"Peng!"

The items placed next to the bathroom door were kicked over, making a muffled sound.

Yu Xing had already said (threatened) what he needed to say (threaten), regardless of Han Zhiyong's reaction in the cabinet. He quickly bent down and slid behind the nearest bathtub, catching a glimpse of the dark figure outside coming in.

It was a man with a crooked neck.

More precisely, his neck had been severed, causing it to tilt to one side, leaving only a layer of skin to connect the headless male specter.

The headless specter's eyes were filled with bloody tears, but the eyeballs were unusually agile, spinning in their sockets as if searching for living people around.

【You have discovered the "Headless Man," and the specter notification has been updated】

【Specter Three: Headless Man】

【Corresponding Visitor: Throat Cutter】

【Description Source: 1. A man with a severed neck, showing that he was handsome in his lifetime. 2. Its eyes are very agile, and it's unknown what will happen to those it discovers. 3. Friendly reminder, it is not the only one, but just one of many in the group.】

【Special Attack Ability: ???】

【Resolution Method: ???】

【Notification Progress: 40%】

Yu Xing glanced and instantly recognized this as Han Xinyi's corresponding specter. The information he already had supported this conclusion, so the system provided the confirmed information about the corresponding visitor to him.

Another piece of information on the notification caught Yu Xing's attention, and that was the friendly reminder.

The headless man was not the only one.

In other words, in this castle, "Headless Man" is a type of specter, and there are many of them, not just one.

Tsk tsk, isn't this considered cheating? It was supposed to be eight people and eight specters, but it turns out that one specter brought a group of companions.

He narrowed his eyes and quietly peeked at the headless man.

At this moment, the headless man had his back to him, and Yu Xing looked at him quite boldly. He saw that its walking posture was very strange, with each step taken crookedly, as if the ground beneath its feet was not flat, but rather rough and uneven.

The headless man wandered around the bathroom, searching every corner except for the central bathtub.

Listening to its footsteps, Yu Xing quietly adjusted his position to ensure that he wouldn't be discovered.

On the other side, Zeng Lai saw that he had finally hidden himself and breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't know what Yu Xing's smile just now meant, and due to the angle, he didn't see what Yu Xing did at the wardrobe, but he vaguely heard Yu Xing say a few words to the middle-aged man.

The content was unclear, but Zeng Lai suddenly realized that Yu Xing seemed to know this man and the sweet-smiling girl.

But that wasn't the point. The most urgent matter was to evade the search of the headless specter.

However, what made their expressions change was that the headless specter seemed to be certain that there was someone here and kept wandering around, refusing to leave.

The four of them hiding behind the bathtub had to constantly adjust their positions to avoid being discovered, their hearts racing.

Soon, they realized that this couldn't go on.

Several times, the headless man stood next to the bathtub, and if he were a little taller, he would have seen the living people behind the bathtub.

It seemed that it really didn't intend to leave, with a posture that suggested it would wander here forever.

"No, it's too dangerous to stay here. We need to get out first." Dodging the headless man once again, Zeng Lai mouthed to Huai.

Both of them were only wearing bath towels now, without having had time to change clothes. But in this critical moment, they didn't care about their appearance.

Huai nodded and replied in the same way, "What about Xing?"

Zeng Lai thought for a moment. "He'll follow us when he sees us running."

The two reached a consensus, and as the headless man looked towards Yu Xing, they quickly tiptoed to the bathtub closer to the door.

The water mist provided some concealment, but it also left a thin layer of water on the ground. It was impossible to step on it without making a sound.

This was when Yi followed up.

He probably didn't time it well and was a little impatient. Seeing the two of them move, he also ran to the next bathtub.

"Ah... who... who is it...!!" The headless man suddenly turned around, his eyes wide and almost falling out of their sockets, looking very frightening.

It seemed to be in a constant state of anger, whether it was the initial howling or the bit of human language it had just spoken, the tone was miserable and desperate, like the last struggle before death.

It wasn't easy to hide two adult men behind a bathtub, so even though Yi's voice was louder, the headless man noticed where Zeng Lai and Huai were. It stiffly stepped over, its head swaying from side to side, feeling like it could break off at any moment. If it approached with purpose, it was almost inevitable that they would be seen.

Zeng Lai listened to the footsteps getting closer and, gritting his teeth, reached out and threw a die.

