Chapter 74: The Shadow Ghost (5) part 1
Jiang Si felt the messenger was making a mountain out of a molehill and even thought he was being too noisy. “Move to the side a bit; you’re blocking the light. I can’t see the changes in the figurine clearly.”
“Oh.” The messenger was about to move, but in the next second, he realized something was wrong.
“I’m a ghost. What light could I possibly block?!”
“…”
Jiang Si fell silent. The two men and one ghost all looked up toward the source of the light in the study.
A creature that was barely a humanoid was crawling backward on the ceiling. She looked like she was wearing a red bodysuit, unreservedly revealing her abnormally proportioned body lines—her arms reached down to her knees, and her abdomen was exaggeratedly bloated like she was ten months pregnant. Her two legs were exceptionally thin, like two half-sawn chopsticks stuck into a balloon. It was incredibly eerie.
Her neck was rotated 180 degrees downward. Her long hair hung down due to inertia, partially obscuring the ambient light.
Through the gaps in her hair, a deathly pale human face was revealed. Two black, insect-like compound eyes stared straight down at the people below. It was impossible to tell how long she had been watching.
Because of the twisted position of her neck, her body was crawling upward, but her head was looking at people from a normal angle. This sudden sight of her face truly gave Jiang Si a fright; for a moment, he couldn’t even figure out what kind of pose that was.
“**&##@*—” The messenger stumbled back, nearly crashing into the antique shelf. A string of unmentionable words burst from his mouth like a machine gun.
Jiang Si hurriedly protected the items in his hands, using one hand to steady several vases that looked like they were about to fall. “Be careful. If these things break, someone has to pay for them.”
“Fuck!” the messenger spat out with genuine feeling. “What the hell is this thing? It’s terrifying.”
Hai Di regained his composure and looked at him silently.
The messenger’s words, paired with his tall hat and white-robed official uniform, were incredibly ridiculous. Jiang Si mocked him, “Of all the people here, you’re the least qualified to say something like that.”
An Underworld messenger calling a ghost scary? Was that even logical?
The messenger was mortified into anger: “Shut up!”
He reached out and gripped the air, and a chain appeared in his hand out of thin air. With several metallic clinks, he swung the soul-hooking chain toward the ceiling. The chain, which was originally only the length of a forearm, extended infinitely. The head of the chain seemed to have eyes as it automatically found its target and flew toward the monster.
Bang! Bang!
Just as the chain was about to hit her, the monster on the ceiling vanished instantly. The chain hit nothing.
“Huh?” the messenger voiced his bewilderment at this unprecedented sight.
Just as his attention shifted to this unexpected turn, Jiang Si suddenly felt the hand resting on the figurine’s surface being bitten hard—it was completely different from the previous Gu insects.
He suspected the mother Gu had been drawn out. Just as he slightly shifted his hand to create a gap, a cold hand instantly gripped his wrist.
His gaze followed the red arm upward.
Half an eye peeked out from behind the neck of a white porcelain bottle decorated with gold. The dark eye had no white at all, but there were at least three or four pupils crowded together in the small socket, all staring toward Jiang Si.
The antique shelf was a semi-enclosed structure; only the top two layers were completely open. The lower layers were sealed at the back with solid wood for weight-bearing purposes. Currently, this shelf completely hid her body from view.
The messenger was still wondering where the monster had gone, having evaded the soul-hooking chain’s pursuit.
“I’ve said it before: the Underworld needs to upgrade its equipment. Look, now we can’t even catch a single ghost.”
“Sigh, this won’t do. I have to say something when I go back—why have you stopped talking? Don’t be like this; I’m not asking you to sponsor the upgrades.” The messenger was surprised by Jiang Si’s silence.
Jiang Si had no time for anything else. He stared motionless at the monster before him. His wrist was gripped, but she hadn’t made her next move yet.
It seemed she couldn’t see static objects.
“What—” The messenger belatedly realized the atmosphere had frozen. He gripped the soul-hooking chain again and took a deep breath, trying to determine the monster’s location.
