Chapter 271: The Third Municipal Porcelain Factory 10

Chapter 271: The Third Municipal Porcelain Factory 10

"How am I going to solve it? Don't worry about it; I can handle it. For the next couple of days, stay with me, and we'll skip work to check out the factory."

Qin Fei's tone was somewhat dismissive. His method of dealing with ghosts was to act alongside Ding Tianyu, trying to get the ghost that was haunting Ding Tianyu to switch its attention to him instead.

After all, he wasn't afraid of ghosts.

But explaining this would sound too far-fetched, and being vague seemed more credible than giving a detailed explanation.

Ding Tianyu looked Qin Fei up and down, seemingly convinced by his words. Even the affection meter above his head ticked up a bit.

Qin Fei: "…"

To be honest, this person was quite easy to fool.

It was fortunate for him that he had encountered someone as gentle and kind as himself.

If he had met another player, he might have been deceived to the point of losing everything.

If Ding Tianyu had heard Qin Fei's thoughts, he probably would have been furious.

And indeed, Ding Tianyu was fooled by Qin Fei.

Perhaps because his current situation was so dire, Ding Tianyu saw Qin Fei, the very culprit, as his lifeline.

"Alright." The NPC gritted his teeth in agreement, still looking around nervously, like a frightened bird, "Where do we go now?"

Qin Fei waved his hand. "Let's go back to the dormitory first."

He regretted not waking up earlier today to find the porcelain bottle containing the water ghost.

The water ghost had been making its presence known all morning, annoying Qin Fei to no end.

Ding Tianyu hesitated for a moment before nodding obediently.

As they left the second workshop, they encountered several other players. Their gazes crossed briefly before subtly moving away.

Ding Tianyu seemed to sense the unusual atmosphere and silently followed behind Qin Fei like a shadow.

By the time they returned to the dormitory building, it was already working hours, and the courtyard was empty.

Ding Tianyu and Qin Fei entered the courtyard one after the other. Qin Fei headed straight upstairs, while Ding Tianyu, still scared from seeing the ghost last night, hesitated at the bottom of the stairs.

"No problem, then wait for me downstairs," Qin Fei said nonchalantly. "By the way, which room do you live in?"

He planned to deal with the water ghost in his own room first and then check out Ding Tianyu's room, hoping to resolve Ding Tianyu's troubles along the way.

NPCs were not as resilient as players, and Qin Fei didn't want his newly found follower to accidentally get killed by a ghost.

Ding Tianyu lived on the fourth floor, room 414—a rather unlucky room number.

After finding out, Qin Fei returned alone to the second floor, unsurprisingly encountering the public toilet booth again in the corridor.

"Move, you're blocking the way." Qin Fei kicked the booth.

The ghost of the public toilet was sensible and slid two meters away, booth and all.

Qin Fei found the public toilet ghost quite agreeable, despite it also being a bit oblivious like the water ghost but more likable nonetheless.

The moment the dormitory door opened, a chilling aura spilled out.

A viscous light red liquid flowed out from the slightly open door onto the corridor, soaking Qin Fei's shoes.

Ignoring the thick smell of blood in the air, Qin Fei pushed the door wide open.

It was clear that the water ghost was a stubborn one, still trying to scare Qin Fei even now.

Through the open door, Qin Fei saw a corpse.

The corpse lay on the bed, bloated and pale from being submerged in water, with indistinct features. From the clothes on the corpse, it was clearly supposed to be him.

Qin Fei's expression remained unchanged as he calmly walked into the room.

The icy blood water reached his ankles, but he seemed unaffected, taking each step steadily.

Standing in the center of the small room, he looked around thoughtfully before fixing his gaze on a spot on the ceiling.

Water was still dripping there, drop by drop, pinkish blood staining the sheets.

Seeing the mess on the bed, Qin Fei's facial muscles finally twitched, revealing a look of disgust.

Even knowing that everything before him was an illusion created by the water ghost, he still didn't want to climb onto that disgusting bed.

"Ghost infant."

The mischievous player began summoning the child laborer.

The ghost infant crawled out with its bottom sticking up.

Qin Fei pointed at the ceiling. "Go peel off that piece of wall."

He had already checked all visible areas and drawers in the room. Temporarily ruling out the possibility of the bottle playing hide-and-seek, he suspected it might be hidden in hard-to-reach places like walls or floors.

Qin Fei chose the ceiling first because both this morning and now, the ceiling had been the source of the seeping water.

The moment Qin Fei spoke these words, the entire dormitory suddenly shook violently.

This tremor was merely visual; the walls were shaking, the chandelier on the ceiling rattled, and the floor vibrated incessantly.

Yet, Qin Fei stood firmly in place, his figure not swaying even a fraction.

The blood on the floor seemed to be sucked into a drain, quickly receding in one direction.

I've found the right place.

Qin Fei understood.

The water ghost couldn't hold its composure, clearly wanting to escape, but the ghost infant was much faster.

Its tiny figure flickered, and before Qin Fei could see clearly, it had already hung upside down from the ceiling.

Its pale white hands, no bigger than half of an adult's, stretched out five fingers and firmly gripped the cracks in the plastered ceiling.

*Swish!*

Crackling sounds echoed as wall dust and paint peeled off together.

Mixed within them was a palm-sized porcelain bottle with a white base and blue flowers.

Qin Fei reached out and caught it steadily.

The illusion inside the room had long since returned to normal; the water stains in the room had faded, and the bed remained neatly made as when Qin Fei had left it that morning.

Qin Fei gently shook the bottle, and the empty vessel produced a hollow sound of water sloshing around.