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The die rolled and spun in the mist, eventually rolling to the front of the wardrobe, catching the headless man's attention.

"....Who is it?" It repeated this question, walking to the side of the wardrobe.It's now!

Zeng Lai and Huai took this opportunity to quickly rush out of the bathroom and successfully escaped.

Yi, unwilling to fall behind, almost escaped at the same time. His leg was blocked by debris, and in his panic, he kicked the debris, making a muffled sound.

Yu Xing looked on coldly as the decapitated man let out an angry roar, then belatedly went to chase after the three of them, stirring up a cold wind.

For the moment, this person who hadn't had time to move was actually briefly safe.

Oh my... Yi went a bit too far.

The act of trying to attract the specter to chase after the gambler was too obvious.

It seems that Yi is indeed targeting Zeng Lai, but Yu Xing doesn't know the reason.

Thinking this, he peeked out from behind the bathtub and looked at the dice that had stopped spinning.

This dice of Zeng Lai's was somewhat peculiar, with each side's dots as red as blood. At this moment, the solitary "one" was facing up, as if it was foretelling the arrival of some kind of misfortune.

The next moment, the dice disintegrated in place, turning into a small handful of ashes.

Yu Xing murmured softly, "It seems this is a sacrifice... Does the gambler know that he rolled a one?"

This wasn't something he needed to worry about for the time being. He didn't know if the decapitated man would come back. In order to not be trapped in the closed space of the bathroom, he planned to leave quickly.

At the entrance of the bathroom, Yu Xing seemed to sense something and looked back.

When everyone's attention was drawn to the decapitated man, no one noticed that the wardrobe had undergone a change.

The wood grain on the wardrobe twisted and gradually formed a faintly discernible human face.

Traces of dark red blood seeped out from the face. Seeing Yu Xing look back, the face twitched and formed a smiling expression.

As if to say... Thank you for locking it, but why didn't you come in yourself?

The ghost notification hadn't been updated. Yu Xing smiled and ignored it.

Han Zhiyong was temporarily locked in and couldn't come out, and White Face hadn't left the wardrobe yet. Not knowing if it was too timid, he thought for a moment and could only wish that this kind of specter in the wardrobe would go after Han Zhiyong first.

That's right, Yu Xing had already confirmed that the deductionist had entered the wardrobe before the decapitated man arrived, triggering an unknown specter.

The bloodstains in the other wardrobes that hadn't been locked before were the hints given to them by the deductionist, very obvious hints.

—If you enter the wardrobe, you will be attacked by the specter, and in the end, there will be nothing left but a pool of blood and no remains.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the deductionist wouldn't be so easily taken out.

After all, with a sacrifice by their side, they would have some resistance, unless they had bad luck and didn't have a sacrifice to help them escape, and happened to encounter the specter corresponding to them, unable to resist.

So, Yu Xing didn't think that Han Zhiyong would die in the wardrobe, but it would consume a wave of the other party's sacrifices and props, causing them some trouble, and achieving his goal.

The only somewhat unexpected thing was that he hadn't thought at the time that different types of specters would actually cooperate.

For example, the human face specter in the wardrobe would imitate the voice of White Face, luring the deductionist into the wardrobe in the chaos caused by the arrival of the decapitated man, fulfilling the conditions for slaughter.

If later Han Zhiyong and White Face wanted to pin the blame on White Face, White Face might be wronged.

Yu Xing estimated that she still didn't know what had happened in the men's bathroom.

...

Han Zhiyong leaned against the wardrobe, coldly snorting.

He felt that his choice was not wrong. After the specter outside came, it didn't pay any attention to these wardrobes at all. He was hiding in the wardrobe, just like being in a safe house.

It was those who didn't listen to Zeng Lai's words and didn't hide in the wardrobe who were experiencing a terrifying time.

If the conditions allowed, he really wanted to mock Yu Xing a bit—Do you think that listening to Zeng Lai is the right thing to do? Do you think you have the upper hand? What a fool.

Even if Yu Xing locked his wardrobe, it didn't matter—he still had the ability to break through a door. As long as the specter left, it would only take him one or two minutes to come out.

Thinking of this, Han Zhiyong became even more relaxed.

He listened intently, and finally heard the hurried footsteps of someone leaving, presumably someone had escaped and the specter had gone to chase them.

