Chapter 3: Waiting to Die Part 2

After all, seventy years ago, legends of this god of death had already spread through the jianghu. It was said that among those who died at his hands, no one could tell whether there were more humans or more ghosts. Countless legends surrounded him, but most weren’t good—things like capricious, cold-blooded, ruthless…

If he had to say it, Bai Yi thought the man behind him was far more terrifying than the Vengeful Ghost in the cinema.

Terrifying or not, someone had broken in. He couldn’t just watch them die.

Thinking of the people trapped in the cinema and the student who had just wandered in, Bai Yi burned with anxiety. But this person didn’t seem worried at all. He didn’t look like he intended to save anyone.

Perhaps Bai Yi’s anxious expression was too obvious. The man’s thin lips moved slightly. His voice was a strange kind of hoarseness—slow, like a dull blade scraping over sand and stone, making the skin prickle.

“Do you know where it is?”

Bai Yi’s expression stiffened.

Right. They were here to catch a ghost. But where was the ghost?

The cunning Vengeful Ghost had hidden itself!

Even so, couldn’t they go look for it? Just wait here like this? Wait until the Vengeful Ghost hurt someone before acting?

A chill spread through Bai Yi’s heart, but he didn’t dare speak again. He even softened his breathing…

He scanned the monitors from left to right again. Apart from the high school student who had carelessly barged in, he found nothing. Neither the Vengeful Ghost nor the living people were anywhere to be seen.

Xu Deng walked slowly for a few steps before finally noticing something was wrong. The cinema was too quiet, and it didn’t look like it was open for business.

And although this cinema was large, occupying an entire building, surely the hallway couldn’t stretch on with no end in sight?

Xu Deng stared at the endlessly extending corridor and fell silent.

The System, silent for a long while, finally popped up.

[System, anxious: “Host, this looks like a Ghost Wall!”]

Xu Deng’s face was blank. “Thanks for the reminder.”

Xu Deng turned back. The door he had come through was indeed gone.

It really was strange. In his seventeen-odd years of life, he had never encountered anything supernatural. But the day after the System arrived, he ran into it.

Was it because he had awakened his consciousness, or because today he had happened to take a path different from usual?

It might be a question without an answer.

Xu Deng asked, “Do you know how to get out?”

[System, a little embarrassed: “I—I’m only an Auxiliary System…”]

Xu Deng decided not to ask anymore.

It seemed the System’s only function was to guide people toward goodness. Better to count on the local Xuanmen than on the System.

This cinema was on a busy commercial street. With something this big happening, it wouldn’t take long for someone to notice. Maybe the cultivators who exorcised ghosts and purged evil were already here. He only had to wait for them to subdue the Ghostly Entity here, and then he would naturally be rescued.

Xu Deng went to the vending machine beside the corridor, bought an ice cream, found a stool, and sat down.

[System: …]

Far away in the monitoring room, Bai Yi: “…”

[System, cautiously: “Should we… maybe hide?”]

Xu Deng tilted his head. The ice cream tasted good. “Why?”

[System: “It’s not safe here!”]

Xu Deng suddenly smiled, eyes curving. He said thoughtfully, “If I die here now, do you think I’ll become a Vengeful Ghost like in the book? And if I become one, I’ll definitely be stronger, right?”

The System’s heart was gradually going numb.

Xu Deng, however, found the thought more and more interesting. “This ghost wasn’t even mentioned in the book, so it must be a trivial little monster. If we go by the plot, it wouldn’t even qualify to be my subordinate.”

System: Not speaking anymore.

As for whether to be a human or a ghost, Xu Deng felt completely indifferent. Survival or death—to others, perhaps a difficult choice; to him, it didn’t matter.

The only thing that made him a little uncomfortable was that he found the ghost’s behavior too erratic. It didn’t seem like him.

He didn’t like that.

But he had spent his whole life living for others, trying to gain their attention and care. Because of that, he had tied his own hands and feet, losing himself. He was tired of that kind of life. From now on, he only wanted to live for himself…

Since he had decided to follow his own heart, there was no need to be bound by anything anymore. So even if he became a ghost, who could make him act unlike himself?

He was the Arch-Villain. No one could order him around.

He wouldn’t be like the Evil Ghost in the book—just as he now was no longer like his former self.

Once he understood this, Xu Deng finally let go.

What the future looked like didn’t matter at all. He didn’t need to care about what was written in the book either. Those were other people’s views of him, other people’s words about him… none of them were the real him.

And starting today, he was only himself.

Xu Deng slowly ate his ice cream. Time passed so slowly…

Just as he had nothing to do, a middle-aged man suddenly burst out from beside him. The man’s suit was wrinkled. He scrambled out, rolling and crawling, his excessive fat making his movements clumsy. He fell flat on his face right in front of Xu Deng.

Xu Deng looked down and met the man’s eyes.

The middle-aged man was clearly shocked too. He hadn’t expected there to be a living person here—he’d thought everyone had hidden! But he had no time to think. He grabbed Xu Deng, shoved him back, and kept running in blind panic.

Xu Deng, who had been minding his own business, was shoved. He was very displeased. His unfinished ice cream fell to the ground. He looked up and saw a thick black mist behind him. The mist was human-shaped. It had no face, but a ferocious, savage aura hit him head-on.

In the blink of an eye, the black mist approached, but it didn’t kill him immediately. Instead, it sniffed around him and let out an angry voice: “Zhao Xingmao… you too… will fall… into my hands…”

No eyes, so you can’t recognize people?

Xu Deng said flatly, “I’m not Zhao Xingmao. He ran that way.” He pointed in the direction the middle-aged man had gone.

The black mist grew even angrier at that. The walls on both sides of the corridor crumbled with a rustle. It furiously chased after the middle-aged man!

The System, whose heart had leaped into its throat, slowly relaxed. It had almost thought its host was about to die!

Who would have thought the Vengeful Ghost could still recognize people? It seemed it hadn’t completely lost its reason…

At the same time, Bai Yi was so agitated he knocked over his chair. “The Vengeful Ghost has appeared!”

He immediately activated the formation to try to stop it, but for some reason, the Vengeful Ghost’s resentment soared to the heavens. It smashed through every barrier he had set and charged straight into the screening hall!

Violent resentment swept through the corridor and rooms. The monitor screens instantly turned to static.

Bai Yi’s expression changed drastically. He had wanted to buy time, waiting for them to go save people, but the Vengeful Ghost’s strength exceeded his imagination! Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. No wonder his master had asked this person to come along. If he were alone today, he might not make it back alive…

Bai Yi said urgently, “Mr. Yin!”

If it was this person, he could definitely save them!

But Yin Xun remained calm and unmoving. He only said slowly in that hoarse voice, “Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor.”

Bai Yi: ?

Xu Deng followed into the screening hall.

The Vengeful Ghost had already grabbed the middle-aged man. The man let out a shrill scream: “Aaaah! Help!”

The black mist seethed with dense resentment. Fury made its body churn. Its voice came broken and halting: “Hiss… I’ll kill you… kill you… I’ve waited for you… so long…”

Zhao Xingmao was so terrified he nearly fainted. He rarely came to this commercial street since it was built. Today he had finally come, so why had he run into this?!

Why was no one coming to save him?!

What the hell was this thing?!

Though terrified beyond measure, Zhao Xingmao was, after all, a big boss. After years of navigating both lawful and underworld circles, he managed to keep his head at the critical moment. “You—whatever you want… tell me. Anything at all, I’ll give it to you. I’ll satisfy you…”

He had meant to offer money, but the thing before him was clearly not human. Money probably wouldn’t work, so he changed his words to “anything.”

But the black mist only grew angrier. It bit down on Zhao Xingmao’s head—the black mist seemed to envelop the man’s head—and a crack, the sound of bones shattering, rang out.

Zhao Xingmao’s hand fell limply.

The black mist tore and bit as it spoke: “I want… your… life…”

Xu Deng was a little surprised. This Vengeful Ghost did things quite cleanly.

Over there, the black mist had torn Zhao Xingmao’s corpse to pieces and was chewing with relish when, suddenly, a very low sob came from nearby. The black mist’s movements stopped at once. It whipped its head around.

Only then did Xu Deng notice that several people were hiding behind the seats. One woman was clutching a child, desperately covering the child’s mouth. The sob just now had come from the child… The child was terrified.

Having devoured Zhao Xingmao, the Vengeful Ghost’s black mist grew denser, tinged faintly with blood red. It was gradually losing its reason and let out an angry roar: “Kill… kill… you… eat you…”

If the Vengeful Ghost had only been after Zhao Xingmao before, still retaining a shred of reason, now it was falling into madness. It was extremely dangerous.

A Ghostly Entity that had just become a Vengeful Ghost, tasting blood and flesh for the first time—it would likely have a hard time controlling itself.

Seeing the black mist surge toward the woman and child—

Xu Deng suddenly spoke. “Hey.”

The black mist paused. It followed the sound and looked at Xu Deng.

Xu Deng’s lips curved slightly. “Eat me first.”

[System: ??? “Host, what are you doing?!” ] At a time like this, shouldn’t you be taking the chance to run for your life?

Xu Deng said flatly, “I’m doing good deeds, just like you asked.”

The black mist stared at Xu Deng, let out a hiss, then turned and surged toward him.

The System nearly fainted. I told you to do good deeds, but why didn’t you listen before? Why are you listening now?

If the host died now, what terrifying thing would he become? The System really didn’t dare gamble on this. It couldn’t just fail its mission and go home on the second day, could it?!

[System, hurriedly: “Host, I have a Purification Talisman here. It only costs 100 Points. Do you agree to exchange for it?”]

The System had this kind of ability too?

Xu Deng: “But I don’t have 100 Points.”

He hadn’t forgotten that his Points were -1856496.

[System, immediately: “That’s fine! As long as you agree!”]

Xu Deng paused, then nodded.

At the same time, the Points on the Good Person Card before Xu Deng’s eyes changed from -1856496 to -1856596, and a piece of Talisman Paper appeared in Xu Deng’s pocket.

Xu Deng: ?

Xu Deng felt complicated. “So Points can be used like this?”

[System, evasively: “Y-yes, of course. Is there a problem?”]

Xu Deng’s face was blank. This was indeed a path he had never imagined. He paused, then asked, “Is there a lower limit to these Points?”

[System, stammering: “Probably… there isn’t…”]

Xu Deng fell silent.

For the first time, he thought that maybe having no lower limit wasn’t so bad after all?