全程露脸东北老女

"The third floor?" The ghost raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to go to the third floor?"

"We want to meet the owner of this manor and ask him to let us out," Yang Yue tried his best to calm down.

The ghost laughed, "There’s no need. If you want to leave, I am also in a position to help you," Taking a pause, he looked at Yang Yue’s hard to conceal fervour before his words took a sharp turn, "However, if you want to obtain something, you must pay in exchange. If you want your freedom, then you naturally need to pay an appropriate price."

"What price?" Yang Yue was not disappointed. He had already been acquainted with the indifferent and miserly nature of the spirits of this manor. They would never help them for free.

"Leave one person here," The ghost raised his head, pointed towards Yang Yue, and then hesitated for a second before shifting his index finger to the nervous and confused youth by Yang Yue’s side.

When the ghost had pointed towards himself, Yang Yue’s heart couldn’t help but go ’ba-dump’. However, when the finger shifted, his heart felt even colder and sunk even lower. This was even more unacceptable than staying behind himself.

Yang Yue truly did not understand why Xiao Xiao was so attractive to these ghosts. One after another came to pounce on him. Could it be that the aesthetic of humans and ghosts were different?

——At this moment, Yang Yue most likely had forgotten that he and his childhood friend had also ’pounced on’ this person. His impression of Xiao Xiao had frozen at his original, prior image of an ordinary, average and unpopular youth.

"Impossible," Yang Yue’s cold voice interrupted what the ghost was about to say, refusing his proposal in one breath, without giving him any leeway to change his mind, "We would never sacrifice others for our own sake!"

"Are you unwilling to sacrifice other people or...unwilling to sacrifice him?" The spirit flashed him a smile, seeming to see through him, voice certain, "You like him."

"So what," Yang Yue replied indifferently, not wanting to discuss this topic with the other, "We don’t need you to permit us to leave. We just need you to tell us how to get to the staircase leading to the third floor. We can personally negotiate with the owner of this manor."

"Heh, this isn’t the attitude one should use when asking for favours~" The spirit waved its finger, "Don’t harbour any wishful thinking. I know the manor’s owner very well. My demand is the same as his. If you cannot accept this requirement, then even if you meet with the manor owner, you won’t be able to attain permission to leave here."

Yang Yue’s expression became increasingly gloomy upon hearing the ghost’s words. However, he would not give up, "...This is our business. Before we get to that, please tell us how to get to the third floor’s staircase."

"Not telling you~" The ghost smiled naughtily, before unfolding his two arms in an exaggerated manner, "Truly selfish, na...for the sake of the person you like, you’re even willing to sacrifice the lives of others? It was only because you were lucky today, and that the little girl in the washroom has always been very obedient. She only wanted to play a game involving swings with your friends. However, what about tomorrow, ne? Or the day after that, ne? Do you think that you’ll be lucky forever? Your friends will die one after another, just because you chose to refuse my proposal for the sake of protecting a single person. Don’t you feel guilty?"

The spirit’s ability to distort the truth was truly too outstanding. Clearly, it was them, the non-human entities that were the main offenders. But under his warped words, he had turned Yang Yue, who had just been trying his best to protect his comrades, into a criminal. Although Yang Yue did feel a moment of self-despise and self-doubt, his will did not waver.

"I will do my utmost to protect each and every person. Meanwhile, you all are murderers!" Yang Yue tightly clenched his fists, "I will not sacrifice my comrades because of a murderer’s attempt in enticing me by playing down the situation! No matter who the person to be sacrificed is!"

"Only, this is but an excuse to make yourself seem righteous...forget it," The spirit waved its hands, interest waning. It was obvious that it did not want to debate with Yang Yue over this matter.

The spirit floated off of the window sill, gracefully stepping around the room in a large circle before arriving behind Yang Yue and Xiao Xiao. In the end, he pressed his body close to Xiao Xiao and wrapped his arms around his body.

Yang Yue’s eyes followed the ghost’s every movement. Right now, he was doing his best to control himself, not letting his gaze fall on Xiao Xiao so that the others would not find out the ghost’s position. This would horrify the timid youth.

Perceiving Yang Yue’s prudent protection, a ruminating light became even more evident in the ghost’s eyes. It lowered its head, as if closely examining the youth in its arms, wondering just what about him made him so worthy of being cherished like this.

Probably because he realized that the ghost was behind him, but Xiao Xiao turned around, alarmed. He cautiously swept a look at his surroundings, but no matter how he looked, he could not see the ghost that was but a fist away from his face and who currently had its face lowered in examination of him.

Yang Yue："........................"

——During this sort of moment, he simply wanted to light a truck full of candles for Xiao Xiao.

