Excessive ferocity due to caution

"Shall we go find the clock now?!"

"We have cell phones, so we can find other clocks with incorrect times, and then identify them as the real ghosts!"

Wu Dading was overjoyed!

He... survived!

"Let's split up and search now, before the safe period ends and the ghosts can attack us!"

Tang Yiwei said to the two of them.

Both of them agreed.

The three then went their separate ways. Tang Yiwei went straight downstairs and headed in a certain direction.

In the darkness, his phone screen glowed faintly, and a wild smile spread across his face.

Actually, he didn't need Shen Youyu's reminder, although Shen Youyu didn't have the chance to remind him anyway.

He had suspected Zhao Yi was acting strangely from the very beginning.

Arriving at the outer hall of the main building, which was filled with plaster statues, he looked up at a huge hanging clock on the patterned wallpaper.

Tang Yiwei, who has been immersed in detective novels for many years, is a detail enthusiast.

After Guan Kaixian died, they passed by this place on their way to the smoke tower, and passed by it again on their way back... He had actually noticed that the time on one of the clocks was a few seconds slower than the other clocks.

It's this clock right in front of you.

Tap tap—

The familiar sound of leather shoes came from the corridor behind me.

Zhao Yi stood beside Tang Yiwei.

"When did you start to doubt me?"

He asked.

Tang Yiwei, hands in his pockets, looked up at the huge wall clock, a victor's smile on his face:

"From the time Guan Kaixian died."

"At that time...you just happened to be away."

"Moreover, your behavior is really abnormal."

"However, after learning the rules of the game, I didn't expose you."

"Because I wasn't sure if your true form was the one standing in front of me, it seems I made the right bet."

"The last person, it was your mistake not to kill me."

"Now... you have no chance."

He raised his hand, pointed to the huge bell, and said:

"Mr. Zhao, this bell is the true form of the vengeful ghost of the manor, which is... your true form!"

After Tang Yiwei finished speaking, no unusual phenomena occurred.

There are seven plaster sculptures inside the house.

The wind and rain outside continued as before.

A few seconds later—

Snapped!

Zhao lit a cigarette, a wisp of white smoke puffing from his nostrils. He leaned against a sculpture, calmly looking at Tang Yiwei, and said:

"You're so smart."

"It wasn't easy to fool you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Tang Yiwei's expression changed slightly.

He stared at Zhao Yi, who was smoking, his eyelids twitching involuntarily.

"What...do you mean?"

Zhao Yi raised his eyes and smiled:

"Killing Guan Kaixian was to create fear, so as to quickly filter out those among you who have extremely high psychological qualities and pose a threat to me."

"The second person to die should have been Shen Youyu. She discovered the key to the problem, and I decided to take care of her first... But the moment the lights went out, Jing Qingdong, that experienced guy, actually reached out and grabbed me!"

"So I had to kill him; I had no other choice."

"As for Shen Youyu... I had no choice but to temporarily lock her up alone with a corpse, using that corpse and the darkness to catalyze the fear in her heart, slowly consuming her reason."

"Luckily, I was fully prepared, which saved me a lot of trouble."

After Zhao Yi finished speaking, she tore off the band-aid on her hand.

There is a wound on my finger.

Knife wound.

Previously, Shen Youyu had been staring at the wound.

Tang Yiwei stared at the wound for a long time, then suddenly a thought flashed through his mind, and he exclaimed in horror:

"That blood-stained letter...it's not the one you took from the manor gate at all!!"

Zhao Yi smiled slightly.

"Yes, the blood letter you saw was written by me on the spot."

"The blood oxidizes too quickly, especially... in the kitchen where there's fire and high temperatures."

"It's easy to create bloodstains that have a sense of time."

"Actually, from the very beginning, there was no clock, no previous owner of the manor, and no boring word puzzles..."

"Those were all preparations I made in advance. There are many similar preparations throughout the manor, such as the mechanism for the smoke tower, the malfunction of the elevator..."

Tang Yiwei's face turned ashen. He took several steps back and knelt down on the ground.

