Chapter 111: Night of Terror (I)

"Are you sure?"

"I am!" The young man clutched his heart. The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became: the sounds of lashing in the night, the blade biting into flesh, the spray of blood, Li Cheng's sudden disappearance, the black cat he had never seen before... He had already decided to resign tomorrow. He couldn't stay on this street any longer.

He didn't want to speak to Qin Ye anymore and turned to leave, but his clothes were grabbed.

"Hey... it's almost seven o'clock now; walking the night road is dangerous. With my looks, are you sure you don't want me to run into some accident?" The blonde youth looked at Qin Ye with an expression that screamed, "My life is over." After just hearing such terrifying things, he really couldn't stay on the street.

Qin Ye was displeased.

"...No, how are you so confident in your own appearance? If I were to say that, it might barely hold some credibility. Don't you see that I have a name, while you are just a mere 'youth'? Our graphics cards aren't even the same, alright?"

The young man glanced at Qin Ye and opened his phone.

"What are you looking at?"

"...Nothing, just checking how many years you get for excessive force."

"...You're not being very fun when you talk like that. Come on, put the phone down, don't force yourself into the spotlight... I'm just asking, do many people know about this?"

The young man put his phone away and pulled his clothes free. "A fair number of people know. For a while, Li Jiankang kept running to the funeral street, hiring many monks and Taoists to perform rituals. But... after four people disappeared overnight, the funeral street people realized this was a genuine haunted house. They’ve kept their mouths shut, probably to avoid ruining their own reputation."

*So that’s how it is...* That made sense.

The young man left. Arsaces spoke faintly, "Intergenerational inheritance."

"That really is a remarkable specimen... Little one, take note of this case. When you give your public lecture later, I guarantee you’ll shock the audience."

"What is that?" Qin Ye frowned.

"Try it yourself and you'll know..." Arsaces said maliciously. "I'll warn you in advance: even if this thing is only at the level of a ghost messenger, you cannot take it lightly when detaining spirits, otherwise... you won't be able to handle the consequences..."

Leaving Tianxi Fourth Street, he found an internet cafe and stayed online until eleven o'clock before heading back toward the district.

At night, Tianxi Fourth Street was like a corner of the underworld in the land of the living, filled with a gloomy, chilling atmosphere.

The utility poles, which looked ordinary by day, now resembled soul-summoning banners. No one knew if a person was hanging from them, staring blankly at the passersby.

There was only one dim, yellow street lamp every few dozen meters, and many of them were broken, flickering with a buzzing sound, as if... between the light and the dark, something was flickering in and out of existence.

In the piles of accumulated trash, stray cats, dogs, and rats scurried with rustling sounds. In this dead, lifeless street, instead of bringing comfort, it only bred a stifling, oppressive terror.

"You'd have to be crazy to live here..." Qin Ye looked around. Only a few houses had lights on inside. He clicked his tongue.

"Eh? Given your financial state, you’ve spent plenty of time living in places like this, haven't you? What nerve do you have to talk about others? Do you think everyone is middle class? Even the biggest cities have slums," Arsaces said with disdain.

"...Don't talk nonsense! No matter what, I have a formal business license. Is a coffin shop not a business? At most, my living situation is just a bit gloomy—that's called style!"

"Tsk tsk tsk... I feel like you're getting quite arrogant. Every time you face a ghost, you're like a different person. How do you still have the mood to stroll leisurely through the territory of a special spirit? Have you forgotten the fear of being dominated by Lin Han?"

"Ridiculous!" Qin Ye scoffed. "That was an exchange, a controlled sparring match, understand? Reading... can the affairs of a ghost messenger be judged simply by winning or losing?"

"I'm not afraid this so-called 'intergenerational inheritance' won't show up. As long as it appears, I will let it know that I am the master of my own night! I am the King of a Hundred Ghosts! The grandson of Nurarihyon!"

*So incredibly full of himself...*

Arsaces rolled its tongue, watching Qin Ye walk to Café No. 4, take the keys from Li Jiankang, who was still sitting there, and head toward the man's home.

The house was just outside Hui University. One could clearly see the sealed north gate of the university not far away, along with the teaching buildings and the sea of lights in the student dormitories. The two-story house before him was quite old, hidden in the shadows of those distant lights like an abandoned corner.

***

Opening the front door, Qin Ye pressed the switch. There was no power.

"Must have unpaid bills," Qin Ye shrugged. Li Jiankang said he hadn't been home in a long time. That seemed to be the case.

However, darkness was no obstacle to him.

As a husky among wolves, he naturally possessed unique night vision. If a genuine ghost messenger couldn't even manage that, it would be a disgrace to the profession.

His gaze swept over the room, taking everything in.

It was a room of about a hundred square meters, quite large, with a staircase leading to the second floor. And the second floor... was the scene of the matricide.

The furniture was very old. There wasn't even proper flooring, just tiles. The walls were hung with folk-style images of gods and Buddhas. There was a sofa with a blue cloth cover, a dust-covered tabletop, and an old-fashioned television set. Aside from being dirty and worn, one couldn't tell that such a horrifying tragedy had once occurred there.

"Well... no point in wasting time, right?" Qin Ye licked his lips in excitement, his eyes suddenly turning black and white.

White pupils, black sclera—the Eyes of Soul Detention!

