Free Web NovelChapter 92: Chapter 10: Ghost Cave, Ghost Infant
Watching the messages pop up on his phone screen one by one, Gao Tian felt the sounds of the world around him fade away.
That whole business—he really hadn’t been clean about it. Claiming the black envelope in the group chat would inevitably leave a trail.
If any ghost with a mind to check looked into it, they would eventually find their way to him.
But at the time, he’d had no other choice. If he hadn’t claimed the black envelope, he would be dead right now, not living to this day.
It was already lucky that he’d managed to hide it until now before being discovered.
In the chat, Ghost Cave’s messages continued.
[Ghost Cave]:
The one who claimed the black envelope...
It was you, wasn’t it, Memory Ghost.
[Ghost Infant]:
@Ghost Cave
He just happened to claim the black envelope after you sent the curse. Maybe it’s just a coincidence of timing.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Memory Ghost is a living person.
That’s a bit of a stretch.
[Ghost Cave]:
Hahaha, of course. I never said our friend Memory Ghost was definitely a living person.
But I’m a very suspicious person. Once a doubt enters my mind, I have to confirm things before I can rest easy.
After all, we’ve paid such a heavy price and planned for so many years. That ’thing’ is right around the corner. We can’t afford a single oversight.
Memory Ghost, I know you’re in front of your phone right now, reading these words.
I have a feeling.
I’m coming to find you now. It won’t take up much of your time. You don’t mind, do you?
@Memory Ghost
...
Staring at the lines of text popping up in the chat, Gao Tian felt the phone grow heavy in his hand.
This day was bound to come sooner or later.
He’d already rehearsed every possible scenario in his mind ten thousand times.
It was just that his identity was being exposed a tiny bit sooner than he’d imagined.
’Stay calm.’
As he strode quickly toward the empty restroom, he replied to Ghost Cave’s message on his phone.
Since his opponent had made a move, all he could do was respond. Ghost Infant could kill through the internet. Now that Ghost Cave had spoken, she could show up at any moment.
[Memory Ghost]:
I don’t care.
Just, if you confirm I’m not human this time, don’t make me a suspect again in the future.
Stop investigating me endlessly like a fly buzzing around.
Do you need me to tell you my current address?
[Ghost Infant]:
You’re at Jin Hai Mansion right now, aren’t you?
I’m not sure which exact floor, but the general location should be correct.
[Ghost Cave]:
Memory Ghost, let’s play a game.
This person—oh no, this ghost—I’ve always liked giving others a chance, a way out.
If you’re a living person, then starting now, I’ll give you half an hour. A chance to run for your life.
You can escape Jin Hai Mansion, escape Shanghai, run to any place you think is safe.
After half an hour, I’ll set out to find you. How about it?
...
Gao Tian had actually considered it—the moment Ghost Infant locked onto his position, he could activate the black card in his hand and teleport back to the Living Human Apartments.
But the thought only surfaced for a moment before he suppressed it.
’Only an idiot would do that.’
Ghost Cave said he’d give him half an hour to escape, but how could he actually mean it?
He and Ghost Infant were playing a cat-and-mouse game, working in concert to toy with him.
If he really ran, wouldn’t that be like showing his hand and admitting he was the living person in the chat group?
Right now, Ghost Cave had no concrete evidence; in the entire group, he was the one most interested in him. If Gao Tian actually ran, then every ghost in the chat group would start hunting him.
Dozens of powerful ghosts, including Xu Yuan.
That would be his true death date.
[Memory Ghost]:
Doesn’t matter.
You can come over now if you want.
It’s just that Jin Hai Mansion isn’t a convenient place to talk. I’ll head downstairs first and go to the construction site across the street to chat with you.
That should be fine, right?
...
Gao Tian quickly settled on his plan.
Ghost Cave was like a wolf that had smelled blood. He had locked onto him, and he wouldn’t be able to shake him.
What he had to do now was leave Jin Hai Mansion as quickly as possible.
There were too many people here. If the ruthless Ghost Cave really did descend upon this place, he would probably kill a few bystanders on a whim.
Across from the mansion was a construction site that had been abandoned for a long time. Gao Tian had glanced at it on his way over; it should be empty.
By luring Ghost Cave there, even if he really went berserk and started killing, he wouldn’t find any innocent bystanders.
He had to make his intentions clear beforehand.
His choice to go downstairs couldn’t be misinterpreted as him turning tail and running away in fear.
No matter what, he absolutely could not admit to being human. The other ghost users in the group were all watching, possibly including Xu Yuan.
After Gao Tian typed out the message, no one in the group responded to him.
It was as if, all of a sudden, the jackal-like Ghost Cave had lost interest in him and given up the chase.
’Strange.’
Gao Tian’s instincts told him something was wrong.
Ghost Cave wasn’t that kind of person. Once he had his sights on you, he would never give up so easily.
Unless...
Inside the restroom, the ceiling light began to flicker, casting the entire space in shifting light and shadow, filling it with a bone-chilling air.
Behind him, the row of stalls, which had clearly been empty, now had all five of their doors swinging in the windless air. They banged back and forth with a series of loud CLACKS, making the whole restroom shudder and shake.
CREAK... CREAK...
In the flickering light, a flayed arm with bulging veins slowly extended from a stall, its surface covered in strange holes.
