Chapter 096: Forthright Boss Li.
In reality, Li Xu hadn’t ventured far.
In this pitch-black night, once the phone’s light is off, it’s impossible to locate anyone. Li Xu didn’t need to walk far to relieve himself after exiting the car.
Out of consideration for the two female ghost comrades in the car, he deliberately moved about five to six meters away before stopping.
The dense woods, even in winter, were overgrown with weeds. Li Xu tried to muster some courage, reminding himself of the setting.
Both Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan are professionals from the Special Safety Bureau. Leaving themselves and Chi Shen here indicated that the vicinity of the car is safe. Neither he nor Chi Shen would face any harm.
... But how will he later verify if Chi Shen is truly himself and hasn’t been possessed? Should he ask about the first project Chi Shen worked on when he joined the company?
What if ghosts could access memories? That would complicate matters...
As these thoughts ran through Li Xu's mind, he turned around and suddenly halted. The lights from the car were missing.
Reacting swiftly, he looked ahead, only to be met with darkness. He turned again, but the darkness persisted.
Yuan Yiping's car... had vanished.
Being a horror game designer, he quickly grasped the situation. With no one around, he showed surprising calm. He couldn’t rely on anyone but himself now. Drawing from his horror gaming experiences, he needed to think clearly and analyze the situation.
The first thing that came to his mind was...
Surprisingly, after considering a myriad of possibilities about verifying Chi Shen’s identity upon return, it was he himself who had disappeared.
He felt somewhat frustrated, thinking that all his mental preparations had gone in vain.
However, he hoped Chi Shen would be wise enough. He visualized a scenario where a malevolent spirit, disguised as him, opened the car door. Just as Chi Shen was conversing with it, the impostor spirit suddenly swallowed Chi Shen whole.
Worried for his colleague, Li Xu promptly pulled out his phone, illuminating its screen to survey his surroundings.
Only then did he notice something amiss with his vision. The yellow talisman paper, which was previously obscuring his sight, was gone. It was the "eye-opening" charm that Xu Jiayuan had affixed on him.
He touched his forehead and then shone his phone's light on the ground, searching. But there was no trace of the charm.
The ground remained overgrown with weeds, but it was much drier than before. The port city had experienced continuous rain recently, and given the chilly late autumn weather, the vegetation in the city always seemed damp. Yet, this place felt peculiarly arid, and the growth of the weeds appeared less vigorous.
An idea struck Li Xu, and he redirected his phone’s flashlight upward. As he suspected, he saw a ceiling— he was inside a house, not in the woods he remembered.
He quickly surveyed the small space, concluding that he was inside the infamous murder house of the port city serial killings. Moreover, he recognized the room from a previous visit.
He had been here before, during daylight, for research. He had inspected every room, opened every closed door, and cleared away vines that covered some entrances. Essentially, he had tidied the place to get a clear sense of its layout.
In his endeavor to recreate the scene and seek inspiration, he even sketched the structure of the house and often examined it on his office desk, contemplating how to design the game map. Hence, one could say he was intimately familiar with this place.
But such familiarity was of little use now, especially faced with a crucial issue— he could no longer see ghosts. If the house teemed with spirits, even if they intended to harm him, he'd be oblivious.
What to do?
Should he cower trembling in a corner?
Holding his phone, Li Xu squatted in a corner, pondering for a brief two seconds, before promptly standing up.
If he couldn’t see them, then they didn't exist. If they didn’t exist, then he was safe.
He was safe!
With a swift movement, Li Xu turned and shattered a nearby unstable window pane with his elbow. Beyond the window lay Huang Qiang's courtyard.
He recalled the information he had gathered earlier.
The courtyard was shared by two households. The residence opposite Huang Qiang's was occupied by an elderly man with a hearing impairment. His daughter worked in the city and seldom visited, which explained how Huang Qiang managed to commit so many murders without being detected by neighbors.
If this house was inhabited by the vengeful spirits of Huang Qiang's victims, then the house across should be safe and devoid of ghosts.
Using his phone for light, holding it in his mouth, and employing his limbs, Li Xu clambered out of the window. But just as he was out, he climbed right back in.
Something wasn’t right.
Yuan Yiping had mentioned that they had previously cleared the place. Furthermore, the three victims of the port city serial killings were already in the car earlier. If the ghosts in this house were the transformed souls of the victims, who else could they be?
