Chapter Twenty-One: The Peculiar Tao Tao

Everyone stared in silence at the food they’d been given. Last time, they’d at least received half a slice of bread; this time, it was barely even that. It was so little, it couldn’t possibly stave off hunger for a whole day—eating such a meager portion had no effect at all.

“What’s wrong, everyone?” Gao Yi asked, glancing around at them.

Guo Zhengxiang looked from one person to the next, as if hoping to remind them of their previous agreement, that they would stick together, come what may.

“This food is far too little. You took more than this last time, didn’t you?” Guo Zhengxiang finally looked up and met Gao Yi’s gaze directly.

“What? I didn’t catch that. Say it again,” Gao Yi replied, his voice calm, his eyes fixed on Guo Zhengxiang.

Guo Zhengxiang hesitated, then jabbed a finger at the meager piece of bread, raising his voice, “I said, there shouldn’t be so little food!”

Gao Yi’s eyes turned cold as ice. He stood up. His powerful build made Guo Zhengxiang falter inside; he’d just been beaten by Gao Yi, and there was simply no comparison between their strengths.

The other four, seeing this, rose as well and moved to stand by Guo Zhengxiang’s side. Whatever happened today, they had to take a stand with him. Otherwise, from now on, Gao Yi’s word would be law.

Gao Yi nodded. “Very well. Eat or don’t eat—it’s up to you.”

With that, he returned to his room and closed the door behind him.

Watching Gao Yi leave, Guo Zhengxiang shook his head and sighed, “Even so, we’re still left without food.”

Xiu Ming swallowed his sliver of bread and said, “It’s not yet time to give up. We mustn’t lose hope. Let’s finish this bit of bread, gather our strength, and keep searching for a way out.”

“Even if Gao Yi does have food, can he escape? At best, he’ll outlive us by a little, but in the end, I imagine he’ll be even more tormented than he is now.”

...

In Fei Xin’s room, the two of them drank the last drops of water.

“The water’s gone, but there’s still a little food left,” Fei Xin said, tossing the empty bottle into the fire. “Suddenly, I feel like this bottle is just like us.”

“When we reach the end, should we share some of our food with the others?” Xiu Ming looked at Fei Xin.

Fei Xin nodded. “That’s all we can do. Otherwise, watching everyone die one by one—I couldn’t live with myself.”

Xiu Ming wanted to toss his own bottle away, but a thought struck him and he said, “We can collect our urine—urine is water, too.”

Fei Xin paused. “How long could that last? There are toxins in urine.”

“For as long as it will. We have fire. Maybe we can find something to distill it with.”

“Mm. Do you have an idea?” Fei Xin asked.

Xiu Ming recalled there were several metal containers in the storeroom. Perhaps they could be useful. He stood up. “I’ll go check the storeroom.”

---

When he stepped outside, he found Guo Zhengxiang, Tao Tao, and Cui Kaixuan busy with something.

“Xiu Ming, you’re just in time. We’re short on wood to make torches. Let’s break down this table together,” Cui Kaixuan called.

“Alright.” Xiu Ming joined them. The tables here were heavy; even a small one had considerable weight. Grasping a table corner, he felt its heft.

“Ready? Lift!” shouted Cui Kaixuan.

The four of them heaved together. But before Xiu Ming had even used his full strength, the table suddenly became lighter.

“It’s Tao Tao—she’s really strong,” Xiu Ming realized, keeping his thoughts to himself. Tao Tao was standing close by him, and since he was the last to exert force, only he could feel the difference.

“Come on, a bit more effort. Turn it over and we can start dismantling it,” Cui Kaixuan said. Together, they flipped the table.

“I’m worried. Wang Qian’s ghost said she wanted revenge...” Guo Zhengxiang’s voice trembled.

“Yes... I feel it too. It all seems so unreal.” Xiu Ming glanced at the others and continued, “If ghosts are real, then after Wang Qian’s body was desecrated, why didn’t anything unusual happen?”

No one answered. Indeed, they’d all considered this in passing, but never as a crucial point.

“Hey!” With a crack, Cui Kaixuan wrenched a leg from the table. “Don’t think too much. Dead is dead—how we die hardly matters!”

“Well said, haha...”

Just then, Wang Qian’s voice echoed from the shadows.

“Run!” Xiu Ming shouted. “Everyone, back to your rooms! Lock the doors!”

Without waiting for a response, he dashed toward Fei Xin’s room—she might not know what was happening outside, and her door could still be open.

Seeing Xiu Ming run, the others followed his instructions, scrambling back to their rooms and locking their doors.

“What happened, Xiu Ming?” Fei Xin asked as he burst in, breathless.

“Wang Qian’s ghost appeared!” Xiu Ming hurriedly fastened the latch.

Fei Xin stood up, worried. “Are the others alright?”

“They’re fine. I told them to return to their rooms and lock the doors. They should be safe.”

“Good... I don’t think anyone will dare come out for now. Xiu Ming, let’s have some snacks while we wait.”

...

Three or four hours later, Xiu Ming walked to the door. “I want to go out and talk to Wang Qian’s ghost.”

---

Fei Xin nodded. “I was thinking the same. Let’s go together.”

Xiu Ming didn’t object. Given Fei Xin’s relationship with Wang Qian, she might be better at communicating.

But the door wouldn’t budge.

“What’s going on? The door won’t open.” Xiu Ming tried again, pushing harder.

“Impossible,” Fei Xin frowned.

Who had done this? It couldn’t be the ghost—she had her own designs, not simply killing them outright.

If they wanted to get out, they’d have to wait until whoever had locked them in was finished with whatever they were doing.

What could be happening that required keeping everyone else out?

Xiu Ming and Fei Xin exchanged a look, then spoke in unison: “Wang Qian.”

“Never mind. Let’s rest for a while. When it’s over, we’ll go see what happened,” Xiu Ming said, laying his head on the table. “Everyone’s goal is to escape—I doubt he wants to be left all alone. Besides, he’s afraid of Wang Qian’s ghost, too.”

...

Guo Zhengxiang was growing restless in his room. Tao Tao had gone to her own room to get something and hadn’t returned for quite some time.

“Hm? The door won’t open?” Guo Zhengxiang muttered, pushing again.

The door opened.

He was about to head to Tao Tao’s room when he heard a sound to his left. Turning, he saw Tao Tao’s silhouette, carrying a candle and walking toward the main hall.

“Tao Tao? Where are you going?” Guo Zhengxiang called.

But she didn’t answer, just kept moving at an unhurried pace.

Guo Zhengxiang hurried after her, but Tao Tao seemed to walk even faster, always maintaining the same distance ahead.

When he reached the spiral staircase to the second floor, Guo Zhengxiang sensed something was wrong. Usually, if he called out, Tao Tao would reply. He considered turning back, but then thought, what if she’d been entranced by the ghost?

So he continued on.

As he started up the stairs, he heard Tao Tao say, “Climb out onto the tree from the second-floor balcony; there’s a window by the tree.”

He looked up, but Tao Tao was nowhere to be seen.

“She left in such a hurry—must be something urgent.”