Chapter 197: Even Doctors Have a Gentle Side
Well, she had participated in so many missions, snagging a decent number of rewards. With her eyesight not quite mastering the Yin-Yang Eyes level but still pretty close, and considering that Bai Yu’s soul was hanging out in her body, her initial reaction upon seeing An Tianhe and his crew bathed in thick black mist was—food delivery!
With such a heavy load of resentment, you either had a powerful Red-clothed Female Ghost hanging around, or two or three Red-clothed apparitions terrorizing the place.
There were five of them, some stronger, some weaker, but together? Definitely a feast fit for a ghostly banquet!
Waving her hand, Zhao Mingyue gave a pat to the Moon Fox’s head and turned to strut back into the Young Adult Apartment.
The apartment looked just as dingy and dreary as it did on her first visit, filled with shadowy resentment draping the halls. The lighting was dim, cluttered with all sorts of junk, and the doorways adorned with incense burners or some very moldy offerings, not to mention red candles that looked like they’d been through a horror movie.
Every door was firmly closed, and due to the already dreary hallway, the iron doors showed significant rust—a vivid reminder that this place hadn’t seen a resident in ages. The only hint of occupancy? The shiny keyholes gleaming in the gloom.
Bai Shuang’er entered, shaking her head as the dank, rotten odor of the hallway hit her like a bad cologne.
Her nose was considerably more sensitive than a human’s; she immediately caught the whiff of something—be it human or critter—having kicked the bucket in one of those rooms. The stench had probably seeped into the walls and doors after being left to fester.
And let’s not forget how annoyingly slick and damp the floor was! Years of dust and grime had formed an ancient paste that felt eerily reminiscent of—wait for it—bl**d splattered on the floor and not cleaned up.
Not exactly welcoming for a shoeless fox, you know!
Zhao Mingyue originally planned to take the elevator, but standing at the elevator door, she glanced at the staircase next door and felt a bit uneasy.
Something about that staircase seemed off, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
She had another question nagging at her.
It was obvious there were plenty of ghosts in this apartment building, so why wasn’t it a mission site?
Could it be that the ghosts here were too weak? Did they lack the terrifying presence of Little Ghost Xiao Lian from the fifth floor of the Sunshine Apartments, thereby failing to meet mission criteria?
Looking at the cramped, shadowy environment—complete with whiffs of iron and decay—Zhao Mingyue couldn’t help but think it actually felt scarier than the Sunshine Apartments. What a missed opportunity not to be a mission site!
“Forget it, let’s take the stairs,” she resolved.
As soon as she stepped onto the staircase, An Tianhe’s voice resonated behind her. “Little Moon, aren’t you taking the elevator?”
“Not this time. My master’s still waiting for you guys in the elevator, so up you go!”
With that, Zhao Mingyue bounded up the stairs.
“Bai Yu, do you think there’s a Red-clothed Ghost in this building?”
“Not sure.”
“I keep wondering why this place can’t be a mission site. It looks terrifying enough! And even if there isn’t a Red-clothed, there’s an Evil Spirit, which is even scarier!” Zhao Mingyue pulled out her black phone, and—surprise, surprise!—no mission alerts popped up.
But that changed everything in Bai Yu’s eyes.
[Mission: Sister’s Dream]
[I haven’t seen my sister smile in ages. She’s so little yet so mature; it pulls at heartstrings. The other night, she told me she didn’t want to live anymore, be it human or ghost—it’s all a nightmare. When will she be free?]
[I didn’t know how to answer her. Was I supposed to say, “Sister, you’re already dead?”]
[Those five guys, those five killers! I won’t let them off, even if I have to become a ghost. If I had a second chance, I’d make them pay bl**d for bl**d, even at the cost of my own life.]
[Doctor, tonight your task is to help Subject 7556 eliminate her enemies.]
[Task Reward: Tears of the Evil Spirit]
The Young Adult Apartment wasn’t a mission site simply because the Evil Spirit in Chen Bingtang’s body had eaten the other ghosts dwelling there. No ghosts meant no mission site, after all.
After seeing this redemption mission, she felt her hypothesis solidifying.
Usually, redemption missions trigger simultaneously with the task scenario, meaning the corresponding subject must be present within the scene.
Now that a mission hadn’t kicked off yet triggered a redemption mission? That raised all sorts of red flags. And this Subject 7556? Bai Yu had a strong hunch it was Chen Tianran, Chen Bingtang’s big sister.
Lost in thought, Bai Yu began piecing together every useful clue hidden in the limited task description.
First off, Chen Tianran’s situation was completely different from Shen Shuyun and the Dragon Lady and Sky Fox. Her life was comparatively better—at least her family was still around, her father and sister still living.
As long as her people were around, there was hope! Way better than Shen Shuyun’s situation.
In a way, Chen Tianran was exceptionally lucky.
Had it been someone else, they’d likely be facing their father and sister’s ghosts alone in this empty apartment building, both of them dead.
But if Chen Tianran couldn’t grasp this opportunity, that luck could become her greatest misfortune and nightmare.
Simply put, she had already lost once, hence her unwelcome entry into the sc*m Game.
Now the sc*m Game was giving her a chance to return to her past life to make choices again. Was she going to watch Chen Bingtang d*e again?
Treading in the hell of the sc*m Game, struggling, barely surviving, finally transforming into a new self. But if she couldn’t grasp this opportunity? Watching her sister d*e a second time? What a tragedy!
From the first paragraph, it was clear that Chen Bingtang was dead; she’d become a ghost and had haunted Chen Tianran in her dreams.
Which led to her desire for liberation—meaning someone had deliberately orchestrated her d*ath and transformation into a ghost, tormenting her even in her undead state.
Then there were those five killers…
The connections were coming together like a horror puzzle. If nothing unexpected happened, it was probably An Tianhe and his crew.
Excluding herself and Zhao Mingyue, that left four other people that Chen Yunshi had dragged along—an “unexpected situation.” Chen Tianran’s previous life apparently hadn’t included them, and under normal circumstances, only An Tianhe and his guys would’ve come.
And these five just so happened to be ghost controllers—pretty shady characters who were likely entangled in temptation.
You didn’t even need to connect the dots to guess who triggered the redemption mission; it was practically written in the stars.
Last time she came here, having faced Chen Tianran, nothing had triggered.
But this time, it did?
“Bai Yu, look!” Zhao Mingyue exclaimed at the stairway, pointing at the terrifying scratches on the walls and floors, her eyes wide with shock.
The staircase was scarred with what looked like deep gouges from a blade, haphazardly marked but, upon closer inspection, held a certain pattern to them. They were clearly signs of a fierce battle.
“Bai Yu, doesn’t this look like a giant centipede trampled it?”
Zhao Mingyue crouched to investigate, but it was only when a little bug scurried past her that the light bulb over her head flickered to life.
“Didn’t Chen Bingtang say her aunt was a centipede?”
She gestured; some of the scratches were at least a finger long.
“Must be, her scent lingers here.”
“Now, how in the world could something like this cause such chaos?”
That kind of force, if it hit a person, wouldn’t they get sliced clean in half?
“Wasn’t she the one who changed into a centipede from human and ghost? How’s come things are different this time?”
Peeking her head out, Zhao Mingyue saw they were on the fourth floor.
The hallway was crammed with assorted junk, nearly blocking the pathway. She spotted some rusty knives and axes scattered around and suddenly clicked.
She realized how this Evil Spirit had created such mass destruction.
With a gulp, Zhao Mingyue was getting a whole new appreciation for the Evil Spirit’s strength.
No wonder folks said Evil Spirits were stronger than Red-clothed Ghosts—the latter couldn’t pull off this level of widespread destruction unless they were as special as Bai Yu. But Bai Yu was one of a kind; you couldn’t exactly generalize all Red-clothed Ghosts based on her.
“Let’s move upstairs.” Bai Yu urged, and Zhao Mingyue nodded, sprinting for the upper floor.
Perhaps because the elevator was outdated, she arrived just in time; Li Tianan and the others hadn’t arrived too much earlier and were still perched at the stairway, chatting with Chen Bingtang and her father, Chen Hao.
“Bai Yu, what should we do?”
Zhao Mingyue captured the attention of the entire hallway, her face unwavering as she asked inside her head.
She sensed Bai Yu was preoccupied with some thoughts.
“Don’t worry about them; get to Chen Bingtang’s room. We need to hurry.”
