Chapter 31: Footsteps in the Dark

In this clapping game, the order of clapping is crucial.

To prevent chaos from multiple people clapping at once and violating the rules, the six survivors each have a number.

Wu Xian is one, Shi Ji is two.

Yue Mei is three, Wen Chao is four.

Su Huilan is five, Su Huijin is six.

The order was decided by drawing lots in the room; Wu Xian drew for Room 403 and unfortunately drew number one—when number one claps, they clap once, number two claps twice…

The next person to clap must clap within ten seconds of receiving the signal.

The male corpse crawled through Rooms 401 and 402, finally stopping at the door of Room 403.

The footsteps drew closer; Wu Xian clapped again to let the Ghost Mother know his location, so she moved toward him.

The prayers outside the window ceased, and the occasional eerie cries vanished; all Wu Xian could feel was absolute silence and darkness.

Each time the palm touched Wu Xian, countless images flooded his mind—mostly faces, men and women, old and young, faces at the moment of death.

Wu Xian swallowed.

In just two seconds, it stood before him, two faces separated only by the length of a tongue.

…

Clap-clap, hiss…

Wailing, raging, shrieking…

If the next clapper fails to clap within ten seconds, it means something has gone wrong; the one after must clap within the next ten seconds to keep the game from halting.

Time is a strange concept.

Rustle-rustle, rustle-rustle…

Often, when people wish time would slow to prolong a beautiful moment, it races away like a mad horse.

This was not footsteps—it was more like hands slapping the ground, dragging the body along.

A puff of air on the eyelids is the signal to switch seekers.

At this moment, every second felt like a year!

In absolute silence, Wu Xian’s hearing sharpened—he heard his own heartbeat, the ticking of the clock, and the restless agitation from other rooms.

Just as he turned around, a pair of pale palms smeared across its face.

One clap, and the entire world fell silent.

The original evil of this world—the Lost Child Ghost Mother!

So many chains clinking together—imagine how severely the Ghost Mother is restrained by this blessed land; compared to her, even that broken-door demon seems free.

Yet even this mindless evil…

Skin split open on his arm, bones sprouting a blood-streaked bone blade aimed at Wu Xian’s abdomen—he could already imagine how sweet and satisfying it would feel to have new organs fill his body.

The male corpse grinned.

Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead; his mind was torn.

The male corpse’s voice vanished.

The male corpse had no internal organs, so it moved with great difficulty; only now, as Wu Xian stopped moving, did it slowly arrive here.

He could only pray that when the male corpse touched him, he’d have a chance to activate the Golden Crow Feather and drive it off with fire.

Suddenly.

Besides Wu Xian, the other five survivors all simultaneously felt a cold, foul breath blow against their eyelids.

“Found… my organs.”

As the Ghost Mother approached, fear surged uncontrollably—even Wu Xian, so close, lost his allure; it turned to flee.

It was that hollow-bellied male corpse!

It had come for him!

It had come for Wu Xian at this damned time!

…

A cold hand groped over Wu Xian’s body, the male corpse’s eye blood smearing onto him.

Conversely, when people wish time would hurry past a tormenting moment, it crawls slower than a snail.

After roughly five minutes, Wu Xian heard other sounds.

A new sound emerged—a dense clinking of chains, mixed with the rhythmic tapping of a woman’s footsteps.

It was not an ordinary evil; its internal organs had been hollowed out, its skull emptied, driven solely by instinct—which is why it dared enter the Ghost Mother’s domain.

The Lost Child Ghost Mother stepped over the corpse, waving her blood-stained pale palms, groping forward until she touched the source of the clapping—Wu Xian.

Wu Xian kept his eyes shut but sensed the male corpse’s presence through sound.

The crawling noise of the male corpse sent all six survivors into trembling fear, adding a dangerous variable to the already perilous clapping game.

As long as contact continued, these negative emotions kept flooding in.

This minor demon—if he could just open his eyes, with his copper coin sword still holding eighty blades, he could easily chop it into mincemeat!

But the deadliest thing was, he was waiting for the Lost Child Ghost Mother.

She had come.

Despair and terror, madness and regret—countless negative emotions battered Wu Xian’s mind; he even considered opening his eyes just to end it all.

Wu Xian clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth to endure.

For Wu Xian…

So it must find Wu Xian to become whole again!

Since Wu Xian had dropped its organs, its hollow abdomen would be filled with Wu Xian’s.

Now, Wu Xian had become the new seeker.

It dared not move, staring fixedly at the thing before it, watching those two pale palms pierce into its own eye sockets!

Splash!

But at that moment, the male corpse froze.

In the dim yellow light.

So Wu Xian could only silently clench his fist.

A hollowed-out male corpse climbed to the fourth floor of Ping’an Lodge; its limbs were strong, its torn abdomen dragging on the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind.

He hated this version of himself.

He rubbed his numb, over-tensed palms, waiting in absolute darkness for the evil to find him.

Shi Ji, upon receiving the signal, immediately clapped twice.

He dared not open his eyes at all!

He didn’t even dare use his copper coin spear for defense—it would heat up upon contact with evil, and it was far too long; if the Lost Child Ghost Mother found Wu Xian and accidentally struck it, she might perceive it as an attack.

Clap!

The clap was crisp.

The male corpse grew agitated at once.

The Ghost Mother quickly found Wu Xian’s eyes, measuring the position of his eyelids with her hands, leaning close to blow a breath onto them.

Wu Xian shut his eyes, braced himself, then clapped loudly.

Time was nearly up.

He shifted from crouching to hunched standing, his speed suddenly increasing—yet making not a single sound; his horrifying face dripped with greedy longing.

The male corpse collapsed to the ground, its body rotting at a rate a thousand times faster than normal.

Since the male corpse had no lungs, it could not breathe; Wu Xian had not sensed its approach and was still waiting for it to crawl closer to strike.

Wu Xian knew Shi Ji’s position; after groping in the dark for two seconds, he found him, touched his eyes, then blew a breath onto them.

Because Wu Xian had brushed his teeth well, what everyone smelled was fresh toothpaste.

(End of Chapter)