The Fake Heiress's Guide to Self-Rescue - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Unworldly Variety Show [5]

It was still early for the afternoon mission. Jiang Qianqian wanted to explore the supposedly haunted villa. The guests’ rooms were off-limits to others. The back garden had been explored yesterday. The only place left to check was… Jiang Qianqian’s gaze fell on the northwest corner of the first floor, which was a storage room. Inside the storage room, there was a door leading to the basement.

She pushed open the door of the storage room. It was filled with miscellaneous items, and everything was covered with a thick layer of dust from not being cleaned for years. The fluorescent light flickered twice, fully illuminating the storage room. Following the “since I’m already here” principle, Jiang Qianqian carefully observed the storage room.

Other people’s storage rooms are mostly for stacking miscellaneous items, but this storage room was very strange. The shelves on the left and right were neatly stacked with rectangular cardboard boxes, and there was nothing extra left outside. A cardboard box in the bottom-left corner had been opened. Inside were leisure toys such as chess and Go. The two red candles were probably found in this cardboard box. This opened box was a different color from the other boxes in the storage room. It was clearly newer and must have been deliberately placed here by the production team. No wonder Lu Yige was able to find the red candles so coincidentally among all these boxes.

Her calves were a little numb from squatting. Jiang Qianqian stood up to relieve the numbness, but her head felt dizzy from a lack of bl00d flow. In a daze, she looked at the long, dusty cardboard boxes under the pale light and had a strange feeling. The neat arrangement looked like a—

“Morgue.” A voice suddenly came from behind, startling her. Jiang Qianqian turned around and saw Zhang Man standing behind her. The storage room door had been opened and then closed again at some point.

“What did you say?” She was still in shock and didn’t hear what Zhang Man said, so she asked again.

“I said, these boxes look like a morgue in a hospital.” Zhang Man looked up at the rows of cardboard boxes on the shelves. Her expression was unreadable.

“You’re so timid, yet you’ve been to a morgue?” Jiang Qianqian recalled Zhang Man’s terrified expression yesterday when she found out she was the one to perform the ghost-summoning ritual. It was hard to imagine how she could dare to go to a morgue.

“People find morgues scary because there are so many corpses in them. But if one of them is someone you’ve been missing day and night, it just becomes a room where they’re temporarily sleeping.” Seeing Jiang Qianqian’s expression turn a little strange, Zhang Man smiled and took a cardboard box from the shelf and opened it. “Alright, let’s see if there’s anything in these boxes that can open that door.”

Jiang Qianqian also began to move. She picked up a cardboard box next to her and started to open it. An hour later, there were only a few boxes left on the shelf. Jiang Qianqian looked at all the opened boxes. Inside were paintbrushes, glass cups, and music boxes. There was nothing strange. There were still three or four boxes left. Her gaze fell on a small rectangular cardboard box in the corner. This box was different from the others on the shelf. It was only one-third the size of the other boxes. She took the box from the corner, skillfully tore off the sealed tape, and a square redwood box unexpectedly appeared before her.

What is this? She took the redwood box out of a pile of cotton and opened it. Grayish-white powder appeared in her sight, scaring her so much that she almost dropped the small box. This was, this was an urn!

“Xiao Jiang, look over there.” Zhang Man’s voice rang in her ears, as if it was a charm, making her unable to help but look in the direction Zhang Man was pointing.

The locked basement door had opened without a sound.

“I think it’s better for a few of us to go together,” Song Zhe said seriously, standing at the basement door.

Jiang Qianqian immediately reported to the others that the basement door had opened. Except for the still unconscious Zhao Wen, everyone else was crammed into this small storage room.

So, who would go? Li Weizhao and Song Zhe were metaphysics consultants. If something supernatural happened, they could handle it, but it was best to leave one person above to assist. Li Sheng said that he was old and had a heart condition and couldn’t handle the stimulation, so he was also ruled out.

Zhang Man volunteered to go down and have a look. Lu Yige was still traumatized from his stare-down with the female ghost and took the opportunity to say that he wouldn’t go.