"Our first meeting, Memory Ghost. I didn’t expect it to be in a place like this—"
"Looking at your flawless skin, your beating heart... you really do seem to be a living person."
"It seems the probability of my theory being correct has just gone up by a dozen or so points."
The stall door behind Gao Tian slowly swung open, revealing a highly decomposed, emaciated male corpse sitting on the toilet.
The corpse looked as if it had been riddled with countless bullets; from its torso to its feet, it was covered in single holes that you could see straight through.
As for its head, the facial features and brain had been removed, leaving only a large, empty hole.
This was Ghost Cave. His entire head was, quite literally, a "hole."
This was, in all of Gao Tian’s life, the biggest ’brain hole’ he had ever seen.
Ghost Cave had arrived.
"Please forgive me."
"In my life, I drowned in a very, very deep cave."
"As a result, the me of today is very fond of anything related to holes."
Just as Gao Tian was reeling in shock from Ghost Cave’s arrival, a haunting nursery rhyme sung in a woman’s voice echoed from somewhere within the restroom:
The little moon rusts into a coin,
Mama’s sewn-on button eyes,
Sprout mycelium at midnight.
They say: Come, oh come,
Beneath the pillow hides a ladder to the earth’s core,
When the clock tower swallows the key,
The cloth doll unravels itself with yarn.
...
On the white tiles before him, as if emerging from the surface of a still lake, a bloody cloth doll materialized amidst miserable cries.
With a CRASH, the tiles shattered. The blood-soaked doll fell to the floor, sprouted a woman’s head, arms, and long legs, and slowly, clumsily, got to its feet.
This woman, whose skin was a sickly white, was none other than Ghost Infant.
Ghost Infant had also come to Jin Hai Mansion.
The two wraiths from the chat group, one in front and one behind, had already surrounded Gao Tian. There was no escape.
Gao Tian had no intention of running, either.
Running would show he had a guilty conscience, and that was the true path to death.
Ghost Infant was the first to make a move.
Her eye sockets, now just two bloody holes, scanned Gao Tian up and down.
"So you’re Memory Ghost?"
"It looks like all your organs are pulsing away. You really do seem more like a living person."
"But it’s hard to judge by that alone. Many powerful wraiths like to possess human bodies or disguise themselves as the living."
"If you are human, how did you get into our chat group? Didn’t the boss say that every ghost’s qualification to enter the group is verified by him?"
Ghost Infant feigned indecision, asking the question with a deliberate pretense.
Behind him, Ghost Cave, still sitting on the toilet, let out an inhuman shriek of laughter, as if every hole in his body was giggling grotesquely.
"Isn’t this a simple matter?"
"What’s the biggest difference between a ghost and a living person? Ghosts are immortal and indestructible. You can never kill them for good."
"To verify whether this one is a ghost, we just need to kill him once and see how he reacts. That should do it."
"Mr. Memory Ghost, you wouldn’t mind if I killed you, just once, would you?"
Gao Tian glanced at Ghost Cave behind him out of the corner of his eye and said flatly,
"Of course I don’t—"
Before he could get the word "mind" out, an excruciating pain shot through Gao Tian. He slowly lowered his head and saw a gaping hole in his chest, revealing severed blood vessels and shattered bones.
He slowly turned his head and saw Ghost Cave, still sitting on the toilet, grinning and holding a still-beating heart in his hand. THUMP, THUMP.
In an instant, he had taken Gao Tian’s heart.
"If you’re a ghost, then revive and show me."
The world spun as Gao Tian collapsed, falling heavily to the ground with a THUD.
...
The effect of the Ghost Card began to activate.
Right now, the poker cards tied to Gao Tian’s soul were the Ace of Hearts and the King of Spades.
Theoretically, having two cards already presented the risk of a value conflict. However, the black tie had also triggered upon his death.
His luck had increased slightly; it couldn’t be so bad that drawing a third card would result in death.
On the contrary, Ghost Cave choosing to kill him today was a good thing.
’Reviving in front of these two ghosts should finally put this suspicious jackal’s doubts to rest, right?’
With this understanding, Gao Tian watched as the Ghost Card once again drew the Two of Clubs.
’Just like that, the crisis should be over.’
...
On Gao Tian’s heartless corpse, the empty space began to regenerate at a visible speed. His dilated pupils refocused, and flesh and blood covered a powerfully beating heart. Gao Tian had returned from the underworld.
He had revived.
One moment, Gao Tian had definitely become a corpse. That was a certainty.
The next moment, he woke up, just like that—more conveniently than drinking a cup of coffee or putting on a shirt.
Gao Tian turned his head at an unnatural angle and stared coldly at Ghost Cave.
A cold smile touched the corner of his lips.
"I may be immortal,"
"but being killed so suddenly is still quite offensive."
"Need to try again?"
With a personality like Ghost Cave’s, begging for mercy was absolutely useless. On the contrary, it would only arouse his more brutal nature.
Instead, Gao Tian’s current indifferent attitude was that of a true wraith.
A real ghost isn’t afraid of death, nor are they afraid of these two from the chat group coming to investigate. A true wraith would only find Ghost Cave and Ghost Infant offensive and annoying.
"A little interesting, aren’t you?"
Ghost Cave casually crushed the heart in his hand. His head, a vacant hole, seemed to be watching Gao Tian with great interest.
