Skill Card

"B–Brother Zhi!" Tang Ye ran back again with a huge relieved smile on his face. "Thank God, you're okay! That was such a close call! We thought something bad had happened to you inside! By the way, what is…" his gaze moved to the leather journal in Zhi's hand, only for Zhi to slip it inside his pocket. The indication behind his action couldn't be clearer – he would not let anyone see this item he had brought out at the expense of his own life.

The atmosphere turned extremely awkward after that.

Tang Ye opened his mouth to say something, only to close it again because he had no idea what to say. After all, they were the ones who had decided to leave Zhi to fend for himself, and he had no idea how much the man had heard.

Wouldn't it be too shameless of them to force him to reveal the content of the journal after everything they had said and done?

Of course, the same thought also crossed Sister Hong's mind. Her expression was twisted horribly, her face alternating between red and white. It was unknown what kind of thought was running through her mind. Did she regret leaving Zhi behind so decisively? Or was she thinking that it would be better for him to die inside once and for all? Whatever it was, she had made a big mistake this time.

"I–I will return to my room first," she left that one sentence before turning around and hurriedly going down the stairs.

Zhi did not say anything either. With a casual gait as if nothing happened at all, he strode toward the stairs to head back toward his own room, disregarding Tang Ye's feeble attempt to stop him.

"W–What should we do?" Tang Ye whispered with a bleak face.

Xinxin shook her head fearfully. She glanced at the clock and was startled to find that only five minutes were left until the curfew. "L–Let's go back first!" She yelped and hastily rushed away.

With no other choice, Tang Ye could only move to his own room that was only two doors away from Old Guan's room. He held the doorknob and turned to Jin Jiuchi and Nian with a bitter smile, "Goodnight, Brother Yang, Little Brother. You should hurry back to your room too."

As soon as the door closed behind Tang Ye, Nian bit out, "Don't."

Jin Jiuchi clamped his mouth shut with an amazed look. How did Nian tell that he wanted to speak without even looking at him?!

"Let's go back to our room first before you say anything." He glanced at the clock and saw that less than four minutes remained. Sighing, he crossed his arms and raised his chin to give Jin Jiuchi a command, his little adorable face was lofty and cold. "What are you waiting for? Didn't you say that it would be faster if we used your long legs?"

"Pfft…!" Desperately holding back his laughter, Jin Jiuchi scooped the jade doll into his arms and immediately took off running to the third floor.

Wait, did it mean that Nian had acknowledged that he was a shortie? But they could leave this talk to another time. There were so, so many more important things he wanted to say and he felt like he was going to explode if he did not let them out soon! Thus, as soon as they barged into their room and closed the door behind them, Jin Jiuchi immediately blurted out, his entire body buzzing with thrill and excitement,

"What was that?!" He sounded almost breathless, the words flowed out of his mouth without a second pause. "Did you see that, Nian'er? You saw that, didn't you? His body! His entire body was burning from head to toe! How did he do it?! Don't tell me that it's a prop because I will not believe it! Oh my God, this is another level of magic trick! Can you do it, Nian'er? Wait, can I… can I do it too?! I wanna try!!"

Nian had already expected that this would be the thing Jin Jiuchi was going to talk about since he saw the man's dumbstruck face when Zhi rolled out of that silk hole as a fireball. With a deadpan face, he waited until Jin Jiuchi stopped talking before he asked lightly, "Done?"

Jin Jiuchi gave a slow blink. "...You want me to say more, Nian'er?"

"Don't." Veins popped on the jade doll's forehead. He kneaded his temple and sighed, "Alright, I will explain it a bit for you, so listen well. Aside from props which you can give, buy or sell at will, there are also skill cards, which grants us a superpower like Zhi's. They are all the rewards given by the Nightmare once you make it out of this place. So if you're still alive until then, you will definitely get it too, albeit I have no idea what your skill card will be like. Unlike props, the skill card will be automatically bound to you, so it is a skill that belongs exclusively to you alone – unless you are killed by another player. If you are killed, then your skill card's ownership will be transferred to them, so you must be careful when dealing with another player."

Jin Jiuchi nodded again and again, eyes sparkling in wonder. Skill cards! How marvelous! And did Nian say that he would also receive his soon? Oh, Jin Jiuchi couldn't wait for that day to come! "And—"

"Sssh!" Nian hushed him with a grim look. He soundlessly moved to the window and brushed aside the curtain with one finger, and only then did Jin Jiuchi realize that the paper dolls were on the move again.

Jin Jiuchi also slid closer to the window and pressed his ear to it, though this time he took care not to get close to the jade doll again for fear that he would be pinned to the window again. He did not want to be forced to take in that horrendous odor for the second time! His sharp ears picked up the familiar noise of crinkling papers and ghostly music, but tonight…

"The music is getting louder," Nian voiced Jin Jiuchi's thought out loud, his expression somber. "What is the purpose of the paper dolls? Is it to patrol around the apartment? To hypnotize players with their music? Or is there another purpose we still haven't found out yet?" he mumbled, more to himself than to Jin Jiuchi.

That's right, Jin Jiuchi acutely perceived that something was different with the celebration music tonight. If last night, the sound of gong and trumpets still sounded hazy and vague as if it had come from someplace far away, then this time it was like a layer of curtain had been lifted. Jin Jiuchi could even hear a faint humming of the upbeat song.

But that was not the only difference tonight. Aside from the paper dolls, there was also another sound… tapping and scuttling, light and quick, just like…

That's right, just like the sound of tiny legs moving across a flat surface!

And the source of the sound was…

Jin Jiuchi quietly raised his eyelids to the ceiling and what he saw there immediately caused him

to suck in a sharp breath.