Chapter 224: Strange Tales of Huaishu Road Construction Site 22

Chapter 224: Strange Tales of Huaishu Road Construction Site 22

After leaving the initial office where they found the tabloid, the group on the sixth floor continued to discover new clues in other rooms.

From the second day after the red-clothed woman jumped off the building, various eerie events began to occur frequently throughout Sinar Mas Department Store.

First, several shop owners from the women's clothing section on the first floor claimed that they saw the silhouette of the deceased woman in their stores.

The woman had been running a shop on the first floor of the department store while she was alive. She was young, outgoing, and often visited other shops during her free time, making her well-known among the other shop owners. These familiar shop owners were the first ones to see her.

According to the shop owners, the woman seemed unaware that she was dead and had forgotten what happened before her death.

She wore a red dress drenched by a heavy rainstorm, pushing open doors into one shop after another, asking her former colleagues if they had seen her husband.

The shop owners were terrified, but the story was so bizarre that when they told others, almost no one believed them, thinking they were fabricating it to seek compensation from the department store.

The shop owners who encountered the ghost fell ill within three days. Some went home to recover, while others continued working in the department store for their livelihood.

A few more days passed.

On the seventh day after the woman’s death, three shop owners who had previously seen the ghost died.

All of them died in the same way: suddenly passing away while lying in bed at night.

By the time their families discovered them in the morning, their bodies were already cold and stiff like stones.

These three individuals shared a common trait: they did not directly answer the ghost’s questions when she asked them.

Other living shop owners, when questioned by the ghost, either cleverly said they had seen her husband outside the building or stammered out a "no" and shook their heads in fear.

The three deceased individuals reacted even faster.

They turned and ran as soon as they saw her without even listening to her question.

However, this action infuriated the ghost, turning their quick reflexes into a poison that took their lives.

The mysterious deaths of these three shop owners added substantial credibility to the ghost stories circulating in the department store. Soon, more strange tales spread among the people there:

When the shop owners gathered outside the department store to protest, a media outlet took a group photo. After developing the photo, the newspaper staff was shocked to find the deceased woman also appearing in the picture.

One month after the woman’s death, the department store leader who had run over a young male shop owner with his car also died mysteriously.

These eerie events made Sinar Mas Department Store almost a forbidden place, with no customers daring to enter. The building quickly became desolate.

While earning a living and seeking compensation were important, no one dared to stay in a haunted place. Two months after the woman’s death, the department store was completely abandoned.

Thus, it could be determined that what they saw in the building were definitely not living people.

No one would come back to open a business here again.

Qin Fei relayed all this information to Lu Cheng.

The Guild channel was silent.

No one responded.

"Shall we go down now? We've searched all the rooms," Mi Yang came up and patted Qin Fei on the shoulder.

Qin Fei was staring at the empty corridor, and when he turned around, his eyes were dark as he softly said, "Yeah, let's go."

...

When Lu Cheng heard Qin Fei say that the shop owners were likely ghosts, he felt a chill run through him.

The signal in the Guild channel worsened again, and Qin Fei’s voice came intermittently to Lu Cheng’s ears. Although it was difficult to hear, Lu Cheng still managed to understand most of what Qin Fei said.

After hearing everything, he felt uneasy.

He looked up at the figure standing at the door.

From the moment the red-clothed woman entered the shop until now, less than a minute had passed. Apart from Qi Xiu saying something when she first entered, no one else spoke afterward.

The ghost didn’t move or speak, standing there with her head lowered.

Lu Cheng swallowed, examining her, feeling increasingly alarmed.

Long hair, red dress, wet hem, young woman...

This must be the boss that Xiao Qin mentioned!

Thinking about what Qi Xiu said to the boss earlier, Lu Cheng felt a chill down his spine.

He extended his vines toward the small dark room behind him, and instantly, the remaining part of his heart also turned cold.

The female shop owner who had been hiding in the small dark room was gone!

Inside the Cosmo Lady Women's Clothing Store.

The narrow shop was eerily quiet, the air stagnant like a dead pond.

Seeing the ghost remain motionless, Qi Xiu frowned.

He waited patiently for a moment, seeing no change, then pursed his lips, seemingly about to speak again.

Lu Cheng noticed these subtle changes in expression.

Since the ghost hadn’t killed them yet, it meant there was still a chance.

Recalling the three shop owners who met their demise, Lu Cheng feared that Qi Xiu might say something that would lead them both to the bridge of no return.

In a panic and with no time to explain, several thin, light green vines sprang from the ground, twisting in the air like ropes binding a package, tightly wrapping around Qi Xiu's lower face.

Qi Xiu's mouth was stuffed with vines, emitting muffled groans as he turned his head, looking over in confusion.

Lu Cheng didn't even glance at Qi Xiu, instead smiling broadly and greeting the female ghost with his utmost professional enthusiasm:

"Madam, what would you like to buy?"