"In any case, the one who should feel anxious is not me, after all," After sizing up Xiao Xiao, the ghost finally cast its gaze back onto Yang Yue and spoke, seeming not in the least concerned, "If worse comes to worse, I’ll just kill you all and leave that child as the only survivor, in which case he can only belong to us."

Yang Yue could not refute its words and could only grit his teeth while glaring at the ghost who vanished into thin air after saying its piece.

The negotiation this time had expended all of Yang Yue’s energy and had pushed him to the brink of despair. He felt powerless from head to toe and couldn’t help but walk to Xiao Xiao, bringing him into a tight hug.

Yang Yue shut his eyes, heart weary. He seemed as if he needed Xiao Xiao’s help to prop himself up, as confirmation that he was indeed still by his side, alive.

——Can he do it? Can he protect Xiao Xiao while in the hands of these callous and avaricious spectres? Can they escape?

Perhaps they would all die and Xiao Xiao would become the exclusive property of the ghosts in this manor...when he thought of how Xiao Xiao would be stuck here alone and be unable to achieve solace no matter how much he cried or screamed in fear, Yang Yue felt his chest hurt so much it became difficult to breathe.

"...Just...what’s the matter? Was it...not successful?" The first to speak was the bespectacled youth. After a long period of silence, he finally bolstered his courage and asked.

"En, it was unsuccessful," Yang Yue stood up and gave everyone a bitter smile.

"...Then, what did it say? It wanted us to...sacrifice one of us?" The robust girl looked at Yang Yue in hesitation, "Sacrifice...who?"

"...It didn’t say," Yang Yue ultimately decided to hide it.

Human nature was selfish. If the others knew that the person the ghosts wanted was Xiao Xiao, Yang Yue could not be certain that they wouldn’t choose to abandon him in exchange for their own lives. After all, Xiao Xiao was antisocial and did not have good relations with the others. Even if he and Ming Hai could protect Xiao Xiao, it was very difficult to guarantee that there wouldn’t be any mishaps.

Yang Yue was unwilling to gamble, so he could only lie.

"Really?" The robust girl cast a skeptical look towards Yang Yue. The quiet and gentle girl and the bespectacled youth also looked very bewildered. It was clear that Yang Yue and the ghost’s ambiguous words just now had already sowed the seed of doubt in everyone’s hearts.

"Really," Yang Yue gazed at the others with an earnest and calm expression, hiding the iciness within his eyes, "Besides, even if it had suggested it, are we going to hand someone over? Today, one ghost will ask us to sacrifice one person. Tomorrow, another may ask us to sacrifice another. Do you guys really believe that we can survive by sacrificing our comrades? It’s impossible! It’s only by sticking together, supporting each other, that we can escape!"

"But..." The quiet and gentle girl cried out quietly in opposition, "Didn’t it say? That ghost said that...it would let us leave...."

"Do you really believe that ghost’s words?" Yang Yue sneered.

No one responded. Naturally, they did not believe in them. However, there were some things in life where, although one may know it is a trick, one can’t help but want to believe in it anyway.

The discussion did not continue. Everyone silently laid back down, full of despair, anxiety and uneasiness.

The night was endless, with daybreak a long ways away. However, it was evident that no one would be able to truly go to sleep once again.

Ming Hai and the quiet and gentle girl replaced Yang Yue and Xiao Xiao for guard duty. Yang Yue specifically took advantage of a moment where others didn’t pay attention to him to silently tell Ming Hai keep an eye on Xiao Xiao. Ming Hai nodded his head slightly before sitting near the youth, silent and reliable as he has always been in the past.

Yang Yue looked at Xiao Xiao who had coiled himself into a ball because of the fear and unease he was feeling. He couldn’t help but sigh and gather him up in his arms, allowing him to lean against himself.

Even though Yang Yue knew that he was too weak and was possibly unable to achieve anything, still, he wanted to do his best to give it a try. He wanted to try to protect this cowardly and weak boy. who still managed to affect his heart this much.

Unfortunately, the unromantic Sui Yuan was completely clueless on how heavy a psychological burden he had created for the protagonist shou. He was constantly thinking about how he could capture the Destroyer’s pigtail during the next murder scene.

Last time, he had been dragged into the washroom by the protagonist gong and shou (......), so he ended up missing that important scene. However, the Destroyer would most likely not disturb things just that once. If he/she moved, Sui Yuan would be able to get a chance to break through his/her disguise.

...It was just that as a man, the next murder scene truly presented a thorny problem for him. Just like the murder in the girl’s bathroom, the location of the next murder was in the bathroom while the girl was showering....

Sui Yuan: "........................"

