Chapter 9: Horror Film Law

In the inn.

Zhou Zhengguo closed his eyes, leaned back, rested against the chair, looking quite weary.

On the wall in front of him, there was a small hole.

It allowed him to see Li Liang and Tang Luo's room.

This was something he and Tang Luo secretly arranged after reaching an agreement, to conveniently keep an eye on Li Liang.

Tonight Tang Luo and Xiao Chu went fishing.

The others, bearing in mind the horror-film rule that splitting up alone means death, the two men and two women all gathered in Tang Luo's room.

Originally, they could have gone back to their rooms in pairs to sleep.

But Li Liang had somehow encountered a problem.

The high schoolers also didn't want to stay alone with the two of them; even being truly alone made them feel uneasy.

As for shamelessly going over to hang out with the two young ladies,

For the vast majority of trash-talking high schoolers, that was impossible.

So everyone simply waited together here; if anything happened, at least there would be strength in numbers—roughly speaking.

Thus, this night—

The four people stared at each other, the atmosphere a bit awkward.

In the other room, Zhou Zhengguo was staring so hard his eyes grew sore, almost to the point of tears.

"Wait, why do I feel like I've become the one tailing someone?"

Zhou Zhengguo felt something was off about this situation.

Clearly he was supposed to be the sole veteran (in name only), yet after a while he ended up following Tang Luo's orders.

The format was completely dominated by the other party.

Why did this happen?

Zhou Zhengguo thought it over repeatedly and felt it wasn't his fault.

The problem lay with that so-called "Master Xuanzang."

This person is neither a martial monk nor a master, but a demonic monk.

Thinking this way, Zhou Zhengguo felt much more balanced inside.

It's not that our side isn't trying; it's that the enemy side "has a Gundam."

"Ah~~~~"

Li Liang in the next room let out a long yawn, didn't bother with anyone else, and just flopped down to sleep.

He had now completely given up on himself, not caring even if the mission failed.

After all, he felt his body drained.

And there's no kidney tonic here to replenish it.

Everyone still suspected him.

Anyway, that damned Old Zhou said that failing to complete a task once wouldn't bring punishment.

His wife had said: "Escaping may be shameful, but it works!"

"Going to the restroom?" Bi Wan hui asked her friend.

"Yes."

Her friend nodded.

The two, upholding the best-friend principle that friends should go to the restroom together, left the room.

Zhou Zhengguo in the other room thought for a moment, then didn't follow.

The inn's rooms have no private bathrooms.

At the end of the hallway there is a bathroom.

The only people staying at the inn are Tang Luo's group, and since someone cleans it every day, it remains quite clean.

Her friend guarded the doorway; Bi Wan hui went in and latched the door loosely, looking somewhat anxious.

It wasn't that she was really in a hurry.

Rather, she recalled that Li Liang's incident (suspected) had happened in the toilet.

Moreover, a place like a bathroom is a "regular" in horror films.

Things like bathroom beggars, washroom myrtles—uh, the latter seems like a comic character.

In short, even with a friend guarding outside, the door remained ajar.

In the middle of the night going to the bathroom, she still felt a bit panicked, hoping it would end quickly.

Moreover, the bathroom only had a kerosene lamp placed in the corner, dim to the extreme.

When panicked, she instead found it somewhat hard to speak smoothly.

Just then, a gust of cold wind suddenly blew up in this cramped space, startling Bi Wan hui into jumping up.

She turned her head and saw that the small window beside her wasn't closed tightly.

Bi Wan hui breathed a slight sigh of relief; outside that small window was pitch black, at most big enough to fit a large watermelon.

The breeze that had blown through made the loosely latched door open a little more.

Bi Wan hui heard a distinct set of footsteps.

"Cheng Cheng, are you still there?" Bi Wan hui shouted loudly, afraid her friend had grown impatient and left.

"Still here."

From outside came her friend's voice, but the following half-sentence wasn't meant for Bi Wan hui: "Someone's inside; come back later to clean."

Bi Wan hui thought the footsteps she heard were those of the inn's cleaning staff approaching.

Recalling briefly, the footsteps just now were gradual, not fading.

With someone outside, Bi Wan hui felt much more at ease.

Faintly, one could see a shadow swaying in the door crack opened about two finger‑widths.

Not very clear.

After a while, having finished, Bi Wan hui washed her hands and pushed the door.

The outward‑opening door struck the back of the person outside.

"Don't block the doorway," Bi Wan hui said, at the same time applying a bit more force.

"Thump!"

The sound of a heavy object hitting the wooden floor transmitted.

Bi Wan hui's door‑pushing motion stopped abruptly.

That sound rang out right in front of the door.

The dim light previously blocked by the shadow shone into the toilet.

Bi Wan hui's eyes widened.

She saw a pitch‑black liquid, unknown when, seep through the door crack into the toilet.

It was dark‑red blood spreading across the floor.

"Ah!"

The terrified cry, due to extreme fear, turned into a dry, hoarse whisper, almost as if it were pressed down in the throat.

Fortunately, she lost her voice but did not lose strength.

Bi Wan hui shoved the door open with all her might, squeezing out through the widened gap.

