"Knock, knock, knock."
The knocking was light and quick, filled with a sense of probing.
"Chu Xi, Takagi Reina, are you there? It’s Watanabe Gou."
Watanabe Gou’s voice ca from outside the door, but it was low, as if deliberately avoiding sothing, slipping in through the crack of the door.
At this mont, Takagi Reina’s face changed slightly. She didn’t dare to speak, so she gestured to Yang Xiao, making a throat-slitting motion.
Yang Xiao nodded, understanding her aning. He also suspected the person outside wasn’t Watanabe Gou, but a Ghost.
The reason was simple. It was not yet fully daylight, and generally, team mbers wouldn’t leave their residence, not to ntion they had agreed to et at 8 AM. This guy showing up just after 6 made no sense.
Yang Xiao’s face was grim. Considering last night’s recording, he had a preliminary judgnt. It seed things were heading in the worst direction. Not only was Mimura Kaori, who was targeted by the Ghost, dead, but Watanabe Gou, who lived with her, also t a tragic end.
Now, before daybreak, this Ghost disguised as Watanabe Gou had co to find them. If they opened the door, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Even scarier, if they were killed, the Ghost would hide in the Detective Agency, continuing to disguise and wait for the other team mbers to gather, killing them one by one.
This wasn’t a rash guess. Yang Xiao was almost certain that the guy outside was the Ghost.
One thing the Ghost probably didn’t know was that Watanabe Gou, who was killed, happened to have the only key to the iron door of the Detective Agency.
If the person outside really was Watanabe Gou, he could just open the door with the key. Why bother knocking?
"It’s the Source Ghost..." Yang Xiao mouthed to Takagi Reina. To kill two people consecutively and co for them before daybreak, it was undoubtedly the Source Ghost.
At this mont, Takagi Reina was also a bit anxious. The way the Water Ghost killed last night was so bizarre, the Source Ghost could only be more troubleso.
Moreover, even if they didn’t open the door, who knew if this guy would hide in so dark corner of the corridor, lying in ambush, waiting for their teammates to arrive?
Two experienced teammates lost on their first night here, sothing unprecedented in Yang Xiao’s experience.
And the more troubleso thing was, they had no idea how the Source Ghost killed.
While Yang Xiao was contemplating counterasures, the guy outside seed to realize he’d been exposed. His footsteps changed, starting to shuffle, shoes barely leaving the ground, accompanied by an inexplicable, low, hoarse laughter.
At that mont, Yang Xiao and Takagi Reina behind the door were on edge. Yang Xiao could only make out that the laughter was from a man, with a voice line very similar to Watanabe Gou’s. Yang Xiao could even imagine the eerie face of the Ghost disguised as Watanabe Gou.
Quickly, the footsteps completely disappeared, going in the opposite direction of where they ca from, away from the bathroom.
Once the footsteps disappeared entirely, Takagi Reina whispered her concern. She suspected the Ghost hadn’t left at all, either lurking outside the door or... lying in wait to ambush their teammates.
Yang Xiao knew this as well, but what use was knowing? They had no phone, no way to contact their teammates, no ans to warn them.
Just then, Yang Xiao rembered the phone call from last night.
Two calls ca in last night. The first was from the missing Sasaki Sakura, the second from a completely unfamiliar number, an 11-digit number ending in 3848, a mobile number.
Yang Xiao quickly went to the desk, reconnected the unplugged phone line, and found this number on the caller ID.
But searching further, he couldn’t find the call from Sasaki Sakura.
The caller ID for that call was gone, as if it had never existed.
This similar scene triggered Yang Xiao’s mories. Not long ago, Sasaki Sakura ntioned that calls from "sister" also had no record.
One recorded, the other not—does that an the first was a Ghost phone, and the second... was from a human?
"It was Watanabe Gou. It must have been him!" Takagi Reina analyzed, "He must have sensed sothing wrong with Mimura Kaori, trying to notify us, maybe even seeking help."
The subsequent results were known to them; Watanabe Gou ultimately couldn’t escape this fate.
He died. After the Ghost killed, it disguised as him, trying to trick them into opening the door before daybreak.
Hesitating by the desk for a mont, Yang Xiao asked, "What do you think would happen if I called this number back now?"
"Are you tempted to call Watanabe Gou?" Takagi Reina stared at Yang Xiao in astonishnt, "I advise you not to. All we can do now is wait for the others to arrive. You know, the Ghost can’t kill them all."
Before she could finish, Takagi Reina was surprised to see Yang Xiao press the redial button. A few seconds later, a shrill cellphone ringtone rang from the end of the corridor, but it was only one beep before it was hung up, followed by running sounds.
Not running toward them, but leaving footsteps, running downstairs. The footsteps were extrely frantic, as if frightened.
This sudden event left Yang Xiao stunned. He couldn’t understand why the Ghost, instead of answering the call, ran away so quickly.
Could it be... could it be afraid of people?
"What’s happening?" Takagi Reina was equally puzzled, "You made a call and scared the Source Ghost away?"
The mission wasn’t about fearing how cruel the Ghost could be. Regardless, being caught ant death, albeit a horrific one. The end was predetermined, but the worst was not unraveling clues, just as they couldn’t grasp what the Source Ghost’s thods were.
"Could it be that it fears the phone—that’s its weakness? All we need to do is confirm it’s nearby, call it, and the phone sound will drive it away," Takagi Reina quickly sorted her thoughts, analyzing the situation.
"There’s a possibility, maybe, every ti it kills, it takes the victim’s phone, spreading the curse using the phone. Its killing thod is connected to cellphones."
Yang Xiao seed to unravel so clues, but still felt sothing was off. The mission hadn’t fully unfolded, and seizing the Source Ghost’s weakness this easily seed, based on past mission experience, almost impossible.
Thus, with heightened vigilance, Yang Xiao and Takagi Reina waited until 8 AM. By now, daylight had broken outside, and footsteps began to clutter in the corridor.
Soone was coming. It should be their people, judging by the number of footsteps.
Sure enough, the footsteps stopped outside the door, and then Suzuki Takashi’s sowhat uncertain voice sounded, "Chu Xi, Takagi Reina, are you... are you inside?"
"Yes, you’re all here?" Yang Xiao asked through the door, "Did you see Watanabe Gou?"
"Chu Xi, are you ho?" The next mont, Watanabe Gou’s voice suddenly ca, "Then earlier... why didn’t you answer?"
Upon hearing Watanabe Gou’s voice, Yang Xiao’s mind buzzed. He didn’t expect his teammates to be so careless, bringing the Ghost right to them.
Continuing to play gas would only make the situation more chaotic. Yang Xiao chose the most direct and reliable approach, raising an alarm, "This guy is a problem—it’s a Ghost! Be careful!"
With these words, chaos erupted outside, but soon, under Yandeta Chiyoda and Kato Shinjiro’s managent, it gradually cald down.
"He’s not a Ghost. Are you scared out of your wits?" Yandeta Chiyoda still maintained that lofty attitude, "Open the door, don’t waste everyone’s ti."
"Old fool, are you blind?" Yang Xiao was furious, quickly stepping back to the desk, redialing the number until the next second, the phone rang again, this ti right outside the door.
The piercing ringtone was identical to the one in the corridor earlier.
"Open the door, open the door!" Violent knocking ca from outside.
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