Even though she didn't know how that player had gotten the information, considering the previous two times the ghost ignored her, it was indeed afraid of the Hunter!

Manjusaka thought this as she charged up the stairs.

She wasn't running so fast out of an eagerness to eliminate the menace for the public good, but was considering the final instance score. The Hunter who eliminates the ghost would definitely get the largest score bonus!

With this in mind, Manjusaka quickened her pace, heading towards the upper floors of the office building.

Ji Bie Li watched Manjusaka's figure disappear downstairs. It seems she already knows the ghost can be countered by the Hunter. That's why she rushed up so eagerly.

Of course, I don't believe she's in such a hurry to eliminate the menace for the public good. She's most likely after the final instance score.

Thinking this, Ji Bie Li ducked back from the rooftop's edge. Now, all I have to do is wait for the Hunter to catch this ghost. That way, we can safely survive past midnight and finish the instance. However, in that case, the Survivors will definitely score lower than the Hunters. Strange, this instance doesn't seem to offer any way for Survivors to earn points...

The Hunter rushing up from below might discover me, Ji Bie Li thought. She quickly got up from the ground and hurried towards the rooftop door.

But just then, she suddenly heard heavy footsteps near the rooftop door.

Soon, the heavy footsteps grew closer and closer, as if something had already ascended the stairs leading to the rooftop.

That Hunter couldn't be moving this fast!

Ji Bie Li trembled violently.

Then... the only thing that could be moving around these floors right now... is that ghost! It's the ghost! It's coming up!

The rooftop is wide open. There's no cover, not even a small stone. If that single door opens, I'll be immediately exposed. I'm done for. I'm trapped now.

Ji Bie Li quickly hid in a corner, struggling to control her trembling body as she stared intently at the rooftop door.

The footsteps drew nearer and nearer, sounding as if they were right outside, about to open the door at the top of the stairs.

Ji Bie Li shuddered violently. No, I absolutely cannot die here like this.

But the only exit is blocked by the ghost. The only way to escape the rooftop now... is to jump.

As she thought this, she leaned most of her body out over the edge of the rooftop. This is a good thirty-odd floors high; a jump from here is certain death.

Just then, she heard the footsteps behind her stop—right outside the door.

Then, a strange sound came from behind her: the doorknob was turning. The door is about to open! I'm done for!

At the brink of life and death, countless thoughts raced through Ji Bie Li's mind. Then, she suddenly had an idea, quickly raised her phone, and hurled it at a window on a lower floor.

The phone fulfilled its mission, successfully shattering the glass of a window one floor below and falling into the room.

The loud CRASH from below echoed through several floors.

The sound of the doorknob turning stopped abruptly.

Then, Ji Bie Li, drenched in sweat, heard the footsteps resume—heavy, deliberate steps heading downstairs.

Only when the footsteps were no longer audible did she finally let out a long sigh of relief.

While that ghost is searching the lower floors, I need to get off this rooftop fast. If I'm discovered here, there'll be nowhere to run...

With this thought, she quickly walked towards the rooftop door, carefully peeked out, and after confirming there was no immediate danger, hurried down the stairs.

However, she didn't dare go too far down. Instead, she hid in a room on the top floor. I kind of regret throwing my phone away, she thought, but I don't dare go back to get it.

Meanwhile, Manjusaka, who was sprinting up the stairwell, also heard the loud CRASH. She redoubled her efforts and charged towards the upper floors.

Gu Mian was on his way to the office building. He had come via the main road, but now he'd found a narrow path and was rapidly advancing along it.

Notably, along this path was a dense residential complex. He happened to see a light on the first floor of a building near the road.

But the light moved quickly and vanished almost immediately. Looks like it went upstairs? Which player could that be?

However, Gu Mian couldn't dwell on it at that moment.

Ji Bie Li hung up on me just now. That means she encountered danger. Before hanging up, she told me the Hunter tailing her had reached the ground floor. So, the danger she just faced could only have been the ghost...

As Gu Mian was pondering this while heading towards the office building, a large dark figure suddenly leaped out from the bushes beside him.

Gu Mian had certainly seen this kind of setup before; back in his gaming days, he'd been ambushed from bushes countless times.

So, he agilely dodged the figure lunging at him.

Only when the figure missed and fell to the ground, crying out, "OUCH! OUCH!" did he recognize Fatty's voice.

"Doctor!" Seeing Gu Mian, Fatty was overjoyed, completely oblivious to his status as a Survivor.

Rubbing his backside, he scrambled up from the ground, his expression ecstatic in the darkness. "Brother Chu told me to wait for you here. Looks like I wasn't waiting for nothing!"

