Chapter Twenty: The True Path to Survival

The man in the raincoat stood frozen on the stairs, his eyes locked onto those of Ji Li and his companions, slowly... it was only then that he saw a scene in those three pairs of pitch-black pupils that made his blood run cold!

"Swish!"

The man in the raincoat jerked his head down, coming face-to-face with a head! Perhaps sensing his movement, the head hidden beneath the raincoat turned on its own—a full one-hundred-and-eighty-degree rotation that ignored the constraints of bone and muscle! A teeth-grinding sound of snapping bones echoed through the air. The man in the raincoat finally saw clearly: the face pressed against him was none other than the female ghost that had been tormenting him for days and nights!

"Ah!!!"

"It's not necessarily... it's not necessarily a dead end!"

Fang Shenyan's mind began to spiral into chaos. After a prolonged period of intense mental strain, he had finally experienced a moment of respite, but he hadn't expected this brief lull to cause his thoughts to stagnate. In the blink of an eye, the situation had deteriorated rapidly; he lacked the energy and the capacity to re-analyze everything from scratch!

Ji Li, Fang Shenyan, and Yu Guo had reached their limits. But there was "one person" who had been observing everything from the sidelines, keeping a cool head at all times.

"No, we have overlooked two suspicious points! First, the connection between the man in the raincoat and the female ghost doesn't make sense. I had hoped that staying by his side would be our path to survival, but that has now completely collapsed! So, this final doubt must be the key to breaking the deadlock. Why did the hotel emphasize that specific instruction in the mission information given to the man in the raincoat?"

The Third Personality...

Unlike everyone else present, existing in a different state, he could always maintain the independent perspective of an objective bystander! Unlike the Second Personality, his insight and mental acuity were even sharper than those of the primary personality, Ji Li! Now, at this most critical juncture, he was the only one truly capable of making a difference.

Ji Li paused, and following that prompt, he immediately realized: "The hotel information specifically emphasized that he only had ten minutes to leave Room 702!"

"Exactly! The situation for the man in the raincoat is completely different from ours. He is a direct participant in the entire incident, perhaps even its creator! Even the initial supernatural event began with him. Now that the man in the raincoat is being attacked, it shows that he holds no special status to the female ghost. The ten-minute interval mentioned by the hotel is a supplementary condition for him... So, can we look at this from the reverse? Why would the hotel give him such a seemingly useless extra rule?"

Ji Li’s brain raced, processing the jumbled clues in his mind. "The man in the raincoat is the owner of Room 702. Two days before the mission even began, he had already collided with the ghostly entity. The survival information provided by the hotel was extremely vague, not even giving an accurate time, only saying to live until eight o'clock the next day. Why would the hotel handle it this way..."

"Because the value of his existence was to wait for us to officially begin the mission on October 22nd! This mission is divided into two stages. The two days before October 22nd were the period of conflict between the man in the raincoat and the female ghost, serving as the waiting time for the mission to formally start. Tonight is the main event, because all the staff members have gathered!"

The Third Personality answered Ji Li’s question, then added: "If the man in the raincoat isn't special, then why was he able to survive in 702 for two days, and even remain entangled with the ghost until today?"

Ji Li shook his heavy head vigorously and whispered, "He said that during those two days, because the rules given by the hotel were too vague, he never dared to leave 702! It was only tonight, when the ghost came for us, that he fled 702 for ten minutes and ended up being attacked by the entity..."

The Third Personality nodded silently. Having reached this point in the deduction, there was basically nothing left to speculate about.

"The reason the hotel gave the man in the raincoat an extra rule was to ensure he would encounter the ghost during those ten minutes! Thereby releasing the clue to the correct path of survival! After all, the hotel would not deploy a mission with no path to survival and no hints!"

Ji Li suddenly looked up. By now, the man in the raincoat’s face was completely wrapped in thick, black hair. His entire body had become limp and boneless, tightly constricted by the ghost, with the sound of bones snapping rhythmically throughout his frame! This ghost’s method of killing was unique and terrifying: it crushed the bones of the living into pieces!

