Chapter 67: Jiang Xiao, Don’t Go Just Yet

“Yikes!”

Xie Zhuran let out a strange yelp.

The sudden darkness, coupled with Xie Zhuran’s startled cry, made Song Qiuyu jump in fright, goosebumps breaking out all over her skin. Her body went weak, and she instinctively wanted to grab onto something for comfort.

But in that instant, she remembered Lin An’s earlier prank of secretly turning off the lights.

“Lao Lin, did you turn off the lights again?”

In the darkness, Song Qiuyu’s voice trembled a little.

“Uh, it wasn’t me this time.”

Lin An’s voice came from nearby.

Both Xie Zhuran and Song Qiuyu turned toward the sound, while Sang Tian, even paler than before, didn’t dare look in that direction.

She still hadn’t shaken off the Script Murder plot; the Ghost Master’s warning kept echoing in her mind.

[There’s a ghost among you.]

Just as Song Qiuyu felt her heart pounding out of her chest, the glow of a phone finally lit up.

Everyone’s expression looked rather grim.

“Turn on the light.”

Song Qiuyu glanced at the table lamp not far away, a strong sense of resistance welling up inside her.

She didn’t want to go turn it on.

What if she walked over and found a ghostly shadow standing in the corner?

In the end, Lin An stepped forward and flicked the table lamp’s switch.

“Click.”

A soft sound.

Yet, the gentle, warm light didn’t come on.

“Is this… a power outage?”

Lin An froze for a moment.

“Could be.”

Xie Zhuran let out a long breath, trying to analyze calmly.

“Should we keep going?”

Lin An asked.

“Lao Lin, you’re really a wolf… You actually want to keep playing now?”

Xie Zhuran swallowed nervously. “If this were a horror movie, we’d already be losing members.”

“If we’re chasing thrills, let’s see it through to the end, right?”

Lin An shot Xie Zhuran a look.

Following Lin An’s gaze, Xie Zhuran saw Sang Tian curled up in a ball and Song Qiuyu still looking shell-shocked.

So close to the finish line.

Can’t give up now.

“I say we keep going. Probably just lightning hit the lightning rod and tripped the circuit. We’re in a big city, after all. Power should be back in ten minutes or so.”

Xie Zhuran said.

“Mm.”

Jiang Xiao, face pale, hesitated for a moment after receiving the signal, but then nodded.

Three votes in favor.

Song Qiuyu looked at Sang Tian and found Sang Tian looking back at her.

Forget it.

Better to stop playing.

Not because she was scared—she just felt bad for frightening Sang Tian so much.

Definitely not because she was scared.

A real man wouldn’t be afraid of this.

“How about—”

She swallowed, but before she could finish, Sang Tian spoke up.

“Let’s keep going.”

“Hiss…”

Song Qiuyu was numb.

Four to one.

She couldn’t spoil the mood, so she steeled herself and decided to keep playing.

The game resumed, the plot slowly advancing.

To be honest, talking about ghosts in a strange room during a power outage really made the heart race.

At least, that’s how Song Qiuyu felt…

She kept feeling a chill on her back, as if a ghost was staring at her from behind…

The thought alone made her shudder.

Scaring herself.

Stop imagining things.

“By the way, don’t you guys feel like the room’s gotten colder?”

Just then, Jiang Xiao spoke up.

“Whoa, it really is kind of cold…”

Xie Zhuran hadn’t even finished speaking.

Lin An chuckled and said, “Ever heard the saying—if you’re telling ghost stories and the temperature suddenly drops—”

“It means the ghost is listening with you.”

As soon as he finished, Song Qiuyu felt an urgent need to pee, her eyes darting around the room, mind conjuring up scenes of turning around and seeing a ghost.

“But the lights are already off.”

Sang Tian’s voice trembled.

“Maybe it means there are a lot of them? Or their energy’s too strong?”

Lin An suddenly put on a serious face.

