Chapter 097: Deep contemplation by Boss Li.

Chapter 097: Deep contemplation by Boss Li.

A faint light moved slowly. It was Li Xu's mobile flashlight, illuminating as he began searching the room.

First, he headed to where the statue of the God of Wealth was supposed to be, only to discover it missing.

"How can a decaying statue, so fragile that it can't even be lifted, go missing?" Li Xu mumbled. Exiting the room where the statue should've been, he moved to another, thinking that if it wasn't here, he should check elsewhere.

Even though Yuan Yiping assured him the statue was harmless, deep down, Li Xu had always believed there was something off about it. Folktales had always claimed the statue was cursed, and he instinctively felt that tonight's events were linked to it.

Since the statue seemed to beckon him to the rear, he felt compelled to go. He intended to solve the problem from the back and preemptively rescue his colleagues!

In Li Xu's mind, a scene unfolded: Chi Shen conversing with an entity morphed from the God of Wealth. While Chi Shen might be fearful, trying to distract and chat with the entity, he wouldn't realize that the one in front of him was not his ally but a predator, merely toying with him.

The more Li Xu thought about it, the more he felt the weight of responsibility to rescue Chi Shen. He had to find the statue quickly and resolve the situation.

With swift footsteps, Li Xu rapidly moved from the workspace, where the statue once resided, to the storage room. Just then, he heard voices conversing.

He reacted swiftly. Years of experience sneaking into supernatural scenes allowed him to quickly turn off his phone's flashlight, pressing himself against the wall without making a sound. He even slowed his breathing, aiming to be as silent as possible.

But after he stopped, the voice vanished.

He hesitated for a brief moment, contemplating whether to investigate when suddenly, he heard footsteps again.

It was the sound of high heels clicking against a cement floor.

Click, click, click.

The rhythmic steps were just on the other side of the wall. The person wearing the heels seemed anxious, pacing back and forth in the adjacent room. Yet, the regularity of the steps suggested a woman of impeccable grace and poise.

But why would there be a woman here in this desolate, pitch-black area in the middle of the night?

As he caressed the screen of his phone, Li Xun pondered, "Is it a female ghost?"

He then touched his forehead, recalling he had lost his protective talisman. Could he truly be encountering a ghost?

Treading cautiously, Li Xun decided to find out. If it was a ghost, it might be the woman and her mother who came to Huang Qiang's house to make furniture and were tragically killed.

He hadn't taken many steps when he noticed a faint light, which reduced his suspicion about the woman being a ghost. After all, ghosts have no need for lights.

Assessing the layout, Li Xun deduced that the next room was the kitchen. Huang Qiang's rural kitchen was spacious, not like those cramped city kitchens. Country kitchens often stored firewood and had larger traditional stoves, making them almost as large as a typical urban room.

The rhythmic clicking of the heels persisted. Taking out his phone, Li Xun extended the camera around the corner and slowly pressed the capture button.

"Snap."

He froze. Why was the camera sound on by default?

"Who's there?" A woman's voice suddenly echoed from the kitchen.

As Li Xun turned to flee, a flashlight's beam instantly illuminated him. The same woman's voice inquired, "Who are you?"

From the voice, he deduced she was a refined middle-aged woman. Turning to face her, he was momentarily taken aback.

Her attire was unremarkable, yet Li Xun immediately felt that this woman was no ordinary individual. She exuded the aura of a sophisticated lady one might see on TV dramas.

Observing her holding a flashlight, he reasoned that ghosts probably don't use such devices and politely asked, "Are you human?"

The flashlight beam shifted away from him, and in a somewhat detached tone, the woman replied, "I am human. Are you lost? Come in."

Without the revealing talisman, he should only be able to see humans, which considerably eased his mind. He approached and inquired with curiosity, "Are you truly human?"

The woman extended a hand towards him, her eyes signaling him to inspect it. Muttering an "I'm sorry", Li Xun gingerly touched it, only to quickly retract his hand.

It was warm; she was undoubtedly human.

Following her into the kitchen, Li Xun asked curiously, "Why are you in the kitchen? What are you doing here?"

"I'm cooking," came the calm reply from the middle-aged woman.

Li Xun was momentarily stunned, "Cooking?"

Cooking in a haunted house?

Only then did Li Xun notice the kitchen smeared with blood and the pungent, metallic odor hanging in the air. Abandoned stovetops were lined with black plastic bags filled with entrails.

He felt a tacky sensation on his hand. Raising it to the light, he spotted congealed black blood on the spot where he had touched the woman. In the dimness earlier, he had missed the fact that her hands were drenched in fresh blood.

