Chapter 232: Huaishu Road Construction Site Strange Tales 30

Chapter 232: Huaishu Road Construction Site Strange Tales 30

Did the female ghost just... run away?

Zhou Yong's heart skipped a beat, then filled with joy.

It was clear that the talisman paper from the Taoist priest had a significant impact on the female ghost; otherwise, according to the usual behavior of ghost-type bosses in these scenarios, he wouldn't be standing here unharmed.

Strike while she's weak, finish her off!

Zhou Yong chased after the direction the female ghost ran, but for some reason, she seemed to be running exceptionally fast this time. By the time Zhou Yong reached the corridor corner, she had already vanished.

The player, who was a step too late, felt a surge of frustration.

Such an opportunity was rare. If he couldn't take down the female ghost now, he might not get another chance like this.

Panting heavily, Zhou Yong stood in the middle of the corridor, hesitating about which direction to pursue.

To the right led to the ascending elevator, and to the left led to other parts of the first floor.

Logically, the left side seemed more likely, but the first floor wasn't empty. The Northwest teams had assigned people to patrol and guard there, and players from the accommodation area often came out as well.

If the female ghost had gone that way, it would be strange if no one reported any commotion...

Zhou Yong hesitated.

Then, at a certain moment, his peripheral vision caught the elevator's floor display.

The black background with red letters was glaringly bright, flickering as if the circuit board had poor contact. The number kept flashing.

In front of the elevator, the small stool Zhou Yong had sat on was lying on its side. Before he left, it had been standing upright on the ground.

Zhou Yong's lips slowly curled into a smile.

So what if it's a female ghost? So what if it's a boss in the scenario?

If her level isn't high enough and she's so careless, she deserves to be defeated by players!

Trying to trick him into searching the first floor? Ha! He won't fall for it!

Zhou Yong strode confidently towards the elevator.

Given the time difference since he started chasing, it was impossible for the elevator to have ascended and descended back to its original position.

But since it was a ghost using the elevator, assuming normal logic would be wrong.

Zhou Yong hesitated for a moment, then stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor.

He would search floor by floor.

As the elevator doors closed, they blocked out the darkness of the department store's first floor.

The mechanical sound of the elevator began to ascend.

Meanwhile, behind a nearby pillar, a thin figure slowly emerged.

Qin Fei stared at the direction of the elevator door, tilting his head slightly. A ghost infant sat on his shoulder, swinging its legs.

"How is it going?"

There was no one around, yet Qin Fei still spoke in a low voice.

He had already changed out of the red outfit immediately. Now, even if enemy players passed by, they wouldn't notice anything unusual.

In the guild channel, Lu Cheng's reply sounded: "Everything is normal. The plan is proceeding smoothly. The second and third female ghosts are in the process of switching places. Zhou Yong should encounter them when he arrives."

"Good." Qin Fei finally revealed a genuine smile.

This smile was pure and unlike Zhou Yong's, which always carried mixed emotions. From the gentle curve of Qin Fei's smile, others found it hard to discern exactly why he was smiling.

Was it because the plan succeeded? Or was he mocking Zhou Yong's foolishness?

Or perhaps neither.

The young man, fresh from mischief, stood in the darkness with a pure and somewhat sweet smile.

This smile instantly triggered a flurry of adoring comments, flooding the chat.

"Wife, wife, I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Please keep that expression forever! It's so sweet, my goodness!"

"Why did you take off your dress so quickly, wife? Are you worried about my screenshotting fingers?"

Various compliments flew through the air, and Qin Fei, acknowledging the fans, smiled again.

...

Compared to the harmonious interaction between Qin Fei and his viewers, Zhou Yong upstairs was having a much harder time.

While Zhou Yong was being misled, his fans and viewers had long understood everything.

Layers of curses, like rising tides, flooded Zhou Yong's chat.

The streamer himself was oblivious.

He was cautiously leaving the elevator, heading deeper into the fourth floor.

For some reason, the player who was supposed to be guarding the elevator had left, giving Zhou Yong a premonition that the female ghost had indeed come to this floor.

Zhou Yong didn't know what was wrong with his parrot. Today, it seemed particularly restless, constantly thrashing around in his pocket and even tearing a hole in his clothes, poking its sharp beak out to peck at Zhou Yong's hand.

Zhou Yong: "??"

Sharp pain pierced the skin on his hand, and Zhou Yong, annoyed by this stupid parrot, laughed in frustration and slapped it hard.

The parrot finally quieted down. Zhou Yong pressed his tongue against his cheek, a determined look flashing in his eyes.

The person who should have been guarding the corridor was nowhere to be seen. In the distance, muffled voices could be heard from the end of the hallway.

Zhou Yong quickly approached and, as expected, saw two players with excited expressions, gesturing wildly as they argued about something. He could vaguely make out words like "female ghost," "red dress," and "attack."

The one on the left was named Chen Hao, and the player he was arguing with was Tang Ji.

These two players were both from the West Team. Although the North and West Teams had merged, Zhou Yong still treated the West Team members with some courtesy.

He suppressed his emotions, adjusted his expression, and asked, "Did you see the female ghost too?"

