Chapter 202 Gathering

Chapter 202 Gathering

The Black Feather Guild's channel fell silent for a moment.

A few seconds later, Mi Yang broke the silence: "Well, I'll go check it out too."

Mi Yang had developed an extraordinary blind confidence in his son, believing that following him wouldn't lead to any mistakes.

Before Gala could stop him, he heard Lu Cheng report, "I saw Mi Yang opening the door... maybe I should go too!"

Then came another door opening sound.

Vice President Gala: "..."

Exhausted.

"Alright," he said, stopping several other players who were also starting to stir, "three people are enough. The rest of you stay in your rooms."

...

The air in the corridor was cold and damp, filled with a musty smell.

The players who stepped outside followed the guest room rules, each carrying a flashlight, making them stand out in the pitch-black hallway.

Lu Cheng quickened his pace to catch up with Qin Fei, passing by two players from Starlight, who gave him a big glare.

Lu Cheng was puzzled.

Mi Yang walked over, avoiding their gaze: "Ignore them. Starlight was first yesterday morning but got pushed to second by Darkfire at noon. After you and Xiao Qin came out, they dropped to third and are sulking."

Because the guild tournament was underway, Mi Yang could now use the special communication devices provided by Black Feather. He was using one now.

In the dark corridor, the rules were unclear, but based on the previous two days' experiences, most of the incomplete tales that appeared at night in the hotel had a "silence" restriction. Therefore, everyone dared not speak first.

Ahead of them, Qin Fei moved his flashlight around, not missing any corner or spot on the floor.

Compared to when night first fell, the corridor now looked even older. The carpet was covered in sticky black stains, which Qin Fei had to carefully avoid as he walked.

He had a vague feeling that stepping on those stains would have undesirable consequences.

The silent corridor was filled only with the sound of cautious footsteps and breathing.

Two players from Starlight followed Black Feather's trio at a distance, and no one else came out of their rooms.

As they approached the end of the corridor, Qin Fei finally found what seemed to be a piece of paper with the corridor rules.

Similar to the rule paper he had seen in the elevator invaded by a tale, the corridor rules were also torn and yellowed, with only one corner stuck to the wall, the rest hanging down.

Qin Fei flattened the paper and read it.

■■ Building Corridor Rules:

1. The corridor must be absolutely quiet. Please do not make any noise in the corridor, including but not limited to: talking, coughing, laughing, crying//crying-ku—screaming/loud screaming.

2. This building only has left-turn corridors and straight corridors.

If you encounter a right-turn corridor, turn around, close your eyes, and count silently to ten, then look back.

If the corridor has not returned to normal, repeat the process.

3. The power system in this building is old, and power outages often occur. Do not believe any sounds you hear in the darkness, and do not trust anyone you see in the darkness.

This rule was partially crossed out with a black line, and the lower part was changed to:

"You can trust the person you meet in the darkness."

"This third rule is clearly contaminated," Mi Yang muttered through the device.

His tone was quite relaxed because the corridor rules ended abruptly, with the remaining content torn off.

From the censored title of the corridor rules, they might not even be in the Weird Tales Hotel anymore, which sounded rather unsettling.

However, based on the experience of the past two days, in incomplete night tales, strictly following known rules had a high chance of leading to survival.

The unseen rules did not affect the people in the tales.

The corridor rules were simple, which was very advantageous for them.

Although the rules didn't mention it, Qin Fei still shared his suspicion about avoiding the carpet stains with Lu Cheng and Mi Yang. They continued forward quietly.

"..."

The excessive silence easily induced fear.

The players from Starlight did not notice the trap of the carpet stains and soon fell victim to it.

One player's leg got stuck in the carpet, unable to pull it out.

Eventually, they used some device, and after a puff of smoke, the player was freed.

His exposed skin was covered in scratch marks, as if something hidden in the carpet had clung to his leg, unwilling to let go.

Blood flowed onto the carpet, forming a new dark stain. The player dared not put his foot down again and hopped to the side on one leg.

Such external injuries were nothing to the players, and with the help of medicine and devices, the Starlight members quickly regained their mobility.

Following the rules, the five players turned into left-turn corridors whenever they encountered one, circling in the darkness for about twenty minutes.

"…Are we just going in circles by constantly turning in the same direction?"

Lu Cheng couldn't help but ask.

Qin Fei gave a negative answer: "At least so far, every section of corridor we've walked through has been different."

Whether it was the length of the corridors, the peeling marks on the walls, or the shapes of stains on the carpet.

Lu Cheng nodded, feeling dizzy and disoriented, staring at the wall beside him for a long while, unable to discern any difference from the previous corridor.

However, his concern was soon alleviated as they continued walking and encountered a right turn ahead.

Qin Fei stood still, quickly turned around, and closed his eyes.

The 10 seconds felt exceptionally long. Qin Fei vaguely sensed that something was gradually approaching him during this time.

The temperature was dropping.

The air grew colder.

A faint breathing sound echoed in his ears.

When the 10 seconds were up, Qin Fei opened his eyes and turned around.

Sure enough, the right turn corridor had become a left turn corridor. However, at the same moment, what appeared in Qin Fei's field of vision was a blood-soaked face.

It was a face no larger than a palm, and it wasn't hard to see that its owner once possessed remarkable beauty.

But now, all that remained on this face was horror.

Like the ghosts that had appeared in the elevator, the upper half of the female ghost's face was peeled off, revealing bloody fat and muscle tissue, and even some places showed ghastly white bones.

Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with blood; the female ghost had no whites, only deep, bottomless black pupils, staring face-to-face with Qin Fei.

Since Qin Fei had anticipated this, he wasn't startled at all and instead felt a sense of calm resignation, "Ah, as expected."

In the empty corridor, Qin Fei silently gazed at the female ghost.

The reactions of the four players behind him were entirely different from Qin Fei's.

As important members of a high-level Guild, they weren't scared into screaming by such a basic scare tactic in the scenario. However, when they saw the female ghost's appearance, their hearts still tightened uncontrollably.

Some closed their eyes, others covered their mouths, and their faces twisted into expressions of distress.

The female ghost's gaze swept over them and then returned to Qin Fei, who was closest to her.

"It's so dark here..."

When she spoke, there was an eerie echo, as if her voice was leaking out, evoking images of desolate mountains at night.

"It's so dark here... walk with me for a bit..."

The female ghost lifted her emaciated hand and pointed in a certain direction.

Qin Fei looked in the direction she pointed and couldn't help but twitch his eyelids.

At the end of the corridor, the right turn that had disappeared reappeared at some point.

Meanwhile, the left turn hadn't vanished either.

Qin Fei didn't speak, and neither did the other players. The female ghost stood firm, and everyone froze in the corridor.

At the same time, Qin Fei was carefully observing the female ghost before him.

Although the female ghost looked terrifying, the displayed affinity bar indicated that she could be approached.

This meant she was a ghost with relatively clear self-awareness, not a mindlessly attacking NPC.

"Ghost wandering the ■■ corridor: Affinity 0% (Do not easily refuse the ghost's requests; she is not a good-tempered ghost)"

Bad-tempered.

Qin Fei blinked.

This characteristic of the female ghost was quickly manifesting. After realizing her plea went unanswered, she repeated her request several times more urgently.

Her tone became increasingly shrill, her form began to shake, and the bones in her hands creaked, as if she might snap a player's neck at any moment.

The two from Star Day took a nervous step back.

A potentially fatal decision awaited Qin Fei.

The female ghost's gaze was deep and venomous.

Between "shut up, which might anger the female ghost but may not cause severe consequences" and "go along with the female ghost's wishes, violating the corridor rules and likely being eliminated," there seemed little room for hesitation.

Qin Fei chose the former without hesitation.

However.

The young man raised his eyes with a smile, looking at the female ghost with friendly and kind eyes.

