INSIDER Chapter 145

Upon hearing that the skull was stolen, Yuan Kejie was troubled. She felt that Lu Chu had a unique advantage when performing tasks with that skull, and its sudden disappearance was a bit regrettable. She murmured softly, “Shall we retrieve the cute little skull?”

Song Gui replied directly, “Since the skull was taken by that little girl, when we find it, we’ll probably be ready to leave this ’round’ as well.”

Yuan Kejie sighed.

On the other side, Lu Chu recalled the earlier events and asked Sun Haoran, “You mentioned I might need a black mirror that can help me reflect the shadow of death. What does that mean?”

Sun Haoran, who had already stood up against the wall, was positioned far from 7. Despite his usual disdainful attitude, getting beaten half to death by 7 had left him somewhat apprehensive. Sun Haoran had a rough idea of what kind of person 7 was, so he stopped taking risks and fully cooperated with the group. Otherwise, this formidable man might actually kill him here. While Lu Chu might worry about 7’s well-being, 7 himself was not afraid of pain.

Revealing this fact was already pushing Sun Haoran to his limits.

Upon hearing Lu Chu’s question, Sun Haoran pointed to the room in the middle of the “回” shaped corridor: “It’s in that room. There’s a black mirror under the bed that was once used by a witch for seances. Following the usual hints and steps of this ’round,’ we’d unravel the mysteries here step by step, but we’d be trapped in this mansion until we run out of supplies, watching everyone die one by one, before we get the final answer. But as someone who’s been through it, I can tell you directly: take out that black mirror from the room, use it to see the little girl, talk to her, and we can break the curse and leave this round.”

Sun Haoran couldn’t help but smirk lightly: “Didn’t you just come out of there? How did you miss it?”

While saying this, Sun Haoran glanced sideways at 7.

Lu Chu answered candidly, “We were discussing personal matters.”

Wang Heng, overhearing this, asked dumbly, “What personal matters? Why did you dare to discuss them alone in a haunted house?”

Lu Chu’s eyes curved as he smiled, “Matters of the heart.”

7’s aura softened for a moment.

“Matters of the heart,” Wang Heng suddenly realized, then something seemed off, “Matters of the heart? Who with— mmph!”

Before Wang Heng could finish, two “Yimings” behind him covered his mouth and dragged him away from the “crime scene.”

Li Yiming scolded him in a low voice, “Say less, live longer!”

Wang Heng quickly shut his mouth.

Yuan Kejie shouted, “Alright, brothers, let’s stop with the side chatter and go find that mirror together!”

Song Gui nodded, “Let’s go.”

Eager to leave this “round” and find the task world similar to the “City of Lost Emotions,” everyone became more serious than ever.

In the past, they were serious to survive; now, it was to go home.

They had struggled for so long, endured killings, and braved loneliness, all for that slim hope.

Now, this hope was within their reach.

.

Thus, the group walked along the “回” shaped corridor toward the inner wall with the door.

Lu Chu pushed open the door and was the first to enter.

Knowing they were about to leave this round, they didn’t hesitate to use their phone lights. Ten people used five phones, turning on the flashlights. The ample light significantly reduced their visual blind spots, boosting their confidence.

Lu Chu walked inside.

Earlier, when 7 had dragged him into this room, his mind was full of thoughts about 7, and he hadn’t had the chance to observe the room’s layout carefully. Now, as he looked around, he found that this room’s layout was identical to the one from the previous round he had experienced.

The little girl had been in this room, subjected to prolonged abuse by her mother, which made her personality dark and innocent at the same time.

She had cut open her beloved teddy bear with scissors, sewn it up with rough stitches, covered its eyes with worn cloth, and begged it to save her. Later, the teddy bear absorbed the mansion’s resentment, turning into a murderous giant bear, and as the girl wished, dismembered her on the bed in this room.

The ten people squeezed into the room, making it a bit crowded but also adding some liveliness.

Yuan Kejie rubbed her arms, “With so many people, we should have strong yang energy. Why do I still feel chills?”

Wang Heng and the others quickly nodded in agreement, whispering, “Me too, me too!”

Lu Chu wandered around the room but didn’t rush to look for the mirror under the bed. Instead, he said to the others, “This room’s layout is designed in such a way… What was the first owner thinking when building it? This layout seems to attract a lot of ghostly energy. The rumors about the original owner being involved in a cult might be true.”

“It is true,” Sun Haoran sneered, looking at the ceiling, “He specifically built this room. The family of three slept here, and the husband secretly started setting up a ritual to summon demons, unknown to his wife and child. One day, when the demon told him ‘it’s time,’ he dismembered his wife and daughter, killed all the servants, offered them to the demon, and then slit his own throat in the ceiling.”

Hearing this, Lu Chu and the others looked up at the ceiling.

Sun Haoran continued, “Because of this, this room has the most lingering spirits. The girl and the teddy bear turned into vengeful spirits, stronger than the ghosts that originally gathered here, which terrified them.”

“So, does that mean,” Song Gui rubbed his chin, “the other ghosts in this room were devoured by the girl?”

Sun Haoran nodded nonchalantly, “Yes.”

As soon as Sun Haoran finished speaking, the lights from Lu Chu and the others’ phones flickered and went out.

At the same time, a crisp, innocent voice of a little girl sounded beside Wang Heng—

“Big brother, please move aside, you’re stepping on my head.”