Chapter 006: In times like this, one should seek the police.
Before leaving, Chi Shen picked up the object Lu Xiangyang had used to hit him. It was a triangular cloth packet, resembling a talisman. Written on it with a brush was the character: 白 (White).
The White family.
With an expressionless face, Chi Shen pocketed the talisman. He then grabbed the little boy in burial clothes by the scruff of his neck, as one would a cat, and headed out.
The other two ghosts hesitated, debating whether to follow.
"That kid often hides my axe and claims he's found my head. But after all, he's just a child," the headless ghost whispered to the female ghost.
Female ghost: "Whimper!"
Headless ghost: "True, he is quite adorable most of the time. Should we go check on him?"
Female ghost: "Whimper!"
Headless ghost: "You want to go too?"
The female ghost's eyes widened: "Mmm!"
The headless ghost grabbed the female ghost by her hair, lifting her: "You're not the most mobile. Let me do a good deed and take you with me."
The female ghost looked distraught, struggling futilely with one hand as the headless ghost dragged her behind Chi Shen.
The young boy in burial clothes hadn’t taken He Chao very far. In the chilling darkness of the night, He Chao lay beneath the shadow of the veranda outside Chi Shen’s house, his death ghastly to behold. Eyes gouged out, arms torn off, innards eviscerated...
Such a method of killing resembled the naive cruelty of a child torturing an ant — tearing off its limbs, breaking its body, and then gleefully observing its reactions and struggles.
Chi Shen gazed at the young boy in the burial garment.
The boy in the burial garment twisted his head in a manner impossible for humans, a stiff and terrifying smile spread across his face as he looked at Chi Shen.
Chi Shen remained still, his head slightly tilted down, his dark eyelashes casting a faint shadow across his face.
"This is my favorite game!" the boy said in an innocent tone that belied the cruelty of his words, "When I could still roam under the sun and even when I couldn't!"
Only then did Chi Shen lift his gaze, casting a fleeting glance at the boy in the burial garment.
The boy felt as if something had been stripped away with that look. It was as if parts of him were laid out like pages of a book for Chi Shen to peruse. He immediately took a step back, his face wary and his eyes darting around, searching for an escape route.
Empathy.
This was a skill Chi Shen had acquired from the game of death; it allowed him to feel the emotions of spirits. As the skill level increased, he could even review the entirety of a ghost's life, albeit limited to what the spirit itself perceived.
Used subtly, he could peek without leaving a trace. Used overtly, he could let the ghost know he was delving into its existence.
Joy.
This was the first emotion Chi Shen sensed from the boy in the burial garment, followed by impatience and a hint of anger.
"The deceased... they can be quite troublesome in the real world."
After what seemed like a moment of reflection, Chi Shen said slowly, "Which means you are troublesome too."
This time, the boy didn't flee. Having just devoured a human soul, traces of blood still stained his face. His eyes turned blood-red, his impatience now evident on his face, his fangs extended, and the bones in his hands crackled.
Before his death, he was a whimsical child: torturing the neighbor's cats, breaking a maidservant's leg, confining slaves with pigs. All these amused him. He did as he pleased. Even when poisoned to death, he turned into a vengeful ghost and dragged his murderer to hell!
Who did this man think he was? How dare he handle and command him?
Was it because he appeared as a child that he was underestimated?
The blood-soaked spirit revealed a bloodthirsty grin, which seemed utterly eerie on a child's face.
He had, after all, been a resident ghost in this haunted mansion for centuries. Even the old ghost from the Bai family was not as ancient as he.
A hand gently landed on the boy's head in the burial garment, giving it a soft pat.
The boy in the burial garment felt an unprecedented surge of anger and fiercely tugged at Chi Shen's hand.
Hmm? He could easily tear off He Chao's arm, but this man remained utterly unmoved?
"What should I do? I don't think I can handle this on my own." Chi Shen looked at the boy in the burial garment with a hint of vexation. He patted the boy's head again, and with his motion, the boy seemed to shorten by a fraction.
