Chapter 44: But I Hear You Come

Feng Yushu held an umbrella and descended the semicircular staircase to the back of the hall, stepping into a wide corridor.

The walls on both sides of the corridor were hollowed out, lined with wooden lattice shelves filled with all kinds of alcoholic beverages—from the most common champagne for banquets to local rice wine, with white wine and dry red nestled between whiskies, and clay-sealed earthenware jars of yellow wine, creating a dazzling array that covered both walls of the entire corridor.

As soon as he stepped onto the corridor, a sweet, fragrant aroma of alcohol hit his nose; Feng Yushu followed the scent and saw a man in a loose robe lying dead against the wall, a half-shattered bottle of red wine rolled nearby, its crimson liquid soaking the dark red shards of glass across the floor.

Feng Yushu cautiously approached and flipped the body onto its back with one hand, recognizing the man.

The man was Liu Buzhu, secretary to Bai Fugui; Feng Yushu, a leisurely noblewoman, had little contact with company staff and only vaguely remembered that Liu Buzhu and several executives enjoyed pretentious hobbies, particularly wine tasting.

It seemed Liu Buzhu had been killed by a ghost while fetching wine.

Aside from tiny cuts on his hand from glass shards, Feng Yushu found no suspicious marks on Liu Buzhu’s body—just like Gu Yunqing and Xie Sining from Hejiacun, who died on the Snake God’s death anniversary, he showed no signs of external or internal injuries causing death.

“People killed by ghosts all seem the same,” Feng Yushu thought.

Life was taken without sound, without shadow, without trace.

Feng Yushu did not linger over the corpse; after a brief inspection, she continued forward, passing through the corridor.

“Something about that corpse feels off… is it just my imagination?” Feng Yushu felt puzzled; though there were no suspicious marks, Liu Buzhu still radiated an inexplicable strangeness—as if this were not a human corpse but something merely resembling a “human.”

Liu Buzhu looked human, felt human, and his body still retained realistic warmth, yet Feng Yushu had a gut feeling he was missing something—something profoundly important yet easily overlooked. But what exactly that “missing” element was… she could not determine, nor had she found it.

Feng Yushu passed through the two walls of wine and reached the back of the hall.

The first floor of the castle had two largest areas: the front hall and the rear leisure lounge, connected by a series of magnificent corridors adorned either with fine wines, famous paintings, or aquariums with fish swimming inside the walls.

The hall emphasized social interaction, while the lounge prioritized privacy, containing numerous ambiguously decorated private rooms equipped with everything from recreational board games to gambling facilities that technically didn’t involve cash—though everyone who once used them had now become corpses.

Feng Yushu sidestepped a middle-aged, overweight man slumped over a pool table; the ambient lighting above still glowed, forcing her to keep her umbrella raised.

“Found it…”

Feng Yushu hurried forward and switched off the hidden light beneath the curtains; the area plunged into darkness.

After doing so, she exhaled softly and continued wandering through the lounges, umbrella in hand. She had once heard staff mention that the first-floor surveillance room lay between the hall and the lounge, and if anything was lost or a child went missing, one could request footage from the staff.

But she hadn’t asked for details then; she only knew the surveillance room was somewhere in this area, though she didn’t know the exact entrance.

“I’ll just have to search slowly.”

Feng Yushu took a deep breath and pressed on, turning off the lights along the way.

A Bluetooth earpiece in her ear carried the rustle of wind and the crisp sound of footsteps.

“How’s it going, Auntie? Have you found the surveillance room?” Ning Zhe’s voice came through.

“Not yet,” Feng Yushu whispered: “I’m nearby, but I haven’t found the entrance.”

“Hurry up—I’ve already left the main gate,” Ning Zhe added.

At this moment, Ning Zhe had exited the castle’s main hall and was now searching along the outer wall for the hidden compartment housing the main electrical panel.

In modern buildings, hidden compartments are not uncommon; for instance, apartment complexes often have unused, secluded corners where washing machines or air conditioners won’t fit, and leaving them empty feels wasteful—so conscientious contractors consolidate gas meters, electric meters, and other utilities into these small compartments, saving space and benefiting residents.

But now, Ning Zhe was suffering. The Bishuiwan Estate was a high-end property, with both interior and exterior design emphasizing aesthetics; the hidden compartments housing water and electricity meters were concealed with extreme care—without blueprints or precise knowledge of their location, even standing right in front of them, one might mistake them for ordinary exterior walls.

Ning Zhe had no choice but to slowly circle the outer wall.

He checked his phone: June 5, 2018, lunar calendar: the 22nd day of the fourth month, 11:07 p.m.

“So late already?” Ning Zhe looked up at the pitch-black sky—no moon, not even a single star.

Perhaps the ghost had already killed nearly everyone in the estate; the surroundings were utterly silent, with only occasional corpses lying where they had fallen during their escape.

Along the way, Ning Zhe once again confirmed the accuracy of Bai Zhi’s rules:—all these corpses lay in places illuminated by light.

In shaded areas like beneath trees or in pavilions, Ning Zhe encountered not a single corpse. Only places with light held bodies, again confirming the ghost’s killing required light.

But if the ghost feared light, what did that truly mean? Ning Zhe sensed that unraveling this mystery might be the key to deciphering the rules and escaping Bishuiwan Estate.

Time always flies when you’re occupied, especially in a castle this vast; combined with Ning Zhe’s slow search for the hidden compartment, nearly an hour passed without him finding anything suspicious.

“I’ve made no progress here,” Ning Zhe sighed. “Auntie, how about you? Have you found the surveillance room?”

“Not yet, but I’m close,” Feng Yushu replied, breathing heavily as if running: “It’s so huge here—I nearly got lost… but don’t worry, I just found a paper floor plan of the castle on an engineer’s desk. I now know where the surveillance room is; once I get inside, I’ll guide you to the power panel.”

“OK, I’m counting on you,” Ning Zhe said, looking up at a nearby streetlamp and exhaling slightly in relief.

Yet his nerves had barely relaxed for two seconds before becoming taut again.

For directly beneath the streetlamp, a figure stood perfectly upright, catching Ning Zhe’s eye.

“The ghost…” Ning Zhe whispered.

“The ghost?!” Feng Yushu gasped: “You encountered the ghost? But you’re holding an umbrella!”

“Yes, I’m certain I’m holding an umbrella…” Ning Zhe said softly as he slipped his phone into his pocket: “I’m holding an umbrella, yes, I definitely am—but the ghost still found me. It’s standing right under the lamp, motionless.”

“It’s watching me.”

“It’s observing me.”

“It seems to be confirming something.”

“…Alright, it’s coming.”

Ning Zhe gripped his umbrella tightly as the upright corpse beneath the lamp suddenly leapt high into the air and crashed down hard, its casual shoes thudding against the grass.

Instinctively, he turned his head to flee—but a flash of crimson halted him.

A young girl, dressed in a bridal gown, her waist bound with red cloth, her pale face devoid of features except for a single vivid crimson cherry-like lip, had appeared behind him without warning.

“He Nianjun?” In an instant, Ning Zhe’s chest turned icy cold.

(End of Chapter)