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If that’s the case, then who exactly is this Lin Zhi?
The real Lin Zhi, still inside the bathroom, spoke with a trembling voice.
Lin Kuo heard the bathroom door lock click.
He immediately grabbed the doorknob. “Stay inside,” he said.
“Lin Kuo!”
“Don’t cause trouble.”
Lin Kuo’s words finally calmed Lin Zhi down.
Only then did he raise his eyes to look at the Lin Zhi standing in front of him.
At that moment, he suddenly felt grateful to Zhang Mengnan for having told a story about schizophrenia—it made him perceive this female ghost as Lin Zhi.
When he’d glanced back earlier after closing the door, Lin Kuo had only taken a quick look.
Now, he realized the Lin Zhi wasn’t fiddling with the TV anymore. She was trying to crawl out of it.
More than half of her body was already outside.
Without a second thought, Lin Kuo picked up a chair and smashed it against the TV.
Bang—
Because the female ghost appeared to be Lin Zhi in his eyes, Lin Kuo hesitated for a moment, worried he might hurt her when he smashed it.
Only after the blow landed did he realize—this ghost version of Lin Zhi probably wasn’t afraid of physical attacks.
And sure enough, the ghost remained unaffected.
She propped herself up on the TV cabinet, looking up at Lin Kuo with a smile.
Her arms, exposed outside the TV, waved slightly, as if trying to grab his throat—but she made no move to continue crawling out.
Lin Kuo had been drawing for an entire day, and his mind was running faster than usual.
Fire could stop the ancient pagoda tree, so perhaps the TV could restrict the female ghost in the same way.
With that realization, Lin Kuo smashed the TV several more times without hesitation.
The female ghost finally shrank back into the screen.
Seizing the opportunity, Lin Kuo grabbed his portrait and the paper where he’d written down all the clues. He rushed to the bathroom, pushed open the door, and said, “Let’s go.”
The three of them left Room 4.
As soon as they stepped out, Lin Zhi saw the little boy smashing the door of Room 3.
Perhaps attracted by the noise from their side, the little boy looked over with a blank expression.
Lin Zhi felt a sudden suffocation in her chest.
But the little boy only glanced at them briefly before turning back to his task—smashing the door.
He seemed to have no intention of attacking them, focused solely on the job at hand.
The hammer in his hand was stained with blood.
It was obvious whose blood it was.
With each swing, the hammer embedded more blood into the door, seeping into the panel.
Lin Kuo’s head started to throb again.
What he saw was even more terrifying than what Lin Zhi or Jiang Sheng could see.
In his eyes, the little boy looked exactly like Lin Zhi in her evil god form.
Lin Kuo knew Lin Zhi always acted carefree, but in truth, she was extremely timid.
Trying his best to stay calm, he grabbed Lin Zhi’s hand, and Lin Zhi held onto Jiang Sheng.
The three of them rushed to the fourth floor of the villa and entered the room numbered ’13’.
Back in the room, they were all utterly exhausted.
Lin Zhi’s face was pale.
When she’d come out of the bathroom in Room 4, she had seen the female ghost struggling to climb out of the TV.
After leaving Room 4, she had seen the anti-social, anti-personality little boy she’d imagined in her own story.
Her mental state was already on the verge of collapse.
Lin Zhi stretched out her arms, “Bro, I want a hug.”
Lin Kuo endured his own discomfort and spoke as gently as he could, “Zhizhi, don’t be afraid. Bro is here. If you want a hug, come here.”
Lin Zhi threw herself at Lin Kuo, hugging him tightly.
At this moment, she didn’t even mention how thin her brother had become.
She buried herself in his embrace, sobbing quietly.
Lin Kuo gently ruffled her hair, and in his eyes, he saw another Lin Zhi staring at him with teary eyes.
He hugged Jiang Sheng too.
Knowing his role, Lin Kuo kept reminding himself he had no psychological problems.
