Chapter 001: The Infernal Crematorium Start!

Chapter 001: The Infernal Crematorium Start!

As the vengeful spirit roared, Chi Shen began to vanish, his flesh torn and consumed by the creature.

He did not cry out in pain nor did he glance at the teammate who had pushed him forward; he was even smiling.

In this peril-filled instance, he led everyone, evading the vengeful spirits, searching for an exit, ensuring no one was left behind till the very end.

Just one last door remained to be opened for a successful escape. To buy time, a teammate pushed him towards the relentless pursuing spirits.

His teammate, Ye Bu Zui, looked back at him and then froze in terror.

What scared Ye Bu Zui was not the vengeful spirit, but Chi Shen. Half of Chi Shen's face had turned to bone, yet he was smiling. Initially a slight grin, this smile took on an eerily beautiful allure on that half skeletal visage. The more of him that was devoured, the louder his laughter grew, bordering on manic hysteria towards the end.

Ye Bu Zui's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground.

The laughter suddenly ceased, replaced by the shrieks of the vengeful spirits. The spirits who had consumed parts of Chi Shen began to tremble, attempting to flee. Chi Shen, with his now skeletal hand, gently touched a spirit's head. The spirit transformed into a shadow and merged into him, vanishing completely.

His body rapidly reformed. Bone regrew flesh, tissues, and skin. Soon, even his tattered clothes were whole again. If one ignored the dark aura surrounding him, he was once more the handsome, kind, and always-smiling team leader.

"I—I'm sorry!" Ye Bu Zui stuttered in apology. "I just wanted to lead everyone to complete the level. I wanted the reward and...”

Gaining some confidence, he continued, “I believed you'd sacrifice yourself for us. We made it this far; with your sacrifice, we could succeed. You can't blame me! It takes time for these spirits to consume someone, and you told us this. By saying that, you indicated you were prepared to sacrifice!”

A cold chuckle escaped from Chi Shen, making Ye Bu Zui shiver. He had never seen the captain laugh like that.

"I was right about you," Chi Shen approached him, looking down with a pitiful gaze. "You’re selfish, despicable, willing to go to any lengths for personal gain. That's why I kept you close."

A gleam of madness appeared in Ye Bu Zui's eyes, “So you were prepared to sacrifice! Rest assured, when I get out, I will sing your praises—”

His voice abruptly cut off.

Chi Shen walked past Ye Bu Zui, whose head suddenly fell, landing on the ground. Blood pooled around it, completing the last piece missing from Chi Shen's sleeve.

"But thank you."

Chi Shen's eyes, downcast, exuded a Buddha-like compassion.

"For paving the last stretch of my metamorphosis."

Beneath a blood-red canopy, a handsome young man emerges from a mound of corpses and a sea of blood. He stretches out his pallid hand, reaching for the door that radiates a brilliant white light.

What should he do once he's outside?

In a world filled with nothing but strife, he found himself momentarily distracted.

A world of peace...

He yearned to lay back and enjoy life.

——

Chi Shen woke up from the cold floor. His gaze was still icy sharp, but with a blink, that cold, blade-like intensity vanished, replaced by calm and gentle eyes, akin to that of any ordinary person. He even mustered a simple smile.

Leaving a game filled with death and phantoms, a smile seemed fitting.

It was a game that dragged the dying into a world of specters. By surviving a series of eerie challenges and completing the final level, one had the chance to resurrect. Each level was fraught with danger, specters of death, and players with their own agendas.

An abrupt chill interrupted Chi Shen's thoughts.

Directly in front of him, by an antique, ornately-carved dressing mirror, a disheveled ghostly woman in red was crawling out. Through the parted strands of her hair, one could see her mouth, stretched wide open, filled with rows of thin teeth, and a long, fat tongue drooping to the floor.

Seeing Chi Shen's smile, the ghost seemed taken aback. Her withered right hand, painted with bright red nail polish, hovered in mid-air, seemingly puzzled. Just moments ago, this man had collapsed in fright at her appearance. Why was he now smiling?

Engaging in this unexpected stare-down with the ghost, Chi Shen's memories from before entering the death game came flooding back.

Having spent so long in the death game, he'd almost forgotten who he once was and what had led him into that bloody competition.

This place was an old mansion, and tonight was his first night here.

This room was his chosen bedroom. Just as he was about to sleep, the cabinet stirred. Turning around, he found this lady in red emerging from the mirror, reaching out with her pale hand painted with red nail polish, attempting to grasp him. His legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor, tears streaming.

Wiping his face, Chi Shen still wore a tear-streaked smile.

It seemed there were still some lingering issues for him to address.

Only then could he truly rest.

While this lady in red had once terrified him to tears, she now appeared warm and friendly in his eyes. Compared to the monsters from the death game, she was but a novice's entry-level ghost!

The red-clothed specter withdrew her brittle hand a little, perplexed by Chi Shen's ongoing smile. Such a grin might've been fitting on a sunny spring day. However, in this gloomy haunted mansion, especially in the presence of a fierce spirit, the smile was eerily out of place.

Even the fierce ghost hesitated, finding the situation eerily unsettling.

