Chapter Forty-Eight: The Ace of Ghosts House

My mind was a mess, so I went to bed early.

The next day at seven, I woke up groggy to the sound of my alarm.

Nangong Xi had prepared a simple breakfast as usual. At the table, I told her, “I’ll be away for a week. Stay home and wait for me to return.”

She nodded obediently, assuring me she’d remember everything I said.

Before I left, I gave her a sharp knife. It probably wouldn’t be of much use, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

I had already messaged Li Zijian and Chen Chen, telling them to meet at the school gate. By the time I arrived, they had been waiting for quite a while.

We chatted idly for a bit before heading into the school together.

No sooner had I set foot inside than the Ghost King sent a message: “Do you all remember the identity cards you drew last time? Over the next seven days, most games will revolve around your identity cards. Please form teams of two or three as before, but this time, no team may have more than five members.”

Almost immediately, another message followed: “I can tell you clearly, there are only two roles: commoners and hunters. Today’s game is this: each team must find a room marked with the Ghost King’s card to serve as your lodging for the coming days—deadline: noon today. Teams that don’t find a room will be hunted by the giant wolf. If you survive until 7 p.m., you proceed to the next round. Of course, those with hunter cards may hunt any teammates without a marked room; for every kill, there’s a special reward.”

I thought over the rules—they seemed complicated, but were in fact quite simple.

I turned to Li Zijian and Chen Chen. “What are your roles?”

To my surprise, both answered in unison, “Hunter!”

So, our group had three hunters. Honestly, our luck was incredible—being a hunter would surely give us an edge in the coming games.

“Let’s find a room quickly. It’s first come, first served,” I said.

Li Zijian showed up in sunglasses today, looking as if he were on vacation.

“I agree. There definitely won’t be enough rooms for everyone,” Chen Chen confirmed.

“All right, let’s go,” I said quietly.

As we walked, I worried about food and water for the next seven days, but perhaps I was overthinking it. We ran into many classmates along the way, none of whom seemed to have prepared supplies. The Ghost King must be aware and would likely address it in a future round.

For now, everything seemed peaceful; there was no conflict yet. But that wouldn’t last, not with the Ghost King stirring the pot.

I was still wondering whether the marked card would be inside the room or hung on the door when Chen Chen pointed and said, “Lin Yao, look.”

I followed his gaze to an employee dormitory near the cafeteria. The Ghost King’s card wasn’t on the door, but hung conspicuously in the window.

So that was how it worked.

Unfortunately, someone had already claimed that room. We had to keep searching.

We wandered around at a leisurely pace, as if the Ghost King’s game didn’t concern us at all. Other students without rooms were sweating with anxiety.

Luck must favor me, though. Just as I was hesitating about whether to fight for a room, Li Zijian stumbled upon an available one with the Ghost King’s card.

It was the school infirmary, tucked away in the far north of campus and so far unnoticed by others.

I couldn’t help but laugh, and Chen Chen teased, “You really are lucky.”

Li Zijian simply grinned without a word.

The room was actually pretty good—not only did it have medical supplies, but also a single bed. It was a bungalow, but from the window you could see the entire sports field.

Just as I was privately celebrating our find, commotion erupted outside.

A small, battered figure was sprinting towards us, pursued by a group. I looked closely—wasn’t that Feng Qi’ao, who had miraculously survived last time?

He’d taken a bayonet through the shoulder, bleeding profusely, and I’d helped stop the bleeding. I’d thought he was done for, but somehow he’d pulled through.

This time, though, his pursuers were more ruthless. Leading them was Hua Ling, a tall, handsome classmate of mine. He was a troublemaker, but had practiced martial arts since childhood and won national championships.

Before I could react, Hua Ling hurled his machete. To my horror, it struck Feng Qi’ao squarely in the back, piercing straight through his abdomen.

I’d seen blood before, but this still made me gape.

This time, Feng Qi’ao really died in a pool of blood.

Hua Ling and his gang approached, cursing and kicking the corpse.

“You damn fool, you’d rather die than obey. In the Ghost King’s world, I don’t fear the law, hahaha!”

Hua Ling was a good-looking guy, but his wicked smile sent a chill down my spine.

Thankfully, Chen Chen held me back—otherwise, I might have rushed out. Hua Ling, after venting his rage, left without noticing us.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and after a moment, accepted the reality.

In the Ghost King’s world, there was no distinction between highborn and low, handsome or ugly—only endless killing.

With nothing else to do, Li Zijian lounged on the bed playing games on his phone, while Chen Chen scrolled through his own.

Just then, the Ghost King sent another message: “There will be no water or electricity at the school for the next seven days.”

That single line set off a flurry of panic in the group chat.

“What? No water or electricity? How are we supposed to survive?”

“Yeah, it’ll be terrifying at night.”

“He’s getting more shameless by the minute.”

After warning my teammates to conserve their phone batteries, I sat cross-legged on the floor to cultivate.

After spending several hours practicing last time, I found I liked the sensation more and more.

Now, I drank in the spiritual energy of the world like a starving tiger.

I also discovered that whenever I entered this state, my posture became automatically perfect...

After several cycles of guiding the energy, I noticed the symbol above my head grew brighter and cooler.

Time passed quickly in cultivation. Before I knew it, Chen Chen was shaking me awake. “It’s almost noon, take a break.”

Li Zijian was staring at me curiously. “Yao, what were you doing just now? Were you dreaming?”

I ignored him, checked my phone, and scrolled through the group chat.

In a short time, fewer than sixty students remained. It seemed that as the game progressed, the death toll would only rise. When only the three of us were left, what then...