Free Web NovelChapter 93: Chapter 11: A Cautious Struggle for Survival
"Ghost Infant, what do you think?"
Ghost Cave’s featureless void gazed past Gao Tian as it questioned the Ghost Infant behind him.
The Ghost Infant, who didn’t seem to have come on this trip willingly, sounded very impatient:
"How should I know? I told you before, there are no living people in the group. You can believe me now, can’t you?
"Let’s go, let’s go. We still have to work overtime on the mission the boss gave us."
As she spoke, she slowly turned around, preparing to revert to her puppet form and slip into the wall.
Gao Tian breathed a sigh of relief.
’It seems my Ghost Card’s ability to resurrect me from death has fooled these two ghosts.’
’I can survive in the chat group a little longer.’
Just then, he saw—
On the back of the Ghost Infant’s turning, puppet-like body was a woman’s face, rotten and covered in festering flesh.
It was about the size of a poster, like a thin sheet of meat. As the Ghost Infant slowly turned, it was completely exposed to Gao Tian. Its two eye sockets, weeping tears of blood, were dark, empty pits staring right at him.
’So this is the Ghost Infant’s true form...’
This was Gao Tian’s last thought.
She had turned around on purpose.
The next moment, upon seeing that horrifying, curse-filled face, Gao Tian triggered the Ghost Infant’s killing rule. With a POP, his eyeballs exploded, spraying brain matter as he collapsed to the ground.
...
That was his second death today.
The Ghost Card activated again. This time, it drew the 4 of Diamonds.
Four cards were now bound to his soul: the Ace of Hearts, the King of Spades, the 2 of Clubs, and the 4 of Diamonds.
Dying twice in a row had also sated the black tie, which was now starting to stir restlessly.
...
Gao Tian slowly opened his eyes.
No matter what, being killed twice in a row was not a pleasant feeling.
"What the hell are you playing at?"
Gao Tian turned to Ghost Cave, a hint of anger in his voice.
Ghost Cave seemed completely unfazed by Gao Tian’s anger. Its hollow sockets remained fixed on Gao Tian, observing him intently.
"Ghost Infant, what do you think?"
It asked the same question as before.
The Ghost Infant let out an eerie laugh.
"I told you, he’s a ghost."
"We’ve already killed him twice together. If a living person could resurrect twice in a row, that would be completely outrageous."
"We never saw an artifact like that even when we were alive."
She slowly turned and walked toward the wall by the sink.
This time, the Ghost Infant truly intended to leave. The resentful woman’s face on her back did not open its eyes.
Gao Tian quietly watched the departing Ghost Infant.
’This female ghost is relatively easy to fool, since she didn’t come to Jin Hai Mansion of her own volition.’
’Ghost Cave, on the other hand, probably won’t be so easily deceived.’
As expected.
Ghost Cave’s deep voice sounded again:
"Oh, Memory Ghost."
"I have one more question."
It raised its head.
"Ghosts don’t resurrect like this."
"In your next life, you should work on your acting."
A suffocating chuckle followed.
"You might be able to fool the Ghost Infant, and you might fool the other ghosts in the group, but tricking me isn’t that simple."
"Exposing you is all too easy."
"You have a top-tier resurrection artifact in your possession, and you’ve used it more than twice now, haven’t you?"
"But no matter how many lives your artifact has, if we kill you fifty times, a hundred times today, we’ll definitely exhaust it."
This Ghost Cave was like an African hyena; once it bit down, it would never let go until its prey had bled its last drop and died.
A complex emotion flickered through Gao Tian. ’Of course I can’t let Ghost Cave kill me ten or a hundred times. Otherwise, I’ll become a real ghost for good.’
In just a few seconds, Gao Tian assessed the situation.
’Should I just fight these two malevolent ghosts head-on?’
’Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave were most likely top-tier Ghost Hunters when they were alive. I might not even be a match for one of them in a one-on-one fight. Not to mention, now that they’re dead, they’ve gained immortality and at least one killing rule each.’