Jiang Si and the monster were on opposite sides of the antique shelf. If he wanted to break free, the things on this shelf wouldn’t survive.
After thinking it over, Jiang Si said helplessly, “It looks like my savings are going back to zero again.”
Hardly had he finished speaking when he tossed the figurine toward the messenger with one hand. “Keep this safe!”
The messenger scrambled to catch it. He turned to see Jiang Si gripping the monster’s hand back and pulling it forcefully toward himself. The white porcelain bottle fell and shattered into countless shards.
The monster was hauled out from the hollow storage space by him. The entire wooden shelf creaked and groaned. Aside from the figurine that had been thrown out, various other porcelain bottles and ornaments fell one by one, their shards blooming like water splashing on the ground after rain.
The moment the entirely red monster emerged, the antique shelf could no longer hold and collapsed with a crash.
Her hair whipped through the air, but Jiang Si grabbed it and slammed her hard against the ground as if he were pulling up a leek.
Seeing this, the messenger didn’t have time to think. He tossed the figurine to Hai Di and swung his soul-hooking chain to help Jiang Si restrain her.
The chain, as thick as a forearm, locked tightly around her neck, with one end held in the messenger’s hand.
Jiang Si freed his hands and pushed her hair aside to examine her face. Aside from the eyes, her features were mostly normal, but her skin was pitted and hollowed like craters left by a meteorite.
She was pinned to the ground, her nails constantly clawing at the floor. The piercing sound of friction after friction drew Jiang Si’s attention. Her long, crimson nails and deathly pale palms were connected to her bright red arms, looking exceptionally weird.
Looking closely, Jiang Si belatedly realized she wasn’t wearing a red bodysuit.
That layer of red was the color of flesh and blood exposed after the skin had been forcibly peeled away.
“Mrs. Shi—” Jiang Si had a deep impression of those crimson nails. He finally recognized that this monster was actually Shi Danxing’s wife, the woman who had been lying on the bed with no self-awareness.
“You know her?” the messenger asked.
“The mistress of this house.” At this point, Jiang Si felt a bit guilty. They had broken into this house as outsiders, smashed so many of their antiques, and were now even beating the owner.
Truly turning the world upside down.
“Her body was originally covered in human-head tumors brought by the Infant Head Gu. It seems the Gu insects were triggered, and one by one they all burst, causing her to lose her skin directly.”
“Hiss—” the messenger said in wonder. “This is a living person!”
Jiang Si didn’t quite understand the current situation. Since she was now under control, he planned to settle things quickly—finish dealing with the Infant Head Gu first, and then go to the hospital to check on Shi Danxing’s condition.
Unexpectedly, as he turned his head, he saw Hai Di holding the figurine and looking over.
“…” Jiang Si only then realized that the figurine had somehow ended up in Hai Di’s hands.
In that moment, Jiang Si was incredibly grateful Old Man Jiang had written the prophecy for Hai Di to prevent the Gu insects from entering his body.
Jiang Si took the figurine back grumpily and lectured him earnestly, “Don’t be so honest next time; there are some things you shouldn’t touch.”
“Okay,” Hai Di complied obediently.
The colors of the figurine were even more vibrant and eye-catching than before, like a pearl with the dust wiped away, radiating its own brilliance. There seemed to be a smile in its eyes as it stared back at Jiang Si.
Jiang Si’s finger had been cut slightly by a porcelain shard, and a faint trace of blood was seeping out. As his finger pressed against the figurine’s face, the subtle, fishy sweetness instantly attracted the mother Gu insect that had been hidden deep within its body. The cold, hard surface softened slightly, and before long, a tiny black insect crawled out.
A hundred legs and red eyes—very typical characteristics of a Gu insect.
As it greedily sucked on the traces of blood on the figurine’s surface, Jiang Si took the opportunity to pinch it in his hand.
He used a bit more force. With a slight press, the Gu insect crumbled into a ball of black residue.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH—”
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