Gu Mian didn't want to be chased around by five ghosts, screaming and shouting, so it was best to lure them out one at a time and defeat them individually.

He sat at the dining table, contemplating how to lure Xia Yutong out from such a large crowd. Logically, the restroom is the place with the densest yin energy, making it a prime spot for ghosts to appear. Many ghost stories are set in restrooms, especially girls' restrooms in schools. But he couldn't just walk in there; he'd probably be mistaken for a pervert and thrown out. Letting Keke go in alone was also out of the question. Judging by the earlier situation, if Keke really went into the girls' restroom by herself, she would most likely go in alive and come out dead.

Feeling somewhat frustrated, Gu Mian put his mobile phone back into his pocket. The canteen was packed, and right next to him sat a student eating pig hocks from a clay pot. The aroma wafting from the student reminded Gu Mian of Fatty, who hadn't entered the instance.

He wondered if Xiao Qiao had gone to steal food made by Fatty again.

"Speaking of which…" Keke suddenly remembered something, "I borrowed a special item from Miss Xiao Qiao before entering the instance. Now that I think about it, it might come in handy."

Indeed, Xiao Qiao had many useful things on her. Gu Mian knew of two in particular.

One was the [Big Data Search], and the other was the [Ghost Census List]. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"It's the Ghost Census List," Keke hesitated, wondering whether to take it out. "If I take it out, all the nearby ghosts will come and fill in their names. It's likely to lure Xia Yutong out, but there are too many people around here…"

It might have undesirable effects.

The original intention of the person who designed this item was to have the form hold the ghosts' attention for a while, giving players more time to escape. Little did they know that once it landed in Gu Mian's hands, its purpose changed, turning it into a potent tool for luring ghosts.

Actually, she had a similar special item, [Money Can Make Ghosts Grind]. When taken out, it could compel ghosts chasing her to involuntarily start grinding the mill, which should also attract them. However, the price was losing all her Game Coins. Before teaming up with Gu Mian in instances, her entire savings amounted to only three digits, so she could afford to use it a few times back then. Now, after several instance runs with Gu Mian, her savings had gradually increased to over several thousand. She was completely unwilling to use this item now. Besides, the item itself was quite large; producing a mill out of thin air in the crowded canteen would be rather inappropriate.

Upon hearing this, Gu Mian immediately scouted the surroundings and led the two to an empty corridor at the edge of the second floor. The canteen had four staircases: two in the middle and two in the corners. Most students used the middle two staircases, so this area near the edge staircases was less crowded.

"Take it out," Gu Mian said to Keke, after making sure no one was around.

Keke nodded, and with a slight pause, a form appeared in her hand.

[Ghost Census List]

[Description: The Third National Ghost Census List]

[Function: When this form is used, nearby spiritual entities will consciously gather and fill in their names on it.]

The last time Xiao Qiao used this special item in the garbage dump instance, it had lured Emperor over as soon as she took it out.

The same thing happened this time. Half a second after the Ghost Census List appeared, a pale hand stretched out from Gu Mian's pocket.

Gu Mian silently stuffed the hand back in. "This list isn't for luring you."

While stuffing Emperor's hand back into his pocket, he looked up to observe their surroundings. The special item didn't specify how close 'nearby' was. He wondered if Xia Yutong was still within this 'nearby' range.

Students were coming and going not far away, but none of them seemed to be heading in their direction.

Xia Yutong must have left this area.

The trio waited for about half a minute, but no one approached them.

"She might have left," Keke said, holding the Ghost Census List and carefully observing their surroundings. "Should I put this away?"

Actually, this thing doesn't have an expiration date; it could be held all the time. That way, if they passed near a ghost, it could be lured over.

The only problem was Emperor in his pocket. He kept extending his hand, apparently wanting to sign his name on the list. Perhaps the Ghost Census List's allure for ghosts was so strong that Emperor extended his other hand as well.

Now Gu Mian had two hands to stuff back into his pocket.

As he was doing so, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.

Because a third hand emerged from his pocket.

Could it be that the Ghost Census List was so alluring that it made Emperor sprout a third hand out of sheer craving? No, that wasn't right. He'd never been this desperate, not even for his sister.

Before Gu Mian could figure out what was happening, a fourth hand came out. This fourth hand, however, didn't reach for the Ghost Census List; instead, it reached out to twist the hands that had previously emerged.

At that moment, Chu Changge, who was standing beside them, suddenly spoke, "They're all right hands."

By now, Gu Mian also realized something was amiss. He reached out, grabbed one of the arms that was struggling to extend, and yanked it out forcefully.

The arm was pulled out cleanly.

To his surprise, the arm wasn't connected to a body; its base was only attached to a mobile phone.

It was one of the mobile phones issued to players by the instance.

The arm seemed to have emerged from the mobile phone.

Gu Mian frowned and pulled out the other three arms. The bases of these three arms were connected to two mobile phones and a CD, respectively.

The one in the CD was Emperor.

The ones in the mobile phones were Gu Mian's three love interests; they had crawled out from the phones.

The scene was quite mentally scarring. Keke, holding the census list, backed away several steps. "So the ghosts in this instance... were all hidden in the phones?"

No wonder Emperor always tried to hit the phone whenever Gu Mian was chatting on it! He must have discovered this long ago.

The instance's task required players to engage in an online romance with a ghost for three days, and the ghosts were hidden inside the phones.

Most players wouldn't discard their phones, thus maintaining close contact with a ghost for three days and nights.

If Keke hadn't taken out the Ghost Census List, Gu Mian wouldn't have known even now that the ghosts were hidden in the phones.

Keke looked at the list in her hand. "This kind of special item is usually taken out only when being chased by a ghost, to buy time. If no ghost is present, a normal person wouldn't take something like this out for no reason."

Therefore, even if the other two players in the instance possessed such ghost-attracting special items, they wouldn't just take them out casually.

Naturally, they wouldn't know that the ghosts they were dating were hidden inside their phones.