Only after reassuring himself again and again did he finally let go of the two of them.
Then, he directly threw the room’s TV downstairs and walked to the door.
He pressed himself against the door, listening carefully to the movements outside.
It wasn’t quiet.
Someone was shouting, “Help! A ghost!!!”
The screams continued, but because they came from two floors down, the sound was muffled—it wasn’t sharp enough to make their scalps tingle.
Lin Zhi and Jiang Sheng clearly heard it too and broke into a cold sweat.
Lin Kuo listened for a while longer.
Gradually, the screams weakened.
Once the night returned to silence, he finally turned around.
In his hand, he still held the portrait and the paper summarizing the clues.
Lin Kuo set the sketch paper aside, picked up a pen, and quickly wrote down his thoughts.
First, he crossed out one of the entries in
[Clues that need to be verified]: “Whether the cat sees the storyteller’s story through its third eye.”
During the day, he hadn’t covered the cat’s eyes, yet the stories of Number 2, Duan Lei, and Number 8, Yan Jie, still materialized.
Now, the only clue left under [Clues that need to be verified] was:
“Whether the cat’s name is the key to solving the instance.”
Lin Kuo thought for a moment and moved this clue to [Questions that have no answers for now].
Then, he added new content to [Clues that need to be verified].
The paper now read:
Lin Zhi finally calmed down.
Seeing Lin Kuo staring at the notes in deep thought, she glanced at the paper and asked,
“Bro, how did you come up with the second and third points under ‘Clues that need to be verified’? Is it because that anti-social, anti-personality little boy isn’t interested in us?”
Lin Kuo nodded.
Not only that—when he had stood by the door, he’d heard someone crying for help.
The words had been: “Help! There’s a ghost!”
And the voice was female.
Among the thirteen of them, there were only three girls: Lin Zhi, Zhang Mengnan, and Number 5—the one who rolled a five.
If the little boy had attacked Number 5, she wouldn’t have shouted “There’s a ghost.”
That could only mean the female ghost from the TV had moved on to the next room—and that room was ‘5’.
Lin Kuo said, “We’ll know for sure at dawn. Sleep.”
Lin Zhi shook her head, “I can’t sleep.”
She was actually too scared.
Lin Kuo saw through her but didn’t say anything.
In his vision, both Lin Zhis had nervous, uneasy expressions.
He thought for a moment and said, “Then let’s think about the clues together.”
“Okay!” the two of them said in unison, eager for a distraction.
Lin Zhi pretended to be excited, “Where should we start? I never expected that the anti-social, anti-personality little boy would look exactly like I imagined!”
Lin Kuo paused and repeated, “Exactly like you imagined…?”
Lin Zhi nodded, “Yeah. What’s wrong, Bro? Did I discover something important?”
Just as Lin Kuo was about to speak, the thought that flashed in his mind had already slipped away.
That kind of sudden inspiration was always hard to grasp, and once lost, it was like trying to catch smoke.
He didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he tapped his pen on the fifth clue in [Basically Confirmed Clues]:
“The materialization can be destroyed if you find its weakness. Let’s think about what their weaknesses might be.”
Originally, Lin Kuo thought they’d discuss the little boy or the female ghost, but the first thing Lin Zhi and Jiang Sheng wanted to do was figure out how to resolve the materialized depression affecting Lin Kuo.
Lin Kuo’s eyes softened slightly. He pursed his lips.
Lin Zhi giggled, “Bro, are you touched?”
Lin Kuo: “…Of course not.”
Lin Zhi gave him an I know you’re just being tsundere look but didn’t push it further.
Instead, she thought for a long time before speaking seriously.
“In Zhang Mengnan’s story, the protagonist—the new mother—had postpartum depression and schizophrenia… If it’s postpartum depression, that proves it’s not congenital.”
Girls are always emotional.