The boy wanted to resist once more, but before he could raise his hand, Chi Shen's slap sent his shoulder crashing into his ribcage. The boy finally realized he was up against an overwhelming force. As he attempted to flee, another slap from Chi Shen flattened his legs, molding them as if they were made of putty.
"Should we save him?" The headless ghost whispered from the shadows beneath the roof tiles, directing the question to the red-clothed female ghost.
The red-clothed female ghost gripped a roof tile, ignoring him completely.
"Never mind, I might end up worse." The headless ghost glanced at the increasingly flattened boy in the burial garment, then at a body in the shadows, and wiggled the remaining half of his neck, musing, "I really wonder if that head would be a good fit for me..."
The red-clothed female ghost silently moved a bit further away from the headless ghost while still gripping her tile.
From the shadows of the corridor, Chi Shen finally recalled what he should do in this situation. He released the now half-sized boy in the burial garment, spreading him out with one hand, while retrieving his phone with the other to make a call.
Having spent too much time in that death game, he momentarily forgot the standard procedure when encountering a deceased individual. Only now did he remember... he should call the police.
However, explaining to them that a ghost was responsible for the death of the man on the ground might prove challenging. Would the officers believe him?
Chi Shen quickly finished the emergency call, only reporting the address and the discovery of a body. To avoid being labeled insane, he omitted any mention of ghosts. He just advised the officers to be cautious given the strange events he had witnessed at the location.
After the call, the operator instructed him to wait in a safe place and not to disturb the scene. Chi Shen thought for a moment, then shot an ice spike from his hand, pinning the boy in the burial garment next to the body against a pillar. He then retreated to the bedroom he had tidied up.
Chi Shen took a moment to process the information he had gathered tonight.
Bai Ran had little to do with this old mansion. At least none of these ghosts seemed to recognize him. He must've simply been aware of the ghosts residing here.
The relationship between the Bai family and the ghosts here was a more significant issue. From the fragmented conversations with the spirits, Chi Shen learned these ghosts had been confined by the Bai family. What the Bai's ultimate purpose was, he had yet to uncover.
And there was that malevolent spirit in the main house, whose release could be a disaster...
If it reached out, he could offer assistance.
If it remained silent, he wouldn't initiate contact.
Of course, should it seek trouble, he wouldn't hesitate to ensure it never needed assistance again.
What to do next...
There was a sudden noise from the rooftop. Looking up, Chi Shen noticed the female ghost in red hanging by one arm from a beam, her inarticulate murmurs suggesting she wanted to say something. But with her tongue hanging out and unable to retract, nobody could understand her.
"Let me help you." Chi Shen felt sympathy for the female ghost's predicament, her communication reduced to mere "whimpers." Arguing with her would surely be fruitless, and that seemed particularly frustrating.
Chi Shen waved his right hand, summoning a massive pair of scissors. He looked at them fondly, reminiscing. It was the first weapon he had obtained, taken from the Slit-Mouthed Woman. He never thought he would be able to use them again after leaving the world of the death game.
Seeing the scissors, the female ghost in red tried to flee. However, as she turned, she realized Chi Shen was already behind her, playfully snapping the scissors and cheerfully saying, "Don't be afraid. Just bear with it, and you'll be free."
Holding down the ghost's head, Chi Shen made a quick snip. The ghost let out a silent scream, her thick, elongated tongue falling to the ground, twitching twice before dissipating into dark mist.
"Hmm, a bit more trimming."
Chi Shen, reminiscent of a novice hairstylist, joyfully held the ghost's head, scissors dancing in his hand. He swiftly sculpted a tongue-like shape. At last, the ghost's mouth, previously unable to close due to her massive tongue, was now shut!
Lu Xiangyang, lying on the ground, began to stir awake. Due to the brain's protective mechanism, he had a lapse in memory, forgetting the terrifying experience before passing out. He sat up, looking around in confusion. As he turned, he witnessed a man holding down a woman, trimming her tongue!
Even more shocking, the woman only had a head and one hand left, yet she was still moving!
Was he in hell?
His eyes rolled back, and he was on the verge of collapsing again.
Chi Shen, after admiring his handiwork and feeling quite pleased, released the female ghost: "You can try speaking now."
