Chapter 13

106.

Xu Ming had actually planned to go there during lunch break tomorrow.

She wasn’t sure if that place was worth exploring, but now that she had the key, she would try to go there and take a look.

So, for her, the rush now was just to bring forward the exploration plan.

- And by the way, she could also lead that thing away from Sister Jiayi, killing two birds with one stone.

Compared to her, the voice in her head was far less calm.

"Hurry up, run faster, it's catching up with you!" Xu Ming's consciousness was filled with its roar of collapse, "Lift your bag high, don't let it touch you! Damn it, why are you using me to lure it!"

"I didn't mean to." Xu Ming apologized sincerely, "It just happened."

After all, this kind of talking prop sounds like a natural treasure.

"…" The voice in his head was speechless for a moment, then it started to scream again, urging Xu Ming to speed up. Xu Ming couldn't see anything, so he could only run as fast as he could, all the way down to the first floor, and the voice in his head gradually died down.

"…It's gone." It spoke softly, still frightened, "Damn, the baby was scared to death."

Xu Ming: ...

What baby?

"Why doesn't it come to the first floor?" She thought about it and still felt a little worried, "Could it go back to chase Sister Jiayi again?"

"Even if it went, it would take so long, enough for that woman to run back to the ninth floor." The voice in her mind said faintly, "Don't worry, the presence of the work badge can only allow it to go upstairs at most, but it can't force its way into the company."

"It's not qualified yet."

Xu Ming: "Then you were scared by it and barked just now?"

"You are the one who barked." The voice said unhappily, and then there was no movement. Xu Ming ignored it, pushed open the fire door by himself, and looked inside carefully.

The corridor behind the fire door was also lit, but the light was much dimmer than that on the third floor.

On one side of the corridor, there were also rooms neatly arranged. Xu Ming searched all the way, pushing the doors as he searched, but all the doors were locked. He found the door of 106, took out the key, and finally opened a door.

The light was on inside the door. The moment he saw the situation inside the house, Xu Ming couldn't help but let out a short cry.

As soon as she made a sound, she reacted and quickly covered her mouth. When she looked into the door, she couldn't hide her fear.

... Corpses.

The space behind the door was full of corpses.

Corpses in cleaning clothes were lying all over the place, and the walls and the ground were covered with large splattered bloodstains. There were even severed arms and legs scattered on the ground...

Rather than calling them corpses, it would be more appropriate to call them body parts.

To be fair, this scene was closer to the "ghost story area" in Xu Ming's impression. Even she couldn't help but feel a little frightened after seeing this scene.

"What's going on?" She couldn't help but ask in her mind, "Dead people?"

"Almost." The voice in her mind said, "The corpse of the soul. In a sense, it can also be considered a corpse?"

Xu Ming was stunned: "What do you mean? The soul also has a corpse?"

"Corpse is just a popular term. You can understand that this is the trace left after they are completely dead." The voice said lightly, "Nothing in the world really disappears. Since it exists, there will always be traces left. It's just that some traces only exist outside the world."

Xu Ming swallowed his saliva, and without further investigation, he walked in carefully.

The room was not big, and it was even more crowded when it was filled with corpses. She carefully chose the place to land, her eyes swept over the pile of sundries in the corner, and when she saw a smashed printer, her gaze paused, but she was soon attracted by something next to it.

It was a notebook. A soft-cover copy with a cartoon cover.

It lay upside down on the ground, and the pink cover was covered in blood.

Xu Ming hesitated for a moment, then walked forward carefully and picked it up. Turning to the first page, what caught her eye was the familiar blue handwriting -

[Hello, I'm glad you can see this notebook.]

[Well... isn't it a bit strange to start like this?

[Sorry, I don't know what to write in the first sentence. This notebook was given to me by Sister Yun, who said it was something left behind by someone who escaped. Because among all my companions, except Sister Yun, I have the most memory of words, so she gave this to me so that I can write whatever I want to activate my brain.

[But I don't know what to write. A diary? But a diary has to have a date to be meaningful, right?

[However, the date is the most meaningless thing to us, isn't it?]

...?

What do you mean by "meaningless"?

Xu Ming frowned and looked around vigilantly. After confirming that it was safe again, he lowered his head and turned the pages carefully:

[It's still a day when I don't know what to write. I went upstairs with Sister Yun to take a look and was almost caught by Hongqiang. No human has entered here recently. Sister Yun said that this is a good thing.]

