Chapter 85 The Singer, Oh, the Singer 18

A black umbrella slowly opened.

When folded, this umbrella looked no different from any other, but once opened, it appeared exceptionally black and large, its darkness pure to the point of being uncanny in the gray, gloomy Xieyou Alley.

The moment the umbrella opened, Zhang Minxian let out a short, stifled gasp that still managed to escape from her throat.

"What do you see?" Lin Xiangjun asked hurriedly.

"...On the houses, there are many words on the houses, as if written in red paint. The characters vary in size; the large ones are about the same size as me, and the small ones are the size of my palm."

"What is written?"

Zhang Minxian hesitated: "...I can't bring myself to say it. It's all insults, very filthy abuse, written all over the building in a chaotic mess."

"Ah, these are all cursing Hu Zhengzheng! I saw Hu Zhengzheng's name!"

Hu Zhengzheng.

That young girl who died between Building 4 and Building 5.

Lin Xiangjun lowered her eyelashes.

Zhang Minxian was a ghost and could see the rain that humans could not, but she still needed to open the umbrella to see the words on the wall—

Undoubtedly, that handwriting was a very important clue.

However, were these important clues all just insults?

Was the clue hidden within these filthy words, requiring her to search through them one by one? But with forty buildings, if those words were all the size of a palm, it would take at least three days to read them all.

The time limit to solve the mystery was only seven days; this clue couldn't possibly take that long.

"Stop looking at those words for a moment. Look around you; is there anything else that's different?"

"Nothing else for now... Ah!"

It was another gasp, but unlike the last time, it wasn't out of shock at seeing something, but a cry of fear from being threatened.

"Zhang Minxian?!"

Lin Xiangjun immediately realized something was wrong, but from her perspective, she could only see the canopy of the black umbrella, which was swaying slightly, as if it were too heavy to hold steady.

She couldn't see what was happening underneath at all.

"I can't see from my perspective. Tilt the umbrella back a bit and rest the handle on your shoulder."

The canopy tilted quickly.

Lin Xiangjun wanted to ask something more, but a clattering noise soon came from the phone.

Lin Xiangjun had an overhead view, and the first thing she saw was the ground by Zhang Minxian's feet.

At this moment, all the bags and packages she had been holding—including the phone she had been holding between her shoulder and ear—had all fallen onto the ground in a heap.

Clearly, Zhang Minxian could no longer hear Lin Xiangjun.

In fact, at this distance, Lin Xiangjun could choose to just shout; after all, the third floor wasn't very high, and she would definitely be able to hear if she called out twice.

But the noise from shouting would be too great, and it would be troublesome whether she was discovered by the Landlady or by other players.

Besides, the situation was still unclear. Who knew what the remaining rules were? What if, like the previous instance, shouting was forbidden?

Lin Xiangjun did not intend to take the risk.

She observed from above, through the window.

Her gaze moved upward to Zhang Minxian's legs.

Her two legs, clad in black thermal leggings, were shaking and vibrating as if she had stepped on a live wire and was breakdancing from the shock; even Michael Jackson would have said "Wow" upon seeing it.

Unfortunately, that was as far as it went.

Due to the limited perspective, even though the canopy had tilted to the extreme, Lin Xiangjun could only see Zhang Minxian's waist, which was obscured by her black coat, making it hard to see clearly.

No, that wasn't right; she could still see something.

The clothing at her waist was defying the laws of gravity, abnormally lifting upward without anyone touching it.

It looked... as if someone was grabbing her collar?

But from Lin Xiangjun's perspective, she really couldn't see anything.

An invisible person?

No, Lin Xiangjun quickly realized that this was something she couldn't see, just like the rain!

What was it that the Rule Horror didn't want them to know?

It was the clue!

She didn't hesitate for a second, grabbed an umbrella, and opened it immediately!

At this point, someone might ask, "Streamer, streamer, aren't you afraid of breaking the rules by suddenly opening an umbrella inside the house?"

Lin Xiangjun curled her lips into a cold, wicked smile.

Still the same answer: if she was too scared to look for clues and then died in the instance because she had no clues, she might as well sell herself to a mysterious human meat shop; at least her market value would achieve a staggering growth from zero to something.

As the canopy covered her head, the world before her eyes flickered and suddenly changed.

The color tone of Xieyou Alley became even more hazy, the air seemed shrouded in a thin mist, the edges of the distant buildings became blurred, and a dense, drizzling rain fell continuously, accumulating into a series of irregular, varying-sized puddles on the ground.

The room also became damp.

The originally old but clean and cozy room now had walls covered in mold, mushrooms with white caps but covered in strange bumps growing out of the wall crevices, wooden furniture eroded and warped, and the once clean, transparent glass suddenly turned into a frosted texture; when a finger swiped across it, it left a translucent scratch.

The originally tidy tiles were warping due to the dampness, and a layer of small water droplets had accumulated on the ceiling, like the ceiling of a public bathhouse, carrying a stuffy, suffocating smell of long-term lack of ventilation.

Whenever she went to the bathhouse before, she would wonder why they didn't install a window in the bathroom for ventilation; later, after she became enlightened, she even lamented that her idea might be suspected of being a state-sponsored thought.

The instance's house wasn't like a bathhouse; at least it had windows.

Even if the humidity outside and inside was nearly the same, and the air blowing in couldn't make the room dry, at least ventilating could help air out the smell in the house.

But now, she had neither the mind nor the time to open the windows.

Of course, not knowing the rules and not daring to act rashly was also one of the reasons—who knew if opening a window might just get her killed?

Her focus was entirely on Zhang Minxian.

Sure enough, even when not outdoors, opening the umbrella allowed her to see things she couldn't see before.

Zhang Minxian's body was blocked by a dark shadow. That shadow was exposed to the rain, its entire body soaked by the downpour.

She had her back to Lin Xiangjun, her black hair pinned up so it was impossible to tell its length, and she wore a long black dress, a very simple style; at least from the back, there were no decorations like lace or bows.

The dress was very long, almost reaching her ankles, and beneath it, a pair of small white leather shoes were visible, also without any decorations, but they were well-cut and simple, clearly showing they were expensive.

It was Hu Zhengzheng.

Also known as the "Songstress".

Zhang Minxian was being grabbed by the throat by her hand, her belongings scattered all over the ground, and the black umbrella in her hand was visibly failing to hold up; as her hand loosened, the umbrella fell to the ground, splashing a small puddle of water.

However, even though she had dropped the umbrella and, theoretically, should no longer be able to see Hu Zhengzheng, the other party was still gripping her throat tightly!