After all, girls loved to be clean. Since it had nearly been four days since they had ran into this manor to avoid the rain, even the boys were barely able to bear with it. However, it was clearly stifling to the girl who never had to worry about basic necessities in her life.

The robust girl could no longer stand being unclean and carefully locked her door. She gathered a bit of water, planning on just wiping down her body. The result was that once she wiped herself, a problem appeared.

Then, the problem is... just how on earth would Sui Yuan be able to justify running over to watch as the girl shed her clothes and washed her body with this identity of his, ne? This was undoable, OK?!

The more important point was that the quiet and gentle girl had not died. If they were going to wash up, then the two girls would inevitably do so together, help each other out, and bolster each other’s courage. Regardless of whether the Destroyer is amongst the two of them, the plot would undoubtedly change.

"What, can’t sleep?" From his ear came Yang Yue’s nearly soundless question.

Sui Yuan raised his eyes and looked at Yang Yue: "...You’re hiding something from me, right? Moreover, it’s something really important."

Yang Yue’s breath stopped. He had never looked at Xiao Xiao’s eyes from so up close. In this moment, he felt that this pair of black, pure, and limpid eyes seemed to see through everything. Yang Yue subconsciously dodged the other’s gaze, "Yes. However, I don’t want to tell you."

Sui Yuan："........................"

——Is there really no problem with being so frank?! Can’t you be a bit more tactful, ah!

"Although I’m hiding it from you, I absolutely would never hurt you, I promise," Yang Yue smoothed out Sui Yuan’s hair and spoke in a placating tone, "Please trust me, Xiao Xiao."

"...You’ve been using a really strange gaze to look at me all day. There is definitely...something fishy about me, right?" Sui Yuan wanted to know about Zhao Xihe’s situation via Yang Yue so badly that it felt extremely unbearable. He knew that Yang Yue was worried about Xiao Xiao’s cowardice, so he chose to discard his character settings for once and put out a calm, rational, and brave appearance.

Little did he realize that in Yang Yue’s eyes, Sui Yuan’s hard work made him appear like he was evidently scared to death but wanted to act calm. This made him look pitiful and adorable in Yang Yue’s eyes, so how could he bear to tell him the truth?

"Don’t let your imagination run wild," Yang Yue furrowed his brows and reprimanded him. When he saw that Sui Yuan still didn’t look convinced, he couldn’t help but give him an ’appropriate’ explanation, "I look at you like that only because...I suddenly realized that I like you, that’s all."

Sui Yuan：".............................."

——T-that’s not right! Protagonist shou, you’ve connected to the wrong channel! We are clearly discussing the matter of seeing ghosts, why the heck did you suddenly confess?!

"What’s your answer, ne?" Seeing that Sui Yuan did not react even after a long time, Yang Yue, who originally only wanted to shift the other’s attention in order to prevent him from pursuing his original line of questioning, felt rather unsettled. Although his goal had been achieved, was there really no problem with so obviously ignoring his confession?!

"...What answer?" Sui Yuan looked at him, stupefied.

"I like you. What about you?" Yang Yue repeated.

Sui Yuan: "...I don’t—"

"OK. I understand," Yang Yue interrupted him, "it’s ’I don’t know’, right?"

If it wasn’t because it wasn’t in compliance to his character settings, then Sui Yuan would really want to shoot this protagonist shou an expression akin to that of a dead fish. Only, even if he still constantly had his character settings in mind, Sui Yuan still wouldn’t have had the energy to act panicked and helpless—he had been completely overpowered by the protagonist shou!

"I’m sorry, I really didn’t want to tell you this. After all, this really isn’t a suitable time to say it," Yang Yue seemed to completely missed Sui Yuan’s powerless appearance and summarized the situation without consulting anyone else, "So, wait until we leave here before giving me your answer, OK?"

Sui Yuan: Not OK at all! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Yang Yue has already spoken to this point. As "Xiao Xiao", Sui Yuan truly had no way to refuse him decisively. He could only shut his eyes, heart stifled, and refuse to speak.

Yang Yue smiled bitterly. He raised his eyes and met with the gaze of Ming Hai who was watching them, before slightly raising a brow.

The corner of Ming Hai’s lips raised and he turned to look away, as if protesting against his good friend’s sneaky actions. Meanwhile, although Yang Yue was ’rejected’, his mood was not particularly downcast.

——When he had confessed to Xiao Xiao, the other did not take note of Ming Hai’s reaction while in shock. This meant that Xiao Xiao actually did not care about Ming Hai as much as he had originally thought. So...this might mean that he had a chance?

It had to be said, Yang Yue was fully deserving to be the protagonist of a supernatural text, to be in the mood to rival for the affection of another in a situation where their lives were not guaranteed. His ability to withstand pressure was extremely formidable. It simply made people unable to help but admire him.