[Today, I received a call from a girl who escaped from the upstairs. She ran down directly after seeing the notice on the elevator and did not enter Hongqiang. Sister Yun and Aunt Zhang sent her out. They said that such people are the luckiest, because they may not realize what happened until they leave. I also want to have such luck.

[Ah, I forgot, I can't have it.

[I'm already dead.]

[I wrote about death yesterday, so I recalled it carefully today. I found that I couldn't remember anything.

[I only know that when I escaped from Hongqiang, I was already dead. My time always stayed on Friday.

[They said that no one in this building can survive Wednesday. Even if you think you are alive, you are actually dead.

[Like me in the past.]

[Sister Yun is very irritable today. They said it was because things became more troublesome-Hongqiang noticed our little tricks. In order to prevent us from continuing to sneak people out, it spent a lot of money to modify the rules here.

[Now if you want to leave this building, you can only rely on your work badge. A work badge that is recognized by Hongqiang, but does not belong to Hongqiang. I don’t quite understand what this means.

[But Sister Yun is already thinking of a way. She can always think of a way. ]

[Sister Yun really thought of a way!

[She took us, used the work badges she had obtained before, and sneaked into Hongqiang, stealing a computer and a printer from inside. She said that as long as we use these to make new work badges for the trapped people, they can leave.

[She said this is a way to exploit loopholes. Because the elevator will not be opened to people from Hongqiang Company, but at the same time, work badges are required to open the elevator. So as long as you get a work badge that is not from Hongqiang Company, you can directly open the elevator and leave.

[Sister Yun smiled happily. She has been gloomy these two days, and her brains have been oozing out. Today she smiled happily! ]

[It’s just... I still don’t quite understand. Rather, from the time I joined here until now, there are many things that I don’t understand.

[I asked Sister Yun why she was so happy. She said it was because the people who came after her could be saved. I said, what does that have to do with us?

[We are just dead people. There is no future, and the past is also disappearing, and the dead are suffering here. 】

【Sister Yun came to talk to me again today. She said that she had thought about my problem for a long time.

【She said she didn't understand it either. But she always felt that it was always good to save one more person.

【Actually, I still don't understand. But Sister Yun is the smartest among us. Since she said it is a good thing, it must be a good thing. 】

【Two more people were sent away. They thanked us very much and said we are gods. I don't know how to tell them that we are not gods, we are just dead people.

【But I am very happy. Sister Yun is very happy. I am also very happy. 】

【I went to Hongqiang again with my new work card. The reminders left in Hongqiang before were almost all erased, so this time, I hid the letter I had written for a long time in Hongqiang Company, behind the "Employee Code of Conduct".

【Every trapped person will see the "Employee Code of Conduct", which means they will all see my letter. Just thinking about it is something to be thankful for.

【I seem to understand what Sister Yun meant. As a dead person, if I can help more people survive, it can also be a good thing. 】

【It is discovered that Wednesday is a good opportunity to save people. As long as we trick them down during the fire drill.

【But we have to be quick, otherwise it will be too late. Moreover, the risk of the operation on Wednesday is also very high. Not only do we have to find the living people among the dead employees, but we also have to be alert to Hongqiang. After all, it is also in the escape passage today...

【Anyway, another one has been rescued. It is worth being happy. 】

【Bad news.

【Something strange has come in from the building. Sister Yun's face is very ugly. 】

【Good news.

【That thing can't beat us. We pinned it down on the second floor, and we sealed the fire door there to prevent it from coming out.

[Aunt Zhang said that this was because Sister Yun was here. Sister Yun is different from us, she has a tin heart pendant, which is her own [root], a one-of-a-kind thing. As long as we have this [root], we will have enough power to fight against Hongqiang and that strange thing.]

[Another good news.

[Another person was rescued today, a very beautiful girl. But she seemed different from the others, after finding us, she didn't rush out, but went to find Sister Yun first.

