Chapter 49: Auspiciousness

"Hmm... Ning Zhe? Are you listening?" In the surveillance room, looking at the pitch-black screen before her, Feng Yu felt a sense of trepidation.

"I am." Ning Zhe's voice remained as calm as ever; though devoid of emotion, it was reassuring. "Here is the plan, Auntie. I am going to cut the power now. You must leave the surveillance room immediately, and we will meet Bai Zhi on the second floor. I have found the line of reasoning. Later, you will assist me, and we will kill that ghost."

"Eh? Just like that..." Feng Yu felt surprised. She felt as though she hadn't done anything at all, yet Ning Zhe had already unraveled all the mysteries—a true speedrun.

But after a moment of thought, Feng Yu ultimately decided to trust him. "Alright, I'm going to find her now. You take care of yourself, too."

With that, she cut the power to the surveillance room and hurried away, holding her umbrella.

Ning Zhe stuffed the security guard Old Li's phone into his pocket. He looked at the electrical box embedded firmly in the wall, then at Old Li, who lay paralyzed on the ground with his limbs broken by Ning Zhe, his exhales now fewer than his inhales. He had unearthed some interesting things from Old Li's memories—like finding a joke book in a long-abandoned corner of a school library—which would come in handy later.

Ning Zhe closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Alright, let the game begin."

In the changing room on the first floor of the castle, Xie Sining and Liu Yunzhi waited nervously. A faint light spilled in through the gaps in the curtains—not moonlight, for there was no moon in the shrouded Bishushanzhuang—but the streetlights from the lawn in the distance. In the corridor outside, the hazy crystal lights emitted an ambiguous glow.

But soon, even this last bit of light vanished. As the power was cut, the entire castle plunged into a pool of darkness as thick as ink.

"Old Li really cut the power." Xie Sining's voice carried a hint of excitement. Although she didn't understand the specific principles, she knew the most basic rule: hiding in the darkness could prevent the ghost from finding them.

Now that the entire manor was pitch black, one could say Old Li had manually expanded the safe zone to the entire castle.

Only the outdoor power grid remained, which was Tian Chengyun's responsibility.

"Great, we can go out soon..." Xie Sining leaned against the wall, clutching her phone to her chest.

Seeing her enthusiasm, Liu Yunzhi couldn't help but frown.

Xie Sining wasn't very old; like Tian Chengyun, she was a young person who hadn't found a job after graduating from university. The difference was that Tian Chengyun had taken a security job to drift through life, while Xie Sining had stayed home to study for civil service exams, though she hadn't passed.

The two ended up in the same boat, both working at Bishushanzhuang—one as a receptionist, the other still a security guard.

Unlike Xie Sining, a young girl who hadn't truly stepped into society, Liu Yunzhi, who only had a high school diploma, had worked many jobs. Although they were about the same age, her personal experience was broader, her personality more steady, and her mind more meticulous.

Liu Yunzhi nudged Xie Sining's relaxed shoulder and whispered, "Tell me, don't you think this is strange?"

The other girl looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

Liu Yunzhi shook her head and showed her phone screen. "Look for yourself. During the time we've been hiding in the changing room, I've called my family outside the manor many times. WeChat, QQ, text messages... I've tried every method, but it's useless. The calls won't go through, the messages won't send, and there's no internet."

"Maybe the signal is being jammed," Xie Sining mused. "I remember that a few rooms deep inside the castle have small-scale signal jammers. They were installed for confidentiality in the boss's business meetings."

Perhaps someone had accidentally turned up the power of the signal jammers in the panic? Or perhaps it was intentional.

"That doesn't explain it either," Liu Yunzhi shook her head. "Have you forgotten that you just finished a phone call?"

The expression on Xie Sining's face froze. "I guess you're right..."

Her emotions had been in such a panic earlier that when she saw Old Li's call, she had only felt excitement, and in that excitement, she had ignored this detail.

"Why can't our calls go out, but Old Li can talk to me?" Xie Sining couldn't fathom it. "Let me call you," Liu Yunzhi said, dialing her number.

A moment later, Xie Sining's phone rang.

"It actually works?" Surprised, Xie Sining hurriedly hung up and tried to call her own family outside, but it showed no signal. This made her feel dejected again. "What's going on? We can make calls and send messages inside the manor, but we can't reach the outside?"

Coupled with that light-seeking, invisible, fierce ghost, the whole world seemed to be tilting toward the supernatural.

*Thump, thump—*

Suddenly, a crisp knocking sound broke the silence in the changing room. Both their nerves tightened simultaneously. Xie Sining covered her face with her hands and curled up in the corner, her shoulders trembling slightly. "What is that sound..."

Liu Yunzhi's expression was grave. She turned off her phone screen and, using the faint light filtering through the gaps in the curtains, looked toward the direction of the sound.

It was a wide mirror wall; the entire wall was a giant mirror, similar to those in a ballet studio.

The sound had come from the direction of the mirror wall.

Xie Sining squatted on the ground, burying her face between her knees, not daring to move. But Liu Yunzhi knew that avoidance was useless. Just like when they were being chased by the ghost earlier—if she hadn't followed Tian Chengyun to find this dark safe house and had instead stayed put like a coward, she would have been dead long ago.

But what could she do now? Go out? No... that might lead to a faster death. Tian Chengyun hadn't cut the main power to the outdoor grid yet, and the streetlights outside the castle were still on. The outside might be even more dangerous.

Liu Yunzhi tentatively stood halfway up and cast her gaze toward the mirror wall. There was nothing there, absolutely nothing, only the blurry shadows of herself and Xie Sining reflected on the wall.

Her reflection in the mirror was also half-squatting on the ground, but for some reason, the blurry figure reflected in this dim environment gave her an indescribable, eerie feeling, as if it were some kind of strange psychological suggestion.

Liu Yunzhi didn't dare to look any longer; she already knew what she had to do.

She carefully moved to the window, pulled the curtains—which had a small gap—completely shut. Instantly, the changing room plunged into total darkness, and the reflection in the mirror vanished along with it.

That eerie feeling also melted into the darkness, and she could no longer sense it.

At the same time, on the other side of the mirror wall, Ning Zhe silently withdrew his gaze from the one-way mirror.

He was wearing a brand-new men's suit; the fabric was excellent, but the loose cut didn't fit his frame.

Ning Zhe reached into the suit pocket, pulled out a few red banknotes that smelled of printer's ink, and stuffed them into his pants pocket. He then casually removed a jade gold watch from the suit's owner—a bloated man lying on the ground—and put it on his own wrist. The edge of the pure gold dial was covered in tiny scratches.

"Luck is really good; successfully secured one life." Ning Zhe, wearing a suit that didn't fit and a gold watch that didn't match his temperament, lightened his steps and left quickly.

The process of stealing Liu Yunzhi's identity had been very smooth, fluid, and completed in one go. His luck had never been this good before.

Believing in the Serpent God was truly useful. —Today's Auspiciousness and Taboos:

【Auspicious: Marriage, Breaking Ground, Planting, Buying Clothes, Acquiring Wealth】

【Taboo: Drinking Alcohol, Starting Fires, Logging, Building Dikes, Building Houses】

(End of chapter)