He was lost in thought for a long time, then looked up and asked:

Why did you design this scene?

Zhao Yi exhaled a smoke ring:

"Specifically for people like you."

Tang Yiwei was stunned:

"Exclusively for people like me?"

Zhao Yi smiled and said:

"When you got out of the car, you even brought the detective book with you in your raincoat, which shows how much you like this book. And people who like to read detective books usually have one flaw: they like to get to the bottom of everything."

"Once you are led down the path of seeking the truth, you will naturally keep your head down and keep moving forward."

"It's like I gave you a lot of psychological hints—when Yu Congyi first asked me, I told him that the true form of a ghost is not necessarily a person. Actually, I was saying that to you."

"Then there are the heads... If you look closely, you'll notice that I've made a lot of tiny changes to the heads, which is why they look like clocks for some reason."

"Finally, after you revealed that the clock was the true form of a demon, I deliberately let you see the hidden murderous intent in my eyes, so that you would be even more convinced that your guess was correct."

"Mr. Tang, the subconscious mind is a truly terrifying thing... isn't it?"

Tang Yiwei gave a bitter smile.

He thought he could turn the tide with his own strength, but he never imagined that he was just a lab rat running around in a maze designed by the other party...

"So...all of this was a lie?"

Zhao Yi flicked his cigarette ash and replied:

"The rules of the curse are not fake."

"If you correctly identify me, I will die."

Zhao Yi took out another blood-written letter and handed it to Tang Yiwei.

The latter slowly opened the letter.

...

[Actor Zhao Yi, as the new 'ghost' character in Twilight Manor, you need to abide by the following rules:]

1. After the game starts, explain the rules to all other members to ensure they understand the game mechanics.

[2. When others are unprotected, you can transform into a 'ghost' and use some supernatural powers to kill one of them, then return to your original position and transform back into a 'human'.]

[3. If you choose not yourself as the entity, but another "specific item" in the manor, you must leave one or more vague clues pointing to your original entity after the murder.]

[4. After one person dies, the remaining 'people' will be protected for one hour. During this period, you cannot transform into a 'ghost' or continue killing by any means.]

5. Once your true form is correctly identified, you will die immediately!

...

Looking at the blood-written words above, Tang Yiwei gave a bitter laugh:

"I lost."

His hand, hidden behind his back, was secretly pressing the buttons on his phone, trying to send a message to Wu Dading.

But soon, Tang Yiwei felt a sharp pain in his arms, and then his arms fell to the ground.

A large amount of fresh blood gushed out.

Zhao Yi retrieved the letter from his severed hand and sighed:

"Actually, a week ago... I also participated in the Twilight Manor game as a 'human,' just like you."

"A group of people came to this place at that time, and I really needed to find the ghost's true form before it killed them..."

"But that ghost was so stupid. After killing the first person, it left too many flaws. In less than five minutes, I found its true form."

"Then it died."

"Oh, right..."

Zhao Yi sat down next to Tang Yiwei, who had lost both arms, and looked at his pale, desperate face, and smiled:

"Speaking of which, you've even met the real thing that ghost."

"Hmm... it was that lavish dinner you had."

"The taste is alright, isn't it?"

"Cooking is really difficult for me. I spent several days learning how to cook a ghost."

After saying that, one of his hands turned into a hideous blood claw.

And the bells in the hall rang.

thump—

thump—

thump—

It's noon.

The damp, cold wind outside the hall lashed against Tang Yiwei's pale face, making him look so haggard.

"The people behind the scenes weren't too happy with how quickly I finished the movie, so they came up with a new idea—to have me play the ghost in the movie, and they even found you smart guys to accompany me during filming."

"However... the game is over."

Zhao Yi gently gripped Tang Yiwei's neck with his blood-red claws in the form of a ghost, looking into his desperate and terrified eyes, and said:

Life and death are predestined.

Take care.

P.S.: Okay, that's all for now. I'll do some final cleanup tomorrow, and then it'll be over.

Goodnight, my darlings!!