[She gave Sister Yun a piece of paper with a leaf pattern on it, saying that she was an [insider] and that she came here this time to completely solve Hongqiang's problem. But her current strength is not enough, and she needs our help. ]

[…Sister Yun handed the tin heart to her. It should be alright, right? ]

[…

That strange thing started making trouble again. We couldn't stop it, and were forced to give up the fifth and fourth floors. ]

[The third floor was also lost. We lost a lot of people. Aunt Zhang is gone too. ]

[It's still closing in. Sister Yun said that it's not strong enough to break through the restrictions set by Hongqiang above the fifth floor, so we are its first target. It needs the computers and printers in our hands.

[But what about those people? What about those who mistakenly entered Hongqiang again? They don't know that the fifth floor no longer belongs to us, and we can't give any more clues. ]

[Sister Yun tried to take back the third floor. She didn't come back.

[That woman is a liar. We have nothing we can do now. 】

【The second floor was also captured. There are only a few of us left and we were forced to hide on the first floor. This is our last base, but I know we can't hold on for much longer.

【The computers and printers have been smashed, and the remaining work badges have all been torn off. This is the only thing we can do now. What else can we do?

【I don't know. I really don't know.

【I'm sorry. This is all I can do. I really can't do it. I can't do more. I'm sorry, really sorry. 】

...

From this point on, there is no more content.

There are only large patches of blood, splattered on the back cover of the book, spreading like a flower.

Xu Ming put away the book and looked at the mess around him. The corpses dressed in cleaning clothes were still lying there quietly, messy and difficult to identify.

Xu Ming was silent for a while, then walked forward carefully, stretched out his hand as if he wanted to pick them up, but stopped again, with a surge of sourness in his throat.

"...Don't touch it." After another moment, the voice in his mind sounded again, "These corpses are full of malice left by the murderer. It's very harmful."

Xu Ming:...

Despite this, she still cleaned up the corpses as much as possible, and found a few complete cleaning uniforms to cover them all. It was a very simple burial.

After doing all this, she forced herself to cheer up and check the whole room again. After confirming that there were no more clues, she found a corner to sit down and prepared to wait until tomorrow's lunch break.

"Hey." Noticing that she was in a bad mood, the voice was tangled for a long time, and finally spoke with a brave face, "Don't worry too much... They were already dead, and dying again is just a return to the original ending for them, it doesn't matter."

"Yeah." Xu Ming responded in his consciousness, looking uninterested.

The voice fell silent again, but Xu Ming suddenly asked:

"What do you mean by 'insiders'?"

"What else? They are living people who specialize in this area. If someone is trapped in the strange story area, they will try to rescue them. If no one needs help, they will come in to test the rules... At least that's what I know." The voice in the mind said, and suddenly changed the subject, "Come to think of it, maybe there are people outside right now, trying to save you."

"You try to hold on for a while longer, and maybe you can be saved."

Xu Ming: “…”

He glanced at the cleaning uniform spread out not far away, and then looked at the blood-stained notebook. Xu Ming pursed her lips unconsciously.

“No need.” She responded softly, leaned back against the wall, lowered her eyes and rested.

*

Out of instinctive alertness, Xu Ming hardly got any rest that night.

The voice also said that it was best not to sleep - according to it, the "idiot"'s observation might be reset after waking up. If she woke up, the strange thing from the third floor happened to be squatting at the door, then it would be directly observed by Xu Ming. In other words, she would not be immune to the other party's influence and harm.

The direct result of staying up all night was that Xu Ming's head was as covered as a zombie the next day. Fortunately, the journey back was smooth enough. Apart from being exhausted from climbing the stairs, they did not encounter any strange things.

The situation inside Hongqiang was also a relief - at least when Xu Ming returned, several people were safe and sound, and seemed to have accepted Lao Li's matter.

According to Qiu Yufei, they followed the advice in the blue letter and spent the whole night in the conference room. Although there were ghosts outside the conference room from time to time, and there were often knocks and screams outside the door, they kept urging each other not to open the door, so they had a safe sleep. Moreover

, because of the constant noise outside, they didn't actually sleep much... This made Xu Ming feel much more balanced.

"Anyway, this is probably the situation."

In the conference room, after proving her identity again with a difficult code, Xu Ming did not delay and took out her mobile phone directly - inside was the content of her diary.

The others passed it around and no one spoke for a while. The atmosphere in the conference room, however, became more and more solemn.

After an unknown amount of time, the otter was the first to speak: "So, in this place, there used to be a group of, uh, righteous ghosts..."

