Chapter 49 Sir, You Wouldn't Want That Either

The man's powerful hand seized his hair and lifted him off the ground.

“Mmm—mmm! I was wrong… I truly was wrong! Please, spare me!”

Zhu Jun trembled all over, whimpering through garbled words, tears and blood mingling as they dripped from his face.

It was terrifying—utterly terrifying!

The man before him possessed a strength that defied belief. The force with which he gripped Zhu Jun’s hair felt as though he would rip the very scalp from his head.

“Speak clearly. I can’t hear you…” Ji Linmo dragged Zhu Jun closer, his gaze icy as he stared at him.

Zhu Jun cried out in pain. In the man’s bloodshot eyes, he saw his own miserable reflection.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“I was wrong! I was wrong.”

“I shouldn’t have competed with you for clues… And before, I shouldn’t have brought Liu Bi and Wang Dazhi to your home! I shouldn’t have killed that parrot either. I truly was wrong!”

Zhu Jun begged frantically, tears and snot streaming down his face.

But the man’s expression remained unchanged. He simply looked down at him, coldly interrogating from above.

“Zhu Jun, tell me—how did you find that parrot?”

Zhu Jun lowered his head, thinking for a moment, then pointed toward the elevator.

“I don’t know! I just waited a while, and the parrot flew out from there!”

“From right there!”

Ji Linmo followed Zhu Jun’s pointing finger with his gaze.

“You mean—”

Suddenly—

Ji Linmo looked down. A silver blade plunged straight into his abdomen, the sound of flesh and blood being pierced echoing out.

“Die! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you suffer!” Zhu Jun’s face twisted with rage. He screamed hysterically, driving the silver blade again and again into Ji Linmo’s stomach.

“So, from where exactly?”

A cold voice spoke above him.

Zhu Jun looked up as if struck by lightning, staring at Ji Linmo in disbelief.

Ji Linmo’s voice was still calm, his face expressionless, utterly undisturbed.

“You… why aren’t you hurt? Doesn’t it… hurt?”

Staring at the man’s bleeding midsection, Zhu Jun still gripped the knife handle, but his mind was blank.

What was happening?

“Zhu Jun, do you know who that parrot was?”

Ji Linmo ignored him. Lowering his gaze, he drew closer to Zhu Jun, taking hold of the hand that grasped the knife handle, and questioned him, word by word.

“I…”

Cold sweat streamed down Zhu Jun’s forehead. He didn’t understand why Ji Linmo suddenly asked this.

As the man’s grip tightened, the blade inch by inch slid from his abdomen, finally being pulled free.

“It was Zhang Lanlan,” Ji Linmo replied in a flat tone. “I’d meant to spare that girl’s life. But now, you’ve angered me, Zhu Jun.”

“I’ll make good use of you.”

Clang!

As the knife hit the floor with a crisp ring, Zhu Jun’s eyes went wide with terror, breath catching in his throat, a hoarse cry issuing from his mouth.

—The man’s cold, handsome face suddenly twisted and blurred before his eyes, as if melting, leaving only a pair of blood-red eyes.

Beneath those eyes came the sharp crack of breaking bone.

The entire face split down the middle, blooming like a flower made of blood and flesh, revealing a maw filled with jagged white teeth.

A monster! It was a monster!

Zhu Jun’s mind shattered completely, his reason dissolving at the sight before him.

A living person—right in front of him—transformed into a creature of blood and meat!

“Monster… monster! Help!”

Zhu Jun was seized by the throat and lifted like a plaything.

The gaping, grotesque maw exhaled hot breath onto Zhu Jun.

The stench of blood, damp and searing as a blade, flooded over Zhu Jun’s mangled face.

“No… no… gurg—”

Zhu Jun’s legs went rigid, kicking spasmodically.

As the chilling sound of chewing began, Zhu Jun’s legs ceased their trembling, only swaying rhythmically in time with the bites.

Click!

The sharp snap of a camera shutter rang out in the darkness, faintly accompanied by a soft laugh.

Someone was taking photos?

Ji Linmo looked up in confusion. The empty corridor showed no sign of anyone.

Had he imagined it?

Frowning, Ji Linmo’s body billowed with thick, rolling black smoke.

When what remained of Zhu Jun’s corpse was flung aside, the smoke cleared, and Ji Linmo’s face was restored to its original state.

“The wound… it’s healed.”

He lifted his shirt and glanced down.

The spot where he’d been stabbed was as smooth as ever, not a mark left.

—Human flesh and blood are the finest nourishment.

That’s why, in this horrific world, every ghost in every scenario craves to devour the players.

Ji Linmo spared not another glance at Zhu Jun’s bloody remains, his expression blank as he looked to the floor.

A slip of paper lay in the blood.

[Zhang Lanlan’s Precautionary Plan]

[1. At the elevator door, count to 90 seconds before pressing the button to go downstairs…]

The evenly spaced, neat handwriting was as precise as a test paper.

This was the result of daily practice aimed at pleasing exam graders.

As he stared at the paper, veins bulged on the back of Ji Linmo’s hand.

He crushed the note in anger and tossed it aside.

That child, Qin Feng, was blatantly provoking him!

Why had he given Zhang Lanlan the note?!

Ji Linmo’s face was dark as thunder as he pressed the elevator button. The display showed the elevator descending from the fourth floor.

Just now, the elevator had seemed to rest on the third floor—how had it reached the fourth?

Though puzzled, Ji Linmo didn’t dwell on it.

He’d barely stepped out of the elevator before unlocking the door to Dormitory 403 with his key.

Where was Qin Feng?!

Seeing no one in the living room, Ji Linmo kicked open the bedroom door.

“Wow, Mr. Ji, you really do look furious,” Qin Feng drawled, sitting lazily on the bed with a smile.

“But you shouldn’t get angry. It’s bad for your health.”

Without a word, Ji Linmo grabbed Qin Feng by the collar and hauled him off the bed.

“Qin Feng, are you looking for death?”

“From playing the fool at the start, to framing Zhang Lanlan—what is your goal?”

Qin Feng’s smile only widened, a glint of amusement in his eyes.

He cheerfully pulled a small black phone from his pocket and began to speak.

“Mr. Ji, did you know? I was lucky enough to find a phone on the third floor just now.”

“And, out of curiosity, I tried out its camera.”

A phone!?

Ji Linmo’s eyes narrowed, his gaze darkening.

So the sound he’d heard in the third floor corridor hadn’t been his imagination.

But when had his phone been stolen?

“You—”

“Sir, you wouldn’t want others to see those photos of you, would you?”

In the bedroom, the smiling youth held up the phone, grinning at Ji Linmo as he gripped his collar.

Upon seeing the phone, Ji Linmo’s expression froze.

—In the photos, his own face was twisted, eyes blood-red, jaws wide and monstrous, devouring Zhu Jun.

“Not a bad candid shot, wouldn’t you say?”

Qin Feng’s smile grew even more dazzling. He lifted his hand and patted Ji Linmo’s cheek.

“Who would have thought that the so-called greatest miracle worker, the man famed for clearing every horror scenario, succeeded simply because he was never human to begin with.”

Ji Linmo released him, standing there, his gaze vicious.

“Is this a threat?”

“Of course not.”

The youth leaned in, his finger trailing down Ji Linmo’s throat, his eyes unreadable.

“Now this is the threat, Mr. Ji. From today onward, you’ll call me master.”

With that, the youth suddenly tightened his grip around Ji Linmo’s neck, forcing him down onto the bed.