Chapter 23: The Baby Tower
After a heavy-hearted dinner, the players returned to the courtyard to find Li Zhi and the others standing under the eaves, directing the Jin family servants to replace the lanterns.
Curious, everyone gathered around. "What are you doing?"
Li Zhi held up the old lantern. "The previous one was too dim. Once it gets dark, you can’t see anything. We’re swapping it for a brighter one."
Zhao Luan blinked in confusion. "Why do you need it so bright? We’re all going to sleep once it’s dark. Are you planning to take a midnight stroll?"
Li Zhi casually inspected the lantern, her tone leisurely. "Brighter light means fewer bumps and bruises. Convenient for you, me, and everyone else." She smiled at the servant hanging the lantern. "Don’t you think so, young man?"
Zhao Luan: "…………"
What the hell was she even saying? He didn’t get it at all.
The servant gave an awkward but polite smile. "Right, brighter is better. Master, does this brightness work for you?"
He flipped the switch, and the sudden glare nearly blinded everyone.
Li Zhi nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect, thanks."
As the servant carried the ladder away, the courtyard brightened significantly. The increased light eased some of the players’ fear of the night—compared to last night’s pitch-black darkness, tonight felt far less terrifying.
But Chi Yi still refused to return to her bed. The mere thought of that window made her scalp crawl. She could still feel those hairs crawling into her nose and ears last night, lurking inside her body, waiting to strike.
She laid out her makeshift bed and turned to see Li Zhi kneeling on the mattress, carefully poking a tiny hole in the window paper with the exorcism knife.
Chi Yi’s hair stood on end. "Zhi Zhi!! What are you doing?!"
Last night, the window had been tightly shut, yet those hairs still squeezed through the cracks. And now, she was deliberately making a hole in the paper?! Wasn’t this just giving the female ghost an easier way in?!
Li Zhi pressed her eye to the thumb-sized hole, which offered a perfect view of the entire courtyard.
Satisfied, she nodded. "This knife’s pretty handy."
Capable of slaying ghosts and carving holes in windows—she hoped to get another all-purpose item like this after the next clearance. If it appeared, she’d spend every point she had to claim it.
Chi Yi scrambled onto the bed, staring at the thin beam of light streaming through the hole. She was on the verge of tears. "Can we even patch this up?! What if the female ghost comes through here?!"
Li Zhi pulled out the talisman bundle the Jin family head had given them. "We’ll test if the head’s lying about its effectiveness."
Chi Yi wailed. "But that only works against the former madam, not the three maid ghosts!"
Li Zhi said, "I don’t think they’re real."
Chi Yi froze. "What? But you said last night, two waves of ghosts came—one after the other."
Li Zhi tossed out a question. "Do ghosts kick over water bottles?"
Chi Yi was speechless. Kicking over a water bottle was so human. Ghosts were supposed to move like cats—effortlessly avoiding obstacles. Tripping over things like a klutz? That was ridiculous.
She lowered her voice, pointing at the lantern outside. "So that’s why you replaced the lamp? You suspect it’s a person?"
Li Zhi tidied up the small hole in the window paper, making it easier to observe. "We’ll see tonight."
Chi Yi paused, then muttered helplessly, "In horror movies, it’s always the villainous ghost peeping through the hole. You’re doing the opposite—you’re the one spying on the ghost."
Li Zhi gave a modest smile.
Once everyone returned to their rooms, the live streams split into individual feeds. Naturally, Li Zhi and Chi Yi’s stream had the most viewers—their popularity combined drew a larger audience.
[Li Zhi’s antics never fail to shock me, like yelling "Dad" in the last instance.]
[Her thought process is so unique. The female ghost probably never expected to become the one being watched.]
[I don’t know why, but this instance feels oppressive from the start. This town is seriously creeping me out.]
[Li Zhi’s going to solve the mystery soon. She’s so smart—Zhao Luan doesn’t even deserve to be her rival.]
[Zhao Luan’s just reckless, no strategy. I’ve been saying it—comparing him to Li Zhi is an insult to her.]
[Hey, Li Zhi’s fans, stop dragging Zhao Luan down every time you praise her. Leave our Lu Ge out of this, got it?]
[LOL, Zhao Luan’s fans aren’t even in his solo stream anymore. Why are they spamming Li Zhi’s?]
[Thanks for the boost, Zhao Luan’s fans. Here’s a little rose for our Lizhi.]
[Hey, fake-fan Zhao Luan supporters, your actions betray you. Switch sides and vote for Zhi Jie already.]
…
Amid the chaos, Chi Yi’s fear dissipated somewhat. As night deepened, the courtyard lantern’s light filtered through the window paper, casting faint outlines in the room.
