to himself. “Me?”
Yuan Kejie nodded, her eyes full of encouragement. “Yes, go ahead without hesitation!”
Wang Heng swallowed, hesitantly pointing to the right. “Then I choose this…”
Lu Chu raised an eyebrow. “Hmm?”
Wang Heng immediately pointed to the left door, his eyes wide open, his tone resolute. “This one! The left one! Let’s go!”
Yuan Kejie laughed, patting his shoulder. “Brother, well done, courageous.”
She then turned and walked through the left door first.
Luo Qi followed Yuan Kejie, Wang Heng in the middle, with Lu Chu and 7 bringing up the rear – this arrangement was because putting Wang Heng at the front or back might slow them down, so the middle was more stable.
Yuan Kejie, at the front, used her phone’s light to illuminate the way as she entered the room, with the others following and examining their surroundings.
The further they walked, the more Lu Chu smelled the decay of the walls and floors, as if they were exploring not just the floor but also the house’s history, from grandeur to rot.
The room was not small but not a bedroom, more like a guest room, with a set of thickly dust-covered brown leather sofas in the center. Some parts of the sofas had rotted, exposing yellow sponge and rusty springs.
Besides the wall behind the sofa, the other three walls had three doors each, one being their entrance, with only one other door open.
7 walked to the locked door, tried the handle, then told Lu Chu, “Locked.”
Wang Heng trembled, asking, “Did the ghost run into the open door just now?”
Luo Qi said disdainfully, “Not necessarily. Have you ever seen a ghost worry about doors? Then why have the ability to walk through walls?”
Wang Heng thought about it and agreed.
Yuan Kejie turned to Lu Chu. “Little Lu Chu, can you tell which door?”
Lu Chu nodded slightly.
Possibly due to being bound to the oil painting, the red-haired ghost had a strong smell of watercolor. Lu Chu could track people and spirits by scent, and the strong watercolor smell was unmistakable. He moved closer to the two doors, sniffed, frowned, confirmed, and pointed to the locked room. “This one.”
Luo Qi raised an eyebrow at the locked door. “Kick it open?”
Yuan Kejie shook her head, hesitating. “Kicking it open might be quick and precise, but not appropriate…”
Luo Qi looked at her. “Why not?”
“Qiqi, we’re in a century-old house!” Yuan Kejie explained. “Who knows how many strange beings live here? Any item could be a container for spirits, any sound might disturb them. What if breaking the door brings a horde of ghosts?”
Her thought also crossed Lu Chu’s mind. Facing ghosts different from those encountered in previous games, they shouldn’t be too hasty.
If surrounded by a ghost army, experienced players could escape, but Wang Heng might not survive. Plus, if they stirred up many ghosts, they could also endanger their teammates searching other floors.
Considering this, caution was best.
Luo Qi asked, “If we don’t break the door, where do we find the key?”
Lu Chu decisively said, “Search this area.”
This small guest room should have the keys to the other rooms.
Yuan Kejie clapped and nodded. “Okay, let’s split up and search every nook and cranny of this guest room!”
Lu Chu turned on his phone flashlight and told the others, “Turn on your phone flashlights temporarily, find the key quickly.”
Everyone nodded. “Got it.”
Then they started searching different corners of the room for the key.
The thick dust in the room meant opening or moving cabinets and furnishings raised clouds of dust. The bright phone flashlights illuminated the floating dust particles in the musty air.
They coughed a few times, then continued searching with their sleeves covering their noses and mouths.
After a while, Yuan Kejie wiped her sweat. “Didn’t find it…”
Wang Heng despaired. “Neither did I…”
7 spoke calmly, “Found it.”
Everyone immediately looked at him.
7 nodded towards the torn part of the leather sofa in the center of the room. “In there.”
Curious, Wang Heng moved closer, holding his phone, and looked into the torn sponge – it seemed intentionally shredded, then messily stuffed back.
It seemed something was hidden inside.
Without thinking much, Wang Heng, wanting to redeem his earlier cowardice, squatted in front of the sofa and carefully pulled out the sponge piece by piece.
Halfway through, he felt something odd at his fingertips, and as he shined the light and saw deeper into the torn sponge, he screamed and jumped back several steps, hiding behind Lu Chu, trembling and pointing at the sofa. “Lu Chu! There’s a… a… skull!”
Lu Chu sighed.
7 pulled Lu Chu to his side, ignoring Wang Heng.
Wang Heng had no more cover in front of him.
Yuan Kejie came over, patting Wang Heng’s shoulder. “Brother, quiet down. You wanted to dig it out, so why such a big reaction now? Do you want to wake ‘them’ up?”
Wang Heng, who had never seen a skull before, was genuinely scared, but Yuan Kejie’s words made him shut his mouth, fearing to alarm other ghosts.
Luo Qi turned off her phone light, put it in her pocket, and used others’ lights to pull out the remaining sponge. She then grabbed the skull, holding it in both hands, and showed it to the others.
Wang Heng was terrified.
Lu Chu, however, was intrigued.
The skull’s upper eye socket had a small hole with a red string threading through, holding several keys. The skull itself was polished, still smooth and shiny after all these years.
Oddly, the skull lacked a jawbone.
Lu Chu said, “I think I know the use of this skull.”
Yuan Kejie asked, “What use? Isn’t it just a normal skull?”
Lu Chu shook his head and explained, “Remember what Sun Haoran said? This mansion was built by Russians and had several owners, all of whom died within half a year due to various reasons. The mansion’s main structure likely follows the original Russian design, including the spirits inside.”
In previous games, Lu Chu often researched supernatural events and customs worldwide. Now, his knowledge proved useful.
The others listened intently.
Lu Chu continued, “In Russian necromancy, skulls connect to the dead. Necromancers carry polished, infused skulls. Cutting off the jaw severs the link to the spirit world, making the ‘medium’ ineffective.”
Yuan Kejie realized, “So, this skull was once a ‘magic item’?”
Lu Chu nodded. “Yes, I think so.”