Lin Zhi sighed, “If the new mother’s husband had treated her well during pregnancy and made her feel secure, she wouldn’t have become depressed. Honestly, when a woman goes from being a white-collar elite to a housewife, people act like she’s dependent on a man and has no prospects. But in reality, being a housewife is sometimes even harder than working outside.”
After saying this, Lin Zhi gave Lin Kuo a bright smile, “Bro, I understand you so well! Thank you for raising me. I’ve decided not to get married in this life—I’ll stay by your side forever.”
“…Mmm.”
Lin Zhi looked sad, “Bro, do you dislike me? Why won’t you answer me directly? You’ve forgotten your sister for your sister-in-law! Isn’t it great if your sister never gets married? I’ll even help raise your kid—I’ll treat them like my own.”
Lin Kuo avoided her gaze. “…There probably won’t be that chance.”
Lin Zhi froze.
For once, she was truly a little sad. “Bro, is it because raising me made you lose all interest in having kids? I owe you. In my next life—”
“No.”
Lin Kuo cut her off quickly.
Seeing Lin Zhi lower her head, his heart softened.
“It’s… I can’t have children.”
Lin Zhi paused.
Knowing Lin Kuo wasn’t the type to joke, she asked, “Ah? Is it you… or sister-in-law?”
Lin Kuo’s ears turned slightly red, “…Neither of us.”
Lin Zhi grinned, “It’s okay, Bro! We can adopt. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have two kids in the future—I’ll give one to you.”
Lin Kuo poked her head, “What’s going on in that brain of yours?”
“Hehe, my brother finally smiled.”
She clapped her hands, and Jiang Sheng joined in, clapping along.
Lin Kuo quickly changed the subject, but he had to admit—the heaviness in his heart eased a little.
If he had to choose again, he would still take on the role of being Lin Zhi’s brother.
The conversation shifted from depression to the perverted little boy and the female ghost.
Lin Kuo wrote down all the possible weaknesses the two of them suggested.
Lin Zhi kept showering him with compliments, saying things like “Bro, your handwriting is so nice.”
When they finished, she finally asked the main point, “And then?”
“We wait.”
When the clues were verified at dawn, he would begin trying to take control of the instance.
The next day, at dawn, because Lin Kuo needed to verify the clues, he didn’t let Lin Zhi go off to get food like usual.
The three of them woke up early and went from the fourth floor down to the second, planning to check on the clues they’d left the night before.
Unexpectedly, the old man was even earlier than they were.
The rooms were already spotless, as if no one had ever stayed in them.
When the old man saw the three of them, he greeted them with a smile.
“Good morning, dear guests. There’s still an hour before breakfast. If you’re bored while waiting, why not go to the living room and check the scores?”
With no other choice, the three of them went to the living room.
Lin Zhi grumbled, her voice low but brimming with frustration.
“Room 2, Room 3, and Room 5 are all empty now. They must’ve met with misfortune. Yan Jie must be thrilled right now. The fact that he could tell a story like that, knowing full well it might kill people, makes me want to slap him—twice.”
Lin Kuo warned quietly,
“Don’t provoke him.”
Yan Jie was ruthless.
Lin Zhi wasn’t his match, and neither was Lin Kuo—not in his current condition.
His depression hadn’t improved much, and it still clouded his thinking, leaving gaps in his logic and making it impossible to see the whole picture clearly.
In this situation, it was safest to make as few enemies as possible.
Lin Zhi muttered,
“I’m just venting. I’m the king of trash talk—you know that. It’s not like it’s the first or second day.”
But when she looked at Lin Kuo, she realized he was ignoring her.
Worried she’d upset him and added to his burden, she was just about to say something when Lin Kuo pointed silently to the display screen in the living room.
“Zhizhi, you got a number score,” Lin Kuo said.
On the display screen:
_______________________________________________
Name: Lin Zhi
Number: [1]
Duration Score: 6
Number Score: 20
Story Score: 15
Total Score: 41
Ranking: 2
_______________________________________________
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