Chapter 8: Nightmare World

Based on the time, it should be the landlady; she promised to bring him hot water, but Yang Xiao was highly vigilant now. After walking over, he did not rashly open the door, but instead asked, "Who is it?"

"Me."

A familiar voice came from outside the door. Yang Xiao breathed a slight sigh of relief and was just about to open the door when his gaze inadvertently swept over the wooden floor. Suddenly, he felt a jolt, which reminded him of something.

This guesthouse was designed in an antique style throughout, and the workmanship and materials were not particularly refined, which meant that walking on the wooden floor would produce a creaking sound.

The corridor outside the door also had wooden flooring, and the night nearby was very quiet; why hadn't he heard the sound of the landlady's footsteps as she approached?

"Bang! Bang-bang!"

"It's me, open the door."

After the voice outside the door sounded again, Yang Xiao couldn't help but shiver. This voice was indeed familiar, but it was not the landlady. He quickly ran through all the friends he was close with, and not one of them matched.

This was a very familiar, yet strange voice.

Yang Xiao did not dare to speak again, but the knocking on the door outside became increasingly violent. "Bang! Bang! Bang!" The entire door was trembling. The strange thing was that such a loud commotion had not attracted the landlady; after all, he was the only guest in the entire guesthouse tonight.

Yang Xiao slowly retreated, trying his best not to make a sound. He backed up to the wall and turned off the lights in the room. As darkness descended, the scene before his eyes made his pupils jump.

The double wooden doors of the room were also in an antique style, and the upper grid portion was covered with a thick layer of paper. At this moment, the lights in the room were off, but the lights in the corridor were on, yet no shadow of the person outside was cast on the door paper.

"Slap!"

"Slap!"

The sound of the knocking also changed at this moment, becoming like someone whipping the door with a wet towel soaked in water. Yang Xiao immediately understood that the person standing outside the door right now was that woman, that soaking wet female ghost!

Why don't you go find someone else instead of targeting me?

Yang Xiao was on the verge of tears. At this moment, the lights in the corridor also suddenly went out, and the surroundings were plunged into pitch-black darkness in an instant.

Trapped in the room, Yang Xiao didn't know what to do. Although there was still a window that should lead to the small alley behind, he was not prepared to jump out of the window unless it was a last resort; a pitch-black, gloomy, and unfamiliar alley sounded like a very easy place to die.

Furthermore, Yang Xiao was even more worried that if he opened the window, a rotting woman's head would be hanging upside down outside.

What should he do?

What should he do now?

Although he didn't really believe in these things, would a boy's urine have any effect on this female ghost?

Forgot, I don't have any boy's urine.

Although Yang Xiao was very anxious, he didn't do anything irrational. He just leaned against the wall, his brain thinking rapidly.

Five minutes, or perhaps shorter, the sound of the door being smashed outside gradually slowed down, and finally disappeared.

Swallowing hard, Yang Xiao raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. Yes, he was a little scared.

Although he was an author who wrote supernatural stories and would sometimes get carried away and brag in group chats with fellow writers, saying that when he lacked inspiration he would just catch a ghost to interrogate, who could handle a ghost coming to the door every single night?

After waiting for quite a while longer, worried that the ghost was lurking for him, Yang Xiao didn't dare to move at all until it was completely quiet outside.

Rustle, rustle...

Yang Xiao slowly moved his left hand, groping along the wall. Based on his memory, he quickly found the light switch, but after pressing it, Yang Xiao was stunned; the light didn't come on.

"Click."

"Click."

He tried two more times, but it still didn't light up.

Yang Xiao realized that something was wrong. It couldn't be such a coincidence. At this moment, the surrounding darkness became increasingly terrifying, but fortunately, he hadn't heard the sound of the door opening.

He couldn't just sit and wait for death. If the electric light couldn't be relied upon, he still had his mobile phone. Based on his memory, he moved bit by bit through the darkness toward the bed; his phone was left charging by the bedside, until his toe kicked something.

He clearly remembered that there shouldn't have been any obstacles on this route; the table was on the other side.

As his palm felt downward, a cold and slippery sensation made Yang Xiao's heart stop beating.

He knew what this was.

It was a person squatting on the ground.

Cold.

Icy cold.

It seemed... it seemed there was also the sound of arguing.

It was annoying.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but light slowly appeared before Yang Xiao's eyes. He could perceive someone moving his arm. He wanted to wake up, but it felt as if some strange power was struggling against him.

Unable to open his eyes, his body was numb, and he couldn't control his own limbs. That feeling was just... just like sleep paralysis.

Could that female ghost be doing something inappropriate to me?

Forget it, it's already come to this, let her do as she pleases.

For a moment, many strange and bizarre thoughts popped into Yang Xiao's remaining consciousness. He couldn't even restrain them, but he could feel that it was very soft beneath him; he should be lying on a bed, or perhaps a soft mat.

After another while, his vision gradually became clear. At the first glance, he vaguely saw a woman, and then he sat up abruptly, "Don't kill me!"

Yang Xiao's sudden movement startled the few people nearby. Only then did Yang Xiao realize that he was lying on a wooden bed.

This was an antique-style room. Some people were standing or sitting inside, and at this moment, these people were all staring at him. Yang Xiao recognized one of the men at a glance; he was burly and broad-shouldered, the very same fake security guard from not long ago.

"Awake?"

The young woman sitting by the bed breathed a sigh of relief, then reached out and removed the wet handkerchief from the bed. It had been stuck to Yang Xiao's forehead before; that icy sensation had come from there.

As his thoughts gradually cleared, Yang Xiao discovered that there were 7 people in the room including himself, 5 men and 2 women. Except for the fake security guard, he hadn't seen the other 5 people before.

Moreover, this was not the guesthouse he was in before; this was an unfamiliar room.

Although it was also in an antique style, this one was much more refined. Behind the door stood a rack for washing, on which there was a copper washbasin and a face-wiping cloth draped over it.

"Where is this place?" After calming down for a moment, Yang Xiao got straight to the point.

As these words left his mouth, a young man with an ear stud, who was sitting sideways on a long bench, curled his lips impatiently, "Damn, another newbie!"

"I can't be bothered to explain things to newcomers; you guys tell him." The young man turned his head and stopped paying attention to Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao vaguely remembered that this voice was somewhat familiar; he had heard it while half-asleep and half-awake, at which time there seemed to have been a fierce argument breaking out nearby.

Yang Xiao swept his gaze over the people present one by one, and after a moment of silence, said, "It seems you are the other 6 people."

"That's right, all of us received that Script; everyone is teammates in this round, so we must help each other and work together to survive in this damn Script."

The young woman sitting by the bed stood up; she looked to be about 20-something, yet her face wore a coldness inconsistent with her age.

"Although it isn't quite appropriate to say this, but... welcome to the Nightmare World."