Chapter 42: Horror Tale Player

“I don’t know.” In the darkness, the rustle of clothing came as Bai Zhi hugged her head, her slender body curled into her mother’s arms: “How could I know...”

Feng Yu’s heart ached; she gently stroked Bai Zhi’s trembling shoulder, at a loss for words.

“Ning Zhe, give her some time, okay?” Feng Yu whispered. “She… is terrified.”

Ning Zhe sighed. “I could certainly act reasonable here, play the empathetic warm guy in front of you and your daughter, soothe your emotions—but ghosts don’t do that.”

“Ghosts aren’t men who crave your bodies, nor are they public opinion. Ghosts are the absolute rule of life or death—and death is the greatest fairness in this world.”

“The rule won’t pause just because you’re so-called weak women. Crying and hugging won’t make the ghost stand at attention and reflect on its mistakes. It only brings death closer.”

Ning Zhe stood, walked to the window, and pulled the curtain to cover the hole he had smashed open: “Listen, Feng Yu—I’m not your husband, nor your daughter’s nanny. A stranger has no obligation to help you. I’m here because I believe Bai Zhi can provide me with useful information under the current circumstances.”

“If her answer is ‘no,’ ‘I don’t know,’ or ‘I’m not sure,’ then all I can do before leaving is wish you both good luck.”

That was it.

“Ning Zhe…” Feng Yu’s heart clenched. She instinctively tightened her hold on her daughter’s shoulder, as helpless as she had been back in He Family Village.

For the first time, she clearly understood one truth: she possessed no leverage at all to move Ning Zhe—money, status, body, or anything else she could offer. He remained unmoved. He desired nothing. He had extinguished his humanity. He was a rational, extreme utilitarian—so rational he didn’t seem human at all.

More like a… ghost.

“No wonder you survived He Family Village,” Bai Zhi’s voice drifted softly from Feng Yu’s arms. “Only people like you can survive in this world.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ning Zhe replied indifferently. “Stop crying. Calm down and tell me what you know: why did you dream of He Family Village? And why do you know the ghost’s rules inside this estate?”

Only by knowing these would the thick fog over the town begin to lift.

“Have you ever played rule-based horror tales?” Bai Zhi asked softly.

“I’ve encountered them, but never actually tried solving one,” Ning Zhe answered frankly. “What does that have to do with our situation?”

“Yesterday, I dreamed of a rule-based horror tale set in this estate,” Bai Zhi whispered. “Just like before, when I dreamed of He Family Village.”

“Since middle school, I’ve often had bizarre nightmares.”

“Sometimes I dream I’m hiding in a remote hospital from psychotic patients; sometimes I dream the hotel I’m staying in is run entirely by the dead… These scenes are saturated with eerie atmospheres and terrifying elements—as if one misstep leads straight to death.”

“And these nightmare locations often correspond to real places: the hospital where the psychotics wander is the Yongzhou General Hospital I visited as a child; the hotel staffed by the dead is my father’s Orchid Hotel…”

“Whenever I enter such a scene in my dreams, fear and dread flood my subconscious, as if death threatens everywhere.”

“Seeing a freezer in the hospital, I feel afraid—instinctively knowing I must not open it, or I’ll die.”

“When I encounter a janitor mopping in the hotel, I feel revulsion—my subconscious urges me to avoid the blood in her bucket, or something terrible will happen.”

“These nightmare scenes are suffocating, cramped, unbearable… every corner holds deadly traps, every shadow hides a malevolent spirit seeking to claim lives—yet I always narrowly evade death inches away, curling in corners, barely surviving until the nightmare ends and the sun rises.”

“Because before each nightmare, I somehow—like a dream or psychological suggestion—subconsciously learn the unique death taboos of each strange place,” Bai Zhi’s voice remained weak, breathless, as she curled in her mother’s arms. “It’s like reading the survival manual written by the horror tale’s author before entering its twisted world. Though the warnings are vague, they’re enough to keep me alive in the nightmare.”

I enjoy solving puzzles in dreams? That’s interesting.

“Do you think you’re a horror tale player?” Ning Zhe asked.

“I think I am,” Bai Zhi answered seriously.

She went on to explain that since her nightmares began, she had searched online for countless horror-themed video games and literary works, trying to find their origin—but never succeeded. Because the nightmare scenes didn’t match fictional games; they matched real locations and people.

So it wasn’t that playing horror games caused the nightmares—it was the nightmares that drove her to seek out horror games…

“I tried searching for news about the psychiatric ward at Yongzhou General Hospital and found a report: a psychotic patient wandered at night, wielding a knife, stabbing one doctor and three nurses.”

Bai Zhi continued: “That same night, my nightmare was about hiding from the wandering psychotics in that hospital.”

In the dream, one doctor and three nurses also died.

But the real news said they were stabbed—not killed.

“Then you dreamed of He Family Village… Last night you dreamed again of the Bishuiwan Estate being haunted, right?” Ning Zhe tried to understand her logic. “What was your new ‘survival manual’ this time?”

Bai Zhi took a deep breath and said: 1. Light means danger. 2. Darkness means safety. 3. Ghosts fear light. 4. Ghosts love darkness. “That’s about it,” Bai Zhi’s soft voice was barely audible in the pitch-black room. “Ning Zhe, do you have any ideas?”

Hearing how quickly she had calmed herself, Ning Zhe suddenly had a slightly absurd thought:

“Do you think you’re dreaming right now?”

3, ghosts fear light; 4, ghosts love darkness. That's about it. Bai Zhi's soft voice was barely audible in the pitch-black room: "Ning Zhe, do you have any leads?"

“Alright, now I get your strange attitude—you’re treating me and your mother like NPCs in your dream.”

Ning Zhe sighed, his mind swirling as he began organizing his observations along the path he’d taken, using Bai Zhi’s four rules.

“Ghosts can only find and kill people in light. Once a person hides in darkness, the ghost is as blind as a bat.”

“Ghosts need light to kill, yet fear light themselves—like moths circling a candle, too close and they burn, too far and they’re dissatisfied.”

Ning Zhe sighed and shook his head, his mind swirling as he began organizing his observations along the journey using the four clues Bai Zhi had provided.

"Ghosts can only find and kill people in lit environments; once a person hides in darkness, they're as blind as if they had no sight."

Ghosts need light to kill, yet they themselves fear light, like moths circling a candle—too close, they burn; too far, they lament.

It feels like there’s a touch of immortality in the air.

(End of Chapter)