Chapter 021: The Evils of Overtime!
"Do you feel it's a bit... cold?"
Outside the Bai family's old mansion, several young people squatted across the street, gazing at the mansion's main entrance from a distance.
"It's midnight; why isn't he back yet?"
They were the Bai family's disciples from outside the family lineage. Serving a prominent family, it wasn't just descendants that served the Bai's. They also took in disciples from outside the family for miscellaneous tasks. He Lao was once such a disciple but earned a trusted position in the Bai household, gaining significant influence.
"Could he have died out there?"
Today's "errand" for these disciples from outside the family lineage was to retrieve Chi Shen.
Earlier in the day, Bai Xi Ming had determined that due to the phone call from Chi Shen the previous night, he was now haunted by malevolent spirits. He immediately sent people to bring Chi Shen in for questioning, but they couldn't find him anywhere.
Being someone entirely overlooked by the Bai family, with the exception of Bai Ran, Chi Shen was practically invisible to them. Everyone in the Bai household treated his entry into the old mansion as a joke, waiting to hear of his demise inside. Nobody paid attention to his daily whereabouts or what he was up to.
Naturally, no one was watching over him when he left. So, when they arrived and found him missing, and couldn't find him despite searching, the Bai family members left by sunset, leaving only these disciples to wait.
"Perhaps he's dead in some obscure corner. When he starts to stink, we'll find him."
After saying that, the group laughed. They had heard about the ghostly phone disturbances at the Bai household. Some even speculated privately that the person who answered Bai Xi Ming's call that night wasn't a living Chi Shen, but his spirit. After all, Chi Shen had once claimed that the ghosts were his friends. If he were a ghost himself, such a claim would make sense.
"Where's my head... Have any of you seen my head?" A faint voice wafted from the direction of the old mansion. Though they were a distance away and the voice wasn't clear, it still sent chills down their spines.
"What's the purpose of this old mansion?" someone asked, "Why are so many ghosts trapped inside?"
"I've heard it's to suppress an old ghost from the Bai family, preventing her from escaping."
"I always thought they were raising—"
Everyone looked over, and the speaker quickly silenced himself, swallowing the words he was about to say.
Raising ghosts was a major taboo in their line.
Drip, drip.
The sound of dripping water.
"Do any of you smell something foul?"
A person leaning against a tree wiped his face, his hand wet with a foul-smelling moisture, reminiscent of the stench of decay.
Where did this water come from?
He looked up.
There stood a grotesque figure: his lower body seemed normal, barefoot with standard men's pajama pants. However, his upper body was swollen beyond recognition, resembling a mass of abscesses, and atop that bulging mound, there was a large, gaping mouth.
The figure was reminiscent of a comical exaggerated expression from some cartoons, but seeing such a visage in real life was undeniably monstrous.
The creature clung to the tree trunk with its limbs bent at grotesque angles, hanging upside down. Amidst the decaying flesh, a pair of human eyes gleamed hungrily. Saliva dripped from its gaping maw, landing on the forehead of the man looking up.
"Ahh!"
The man by the tree immediately let out a horrified scream, stumbling out of the greenery and rushing into the crowd in two strides.
"What's the shouting for?"
Someone immediately snapped at him.
"A ghost!" The man pointed to the tree, trying to show them, but suddenly realized that the spot was now empty.
"Stop freaking out. You'll give someone a heart attack," the leader said, swiping at the man's head.
"I really saw..."
A vast mouth opened up behind the leader, lunging down towards his head!
Darkness descended. The foul stench of decay enveloped him. The leader tried to react, but it was too late. A massive wave of fear overtook him. He was about to be bitten in two by this monster—
"Crack."
The sound of something breaking. The creature lifted its head, holding a blood-soaked wooden effigy in its mouth. Its jaws passed right through the leader without harming him.
The creature seemed puzzled. After a moment, it spat out the wooden figure, turning its gaze to the others.
"Run!" The leader, heart still racing from his brush with death, gave a hard push to the dazed man next to him. "Run!"
The group scrambled into a van and sped off. The creature didn't pursue them. Lowering its head, it stared at the white characters on the wooden effigy, blood tears slowly streaming down.