Although Gao Tian’s own growth rate was astonishing, he had been exposed to the Supernatural World for far too little time. No matter how fast he grew, he couldn’t possibly reach the top of the pyramid yet.
’The Supernatural Artifacts I have that might harm ghosts are the Terror Blade, the Ghost Transformation Spear, and the Mirror Ghost.’
’The Mirror Ghost’s range and speed are too short and too slow. Even if I managed to pull in the Ghost Infant, Ghost Cave would still be outside the mirror. I’d have to face a malevolent ghost both inside and outside the mirror. That’s the worst-case scenario.’
’As for the Ghost Transformation Spear...’
’Shoot myself, turn into a ghost? If you can’t beat them, join them?’
’Forget it. For now, Gao Tian had no desire to become a deformed, rotting corpse crawling with maggots.’
’The Terror Blade requires a human sacrifice.’
Jin Hai Mansion was full of people. If Gao Tian’s morals were depraved enough, he would have an inexhaustible supply of sacrifices today.
In a flash, Gao Tian had considered numerous possibilities and their outcomes.
Among all these choices, not one involved kneeling and begging for mercy.
Gao Tian spoke, deciding to play dumb:
"How strange."
"Haven’t you already killed me fifty-seven times? What more do you want?"
"Look at the bloodstains on the floor, and that heart in your hand. Aren’t those from my thirty-third and fifty-second deaths?"
"Give it a rest, buddy. If you’re going to kill me ten thousand times today, does that mean I have to stand here and humor you for all of them?"
As he spoke, Gao Tian had already activated the Memory Ghost’s ability, attempting to alter the perceptions of the Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave.
He wasn’t sure if it would work. As former Ghost Hunters, Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave might have countermeasures against a ghost’s mental corruption.
Not to mention they had become immortal ghosts with their own killing rules after death.
’It’s worth a shot.’
’With the black tie’s effect boosting me, my luck today should be pretty good.’
’Fooling two top-tier Ghost Hunters... who’s to say something so unlikely can’t happen?’
Under Gao Tian’s hypnosis, Ghost Cave’s tone clearly held a note of hesitation:
"Really?"
"But I could have sworn I only remembered killing you twice."
"The Ghost Infant killed you once, and I killed you once. Where did fifty-seven times come from?"
The Ghost Infant’s puppet-like body swayed gently as she refuted Ghost Cave:
"No, it was fifty-seven times. That’s what I remember."
"You killed him thirty-two times, and I killed him twenty-five times."
"I have to say, Mr. Memory Ghost’s self-control is incredible. To be killed so many times and still endure it all just to prove he isn’t a malevolent ghost."
It seemed the Memory Ghost’s effect had worked on the Ghost Infant.
She was the first to be influenced, starting a small argument with Ghost Cave.
After being contradicted, Ghost Cave’s voice also grew hesitant:
"You’re right. I think I do remember something like that."
"I must have been having too much fun killing you that I lost count of how many times I’ve done it."
The Memory Ghost’s effect was like a virus. Once the first person was infected, the insistence of a companion could cause the few who remained clear-headed to change their minds and follow the crowd.
Thinking independently was indeed a difficult thing.
Even one as powerful as Ghost Cave began to follow the Ghost Infant’s line of reasoning:
"In any case, even the strongest Ghost Hunter in the world couldn’t possibly have enough resurrections to be revived fifty-seven times. Dying fifty-seven times and remaining completely unscathed... that immortal characteristic definitely belongs to a ghost."
"Since I’ve run this many tests, I’m willing to believe that you are, in fact, a ghost."
"Well then, farewell. I will continue to investigate whether there is a mole in the group. If you have time, please keep an eye out for me as well."
The black tie’s effect had activated.
The impossibly paranoid Ghost Cave, and two experienced, battle-hardened Ghost Hunters, had actually fallen for Gao Tian’s story, showing no signs of any mental countermeasures.