Pondering this, Li Xu decided to re-enter from another window.
The nature of the ghosts residing here didn't seem as straightforward as he had assumed. Given the complexities, and being uncertain about the real situation, he resolved to follow his instincts.
Moreover, the ghost that brought him here seemed a bit peculiar. It had brought him, but did nothing to him—or at least, if it did, he couldn’t perceive it.
With this, Li Xu began to worry for Chi Shen. If the ghost that brought him didn’t aim to harm him, then the target would naturally be Chi Shen. He had left two ghosts with Chi Shen, hoping that nothing would befall him.
Their horror game "God of Wealth" was still unfinished. Chi Shen, with his wildly imaginative and unconventional ideas, was essential to them.
Concerned, Li Xu exited through another door, wanting to find the statue of the God of Wealth. He wondered if, after all the blood offerings, the statue hadn't transformed in some strange way. He was skeptical.
As he pushed the door, he sighed—hoping that Chi Shen was safe, and their game could continue smoothly.
Meanwhile, Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan encountered a situation entirely different from Li Xu's.
The moment Yuan Yiping stepped into the courtyard, he felt a piercing chill. He wanted to turn back, to warn Chi Shen and the others. He wasn’t scared, but in his eyes, Chi Shen and Li Xu were mere mortals. Such perilous matters shouldn't involve them.
"Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan," before he could turn, Xu Jiayuan's voice sounded beside him, his tone strange. "Look at this."
Yuan Yiping glanced over, and under the beam of Xu Jiayuan’s flashlight, there were some oddly arranged stones. He instantly realized: "It’s a Qimen formation."
Xu Jiayuan stepped back, where they had come from now obstructed by tree branches. He stated, "We can't go back."
Yuan Yiping pulled out his phone, unsurprised to find, "No signal. We need to break this formation first."
"It's complicated," Xu Jiayuan's expression grew serious. "I know a bit, I've studied it."
Yuan Yiping looked up at him.
Xu Jiayuan, with a furrowed brow, stared back at Yuan Yiping: "The Bai family's formation."
"Let’s find the formation's nexus," Yuan Yiping nodded, seemingly unsurprised. It was quite normal for such things to appear here from the Bai family, the most prominent exorcism clan in the entire harbor city.
Moreover, the Bai family's previous actions had shattered Yuan Yiping's perception of them. What he once thought was a righteous family turned out to be involved in unsavory deeds.
"The question now is, why does the Bai family want to trap us here?" Yuan Yiping studied the formation, discussing with Xu Jiayuan, "What's their motive? To prevent us from investigating this murder case further or targeting one of us—"
Suddenly, both Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan halted their inspection, exchanging a glance.
Of those present today, the one most associated with the Bai family wasn't either of them, but Chi Shen.
"This situation is odd," Xu Jiayuan quickly stated, "If they wanted Chi Shen, there's no need to trap us here."
Yuan Yiping's expression was solemn as he pulled a peach wood sword from his backpack, murmuring, "We need to get out, fast."
At that moment, Chi Shen was happily engrossed in a game inside his car. Noting the time, he opened the door and began leisurely heading towards the haunted house.
How should someone venturing into a haunted place at night appear?
Pondering the thought, Chi Shen's relaxed expression morphed into one of seriousness. Feeling it was a tad excessive, he added a hint of feigned fear, turning the stern look into a facade of composed anxiety.
Ji Xingchen, hidden in his shadow, took a moment before suggesting, "No need for pretense."
Chi Shen chuckled, "You're right."
One of the ghosts accompanying Chi Shen, Ghost Face, took a fearful glance towards the woods. He had frightened Li Xu earlier, being the most unhuman-looking among the spirits. Hence, he had remained hidden until now. Initially wanting to speak, he became paralyzed by the sinister atmosphere of the woods, falling silent for a while.
Hesitantly, Ghost Face murmured, "There's something in the woods."
Chi Shen turned his head, "Hmm?"
Ghost Face whispered, "Ghosts... one, two, three..."
The woods were pitch black. In this deep autumn, not even insects chirped. It was utterly silent except for Ghost Face's haunting voice.
"The male ghost has a severed leg, the child lays on the ground with an empty stomach, perhaps its insides consumed by something. The old woman holds her own eyes, seemingly searching for something..."
Chapter 096: Forthright Boss Li.
