Free Web NovelChapter 432: Chapter 434: No Longer Pretending
The gecko ghost first felt a wave of warmth, but it was immediately followed by excruciating pain wracking its body. Its voice grew hoarse from screaming, and all it could manage were faint, gurgling, dying cries.
Su Nian watched as it vanished into the mirror, just like that.
The female ghost in white felt a little apprehensive. ’Was it useless, or is she on the wrong track?’
But as Su Nian looked up at the mirror, her gaze grew increasingly certain.
She was certain this mirror had to be the way out, simply because of what it had done to that ghost.
’But is there something missing with this mirror?’
Su Nian thought it over and over. All the ghosts were here.
’Could it be that I have to gather all the ghosts to get out?’
Su Nian prepared to experiment on the ghosts one by one, starting with the one who loved wearing suits and pretending to be some domineering CEO.
’Or maybe it has something to do with their past deeds?’
After a moment of thought, Su Nian casually pointed at the ghost in the suit. "How did you die?"
At the mention of this, the ghost in the suit looked bewildered, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to paint a grand, dramatic picture of his own demise.
But one look at Su Nian’s cold eyes and he didn’t dare speak further, merely hanging his head sullenly.
"When I was alive, I really liked pretty young ladies, so I often went after them. That’s why I got beaten to death by their boyfriends."
The moment he said that, the old crone next to him wasn’t having it.
She shot him a massive eye-roll.
"Oh, cut the crap! You think I don’t know you? I saw what kind of trash you were from a mile away. You loved harassing pretty young girls, even tried to stalk them. One of their boyfriends found out and accidentally killed you. But who would’ve thought, you damn nuisance, that your resentment would be so strong you’d turn into an Evil Ghost and get locked up in here!"
The ghost in the suit had been banking on no one knowing his background and just spouted whatever came to mind. Normally, he wouldn’t even spare a glance for an old crone like her.
But now that his entire history had been laid bare, he blushed with embarrassment and stammered, "Everyone appreciates beauty. Is that so wrong of me?"
The ghost in the suit, red-faced, tried to defend himself. He did always like pretty girls, but he never expected this old crone to air all his dirty laundry.
He felt awkward and was worried Su Nian would beat him up. He watched her cautiously. ’What if she can’t stand a scumbag like me?’
’What if she kills me too?’
And the next second, just as he’d feared, Su Nian reached out and grabbed one of his hands.
Then she ripped his hand off and tossed it in. The hand’s fate was the same as the gecko ghost’s; it quickly vanished into the mirror, never to be seen again.
’So it’s not him? Or do I have to stuff the entire ghost in?’
Su Nian’s gaze shifted to the female ghost in white. Perhaps she was the one who had been hiding all along.
After all, of all the ghosts here, her power was a cut above the rest. But upon meeting Su Nian’s gaze, the female ghost in white hastily retreated.
Without Su Nian having to say a thing, she began to confess her story.
"I never did anything evil! I just loved being pretty and dressing up, and then I ran into a scumbag, that’s all! I killed myself! I didn’t hurt anyone!"
Su Nian’s eyes moved on. She glanced over the other ghosts, but before they could even speak...
...Su Nian realized something. It seemed not all the ghosts were here. There were those idiots from the amusement park, the ones she had skewered on a stick.
And there was one more: the old crone’s little granddaughter. She was the only one who had appeared in this zoo but hadn’t been captured by Su Nian.
At this thought, Su Nian turned without a word and headed back into the park.
Su Nian took out a rope and slipped a loop over each ghost’s head.
After tying them tightly to the rope, Su Nian first went to the amusement park. The park was desolate again.
It looked just as it had when Su Nian first arrived, except that the ghosts she had skewered were still lying on the ground.
Su Nian took out her rope, looped it around each ghost’s neck, and started pulling them along. It was a bizarre sight: a beautiful girl performing such a strange act.
In her hand, she held the rope, and trailing behind her was a procession of ugly, creepy, terrifying, and sinister ghosts.
But none of the ghosts dared to resist. The most any of them did was glance up at her before frantically lowering their heads again.
Su Nian searched for a long time but couldn’t find the little girl.
She went to the old crone’s house, but the little girl was still nowhere to be found.
Su Nian looked at the old crone and asked coldly, "What is her relationship to you?"
"She’s a pitiful thing. I took her in."
The old crone seemed to have also realized something was wrong with the little girl.
She defended her cautiously.
Being old and shrewd, she also understood the meaning behind Su Nian’s actions.
From the very beginning, Su Nian had captured all the ghosts. Judging from that, plus her actions with the mirror, it seemed she was looking for something—or rather, trying to find a way to leave this place.
Right now, the breakthrough seemed to lie with her "little granddaughter." The old crone swallowed hard. She didn’t want to talk, but then she recalled Su Nian’s methods.
In the end, she had no choice but to speak.
To a ghost like her, a child was a fragile, insignificant existence.
But as fate would have it, she was a mother. And when she was alive, she too had a dearly beloved granddaughter who had ended up dying in her arms.
So, when she saw this cute little girl, she couldn’t help but soften.
Worried the girl would be bullied by the other ghosts, she took her directly under her wing, having her live in the same area so they would have no dealings with the other ghosts.
’Living in the same area as the old crone ghost... does that mean she doesn’t have her own territory?’
’But all these ghosts seem to be extremely territorial.’
Thinking of this, Su Nian snorted coldly. She instantly understood. Dragging the long chain of ghosts behind her, she changed direction and headed toward the wooden cabin.
This time, Su Nian’s direction was correct. She walked up to the wooden cabin, where a little girl in a red dress stood, chewing on a lollipop and hugging a teddy bear.
She stood at the door, giggling. Her laughter was pure and crisp, like that of an ordinary child, innocent and cute.
She faced off against Su Nian, seemingly oblivious to the chain of ghosts trailing behind her. To remain so unfazed in such a scene made her even more terrifying than the ghoulish ghosts themselves.
"What? Done with the act?"
Su Nian chuckled, remembering how when she’d first found the girl, she had pretended to be upset and afraid. Su Nian hadn’t paid it much mind, never imagining that the girl was the one behind it all.
The girl didn’t answer. She just kept giggling as if watching some funny game from the sidelines.
Still laughing, she turned and ran back inside.
Su Nian, with her rope tying a chain of ghosts, followed leisurely behind her.
After entering the wooden cabin, many of the ghosts began to look extremely uncomfortable, as if they were in unbearable pain.
The cabin itself also grew strange. Before, it had taken Su Nian no time at all to reach the bathroom.
But now, she had been walking for a full ten minutes and still hadn’t found the little girl or that strange mirror. The cabin’s layout had changed, and Su Nian seemed to be trapped inside.
The little girl’s cheerful laughter continued to echo in her ears. The sound reverberated through the space, eerie and hollow.