"The path to survival is 702!"

Ji Li suddenly grabbed the arms of Fang and Yu, one on each side, and sprinted directly toward the position of the man in the raincoat!

"The reason the man in the raincoat hasn't been killed until now isn't because of his special status. It’s because every time he was in close contact with the ghost, he was inside Room 702! That is the sanctuary; as long as you enter 702, you cannot be attacked by the ghost!"

Neither Fang nor Yu were fools; as soon as Ji Li spoke, they immediately understood. Yu Guo glanced at the man in the raincoat as they were about to pass him, his heart chilling. "No wonder the man in the raincoat, who had been fine all along, was attacked by the ghost now. It must have been holding back for a long time..."

Thinking of this, Yu Guo couldn't help but take another look. It was precisely this glance that made him freeze in his tracks. Ji Li shot him a look but, ignoring the two of them, used all his strength to dash toward the seventh floor. The death of the man in the raincoat would likely not delay the ghost for long. Now that the true path to survival had emerged, the ghost would kill the man in the raincoat in a matter of seconds and then immediately track down the remaining living staff!

Although time was short, Ji Li felt extremely calm. At their speed, they could reach the door of 702 within five seconds; even if the ghost were fast, it would be too late. He was the fastest; he scrambled up to the seventh floor, his eyes gleaming as he grabbed the plush bear on the door and yanked the handle with all his might!

But he stopped dead in his tracks. Because under his pull, the door to 702 did not budge an inch!

"The door... it's locked!"

"Damn it! We're finished, finished, finished! The ghost must have come out of 702 last, it must have locked the door when it left!" The Second Personality began wailing again. Ji Li was about to speak when he heard footsteps behind him—it was Fang Shenyan.

Seeing the door was locked, Fang Shenyan showed no surprise, simply saying, "Just as I thought!"

Ji Li was stunned. "Where is Yu Guo?"

Fang Shenyan gave him a deep look and then suddenly turned to look down the stairs: "Yu Guo! The door is indeed locked!"

Ji Li frowned, as if realizing something. He didn't speak, but looking down, he saw Yu Guo's panicked figure nearing them. And in Yu Guo’s hand, he clutched a silver metal key!

When they had passed the man in the raincoat earlier, Ji Li had been running the fastest, with no time to think of anything else. But Yu Guo, in that inadvertent glance, had spotted the room key hanging from the man's waist. Fang Shenyan had spoken at that moment: "I'm not sure if 702 will be easy to enter; the ghost might have a backup plan. You go grab that key, just in case!"

This task was one only someone as bold, meticulous, and unburdened as Yu Guo could handle. Fortunately, things had progressed smoothly; the ghost had been too preoccupied to notice him, and he had secured the key with ease. Even so, Yu Guo was drenched in a cold sweat.

When Fang Shenyan reached 702 and saw the door was indeed locked, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, thankful that Yu Guo had covered for them. That was how it had happened.

As Ji Li witnessed this, he understood everything, and his reliance on Fang and Yu grew. One person, after all, was just one person. He needed help now.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

Yu Guo had already reached the landing between the sixth and seventh floors. He gritted his teeth, knowing that if he kept running like this, time might run out. He decided to slow down, raised his arm, and threw the key toward Fang Shenyan with all his might!

But at that same moment, an ice-cold, bone-chilling hand clamped onto his calf!

"Ah?!"

Almost at the moment of contact, the strength in Yu Guo's leg vanished, replaced by a heart-wrenching pain! As the key was thrown, he lost his balance and crashed into the wall, yet he braced himself against it, refusing to fall.

Yu Guo's eyes were filled with painful madness and the unwillingness of a dead end. He stared fixedly at the hideous female ghost just inches away, a trickle of blood seeping from between his pale, gritted teeth.

"I haven't found A-Lian yet... I don't want to die! I cannot die!"