Any spirit, as long as it didn't exceed the power of soul detention, had nowhere to hide from these eyes.

Lately, nothing had gone smoothly. That big oaf Lin Han had left him fuming, Zhou Xianlong’s malicious gaze was constantly coveting him, and his own base was not very peaceful... It was time to make the night tremble and let all spirits understand who their true master was!

If things didn't go well in the world of the living, he would reclaim his standing in the underworld!

However.

Silence.

After a full three minutes, he looked around in disbelief. He closed his eyes and opened them again, this time scanning every inch of the room.

"Nothing?" He gasped. "How can this be?"

"Yes... how could that be?" Arsaces laughed with extreme schadenfreude. "A spirit that even a ghost messenger can't see—why is that?"

Qin Ye turned his head like a robot, staring at the paper crane on his shoulder. "You knew all along?"

"Don't underestimate spirits," Arsaces said coolly. "What you have encountered so far is merely the tip of the iceberg. People have a hundred temperaments, and spirits have a hundred forms. In the Underworld, the classification of spirits is a specialized department, officially named: The Record of Spirit Systems. Perhaps 99 types won't take your life, but the remaining one will be your final destination."

"Mother-Child Spirits, Nightmare Spirits, Intergenerational Inheritance, Yin-Extinguishing Spirits, Wronged Spirits... these are all extremely dangerous categories. You... enjoy the experience... Wait... what are you doing?! Stop right there!! Where is your dignity as a ghost messenger!!"

Qin Ye, who was in the middle of opening the door, froze. He laughed dryly, "Uh... nature calls, I'll be back in a second..."

Arsaces took a deep breath, the paper crane trembling violently, and suddenly erupted: "You are a ghost messenger!! 'When the Underworld takes a soul, bystanders must retreat!' Is that phrase just for show?! Back in the day, when those eight characters were spoken, ten thousand ghosts would flee! And now you're running away at the mere thought of an Intergenerational Inheritance?!"

"Who's running away? What nonsense are you spouting? That's a tactical choice! Haven't you heard that you shouldn't fight an unprepared battle?"

"I'll be damned..." The paper crane flew up and struck Qin Ye right on the forehead. "Where is your fearless spirit! Didn't you want to be the Master of the Night? To make all ghosts tremble? To be the true lord of all vengeful spirits!!"

"Shh... keep it down. Don't let other ghosts hear such embarrassing things... People have to have dreams, but dreams can't be disconnected from reality, right? By the way, why won't this door open?"

*CLANG!!*

At that moment, a sharp sound rang out, and Qin Ye pulled his hand back abruptly.

*CLANG!!*

Before he could react, the next sound rang out, echoing throughout the entire space.

Total silence.

The darkness seemed to sway. Moonlight shone in through the windows, and it felt as if the chairs and tables had opened silent, gaping mouths. The reflections on the glass looked like dark, hollow eyes, staring intently at him.

In the pitch-black night and the dim room, a series of loud, thunderous bangs erupted, as if something were desperately hacking at the door!

*Clang! Clang!!*

It was the sound of metal colliding.

"Damn it..." Qin Ye gritted his teeth and leaned in to look through the peephole.

*CLANG!!*

Another loud bang shook the door, yet, in the peephole, there was nothing.

Only the dim light in the distance. He immediately checked his phone.

Midnight, twelve o'clock.

The vengeful ghost was coming!

"Crap..." He took a step back. What was knocking on the door? No... what was hacking at the door? But before he could react, a sense of intense terror, something he hadn't felt in a long time, surged from his back like lightning and raced to his scalp, making his hair stand on end!

Just now... the step he took back had bumped into... a person's body!

A cold, corpse-like body!

There was someone in the room!

His skin crawled. He had looked around when he entered, and there hadn't been a soul, but now, in the empty room, someone was standing behind him!

Without hesitation, he drew his Ghost-Head Blade, swinging it in a semi-circle behind him while spinning around. However.

There was nothing behind him.

Only the pale moonlight and the suffocating darkness; there was nothing there.

*Drip...* A drop of cold sweat fell from his forehead.

He took a deep breath and threw the door open. Outside, it was equally empty.

Yet, on the door itself... there were now several jagged, crisscrossing marks.

"This is... a kitchen knife." He gently touched the marks, his eyes flickering. "In the matricide case, Li Cheng hacked his mother to death with a kitchen knife too..."

*Whoosh...* Suddenly, the sound of a faucet turning on echoed from the kitchen. At the same time, a somewhat hoarse middle-aged woman's voice rang out: "Cheng-cheng, help me wash the vegetables... You... you're smoking again!!"

"Why do you care?" A teenager's voice sounded in the room, as if right beside his ear.

Qin Ye looked around warily. It was too bizarre; it was as if the scene from back then was replaying, and yet, as a ghost messenger, he couldn't see a single trace of it!

"How many times have I told you? You won't learn anything good? I—I'll beat you to death!!" The angry voice rang out, followed by the whistling sound of a leather belt filling the room. *Slap! Slap! Slap!* The sound of the belt hitting flesh, and the teenager's screams mixed with curses: "Damn you!! Try hitting me again!! See if I don't kill you!"

"You still dare to talk back? You... you actually dare to curse your parents? You're not learning anything good and you think you're in the right?!"

"I'll... hack you to death!!"