NFM Chapter 16

Returning to the bedroom, Ye Keke let down her ponytail. She turned to Ni Xiao, who was still tidying up: “Should I shower first or you?”

“You go first,” Ni Xiao replied.

“Alright,” Ye Keke said, not thinking much of it, and headed into the bathroom alone.

The red high heels that had been extracted from the Lucky bag were casually tossed near the door by Ye Keke. Ni Xiao glanced at the shoes briefly before ignoring them, taking out the mirror and placing it on the dressing table.

As she took the mirror out of its packaging, she immediately received its information upon touching it with her fingertips. The description of the mirror was quite ordinary, not a tool with special abilities, nor did it seem to be the embodiment of any ghost.

The mirror reflected Ni Xiao’s own face—pale, with a sharp chin, no different from her usual self. Since Feng Yao’s death, Huang Lu had moved into Zhang Lu’s room to care for her. Ni Xiao, having no one to talk to, sat on the bed, playing with her phone.

As the webpage was loading, Ni Xiao inadvertently looked up and saw Ye Keke standing behind her in the mirror. Ye Keke was wearing a white nightgown, standing silently with a pale, greenish face, staring at her intensely.

Startled, Ni Xiao turned around, only to see Ye Keke wrapped in a white towel, her hair wet, her cheeks flushed from the steam of the hot water. Ye Keke, seeing Ni Xiao’s reaction, was momentarily stunned: “What’s wrong with you?”

Ni Xiao didn’t answer but quickly turned back to check the mirror. Indeed, the Ye Keke in the mirror was wrapped in a white towel, her face showing a look of confusion.

…Perhaps the stress was getting to her, mistaking the towel for a nightgown. Ni Xiao let out a slight sigh of relief but remained cautious. She asked Ye Keke, “Are you done showering?”

“Yeah. Aren’t you going to shower?”

“Alright, I’ll go now,” Ni Xiao said, squatting down to gather her things, her back to Ye Keke as she asked, “Keke, where did you put my lotion?”

“Lotion?”

“The pink bottle, did you just use it and put it in the bathroom?”

“Oh, right,” Ye Keke suddenly remembered, “Yes, I put it in the bathroom.”

Ni Xiao then stood up, carrying her clothes past Ye Keke. She straightened her back, trying to act as if nothing had happened.

But as she passed by, she heard Ye Keke’s cold voice.

“The bathroom is on the right, why are you going left?”

All her hairs stood on end at that moment, Ni Xiao froze in place, forcing a smile: “Ah… I was thinking about something else, I got confused.”

With that, she turned and walked towards the bathroom, twisting the doorknob clockwise. As she turned to close the bathroom door, she saw Ye Keke standing on the path leading to the room door, looking at her with a cold expression.

The moment the door closed, Ni Xiao’s hands loosened, and all the clothes she was holding fell to the wet floor. She covered her throat to prevent herself from screaming.

She didn’t have any shower gel!

Her hands trembling, she turned on the showerhead, retrieving the phone hidden in her clothes. She opened WeChat to Huang Lu’s contact and typed a message: “Help me!”

“I’m in the bathroom, the Ye Keke outside is fake!”

The message went unanswered, like a stone sinking into the sea. The mist gradually spread, the translucent door glass also obscured by the fog. Ni Xiao nervously bit her fingers, sending the message repeatedly, waiting for Huang Lu’s response.

‘Hurry up!’

‘Hurry up!’

Half an hour passed with no response. Outside the door, Ye Keke’s voice came: “Ni Xiao, aren’t you done showering yet?”

Ni Xiao covered her mouth, not speaking. Five minutes later, “Ye Keke” spoke again: “Ni Xiao, aren’t you done showering yet?”

“Ni Xiao, aren’t you done showering yet?”

“Ni Xiao, aren’t you done showering yet?”

“Ni Xiao, aren’t you done showering yet?”

Each time, the urging voice came more frequently and closer, but “Ye Keke’s” voice remained calm and unchanging. Ni Xiao bit her fingers hard, cold sweat pouring down her forehead. Just as the next “Ni Xiao” sounded, a long-awaited knock finally came from outside the door.