As Ghost Cave expressed its apologies, its body began to shrink rapidly like a leaking balloon, heading for the hole in the center of the toilet.
Although describing Ghost Cave slipping into a toilet sounded somewhat comical, to Gao Tian, who was witnessing it firsthand, it wasn’t funny at all. Instead, it possessed an absurd sort of horror.
Ghost Cave’s rule was that as long as something could be called a "hole," it could use it as a point of travel, moving through it at will.
It was still unclear whether human eye sockets or mouths counted as "holes" in a broader sense. If so, Ghost Cave could tear open a living person’s lips and emerge from anyone’s body whenever it pleased.
That was just too overpowered.
The Ghost Infant’s rule was the woman’s face on its back; anyone who looked at it would drop dead on the spot.
This was the information Gao Tian had gathered so far.
Of course, these two malevolent ghosts didn’t necessarily have only one rule each. If they were Ghost Hunters in their past lives, they surely had other Supernatural Artifacts in their possession.
Most of Ghost Cave’s body had already slipped into the toilet like a pile of sludge.
The Ghost Infant was also crouching on the ground, preparing to turn back into a nursery-rhyme-spreading, bloody cloth doll.
Watching the two of them depart, the heavy pressure on Gao Tian’s heart didn’t ease in the slightest. In fact, he felt even more stifled.
’Is it really over?’
Ghost Cave, most of which was already down the toilet with only two long, thin, pointed black arms left above the rim, suddenly paused.
Its enormous, hollow head, like a rapidly inflating balloon, popped back out of the toilet, facing directly at Gao Tian.
"Um, before I go, could I bother you with one more question?"
"Just one."
Gao Tian looked at the toilet lid and the wall behind its skull and could only force himself to answer:
"Go ahead."
Ghost Cave tilted its head, appearing very curious.
"Your name... why is it Memory Ghost?"
"Is it because you command a rule that can affect the memories of others?"
Gao Tian’s heart began to pound.
’He knew his name in the group wasn’t "clean," that it left a trail of clues.’
’But he’d had no choice at the time. He only commanded the abilities of a "Shattered Face Ghost" and the Memory Ghost. Since the Shattered Face Ghost had been dispatched by Ghost Cave, his only option to pose as a ghost was to call himself Memory Ghost.’
There was no room to lie about this. Gao Tian admitted:
"More or less."
"But the activation conditions are quite strict. Sometimes, I find myself rather envious of your abilities."
"If my ability were really that useful, would I need to stand here and let you kill me so many times?"
"I would have just dealt with the two of you directly."
He was trying hard to distract Ghost Cave.
Ghost Cave was completely unmoved.
"So, Mr. Memory Ghost."
"I’m quite curious about this type of mental-corruption ability. Could you demonstrate it for me?"
"I just want to see if it’s possible to resist it with sheer willpower."
"After all, back when I was alive, as a human, I once fell into the hands of a certain cult that worshipped ghosts. To pry open my mouth and force me to reveal the Jialan Society’s personnel structure, they tortured me for a whole month. They pulled out my teeth one by one and broke all ten of my fingers, but I didn’t say a single word, right up until my death."
"My willpower is quite strong, you could say. I wonder if it could withstand your ability?"
The Ghost Infant, now hanging on the wall, grew impatient.
"That’s enough, Ghost Cave."
"The boss’s mission... We still have to go to the Inner World this afternoon to confirm the Multi-headed Ghost’s location."
"I’ve already helped you find the Memory Ghost like you asked. What more do you want?"
Gao Tian also said calmly:
"There’s no need for a demonstration."
"I don’t particularly welcome uninvited guests like you two. Let’s leave it at that."
Ghost Cave nodded.
"I see."
Though it spoke of leaving, the remains of its body stuck in the toilet showed no sign of moving.
"I was just thinking... is it possible..."
"...that as we’ve been speaking, the Memory Ghost’s ability has already been activated?"
"That parts of my memory have been altered?"