“Got it!”
Zhao Mingyue practically sped through the hall, casually saying to Li Tianan as she zipped past, “I need to handle something. You guys keep chatting; I won’t be long.”
Before anyone could protest, a waft of refreshing fragrance followed her as she dashed into Chen Hao’s house, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it.
“Bai Yu, what’s happening?”
“There’s an issue with Chen Bingtang; don’t worry about outside—come in.”
“Understood.”
Zhao Mingyue hurried to Chen Bingtang’s door, found it locked, and knocked, but no response came from inside.
“Shuang’er!” Zhao Mingyue turned to the big fox beside her.
Bai Shuang’er immediately understood. She took two steps back and then lunged forward, crashing against the door.
Bang!
All the room doors shook from the impact.
The others, still deep in conversation, froze as they looked around, realizing that from each room, a ghostly figure was emerging.
The Young Adult Apartment wasn’t exactly small, but this floor had eight rooms.
Out from those eight rooms sauntered over twenty ghosts, with two being Red-clothed who took the lead.
The trailing rows of ordinary ghosts kept their heads bowed and moved stiffly, almost controlled by some unseen force.
Two Red-clothed Ghosts led the charge, flanking them were twenty-two resentment-filled ordinary ghosts—this was a formidable lineup. If An Tianhe and his crew were left to handle this alone, the outcome was anyone’s guess.
The two leading Red-clothed Ghosts radiated an eerie aura, but one thing was for sure—their power definitely packed a punch.
“What in the world is this?” An Tianhe frowned deeply, feeling uneasy.
Those twenty-plus ghosts just didn’t seem right.
The collective resentment there was almost tangible, bearing an overwhelming sensation as if the ghosts had bunched up together, twisting into one terrifying entity.
If they dispersed, each of those ghosts would be formidable; together? Nightmarish.
But the question remained—why weren’t they attacking?
With the only escape route blocked and the doors behind them were bolted, they had nowhere to retreat to anymore.
—
Standing at the door, the first thing Zhao Mingyue spotted was Chen Bingtang slumped on the bed, clutching a piece of drawing paper as she lay unconscious. In the middle of the room stood Chen Tianran, her body exposed and bloodied, yet her expression betrayed a wild madness.
Her body was riddled with wounds, as though encased in a net of razor blades, sliced up and bleeding profusely.
The floor was soaked with bl**d, each drop twisted into bizarre symbols thanks to some unnerving force. Looking up, Zhao Mingyue saw the entire room painted with these same bloody symbols.
Chen Tianran wielded a bl**d-soaked kn*fe, and the moment she laid eyes on Zhao Mingyue, her voice was weak as she hissed, “Get out, or I’ll k*ll you.”
Every single wound on her body was self-inflicted. The more dangerous-looking ones on her back were all over the place—obviously the result of desperate slashes.
Incredibly horrific injuries; forget about the mental strength required, just bleeding out like that would’ve knocked out any ordinary person long ago. Some would even be dead by now.
Meanwhile, Chen Bingtang lay untouched, holding a drawing that read in black ink, “Save my sister.”
Bai Yu materialized from Zhao Mingyue’s body, raising her hand as bl**d threads wrapped around Chen Tianran, ignoring her struggles.
“Subject 7556, I’m the doctor. Put down the kn*fe, and let’s talk.”
Sure, stating you’re a doctor in a scene like this felt a tad odd, but Chen Tianran’s reaction was even more bizarre. Upon hearing the word “doctor,” her face contorted, disbelief written all over it.
She dropped the kn*fe, trying to speak but barely managed to mumble, her voice weak and fragmented.
“Doctor…”
“W-why are you here of all times?”
“I’m begging you, please let me finish this… okay?”
“As long as I finish this, I’ll d*e…”
With a cough, bl**d trickled from the corner of her mouth.
“I won’t block your path, I swear…”
Her face was smeared in bl**d, and tears mixed with it slipped down her cheeks.
“This is my last chance; I know I’m trash.”
Hanging on by a thread, she was given a second chance and still ended up here, which made her only see herself as a waste of space.
What she didn’t expect was the being she could only look up to uttering this line:
“Put down the kn*fe, end the ritual, and live well. I’ll handle the people outside for you.”
—
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