"Dad came back, and Mom told him that the person had run away. Dad was very angry."

"Dad finally found the person in the basement, and he gave Mom a good beating!"

"The person Dad brought back is dead. I saw Dad kill Mom."

"It's back!"

"It killed Dad!"

"It's mixed in with you all!!!"

It felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over my head in the dead of winter; a chilling coldness rose from the soles of my feet, flowing through my blood to every part of my body, even my fingertips were icy cold.

Xia Linyin stared intently at the last sentence: "It's mixed in with you all!"

Who is it...?

A single sentence, like a demon's curse, caused the temperature in the room to drop several degrees out of nowhere.

With a "gulp," someone swallowed hard, and as if a robot had been turned on, the frozen crowd began to twist their necks with difficulty.

An atmosphere of suspicion, distrust, and panic flowed and spread throughout the room.

"I told you the killer was one of us!"

Ma Yanming took a step back. This middle-aged man, who had become somewhat dejected after years of having his perceptions shattered, now had a sharp and fierce light flashing in his eyes again. He pointed his fingers at everyone.

"Who is it?! It's you! You! It's still you!"

"It's Xia Linyin and Qin Manwen!" Wei Xiaohua, who had been silent until now, suddenly pointed at Xia Linyin and Qin Manwen and shouted, "It's one of them, it must be them! Because ghosts are women, and there are only two women here!"

Ma Yanming's face was contorted with rage, his eyes filled with malice. "That's right! It's one of you two. Which one of you is the ghost? Step forward!"

Qin Manwen sneered, her gaze both mocking and icy. "Who says ghosts have to be women? Can't men be ghosts too?"

"What's going on between men! This person was brought back by Dad, and of course Dad brings back a woman!" Ma Yanming pointed at Qin Manwen, his eyes bloodshot. "You're the ghost, aren't you? You look exactly like a mistress, the ghost is definitely you!"

"Smack!"

A crisp sound!

Qin Manwen slapped Ma Yanming hard across the face, "Watch your mouth!"

"Fuck your mother!" Ma Yanming charged at Qin Manwen like an enraged bull.

His face was contorted and twisted, a far cry from his previous composed demeanor.

Yang Shuming quickly hugged him, "Let's talk this out! What kind of behavior is it to hit a woman! Any one of us seven could be a ghost! Rich people these days like to seek thrills, and Dad might even be bisexual. Don't forget that there are both men's and women's clothes hanging in that room!"

After shouting those words, Yang Shuming was breathing heavily. Ma Yanming gradually stopped struggling because of his shouting. Seeing this, Yang Shuming let go of him.

“Yang Shuming is right.” Xia Linyin waved the diary in her hand. “Dad brought someone back from outside. Mom was very angry. The diary never used the word ‘he’ or ‘she’. Moreover, the extra room was obviously where the person Dad brought back lived. The clothes in the closet included both men’s and women’s clothes. So, the person Dad brought back was a woman, or possibly a man!”

The only thing they could be sure of through the diary was that the ghost was the person their father brought home, not their father or mother as they had previously guessed.

The man Father brought back died, so it came back, killed Father, and now it's mixed in with you.

The use of the word "it" in the following sentences is self-evident; the ghost is "this person" who has returned in another form after death.

Moreover, she finally understood what the game meant by "be careful to hide your player identity." The ghost was mixed in with them, disguised as one of them.

They are still alive. Perhaps the game has placed restrictions on ghosts, just like in the first game, where the ghosts kill the NPCs first and then the players.

In this game, the ghost blends in with them, searching for clues alongside them. The ghost has its own consciousness; it doesn't kill everyone at once, but one by one. Perhaps the ghost thinks it's enjoying the slaughter, playing its own game, but in reality, it's the game's design that makes it this way.

Once the ghost discovers that you are an NPC, not a hunter, but a prey even more pitiful and pathetic than the player, the ghost will definitely go berserk and kill everyone.

This is the game's friendly reminder to them.

Xia Linyin's analysis was logical and well-founded, and Ma Yanming had no way to refute it. Yes! The diary never used the word "she" from beginning to end.

But he still couldn't understand it, as if he were trapped in a maze and couldn't find his way out. He couldn't understand or imagine how this person could possibly be a man.

Ma Yanming, whose worldview had been turned upside down once again, felt like he was going crazy!

Who is the ghost?!

Xia Linyin kept asking herself in her heart who among them was the ghost: was it the silent and introverted Wei Xiaohua, the shy and timid Zhou Yu, the out-of-control roaring Ma Yanming, or the seemingly player Yang Shuming?

Or perhaps she thought Qin Manwen was a player?

Seeing the suspicion in Xia Linyin's eyes, Wei Xiaohua quickly cleared himself of suspicion, "Anyway, I'm definitely not the ghost! Xia Linyin, Qin Manwen, Li Luo, and Zhou Yu, you four are the most likely to be the ghost! I'm so ugly, I definitely can't be a ghost!"

As if struck by a sudden enlightenment, Ma Yanming, who had been stuck in a rut, suddenly understood. He looked at Li Luo. If the ghost was a man and it was Li Luo, then he could understand why his husband had fallen for someone else. Li Luo was just too good-looking. Regardless of gender, he possessed an unparalleled charm, like a masterpiece of God.

If a man is favored by a god, his first reaction is probably not to think about the other person's gender, but to feel honored to be blessed by the gods.

"Wei Xiaohua, that's enough! Don't forget we're dealing with a ghost! Since it's a ghost, it can disguise itself; the less it resembles a person, the more likely it is to be one!"

Qin Manwen made no attempt to hide her suspicion of Wei Xiaohua, as if she wanted to stare a hole through him.

“This argument will not lead to anything. We have no evidence to prove that the other is a ghost. We are just wasting time on suspicion. Perhaps this is the ghost’s purpose: to make us fight amongst ourselves.”

Xia Linyin took a deep breath and pointed to the diary, saying, "Dad finally discovered the person in the basement, the basement—"

"This is our breakthrough!"

She had a feeling the mystery was about to be revealed; there must be something they wanted hidden in this basement they had never been to before!

Everyone returned to the first floor to search for the entrance to the basement. From the living room to the bathroom and then to the kitchen, they finally found the entrance in the kitchen by tapping on the floor.

After prying open the floorboards, there was a dusty, sloping wooden staircase leading downwards into the unknown depths of darkness...