Chang Sun Jing said to Wen Wen, "Generally, Little Dragon Hero appears at the scene of an incident immediately. So, the fastest way for us to find him is to rush to the scene as quickly as possible. That way, we might encounter him."
Wen Wen thoughtfully replied, "Since he can appear at the scene immediately, this 'Little Dragon Hero' should have a special intelligence gathering system or similar ability. Have you investigated this aspect?"
"Of course, we have. We've tried all sorts of methods, but in the end, it's easiest to find him by sheer luck," Chang Sun Jing said with a wry smile.
"Then I'll trust you. You drive me to try our luck. This little fellow is high on the hot pot broth and I'm afraid of accidents if it drives," Wen Wen said, holding San Zai'er's tail as it dangled limply.
...
In the office building late at night, the thirteenth floor was still lit.
A dozen young people were typing on keyboards under the lights. Some were balding youths, others were young women experiencing hair loss, but all of them were programmers.
The end of the month was fast approaching, but their work was not yet completed. Thus, for the sake of earning a living and allowing their boss to buy a new sports car soon, they had to work overtime through the night.
Meng Chun rubbed his slightly throbbing temples and stopped his almost cramping hand. He made himself a cup of coffee.
Then he called out to his colleagues, "Everyone, let's take a break and chat for a while. It's just us dozen people in this entire building, and only the sound of keyboards. It's making me feel a bit spooked."
"Why spooked?"
A woman sitting opposite Meng Chun stood up and asked him curiously. Her face was startlingly pale, and her features were indiscernible. Her unnerving eyes made one's scalp tingle.
"Ah... Li Mei Qi... what are you doing!" Meng Chun was startled. The woman opposite him had a facial mask on.
Li Mei Qi chuckled and said, "It's already midnight, and we're still working overtime. I don't want my skin to age prematurely. But Meng Chun, do you really have to be so timid for a grown man?"
"Who says I'm timid..."
Meng Chun retorted unconvincingly and then said in a very enticing tone, "But do you guys know why our company is renting a whole floor for such a cheap price?"
A burly man turned his chair and looked at Meng Chun helplessly, "Meng Chun, you're going to tell a ghost story again, aren't you? Alright, it can help me stay alert."
"This isn't a ghost story!"
Meng Chun said sternly, "I heard from our company's finance department that the rent for this floor is only a quarter of the price for other floors. Aren't you curious about what's going on?"
Li Mei Qi moved her stool closer to Meng Chun and urged, "Hurry up and tell us, don't keep us in suspense."
Seeing the three of them starting to tell ghost stories, other programmers who were working also gradually gathered around. More and more people sat next to Meng Chun, forming a small circle.
"Our building was rented seven months ago. For over three years before that, no one worked on this floor. The elevator even skipped this floor!"
"And the reason for all this dates back four years. Four years ago, there was an IT company here whose performance was mediocre."
"Because of poor performance, they could only exploit their employees, forcing them to work overtime until late at night every day. Finally, one day, a male employee couldn't bear the pressure anymore. While all other colleagues had left the building, that employee committed suicide at his desk!"
Meng Chun's tone was chilling. Coupled with the fact that the ghost story fit perfectly with their current environment, the listeners all felt a shiver.
However, they didn't pay much attention, because that was the fun of listening to ghost stories late at night. Meng Chun was a skilled ghost story teller in the company, and only he could immerse everyone in the story.
"When the salarymen who struggled to get to work the next day arrived, along with the company management, not a single person noticed the male employee's death. They continued to work overtime until late into the night..."
As Meng Chun's story progressed, everyone felt increasingly cold, as if every dark corner of the building was occupied by someone.
"As usual, the company worked overtime until late at night. No one noticed that the male employee, who had been slumped at his desk all day, slowly sat up and made himself a cup of coffee."
The listeners looked at the coffee cup in Meng Chun's hand, exchanged glances, and moved closer to each other. Meng Chun was becoming increasingly good at scaring them.
"This male employee began to tell ghost stories. Because his storytelling was so captivating, his colleagues who were also working overtime gathered together."
"Gathering everyone around was the male employee's goal. He wanted his colleagues to stay forever and work overtime with him in this company, so he wouldn't be lonely, and so he would always have an audience when he told ghost stories."
Meng Chun lowered his voice and said eerily, "But, this male employee was already dead. His stories could be heard not only by his colleagues but also by others who wandered in the dead of night. Therefore, more and more people gathered around the male employee..."
The listeners felt a bit scared and looked around. After shifting their gaze back, their faces turned pale with fright, and they trembled, not knowing what they were thinking.
Tonight, the story Meng Chun was telling seemed exceptionally terrifying.
Meng Chun looked at everyone with satisfaction. This was the first time his ghost stories had such a good effect. Previously, people would pick apart his stories while listening. Today, he had actually scared them into trembling.
"As the male employee's story reached its climax, the audience was so scared they were about to cry. At this moment, the male employee revealed his true form: bleeding eyes and a long red tongue..."
Meng Chun turned his head and smeared some tomato juice around his eye sockets, letting a fake tongue dangle from his mouth. He turned back and roared at the crowd, "ROAR! I want you to listen to my stories forever!"
Meng Chun, expecting screams from the crowd, did not see the scene he desired.
They had all been trembling before, and now he had prepared props for the final part of the plot, which should have elicited the strongest reaction. Why were they just trembling as before?
Unless... their extreme fear wasn't because of his ghost story at all!
As this thought struck him, Meng Chun felt a bone-chilling cold. He noticed that the hot coffee today seemed to be cooling down much faster than usual.
Furthermore, among the people listening to him tell stories, the familiar faces seemed somewhat strange, while the strange faces seemed very familiar, as if they were all his colleagues.
But he clearly remembered that there were only a dozen or so people from their company working in the entire building. And after he finished his ghost story... there were dozens of people surrounding him!