After counting, only three people were going to the basement: Jiang Qianqian, Song Zhe, and Zhang Man. Jiang Qianqian still had a lightning talisman, and her body was protected by spiritual energy, so she went first. Zhang Man, who had no metaphysical abilities, was second. This would make it easier to protect her if something happened. Song Zhe would be in the back, responsible for taking in the big picture and giving feedback to Li Weizhao.

The three of them each held a flashlight and went down to the basement. The basement was dark. The old, unrepaired stairs made a sharp sound that was a little jarring in the empty room. Jiang Qianqian walked in the front, feeling her way along the wall. She suddenly felt a switch. She took a deep breath and pressed it.

Click. After a slight sound, the whole room lit up. Her eyes, which had just adapted to the darkness, were forced shut. She only dared to open them after a while.

When she opened her eyes, the three of them were startled. Several strangely shaped wooden nails were hammered into the wooden floor. Underneath the nails was a strange formation. Even Song Zhe had never heard of the names of the deities written on it. In the four corners of the room, there was a candlestick on each wall, with residual candle wax on them.

“Ding-dong, congratulations on finding the hidden room. This mission has been released early.”

The robotic female voice came from the TV, demanding that all guests immediately gather in the living room.

“This mission is to play the Four-Corners Game in the basement. The four players will be chosen by the guests through a vote.”

“The rules of the game are as follows:”

“Four players will be in a square room at midnight. All the lights will be turned off. One person will stand in each of the four corners, facing the corner.”

“To begin the game, one person will walk to the next corner and tap the shoulder of the person there. If they walk to an empty corner, they will cough once and then continue to the next corner. If, after a long time, no one coughs, it means there is a person in every corner, and one person is always walking.”

“So, who is the extra person?”

As expected, Jiang Qianqian understood that the missions released in the morning were normal tasks, and the ones in the afternoon would become ghost games. The pattern of mission releases for the two days was exactly the same.

Four people. The able-bodied Zhao Wen was now unable to play the game. They had to choose four out of the remaining six people. Even if Jiang Qianqian and the other two could participate, they still needed one more normal person.

The expressions of the remaining three were varied. Lu Yige was very timid and looked a little hesitant at this mission.

“Another notification: Guests who have already participated in a mission cannot participate again.”

The TV, which had been black, suddenly “came back to life.” One sentence from it made the two of them feel relieved. Li Sheng’s face was a little pale. “What if I really get a heart attack? Can this production team afford a human life?” he said angrily. His expression was a little contorted, and he was no longer as calm and elegant as before.

“But, senior, if you have a heart condition, why did you film a sports variety show two days ago? I remember that strenuous exercise can also cause a heart attack,” Zhang Man said bluntly. When the others heard this, they all looked at Li Sheng.

“That’s because—” Li Sheng’s face alternated between green and white. He took a deep look at Zhang Man and then nodded in defeat, no longer arguing.

Midnight came. The four people who had been decided during the day opened the basement door and walked in, standing in the four corners of the room. Lu Yige and Zhao Wen waited in the living room. He turned on all the lights on the first floor. The whole place was now brightly lit and not as scary.

Jiang Qianqian still had a few talismans from Jiang Jing. Before she left, she took one out and gave it to Lu Yige, telling him that it must not get wet. Lu Yige took the talisman and thanked her gratefully, wanting to call her his big sister on the spot.

As for the unconscious Zhao Wen, Song Zhe drew a circle around him and told Lu Yige to go inside as well. Zhang Man had said she wasn’t feeling well during dinner and went back to her room to rest. She still hadn’t come out.

“It feels a little like the circle that Sun Wukong drew for Tang Sanzang,” Jiang Qianqian thought, looking at the circle and wanting to laugh at the inappropriate thought.

They had four red candles left from the previous mission. They each took one, put it on their candlestick, and lit it. “Are you ready?” Li Weizhao’s position was the closest to the light switch. He asked, facing the corner. The remaining three said they were ready. Jiang Qianqian counted to three in her head, then two, then one.

Click. The light went out. In the darkness, only the faint glow of the red candles remained. A cold wind blew, and the weak candlelight went out. As they had planned, Jiang Qianqian clapped her hands, signaling the start of the game.

She walked forward, her hand on the wall. When she got to the next corner, Song Zhe was facing the wall. She reached out and gently tapped Song Zhe’s shoulder. The space in front of her was now empty. Jiang Qianqian stood in Song Zhe’s original position. She calculated the approximate time and the new positions in her head. Song Zhe’s next was Li Weizhao, then Li Sheng, and then herself. It wasn’t long before she heard a cough behind her. The voice was a little low, and it was Li Sheng’s voice. A hand touched her shoulder, very lightly. If her nerves hadn’t been so tense, she probably wouldn’t have noticed.

A new round began. She walked forward. For some reason, it felt like she was covered with a black cloth in this room. Her five senses became dull. She couldn’t tell if the person in front of her was Li Weizhao. She just followed the rules and tapped the person’s shoulder. Jiang Qianqian stood in the corner in a haze, trying to distinguish who had switched places with whom by the sound of hands and cloth rubbing against each other.

Footsteps sounded behind her, followed by a light tap on her shoulder. The third round. Jiang Qianqian lifted her foot to walk forward, but she suddenly felt that something was missing. A light laugh came from her ear, and a cold sweat instantly covered her back. The cough was missing! In the second round, everyone had moved forward one position, so behind Jiang Qianqian was not an empty space but Li Sheng. But by the time Li Sheng tapped her shoulder, he should have already heard Li Weizhao’s cough. The fact that she didn’t hear it meant that there was someone in front of Li Weizhao, and he followed the game rules and didn’t cough. So, who was the person laughing next to her? It was obvious.

She quickly pulled out a lightning talisman from her pocket and threw it, but she didn’t hear the expected scream. Then, she was pulled by a great force and fell backward. Her body hit the ground with a loud bang. She didn’t have to guess to know that her back was definitely bruised. Jiang Qianqian forced herself to sit up from the ground, and her fingers touched something warm. The texture was clearly human skin!

This realization sent a shiver down her spine. After a round of the game, the person closest to the light switch was now Song Zhe. Song Zhe heard the sound of someone falling and, after not hearing a cough for a long time, realized that something had gone wrong. After a scramble, the basement lights were turned on.

What she saw was Jiang Jing, whose face was pale and who was in pain. Next to her was Li Sheng. His face was ashen, his neck was covered with scratch marks, and there was a thin mark, as if something had been used to strangle him. Jiang Qianqian leaned closer and looked at the “corpse,” which was unconscious. Besides the slight rise and fall of his chest, he was no different from a dead person in a morgue. The scratch marks on his neck were deep, but the finger marks were wide. He had made them himself. Something on the ground was reflecting light. She reached out and felt for it. She picked it up and saw… a fishing line?

“Ah!” Lu Yige’s voice came from upstairs. Along with the scream, the sound of breaking porcelain could be heard. Did something happen in the living room?!

Jiang Qianqian quickly walked towards the first floor. But as soon as she came out of the basement, the door behind her slammed shut, and no matter how she twisted the doorknob, she couldn’t open it.

Li Weizhao and Song Zhe had some cultivation, so Jiang Qianqian decided to go and check on Lu Yige and Zhao Wen first. After she came out of the storage room, she found that the brightly lit first floor was now completely dark.

“Lu Yige, are you okay?” With her spiritual energy on her hands, Jiang Qianqian held the token in front of her to prevent any sudden changes.

“I’m fine. The power just went out suddenly, and it scared me,” Lu Yige’s voice came from the living room, still sounding a little startled.

It’s probably not a power outage, but the lightbulbs were broken. Jiang Qianqian cautiously observed her surroundings and slowly moved forward. Just as she was halfway there, about to pass the front door, the villa’s front door was suddenly knocked on.

Knock, knock, knock. The three knocks were so clear in the dark hall.

“Sister Xiao Jiang, should we open the door?” Lu Yige asked nervously. For some reason, his yin-yang eye wasn’t working. He could only ask Jiang Qianqian for her opinion in a low voice.

Human knocks three times, ghost knocks four times. This was not the same ghost as the one at Zhang Man’s door last night. It was likely a real person. Jiang Qianqian didn’t dare to be careless. She cautiously asked the person at the door, “Who are you? How did you get here?”

“It’s me, Jiang Jing. I walked up the mountain from the bottom. I’m so tired.” Jiang Jing?! As soon as the voice spoke, Jiang Qianqian recognized her. She didn’t expect this ghost to know the people around her.