For a moment, it was quiet outside, whether it was a person or a specter, it seemed like they had all gone somewhere else.

Han Zhiyong pushed the door again, and the wooden door made a creaking sound. The lock was hanging on the outside, swaying with the movement of the door.

"Creak, creak..."

His hand paused.

No, this sound wasn't just coming from the wooden door.

In the darkness, Han Zhiyong's hearing became even more sensitive. His hair stood on end, and from the sound of the door, he discerned a sound of teeth chattering.

The key was, he wasn't the one chattering his teeth.

Who was it?

Relying on the sensitivity he had developed from raising specters, Han Zhiyong closed his eyes, trying to find the source of the sound. Who knew, as soon as he closed his eyes, a pair of icy hands covered his.

"Do you have a face?"

A voice so soft that it was almost inaudible sounded in his ear, extremely close, but there was no breath being exhaled.

Clearly, this was something that didn't breathe.Han Zhiyong shuddered all over, reaching out to pull away the hands, but upon touching them, he realized that what covered his eyes was not hands at all, but a membrane-like substance.

The voice spoke again: "Ah, I can feel it, you do have a face."

Suddenly, Han Zhiyong felt a sharp pain at the center of his forehead.

A sharp object pierced his skin, not too deeply, and then began to peel to either side.

"Ah!!" The intense pain made Han Zhiyong scream out loud, frantically tearing at the membrane on his face, but its slickness only allowed him to acutely feel the agony of his skin being peeled apart.

"Damn it..."

Where did this skin-peeling ghost come from?!

There was no warning at all before this!

He couldn't break free and suddenly remembered Zeng Lai's words.

Could it really be impossible to hide in the cabinet?

"Bang!"

Han Zhiyong kicked the cabinet door, the wardrobe shook but remained closed due to the lock.

"You can't escape now."

The gentle voice now carried a hint of laughter, fueling Han Zhiyong's rage.

Without danger, a lock means nothing.

But with a specter entwined around him, this lock could very well cost him his life!

He roared: "Yu Xing, you just wait for me!!"

Black ghostly shadows emerged from his body, several pained spirits screamed, swarming his face and forcibly pulling off the thin membrane.

Han Zhiyong felt a release on his face and immediately opened his eyes, wiping his forehead, blood streaming down.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

In this critical moment, Han Zhiyong, disregarding the pain, shouldered the door seam, but the wooden door of the wardrobe was indeed thick, and he could see nothing, only hearing his own ghosts entangled with the skin-peeling ghost, screeching sharply at each other.

"Bang!"

Finally, the lock fell to the ground, a burst of light shone in, and Han Zhiyong fell to the floor, gritting his teeth as he looked back.

He saw a white "face" flying in the air from the opened cabinet door, tearing at his nurtured ghost, its visage ferocious, its teeth sharp and fine. Just the sight of these teeth made the pain in his forehead intensify.

Freed from the cabinet, White Face glared at him irritably, shook off the spirits, and vanished into the wood.

The spirits dissipated, turning into a bead that rolled out and stopped by Han Zhiyong's feet.

The bead was full of cracks, appearing fragile as if it would shatter with a mere touch. He frowned, picked it up, and got up from the ground, muttering an indecent curse.

This was the offering that granted him the ability to nurture ghosts, but the spirits had weak attack power and were usually only used as scouting tools.

Now... if he used it for a bit longer, he wouldn't be able to utilize this bead in the current Deduction.

He caught his breath, pinching his swollen shoulder, and glanced in the mirror.

There was a fine line of blood at the center of his forehead; he was sure that without the offering, his face would have been peeled off alive.

Han Zhiyong: "..."

Fooled by Yu Xing once, although he had long harbored thoughts of killing Yu Xing, his resentment only deepened at this moment.

Well, those on the path of downfall are unreasonable.

Enduring the nausea and discomfort, he took clothes from the top compartment of his wardrobe, changed with a gloomy face, and left the bathroom.

...

But whether it was Zeng Lai and the others or Han Zhiyong, they all forgot about one person's existence.

White Face hugged his arms, squatting down in the limited space of the cabinet, the mask on his face, he never thought of taking it off.

Even if the cabinet next door made such a commotion, he remained silent.

Until a gentle voice asked him in the darkness: "Do you have a face?"