Chapter 141: Substitute
Lu Jinzhao was still pondering the content of the photo.
She wasn’t just talking tough; she truly didn’t believe this ghost possessed precognitive ability.
Provocation? Intimidation? Trying to use such means to increase their psychological burden, thereby causing panic?
In any case, to make her die in the way shown in the photo, someone or a ghost would have to get close. If this was truly a “preview,” then she needed to stay on guard.
They weren’t very familiar with the terrain inside the platform. Fortunately, the company wasn’t far from the station, and there weren’t many places they could choose for dealing with it. They said they were looking for a relatively open area, but in reality, high-rise buildings were everywhere here, with no places like squares or parks at all.
“Looks like we can only choose a place with fewer people.” Zhou Zimo said helplessly.
Considering that there would be passersby coming and going on the roadside, and after their mobile phones kept ringing, he always felt that the surrounding passersby were looking at them strangely, so the three chose a nearby hotel in the direction of the train and got a room, but they didn’t enter the room. They just sat in a slightly more concealed corner in the first floor lobby.
There weren’t many people in the lobby, and it blocked the line of sight from passersby outside. Without those strange looks, Zhou Zimo felt his spirit relax a lot.
The sky was gradually darkening, with orange sunset glow scattering on the city roads. Nights inside the platform always came earlier. In about half an hour, the sun would set, and the world would fall into darkness.
Ever since entering the hotel lobby, Zhou Zimo’s eyes had been uncontrollably darting left and right, as if the ghost could appear in some corner he hadn’t noticed at any moment. This behavior lasted a long time, but he didn’t feel fatigued because of it. In fact, as time passed, he became increasingly vigilant.
Spirit Possession gave him not only the ability to invoke a ghost, but also enhanced physical fitness, as well as improved spirit and focus. Vigilant actions that others would find tiring could be maintained by Zhou Zimo for a long time.
Until the time gradually approached 7 o’clock, a hotel staff member suddenly pushed a food cart over.
He wasn’t wandering aimlessly but came straight to the three of them. While lifting the insulated glass cover, he said to them, “This is the meal you ordered.”
“Wait.” Zhou Zimo immediately stood up.
“When did we order a meal?”
The waiter’s originally brisk movements paused, and his expression showed some bewilderment, as if he hadn’t expected to be asked this question.
“Just half an hour ago.” He didn’t quite understand why the guest was asking such a question, but his professionalism made him answer politely.
As a result, he didn’t expect the guest to ask another question that puzzled him: “Who ordered it?”
The waiter looked somewhat speechless: “You.”
“You personally went to the restaurant to order the meal and asked us to deliver it here.”
“Are you sure?” Zhou Zimo’s tone was very unpleasant, making the waiter somewhat nervous.
“I’m sure. Guests with your build are not common.”
“Take the stuff away. We don’t want it.” He waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the waiter, as if the waiter would do something if he made any move Zhou Zimo didn’t like.
“Okay, understood.”
The waiter didn’t know what had happened and only felt that today’s guests were really strange. Under the pressure, he didn’t dare say much and could only push the food cart away quickly.
“Have they already come in?”
After the waiter left, Zhou Zimo became somewhat restless. He paced small circles around Qin Wan and Lu Jinzhao, vigilantly watching every entrance to this corner.
“This is inevitable.”
Lu Jinzhao wasn’t surprised by this.
Qin Wan also nodded: “We can’t expect to safely get through the last few hours, right.”
“What does this ghost want? Always playing these little tricks!” Zhou Zimo’s patience was clearly less than that of Lu Jinzhao and Qin Wan. The ghost’s successive “little moves” made it really hard for him to calm down.
“Maybe it’s just to make you feel anxiety? Calm down a bit.” Qin Wan comforted.
She noticed that Zhou Zimo’s originally relatively peaceful emotions had been stirred up step by step by the ghost, and now obvious anxiety had appeared, so she had to remind him.
But Zhou Zimo, who had originally listened to her and tried to control himself, continued to encounter similar situations in the following time.
First a delivery person brought in takeout, then a waiter brought a cup of beverage, then the front desk asked if he really wanted to check out.
Problems came one after another, just like there was someone identical to him but extremely malicious, constantly creating these harmless little troubles through small means.
Not harmful, but annoying.
“What exactly does this ghost plan to do?” Even knowing the ghost was doing it on purpose, he could no longer restore himself to a calm state.
The next second, the mobile phone dinged with a familiar text message sound.
Zhou Zimo no longer ignored the sound but opened it with some anger. He originally thought he would see some flesh-and-blood blurry intimidation photos again, but this time, the text message only had two words.
[Be careful]
Sender: Lu Jinzhao?!
Zhou Zimo abruptly looked up, about to ask something, when he heard a bang!
The ornate chandelier in the lobby and other overhead lights suddenly shattered, with a large amount of glass fragments falling down. The entire first floor suddenly plunged into darkness. Amid the noisy sound of glass breaking, Zhou Zimo only felt a cold hand suddenly press on his shoulder, then yank him backward!
Zhou Zimo didn’t hesitate and immediately raised his right hand in the “invoking a God” gesture. Then, a chill went through his body, his consciousness blanked for a moment, followed by “power” filling his entire body. The hand on his shoulder seemed pricked by a needle and quickly let go.
The sun had completely set, and for some reason, there were no lights outside. After sensing the ghost grabbing him retreat, Zhou Zimo was somewhat doubtful about how it was so weak, but he didn’t have time to think too much and immediately took out his mobile phone to illuminate.
Then, in the next second, he saw a horrifying scene.
In front of him stood two Lu Jinzhaos and two Qin Wans.
“Are you all okay?” Then, a voice came from beside him. Hearing that familiar voice, Zhou Zimo’s mind went blank for half a second before he slowly turned his head to look, then saw a anxious version of himself.
“Zhou Zimo?” He heard Qin Wan’s somewhat hesitant voice. She also turned on her mobile phone light, but her attention was first drawn to the “Zhou Zimo” who spoke first, so even though she saw two at the same time, she instinctively called out to the one who spoke first.
Thus, in that instant, Zhou Zimo felt a chill all over, as if something had been remotely extracted because of that call. The “invoking a God” that could normally last at least 30 seconds was forcibly undone in that instant!
