Free Web NovelChapter 94: Chapter 12: Don’t Piss Me Off
Gao Tian "roared" in fury:
"What did I modify? What in the world did I modify about you?
"From start to finish, I’ve just been standing here, getting killed by you over and over again! How did that turn into me attacking you?"
Ghost Cave’s full form reappeared, squatting on the toilet as if in thought.
It waved a hand, gesturing for Gao Tian to calm down.
"Don’t get so worked up, Mr. Memory Ghost."
Ghost Cave slowly reached down and pulled a soaking-wet black phone from the depths of the toilet bowl.
"Let me take a look.
"The last message I sent in the group was 5 minutes and 15 seconds ago.
"It took me 30 seconds to get here and enter the hole in Jin Hai Mansion.
"That means from the time we two ghosts met, exchanged greetings, and I started killing you, it’s been just over 4 minutes, tops.
"And you need some time to resurrect after each death, right?
"In between killing you, I needed some time to talk to Ghost Infant and discuss you, right?
"Are you saying that in just over 4 minutes, I killed you 57 times? That’s an average of once every 4.21 seconds?
"From a time perspective, that’s not enough. Not nearly enough."
It slowly raised its massive, hole-filled head. The cavities in its skull began to seep fresh red blood, as if it were getting angry.
But Ghost Cave’s tone was filled with delight.
"Just as I thought. You’ve already used your ability without me noticing and modified my memory.
"How miraculous. How uncanny.
"I was completely unaware of when the number 57 was inserted into my brain. I just naturally remembered it.
"As expected, mind-affecting abilities are hard to defend against. One careless moment and you’re hit."
Before Ghost Cave had even finished speaking, Gao Tian felt a blade of wind slice rapidly toward his chest.
Gao Tian was already used to this sneaky bastard. It would often speak calmly, then suddenly attack and kill mid-sentence, continuing to speak in a placid tone even as it was killing.
Gao Tian’s hand was already pressed against the mirror in his coat. The moment Ghost Cave saw through his ability, he activated the Mirror Ghost’s effect, pulling himself into the Mirror World. He vanished into thin air before the two ghosts.
’If I can’t win, I’ll run.’
"Sorry, but I won’t be playing along.
"I don’t have time to waste like you two idiots. You want to kill me a hundred times, a thousand times? Am I supposed to just stay here and let you kill me for the rest of my life?
"If you’re sick in the head, I suggest you get treatment. There are no living people in this chat group, only an idiot like you."
From the other side of the mirror, Gao Tian dropped the act and coldly berated Ghost Cave.
’As long as I deny it to the death, what can those two ghosts outside the mirror do to me?’
’Come and get me, if you’ve got the guts.’
At the same time, he opened his phone and started spamming the chat group.
’The biggest threat right now isn’t Ghost Cave and Ghost Infant, but all the powerful lurkers in the group watching the show.’
Ghost Cave had made a big show in the group about coming to kill him. Many of the ghost users were probably watching, waiting for the results of Ghost Cave’s investigation.
’If it’s just Ghost Cave being suspicious, I can handle it. But if Xu Yuan and the other ghosts start to suspect I’m a living person, and dozens of them decide to act... not even Jesus could save me then. Even escaping to the ’Living Human Apartment’ would be a death sentence.’
[Memory Ghost]:
Can someone deal with these two lunatics?
They’ve already killed me 57 times! 57 times! Fucking hell, all to prove I’m a ghost. But this Ghost Cave insists those don’t count and wants to kill me another ten thousand times.
Are they nuts? Whose dog got let off its leash?
I don’t even want to be in this group anymore. They’re hunting for traitors every day, and now they’ve come for me.
...
The group was silent.
’I wonder if Xu Yuan and the others are watching the group, evaluating Ghost Cave’s next move.’
Outside the mirror, Ghost Cave couldn’t care less about what Gao Tian was posting in the group.
As far as it was concerned, as long as it killed Gao Tian before any other user could intervene, it would prove it was right. It would have performed a great service for the Jialan Society, and no one would have the right to criticize it.
Besides, who in this group would stick their neck out for a Memory Ghost?
Ghost Cave was patient. Even though the kid had fled into the mirror, it was just a minor inconvenience. He wouldn’t escape its grasp.
"Strange.
"What a wondrous ability."
Ghost Cave’s porous arm stretched out again and tentatively tapped the mirror.
"So he didn’t just hide in the mirror, but in a pocket dimension completely cut off from reality?
"Even if I shatter this mirror, I can’t pull you out.
"Ghost Infant, do you have any way to drag him out of there?"
Ghost Infant extended its wooden hand and patiently stroked the smooth surface of the mirror.
"Let me think.
"This ability is very unusual. I’ve never seen it before, and I can’t think of a way to break it at the moment.
"Isn’t his online name Memory Ghost? How can he have mastered other laws besides memory modification? Could he be like a multi-headed ghost, mastering several killing laws at once?"
Ghost Cave ignored Ghost Infant and spoke to Gao Tian in the mirror.
"Just come out on your own, Mr. Memory Ghost.
"I mean you no harm; I’m just a bit paranoid.
"Let me kill you a hundred times. I need to determine if your resurrection is the effect of a Supernatural Artifact or the true undying nature of a ghost.
"If I can confirm that you are indeed a ghost, I will apologize to you afterward."
’Are you kidding me? Let Ghost Cave kill me a hundred times? No matter how strong the luck from the black tie is, it can’t draw a hundred points from a fifty-two-card deck.’