Floating at the top of the bottle was a line of prompt text.

"Water Ghost: Affection (Not Pursuable)"

"Are you coming out yourself, or should I call?" The player smiled, but his tone carried a clear threat.

The porcelain bottle in his hand trembled, and a cloud of water vapor emerged from its narrow neck, forming a distorted face in the center.

The familiar face no longer held any malice. The water ghost, having been caught by its weakness, squealed like a rat with its tail pinned, pleading, "Let me go, let me go!"

The water ghost deeply regretted everything!

What possessed it to target such a person?

This person is more terrifying than a ghost!

The water ghost didn't understand why its created illusions had no effect on the person in front of it.

What kind of monster is he?

Qin Fei curled his finger and lightly tapped the porcelain bottle in his hand.

This was the second time he had encountered the ghost porcelain bottle from the ceramic factory's legend.

Through these two experiences, he had confirmed that the key to restraining the ghosts in the legend was the bottle.

Resist the mental interference of the ghosts, find their life-bound porcelain bottles, and destroy them.

Solving the ghosts in the ceramic factory was this simple.

It sounded easy, but for the NPCs born and raised in the legends, it was undoubtedly as difficult as ascending to heaven.

The workers in the ceramic factory were ordinary people. Even if they were brave, they had no way to fight back against the mental pollution of the ghosts.

Qin Fei patted the bottle's mouth and said with a smile, "Tell me, when did you come to the factory? What was your purpose?"

Qin Fei had asked these questions to the restroom manager ghost before, but unfortunately, the other party knew nothing. He hoped the water ghost would be more useful.

The water ghost's face dispersed and reformed in the air, giving a disappointing answer.

"I... I don't know when we came to the factory."

"When I have memories, I was already on the table in Workshop Two. Then I saw you and secretly hid in your backpack, hiding in your room."

According to the timeline, the water ghost had targeted Yu Zhoukai about one or two days before Qin Fei entered the legend.

Unfortunately, before it could make any significant moves, its chosen prey turned out to be this monster, Qin Fei.

Qin Fei's beautiful brows furrowed, and he shook his head regretfully, "Since you can't provide any valuable information, I'll have to crush you to vent my accumulated anger over the past few days."

The water ghost's pitch suddenly rose three octaves: "No, no, no!!"

"Although I don't know much, I know who knows!" It blurted out a tongue twister in desperation.

"Not all ghosts are as useless as me and the toilet ghost outside!" The water ghost shouted.

A dull thud came from the slightly ajar door, conveying the restroom ghost's anger through the door panel.

Qin Fei's lips twitched: "If you're going to talk, just talk. Don't attack other ghosts."

The water ghost instantly became honest: "Among us ghosts, there are different levels."

The water ghost's level was higher than the toilet ghost's; at least it could speak clearly, unlike the dumb toilet ghost who couldn't utter a word even under pressure.

The ghostly face in the mist kept talking, its eyes tightly fixed on Qin Fei's hand, fearing that it might be shattered at any moment.

After a few minutes, Qin Fei finally fully absorbed the information from the water ghost's words.

According to the water ghost, after successfully killing a living person, the porcelain bottle ghost could absorb that person's essence and vitality, thereby enhancing its ghostly abilities.

"We ghosts who haven't killed anyone don't know what those who have killed definitely know," the water ghost emphasized the phrase "haven't killed."

Qin Fei smiled without saying a word, giving an ambiguous response that left the water ghost feeling uneasy.

"By the way," Qin Fei suddenly said, "do ghosts have ways to communicate with each other? Do you know if any ghost went to the 4th floor last night?"

The water ghost nodded vigorously. "I know, I know; I'll lead the way for you!"

Fifteen minutes later, in the courtyard of the residential area.

NPC Ding Tianyu rubbed his arms and looked up at the sky, his gaze flickering and his mind unsettled.

Yu Zhoukai had not come downstairs yet.

Before going upstairs, Yu Zhoukai had specifically asked for his room number. Ding Tianyu was no fool and could guess what the other person intended to do.

Is that ghost still in the room?

Will Yu Zhoukai encounter it?

That ghost is so terrifying; will Yu Zhoukai die?

Ding Tianyu's mind was in chaos, as if filled with a bubbling pot of porridge.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the stairwell, and he looked in the direction of the noise, quickly widening his eyes.

He saw a young man in work clothes walking ahead, holding two porcelain bottles in his hands—precisely the kind of ghost porcelain bottles that terrified the factory workers.

Behind the young man, a ghostly face like a mist and another pale, emaciated long-tongued ghost with a mutilated face followed him obediently, heads bowed.

And there was something else following them...?

What is that? A security booth?

Ding Tianyu raised an eyebrow in confusion.

Well, that doesn't matter.

Ding Tianyu's face lit up with excitement.

He recognized the long-tongued ghost—it was the one that almost scared him to death last night. But Ding Tianyu wasn't as afraid anymore because Qin Fei clearly had control over it.

Seeing Qin Fei emerge with two ghosts in hand, Ding Tianyu's expression toward him changed. He rushed to Qin Fei's front.

"You, you can really catch ghosts?"

The NPC's eyes sparkled as if he were seeing a hero riding on auspicious clouds to save the world. "So, everything you did in the workshop earlier was to attract the ghosts' attention?"

He continued, becoming more incredulous: "You must have done all this for our safety!"

Actually, it wasn't quite that noble.

But Qin Fei went along with it, nodding seriously. "Yes."

He patted Ding Tianyu on the shoulder, smiling warmly. "Follow me, work hard, and together we'll liberate the ceramic factory."

There's much more we need from you.