In the panic, she tripped over the "object" on the ground.

She fell heavily to the ground.

She saw a pair of wide‑open, lifeless, unblinking eyes appear before her, staring at her.

It seemed to be accusing something.

Half of her friend's face was stained dark‑red by the blood on the floor.

Bi Wan hui, fallen to the ground, was likewise soaked in blood.

The pungent smell of blood only now began to irritate her nostrils.

It seemed her sense of smell, which had inexplicably fallen asleep, suddenly woke up at this very moment.

Bi Wan hui wasn't quite sure how she had managed to get up from the ground.

She only remembered rushing to the room's doorway.

The room door happened to be open as well.

High‑school student Xiao Zhou saw her face and body covered in blood and jumped in fright.

He almost shut the door, which would have brought the door into close contact with Bi Wan hui's nose.

"She's dead…"

Bi Wan hui only managed to utter those three words.

She didn't know if it was due to overstimulation, but her vision went black and she fainted completely.

——

In a side alley not far from the inn.

Two figures were approaching.

One male, one female in attire.

One of them was a cross‑dressing expert.

The cross‑dressing expert Xiao Chu was still a bit excited.

Tang Luo and Xiao Chu searched that man's room and indeed found a few interesting clues.

A letter.

A very simple letter.

The letter's content informed the man named Huo Qi, whom Tang Luo had regarded as Jack the Ripper turned into a headless corpse.

To join them, one must have a pledge of allegiance.

The pledge of allegiance is not the original wording; the original wording is, "They" require an offering.

Who are "they"?

Tang Luo and Xiao Chu could not know.

The letter's final signature is a symbol, likely representing a certain organization.

As for what the offering is, no need to elaborate.

This Huo Qi acted on a sudden impulse, not out of lust—at least not purely out of lust.

Besides that, Tang Luo and Xiao Chu also discovered Huo Qi's identity.

He is a doctor, to be precise, a former doctor.

The specific circumstances still need investigation.

This person might be an important breakthrough!

"Master, I also have a bold idea."

Xiao Chu said from behind Tang Luo.

"What idea?" Tang Luo asked without stopping, walking and speaking.

"Jack the Ripper might not be a single person!" Xiao Chu exclaimed, as if she had discovered a new continent, "You say, could it be that Jack the Ripper is actually an organization?"

「Perhaps at first, Kaitangshou Jieke was just a person. 」

「But later, seeing profit, others simply established an organization, acting in the name of Kaitangshou Jieke, and gained benefits. 」

「That Huo Qi is probably an outsider who wants to join. 」

「Moreover, I think this organization is not simple; there definitely are important figures inside, though I don't know if there exist people with extraordinary abilities. 」

At first, everyone thought Kaitangshou Jieke definitely had special abilities.

This point is almost beyond doubt.

And now Xiao Chu speculates that Kaitangshou Jieke is not just a person, but more likely an organization.

So, whether Kaitangshou Jieke has special abilities is not certain.

Both an organization and special abilities.

Will the mission be too difficult?

「Quite likely. 」

Tang Luo nodded, but his expression remained calm, without any excitement.

He is not a detective, and he considers himself an ordinary person of normal intelligence, unremarkable, not a role of exceptional wit bordering on demonic.

Through clues, deducing the truth from various bits of evidence is not his forte.

For Tang Luo, as long as there is a major forward direction, that's enough.

Whether Kaitangshou Jieke is an organization or a person is actually not important.

「Without a mission completion prompt, it seems we must have solid evidence, or even find and destroy that organization. 」

Xiao Chu is still fairly confident in his speculation.

Speaking of which, the setting that 'the murderer is not a person but a group' is not particularly uncommon.

It's merely using some fixed inherent impressions to limit thinking.

Once broken, it suddenly becomes clear.

「Then just do as you think, investigate. 」 Tang Luo said, picking up Xiao Chu and climbing over the wall back to the inn again.

「I really saw it! 」

Just as I arrived at the room door, from inside the room with not-so-good soundproofing came Bi Wan hui's voice.

The voice was hoarse and urgent, giving the feeling of a shout.

「Something happened? 」

Xiao Chu froze, then immediately knocked on the door.

Inside, it immediately fell silent.

「It's us, we're back! 」

Xiao Chu said, pressing his ear to the door.

The door opened, revealing Zhou Zhen guo's weary face.

Before Xiao Chu could react, he was pulled inside.

Tang Luo walked behind, casually closing the door.

There were four people in the room.

The same number as when Tang Luo and the others left.

But the 'configuration' had changed.

A female college student was replaced by a middle-aged uncle with a beer belly and an unpleasant complexion.

It made nobody happy at all.

「What happened? 」

The solemn atmosphere in the room made Xiao Chu not even have time to change back into his own clothes.

「Change your clothes first, something happened, Xuanzang monk. 」

Zhou Zhen guo said.

Evidently, in his mind, only Tang Luo is reliable and able to solve the problem.

The slighted Xiao Chu felt a bit unhappy, but didn't say anything, walked to the side and began changing clothes.

「Cheng Cheng died. 」

Bi Wan hui's expression on her face remained terrified.

However, the bloodstains on her body have already disappeared.