“Uhh…”

Song Qiuyu was scared out of her wits and instinctively turned to look at Jiang Xiao.

To her surprise, Jiang Xiao was looking right back at her.

She didn’t know why, but in that moment, most of her fear seemed to melt away.

A strange sense of reassurance.

And this moment of eye contact happened to be caught by Sang Tian.

The sweetness of shipping a CP even drove away most of her own fear.

Just then, there were two knocks—thump, thump—on their room door.

Everyone froze. Instantly, their minds went to the female ghost knocking in the Script Murder.

They all subconsciously looked toward the door, that pitch-black direction.

It was as if a Sadako-like ghost was lurking in the darkness, watching them with sinister eyes.

The knocking echoed, and once again, fear washed over them.

Song Qiuyu took a deep breath, mustered her lost courage, and stood up. “I’ll go take a look.”

But Jiang Xiao was even faster, rising from his seat with his phone in hand, walking quietly to the door. He didn’t bother checking the cat eye—he just put his hand on the doorknob.

“Jiang Xiao, wait—”

Before she could finish, Song Qiuyu saw Jiang Xiao open the room door.

With a creak, the light from a handheld flashlight spilled in.

“Sorry, due to some electric circuit issues, part of the floor is experiencing a power outage. The hotel is already working on repairs. Sorry for the unpleasant experience.”

The hotel attendant who had brought them up was standing at the dimly lit doorway.

Finally, the hotel attendant handed them some snack chips and five cups of hot beverage as compensation before turning and leaving.

The room door closed again.

“Come to think of it, with the power out, the air conditioner stopped running. It’s pretty normal for the room to get cold.”

Jiang Xiao carried the hotel’s compensation back to their circle and set it down in the middle.

“True.”

Song Qiuyu took the milk tea out of the bag and handed it to everyone. “Alright, let’s keep going.”

After a while, a sharp scream suddenly pierced the room—it was Xie Zhuran.

“Congratulations, Script Murder complete. One surviving player.”

As Lin An announced the result, the three “dead” players all turned to look at the surviving Xie Zhuran in silent agreement.

“Ahem, no need to worship me! I’m the man who’s watched Detective Conan, Lupin the Third, and Sherlock Holmes Detective Stories countless times!”

Xie Zhuran rubbed his nose.

A faint buzzing of electricity sounded.

The lights came on.

The air conditioner started up again, and the chilly room began to warm.

“Finally! Power’s back. My phone was almost dead.”

Song Qiuyu muttered, and as she turned her head, she was startled to realize she was sitting so close to Jiang Xiao—their shoulders almost overlapping.

Ah… She remembered now. When the power went out and it got cold, she’d unconsciously moved closer to the heat source.

Turns out the heat source was Jiang Xiao!

While Jiang Xiao wasn’t looking at her, she quickly and as naturally as possible scooted away.

She glanced at Sang Tian, thinking she might have snuggled up to Jiang Xiao for warmth too, but their distance hadn’t changed at all.

Come to think of it, during Script Murder, she’d tried to create chances several times and failed every time.

Though Sang Tian had been frightened, she seemed to be deliberately avoiding too much physical contact with Jiang Xiao.

Absolutely nothing had happened…

Aside from possibly misunderstanding her relationship with Jiang Xiao, there was another big reason—Sang Tian was a girl who kept herself pure!

And Jiang Xiao was also very proper. They’re a perfect match.

Then, searching for something to say, she added, “It’s already 2 a.m. We should probably get some sleep. I’m getting tired. What about you guys?”

“A little bit.”

Sang Tian nodded.

“But…”

Lin An glanced around the room at the available places to sleep, frowning in worry. “There’s only one big bed, and two Lazy Sofas we can sleep on, but there are five of us.”

Sang Tian, being a girl, would of course sleep alone. That left them with just…

One bed and one Lazy Sofa to divide among the rest.