Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 272: Chapter 233: I’m a Businessman

"Granny? Granny?" Mo Daidai called out softly as if the old lady had left.

The next second, the corridor’s overhead lights flickered a few times before suddenly dimming. Yang Xiao’s heart skipped a beat, cursing inside that things had gone wrong—it was probably midnight already.

No longer hesitating, Yang Xiao immediately left and headed towards the emergency exit on the left side of the corridor. But before he could get close to the heavy-duty safety door, he abruptly stopped in his tracks upon hearing a strange noise coming from behind the door in the emergency stairwell.

"Bang."

"Bang."

...

Yang Xiao turned and ran. It was the sound of a ball being slapped—the Ball-slapping Ghost was coming, and Yang Xiao had not expected it to arrive so quickly. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

As if sensing Yang Xiao’s presence, the slapping grew faster and more illogical in its movement. After a brief silence, it suddenly appeared in the safety passageway on the right side of the corridor, just as Yang Xiao had made it there.

Seeing as running wouldn’t outpace this entity, Yang Xiao decided to take a gamble. He no longer suppressed his footsteps and rushed towards room 8009 at full speed, pounding on the door, "Open up, I’m your teacher. If you don’t let me in now, I’ll hang you up and beat you when I do!"

But no matter how Yang Xiao threatened, the room remained eerily silent as if the man and the child inside were dead.

Meanwhile, the slapping noise from not too far away was drawing closer.

Just then, Yang Xiao heard the sound of a door opening, "Over here, quickly come in!" Mo Daidai stuck his head out from room 8026, gesturing to Yang Xiao.

With no other options, Yang Xiao immediately ran towards room 8026. But as he burst through the door, he still paused ever so slightly to ensure the number on the doorplate was indeed 8026.

He couldn’t help but worry it was a trick by the Ghost.

Once Yang Xiao was inside, Mo Daidai promptly closed the door. Three seconds later, the eerie slapping noise appeared outside the door.

Both Yang Xiao and Mo Daidai held their breath, not daring to make a sound. After roughly a minute, perhaps even less, the slapping sound gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

When the outside finally fell silent, Yang Xiao slowly let out a breath of relief. The room’s layout was similar to his own, but the decor was somewhat more outdated. He immediately noticed the wooden rocking chair in the corner, which was now ominously empty.

"Thank you." Yang Xiao sincerely expressed his gratitude, but his guard remained at its peak regarding Mo Daidai.

Mo Daidai seemed unfazed, still with that same vacant, foolish expression. He then extended his hand towards Yang Xiao, palm flat and facing up.

Yang Xiao frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Pay up," said Mo Daidai naturally. "I saved you; 10 yuan isn’t too much to ask for, right?"

"5 yuan," Yang Xiao bargained. Not because he was stingy, but because his entire fortune, in total, was only 17 yuan, and Mo Daidai had just claimed more than half of it with one demand.

"8 yuan," Mo Daidai proposed.

"6 yuan," Yang Xiao stood his ground.

"7 yuan, can’t go any lower."

"Deal."

Yang Xiao pulled out his accumulated money from his pocket, carefully selecting a crumpled 5-yuan note and the green two yuan bill, and handed them over to Mo Daidai together.

Having taken the money, Mo Daidai sized up Yang Xiao and slowly began, "You were eavesdropping on my conversation outside, weren’t you?"

"Why would you say that?" Yang Xiao neither denied nor admitted it.

"The first thing you looked at when you came in was that bamboo rocking chair. In this room’s setting, the rocking chair isn’t conspicuous; you wouldn’t have any reason to pay such close attention to it, unless you knew there was something off about it." Mo Daidai continued, "You heard my conversation with Granny Xie and the sounds from the rocking chair."

"Interesting," Yang Xiao gave up pretending and stayed on his guard, "So, what now—are you planning to kill me to silence me?"

Mo Daidai was stunned by the remark, "Why would you silence me? Aren’t we teammates?"

Yang Xiao inwardly cursed, realizing he was dealing with a cunning old fox; this must be a ploy to lull him into a false sense of security before striking a fatal blow.

This kid was too similar to himself, a potential endless source of trouble if left alone.

"Do you want to know Granny Xie’s story?" asked Mo Daidai.

Yang Xiao couldn’t figure out what he was up to but nodded regardless, "I’m all ears."

Mo Daidai stretched out his hand, "5 yuan."

Yang Xiao was taken aback, wondering if the guy had gone crazy for money, "You want to be paid? Didn’t I just give you 7 yuan?"

"The money just now was for saving your life. This is for a clue. You can’t lump the two together. You can also choose not to listen," Mo Daidai said with earnest sincerity.

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, "Will 2 yuan do?"

"No deal. Fair and square, no haggling," said Mo Daidai, putting up his palm in a stop gesture.

After a moment of thought, Yang Xiao took out 5 yuan and handed it to Mo Daidai, half warning, half threatening, "You better not be lying to me."

Upon receiving the money, Mo Daidai spoke with grave seriousness, "I’m a businessman, and integrity is crucial in business, so you can trust what I say."

"That Granny Xie... she was the previous owner of this room, right?" Yang Xiao, having paid, naturally wanted clear answers.

"Correct, to be precise, the former tenant," Mo Daidai replied.

"How did you find her?" The most puzzling part for Yang Xiao was this.

"I came back to my room last night during my patrol. Originally, I wanted to hide here for a bit, but unexpectedly, I ran into Granny Xie just as I arrived," Mo Daidai said calmly, "I was scared to death at that moment."

"Was she sitting in the rocking chair?"

"Exactly, and she could see me too," continued Mo Daidai. "I took on a task from Granny Xie to massage her legs. After finishing the task, she directly gave me 12 yuan. And it was with that money that I avoided getting a blood handprint from the Ball-slapping Ghost."

"So that’s how it was," a doubt that had been circling in Yang Xiao’s mind cleared up, "But the Ball-slapping Ghost took your 12 yuan."

Mo Daidai shook his head seriously, "No, to be precise, 10 yuan. He left me with 2."

Yang Xiao got it in a heartbeat; it seemed that the Ball-slapping Ghost would extort 10 yuan from anyone caught, setting them free if they had the money; otherwise, he’d mark them. No matter how much you had, he’d only take 10 yuan. He played by the rules. freёwebnovel.com

"So as long as you have at least 10 yuan on you, the Ball-slapping Ghost poses no threat, right?" Yang Xiao asked for final confirmation.

"Not exactly," Mo Daidai responded gravely. "Granny Xie warned me never to make eye contact with the Ball-slapping Ghost. If you do, no matter how much money you have, you’ll be killed."

"What about the handprint? Is it some kind of curse?" Yang Xiao really felt this trip was worthwhile; Mo Daidai was not only clever but also incredibly lucky.

"Don’t know," Mo Daidai shook his head. "I asked Granny Xie, but she wasn’t clear either. The memories of these tenant ghosts are very limited."

After organizing his thoughts, Yang Xiao felt that the information Mo Daidai provided was highly credible. While seemingly dull, this guy seemed to have decent character. He was tough in money matters but didn’t skimp on the information he owed, making him someone Yang Xiao could get along with.

"Since you’ve been so open and honest, I won’t keep secrets from you either. I’ve got an important piece of news as well. Want to hear it?" Yang Xiao inquired.

"What’s it about?"

"Making money, and a lot of it," Yang Xiao said confidently.

At those words, Mo Daidai’s interest was instantly piqued. In this task, money was crucial; it could be life-saving at a critical moment, "Please, do tell!"

Yang Xiao suddenly grinned, extended his hand palm-up, "10 yuan, thanks."