Gu Mian was somewhat surprised. "How long have you been waiting?"

Fatty pulled out his phone and examined it. "This instance started not long ago. Brother Chu pushed me in here to wait right after it began. It's 10:10 PM now... I've been waiting for almost an hour, haven't I?"

"Oh, right! When this hide-and-seek game started, Brother Chu seemed to find something in a run-down supermarket. But before I could get a good look, he shoved me into these blasted bushes. Brother Chu also told me not to make a sound if I saw anyone, unless it was you..."

A supermarket?

Gu Mian immediately thought of the Dajiale Supermarket receipt he'd pulled from the pocket of the clothes on the rooftop.

If Chu Changge took the clues from that supermarket early on, then Nine Lives must have come up empty-handed when he went there later, right? I can just imagine Nine Lives stomping around in anger, his swishing ponytail probably bobbing up and down too.

But how did Chu Changge know I would pass by here? Gu Mian furrowed his brows, finding it rather odd.

But there's no time to dwell on that now.

Keeping some distance from Fatty, Gu Mian asked, "Did Chu Changge say anything else when he stuffed you in here?"

Fatty patted his backside and pointed to a tall office building not far away. "Brother Chu said he was going up there to scout ahead. He said that when I met you here, I should take you to that building to find him."

Gu Mian pursed his lips. I completely missed this building earlier. And it seems there's still a ghost wandering around in that office building.

There was no time to lose. Gu Mian set off towards the nearby office building.

Fatty followed closely behind.

If other players had been present, they would undoubtedly have marveled at Fatty's sheer nerve. A mere Survivor, daring to trail casually behind a Hunter!

"Oh, right, Doctor! While I was hiding here, I saw a player pass by..." Fatty reported to Gu Mian, panting as he kept up. "Just a little before you came by, there was a man with a huge scar on his neck..."

As he spoke, Fatty spread his arms wide in a hugely exaggerated gesture, making a shape almost larger than himself.

"I don't know him. I just saw him holding something, and he went into that residential complex across from me."

That must be Bai Qiong, Gu Mian realized.

Thinking of this, he asked, "Was there anyone else with him?"

I remember Bai Qiong and Keke were working together.

Fatty shook his head. "Nope, just him."

That's strange. Could Bai Qiong and Keke have split up?

Gu Mian had no intention of turning back to find Bai Qiong.

He strode quickly towards the office building.

Fatty asked, "By the way, Doctor, I've been hiding here and haven't dared to move, so I have no idea what's happening outside. Are all the Survivors done for? Surely Brother Chu and I aren't the only ones left, right?"

Gu Mian glanced at the overly confident Fatty. "Not yet. In fact, it seems not a single Survivor has been eliminated."

Fatty paused, then asked cautiously, "Doctor, are your teammates that incompetent? This instance has been going for over an hour, and they seriously haven't caught a single person?"

"It can't be helped," Gu Mian said as he walked. "Every time a Hunter encounters a Survivor and starts a relentless chase, a ghost pops out in the instance to interfere."

Fatty seemed to have an epiphany. "So there really are ghosts in this instance! Good thing I've been lucky enough not to run into one... But Doctor, aren't we also a Hunter and Survivor pair? How come no ghost has popped out for us?"

Gu Mian thought for a moment. "It is strange. Our situation is indeed different from the other groups being chased by the ghost... Maybe it's because I'm not chasing you? Otherwise, how about you let me chase you and see?"

Fatty hurriedly waved his hands in refusal.

Seeing Fatty wave his hands in refusal, Gu Mian continued, "The ghost in this instance can teleport. And I suspect it knows everything happening in this instance—and by everything, I mean the exact location of every player."

Hearing this, Fatty shuddered violently. "No way!"

"It must know everything within this instance; otherwise, that ghost wouldn't always appear so punctually," Gu Mian said.

It's truly strange. I've never encountered a ghost this powerful. If it were to attack, the players in this instance would undoubtedly suffer devastating consequences. But this ghost seems to refrain from killing? Is it because rules prevent it from acting... or is the time not yet right? If it does decide to act later, it's hard to imagine any player surviving this instance.

Fatty's voice came again. "So, you're saying the ghost already knows that we—a Hunter and a Survivor—have met up, but it hasn't popped out because you're not chasing me?"

That's right. Fatty and I met, but the ghost didn't appear. This means it only shows up when a Survivor is being chased. But why?

Gu Mian suddenly had an epiphany.

This implies that if a Survivor is caught, it will put the ghost in a disadvantageous position! If a Survivor is caught, what happens then...?

At this thought, Gu Mian was startled.

So far, it seems no Survivor has actually been caught. That must be the ghost's objective! Damn it!

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