After getting ’Xiao Xiao’s comfort’, Yang Yue’s sleep for the latter half of the night was unexpectedly not bad. He appeared evidently bursting with vitality amongst this group of fellows that had trouble sleeping all night and ended up pulling aggro.

During breakfast, everyone’s mood was low. The appearance of the ’butler’ last night made them completely lose their objective for the day. After all, the other had already refused to tell them the location of the third floor’s staircase. Even if they found him once again, would that change? The crucial point was the condition for exchange the other had proposed—or rather, who they needed to sacrifice.

The hearts of people were unstable. The trust between them had already begun to break and was on the verge of collapse. Yang Yue was powerless against this. It was he who hadn’t handled this matter well. He was the chief offender that had caused this ending.

"Everyone has been tired these past few days. Today...let’s try to rest properly, ba," Yang Yue said quietly after finishing breakfast.

No one raised any objections. After all, there was already no plan of action.

Only, although they were resting, the fear of the manor was enough to cause everyone to stay together. The bespectacled youth was very interested in the study. He thought that the books would be a very important source of information, or perhaps they would be able to find a clue that would help them leave the manor. Towards his thoughts, Yang Yue and Ming Hai agreed. Meanwhile, the two girls expressed that they wanted to wash clean their bodies.

"I noticed before that there’s a lounge beside the study. While we’re searching through the materials, you girls can wash up there. I suggest that you guys don’t use the bathrooms. After all..." The bespectacled youth pushed his glasses up.

Although the two girls felt rather embarrassed, they did not insist. After all, their safety was the most important. After coming to a unanimous agreement, everyone first got some water from their bedrooms and soon after moved to the study. The males searched for clues in the study while the girls went to the nearby lounge to wipe their bodies.

The study and lounge were connected by a side door. If anything happened, one would only have to shout to get help. Everybody was pleased with this. It was only Sui Yuan who was conflicted.

A mess—the plot had already been turned into a complete mess.

The timing and venue of the girls’ wash time had been changed. Furthermore, the very last death scene that was to be the bespectacled youth’s in the study, was moved forwards. Because of this butterfly effect, even with the plot in hand, Sui Yuan would be unable to find out what the Destroyer had changed.

Standing before the bookshelves in the study while feeling crushed, Sui Yuan’s gaze flitted across the rows of books while constantly monitoring the bespectacled youth’s every move. The two girls had already gone next door to wash up. The soundproofing of the study was not bad. He couldn’t hear anything from next door clearly.

The bespectacled youth flipped through the books. He seemed rather deep in concentration and occasionally, his brows would crease in deep thought , as if he was seriously looking for clues. Sui Yuan placed a book within the bespectacled youth’s reach while no one else was paying attention and then picked up another book, pretending to read it. After flipping to the first page, he saw Yang Yue suddenly stand up.

"What’s wrong?" Sui Yuan and the bespectacled youth were startled and asked in unison.

Yang Yue waved his hands, urgently eyeing the main door leading to the corridor, "I seemed to have seen a silhouette just now. I’m going to go take a look. You guys wait here!"

After saying that, Yang Yue didn’t wait for the others to react before running out of the study. If he didn’t know that the other was a protagonist that typically would not die, Sui Yuan seriously would want to sigh a ’this is simply courting death’ with sorrow.

"I’m rather worried. I’m going to follow along and take a look," Ming Hai also stood up. He glanced at the direction of the room next door where the girls were in hesitation, before warning, "You guys wait here. Don’t run off!"

Sui Yuan and the bespectacled youth watched as Ming Hai and Yang Yue left the room through the main door. Afterwards, they met each other’s gaze.

"...Relax a bit. Yang Yue has always been reliable. In addition, there’s Ming Hai with his impressive strength. Nothing will happen," The bespectacled youth forced a smile as he consoled Sui Yuan.

Sui Yuan nodded softly, worried. He looked on wordlessly as the bespectacled youth’s hand shifted over to the book Sui Yuan had just placed down, and picked it up.

Because the plot was very detailed with the descriptions of each murder, as soon as Sui Yuan entered the study, he immediately recognized that this book was the cause of the bespectacled youth’s death. If he opened it....

The bespectacled youth placed his hand on the cover of the book, looking like he was about to flip it open. It was just that before he could do it, the sound of a water basin overturning sounded from the other room, followed by a frightened shriek: "Ah—!!"

The bespectacled youth’s hand quivered and he dropped the book in his hand to the ground. Meanwhile, Sui Yuan’s mind shook. The murder ordained by the plot had arrived!

Wuxian: I’m itching to know who the Destroyer is.