Chapter 61 No One Can Live

Upon hearing the system prompt, everyone understood.

Yitong Lin raised her face, her expression full of bewilderment.

"Mental illness? What are you talking about..."

The detailed information beneath the clue pointed out that Yitong Lin had a family history of mental illness. Originally, she had fabricated a roommate simply as an excuse to move out of the dormitory. To her surprise, after arriving at Bliss Apartment, under the influence of the gloomy yin energy, that imaginary roommate had actually materialized.

Yitong Lin had even forgotten that this was an excuse she had made up herself, and everything the roommate had done was actually carried out by her own hands.

If Yitong Lin's condition were left untreated, by the final day of the instance, she would end up like Old Man Liu, transforming into the bizarre roommate of her own description and hunting down the players.

This was also the reason why she carried a source of energy.

Fortunately, there was still time. The group kindly and patiently persuaded Yitong Lin to go see a doctor.

If players weren't restricted from traveling too far from the apartment, Lianxin Li would have loved to escort her to the hospital in person.

After sending Yitong Lin off, Chengzhi Cui let out a sigh of relief.

"Since Miss Lin is willing to cooperate with the treatment, we'll probably have one less ghost to deal with."

Bako asked curiously, "Is this kind of method really effective? I thought the number of ghosts we have to deal with in the instance wouldn't decrease."

Chengzhi Cui nodded. "Methods that nip the emergence of ghosts in the bud are strongly encouraged. In the early stages, when players lack the capability, they cannot take risks to gather clues and can only rely on hiding. However, after the system's capabilities improve in the later stages, most players still choose to acquire as many clues as possible to directly prevent ghosts from spawning."

"Having no ghosts is the safest way to survive."

Everyone deeply agreed, and Guang Yu quickly pulled out his little notebook to take meticulous notes.

Hearing this, Cheng Cheng looked towards Wulei Xia.

"Sister Wulei, did you encounter any danger?"

She was referring to the process of obtaining the diary. Wulei Xia was stunned for a moment, then smiled and shook her head.

"Old Man Liu in the security room was a bit mutated, but I'm fine. You guys should avoid going near that area."

If Cheng Cheng hadn't brought it up, she almost would have forgotten about Old Man Liu. She wasn't afraid, but that didn't mean the others wouldn't be frightened.

By the fifth day of the instance, three ghosts had already been uncovered. The threat of the mirror spirit had been eliminated, and barring any accidents, the yellow weasel on the third floor and Yitong Lin on the fifth floor should no longer pose a threat to them.

From this perspective, only the female ghost in red remained.

As the final boss of this instance, even Wulei Xia had to give her a wide berth. Since the boss had made a request, they naturally dared not ignore it. Solving it from the roots just like they did with Yitong Lin would be the best-case scenario.

The others also learned of the boss's request, but they all looked somewhat troubled.

"So much time has already passed; that human trafficker must have run off with the child long ago. And since we can't travel too far from the instance, how are we supposed to find them?"

Guang Yu couldn't help but speak up, considering the problem utterly unsolvable.

Lianxin Li shook her head. "Senior brother once said that the instance won't deliberately make things difficult for players. If it wanted to, it would just kill us outright, so why bother going through the trouble? Since the boss can make such a request, it means there is a solution."

Cheng Cheng said thoughtfully, "Following that logic, it implies that the person the female ghost in red is looking for is right here in this apartment."

At this, Cheng Cheng and Wulei Xia exchanged glances.

"I know."

Bako, who had been completely lost the entire time: Huh? Know what?!

Wulei Xia sighed inwardly. As expected of a normal beginner instance, the ghosts and clues were practically spoon-fed to them.

Of course, it was also thanks to her obtaining the security guard's diary, which made the situation inside the apartment crystal clear.

Aside from room 304, there was only one household in the entire apartment with a child—and that was room 201, which Wulei Xia and the others had previously visited.

A man and a woman lived in that household, and when Wulei Xia's group had visited, they even heard the cries of a child.

It was overwhelmingly likely to be a trafficked child.

With a target identified, the rest of the work became much easier: they could just go straight to their door and drag them out.

Imagination was wonderful, but the occupants of room 201 flatly rejected their demands.

"I don't know what you're talking about! This is our own child, now get the hell out!"

The man living in 201 had the surname He, and was called Daqiang He; the woman had the surname Zhao, and Auntie Zhao was formerly the nanny of the family of the female ghost in red.

Although the two lived together as husband and wife, they had never legally registered their marriage.

Daqiang He loved to gamble, and when he had gambled away everything in the household, Auntie Zhao happened to overhear someone in a neighboring village who couldn't have children and desperately wanted one. On an impulse, she snatched an unattended child from the street and brought them back.

Having tasted the sweetness of success after the first time, the pair specialized in abducting children from the city and selling them to the countryside.

Auntie Zhao used her position as a nanny to leak information to Daqiang He, working together as insiders. Over the years, they had made quite a fortune.

Originally, they had planned to make one last run after this job, but they accidentally caused a young girl to die and inexplicably found themselves trapped in this apartment, unable to leave.

Now that someone had come to their doorstep, exposing their child trafficking crimes, Daqiang He instantly panicked.

After slamming the door shut, Auntie Zhao walked out of the inner room with a worried expression. "Qiang, won't something go wrong? We've been trapped here for three months. Should we just return the child?"

Everywhere inside room 201, yellow paper inscribed with vermillion characters was pasted; there were at least nine sheets on every single wall.

For the past three months, the two of them, along with the child, couldn't make it down to the apartment lobby whether they took the elevator or the stairs. Moreover, they constantly heard inexplicable sounds—it was freakishly evil.

Fortunately, they had previously met an accomplished master. Through his guidance, they had purchased a batch of high-priced talisman papers to preserve their lives.

The two had no choice but to rent room 201 on the lower floor, bring the talismans into their home, and remain shut inside, relying on food deliveries left at the door.

"No way!" Daqiang He flatly refused. "The buyers have already been contacted. This kid looks good and is young; we can sell them for a lot of money."

"I've already consulted the master. Ninety-one days from now, that woman's resentment will dissipate, and we'll be able to get out!"

"There are only three days left now, we must hold on!"

Hearing Daqiang He say this, Auntie Zhao had no choice but to nod.

Yet neither of them noticed the small emerald bird outside the window, tilting its head and quietly watching them.

Outside the door of room 201, the group watched Lianxin Li, who had her eyes closed, with looks of intense curiosity.

When Lianxin Li opened her eyes, Bako asked in a low voice, "Sister Lianxin, did you hear anything?"

Lianxin Li nodded and recounted everything she had seen and heard through the emerald bird.

Guang Yu said, "Three days from now—isn't that the final day of our instance?"

Chengzhi Cui frowned. "Such ignorance. The female ghost's resentment will only grow over time, never dissipate. I have no idea what that so-called master's intentions are, actually aiding and abetting such evil. Ninety-one represents the utmost yin; combined with the nourishment of this apartment's resentment, once that ghost reaches full maturity by then, I'm afraid no one inside this apartment will survive."

"Since we've confirmed it's them, let's just take action directly!"

A fierce glint flashed across Chengzhi Cui's face. He pinched a yellow talisman between two fingers, silently chanted a few incantations, and a flash of electric light instantly sparked across the paper. He flung the talisman, and it transformed into a purple bolt of lightning, shooting straight toward the door of room 201.

However, the sound of the door being blasted open that they anticipated never came. An invisible ripple of water seemed to spread out before the door, swallowing the lightning without a sound.