"My apologies," Chi Shen rubbed his face, "I've just come back to life and haven't mastered controlling my facial expressions yet. Please, don't mind me. Continue."

The ghost in red: "..."

Chi Shen dropped his hand. The tear tracks on his face had disappeared, but the upward curve of his lips grew more exaggerated, his smile slowly revealing a hint of madness!

Sensing a dangerous aura, the red-clad specter didn't waste any more time. She lunged with lightning speed, both her pale arms reaching out for Chi Shen. Her fingernails, painted in a vivid red, grew sharply, aiming to pierce through Chi Shen's body—

A gentle touch landed on the ghost's head. Chi Shen had vanished from her sight! Her hands paused mid-air. Her bloodshot eyes rolled upwards, meeting Chi Shen's gaze. As a ghost, she had no idea how he managed to get behind her!

Chi Shen extended a hand, patting the ghost's head softly, and sighed, "I always yearned for a better life, competing for everything. I never realized how beautiful ordinary life could be."

This gesture was reminiscent of petting a cat or a dog. Feeling insulted, the ghost in red let out a shriek and bit at the hand patting her.

—Crack.

Her teeth shattered.

"Seems the physique I had in the game came with me," Chi Shen continued to smile.

The lady in red couldn't understand what he was saying. She felt insulted in her ghostly existence, as if her spectral dignity had been trampled upon. She had revealed herself in her most terrifying form, and yet this man merely feigned fright for a moment before mocking her. This was unbearable!

Bones cracked audibly. The lady in red let out a piercing scream, her body expanded abruptly, her head nearly reaching the rafters of the old house. Her black hair cascaded down like a waterfall, almost covering the entire floor of the room.

Chi Shen calmly observed the specter, "Rampage mode, huh? Seems ghosts in reality aren't that different from those in games."

A pale, withered, massive hand reached out towards Chi Shen, descending rapidly.

Black mist slid from Chi Shen's sleeve, coiling like serpents. A three-meter-long, black Mo Dao (great blade) materialized in his hand. Holding the cavalry weapon behind him, a sudden cold draft blew throughout the room, previously sealed by closed doors and windows. The temperature plummeted, as if the entire space had been thrown into an ice cellar.

"Even brought out the props."

A deeper smile played on Chi Shen's face. Facing the descending hand, he dodged neither left nor right, and slashed with his blade!

"Kraaack—"

The full-length mirror in the room suddenly exhibited cracks.

The ghostly woman was cleaved from her palm up to her shoulder. The Mo Dao had split her entire spectral form in half from the shoulder!

Disbelief and bone-deep fear appeared in her bloodshot eyes. The halved figure shrank rapidly; with only one remaining hand and her upper body, she tried to pull her head towards the cracked mirror.

With another swing of the Mo Dao in Chi Shen's hand, "Bang!" The mirror shattered. The lady in red, in disbelief, clutched the frame of the broken mirror. As Chi Shen took a step forward, she frantically wrapped her long tongue around the frame, banging her head against it, hoping somehow to return.

Upon entering the death game, there had been instructions stating that only those destined to die would be pulled into the game. Completing the game meant a chance to continue living in the real world.

It seemed that if Chi Shen hadn’t accidentally entered the death game, he would have been dead the moment the lady in red had grabbed him.

Chi Shen wasn't in a hurry to kill the ghost. He had some questions for her.

"No rush," Chi Shen sheathed the Mo Dao, gently patting the ghost’s head, "We have plenty of time."

He found the ghost's hair surprisingly smooth, pleasant to the touch. Though his gesture was meant to be comforting, it only made her bang against the broken mirror frame more violently.

After a long while, it seemed the ghost realized she truly couldn't return and finally calmed down.

"Do you know Bai Ran?" Chi Shen felt he should be kinder to a spirit nearing its end, so he waited for her to settle before posing the question.

The ghost immediately shook her head vigorously.

"Oh." A hint of disappointment appeared on Chi Shen's face.

Bai Ran, the impostor of the Bai family who exchanged lives with him, was unknown to this ghost. That felt somewhat regrettable.

Chi Shen had been lured here by Bai Ran. Initially, he was deceived by Bai Ran's harmless facade, thinking Bai Ran truly felt guilty for stealing his life and was working to help him return to the Bai family. Bai Ran even brought him to this so-called ancestral Bai mansion, claiming that if he gained the approval of the elders within, he could rejoin the Bai family.

Memories, suppressed after harrowing incidents, slowly resurfaced. Those felt like from a past life. Even recalling the moments leading up to his death, his gaze remained indifferent.

What was he feeling back then?

Was he moved to tears by Bai Ran's selflessness?

Had he even inwardly despised his past self for constantly aspiring for a better life?

However, there were no Bai family elders in the mansion, only terrifying malevolent spirits.

"Knock, knock, knock."

There was a sudden knock on the room door.

A faint, raspy voice, sounding almost like a sob, came from outside: "Is anyone there? Is anyone there? I've lost my head; can you help me find it?"

Chi Shen flashed a faint smile, caressing the female ghost's hair. "If you don't know, that's okay. I'll ask your neighbor."

*

Author's note:

Updates every other day for now! Daily updates coming soon! Hope you enjoy the story!