No wonder she had switched off the flashlight earlier—she didn't want him to see the blood on her hands.

"It's all animal organs; you needn't be frightened," the woman said soothingly.

Li Xun spotted familiar items like pig intestines and chicken hearts, which offered him slight reassurance.

The woman's voice continued, laced with a hint of tenderness, "My child is hungry. He dislikes these offerings and wished for fresher human fare. I told him to be patient, not to act rashly and risk discovery. We would wait for our enemies to walk into our trap. He's been very obedient."

She whispered, "But today is the day. He's awaited his nemesis, and I have procured the fresh meat to satisfy him."

Li Xun's gaze towards the woman trembled slightly.

The woman then lifted her other hand, clutching a kitchen knife.

Forgoing even a scream, Li Xun instantly turned on his heels and fled.

He had been cautious upon entering. Suspicious about the sudden appearance of a woman in such a place, he had maintained a distance and positioned himself behind her. Only when she'd offered her hand had he ventured closer.

As a result, he was nearer the kitchen exit and had a head start.

As he sprinted away, he risked a glance back. Oddly, the woman wasn't pursuing him. Gaming instincts kicked in—if she wasn't chasing, she either knew she couldn't catch him or—she didn't need to chase at all.

"Ranran."

He heard the voice of a woman.

"Your appetizer is served."

Li Xù felt an intense chill piercing through his body, making his legs go rigid in an instant and causing him to fall to the ground.

The sound of high heels approached slowly.

Li Xù tried to scramble to his feet, but his legs seemed unresponsive, as if they had been frozen, and he felt somewhat numb.

What to do?

Li Xù thought quickly. As the woman neared him, he shouted, "Miss! Let's negotiate. Am I enough for you alone? How about we wait for more?"

Suddenly, he felt something tugging at him, his legs regained movement, and he immediately abandoned the idea of negotiating. He was pulled to his feet by whatever was tugging at the hem of his clothing, and it dragged him forward.

Judging by the height of the force pulling him, a thought struck Li Xù, "Huang Lingling?"

No one responded. He was jerked away, but he managed to look back one last time to see the woman standing at the kitchen door, watching him but not following.

His vision seemed to blur, and between him and the woman, it appeared as if a watery ripple had spread, but he couldn’t make out exactly what it was.

The dilapidated haunted house was full of pits and bumps, and broken stones and rotten wood blocked the path. Li Xù stumbled several times due to the force pulling him until it finally released him.

He found himself beneath a half-height stone wall, gasping for air, wondering why there was a middle-aged woman here. What on earth was happening?

After catching his breath, he whispered again, "Huang Lingling?"

Still no response. He wasn’t impatient; he just sat quietly, murmuring, "Thank you for helping me."

The stillness of the night was suddenly pierced by a noise. Li Xù turned on his phone's flashlight, looking in the direction of the sound.

There was a patch of overgrown weeds, which seemed even more flourishing than the surroundings.

Li Xù eyed the weeds for a moment before approaching.

Just then, he caught a glimpse of a beam of light. He immediately ducked, turning off his phone's light and took cover behind the low wall, peeking towards the source of the light.

A man approached from that direction, seemingly unfamiliar with the path. He kept glancing at his phone as he walked, murmuring, "Is this the right way?"

The light in the man's hand was too bright for Li Xù to make out his face. However, judging by the man's tall stature, Li Xù quickly deduced that it was Chi Shen — the one who was supposed to stay in the car!

Why is he here?

Li Xù quickly theorized: had Chi Shen not been deceived by the vengeful spirit that had replaced him and thus come looking for them?

What a foolish move! It's like he's offering himself up on a silver platter when he was already safe!

No, that's not right.

Li Xù soon realized that something might have happened. He had encountered that woman earlier, and she had called out to something — probably beckoning the spirit to feast on him. So, by that logic, the ghost must have returned.

Therefore, it seemed that the ghost hadn’t bothered Chi Shen. Or, if it did, it was called back by the woman. Either way, Chi Shen was safe, but he had recklessly come to this place.

Li Xù took a step forward, intending to pull Chi Shen into hiding. If Chi Shen encountered that woman and the spirit accompanying her, his fate could be dire.

However, as he moved forward, another thought struck him.

How could he be sure this was truly Chi Shen? What if the spirit had assumed Chi Shen's appearance to lure him out, especially since it might not have been able to find him?

This possibility made sense.

With this in mind, Li Xù hesitated, deciding to observe a bit longer.

But soon, he saw the middle-aged woman appear before Chi Shen, uttering something to him.

"Chi Shen, danger!"

Without further thought, Li Xù lunged forward!