Chapter 2278: Ghosts Within the Scope of Understanding
Flames blazed in the living room. To avoid burning down the house, Xu Huo thoughtfully controlled the fire. Watching the two corpses scream in the flames, he said, "I've seen memorial tablets in quite a few houses. I doubt this is an isolated case."
"Where did that ghost go?"
Zhu Xiaojin glanced into the pitch-black stairwell. "Not in the hallway. Maybe it got scared off."
The corpses in the living room had fallen silent. To prevent them from reviving, Xu Huo used a Space Ray Blade to shred them, confirming they were reduced to powder before heading out. "Let's find that female ghost and ask where the living people are."
The Painting Woman volunteered to take the lead.
"Be careful, then." Xu Huo agreed without hesitation.
Watching her run off, Tang Yu said, "Isn't splitting up the worst thing you can do in a horror movie? That semi-transparent thing didn't look like something fire could handle."
"If it can attack you, you can attack it," Xu Huo replied. "Things spawned from instances and items are still within the scope of what players can understand."
Tang Yu said nothing more.
The Painting Woman was highly efficient. Before they had even made it down the stairs, she returned, dragging the semi-transparent female ghost by the neck. The ghost's deathly appearance was horrifying. Even with its neck pinched, it bared a ferocious grin at Xu Huo and the others, only to receive a slap across the face.
The Painting Woman, finding it inconvenient to speak while holding the ghost, made her disdain perfectly clear with her expression. When the ghost tried to change its face after the slap, she raised her hand again.
The ghost finally behaved.
"Can you communicate?" Xu Huo stepped closer.
"Yes..." the ghost replied weakly.
"Besides us, where are the remaining living people in this neighborhood?" Xu Huo asked.
"There are none," the ghost answered, still weakly.
"None?" Old Cai frowned. "Are the players holding items really hiding outside the neighborhood?"
"Tell the truth." Xu Huo released his Spiritual Realm, materializing his Spiritual Power into sharp Tangents that pressed against the ghost's neck. "Fire might not work, but we can try this."
As he spoke, the materialized object pierced its shoulder. The ghost screamed, begging for mercy, and pointed at Building 5. "There, there! There's a very powerful woman in there!"
Xu Huo released her. "And?"
"There's no one else... No, no, let me say something else! In that building, besides that woman, there are many terrifying things—a child, an old man, and a murderer. I was killed by that murderer, and I don't even dare to take revenge... waaah..." The ghost's mind was somewhat unstable, and it started crying.
The utterly merciless Painting Woman slapped it again, silencing it.
Xu Huo could observe the situation in Building 5, but within his Spiritual Realm, the number of living people there was far more than one, and he couldn't distinguish who the female player was. It was likely a limitation of the item's power.
"Is she still in Building 5 now?" He conjured the woman's face. "Is this the woman?"
The ghost nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, it's her. I saw her go into Building 5."
Xu Huo looked at Old Cai, who nodded and immediately used a Blockade Barrier to envelop the entire building. "Now let's see where she can hide."
After sealing the building, Xu Huo and the others entered Building 5, led by the female ghost.
"It's so cold in here." Zhu Xiaojin rubbed his arms as he walked in. "This item is pretty good, comes with its own air conditioning."
The elevator had long been abandoned and unusable, so they took the stairs. As soon as they reached the second floor, they heard a "thump, thump" sound coming from above, gradually approaching them. Soon, a ball rolled to their feet, and at the stairwell entrance on the second floor, a child in a red dress flickered past.
Xu Huo raised his hand, using a Space Barrier to snare it. "Since you're here, don't leave."
The child in the red dress struggled as it was brought before them. Lifting its eyeless sockets, it "stared" at them hollowly, as if trying to speak, but when it opened its mouth, it only spat out foul-smelling liquid and some maggots.
"A bit hard on the eyes." Tang Yu walked over, bent down, and smiled at the girl. "Little one, Auntie needs to go upstairs to find someone. Be good and don't be naughty, or Auntie will have to spank you."
No sooner had she finished speaking than the girl lunged at her throat.
Tang Yu, wearing an item on her hand, caught the girl's face with one hand, her fingers gradually tightening. "Didn't I tell you? Don't be naughty."
Zhu Xiaojin stepped forward and pinched the girl's shoulder. "It has a physical form. Let me see if a rope can hold it."
He took an item rope and looped it around the girl's neck, signaling Tang Yu to let go.
The girl landed back on the ground, clawed at the rope twice to no avail, then suddenly lunged at Zhu Xiaojin.
"Hey! It actually works!" Zhu Xiaojin grabbed its head, but found its appearance unpleasant, so he stuffed a roll of toilet paper into its mouth, plugged it tight, and patted its head. "Lead the way!"
With the red-dress girl and the female ghost one in front and one behind, Xu Huo and the others walked in the middle, hoping to ascend a few floors without incident. But just as they stepped onto the second floor, a deranged old woman charged at them, cutting them off in the middle.
Tang Yu and Old Cai instinctively stepped back, but at that moment, the floor of the stairwell suddenly softened, swallowing them like water.
The intent was to teleport them elsewhere in the neighborhood, but Xu Huo immediately sealed the space above and below. Sensing their trajectory, he pulled them back through his Spiritual Gate just in time.
"This damn place has some tricks." Old Cai said immediately after coming through the Spiritual Gate. "I tried to break through the building with an item, but it didn't work."
"There's Space Power here. The teleportation channel can't be destroyed by ordinary items, and we can't block it either," Xu Huo said. "Just be careful."
"To avoid getting separated, it's best to tie ourselves together with items." Tang Yu took out several sets of items and distributed them, then used a Barrier Item to cover everyone. "At least this gives us time to react."
The old woman, swinging a knife wildly, had already been locked to the railing by Zhu Xiaojin. "Strictly speaking, she's not alive either, but I respect the elderly and love the young, so I'll spare her."
The old woman muttered deliriously, "The seventh day... the seventh day... he's back... that murderer is back..."
"Is the murderer dead?" Zhu Xiaojin asked.
The old woman couldn't hold a conversation. She suddenly pointed up the stairwell and screamed, "Upstairs! Upstairs!"
After shouting this, she collapsed.
Zhu Xiaojin let go. "Nonsensical."
"Creak..." A faint sound of a door opening came from nearby. Xu Huo and the others looked up and saw a young man with dark circles peeking out. He asked tentatively, "Are you not residents here?"