In reality, Li Xu hadn’t ventured far.
In this pitch-black night, once the phone’s light is off, it’s impossible to locate anyone. Li Xu didn’t need to walk far to relieve himself after exiting the car.
Out of consideration for the two female ghost comrades in the car, he deliberately moved about five to six meters away before stopping.
The dense woods, even in winter, were overgrown with weeds. Li Xu tried to muster some courage, reminding himself of the setting.
Both Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan are professionals from the Special Safety Bureau. Leaving themselves and Chi Shen here indicated that the vicinity of the car is safe. Neither he nor Chi Shen would face any harm.
... But how will he later verify if Chi Shen is truly himself and hasn’t been possessed? Should he ask about the first project Chi Shen worked on when he joined the company?
What if ghosts could access memories? That would complicate matters...
As these thoughts ran through Li Xu's mind, he turned around and suddenly halted. The lights from the car were missing.
Reacting swiftly, he looked ahead, only to be met with darkness. He turned again, but the darkness persisted.
Yuan Yiping's car... had vanished.
Being a horror game designer, he quickly grasped the situation. With no one around, he showed surprising calm. He couldn’t rely on anyone but himself now. Drawing from his horror gaming experiences, he needed to think clearly and analyze the situation.
The first thing that came to his mind was...
Surprisingly, after considering a myriad of possibilities about verifying Chi Shen’s identity upon return, it was he himself who had disappeared.
He felt somewhat frustrated, thinking that all his mental preparations had gone in vain.
However, he hoped Chi Shen would be wise enough. He visualized a scenario where a malevolent spirit, disguised as him, opened the car door. Just as Chi Shen was conversing with it, the impostor spirit suddenly swallowed Chi Shen whole.
Worried for his colleague, Li Xu promptly pulled out his phone, illuminating its screen to survey his surroundings.
Only then did he notice something amiss with his vision. The yellow talisman paper, which was previously obscuring his sight, was gone. It was the "eye-opening" charm that Xu Jiayuan had affixed on him.
He touched his forehead and then shone his phone's light on the ground, searching. But there was no trace of the charm.
The ground remained overgrown with weeds, but it was much drier than before. The port city had experienced continuous rain recently, and given the chilly late autumn weather, the vegetation in the city always seemed damp. Yet, this place felt peculiarly arid, and the growth of the weeds appeared less vigorous.
An idea struck Li Xu, and he redirected his phone’s flashlight upward. As he suspected, he saw a ceiling— he was inside a house, not in the woods he remembered.
He quickly surveyed the small space, concluding that he was inside the infamous murder house of the port city serial killings. Moreover, he recognized the room from a previous visit.
He had been here before, during daylight, for research. He had inspected every room, opened every closed door, and cleared away vines that covered some entrances. Essentially, he had tidied the place to get a clear sense of its layout.
In his endeavor to recreate the scene and seek inspiration, he even sketched the structure of the house and often examined it on his office desk, contemplating how to design the game map. Hence, one could say he was intimately familiar with this place.
But such familiarity was of little use now, especially faced with a crucial issue— he could no longer see ghosts. If the house teemed with spirits, even if they intended to harm him, he'd be oblivious.
What to do?
Should he cower trembling in a corner?
Holding his phone, Li Xu squatted in a corner, pondering for a brief two seconds, before promptly standing up.
If he couldn’t see them, then they didn't exist. If they didn’t exist, then he was safe.
He was safe!
With a swift movement, Li Xu turned and shattered a nearby unstable window pane with his elbow. Beyond the window lay Huang Qiang's courtyard.
He recalled the information he had gathered earlier.
The courtyard was shared by two households. The residence opposite Huang Qiang's was occupied by an elderly man with a hearing impairment. His daughter worked in the city and seldom visited, which explained how Huang Qiang managed to commit so many murders without being detected by neighbors.
If this house was inhabited by the vengeful spirits of Huang Qiang's victims, then the house across should be safe and devoid of ghosts.
Using his phone for light, holding it in his mouth, and employing his limbs, Li Xu clambered out of the window. But just as he was out, he climbed right back in.
Something wasn’t right.
Yuan Yiping had mentioned that they had previously cleared the place. Furthermore, the three victims of the port city serial killings were already in the car earlier. If the ghosts in this house were the transformed souls of the victims, who else could they be?