“Ah... ah...” The ghostly woman croaked as she tried her voice, pausing for a beat before quickly adding, “The gatekeeper is back! He arrived before the police, he's already at the door!”
Despite the lingering mumble and the blood trickling from her mouth as she spoke, Chi Shen understood her perfectly.
Upon hearing the words "gatekeeper", Chi Shen paused for a moment.
Having spent too long in the world of the Death Game, memories of the real world, and even its basic norms, often eluded him unless he delved deep into thought.
Moments later, the memory of the gatekeeper of Bai family's old mansion surfaced.
Indeed, there was a gatekeeper. When Bai Ran had brought him to the mansion, they exchanged a few words with the man. After a brief gesture towards Chi Shen, the gatekeeper left without another word, and Bai Ran ushered him into the mansion.
“Did... did you call the police?”
This unexpected question snapped Chi Shen out of his reverie. Lu Xiangyang, lying on the ground, suddenly sprang to life, looking at Chi Shen with utter disbelief.
“Why would you call them?!” His eyes accused Chi Shen of some unspeakable wrongdoing. “This is our problem. We deal with it. No outsiders. Do you understand?”
Chi Shen looked at him with an innocent expression, "As a law-abiding citizen, when I face a problem, my first instinct is to contact the police. Is there something wrong with that?"
"This is bad," Lu Xiangyang muttered, seemingly ignoring what Chi Shen had said, as he began to search frantically for his phone. "This is really bad."
A pale hand suddenly reached out from the wardrobe, offering Lu Xiangyang's phone.
Lu Xiangyang gazed at the phone with longing.
However, the hand passed the phone directly to Chi Shen. Lu Xiangyang hesitated, wanting to retrieve it, but ultimately didn't dare to snatch it.
"What's 'bad'? Why is calling the police the wrong move?"
Accepting the phone, Chi Shen smiled kindly at Lu Xiangyang, "You still haven't told me who you are, and why you're here in the middle of the night?"
Suddenly, the sound of police sirens pierced the air.
Chapter 006: In times like this, one should seek the police.
Before leaving, Chi Shen picked up the object Lu Xiangyang had used to hit him. It was a triangular cloth packet, resembling a talisman. Written on it with a brush was the character: 白 (White).
The White family.
With an expressionless face, Chi Shen pocketed the talisman. He then grabbed the little boy in burial clothes by the scruff of his neck, as one would a cat, and headed out.
The other two ghosts hesitated, debating whether to follow.
"That kid often hides my axe and claims he's found my head. But after all, he's just a child," the headless ghost whispered to the female ghost.
Female ghost: "Whimper!"
Headless ghost: "True, he is quite adorable most of the time. Should we go check on him?"
Female ghost: "Whimper!"
Headless ghost: "You want to go too?"
The female ghost's eyes widened: "Mmm!"
The headless ghost grabbed the female ghost by her hair, lifting her: "You're not the most mobile. Let me do a good deed and take you with me."
The female ghost looked distraught, struggling futilely with one hand as the headless ghost dragged her behind Chi Shen.
The young boy in burial clothes hadn’t taken He Chao very far. In the chilling darkness of the night, He Chao lay beneath the shadow of the veranda outside Chi Shen’s house, his death ghastly to behold. Eyes gouged out, arms torn off, innards eviscerated...
Such a method of killing resembled the naive cruelty of a child torturing an ant — tearing off its limbs, breaking its body, and then gleefully observing its reactions and struggles.
Chi Shen gazed at the young boy in the burial garment.
The boy in the burial garment twisted his head in a manner impossible for humans, a stiff and terrifying smile spread across his face as he looked at Chi Shen.
Chi Shen remained still, his head slightly tilted down, his dark eyelashes casting a faint shadow across his face.
"This is my favorite game!" the boy said in an innocent tone that belied the cruelty of his words, "When I could still roam under the sun and even when I couldn't!"
Only then did Chi Shen lift his gaze, casting a fleeting glance at the boy in the burial garment.