After a while, the creature moved again, stepping on the wooden figure, heading towards the entrance of the old mansion.
——
On the 14th floor of Tengfei Tower, Le Dao Cultural Company.
Yuan Yi Ping arrived swiftly, and he wasn't alone.
Perhaps sensing a threat, the ghost hiding beneath the front desk began to stir. The moment Yuan Yi Ping reached the 14th floor, dark ghostly energy unfurled, enveloping the entire doorway.
Chi Shen sat at his desk, observing through the glass, wanting to gauge the strength of this department he had never understood. The ghost at the reception, merely a second-tier soldier slightly better than the average fodder in the death game, was an excellent test subject.
Darkness swiftly enveloped the glass, obstructing Chi Shen's view. Yet, within two minutes, a golden beam pierced through the dark miasma. Yuan Yiping stood amidst the light, his ancient sword trembling slightly, while one of his colleagues, pale-faced, leaned against the wall, seemingly heavily injured.
Chi Shen's gaze momentarily lingered on the ancient sword before shifting to Yuan Yiping.
Yuan Yiping didn't meet his gaze, calmly attending to his injured colleague and organizing a team to investigate the lingering spirits of Le Dao Culture.
They had been monitoring the 14th floor of Tengfei Tower for two days, even disguising as janitors to scout the place. They knew many ghosts resided here— in the restrooms, ceilings, and various odd corners.
Precisely because there were so many ghosts, they were urgently convening to devise a strategy. Acting rashly might lead to an onslaught by a horde of spirits, risking not only failure in exorcising them but also potential danger to themselves.
The team immediately sprang into action, entering Le Dao Culture.
"Target individual is alive," a voice echoed in Yuan Yiping's earpiece.
"Restroom, clear."
"Ceiling, clear."
"The flower pot…" the colleague's voice had an eerie undertone, "...also clear."
With puzzled expressions, the team reconvened at the reception. One of them reported, "The ghost in the restroom was the most dangerous, but it's gone. Residual malice suggests it was exorcised no more than a day ago."
Techniques for detecting spirits were still in their infancy, so they couldn't obtain precise data.
Another colleague added, "Everywhere we investigated was like this."
Yuan Yiping furrowed his brow upon hearing this.
He was suddenly reminded of the Bai family's old mansion and the boy in funeral attire nailed to a pillar. These events were closely linked to Chi Shen. Could someone be assisting him?
Yuan Yiping discussed in whispers with his team for a moment, but they reached no conclusion. A colleague suddenly suggested, "Could someone from the Bai family have been here? After all, their real young master…"
Another colleague signaled for him to be silent. Yuan Yiping shook his head and approached Chi Shen.
Chi Shen remained seated at his desk, appearing weary and pale. Yuan Yiping observed him for a moment, noting that his pallor wasn't from fright but rather fatigue. Despite this, he seemed utterly calm. Curiously, Yuan Yiping inquired, "Aren't you afraid?"
"I'm not," Chi Shen responded firmly under Yuan Yiping's scrutinizing gaze, "I trust that the police will protect me."
Yuan Yiping paused, clearly not expecting that answer, but he soon broke into a smile, "You should still be careful in the future."
Chi Shen nodded, "I understand."
After exchanging a few words with Chi Shen, Yuan Yiping glanced at the time and offered to drive him home.
Chi Shen didn't decline. After all, an ordinary person who had just encountered a ghost should rightfully accept police protection, so he got into Yuan Yiping's car.
"Do you feel unwell anywhere?" As Yuan Yiping drove, he chatted with Chi Shen. People usually experienced some discomfort after a ghostly encounter, so he wanted to check.
Chi Shen shook his head, then nodded, "Overtime work— truly a wretched invention."
It was nearly 2 a.m., and he was exhausted. He regretted volunteering for overtime and even recalled how he once resigned impulsively and moved to Hong City to find his biological parents, all because of detestable overtime!
Back then, the relentless overtime left him drained. He could fall asleep standing up in a packed subway and constantly feared dropping dead at work, leaving his troublesome inheritance to his disagreeable parents.
When he heard rumors of being a rich family's heir, he immediately quit his job and made a swift exit.
He thought being wealthy meant no more overtime!