The road up the mountain was covered in ghostly energy this morning. All the paths were hidden by a thick fog. Otherwise, Zhao Wen wouldn’t have been unable to leave and would be unconscious now. She wanted to scold the ghost, but she suddenly realized she couldn’t speak, and she couldn’t move either. Does this ghost have that much power? She was shocked. Then she heard a voice at the door, “Alright, I’ll open the door for you.”

The voice was clearly her own, and it was coming from inside the door. Could the person outside really be Jiang Jing? She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t know anything about acupoints, so she couldn’t get out of her fixed state. Jiang Qianqian looked at the door anxiously. She saw a person who looked exactly like her had already walked to the door, ready to open it.

No! Jiang Qianqian desperately prayed that Jiang Jing wouldn’t believe this “Jiang Qianqian” because she would surely be ambushed.

The door was opened. The “Jiang Qianqian” took Jiang Jing’s hand and led her in with a smile. “Why are the lights not on in such a big villa?” Jiang Jing looked around the dark first floor. Li Weizhao and the other two were locked in the basement. Zhang Man was in her room on the second floor. There was no light coming from the entire villa.

“Everyone has gone to sleep at this time, so I didn’t turn on the lights,” the fake Jiang Qianqian answered very logically. For some reason, Jiang Jing couldn’t see her standing directly in front of the door.

“You came so late. Are you tired? Do you want to go back to my room to rest first?” The ghost held Jiang Jing’s hand and was about to walk toward the stairs. Jiang Jing didn’t resist and walked along with her.

She’s saying all my lines! Jiang Qianqian stood there, wanting to cry. She was scolding Jiang Jing in her mind for not being able to tell the difference between her and the ghost.

“No thanks. I want to catch up with her first.” The “Jiang Qianqian” suddenly turned her head and looked at her in surprise but was fixed in place by a talisman.

Jiang Jing, who had been standing behind her, ready to go upstairs with her, was now two meters away. She made a Three-Mountain Finger Incantation with her right hand and then a Sword Finger Incantation. The faint blue Qi in the dark room allowed Jiang Qianqian to clearly see all of her movements.

“Upon the altar, there is a golden hue, banishing evil and misfortune. Upon the middle altar, there are two whites, protecting the body and guarding the house. Upon the lowest altar, there are three clear lights, revealing great divine power.”

Jiang Qianqian saw her feet begin to move. She took a few steps and wrote two complicated characters in the air with her finger that Jiang Qianqian didn’t recognize. Then, the Qi flew towards the ghost like an arrow. The figure that looked just like her instantly scattered. Then, Jiang Qianqian felt that she could move her feet again.

“I knew you were too afraid of the dark to come down and open the door for me without turning on the lights.”

The lights in the living room came on. Jiang Qianqian now saw that besides the lights on the ceiling, all the other lightbulbs were shattered, and the pieces were scattered all over the floor. Jiang Jing was leaning against the stair railing with her arms crossed, joking with Jiang Qianqian.

“What the…?” The young lady, who hadn’t flinched after facing several evil ghosts, suddenly felt a wave of fatigue. The bruises on her back were now throbbing with pain. She felt her eyes swell up, and her voice choked. “Am I really that timid?”

Jiang Jing saw that Jiang Qianqian was about to cry. She ran over and hugged her, patting her back gently, just like her master used to comfort her.

“Okay, okay. I’m the one who’s timid. I’m too scared to sit in the living room with the lights off.” Although they had only been apart for three days, a lot had happened. Jiang Qianqian wanted to tell Jiang Jing everything that had happened to her in every single moment of the past two days.

“I say, Sister Xiao Jiang, I still can’t move. Can you please save me first?” Lu Yige watched the two of them hugging and didn’t dare to interrupt. He had just wanted to sit down and catch his breath but found that he was still frozen in place.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot about you. Jiang Jing, go help him quickly.” Only then did Jiang Qianqian remember that there were two people in the living room. She quickly let go of Jiang Jing and pushed her to help.

“Hello, I’m Jiang Qianqian’s sister. My name is Jiang Jing.”

Lu Yige rubbed his sore calves and then heard the person who was already sitting on the sofa say with a smile.