The boy felt as if something had been stripped away with that look. It was as if parts of him were laid out like pages of a book for Chi Shen to peruse. He immediately took a step back, his face wary and his eyes darting around, searching for an escape route.
Empathy.
This was a skill Chi Shen had acquired from the game of death; it allowed him to feel the emotions of spirits. As the skill level increased, he could even review the entirety of a ghost's life, albeit limited to what the spirit itself perceived.
Used subtly, he could peek without leaving a trace. Used overtly, he could let the ghost know he was delving into its existence.
Joy.
This was the first emotion Chi Shen sensed from the boy in the burial garment, followed by impatience and a hint of anger.
"The deceased... they can be quite troublesome in the real world."
After what seemed like a moment of reflection, Chi Shen said slowly, "Which means you are troublesome too."
This time, the boy didn't flee. Having just devoured a human soul, traces of blood still stained his face. His eyes turned blood-red, his impatience now evident on his face, his fangs extended, and the bones in his hands crackled.
Before his death, he was a whimsical child: torturing the neighbor's cats, breaking a maidservant's leg, confining slaves with pigs. All these amused him. He did as he pleased. Even when poisoned to death, he turned into a vengeful ghost and dragged his murderer to hell!
Who did this man think he was? How dare he handle and command him?
Was it because he appeared as a child that he was underestimated?
The blood-soaked spirit revealed a bloodthirsty grin, which seemed utterly eerie on a child's face.
He had, after all, been a resident ghost in this haunted mansion for centuries. Even the old ghost from the Bai family was not as ancient as he.
A hand gently landed on the boy's head in the burial garment, giving it a soft pat.
The boy in the burial garment felt an unprecedented surge of anger and fiercely tugged at Chi Shen's hand.
Hmm? He could easily tear off He Chao's arm, but this man remained utterly unmoved?
"What should I do? I don't think I can handle this on my own." Chi Shen looked at the boy in the burial garment with a hint of vexation. He patted the boy's head again, and with his motion, the boy seemed to shorten by a fraction.
The boy wanted to resist once more, but before he could raise his hand, Chi Shen's slap sent his shoulder crashing into his ribcage. The boy finally realized he was up against an overwhelming force. As he attempted to flee, another slap from Chi Shen flattened his legs, molding them as if they were made of putty.
"Should we save him?" The headless ghost whispered from the shadows beneath the roof tiles, directing the question to the red-clothed female ghost.
The red-clothed female ghost gripped a roof tile, ignoring him completely.
"Never mind, I might end up worse." The headless ghost glanced at the increasingly flattened boy in the burial garment, then at a body in the shadows, and wiggled the remaining half of his neck, musing, "I really wonder if that head would be a good fit for me..."
The red-clothed female ghost silently moved a bit further away from the headless ghost while still gripping her tile.
From the shadows of the corridor, Chi Shen finally recalled what he should do in this situation. He released the now half-sized boy in the burial garment, spreading him out with one hand, while retrieving his phone with the other to make a call.
Having spent too much time in that death game, he momentarily forgot the standard procedure when encountering a deceased individual. Only now did he remember... he should call the police.
However, explaining to them that a ghost was responsible for the death of the man on the ground might prove challenging. Would the officers believe him?
Chi Shen quickly finished the emergency call, only reporting the address and the discovery of a body. To avoid being labeled insane, he omitted any mention of ghosts. He just advised the officers to be cautious given the strange events he had witnessed at the location.
After the call, the operator instructed him to wait in a safe place and not to disturb the scene. Chi Shen thought for a moment, then shot an ice spike from his hand, pinning the boy in the burial garment next to the body against a pillar. He then retreated to the bedroom he had tidied up.
Chi Shen took a moment to process the information he had gathered tonight.
Bai Ran had little to do with this old mansion. At least none of these ghosts seemed to recognize him. He must've simply been aware of the ghosts residing here.
The relationship between the Bai family and the ghosts here was a more significant issue. From the fragmented conversations with the spirits, Chi Shen learned these ghosts had been confined by the Bai family. What the Bai's ultimate purpose was, he had yet to uncover.
And there was that malevolent spirit in the main house, whose release could be a disaster...
