Translated by Eve

　　Edited by Wuxian

　　The frightened girls did not have any appet.i.te. They withdrew themselves into their room, listless, not taking a single step out. The men didn't dare leave them alone and could only helplessly skip out on dinner.

　　In any case, they've starved for a whole day before. It was nothing to miss a single meal. These girls, who had once been used to being spoiled and pampered, had clearly been taught what it meant to suffer hards.h.i.+ps by this manner.

　　The curtain of night gradually descended and the manor's lights all lit up. Everyone was silent and lost in thought, or were closing their eyes and resting their minds, or were chatting in low voices. Suddenly, a knock sounded against the door to this room.

　　At first, three knocks sounded. After stopping for a while, there was another two knocks. The knocks were neither hurried nor slow; they were refined and courteous, but still managed to cause the hair on everyone's bodies to stand.

　　——All of them were already inside the room, so who then was the 'person' knocking on their door? A ghost?

　　Deathly stillness befell the room. No one dared speak, let alone move. Each and every one of them hoped that the other would leave upon receiving no reply.

　　It was just a pity that the 'person' outside was exceedingly patient and continued to knock on the door in a mechanical fas.h.i.+on. One knock after another, each sound knocking against the hearts of the people inside the room.

　　"W-what should we do?" The robust girl trembled as she spoke in a tiny voice. She curled herself up tightly into a corner of the room, panicked and helpless.

　　"…Should we open the door?" The bespectacled youth swallowed and added hoa.r.s.ely, "Don't tell me that…we have to let it continue knocking forever?"

　　The two people could still be considered rational. Meanwhile, the quiet and gentle girl was quaking violently on the floor, her eyes gradually growing frenetic, as if she was on the edge of exploding.

　　Ming Hai noticed that she was fishy and promptly restrained her. Soon after, he gazed questioningly towards Yang Yue. Yang Yue composed himself and patted Sui Yuan's shaking shoulders in comfort. He then stood up, "…I'll go open the door."

　　Except for Ming Hai's 'be careful', no one else responded. Everyone's gazes were tightly glued on the door, as if they would stand up and bolt at the smallest abnormality. Unfortunately, aside from the door that was being blocked by the ghosts, the entire room was completely sealed with no other exits—even the window was unbreakable. Where could they even escape to?"

　　Yang Yue was a bit nervous at this moment. The palm of his hands were clammy, but it wasn't because he himself was afraid of the ghosts. It was just that the fear of the surrounding people had transferred over to him, making him unable to help but feel his own heart speed up.

　　His hand slowly made contact with the door k.n.o.b. He turned it slowly and the door to the room opened noiselessly. However, there was nothing on the other side of the door. Even Yang Yue didn't see a thing.

　　Everyone held their breaths. In the next second, Yang Yue seemed to have perceived something and subconsciously stepped back. When he stepped back from his original position at the door, everyone could see a series of floating trays entering the room, one after another. Furthermore, atop of these trays were delicious food and beverages. It was most likely the dinner that they had been originally intending on missing.

　　The trays seemed to be carried by something. They bounced up and down in midair as they came in. Some of the trays were higher up, some were lower, as if to indicate that the 'people' carrying these trays were of different heights.

　　While everyone stiffly watched this scene while keeping quiet out of fear, the six trays were very quickly distributed. Each of them directly floated before every person before slowly drifting down. It was just like the owner of this manor had dispatched well-trained servants to receive the guests with magnificent hospitality. It was just a pity that these guests had no way to perceive this 'goodwill'. Each one of them stared unwaveringly at the tray and food placed in front of them, as if they were looking at some extremely terrifying thing.

　　For a long time, no one spoke nor moved. Meanwhile, those 'servants' did not seem to show any indication of wanting to leave. When they thought about how there were ghosts standing by their side watching them eat dinner, no one had even the slightest bit of an appet.i.te. They only wished to flip this tray over and throw it away, the farther away, the better.

　　"Did they…did they leave yet? Yang Yue, can you still see them?" The bespectacled youth shook while trying to push his gla.s.ses up. However, because he was trembling so fiercely, he failed to do so several times.

　　"…I can't see them," Yang Yue stood at the entrance, back erect while gently shaking his head, "However, my senses are telling me that…they…probably haven't left."

　　"Then what should we do?! We—do we need to eat this stuff?! No! I won't eat!" The robust girl refused, emotionally stirred. Furthermore, her reaction provoked the quiet and gentle girl who was situated not far away. She suddenly threw off the caught-off-guard Ming Hai's hold and suddenly flipped the tray before her into the air and let out a hysterical screech.

　　The food sprinkled across the floor emitted a tantalizing aroma. Meanwhile, the quiet and gentle girl who had just exploded panted heavily, eyes flickering around like a bird that could be startled by the mere tw.a.n.g of a bow. Her eyes were full of alarm and insanity intertwined.

　　No one reacted. The ghosts on the side did not seem to be angered either because of this. Everyone relaxed slightly. Just as they were about to copy the quiet and elegant girl and refuse the food, another tray of food floated in through the wide-open door, neither slowly or rushed, and once again situated itself before the quiet and gentle girl.

　　The quiet and gentle girl's pupils constricted. She subconsciously wanted to retreat but something suddenly pressed down against her limbs, locking her onto the floor. Meanwhile, the fork on the new tray stabbed into a piece of meat and flew over, firmly sticking itself into the mouth of the quiet and gentle girl that was opened because she had been screaming and struggling.

　　Everyone averted their eyes, finding the scene unbearable to behold. Ming Hai, who was beside the quiet and gentle girl wanted to stop the ghost that was 'feeding' her, but his hand could only pierce through the ice-cold empty air. It fundamentally had no way of touching the enemy's body.

　　This lasted until the quiet and gentle girl broke down and screamed "I'll eat, I'll eat!" Only then did the ghost's 'feeding' cease. The quiet and gentle girl that recovered her freedom shook so hard that she couldn't hold her knife or fork steadily and could only use her hands to stick the food into her mouth. She ate, cried, and retched, all at the same time.