Chapter 021: The Evils of Overtime!
"Do you feel it's a bit... cold?"
Outside the Bai family's old mansion, several young people squatted across the street, gazing at the mansion's main entrance from a distance.
"It's midnight; why isn't he back yet?"
They were the Bai family's disciples from outside the family lineage. Serving a prominent family, it wasn't just descendants that served the Bai's. They also took in disciples from outside the family for miscellaneous tasks. He Lao was once such a disciple but earned a trusted position in the Bai household, gaining significant influence.
"Could he have died out there?"
Today's "errand" for these disciples from outside the family lineage was to retrieve Chi Shen.
Earlier in the day, Bai Xi Ming had determined that due to the phone call from Chi Shen the previous night, he was now haunted by malevolent spirits. He immediately sent people to bring Chi Shen in for questioning, but they couldn't find him anywhere.
Being someone entirely overlooked by the Bai family, with the exception of Bai Ran, Chi Shen was practically invisible to them. Everyone in the Bai household treated his entry into the old mansion as a joke, waiting to hear of his demise inside. Nobody paid attention to his daily whereabouts or what he was up to.
Naturally, no one was watching over him when he left. So, when they arrived and found him missing, and couldn't find him despite searching, the Bai family members left by sunset, leaving only these disciples to wait.
"Perhaps he's dead in some obscure corner. When he starts to stink, we'll find him."
After saying that, the group laughed. They had heard about the ghostly phone disturbances at the Bai household. Some even speculated privately that the person who answered Bai Xi Ming's call that night wasn't a living Chi Shen, but his spirit. After all, Chi Shen had once claimed that the ghosts were his friends. If he were a ghost himself, such a claim would make sense.
"Where's my head... Have any of you seen my head?" A faint voice wafted from the direction of the old mansion. Though they were a distance away and the voice wasn't clear, it still sent chills down their spines.
"What's the purpose of this old mansion?" someone asked, "Why are so many ghosts trapped inside?"
"I've heard it's to suppress an old ghost from the Bai family, preventing her from escaping."
"I always thought they were raising—"
Everyone looked over, and the speaker quickly silenced himself, swallowing the words he was about to say.
Raising ghosts was a major taboo in their line.
Drip, drip.
The sound of dripping water.
"Do any of you smell something foul?"
A person leaning against a tree wiped his face, his hand wet with a foul-smelling moisture, reminiscent of the stench of decay.
Where did this water come from?
He looked up.
There stood a grotesque figure: his lower body seemed normal, barefoot with standard men's pajama pants. However, his upper body was swollen beyond recognition, resembling a mass of abscesses, and atop that bulging mound, there was a large, gaping mouth.
The figure was reminiscent of a comical exaggerated expression from some cartoons, but seeing such a visage in real life was undeniably monstrous.
The creature clung to the tree trunk with its limbs bent at grotesque angles, hanging upside down. Amidst the decaying flesh, a pair of human eyes gleamed hungrily. Saliva dripped from its gaping maw, landing on the forehead of the man looking up.
"Ahh!"
The man by the tree immediately let out a horrified scream, stumbling out of the greenery and rushing into the crowd in two strides.
"What's the shouting for?"
Someone immediately snapped at him.
"A ghost!" The man pointed to the tree, trying to show them, but suddenly realized that the spot was now empty.
"Stop freaking out. You'll give someone a heart attack," the leader said, swiping at the man's head.
"I really saw..."
A vast mouth opened up behind the leader, lunging down towards his head!
Darkness descended. The foul stench of decay enveloped him. The leader tried to react, but it was too late. A massive wave of fear overtook him. He was about to be bitten in two by this monster—
"Crack."
The sound of something breaking. The creature lifted its head, holding a blood-soaked wooden effigy in its mouth. Its jaws passed right through the leader without harming him.
The creature seemed puzzled. After a moment, it spat out the wooden figure, turning its gaze to the others.
"Run!" The leader, heart still racing from his brush with death, gave a hard push to the dazed man next to him. "Run!"
The group scrambled into a van and sped off. The creature didn't pursue them. Lowering its head, it stared at the white characters on the wooden effigy, blood tears slowly streaming down.
