Tongguan raised no objection to Ji Li's words, though his view of him was clouded by bias.
He knew full well that this man could very well be the black-robed leader who had taken his parents. But now was not the time to confront him.
In the silence, Chang Nian—the only woman among them—spoke softly:
"Tongguan and I searched the second to tenth floors.
We found 18 people, and brought 17 to the lobby.
One woman had already broken her own neck by the time we reached her office."
The reports were simple. Yu Guo then added:
"Teacher Fang and I found 16. I brought 12 to the lobby. The other four were electricians, who followed Teacher Fang to the basement to restore power.
But as we heard earlier over the phone, one of them also died.
And the method of death was exactly the same as Miss Chang described."
Yu Guo paused, glancing at Ji Li's unreadable face, then continued:
"There's something else I need to tell you."
Ji Li frowned. That strange expression told him Yu Guo had done something reckless.
Yu Guo scratched his head awkwardly, almost sheepishly.
"When Teacher Fang described the way that person died, I found it… curious. So I tried it on myself."
Tongguan's eyes went wide. He had never imagined the seemingly ordinary young man would dare something so bold.
"What did you try?" he asked.
Yu Guo raised his hands—one pressed to his chin, the other to his temple—and twisted his head to the side in imitation.
Everyone stared at him oddly—until they realized something was wrong.
Ji Li's eyes lit up. As Yu Guo mimicked the victim's death pose, his limbs began to stiffen unnaturally.
At the same time, his expression shifted—his eyes growing frantic, desperate.
The angle of his head twisted further and further. What had begun as a mockery now came with the cracking grind of bones.
Ji Li lunged forward, seizing Yu Guo's arms. He felt at once that they were as rigid as iron rods.
The others rushed in to help, but no one could force his arms apart. Yu Guo's head was already at a ninety-degree turn.
Then, like a statue, his whole body toppled backward.
A sharp crack rang out—whether from bone or something else, none could tell.
But when Yu Guo hit the ground, the unnatural stiffness vanished. He regained movement, scrambling up with effort.
He shot Ji Li a glare. "I thought you were smart. Couldn't you read my signals?"
Ji Li's face darkened. His voice was low. "So that's what you did before?"
Yu Guo gave an embarrassed laugh. "Yes. When Teacher Fang described the corpse, I was curious and copied it.
But as soon as I held the same posture, I lost control.
It felt like some force enveloped me, hijacking my body, forcing my head to snap.
That time, I fell over by accident and broke free.
This time was the same.
From these two attempts, there's only one conclusion…"
His expression steadied, his tone grave.
"The task says the ghost kills all workers before coming for us. But in truth, it can attack us at any time."
Ji Li's gaze flickered. Without Yu Guo's reckless experiment, they might still have believed they were safe until the workers were dead.
Now it was clear: blocking the ghost's slaughter came with the risk of being attacked themselves.
Chang Nian was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend Yu Guo's actions. After a long silence, she muttered, "Everyone from Branch Seven really are monsters."
Tongguan cut her off. "We are all Branch Seven staff now."
He looked at Ji Li. "Back to the point. What happened on your end?"
Ji Li recounted the earlier events in full, then said:
"At present, we know four things:
First, the ghost kills by possession, forcing suicide.
Second, it has the power to split itself.
Third, before all workers die, we too may be attacked.
Fourth… based on every death so far, there were never more than five people around the victim at the time."
That fourth point was the most critical piece of intelligence yet, deduced from the three groups' combined reports.
Three groups, three deaths. The largest group had been Fang Shenyan's, with five people—yet someone still died.
On Li Xing's side, however, no one had been attacked. From this, two possibilities emerged.
Perhaps with fewer than six people, someone would inevitably become *isolated*, triggering the ghost's attack.
After this theory was proposed, both Tongguan and Yu Guo nodded. Though unproven, it was their only working guess at the ghost's killing pattern.
Ji Li turned to the cowering workers and said:
"There are 30 people here. Another three remain in the basement.
It's been over thirty minutes since the blackout began. Those three should still be in the building.
I don't know if they're alive, but we need to find them."
Tongguan agreed at once. "If we have the strength, saving them is only right. I'll go."
But Ji Li glanced at him, thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I'll go."
"Why?" Tongguan's voice was steady, but his tone carried displeasure—not because Ji Li opposed him, but for another reason.
Ji Li was blunt. "We don't have the resources to truly save them. I'll go because I can remain absolutely rational and make the necessary choice.
Going there isn't about bringing them back.
It's to test whether the isolation theory holds, and whether it fits the ghost's killing pattern.
That's why you're not suitable."
Tongguan's face showed grim recognition. He had guessed Ji Li's plan, which was why he spoke up first.
But if Ji Li went, then those three workers—if they didn't die to the ghost—would surely die by his hand.
Tongguan was about to argue when Chang Nian tugged at his sleeve, holding him back.
Ji Li ignored them, turning to Yu Guo. "Fang Shenyan's group is already fewer than five. Take five more and join him."
He scanned the crowd, then pointed to the workers who had been the first to arrive in the lobby.
"You five, you're coming with me."
Those people had seen him shoot their colleague dead with their own eyes. Already trembling, now that he singled them out, their souls nearly fled their bodies.
They begged, wept, pleaded for mercy.
But Ji Li didn't spare them a glance. He brushed past Tongguan's furrowed brow and fixed his gaze on Li Xing, who had been useless the entire time.
Ji Li's eyes narrowed slightly. His voice was cold. "You. You're coming with me."
You can read Eerie Overseer ahead by 60+ chapters ad-free and for free at htt ps://ravenarchives. com/book/eerie-overseer]. Bulk uploads are a bit tricky, so updates here might be irregular, but they'll keep coming.