Trembling At A High Altitude

The general manager's illusion disappeared in an instant.

He found himself standing in the yard, alongside the other five people.

Then, the salesman's shrill screams filled everyone's ears.

The general manager, emboldened, approached the window and saw the ghost from yesterday again, tormenting the salesman.

The female manager stood motionless beside like a puppet.

It seemed that the female manager was merely being used by the female ghost, or perhaps the female manager's death had strengthened the female ghost's abilities, allowing it to create illusions or illusory realms.

Half a minute later, the salesman's screams finally ceased.

"Just now... just now I experienced an illusion, seeing... seeing the Evil Ghost chasing us, about to catch up! I pushed him to make him run quickly, unaware... we fell for the Evil Ghost's trick!" The general manager had come to realize what had happened and turned back to explain to everyone.

No one else spoke.

Clearly, what had just occurred was the 'heavenly secret that must not be divulged', as mentioned by the Taoist.

Because someone within their own ranks was betrayed, the female ghost's powers had been intensified.

That night, it had even managed to launch an attack with illusions.

In the bedroom, it created an illusion of bloodstains on the walls, forcing people out of the room.

It also targeted the general manager and salesman individually with an illusory attack, making them think they were still in the room.

Then it led them to continue fleeing, inadvertently falling into the trap of isolation.

...

The group didn't dare to go back to the bedroom again.

However, the rules seemed to have taken effect.

After the salesman was tortured to death, no more strange occurrences took place in the old house.

It appeared that despite the unexpected variable of the female manager seeking revenge, the ghost was still bound by the rule to leave after killing one person per night.

Everyone passed the second night safely.

One more night, and the filming of this script would be over.

Waking up in the morning, the general manager was deep in thought.

He was full of regrets.

Regret for having had an argument, a conflict with the female manager.

Believing himself to be smart, on the first night, he had used the ghost's hand to get rid of the female manager.

Little did he know, this had only increased the difficulty of the plot, making him and the salesman targets for revenge.

The second night, the salesman died because of him.

It was easy to imagine what would happen on the third night.

Without a doubt, during the third night, he would become the target of the female manager and salesman's combined revenge.

If someone was going to die the third night, his odds were the highest.

He had to find a way to overcome the current situation.

There was only one solution to this predicament.

And it was straightforward.

As long as someone died in his stead, he could safely get through the third night.

Soon, a malicious plan formed in his mind.

A perfect plan with a high success rate, almost a hundred percent certain.

"The Taoist is leaving on a long journey today; I need to have a word with him alone, don't follow me." After breakfast, the general manager said a few words to the others.

Now everyone was somewhat afraid of the general manager, and since he told them not to follow, naturally, no one did.

...

The general manager stayed in the Taoist temple for half an hour before returning.

He was all smiles; upon his return, he had a talisman with strange symbols attached to him.

"I've obtained a ghost-avoiding technique from the Taoist priest. Anyway, I'm safe tonight," the general manager told the others.

The others didn't believe his nonsense.

"That Taoist priest is a lofty figure; I just watched him fly away with my own eyes, taking off over the treeline behind the hill, but he also left me a way to safely get through tonight," the general manager added.

The others were skeptical, unable to trust the general manager.

"Believe it or not," he said.

With that, the general manager went off alone to the Taoist temple on the hill.

"What should we do tonight?"

The five people in the courtyard began to discuss.

Of course, it was mainly the male driver, female accountant, and female secretary talking.

Uncle Li the janitor and the female supervisor still hardly said anything.

"Will his method work? It looks real." The secretary spoke up, referring to the general manager in her 'he'.

"He is not trustworthy," the financier chimed in.

"What should we do? Will we become the next scapegoats he throws out tonight?" The driver was worried.

"What can we do? We can't exactly copy him, can we?" the secretary sighed.

Their discussion led to no solid conclusion.

None of the remaining people were natural leaders, and their minds were not as vicious and malicious as the general manager's.

At best, they just followed the crowd.

No one played mahjong in the morning, instead they all went to their bedrooms to sleep.

They had stayed up all night the previous day and were simply too tired.

The driver, financier, secretary, and supervisor each claimed a bed, showing no consideration for Uncle Li, the cleaner.

Left with no choice, Uncle Li took the bedding from the room where the village couple was cleaning the corpse of the janitor and spread it out in a bedroom on this side to sleep.

At noon, the general manager returned to the courtyard, joining everyone for lunch.

In the afternoon, they continued to sleep.

The general manager squeezed into the bed with the driver, insisting on sleeping together.

The driver had no choice but to let him have it, then he and Li Teng went to another bedroom, bringing back more bedding to sleep on in this side's bedroom.

The day was safe anyhow, and even if they couldn't sleep, they tried to lie down and rest as much as possible, conserving enough strength and energy for the last night.

If they could make it safely through this final night, they could leave this dreadful script tomorrow.

But it was foreseeable that the difficulty of this last night would be the highest.

Three ghosts had appeared in the story!

Although they were most likely after the general manager for revenge, given his intelligence and means, not to mention his viciousness, who could predict whether someone else might become his scapegoat?

...

After dinner, the sky gradually darkened.

No one played mahjong, just huddled together in the courtyard shivering.

The general manager seemed indifferent, but upon closer inspection, one could see he was exceptionally tense and irritable.

Of course, fear was the prevailing emotion.

Time slowly crept into the late night.

It was past eleven o'clock, then half-past eleven, eleven forty, forty-five, fifty...

The ghosts had appeared around midnight for the past two nights.

No one knew when they would appear tonight.

In the courtyard, would they see the same terrifying illusory realm that appeared in the bedroom yesterday?

Nobody dared to enter the bedrooms anyway.

Suddenly, the general manager moved closer to the secretary, showed her a few lines of writing on his palm, then whispered a few words into her ear.

"What do you think?" the general manager confirmed with the secretary.

"Okay," the secretary hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

The reason for agreeing was simple, "Better you than me."

Then, the general manager moved in front of the male driver, the female financier, and the female supervisor, showing each of them his palm and whispering to them as well.

Since the secretary had nodded...

Someone else nodded as well...

They had no choice but to nod too.

"Better you than me."

Their own lives were the most important; to them, the method was indeed feasible.

It was also the safest way to survive the night, successfully complete the script and leave alive. No one could resist such temptation.

So, one by one, they all nodded to the general manager.

"Alright, everyone, let's go!" Unlike with the others, the general manager did not show his palm or whisper anything to Li Teng before declaring their departure.

He then grabbed the secretary's hand and ran towards the courtyard gate.

The driver, financier, and supervisor all stood up and followed them, as agreed, towards the gate.

Uncle Li, the cleaner, had no choice but to run after them as well.

Once they left the courtyard, the general manager and the others continued running up the more than eighty steps toward the Taoist temple on the hill.

Uncle Li, running out of steam, was left far behind.

After everyone had entered the Taoist temple, the general manager closed the large temple gates and locked them.

Outside, on the steps below, Uncle Li was left behind, alone.

The time had just passed midnight.