Pondering this, Li Xu decided to re-enter from another window.
The nature of the ghosts residing here didn't seem as straightforward as he had assumed. Given the complexities, and being uncertain about the real situation, he resolved to follow his instincts.
Moreover, the ghost that brought him here seemed a bit peculiar. It had brought him, but did nothing to him—or at least, if it did, he couldn’t perceive it.
With this, Li Xu began to worry for Chi Shen. If the ghost that brought him didn’t aim to harm him, then the target would naturally be Chi Shen. He had left two ghosts with Chi Shen, hoping that nothing would befall him.
Their horror game "God of Wealth" was still unfinished. Chi Shen, with his wildly imaginative and unconventional ideas, was essential to them.
Concerned, Li Xu exited through another door, wanting to find the statue of the God of Wealth. He wondered if, after all the blood offerings, the statue hadn't transformed in some strange way. He was skeptical.
As he pushed the door, he sighed—hoping that Chi Shen was safe, and their game could continue smoothly.
Meanwhile, Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan encountered a situation entirely different from Li Xu's.
The moment Yuan Yiping stepped into the courtyard, he felt a piercing chill. He wanted to turn back, to warn Chi Shen and the others. He wasn’t scared, but in his eyes, Chi Shen and Li Xu were mere mortals. Such perilous matters shouldn't involve them.
"Brother Yuan, Brother Yuan," before he could turn, Xu Jiayuan's voice sounded beside him, his tone strange. "Look at this."
Yuan Yiping glanced over, and under the beam of Xu Jiayuan’s flashlight, there were some oddly arranged stones. He instantly realized: "It’s a Qimen formation."
Xu Jiayuan stepped back, where they had come from now obstructed by tree branches. He stated, "We can't go back."
Yuan Yiping pulled out his phone, unsurprised to find, "No signal. We need to break this formation first."
"It's complicated," Xu Jiayuan's expression grew serious. "I know a bit, I've studied it."
Yuan Yiping looked up at him.
Xu Jiayuan, with a furrowed brow, stared back at Yuan Yiping: "The Bai family's formation."
"Let’s find the formation's nexus," Yuan Yiping nodded, seemingly unsurprised. It was quite normal for such things to appear here from the Bai family, the most prominent exorcism clan in the entire harbor city.
Moreover, the Bai family's previous actions had shattered Yuan Yiping's perception of them. What he once thought was a righteous family turned out to be involved in unsavory deeds.
"The question now is, why does the Bai family want to trap us here?" Yuan Yiping studied the formation, discussing with Xu Jiayuan, "What's their motive? To prevent us from investigating this murder case further or targeting one of us—"
Suddenly, both Yuan Yiping and Xu Jiayuan halted their inspection, exchanging a glance.
Of those present today, the one most associated with the Bai family wasn't either of them, but Chi Shen.
"This situation is odd," Xu Jiayuan quickly stated, "If they wanted Chi Shen, there's no need to trap us here."
Yuan Yiping's expression was solemn as he pulled a peach wood sword from his backpack, murmuring, "We need to get out, fast."
At that moment, Chi Shen was happily engrossed in a game inside his car. Noting the time, he opened the door and began leisurely heading towards the haunted house.
How should someone venturing into a haunted place at night appear?
Pondering the thought, Chi Shen's relaxed expression morphed into one of seriousness. Feeling it was a tad excessive, he added a hint of feigned fear, turning the stern look into a facade of composed anxiety.
Ji Xingchen, hidden in his shadow, took a moment before suggesting, "No need for pretense."
Chi Shen chuckled, "You're right."
One of the ghosts accompanying Chi Shen, Ghost Face, took a fearful glance towards the woods. He had frightened Li Xu earlier, being the most unhuman-looking among the spirits. Hence, he had remained hidden until now. Initially wanting to speak, he became paralyzed by the sinister atmosphere of the woods, falling silent for a while.
Hesitantly, Ghost Face murmured, "There's something in the woods."
Chi Shen turned his head, "Hmm?"
Ghost Face whispered, "Ghosts... one, two, three..."
The woods were pitch black. In this deep autumn, not even insects chirped. It was utterly silent except for Ghost Face's haunting voice.
"The male ghost has a severed leg, the child lays on the ground with an empty stomach, perhaps its insides consumed by something. The old woman holds her own eyes, seemingly searching for something..."