’For now, it seems the Mirror Ghost’s effect is holding strong. Ghost Cave can’t get in yet.’
Looking at the two ghosts outside the mirror, Gao Tian said coldly:
"I am a user who was personally invited into the chat group by Xu Yuan.
"Know your place. You’re just two of Xu Yuan’s dogs. What right do you have to test me? Find a mirror and take a good look at yourselves.
"I have been very restrained today. Farewell."
After entering the Mirror World, even Ghost Infant and Ghost Cave outside were helpless against him.
Gao Tian followed the long white path, planning to leave Jin Hai Mansion first and then figure out a way to shake off the two ghosts.
He had already shown them his "undying" nature. From now on, no matter what Ghost Cave said, Gao Tian would deny everything to the death, insisting he had already proven himself and had no obligation to waste any more time with them.
Just then, he heard Ghost Cave’s cold laughter from outside:
"Don’t go, Memory Ghost.
"Let’s play a game.
"For every minute you stay in the mirror, I will kill one person, until everyone in Jin Hai Mansion is dead. Then I’ll start grabbing people from all over Shanghai.
"I’ll keep killing until you willingly leave the mirror and let me slaughter you."
Gao Tian stopped in his tracks.
He was no longer on the other side of the mirror in the eleventh-floor bathroom. Ghost Cave couldn’t see him, and he couldn’t see Ghost Cave. But its voice still came through, calm and unhurried, as if certain he was listening.
"There are two possibilities.
"First, you really are a ghost, and I’ve wronged you.
"In that case, since you’re a ghost, you should be completely indifferent to watching humans die one by one. After all, you’re not the same species. It’s like a human watching a slaughterhouse for chickens and ducks.
"Second, you’re actually a Ghost Hunter, and your resurrection comes from a special artifact.
"If so, then remember this: everyone in Jin Hai Mansion today will die because of you. Their deaths will be on your head. If you hadn’t shown up here, they wouldn’t have died. You are the one who killed them."
Gao Tian knew Ghost Cave wasn’t making an empty threat. It was more than capable of doing something like this.
’But I’m not stupid enough to actually leave the Mirror World. Would the ghosts stop killing people if I came out? They would just kill me and then continue their massacre to vent their anger.’
’Expecting a ghost to keep its promise is utterly laughable.’
’Since the two ghosts are targeting me right now, the only correct move is to leave Jin Hai Mansion immediately and get away from the crowds. The moment they realize I’ve fled, they’ll surely give chase instead of staying in Jin Hai Mansion to continue the slaughter.’
’Ghost Cave is cruel, but it isn’t stupid.’
The faster Gao Tian ran, the safer the other people in Jin Hai Mansion would be.
He started sprinting along the white path.
Mirrors flashed past him—conference rooms, office areas, storage closets...
It seemed he had completely shaken off the two ghosts from the bathroom.
However, Jin Hai Mansion had a lot of rooms, and a lot of mirrors. It would still take some time to run his way out of here.
As he passed a conference room, a PPT projector that had been left on suddenly whirred to life, casting Ghost Cave’s hollow face onto the wall.
"Hey, Memory Ghost, where do you think you’re running?
"Did you really think things would end so simply today?"
Gao Tian’s heart skipped a beat.
’Although Ghost Cave can’t enter the mirror, it seems to be able to predict which mirror I’ll appear in front of.’
’Such a persistent monster.’
Outside the mirror, the Ghost Cave from the PPT slide slowly materialized into reality. In its hands, it held two bloody heads, one male and one female.
"See these two heads?
"They were just two ordinary people having a meeting in the next conference room. But because you hid in the mirror and wouldn’t let me kill you, I ran into them while chasing you and killed them on a whim.
"Remember this well. They died because of you—which is no different from you killing them yourself.
"You are a murderer."
Ghost Cave casually tossed the two heads—still steaming and bubbling with blood—onto the floor as if they were chickens. Its gaunt, twisted body walked step by step toward Gao Tian, with the mirror between them.
Gao Tian stopped walking.
He could feel the black tie on his neck being nourished again.
’Four people have died.’
’I died twice, and now two more people have died outside.’
Above his head, the pitch-black "ghost luck" grew more and more tangible, to the point where he could faintly see it shimmering at the edge of his vision.
A strange sense of confidence washed over Gao Tian. He felt that no matter what he did today, he would succeed. Some unseen, powerful luck was on his side.
Gao Tian still had two black cards in his hand that could instantly return him to the "Living Human Apartment."
But he changed his mind. He wasn’t going to leave.
Ghost Cave:
"You keep running, I’ll keep killing.
"Let’s see just how cruel a person you can be."
Gao Tian slowly walked up to the mirror. Facing Ghost Cave on the other side, he spoke very seriously, enunciating each word:
"I suggest you stop killing people.
"This advice isn’t for my sake. It’s for yours.
"If you piss me off, something terrible is going to happen."
Gazing at the Memory Ghost in the mirror who was earnestly warning it, Ghost Cave’s faceless, hollow head stood still for a full minute, as if in thought.
The next moment, it burst into sharp, piercing laughter.
"I’ve changed my mind.
"Killing them one by one is too much trouble.
"Since you’re so eager to go to Hell, watch closely. Now, I’m going to send everyone in Jin Hai Mansion, including you, to their graves!"
「Ghost Realm.」
