IWBL: Chapter 146

“Who? Who is it?”

This laughter really made President Hu’s scalp numb. He suddenly sprang up from his chair and looked around.

However, he couldn’t find the owner of the laughter in this old hotel. President Hu grabbed Jiang Linwen in a panic and questioned, “You also heard it, right? Who is laughing?”

Jiang Linwen was also panicked but he was a veteran. On the surface, he could maintain his calmness and together with the rest of the reincarnators, look for the source of the sound.

The hotel lobby could be called ‘desolate’ except for some tables, chairs and benches. The overhanging beams on the roof were very high, making this lobby seem a bit empty. The windows were half opened and half closed. A breeze blew into the room along with the weird laughter.

Just as everyone was panicking, Lin Ruo, who had been supporting herself using the table, stood up. The look ‘it is actually true’ appeared on her face.

Jiang Linwen had been watching her this whole time and quickly wondered, “This lady, have you been here?”

“No, no but I’ve heard some rumours about Lingxi Mountain.”

This was the clue mentioned in the introductory CG.

Jiang Linwen’s eyes brightened and he asked, “What type of rumours? Perhaps it will help.”

Lin Ruo glanced at President Hu who glared at her. “Why are you looking at me? Say it.”

“Yes. Recently, I often hear news that people who come to Lingxi Mountain will always disappear strangely and it is unknown if they are alive or dead. Even so, many companies come here to play.” Lin Ruo hadn’t wanted to come at first but she was afraid of offending President Hu and was forced to follow. Now she said everything. “Then I saw a personal reply below the news, saying that they heard about Lingxi Mountain before. This mountain is haunted and in the evening, strange laughter will be heard. It is the sound of the evil spirit on the mountain meeting its prey. If people stay on the mountain continuously, they will encounter even stranger things. Moreover, there is a rumour about Lingxi Mountain.’

Zheng Yi asked, “What rumour?”

“Previously… there was a village in the depths of Lingxi Mountain called Lingxi Village. However, now it has disappeared. The reason is that it is haunted and all the villagers are dead.”

Jiang Linwen wondered, “How did they die?”

Lin Ruo replied, “The person in the comment didn’t say anything else and I don’t know the ending. I just thought this rumour was terrible because it means there is a desolate dead village in the mountain.”

Peng Yue added, “Actually, in my opinion, there are comments on the Internet that will say anything. There is no need to believe in ghosts and ghosts who don’t exist.”

“So how do you explain this?” Lin Ruo pointed to the corpse.

Peng Yue felt like her throat was blocked. “Perhaps there is a murderer…”

She couldn’t continue.

There were so many strangers on the other side. No matter if it was a human or a ghost, the situation was very bad for them.

Jiang Linwen showed a slightly disappointed expression. He originally thought the rumour that the plot character mentioned would be related to the hotel but it was just a dead village. It seemed to have nothing to do with the main task of ‘identifying the evil spirit.’

The key task was to identify the evil spirit using clues.

“Hehehe, you’ll all die…” The voice whispered in everyone’s ears. “You will die miserably, stay here and accompany me.”

At the end, it burst out laughing.

Lin Ruo boldly asked, “Who are you?”

“I am… the witness to your death. Hahahaha.” This sounded like a female ghost and her laugh echoed through the hotel lobby. “It is funny to see you struggling and crying.”

Jiang Linwen frowned deeply but the owner of the voice wasn’t attacking the reincarnators. He wavered before finally deciding not to act rashly.

However, the volume of the laughter increased and everyone couldn’t help covering their ears.

In an instant, there seemed to be countless hands pressed against the window from the outside, leaving handprints one after another on the glass. The bright red blood left from the handprint rendered it a bloody handprint.

Ghosts were surrounding the outside and the reincarnators had no place to escape.

The blood at the back of Luo Ni’s head had solidified and the air was filled with an unpleasant bloody smell.

“Hehehe.” The ghost constantly changed her laughter. “Catch a turtle in the jar (set oneself an easy target). This human idiom… is it correct?”

The windows of the lobby were opened and closed again, constantly switching and stirring the nerves of the crowd.

“What the hell is this? It is really haunted…” President Hu’s legs softened and he fell directly to the ground. He was almost unable to control his bladder as he rushed to Jiang Linwen’s side. “I beg you. Save me, save me! I have money. I’ll give you 100,000 after leaving here!”

Jiang Linwen stared at the windows around him and ignored President Hu.

Lin Ruo and Peng Yue were also pale and trembled uncontrollably as they tried to retreat. However, they tripped over the body.

The little girl who had previously spoken covered her ears and buried her face in the arms of the man beside her.