Could the boss he had injured be picked up by these two?

Zhou Yong nervously watched the two players, not missing any change in their expressions.

Just as Zhou Yong had suspected.

But... there was something different.

Chen Hao looked displeased. "Yes, I was guarding the elevator when it suddenly moved. I thought it was players from the other side trying to come upstairs, but when the elevator stopped, the female ghost burst out!"

Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the female ghost, Chen Hao was startled.

Instinctively, he wanted to run, but he noticed that the female ghost seemed unsteady, as if she had been injured.

Chen Hao's mind raced, and he quickly chased after her. At that moment, he remembered the talisman given by the NPC. Seeing the female ghost weakened, Chen Hao decided to take action and threw the talisman directly onto her back!

Hearing this, Zhou Yong's bad feeling reached its peak. "And then?"

Did the female ghost die?

However, things did not develop as Zhou Yong had anticipated.

Chen Hao said, "This boss might be stronger than we imagined. The talisman worked, but she still had enough strength to escape."

Similar to what happened on the first floor, smoke and fire obscured Chen Hao's vision.

In desperation, he shouted, knowing Tang Ji was nearby and hoping he would intercept the female ghost.

"But this guy let the monster get away!"

Chen Hao pointed at Tang Ji, gritting his teeth.

Chen Hao and Tang Ji were members of the same guild. They had never gotten along well outside the instance, and Chen Hao always felt that Tang Ji's popularity in the guild was due to his cunning, which made him resentful.

Tang Ji was indignant. "I told you, I chased after the female ghost and also used a talisman!"

Chen Hao didn't believe him. "Then why isn't she dead?"

"What can I do if she ran away?!" Tang Ji felt Chen Hao was being unreasonable and was breathing heavily in anger.

Zhou Yong couldn't care less about mediating their argument; he was utterly stunned.

Three players had used talismans, yet the female ghost still had the strength to escape?!

Zhou Yong was both shocked and furious, even beginning to doubt the quality of the talismans given by the yin-yang master.

What about the promise that using a talisman could make the female ghost vanish into thin air? The seller's description was clearly unreliable!

"Didn't you think of looking for her again?!" Zhou Yong, losing his patience, snapped.

"We did look," Chen Hao defended himself. "But she's no longer on the fourth floor."

As the three players bickered, ridicule in the live stream chat surged.

"I'm speechless. Three big idiots."

"Still arguing while their house is being robbed."

"Using a few pieces of clothing to fool them like this, I feel sorry for the gold coins I bet on this team!"

"Unfollowing. Watching this is giving me a headache. Can these donkeys just stay in this haunted place and stop causing trouble?"

"That... maybe there are more than three donkeys..."

"Look, here comes the fourth donkey!"

In the live stream, behind the three heatedly arguing players, a figure slowly approached.

...

"Perhaps, the female ghost really is dead."

A weak voice came from behind the three players.

Zhou Yong turned around sharply!

Standing before him was an NPC from their North Team.

The eerie tale has progressed to the point where nearly half of the NPCs have died due to various reasons.

In the background of this instance, the NPCs participating in the research meeting only possess slightly more strength than ordinary people, giving them no advantage whatsoever among players who are at least C-level or above.

Players do not treat the NPCs with any courtesy, treating them as stepping stones and expendable resources.

Zhou Yong squinted his eyes and looked at the frail man in front of him: "What happened?"

The NPC lowered his head and cautiously said, "I was on watch in the corridor on the fifth floor when I saw the female ghost suddenly appear and run towards me, and then I..."

Similar to what Chen Hao and Tang Ji experienced, the NPC saw the injured female ghost and moved in for a finishing blow.

The moment the talisman touched the female ghost's skin, an exceptionally piercing scream erupted in the air, and smoke and flames ignited once again.

This time, however, after the smoke cleared, the NPC found something left behind.

He brought his hands, which had been behind his back, to the front. In his hands was a blood-red velvet dress.

Zhou Yong immediately felt extremely uncomfortable.

Such a rare achievement! It had actually been picked up by an NPC.

"Can't be sure if the female ghost is dead," he said, though in his heart, he was already mostly convinced.

He did not know that everything they had experienced was meticulously planned by others.

Every detail, every location and timing of each "female ghost" appearance, and even the targets were carefully prepared and calculated by over ten people.

Even making the final target an NPC was a deliberate decision.

NPCs are less perceptive than players and easier to deceive.

The immense frustration made Zhou Yong unwilling to think about it further. He sighed deeply:

"Observe tonight. If the female ghost doesn't show up, we can leave the instance directly tomorrow."

Well... it works.

At least they would be safe.

Feeling dejected, Zhou Yong took out the parrot from his pocket, intending to let the stupid bird get some fresh air.

For some reason, the parrot seemed to be in a bad mood too.

After leaving the pocket, it did not fly up enthusiastically as it usually did but lay limp in Zhou Yong's palm like a dead bird.

Zhou Yong: "?"

Zhou Yong reached out and poked the parrot's belly.

The parrot lifted its wing to cover its face and, using a slightly distorted bird voice, sighed a long, drawn-out sigh.

Zhou Yong: ???