Qi Xiu jumped in place twice, realizing something was amiss, stopped struggling, and sat quietly behind the counter.

The female ghost, hearing Lu Cheng's words, lifted her head, her stiff neck creaking.

A hoarse voice, as if filled with gravel, spoke:

"Have you... seen my husband?"

Qi Xiu's gaze remained blank, while Lu Cheng felt a sharp jolt of fear.

Here it comes, here it comes, the deadly encounter!

Lu Cheng bit his lip.

Based on the information provided by Xiao Qin, as long as they could engage the female ghost in conversation, whether answering "yes" or "no," there would be a chance for survival.

But the question was, how should they answer to ensure safety and gain more clues?

Lu Cheng's breathing quickened. After some deliberation, he first ruled out saying "yes."

What if he said yes, and the ghost asked him to take her to find her husband? Where would he find such a person?

But if he said no...

Lu Cheng's eyes flickered.

He felt like he was standing at the edge of a cliff, facing two paths obscured by fog. Only one path led forward, while the other plunged into an abyss.

Taking a deep breath, he finally mustered the courage to say, "Madam, I haven't seen your husband, but as a qualified service personnel, it is my duty to assist any customer.

"So," Lu Cheng paused, "if you need help, I can try to find where your husband might be."

As he spoke, he tried to recall the demeanor of Qin Fei when interacting with NPCs—a gentle, warm expression like a sun-soaked sunflower, making people feel instantly reliant on him.

Unfortunately, some qualities were not easily imitated.

Qi Xiu, with his mouth bound, watched coldly, feeling that Lu Cheng's smile seemed ill-intentioned, like a wolf in disguise.

The female ghost, however, was not picky.

Perhaps her view was obstructed by her hair, and she did not notice the stiffness on the face of the service personnel. Instead, she seemed deeply moved and took a step forward.

This frightened Lu Cheng, causing him to retreat a large step, hiding behind the counter.

The female ghost spoke softly, "My husband... I don't know where he is, but I know where to find him..."

She extended her emaciated hand, waving it in front of her chest, and said to Lu Cheng, "You, come here..."

Lu Cheng almost cried. Although this ghost looked much neater than the previous ones—she had all her limbs intact—the terrifying aura she emitted was no different.

Since the ghost entered the shop, Lu Cheng's sanity had dropped by 8 points. This wasn't because he was scared witless, but purely due to the severe mental contamination she exuded.

Lu Cheng glanced at Qi Xiu, wishing he could ask the ghost to let Qi Xiu handle it.

Unaware of the player's mental state, the ghost continued beckoning: "Come closer, come here..."

"Alright."

Lu Cheng resigned himself to his fate.

Five minutes later.

Lu Cheng leaned close to the female ghost's face, surrounded by empty bottles of mental supplements.

Their conversation was so low that Qi Xiu couldn't hear a word.

The female ghost didn't linger in the shop after finishing her message; she turned and pushed open the door, leaving.

The glass door slowly closed, blocking out her crimson silhouette.

The moment she stepped into the corridor, she vanished, leaving Qi Xiu staring at the fading shadow, humming again.

Only then did Lu Cheng realize he had forgotten to release Qi Xiu. He chuckled awkwardly and released the vines.

Qi Xiu's cheeks still ached, and he spoke in frustration, "What... happened??"

Even now, the shop owner who fled had not returned.

Lu Cheng lowered his voice and recounted everything Qin Fei had told him.

After finishing, he stroked his chin and proposed, "I suspect the shopkeeper has been lying to us from the start."

If the shops in the department store had already evacuated, then the people they saw running shops were likely the deceased shopkeepers who died under mysterious circumstances due to this incident.

The shopkeepers were killed by the red-clothed female ghost, and their spirits remained trapped in the building.

"If we analyze the situation this way, the other NPCs in the department store and the red-clothed ghost couple must be on opposing sides," Qi Xiu said.

"Yes." Lu Cheng affirmed, "The proprietress probably knew long ago that the red-clothed female ghost would mix with the customers and enter the shop. She pretended to give us a hint in good faith, but actually, it was to avoid us having further contact with the female ghost."

Only after the fact did Lu Cheng realize that the shop's rule, "Employees first, staff members have the right to refuse any customer's purchase request," had already given them a warning.

This was an employee-first shop, where they could freely accept or reject any purchase request, whether the customer was human or a ghost.

"I guess, even if we had properly received those few ghosts who came to the shop earlier, nothing would have happened," said Lu Cheng.

The so-called reminder from the proprietress was merely a ploy to make them believe that encountering a ghost required immediate refusal of communication and quick expulsion from the shop.

Qi Xiu now understood everything.

"So," he asked curiously, "what exactly did that red-clothed ghost say to you before she left?"