She lay on her makeshift bed in the corner and asked softly, "Are you really not sleeping?"
Li Zhi sat cross-legged by the window, pillow in her lap, her voice slightly muffled. "You sleep first. I’ll wait for the female ghost."
The way she said it made it sound like a date. Chi Yi had no words, pulled the blanket over her head, and went to sleep.
The night grew silent, save for Chi Yi’s steady breathing. The night breeze rustled the eaves, swaying the bright lantern. Li Zhi yawned, resting her head on her arm as she watched the shifting shadows of tree branches on the window paper.
Then, a faint sound broke the silence—raindrops.
Rain?
But the sound was delicate, almost imperceptible, moving slowly from afar. Li Zhi’s drowsy mind snapped awake. She held the NPC’s talisman bundle in her left hand and the exorcism knife in her right, pressing her face close to the window. Squinting through the tiny hole, she peered outside.
At the arched courtyard gate, a white figure slowly entered.
Slender and graceful, she moved with the poise of a noblewoman raised in seclusion—every step measured, as if calculated by a ruler. Yet her entire body was drenched. Her white dress clung to her skin, black hair tangled with aquatic plants, as if she’d just crawled out of a lake. Water dripped from every inch of her.
The faint splashing sound came from her.
She walked, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. Three blood-soaked babies crawled along the path she left, their expressions unreadable—but Li Zhi could almost hear their laughter. Wide-mouthed, toothless grins, they circled the female ghost by the window, happily scrambling at her feet.
The female ghost stood motionless by the first room’s window. The lantern cast flickering shadows of her slender figure on the paper. Then, her trailing hair stirred, moving like tentacles up the window frame, squeezing through the cracks just as it had last night—silently slipping inside.
Li Zhi remembered: the two people in that room were Zhao Luan’s teammates.
Holding her breath, she considered her options for intervention—when the female ghost suddenly turned her head. Despite the distance, Li Zhi felt the ghost’s gaze lock onto her through the tiny hole.
In the blink of an eye, the ghost vanished from the window. Before Li Zhi could react, an enormous eyeball appeared before her face.
Swollen and bloodshot, its rotting surface crawled with maggots along the veins.
The ghost was crouching outside, her eye pressed against the window paper, peering inside through the hole.
Their eyes met through the thin barrier—a sudden, intimate confrontation. Even Li Zhi, usually unshaken, felt her scalp prickle. She jerked back and instinctively slapped the talisman bundle over the hole.
The moment the talisman touched the paper, a piercing shriek erupted outside.
Through the shadow on the window, Li Zhi saw the female ghost retreat in disarray. The talisman emitted a faint wisp of white smoke, its sandalwood scent growing stronger.
The ghost’s scream turned furious. The three babies began wailing, their shrill cries echoing in the wind. They stumbled to their feet and scrambled up the windowsill, slamming their tiny bloodied hands against the glass, trying to break in.
Red handprints smeared the window paper. Li Zhi gripped the knife tightly and shoved the confusion perfume into Chi Yi’s trembling hands. "If they get in, spray this."
The perfume could only be used once—once activated, it would mark them as one of the ghosts. Li Zhi wasn’t willing to waste it unless absolutely necessary.
But perhaps intimidated by the talismans, the ghost babies eventually stopped pounding the window and slinked back down. The female ghost’s shadow quivered on the glass, as if furious.
The white ghost lingered outside for a moment before, in a fit of pique, slamming her waterlogged, seaweed-covered hands against Li Zhi’s window.
Li Zhi: "……"
Lost for words.
The audience was thrilled:
[Here it comes, here it comes—she’s about to drop her iconic roast.]
[Let me say it!!! Pathetic rage!!!]
[As expected, Li Zhi’s the ghost’s worst nightmare, right?!]
…
But the female ghost and her babies vanished before Li Zhi could say anything. The wet footprints and blood trails disappeared with them.
Chi Yi, drenched in cold sweat, clutched the confusion perfume so tightly her palms were slippery. She collapsed onto the bed, exhausted.
Li Zhi sealed the hole with a piece of tape she’d prepared earlier. "Alright, time to sleep."
Chi Yi weakly crawled back to her mattress. "They won’t come back, right?"
"Probably not." Li Zhi lay down, examining the talisman bundle in the dim light. The sandalwood scent had faded, but prolonged exposure left a strange, acrid aftertaste.
"So… did you figure anything out?"
After all that drama, there had to be some clue.
Li Zhi closed her eyes and spoke softly. "We can confirm—Feng Zhenghao wasn’t killed by the former madam."