“Keke, I came back to get something, can you open the door?”

The calling voice paused for a long time, as if the caller was also considering whether to continue guarding the trapped prey or to proceed with the next act of the role.

Soon, a decision was made.

The footsteps of “Ye Keke” gradually receded. Ni Xiao leaned against the bathroom door, hand on the doorknob, listening for movements outside.

“What… is it…”

“Ye Keke’s” voice sounded at the entrance, Huang Lu said: “Nothing… just…”

The next moment, a scream of pain and the sound of metal hitting bone came from the room. Amidst the chaotic sounds of fighting, Huang Lu let out a scream: “Ni Xiao!”

Ni Xiao understood, twisting the bathroom door lock clockwise. She stumbled out the door, in the bedroom, Chu Tian was in a brawl with “Ye Keke.”

Just as she reached the doorway, her legs almost gave way. Huang Lu reached out with her left hand to pull her, Ni Xiao clung tightly to Huang Lu’s hand, running with her.

Huang Lu’s hand was somewhat cold, but Ni Xiao, having run in the steam for over half an hour, didn’t notice.

She led Ni Xiao, running to the right. Running past Lin Huai and others’ rooms, they reached the familiar stairway. Here, Ni Xiao’s sweaty head felt as if it had been doused with cold water.

A drop of sweat slid from her temple, her feet stopping firmly in place. Huang Lu turned back, somewhat confusedly looking at her.

“What’s wrong?” Huang Lu asked calmly.

“It’s not… not this way!” Ni Xiao screamed, “The stairs… the stairs should be on the left!”

Right, she had lived in this villa for four whole days, she couldn’t have mistaken the direction of the stairs.

Huang Lu’s grip on her hand grew colder. Ni Xiao struggled to pull her hand free from the icy restraint, “Huang Lu” stared at her, the corners of her mouth lifting in a smile.

“No, the direction is this way.”

As she spoke, she pointed to the right. Ni Xiao screamed, finally succeeding, but due to the recoil, she collided with the door to Lin Huai’s room.

She was about to say something, but the door creaked open.

From the room emerged Ye Xian, dressed in a white robe. His face was pale, his smile cold, identical to the “Ye Keke” she had seen in the mirror.

He clapped his hands, as if singing a song, but his voice was as still as an ancient well: “No, the direction is this way.”

Doors on the second floor opened one by one. From the adjacent rooms came out “Chu Tian” in a white robe, and Ye Keke in a white “nightgown.”

They also clapped their hands, their voices monotonous: “No, the direction is this way.”

The residents of the third floor descended the stairs, dressed in white. Still with those empty, monotonous expressions, their voices unfluctuating, they lined up, clapping around Ni Xiao.

“No, the direction is this way.”

“No, the direction is this way.”

The pale circle tightened, Ni Xiao, sitting on the ground, screamed, pushing “Chu Tian” and “Ye Keke” aside, running towards the third room at the end of the corridor.

The path to life is the path to death, the path to death is the path to life… since the stairs are the path to death, then the room on the other side must be the path to life!

She didn’t have time to look back, rushing into the last room, slamming the door shut before the pale specters could rush in. After locking the door firmly, she leaned against it, letting out a sigh of relief.

Safe now?

The next moment, the room’s lights turned on!

On the dressing table opposite the room was the mirror.

In the mirror, collapsed on the floor next to Ni Xiao, stood nine tall white figures. They tilted their heads, staring at the girl sitting on the ground.

“Ah—!”

In the blur of her consciousness, all Ni Xiao could see in the corner of her eye was a figure in red.

She had never seen such a deep red, almost black, dark red droplets seemed ready to drip from the sleeves.

The person had long black hair, loosely tied into a ponytail at the back, their eyes as dark as an abyss. Dark red patterns spread wantonly over their pale skin, like living, eerie thorns.

Extremely bewitching, terrifying yet… beautiful.

That was the face he saw upon awakening in the blood-red Wen County, the face of himself as a fierce ghost.

“In the mirror… does it reveal the true form? Doesn’t matter,” the person chuckled lightly.

After speaking, crimson threads emerged from his palm, overwhelming the white specters!