Her brother looked ahead and tightened his arms.

Zheng Yi turned his head and subconsciously called out to Xiao Li. “Hercule.”

Xiao Li reached out to cover his mouth and then closed his eyes. Once vision was blocked, his hearing would become sharp. He tried to lock onto the voice. Then after listening for 10 seconds, he raised his feet and walked to the right rear.

“Oh oh, it’s funny. There seems to be a small human who has discovered my existence.” The laughing ghost chuckled. “What can you do if you come over here? Why don’t I cut you into pieces on the spot so you don’t have to endure the fear anymore?”

Xiao Li hadn’t reached the window when another hand pushed it open from the outside. Without the glass barrier, the view outside the window became particularly clear. The laughter entered everyone’s ears more clearly as Xiao Li faced the laughter ghost.

The night outside was deep and the flowers and trees that looked beautiful in the day were now like ghosts. The dry and fallen leaves were blown by the wind and circled in the air. Standing outside the window was a white shadow. It, or half of her body was transparent. Her face didn’t have all of its facial features. There was only a mouth and sharp teeth grew wildly outward from the mouth.

The giggling lingered in his ears.

Xiao Li propped her elbows on the window. As a result, the sleeve of the black clothes slipped down, revealing a  white wrist. He ordered, “…Don’t laugh.”

It was noisy and hard to listen to, just like a rooster crowing. The laughter became even louder as she opened her mouth towards Xiao Li. “Hehehe—”

Xiao Li opened the little yellow book and wrote a name on it. Then the opposite ghost suddenly stopped. It was because from behind her, further away, there was a cry.

“Wuu, wuu, wuu.”

The laughter froze for a moment and was broken. The weeping sound was getting closer and closer to her. Then a strong force grabbed her hair from behind and twisted her face. However, she still had to laugh.

“He he he—woo.”

…Laughing and crying.

The crying woman grabbed the laughter ghosts’ hair from behind and wrapped the long strand of hair around her hand, making the other party bend backwards. Then she tried to cut the laughter ghost’s hair with her sharp nails.

Her own hair hadn’t recovered. She was still ugly and her hair was both long and short. A faint bald spot could also be seen when moving.

Xiao Li inexplicably felt a bit guilty.

The crying woman tormented the laughter ghost’s hair with her nails for a while. Then she raised her head and held out her hand towards Xiao Li.

…She needed a sharp weapon.

Xiao Li couldn’t help covering his eyes directly. He put away the little yellow book that had summoned her, slipped the scalpel out of his sleeve and handed it to her. The laughter ghost squeezed out some cries between her laughs but she couldn’t break free of the crying woman’s hand.

The crying woman became more energetic. In the midst of the laughter, she excitedly cut the other side’s hair with the scalpel. Look at these movements that were even wilder than Xiao Li’s in the past. It was full of anger and pain that had nowhere to be vented. In a short while, she had cut off most of the laughter ghost’s hair, revealing a bare head.

Xiao Li, “……”

In order to prevent the crying woman, one of the strange stories, from finding trouble for himself, he didn’t dare disturb the other party’s wish to be a barber. He stood up straight, closed the window and turned back. “It’s okay now. Go back to sleep.”

Xiao Li went to the stairs as usual. As he passed the little girl, he reached out and touched her head. Just as Xiao Li finished talking, there was a burst of crying from the closed window. “…Woo!”

…Big sister behind her, please don’t cut again! She wouldn’t laugh anymore! Not only did she not want to laugh, she even wanted to cry!

The people who heard the crying and laughing: ???

What was this situation? They saw that the ghost outside… seemed to be forcibly having a haircut? But why was the other ghost crying?

The little girl’s brother looked at him in horror. “You…”

Xiao Li didn’t care about others. He turned a corner, picked up the purple umbrella on the table and walked upstairs.

Jiang Linwen stared closely at Xiao Li’s back. He wanted to take a look at the window but he didn’t dare to really look at the ghost, fearing it was a trap. However, why could the ghost stop laughing and even change to crying? Only the evil spirit in the mission prompt should be able to do this? Still, wasn’t it a trap if the evil spirit acted so aggressively and obviously?

Jiang Linwen, who didn’t look at the forum, fell into deep contemplation.

In the midst of the panic, only Ye Zeqing was relieved when he saw the scene outside the window. There was the crying woman so the evil ghost definitely wasn’t Xiao Li.

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The author has something to say:

Jiang Linwen: (After a series of careful speculation) I think… Hercule is the evil spirit.

Evil spirit: You’re right.

The laughter ghost gave you a thumbs up.

Xiao Li, “???”