The static noise from the TV startled Yu Xiaoxiao awake from her light sleep.
In less than a second, she had already shifted from sleep to a ready stance, gripping her dagger tightly and poised to strike. Her eyes fixed on the television; if anything abnormal appeared, she was prepared to slash through both the screen and the source of danger.
"Crackle, crackle…"
The old-fashioned TV, speckled with static, was a model from forty or fifty years ago—something rarely seen by those born in this era.
Yu Jing signaled for Yu Xiaoxiao to stay calm. Slowly, amid the snow-like interference, a clearer image began to form on the screen. It showed Jiang Peng and his group of four in their room, with the camera angle seeming to come from a corner of the room.
The four were engaged in discussion. After a decision was reached, three left the room, leaving behind a seemingly experienced man in his thirties.
At that moment, a humanoid outline began to appear slowly on the corner of the wall. As time passed, the figure grew more distinct.
Eventually, a woman with limbs and arms—someone Yu Jing had seen before—emerged from the wall's surface, crawling across the floor with traces of dirt, slowly approaching the lone man inside the room.
"Should we go down?" Seeing this, Yu Xiaoxiao immediately took a battle-ready stance.
Her concern wasn't for the man's safety but because the ghost's true form had been revealed on the screen. Yu Xiaoxiao saw this as a perfect opportunity to strike and kill the creature.
"The surveillance footage on the TV is fake. Jiang Peng and that man would never leave a teammate alone in a room. From the very start, they chose to room four per group, which shows they would never deliberately isolate a teammate…"
Although Yu Jing reasoned this, his gaze never left the screen. The scene felt too real—the woman silently creeping up on the man sitting nervously by the window.
"Knock, knock!"
Just then, someone knocked on the door of Yu Jing and Yu Xiaoxiao's room.
Thanks to the plant tendrils sensing the motion on the walls, Yu Jing opened the door without hesitation. Standing outside were Jiang Peng and his entire team—all four members—including the man who appeared trapped in the footage, confirming Yu Jing's suspicion that the TV images were fabricated.
"So, both of you are here?" Jiang Peng asked with some surprise, looking at Yu Jing and Yu Xiaoxiao inside.
"Did you see the TV footage too?" Yu Jing asked in return.
"Yes. The screen showed you alone in your room, with a woman breaking in from outside the window. It looked extremely dangerous, so we came upstairs to rescue you. Didn't expect it to be fake," Jiang Peng said, scratching his head awkwardly.
From an ordinary perspective, one would be grateful for Jiang Peng's willingness to risk danger to rescue them. But Yu Jing could tell that Jiang Peng and his group also recognized the footage as false—they only used it as an excuse to initiate cooperation.
"Come in and talk."
Yu Jing did not turn them away. Cooperation was absolutely necessary in the current situation. Since Yu Xiaoxiao did not object, the four entered the room. Yu Xiaoxiao withdrew to a corner, clutching her dagger coldly.
Yu Jing suddenly said, "Survival chances are obviously better with six of us working together. What are your thoughts?"
Yu Jing's words surprised Jiang Peng briefly, but he quickly responded, "Cooperation is definitely the way forward. None of us have experience fighting real ghosts. Our plan was to start by investigating the old woman at the front desk. What do you think, brother Yu Jing?"
"Based on the current situation, the things hiding here don't seem ready to make a move. Let's wait until tomorrow to act together. Maybe more newcomers will enter this area and help fill the gaps in our numbers… For now, let's introduce ourselves and get to know each other's abilities."
"No problem. Let's start with the four of us," Jiang Peng said.
From the conversation, it was clear Jiang Peng was eager to align with Yu Jing—especially to make a good impression in front of Yu Xiaoxiao. Gaining a strong ally in battle was critical.
"I'm Jiang Pengyu, from a small family in Sector Three. We've passed down a kind of body-tempering technique. I'm not exactly a direct heir of the main bloodline, but I was recommended by the family to attend the Dihua Academy of Abilities because I showed some promise. Right now, my physical abilities are roughly twice that of a normal person. Smashing through the wooden walls of this inn would be no trouble at all."
As Jiang Pengyu finished his introduction, the slender young man standing next to him—barely over 1.6 meters tall—offered a somewhat embarrassed smile and stepped forward shyly to introduce himself.
"My name is Men Qian, a freshman at the Medical Division of Dihua Academy. I come from a small medical clinic in Central Sector One. Thanks to our connections with the academy's affiliated hospital, I was recommended to study here… Honestly, I'm really scared of all these unnatural things. I was bullied a lot as a kid, and I'm absolutely terrible at fighting. My ability is ultra-fast precision surgery."
As the small, timid student finished speaking, Jiang Pengyu gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder.
"Brother Yu Jing, you might not know this, but the Medical Division at Dihua only accepts one-quarter the number of students the other faculties do. This guy even got in as a recommendation student. I was lucky to pull him into my team early to build a connection—if we make it out of this alive, we'll be clinging to the thighs of his division for support more times than we can count."
"Healing ability, huh? What can you actually do with it?" Yu Jing asked with some curiosity. After all, the plant entity inside him also had regenerative properties.
"Basic surface wound repair is easy. I can reattach severed limbs in just a few seconds. Reconnecting a head takes a bit longer—several minutes at least—since dealing with the nervous system is extremely complicated. Of course, I can't regenerate lost limbs from nothing. The severed parts must still be intact."
Hearing this, even Yu Xiaoxiao, who had been silently leaning against the wall, looked over with interest. Being able to repair severed limbs in seconds—and even reattach a head—was simply astonishing.
Next, the girl tightly wrapped in a coat stepped forward to speak. She had a delicate, pleasing appearance, though she was clearly a tier below Yu Xiaoxiao in terms of beauty. Her demeanor was soft and fragile.
"Zhang Xingyue, disciple of the Academy of Arts. I'd rather not disclose my family background. I specialize in hypnosis and some minor mental perception techniques. I'm still inexperienced in wide-range mental projection, but one-on-one control is fairly effective."
Of all the people here, Yu Xiaoxiao disliked this particular woman the most. To her, Zhang Xingyue reeked of calculation and manipulation.
Finally, the man in his thirties with dark circles under his eyes—the grizzled soldier—gave a brief introduction. Compared to the others, this battle-hardened veteran who had clearly climbed over the corpses of his comrades had no special abilities to speak of. But his combat experience far surpassed that of anyone else present.
PS: Read Advance Chapters Visit https://www.patreon.com/c/Seraphim777