"Upright souls." Xu Ming corrected his wording seriously, "They are shining and upright souls."

"Okay, upright souls." The otter sighed, "They will help people who stray in to escape..."

Yuan Jiayi: "And now, they are, um, gone?"

"It's a sacrifice." Xu Ming corrected seriously again, "A tragic sacrifice. It should be the work of that bastard downstairs."

"In other words..." Xiao Wang murmured, absent-minded, "Are we dead? Can't escape at all?"

"Yes, we're dying." Xu Ming continued to correct seriously, "It's still safe on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. It's hard to say about Wednesday noon."

"What difference does it make!" Xiao Wang was about to cry, "No matter what, it's--"

"Besides." Xu Ming raised a finger, "Who said we can't escape?"

...?

All eyes were focused on him.

"No, what do you mean?" Hei Zai closed his eyes. "Doesn't your information clearly state that the ghost who can save people has already... died?"

"Yes." Xu Ming sat up straight. "But at the same time, isn't the way out also written in it?"

...

This time, Qiu Yufei reacted quickly: "You mean, make a work badge and then take the elevator to run?"

"But the computers and printers downstairs are gone..."

"The ones downstairs are gone." Xu Ming pointed out, "But there are still some in the company." "

At present, it can be confirmed that there is at least one printer in the company. As long as we find a way to find that printer and make a work badge that does not belong to Hongqiang, isn't this matter over?"

Xu Ming spread his hands.

... Don't make this matter so simple!

"The problem is how to find it." Hei Zai closed his eyes again, "I've been to all the places in this company, but I haven't seen a printer--"

"There is one, which is used to receive work results. You can use the computer in the work area to find it." Xu Ming did not hesitate.

"But even if you can find it, how to use it is also a problem, right?" Xiao Wang whispered, "Is it considered betrayal to the company to print other company ID cards? What if I get punished for this..."

"This is indeed risky." Xu Ming nodded in agreement, "So I suggest that the action time be tomorrow at noon, during the fire drill."

From the information revealed in the diary, at that time, the abnormal existence in Hongqiang should all gather in the escape passage, and this may be their chance.

Anyway, Wednesday is a watershed, and if you can't survive Wednesday, you will die, so you might as well take this opportunity to fight.

...It doesn't seem impossible.

Everyone looked at each other, with some hesitation on their faces.

At this moment, the otter spoke again in a deep voice:

"No, there is another question."

He looked up and scanned the crowd, shook his head, took out a paper and pen, and pushed it to the person next to him: "Come on, Xiao Wang. Write 'Little Deer Media'."

"?" Xiao Wang looked at him puzzled, and picked up the pen as he said. The moment he finished writing, he couldn't help but let out a low cry.

Everyone came over to take a look, but there was no Little Deer Media?

What was written on the paper was clearly "Hongqiang Consulting".

"Not only handwriting, but also computer typing is the same." The Otter took back the paper and pen and sighed, "I discovered this when I was 'working'. As long as it is a company name, no matter which unit is written, it will become 'Hongqiang Consulting'."

This means that as long as they are in the company, they cannot make a work badge that does not belong to Hongqiang.

But what else can they do? They can't move another computer and printer out.

"..."

In the conference room, silence spread again.

Xu Ming pondered for a moment, but suddenly raised his head.

"I can't type directly..." she murmured, "Then can I copy it?"

"Or paste it?" "

?" The Otter was stunned. He really didn't know this.

"It's worth a try." Xu Ming said, and immediately sat up straight, waved his hand to borrow the Otter's laptop, and took out a USB flash drive from his bag and plugged it in neatly.

The USB drive only contained a bunch of work documents and art materials. Fortunately, Otter's laptop also had PS installed. Xu Ming directly opened a psd file and began to skillfully extract words from the poster.

"What is this?" Qiu Yufei curiously came over to take a look, "Did you take a private job?"

"I think you look like a private job." Xu Ming glanced at her, "I made a typo on the previous poster, but I thought it looked good, so I put that version I kept it. The wrong word happened to be quite clever, and it looked like a company name, so I picked it out and tried it, maybe it would work-"

As he spoke, the work at hand was completed. Xu Ming turned around the computer and turned the screen to the curious crowd.

On the canvas, there were five big characters:

[Ghost Talk Demolition Office]