The sky was tinged with the pale white of fish belly along the horizon, and the first ray of sunlight broke through in the distance.
"Finally, it's dawn."
Clutching the white cat, Chen Ge re-entered the stairwell. Not a soul was inside the empty corridor, making it look thoroughly terrifying.
"I can't even imagine that I managed to walk up here blindfolded last night."
After a few remarks, Chen Ge made his way through the stairwell and took the elevator out of Jiangyuan Residential Complex.
At the same time, a notification arrived on his Black Phone — the task was complete.
"Fortunate one favored by malicious spirits! Congratulations on completing the Nightmare-tier daily task 'Neighbor.' You have been granted a brand-new innate ability — Spirit Smell!"
"Yin Eyes let you see the colors of dreams. Ghost Ears let you hear the voices of memories. Spirit Smelling lets you catch the scent of emotions. Death's Visage lets you dress a withered soul. Living Doll lets you forge a shell for a dark god. You now have only one ability left to unlock. Hurry and complete the task — before you die, I hope you will learn the answer."
Completing the Nightmare-tier daily task had granted Chen Ge yet another ability, one apparently tied to the sense of smell.
He rubbed his nose but noticed no obvious difference compared to before — his ability to distinguish scents was simply a little sharper now.
"Different emotions give off different scents?" Chen Ge leaned toward the white cat and took a sniff, only to be disdainfully shoved aside. He didn't mind, stowing the Black Phone away before pulling out his own.
"Hello? Is this the Dongjiao Police Station? I'd like to report a crime. There's a hidden murder case in Jiangyuan Residential Complex."
"Yes, it should be a female corpse. The body is likely stashed in a freezer. I'd suggest checking those tenants who have never actually lived there yet consume an unusually high amount of electricity every month."
"How did I find out? If I told you the dead woman herself told me, you definitely wouldn't believe me, right?"
…
After flagging down a cab back to New Century Paradise, Chen Ge hadn't slept all night, yet he felt no drowsiness whatsoever.
He checked the time and began making preparations.
"My haunted house needs to keep running normally. I can't take too many staff with me — I'll need to leave a few veteran employees behind to maintain order."
He pushed open the door leading underground and stepped inside with his backpack. "All the Red-clothed, except Old Bai, are definitely coming with me. If something goes wrong and I've left any malicious ghosts behind, they won't be able to handle it."
With the Phone Ghost's help, Chen Ge packed the red high heels and the repeater into his backpack, then had Stench and the Headless Female Ghost enter Yan Danian's comic album.
"The Headless Female Ghost has improved a great deal, but she's far too stubborn. Zhang Ya probably terrified her last time. That won't do — she needs to learn to be more flexible going forward."
"All the Red-clothed have serious personality issues. This is the perfect chance for everyone to relax together. If this team-building activity helps them develop proper teamwork, I'll be able to leave them in the haunted house without worry."
As he flipped through the comic album checking the roster, Chen Ge's eyes lit up upon spotting a figure he had nearly forgotten — Qiu Mei.
Before entering the Spirit Medium School, Chen Ge had taken on a task involving a Dead Man's Screening Room. It was in that scene that he had met Chang Gu, and while watching the film there, he had learned of the malicious ghost Qiu Mei's existence.
This half-body Red-clothed was, in a sense, a sacrificial pawn in Chang Wenyu's plan — she had borne the brunt of a catastrophe, lost her left eye, and what made it even more tragic was that she still didn't know the truth.
"When Chang Gu wakes up, I'll bring Qiu Mei along for a proper conversation with him."