In the world of a mature player, choices aren't always black or white.

Although Qin Fei decided not to speak, he didn't want to completely offend the female ghost.

Direct refusal was unwise; it was best to find a way around it.

Under the watchful eyes of the four players behind him, Qin Fei made an unexpected move.

He raised his hand and signed to the female ghost.

Female ghost: "?"

Lu Cheng & Mi Yang & Xing Zhuo (two people): "???"

Mi Yang's voice came through the device: "...What did Xiao Qin just sign?"

Lu Cheng's eyelid twitched: "I don't understand."

No one understood. Sign language is not something everyone can comprehend.

The female ghost didn't understand either.

Seeing the female ghost's confusion, Qin Fei signed a more complex sequence, finally pointing at his mouth and then at his ears.

The player's light-colored pupils were filled with sincerity, tinged with a hint of melancholy, making him appear gentle yet fragile given his unusually striking appearance.

The female ghost was stunned.

In truth, she still didn't understand the specific meaning of the signs, but as a ghost with thinking abilities akin to a living person, she accurately grasped the meaning of the last two gestures.

—He probably meant that he couldn't speak or hear and could only communicate through sign language.

The female ghost's expression twisted for a long time before she finally showed a look of "I'm such a fool."

She stepped aside to let Qin Fei pass, then reblocked the four people behind him.

With the correct answer right in front of them, the four people copied it without hesitation, their sign language perfectly synchronized, like performing calisthenics.

Whether it was right or wrong didn't matter; the ghost couldn't understand anyway.

Female ghost: "..."

What a coincidence to encounter a group of mute people.

The odds were about the same as winning the lottery.

The female ghost looked dazed.

...

With a response bordering on hooliganism, the group successfully evaded the female ghost.

The corridor returned to silence. Lu Cheng vigilantly checked behind them, confirming that the female ghost hadn't followed, and couldn't help but remark, "Brother, your quick thinking is impressive. It's a shame you're not a con artist."

Qin Fei walked leisurely a few steps ahead, seemingly serious but also casual, replying, "That would be too unsuitable for me. When have you ever seen me deceive anyone?"

He was a symbol of integrity, a servant of the people.

Lu Cheng: "..."

???

Just as Lu Cheng shook his head, marveling at how shameless someone could be, the endless corridor finally reached its end.

Since leaving the 13th floor guest room, the players had been circling the corridor, never entering the elevator or stairwell, yet now they faced a door labeled "12F West Conference Room."

The door wasn't fully closed, and through the gap, Qin Fei saw several scattered figures sitting inside.

Without hesitation, Qin Fei pushed the door open.

The black crystal ring on his finger had been intermittently heating up since it appeared on the TV in the guest room, reaching its peak when Qin Fei placed his palm on the door, then quietly returning to normal.

Inside the room sat approximately ten people. Qin Fei glanced around and noted that two were players, while the rest were NPCs.

As his gaze shifted to the window, he unexpectedly met a pair of deep blue eyes.

Qin Fei smiled slightly, and the eyes across from him mirrored a hint of amusement before looking away, as if showing no particular interest in him.

Mi Yang sighed, "Isn't that the NPC being watched by several guilds? Is he here to sign up for the ghost story too?"

They had never heard of a ghost story entering another ghost story.

If this NPC could join them in the ghost story, it might mean he was just a regular participant.

The two players from Xing Zhuo were whispering among themselves. Qin Fei found a seat and waited quietly for others to arrive.

Most of the people who entered afterward were players.

It was unclear what these people had encountered, but most looked disheveled, covered in blood, rushing into the room as if chased by ghosts.

Forty people quickly gathered.

The moment the room was full, thick black fog rapidly spread from the tightly shut windows, engulfing everyone's vision.

"What's going on...?"

A few questions echoed in the darkness.

But they were soon drowned out by louder noises.

Boom! Boom!

Jingling clanging.

It sounded like someone hammering with a giant mallet or the sound of a chainsaw.