Chapter 54: The Abandoned Factory

Suddenly, the three figures in the office lifted their heads. Their faces, stripped of lips and empty of eye sockets, bared rows of chilling teeth.

A rattling, sinister giggle escaped them as their jaws quivered. The three figures rose to their feet, laughter echoing in the air.

“Hmph, let me—” Lin Rou began, but before she could finish, Zhang Xiaofan pulled her back, snapping, “Are you out of your mind? There are three ghosts here!”

Lin Rou, her mouth covered by Zhang Xiaofan’s hand, gazed at him with wide, sparkling eyes, her heart fluttering with an unexpected sweetness. Was Zhang Xiaofan truly concerned for her?

Her body relaxed, the machete falling loosely from her grasp. When they glanced back at the office, the three ghosts had vanished without a trace.

“Gone?” Zhang Xiaofan frowned, just as the clang and clatter of destruction sounded from deeper within the factory.

“Damn it, three ghosts right off the bat.”

“Liu Mingxin, look behind you!”

“Shit, I’ll cut it down. Be careful, there are a lot of ghosts here. If you spot a third-level one, let me know.”

Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Rou exchanged a glance. Lin Rou whispered, “That’s Liu Mingxin and the others.”

Liu Mingxin was, of course, one of their classmates. Judging by the situation, he must have drawn the same assignment as Zhang Xiaofan.

Quietly, the pair followed. Ahead, three figures strode down the corridor. Liu Mingxin gripped a machete, while Sun Zhiyong held several talismans. The last, Guo Bin, cigarette dangling from his lips, wielded a feather duster. With a sweep of it towards a ghost, the apparition recoiled in fright and fled.

“Don’t let it get away! What if it’s a third-level ghost?” Liu Mingxin called anxiously.

Guo Bin scoffed, “I checked. It’s just a second-level one.”

“How can you tell?”

“When I bought this duster with spirit money, they threw in a booklet on dealing with ghosts. I can spot what level they are,” Guo Bin boasted.

Lin Rou whispered to Zhang Xiaofan, “He actually has something like that! Xiaofan, do you want one?”

Zhang Xiaofan shook his head. “Don’t get any funny ideas.” Taking her by the hand, he stepped forward. After all, they were classmates—chance encounters deserved at least a greeting.

Zhang Xiaofan called out, “So you’re here too!”

Guo Bin and the others looked over, visibly relieved when they saw it was only Xiaofan and Lin Rou.

Liu Mingxin then teased, “Xiaofan, catching ghosts with a beauty by your side, huh? Heard you’ve got something going with Su Qianqian too. Not bad—playing both sides.”

The others burst out laughing. Zhang Xiaofan hadn’t expected them to be so blunt, but before he could respond, Lin Rou hefted her machete and retorted fiercely, “Liu Mingxin, nothing but filth comes out of your mouth.”

Liu Mingxin stepped forward. “Lin Rou, don’t think I’m scared of you just because you’ve got a blade…”

Lin Rou kicked at his crotch; Liu Mingxin doubled over, clutching himself. “You fight dirty—”

“That’s for your filthy mouth,” Lin Rou snapped.

“Enough, enough. We’re all classmates—what’s the point of arguing?” Guo Bin tried to mediate.

“No way. Lin Rou, you have to apologize. Otherwise, if you get into trouble, we won’t help you,” Liu Mingxin insisted.

Zhang Xiaofan shot back, “Liu Mingxin, who do you think you are? We don’t need your help.”

“Fine! Let’s see who needs who in a bit,” Liu Mingxin spat, dragging Guo Bin and Sun Zhiyong away.

Once in a corner, Sun Zhiyong frowned, “Why antagonize Zhang Xiaofan?”

Liu Mingxin sneered, “I did it on purpose, for two reasons. First, Zhang Xiaofan is after a third-level ghost too. There are only so many ghosts—if he gets them, what’s left for us? Second, well, Lin Rou’s quite a catch. Haven’t you two thought about it?”

Guo Bin and Sun Zhiyong exchanged glances, greed flickering in their eyes, though they hesitated.

“Damn it, what’s there to fear? We’ve all killed before. If we take care of the two of them, who would ever know?”

Sun Zhiyong swallowed hard. “I heard Lin Rou’s family is pretty influential. Even Murong Feng and Wang Hu don’t mess with her. I’m worried…”

“Idiot. Once they’re dead, what’s there to fear? Besides, rich girls are the most fun. We could keep her here for a month and have our way,” Liu Mingxin urged.

Guo Bin gritted his teeth. “We’ll consider it, but only after we see what they’re capable of. Wouldn’t want to get taken out ourselves.”

“Of course,” Liu Mingxin agreed.

…

Zhang Xiaofan and Lin Rou entered a workshop. Lin Rou sighed, “If only we had Guo Bin’s skill at identifying ghosts. Then we wouldn’t have to deal with each one ourselves.”

As she spoke, she shone her flashlight over the machines. Most were in ruin, their parts scavenged, only the largest equipment left behind, too cumbersome to move.

Then Lin Rou noticed a logbook resting atop a lathe. She picked it up, exclaiming, “It’s a production log!”

She flipped through a few pages, stunned. “Six years ago, the number of employees started to drop. It says here they began dying, but no cause of death was ever found.”

“That can’t be. How could people die and no cause be discovered?” Zhang Xiaofan asked.

“I don’t know. Things seemed to settle for a while, until one day there was a gas leak.”

“Hm? Something’s odd about that lathe,” Zhang Xiaofan observed. The one in the far corner was welded shut—clearly unusable. Why leave such a machine on the floor during production? It would just take up space for no reason.

Curious, Zhang Xiaofan approached and knocked on it, shocked. “It’s hollow inside.”

“Step back!”

Before Zhang Xiaofan could react, Lin Rou swung her machete down, forcing him to jump aside. With a crash, the lathe toppled over.

Upon inspection, it was made of wood—a decoy.

Zhang Xiaofan’s heart raced. “Lin Rou, can’t you give me a little warning before you do something like that?”

Lin Rou strode over, unconcerned. Gazing into the exposed hollow, she said, “I checked the records before we came. After all those deaths, the police investigated, but found that even the records were missing. The main supervisors and staff all vanished, and not a single body was ever found.”

Her eyes shone. “Now I think they weren’t missing—they’ve been here all along.”

“Ahh! Dead bodies! So many dead bodies!”

Suddenly, Liu Mingxin’s scream rang out. He rushed in, blood streaming down his face. “There are ghosts—real ghosts—and they’re strong…”