Throughout Jade Water Bay Manor, every light was blazing—from the grand crystal chandelier in the hall's ceiling to the warm, ambient lamps in the dining room, even each lamppost accenting the garden and building edges shone brightly. The glare was almost blinding.
Horror films often rely on darkness and confined spaces to evoke fear. Yet Feng Yushu now walked through a vast, brightly lit hall, able at any turn to glimpse stone columns and statues through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Spacious, luminous, utterly silent.
Here and there, a corpse leaned against a wall or lay on the floor. No bloodstains or signs of struggle marked the bodies—like puppets whose strings had been cut, their limbs twisted into odd angles, motionless.
Feng Yushu, barefoot on the soft burgundy carpet, pressed a hand to the wall and carefully weaved past the scattered corpses. She climbed the stairs to the second floor.
"Hmm?" Ning Zhe, perched on her shoulder, tilted his head.
Jade Water Bay's European-style castle boasted many rooms, each brightly lit—except one. Amid all that opulence, the sole darkened room stood out unmistakably.
"That… is A Zhi's room." Feng Yushu's heart leapt, her steps quickening.
Ning Zhe frowned and guided her to the single unlit door.
"A Zhi? Are you in there? It's Mom…" Feng Yushu pounded the door in desperation. "Are you asleep? Wake up! We have to go!"
After minutes of unanswered knocking, panic seized her—until she remembered the spare key. Fumbling, she retrieved it from her purse and inserted it in the lock.
Rustling from the other side—but no matter how she turned the key, the door wouldn't budge.
She looked to Ning Zhe, her eyes pleading. "What do we do? I can't open it…"
Ning Zhe inspected the heavy door: real hardwood panels, maple or similar, set into thick frames—virtually unbreakable by bare hands.
Yet he could manage it.
He leapt down, grabbed a decorative vase from the windowsill, and smashed it against the window. With a shattering crash, the glass broke. A stifled scream echoed from the dark room.
"A Zhi!" Feng Yushu's concern deepened.
The window's security grilles prevented an adult's entry, but Ning Zhe transformed into a small bird, slipped through the jagged opening, and landed safely inside.
Immediately, a rustling in pitch darkness made him flinch. He dodged aside and heard metal scraping stone.
"Miss, planning to join the assassins' ranks?" Ning Zhe felt along the wall for the light switch. As soon as the bulb flickered on, he kicked the attacker—pinning them underfoot.
The attacker was a young girl in loose sleepwear, tousled hair and ashen skin. Ning Zhe's boot pressed her slender neck. Though trapped, she thrashed wildly, reaching for what lay on the floor—a dagger that had slipped from her hand as it struck the marble wall.
"Hmm?" Ning Zhe picked up the implement. Not a dagger, but a sharp metal hairpin.
"Stay still." He crouched, binding the girl's hands behind her back and pinning her arm in his crook. He then tried the door handle again—but it wouldn't turn. The girl had filled the lock and handle gaps with wood glue.
"Wood glue—making wooden models?" Ning Zhe remarked, though the girl ignored him, still struggling, her head rammed repeatedly against the wall—specifically toward the light switch.
"Trying to turn off the light?" he asked.
This time, she ceased struggling and nodded, whispering "Mm."
"Then speak." He shook his head and switched off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
In the blackness, the girl's panic subsided somewhat; she no longer lashed out but her heart pounded so fiercely he could feel it under his arm—her terror was palpable.
"You are Bai Zhi?" Ning Zhe gently released his grip and asked.
"How did you know?" the girl's weak voice sounded clear in the dark.
"I came with your mother. Didn't you hear her calling?" Ning Zhe sighed. "Or did you think she was a ghost?"
"Mm—I thought a ghost was luring me to open the door… Wait!" Bai Zhi's tone brightened. "You know ghosts exist?!"
"I know—but first tell me why you hid in the dark." Ning Zhe countered. "Many people died here—so many. You survived, so you must know something."
About the vicious ghost in the manor.
"It's the light. The ghost needs light to kill." Bai Zhi spoke without hesitation. "Contrary to common sense, here brightness equals danger, darkness equals safety. As long as you stay in the dark, it can't find or kill you."
Her voice brimmed with hope, afraid he might doubt her.
"Alright…" Ning Zhe accepted this theory—for her survival was proof enough.
So the question became: how to open this lock-ruined door and get Bai Zhi out?
As he pondered, muffled sobbing drifted from the corridor—Feng Yushu's voice:
"Ning Zhe, the ghost… it's coming upstairs…"
At her words, a crisp "clink" like porcelain hitting marble echoed through the silent manor.
Thump… Thump…
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild