Perhaps this was the true nature of life’s great ups and downs.
Just moments before, Lu Liangting had been prepared for death, resolved to die as he opened the wooden door. In the next moment, the door was indeed open, but the Red-Clothed Fierce Ghost that had been violently pounding on it from outside was now being beaten half to death by another ghost.
The crucial point was that he had seen this new Fierce Ghost before. More than once.
As recently as a minute ago, he had been talking about her with the two ghosts in his hands.
She was still in that all-too-familiar white dress, paired with the same sickly pale skin.
The same cold and proud little expression, the same devastatingly beautiful profile, the same red bow hair clip, as vividly bright as ever.
The only difference: her low twin-tails had changed into a side ponytail?
It looked good on her too, but a ghost constantly changing her hairstyle felt… strange.
Lu Liangting couldn’t help but wonder subconsciously: had she done this hairstyle herself?
Following that thought, his mind drifted to an image: Bai Yu, wearing that same cold and proud little expression she had now, sitting in front of a mirror, examining herself from side to side. Reaching up to let her hair down, holding the red bow hair clip in both hands, frowning and pondering deeply for a long time before finally deciding that a side ponytail suited her best.
After tying her hair up, she looked at her “refreshed” self in the mirror. A shy smile involuntarily appeared on her pure, cute, but solitary and proud little face. It was an incredibly beautiful sight. Then, as if realizing something, she quickly suppressed the smile, a flicker of panic passing through her pure black eyes. She continued to feign seriousness, though her cheeks were still flushed with a shy redness.
‘Would this… make me cuter?’
‘No, why am I doing this? I don’t care what he thinks anyway!’
Noticing Bai Yu was still staring at him, Lu Liangting snapped back to reality, but he only retreated half a step.
Listening to the Red-Clothed Old Ghost’s roars and accusations, and seeing its wretched state, he thought the image he had just conjured seemed a bit at odds with the reality before him.
Lu Liangting didn’t know what was going on with his heart. Probably an after-effect of extreme tension followed by sudden release.
That wasn’t what he should be thinking about right now. He should be wondering why she was here. Wasn’t she a ghost from the Sunshine Apartment?
If she wasn’t a ghost from the Sunshine Apartment and could leave it, then why had she come here, of all places?
And why had she appeared again, saving him from danger just in the nick of time?
Bai Yu hurled the Old Dean’s broken body away. Knowing he wanted to phase through the wall to escape, just as he slammed into the wall, Blood Threads instantly sealed the floor and the wall behind the Dean.
Unable to pass through the wall, the Old Dean collapsed onto the ground.
Masses of Blood Threads writhed within his wounds, his injuries healing at a visible rate. However, the damage was far too severe. A full recovery would take a very long time, and in that time, Bai Yu could kill him hundreds of times over.
The long blade in her hand vanished. It was formed from Blood Threads, the same substance as the threads wriggling in the Old Dean’s wounds.
Bai Yu didn’t know the name of this Blood Thread substance. In any case, these threads were an important component of a ghost, especially for powerful Fierce Ghosts.
Ordinary ghosts were mostly composed of Black Mist formed from Obsession, while Blood Threads were an advanced form of that mist.
“Heh, heh… hahaha, I knew you’d come back.” Ignoring Bai Yu, the Old Dean suddenly laughed from where he lay on the ground.
Ghosts had no sense of pain, or at least, no sense of pain in the vast majority of situations. Even beaten into this state by Bai Yu, he didn’t feel much suffering.
The Old Dean appeared to be in his sixties. His situation was somewhat similar to Bai Yu’s; he still retained a living person’s appearance, meaning he lacked a terrifying exterior.
Putting aside his pallid skin and pure black eyes without any white, a quick glance might actually make one mistake him for a living person. He had a large frame and clearly exercised regularly. His hair was a clean, short buzz cut. His face was etched with the marks of time, though one could tell he had been quite handsome in his youth.
It was the blood-soaked crimson coat, reeking of gore, that sent chills down one’s spine.
Based on Bai Yu’s research, the color of a ghost’s clothing could roughly indicate its strength.
A ghost whose clothes weren’t red wasn’t necessarily weak, but a ghost clad in blood-colored clothes was definitely not weak.
Like the so-called “Red-Clothed Female Ghost” of legends, the mention of those four words always gave the impression of a being with immensely powerful resentment.
“You remember me?”
Shen Shuyun walked over, stopping beside Bai Yu. She stared at the fallen Old Dean, her gaze neither sad nor joyful. Yet, anyone could see she was suppressing the emotions within her.
“I can see your ugly soul. Heh heh heh.” The Old Dean rolled his eyeballs, a mocking sneer on his face.
“So, how does it feel? Not so pleasant, being entangled by that many wraiths, is it? I’m actually curious how you even survived. And to bring, hmm… a monster like this to find me, and it didn’t kill you first? Turn you into something like me? I’d truly love to see the pained expression on a living person turned into this state.”
“Hey, little girl in the white dress, how about a trade? You help me turn that guy next to you into what I am, and I can let you experience a bliss you’ve never known.”
“To die so young, tsk tsk tsk, what a pity. Never been intimate with a man, have you?”
“Don’t worry, we’re both ghosts. I can let you experience it.”
“After all, I was quite experienced when I was alive. I’ve helped many little girls your age.”
“Want to know what expressions they had back then? At first, they’d show pained expressions, tears welling in their eyes like pitiable little beasts. But I knew, at that moment, absolutely couldn’t be fooled by those expressions. Should have been more forceful.”
The Old Dean didn’t say it outright, but everyone knew what he was implying.
Even Lu Liangting, standing off to the side, glared furiously and cursed, “Scumbag!”
But Bai Yu just stood there, silent, her expression unchanging. After this old bastard, hacked into a human stick, finished speaking, she said flatly, “Don’t waste my time.”
This, naturally, was directed at Shen Shuyun.
As for the Old Dean, she could tell this old bastard was afraid, and was thus deliberately provoking her, wanting her to kill him.
“Zhang Dahai, if I were you, I definitely wouldn’t talk to her like that.” Shen Shuyun’s eyelid twitched. If this old bastard wanted to die, he better not drag her into it.
“I never thought I’d see you again myself. You know, I’ve regretted it all these years. I made your death too easy back then.”
“I should have skinned you and pulled out your tendons, hung you up before those vicious dogs you raised, and let them see you gutted and disemboweled.”
“But I’m not here for that today.”
“You only need to answer one question: have you ever regretted it?”
