Psycho. Ghosts? Whatever. - Chapter 33 - The Eerie Footsteps

“Bai-Ge, don’t tell me you’re scared…”

Liu Wang wasn’t ready to give up yet. He tried a bit of reverse psychology, but Bai Yuan cut him off without hesitation.

“Cut the crap,” Bai Yuan shot him a glance and said, “If you want me to take on more risk, then there better be more reward to go with it.”

Liu Wang paused for a moment, then quickly caught on. “No problem! You can take an extra ten percent of the mission reward!”

“You think I’m falling for that?” Bai Yuan chuckled and shook his head. “We don’t even know if the mission can be completed. Give me something real.”

“What do you want, then?” Liu Wang frowned slightly, realizing Bai Yuan wasn’t going to be so easy to manipulate.

“Thirty thousand. Cash.” Bai Yuan stared at him and said, “Right now. Immediately. Hand it over.”

“…”

Liu Wang’s mouth twitched. The way Bai Yuan said it… it almost sounded like he was dealing with a robber.

“Thirty thousand is a bit much…” Liu Wang muttered, trying to negotiate.

“You three can pool it together,” Bai Yuan said, his gaze shifting to the other two. A faint smile appeared in his eyes.

“Let me make one thing clear. As a model student of the new era, I’m no deranged bandit. I won’t force you to pay.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “If you don’t want to pay, then we’ll draw lots to decide who goes to the fifth floor.”

“Your choice.”

The three exchanged glances, then huddled together for a quick discussion. After a moment, they came to a decision.

“We’ll pay,” Liu Wang said through gritted teeth. “But there’s one condition!”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Zhou Han patrols the fourth floor!”

Aside from the fifth floor, the fourth floor was the next most dangerous.

“Deal!” Zhou Han immediately agreed. If Bai Yuan was taking the fifth floor, then the fourth floor was the safest bet for him.

“Alright, it’s settled. We’ll go get the money now!”

The three of them left the hotel together, leaving Bai Yuan and Zhou Han behind.

“Bai-Ge, you better be careful,” Zhou Han said, his face full of concern.

“Nothing to worry about. Honestly, the chances of running into trouble are about the same on every floor,” Bai Yuan replied, shaking his head. “If anything happens during the night, come find me first.”

“Got it, no problem.” Zhou Han nodded repeatedly, feeling a bit more reassured.

At this point, Bai Yuan’s curiosity got the better of him. “By the way, do you have any combat ability right now?”

“A little, I guess.”

“That coffin of yours-what’s it for? Can it trap Evil Ghosts? Or maybe release them to fight?” Bai Yuan pressed further. Zhou Han’s Accompanying Ghostly Entity seemed pretty impressive, after all.

“Uh…” Zhou Han hesitated, stumbling over his words. After a long pause, he finally admitted, “To be honest, its main purpose is… well, I carry it around and use it to smash ghosts.”

“What?” Bai Yuan froze for a second.

“Seriously? It’s an Accompanying Ghostly Entity, and that’s all it does? Where’s the style in that?”

“I’m not even a One Spell Ghost Spirit User yet. My combat ability is pretty weak,” Zhou Han admitted.

“One Spell? What’s that?”

“It’s the basic threshold for becoming a Ghost Spirit User.”

Zhou Han knew that Bai Yuan was already part of the Intelligence Class and would inevitably come across this information sooner or later, so there was no need to adhere strictly to confidentiality agreements.

“If I can become a One Spell Ghost Spirit User, I’ll be able to learn the first Spell Technique of the Ghost Coffin. At that point, I’ll officially be a professional.”

“Spell Technique?” Bai Yuan raised an eyebrow. “Is that like the signature skill of you Ghost Spirit Users?”

“You could say that,” Zhou Han sighed. “But becoming a One Spell takes time. If you want to take a shortcut, you’d need to consume a Ghost Crystal.”

“So that’s what Ghost Crystals are for?” Bai Yuan arched an eyebrow, gaining a bit more insight into the world of Ghost Spirit Users.

As the two continued their conversation, Liu Wang and the other two, who had gone to fetch the money, returned rather quickly.

“Three thousand in cash.”

“Great!” Bai Yuan’s eyes lit up instantly. He carefully counted the bills, making sure the amount was correct.

“Now, the fifth floor is all yours,” Liu Wang said, skipping any unnecessary flattery now that he understood Bai Yuan’s straightforward nature.

“Of course,” Bai Yuan replied with a grin. “Sure, my rates might be a bit steep, but my professionalism is top-notch. Don’t worry.”

Hearing this, Liu Wang and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief. Though it pained them to part with such a large sum of money, they saw it as buying a guarantee for their lives. With their Accompanying Ghostly Entities, surviving this ordeal would mean they could earn back the money-and more-in the future.

Soon enough, the five of them divided up the floors and began their nighttime patrols.

Apart from Bai Yuan, the other four were on edge, their nerves stretched taut. They were practically jumping at shadows. Despite giving themselves countless pep talks before starting the mission, walking through the empty hallways inevitably stirred up a creeping fear in their hearts.

What if the Evil Ghost was lurking in the corridor?

One unsettling thought after another wormed its way into their minds, leaving them spooking themselves more than anything else. Fortunately, the hotel remained eerily quiet, as though the Evil Ghost had already left.

“It’s already 1 a.m. Maybe nothing’s going to happen tonight,” Liu Wang muttered to himself as he patrolled the second floor, feeling a mix of disappointment and relief.

“Maybe I’ll just catch a quick nap…” He yawned as he looked down the deserted hallway, his guard beginning to drop.

“The place is so quiet that if anyone screams, the other four would definitely hear it,” he reasoned. With that thought, he turned back to his room, clearly not planning to stay up all night.

Before long, he had washed up and was lying in bed. “Looks like we’ll have to continue this tomorrow…” With that, he closed his eyes, ready to drift off into a peaceful sleep.

But just as he was about to doze off, his eyes snapped open. From above, he could hear the faint sound of footsteps, as if someone was pacing back and forth.

“Is Li Zichen being that loud?” Liu Wang thought, immediately picturing Li Zichen patrolling the floor above. He silently grumbled to himself, but the next moment, his expression shifted. Something clicked in his mind, and he shot upright.

“Wait a second! I’m in my room. Li Zichen is patrolling the hallway. The locations don’t match!”

His brows furrowed as he began to think, his eyes filled with suspicion. “Unless someone upstairs is still awake… or maybe they got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom?”

He glanced up at the ceiling, trying to rationalize the situation. The thought of a mundane explanation eased his nerves a bit. “I’m just scaring myself…” He patted his chest to calm down and lay back down again.

At that moment, the footsteps above stopped, further convincing him that it was just a fellow guest upstairs.

But then, in the next instant, his body tensed up again.

The footsteps returned.

Only this time, they weren’t coming from above-they were echoing down the very hallway he had just patrolled!