Chapter 148

The viewers had no idea how Shi Jian’s brain worked like this.

While they were still worrying about how Shi Jian would bluff her way through tomorrow night after barely managing tonight, Shi Jian had already started thinking about freeloading stories off the revenants.

When Shi Jian shared her idea with Tang Tian and Xu An, the two actually found it… quite feasible.

Even though it would definitely involve some shameless tactics.

But if it meant survival, who cared about being shameless?

Tang Tian: I was a little worried about how many more revenants might show up later, but now, following Shi Jian’s train of thought, I’m actually kind of looking forward to more of them?

Shi Jian was still concerned whether there would be more chaos coming later. While she could reuse the excuse she gave earlier, she also needed her beauty sleep.

Thankfully, the intensity of the first night had already been quite high, and no new trouble cropped up.

Shi Jian slept relatively peacefully—aside from having to guard against the bride ghost’s repeated attempts to assassinate her by using her body weight to crush her in her sleep.

Of course, Shi Jian would immediately fight back. Her counterattack? Rolling over and using her body weight to crush the bride ghost instead.

The bride ghost’s eyes went round in shock—as if she hadn’t expected Shi Jian to do something like that.

But the effect was obvious. The bride ghost quickly quieted down.

She slinked off to the side, staring at Shi Jian with those pitch-black eyes, glowing faintly in the dark.

Very much like a cat, Shi Jian thought.

Over time, Shi Jian noticed that the bride ghost didn’t seem to need sleep.

…

The next morning, Shi Jian’s group got up early.

They tried to start with the lodge staff, hoping to find clues about the mission target.

Turns out, two other teams had the same idea.

Shi Jian thought they’d gotten up pretty early already—but the other two teams were even more proactive.

Bai Xiangnan saw Shi Jian from a distance and cheerfully greeted her with a grin, revealing a pair of canine teeth that made him look brimming with energy. “Morning, jiejie!”

Shi Jian replied perfunctorily, radiating a strong “I’m here to shine solo, don’t come near me, we’re not close” vibe.

But Bai Xiangnan didn’t press further—it was obvious collecting intel was more important to them.

Tang Tian had already given Shi Jian a bitter report when they regrouped.

“Doesn’t seem like we’re getting anything useful. The info all feels messy and weird—it’s like they’re deliberately trying to lead us in a certain direction.”

Information-gathering expert Tang Tian had just suffered a career low point at the Blizzard Mountain Lodge.

Meanwhile, Shi Jian had been probing the staff in a roundabout way, asking things like whether there had been any murder cases here, or anyone who had died. The two employees she questioned gave very different answers.

The first staff member was deadly serious and shook their head rapidly.

“Who’s spreading rumors like that? Is it a competitor trying to smear our lodge…? No one’s ever died here, don’t scare me—I’m faint of heart.”The second staff member, on the other hand, leaned in with a mysterious, gossipy look after hearing the question.

“Oh yeah, definitely!” she clapped her hands.

“Around five years ago, a worker named Wang Dexing died here. He fell by accident while doing high-altitude maintenance on the lodge…”

After hearing these two completely different answers, Shi Jian pulled Tang Tian aside.

“No need to ask anymore. We won’t get any real answers out of them. They’re definitely trying to mislead and confuse us.”

Xu An asked Shi Jian, “How do you know?”

Shi Jian replied, “Because the revenant that broke into my room last night was Wang Dexing. He said he died trying to do a good deed.”

Now there were two versions of how Wang Dexing died.

“Besides…”

Shi Jian spoke in a tone of someone with experience, “I’ve basically ruled him out as an innocent revenant. His name, his story, his abilities—everything is just too ordinary. Even dungeon ghosts have main characters and supporting roles. Wang Dexing’s the obvious early-stage cannon fodder.”

There was one thing Shi Jian didn’t say—his looks. Wang Dexing looked too plain to fit the main-character mold.

…

Shi Jian’s team gave up on questioning the staff early that morning. And after they gave up, the other teams had to pause too.

Because the maid hostess reappeared. She called everyone over for breakfast, and with a smile, reminded them, “Once you’ve eaten, it’ll be time to start telling your stories.”

That line caused many of the streamers' faces to change drastically.

How could anyone eat with that kind of pressure?

Shi Jian, Tang Tian, and Xu An could still eat.

Tang Tian ate with the staff—she didn’t need to tell a story.

Shi Jian delivered the second half of her revenge tale. Once again, she showcased her incredible acting, spinning the melodramatic vengeance plot into something both tragic and moving.

Even though the maid hostess was extremely reluctant, tears still shot out from her eyes.

Shi Jian passed.

As for Xu An, he told Wang Dexing’s story—the one Shi Jian had heard the previous night. With a few creative embellishments from her, the tale was transformed from dull to compelling. Xu An also successfully earned his place for another night.

