Chapter 46: Tian Chengyun

Tian Chengyun was a regular security guard at Bishushanzhuang.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, he struggled to find a job he liked; positions with slightly better pay required at least a 211 university diploma, while the ones willing to hire him offered pay no better than that of an ordinary college graduate—even worse than that of a vocational school graduate.

Failing to land a high-paying job and unwilling to settle for low-paying ones, Tian Chengyun simply returned to his hometown, gave up entirely, and used his bachelor’s degree to become a security guard at a clothing factory, earning 1,800 yuan a month and smiling every day.

This routine lasted until a few years ago, when a wealthy businessman spent a fortune outside Guzhen, building Bishushanzhuang by the waterside; many unemployed local youths seized the opportunity, and Tian Chengyun was one of them.

The investors behind Bishushanzhuang were flush with cash and demanded that security guards have at least a bachelor’s degree, fluency in three foreign languages, and priority be given to those with overseas study experience, including master’s and doctoral graduates.

Many local high school vocational graduates from Guzhen were filtered out; only Tian Chengyun and a handful of others became security guards at Bishushanzhuang, earning 8,000 yuan a month with five insurances and one housing fund, four paid days off per month that they could schedule themselves—provided they submitted their shifts in advance.

The moment he received his security uniform, Tian Chengyun felt immense gratitude toward his past self, who had studied hard under dim lamplight.

But he had held this well-paying job for less than two years when the accident happened.

As the sky darkened and communications were severed, the ‘ghost’ appeared within the estate.

Tian Chengyun watched once-glamorous elites sprint frantically across the lawn, dying like pigs in a slaughterhouse, while an invisible, intangible killer wandered through the castle, calmly claiming each person’s soul.

In the despair of death, Tian Chengyun accidentally noticed a common trait among those killed by the ghost: their corpses all lay beneath lights, as if the light itself had caused their deaths.

Thinking quickly, Tian Chengyun pulled together his security colleague and two waiters who happened to be fleeing in the same direction; together, they ran to a changing room on the first floor, turned off all lighting, and gambled on the sliver of hope darkness might offer.

He had guessed correctly.

Outside, people died one after another, screams and wails echoing endlessly; the ghost was methodically killing everyone—but it never entered the pitch-black changing room, as if those hiding inside didn’t exist.

Tian Chengyun counted the number of companions:

There were four people in the changing room: himself, his security colleague Lao Li, the estate’s waitresses Liu Yunzhi and Xie Yaoan; both women were emotionally unstable, their muffled sobs audible in the dark. Lao Li was slightly better off, but still tense and on edge.

“Listen, we can’t just sit here and wait to die,” Tian Chengyun said. “There’s a ghost in the estate. Everyone outside may already be dead. But we’re lucky—I’ve figured out the ghost’s killing pattern: it only kills people exposed to light.”

“We can’t stay here forever, understand?” Tian Chengyun continued. “Phones don’t work, the internet shows no connection—but we must leave this haunted place. So we have to go outside and turn off the lights. Maybe then we can escape safely…”

“No!” A scream pierced the dark—whether from Liu Yunzhi or Xie Yaoan, he couldn’t tell—followed by a weeping voice: “I won’t go out! There’s a ghost outside! I won’t go out, I won’t go out, I won’t go out…”

Tian Chengyun clenched his teeth, then heard Lao Li say: “I know where the circuit breaker is. We can go there and shut off all the lights in the castle at once.”

“Xiao Liu, Xiao Xie, if you’re scared, stay here and wait for us. When you see the lights outside go out, we’ve succeeded,” Lao Li proposed.

“No, don’t… don’t leave me! You can’t go!”

This time, he recognized the voice: Xie Yaoan. In the dark, she clung tightly to Tian Chengyun’s sleeve, sobbing: “What if the ghost comes? You can’t leave! You have to stay and protect me… I’m scared…” Tian Chengyun exploded: “You’re not my girlfriend—why should I protect you? Do I owe you?”

“I don’t care!” Xie Yaoan refused to let go. “Men are supposed to protect women! If the ghost comes, you have to—ah!”

Before she could finish, Xie Yaoan screamed as Tian Chengyun shoved her hard against the wall.

“You don’t understand the situation!” Tian Chengyun roared. “The ghost doesn’t give a damn if you’re male or female—it only sees living and dead! I saved you earlier because you were close by, not because I owe you! If only one of us can survive, you’d better die, bitch!”

After being shouted at, Xie Yaoan slumped against the wall, sobbing: “H-how could you yell at me… I’m a girl… you’re a man…”

“Forget her, Lao Li. Let’s go.” Tian Chengyun walked to the door and cracked it open.

“You handle the outdoor power grid’s breaker. I’ll handle the indoor one,” Lao Li suggested. “Splitting up will be faster.”

“Alright.” Tian Chengyun nodded.

Then Lao Li pulled out a pistol and fired two rounds at the streetlamp outside, shattering the bulb.

—Security guards at Bishushanzhuang were private security personnel on par with bank cash escorts, legally permitted to carry firearms—but their magazines contained only non-lethal rubber bullets; live ammunition was strictly forbidden.

Even the riot-control pistols firing rubber bullets were issued only to the security team leader, Lao Li; frontline guards like Tian Chengyun carried only batons.

“Alright, let’s go.” No sooner had he spoken than Lao Li stepped out the door first, carefully hugging the wall as he exited the changing room.

Tian Chengyun followed close behind; together they passed through the dim corridor and parted ways at the main entrance.

Lao Li followed the castle’s outer wall, searching for the hidden compartment housing the indoor power grid’s main breaker.

Tian Chengyun crossed the corpse-strewn reception avenue, heading for the outdoor power grid’s main breaker in the substation.

Inside the castle’s changing room, Xie Yaoan crouched on the floor, wailing loudly, cursing Tian Chengyun and Lao Li as worthless men. Liu Yunzhi stood beside her, silent, lost in thought.

After walking a while, Team Leader Lao Li noticed something strange: every light along his path had either been turned off or deliberately smashed. The castle’s grand hall was dark too—the chandelier overhead had been shattered at some point.

“Could someone else have figured out the ghost’s killing pattern? Did that person turn off the lights along the way?” Lao Li’s heart grew heavy. He slowed his steps, then broke into a quiet run toward the hidden compartment.

He hadn’t gone far when he suddenly stopped, shock freezing his face.

Beneath a streetlamp stood a corpse, rigid and lifeless, its face still contorted in the terror of death.

In front of the corpse, a handsome boy crouched on the ground, shielding his entire body with a beautiful sunshade, like a turtle retreating into its shell.

(End of Chapter)