After a while, the creature moved again, stepping on the wooden figure, heading towards the entrance of the old mansion.
——
On the 14th floor of Tengfei Tower, Le Dao Cultural Company.
Yuan Yi Ping arrived swiftly, and he wasn't alone.
Perhaps sensing a threat, the ghost hiding beneath the front desk began to stir. The moment Yuan Yi Ping reached the 14th floor, dark ghostly energy unfurled, enveloping the entire doorway.
Chi Shen sat at his desk, observing through the glass, wanting to gauge the strength of this department he had never understood. The ghost at the reception, merely a second-tier soldier slightly better than the average fodder in the death game, was an excellent test subject.
Darkness swiftly enveloped the glass, obstructing Chi Shen's view. Yet, within two minutes, a golden beam pierced through the dark miasma. Yuan Yiping stood amidst the light, his ancient sword trembling slightly, while one of his colleagues, pale-faced, leaned against the wall, seemingly heavily injured.
Chi Shen's gaze momentarily lingered on the ancient sword before shifting to Yuan Yiping.
Yuan Yiping didn't meet his gaze, calmly attending to his injured colleague and organizing a team to investigate the lingering spirits of Le Dao Culture.
They had been monitoring the 14th floor of Tengfei Tower for two days, even disguising as janitors to scout the place. They knew many ghosts resided here— in the restrooms, ceilings, and various odd corners.
Precisely because there were so many ghosts, they were urgently convening to devise a strategy. Acting rashly might lead to an onslaught by a horde of spirits, risking not only failure in exorcising them but also potential danger to themselves.
The team immediately sprang into action, entering Le Dao Culture.
"Target individual is alive," a voice echoed in Yuan Yiping's earpiece.
"Restroom, clear."
"Ceiling, clear."
"The flower pot…" the colleague's voice had an eerie undertone, "...also clear."
With puzzled expressions, the team reconvened at the reception. One of them reported, "The ghost in the restroom was the most dangerous, but it's gone. Residual malice suggests it was exorcised no more than a day ago."
Techniques for detecting spirits were still in their infancy, so they couldn't obtain precise data.
Another colleague added, "Everywhere we investigated was like this."
Yuan Yiping furrowed his brow upon hearing this.
He was suddenly reminded of the Bai family's old mansion and the boy in funeral attire nailed to a pillar. These events were closely linked to Chi Shen. Could someone be assisting him?
Yuan Yiping discussed in whispers with his team for a moment, but they reached no conclusion. A colleague suddenly suggested, "Could someone from the Bai family have been here? After all, their real young master…"
Another colleague signaled for him to be silent. Yuan Yiping shook his head and approached Chi Shen.
Chi Shen remained seated at his desk, appearing weary and pale. Yuan Yiping observed him for a moment, noting that his pallor wasn't from fright but rather fatigue. Despite this, he seemed utterly calm. Curiously, Yuan Yiping inquired, "Aren't you afraid?"
"I'm not," Chi Shen responded firmly under Yuan Yiping's scrutinizing gaze, "I trust that the police will protect me."
Yuan Yiping paused, clearly not expecting that answer, but he soon broke into a smile, "You should still be careful in the future."
Chi Shen nodded, "I understand."
After exchanging a few words with Chi Shen, Yuan Yiping glanced at the time and offered to drive him home.
Chi Shen didn't decline. After all, an ordinary person who had just encountered a ghost should rightfully accept police protection, so he got into Yuan Yiping's car.
"Do you feel unwell anywhere?" As Yuan Yiping drove, he chatted with Chi Shen. People usually experienced some discomfort after a ghostly encounter, so he wanted to check.
Chi Shen shook his head, then nodded, "Overtime work— truly a wretched invention."
It was nearly 2 a.m., and he was exhausted. He regretted volunteering for overtime and even recalled how he once resigned impulsively and moved to Hong City to find his biological parents, all because of detestable overtime!
Back then, the relentless overtime left him drained. He could fall asleep standing up in a packed subway and constantly feared dropping dead at work, leaving his troublesome inheritance to his disagreeable parents.
When he heard rumors of being a rich family's heir, he immediately quit his job and made a swift exit.
He thought being wealthy meant no more overtime!