If it reached out, he could offer assistance.
If it remained silent, he wouldn't initiate contact.
Of course, should it seek trouble, he wouldn't hesitate to ensure it never needed assistance again.
What to do next...
There was a sudden noise from the rooftop. Looking up, Chi Shen noticed the female ghost in red hanging by one arm from a beam, her inarticulate murmurs suggesting she wanted to say something. But with her tongue hanging out and unable to retract, nobody could understand her.
"Let me help you." Chi Shen felt sympathy for the female ghost's predicament, her communication reduced to mere "whimpers." Arguing with her would surely be fruitless, and that seemed particularly frustrating.
Chi Shen waved his right hand, summoning a massive pair of scissors. He looked at them fondly, reminiscing. It was the first weapon he had obtained, taken from the Slit-Mouthed Woman. He never thought he would be able to use them again after leaving the world of the death game.
Seeing the scissors, the female ghost in red tried to flee. However, as she turned, she realized Chi Shen was already behind her, playfully snapping the scissors and cheerfully saying, "Don't be afraid. Just bear with it, and you'll be free."
Holding down the ghost's head, Chi Shen made a quick snip. The ghost let out a silent scream, her thick, elongated tongue falling to the ground, twitching twice before dissipating into dark mist.
"Hmm, a bit more trimming."
Chi Shen, reminiscent of a novice hairstylist, joyfully held the ghost's head, scissors dancing in his hand. He swiftly sculpted a tongue-like shape. At last, the ghost's mouth, previously unable to close due to her massive tongue, was now shut!
Lu Xiangyang, lying on the ground, began to stir awake. Due to the brain's protective mechanism, he had a lapse in memory, forgetting the terrifying experience before passing out. He sat up, looking around in confusion. As he turned, he witnessed a man holding down a woman, trimming her tongue!
Even more shocking, the woman only had a head and one hand left, yet she was still moving!
Was he in hell?
His eyes rolled back, and he was on the verge of collapsing again.
Chi Shen, after admiring his handiwork and feeling quite pleased, released the female ghost: "You can try speaking now."
“Ah... ah...” The ghostly woman croaked as she tried her voice, pausing for a beat before quickly adding, “The gatekeeper is back! He arrived before the police, he's already at the door!”
Despite the lingering mumble and the blood trickling from her mouth as she spoke, Chi Shen understood her perfectly.
Upon hearing the words "gatekeeper", Chi Shen paused for a moment.
Having spent too long in the world of the Death Game, memories of the real world, and even its basic norms, often eluded him unless he delved deep into thought.
Moments later, the memory of the gatekeeper of Bai family's old mansion surfaced.
Indeed, there was a gatekeeper. When Bai Ran had brought him to the mansion, they exchanged a few words with the man. After a brief gesture towards Chi Shen, the gatekeeper left without another word, and Bai Ran ushered him into the mansion.
“Did... did you call the police?”
This unexpected question snapped Chi Shen out of his reverie. Lu Xiangyang, lying on the ground, suddenly sprang to life, looking at Chi Shen with utter disbelief.
“Why would you call them?!” His eyes accused Chi Shen of some unspeakable wrongdoing. “This is our problem. We deal with it. No outsiders. Do you understand?”
Chi Shen looked at him with an innocent expression, "As a law-abiding citizen, when I face a problem, my first instinct is to contact the police. Is there something wrong with that?"
"This is bad," Lu Xiangyang muttered, seemingly ignoring what Chi Shen had said, as he began to search frantically for his phone. "This is really bad."
A pale hand suddenly reached out from the wardrobe, offering Lu Xiangyang's phone.
Lu Xiangyang gazed at the phone with longing.
However, the hand passed the phone directly to Chi Shen. Lu Xiangyang hesitated, wanting to retrieve it, but ultimately didn't dare to snatch it.
"What's 'bad'? Why is calling the police the wrong move?"
Accepting the phone, Chi Shen smiled kindly at Lu Xiangyang, "You still haven't told me who you are, and why you're here in the middle of the night?"
Suddenly, the sound of police sirens pierced the air.