After a full night to prepare, all the teams passed the storytelling challenge—except for one person in the group that had lost their top student.

It was the poor soul who had gouged out his own eye while crying. He clearly had no talent for storytelling.

Already missing one eyeball, his face turned ashen when the maid coldly declared that his story had failed to move her. He collapsed to the floor in despair.

Eventually, after his teammates persuaded him, he chose to cut off one of his arms. Otherwise, he’d freeze to death soon after being forced to leave the lodge. At least this gave him a slim chance of surviving.

His anguished howls echoed through the entire lodge.

Alongside those screams, most of the streamers, while relieved, couldn’t hide the growing anxiety on their faces.

What they were thinking was—what about the story for the third day?

The second day was manageable because everyone had come prepared. But that also meant they had fewer resources left to draw from.Shi Jian also felt a bit uncomfortable. She crossed her arms tightly and asked directly, “Can we go back to our rooms after telling the story?”

She didn’t really want to stay here any longer. Although she’d seen plenty by now and no longer felt like puking as she had at the beginning, the discomfort still lingered.

The maid hostess didn’t seem too pleased with the current death rate. Faced with Shi Jian’s question, she rolled her eyes and replied,

“You can, but it’s not recommended.”

“We’ll be handing out a set of down jackets to everyone. They’re incredibly warm—wearing them means you can walk around the courtyard freely without freezing. However, after midnight, the insulation will stop working.”

The maid changed the topic quickly, and now she was even having the staff hand out the jackets.

Would she really be so kind?

What trick was she pulling now?!

As soon as she finished explaining the jackets' function, suspicion surged in everyone’s minds.

There had been too many traps already.

Sure enough, the maid immediately dropped another bombshell.

“After midnight, your rooms will no longer provide hot water or floor heating. If you want them back, you’ll need to help the gardener uncle sweep the yard to earn them.”

Without hot water and heating, everyone’s panic finally showed—how could anyone stand these temperatures?

Even indoors would be unbearable.

Complaints erupted instantly.

…

“Why?! We already told our stories like you asked!”

“Yeah! Why are you cutting off the hot water and heating?”

Tang Tian wasn’t with her team, but she was watching from a hidden spot, and at that moment her heart tightened.

No hot water or heating? That’s not going to work.

It didn’t take a genius to guess this new task would grind everyone down even if it didn’t kill them.

The maid’s reasoning was airtight and left no room for rebuttal.

Her smug tone made it clear she’d been waiting for this moment.

“Because you were only allowed to stay here as a special exception. I only promised you could stay one night if you moved me with your stories—I never said I’d provide heating or hot water.”

The maid followed up with a few strict warnings.

“Some of you better not get any ideas about sleeping in the hallway or the lobby. I can’t guarantee your safety if you spend the night anywhere besides your rooms.”

“What are you staring at me for?” Shi Jian muttered under her breath, visibly annoyed.

The maid may have said “some of you,” but she was clearly looking at her.

Shi Jian suspected she was being targeted.

Xu An = looks over at Shi Jian: “Were you actually planning something like that?”Shi Jian replied to him with a look.

Yep, she did.

It was the very first thing she thought of, but after the maid's warning, she definitely wouldn’t test it.

The maid continued, “And some people better not get any ideas about squeezing in with their friends to sleep. There will be room checks after midnight.”

Her gaze was still fixed on Shi Jian.

Shi Jian felt it was totally unreasonable that she was being targeted like this. It’s not like the maid had spotted Tang Tian—who else could she even bunk with here?

Of course, asking to stay with Tang Tian wasn’t realistic either—Tang Tian stayed in the staff quarters.

Shi Jian leaned closer to Xu An and whispered, “What do you think my chances are if I ask her to let me sleep over for the night?”

Xu An advised, “Don’t go looking for death.”

Shi Jian had no choice but to give up the idea for now.

After rattling off a few more rules, the maid added one more:

“Oh, and don’t even think about burning the room’s furniture for warmth. Damaging any item in the room will result in punishment…”

Tang Tian thought to herself: Good thing I didn’t kick Shi Jian’s door down last night.

Someone muttered in confusion, “Who’d even think of burning the room’s stuff?”

Who would come up with something like that? That’s just begging to die.

The maid’s expression grew serious. “There was a reported incident where a group of unruly, devious bandits set fire to nearly half of a castle that had graciously welcomed them. The scene was reportedly horrific. The elderly butler almost fainted from the shock and needed a long time to recover.”

“But unfortunately, due to certain… unexplained mechanisms, we never found out who exactly that devious bandit was.”

This time, the maid didn’t look at Shi Jian.

Xu An turned his head again, trying to spot Shi Jian—only to realize she was no longer in her original spot.

The always spotlight-seeking Shi Jian had quietly blended into the crowd.