“Bang!”
With a crisp crack, another light exploded, sending countless tiny shards scattering in all directions.
Uncannily, the bulb burst right above their heads.
Nan Zhi didn’t even know how she reacted in time.
Instinctively grabbing Zhang Qiuyu’s arm, she yanked both of them backward in an awkward recoil, miraculously dodging disaster by a hair!
The two of them escaped unharmed, but others were not so lucky.
It happened so suddenly that when the stairwell lights blew out, everyone's vision plunged into darkness for a split second.
The onlookers had already been on edge because of Chen Ping.
In their minds, the string called “sanity” snapped with a sharp twang—
Like a herd of stampeding horses, the crowd instantly began shoving and screaming at the top of their lungs, trying to drown their terror in noise:
“Wuwu, my face!”
“Stop pushing! Are you deaf?! Stop shoving!”
“There’s a ghost!!”
“Quick, call 120! Someone fell down!”
“Are you okay? Oh my God, you’re bleeding!”
The crowd turned into complete chaos.
A young woman’s forehead was slashed by a glass shard, leaving a five-centimeter-long bloody gash.
The intern from Nan Zhi’s office had reflexively shielded their eyes with an arm, only to end up with two shards of glass impaled in their elbow.
The male colleague who had run his mouth suffered the most miserable fate.
In the panic, someone shoved him from behind, sending him tumbling straight down the stairs and breaking his arm.
Lifting his cargo pants revealed horrifying purplish bruises covering the inside of his calf and outside of his thigh, huge patches of contusions mottled across the flesh that were shocking to behold.
“Ah—ah— my arm—is my arm broken?! It hurts—it hurts!!”
He gritted his teeth hard, his eyes bloodshot from the agony as bean-sized beads of sweat dripped continuously from his forehead.
Nan Zhi had watched him fall at a treacherous angle; an inch farther forward, and the back of his head would have struck the ground first.
If that had happened, he would have been crippled if not dead.
She glanced up at the ceiling and pressed her lips together tightly.
So vicious.
No wonder Master He had said vengeful ghosts were tough to deal with.
Just a hair away, that man would have lost his life over running his mouth.
Nan Zhi lowered her eyes, thoughts churning beneath an inscrutable expression.
...
After such a massive incident occurred, no matter how Manager Huang pleaded, Master He refused to stay any longer.
“I never expected this ghost to be so fierce.
Even suppressed by the Dragon Boat Festival's yang energy and lashed so many times with willow branches, he still had the strength left to strike and hurt people.
Now that blood has been drawn, once night falls, his ferocity will only surge. Even in my youth, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”
Master He shook his head, lingering fear in his eyes:
“Today, I only managed to negotiate with him by relying on the right timing, favorable terrain, and the people's blessing.
But who could have predicted such an unforeseen twist?
Having missed this golden opportunity, there won't be another chance to persuade him. I fear he might even harbor grudges against everyone present today.
First me and Xiao Nian, and next, the people in this building.
Sigh! Heaven's will—it’s all Heaven’s will.
Xiao Nian, pack our things for Grandpa. Let's go. Didn't you say you wanted to visit Disneyland? We'll book the tickets tonight and leave right away.”
The young girl in the school uniform obediently began packing up, her movements remarkably deft.
“Wait, no, Master! Didn’t you two already reach an agreement just now? Why—why is he backing out again?”
Manager Huang was completely dumbfounded:
“Are you saying he's going to cause even worse trouble from now on?”
Master He felt a bit embarrassed, but no matter how Manager Huang cajoled, he refused to relent:
“Spirits and ghosts are inherently fickle, let alone a vengeful ghost full of resentment like Chen Ping.
They say you shouldn't hit someone where it hurts or shame them in public, yet that young fellow just had to say that in front of so many people...
Sigh... Scattering Rice to Question Spirits alone has already drained far too much of my vitality. I truly have no way of dealing with him. If you ask me, you’d better find someone more capable.”
Saying this, as if feeling slightly apologetic, Master He added:
“Three days from now, that malevolent ghost will inevitably erupt in a frenzy of ferocity.
I estimate that with his current strength, he shouldn't be able to leave this building for the time being.
Don't worry too much either. Who knows, maybe in a couple of days he’ll come around on his own and stop acting up.”
Just listen to yourself—what kind of nonsense is that?
If he could come around on his own, would he have jumped off a building in the first place?!
Manager Huang wiped his sweat frantically, feeling his clothes thoroughly soaked. As the breeze blew past, cold shivers ran straight down his spine:
“Master, Master, don’t leave! Let's think of another way!
Since he’s injured, shouldn’t we strike while the iron is hot and finish him off?
Or—or what if I set up a stele and a memorial tablet for him in the company and burn incense for him every day? Would that work?
Can you just get him to stop messing with me?! If this keeps going, I’m going to end up jumping off the rooftop too!”
With so many people injured at once, three or four ambulances drove straight to the building entrance, creating a massive commotion.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought some violent crime had taken place in their building.
Never mind whether the news media would report on it.
In this era of social media, the tiniest triviality could trend online, let alone with so many pairs of eyes watching on-site.
Could he sew all their mouths shut?
Having stirred up such a huge mess, his job was probably as good as gone.
Most despairingly, the ghost hadn't even been driven away.
He had hired a master for an exorcism, only for the ghost to become even more vicious after all the theatrics.
Before this, the ghost had only spooked people at most, causing some psychological pressure and the like.
Now look at today—he blew up lightbulbs and hurt people directly!
The ambulances had carted off several people in one go!
What was next? Human casualties?
What kind of exorcism was this supposed to be?
Did you come here to buff the vengeful ghost?
Or were you sent by my competitors to ruin me?
“Master, you can’t do this! Aren’t you people all about subduing demons and vanquishing evil?
How could you just abandon us?”
Manager Huang’s voice cracked with a sob:
“Master, please think of something! Those words earlier weren't said by anyone from our company!
Why is this ghost so completely unreasonable?! Every grievance has its source, and every debt has its debtor—go find whoever exploited you! What does it have to do with me?!”
What worried him now wasn't just losing his job.
He was terrified that the ghost had put him on his grudge list too!
“Reasoning with a ghost? Do you really think that works?!
Injured or not, he’s still a vengeful ghost! If we truly fought to the bitter end, there’s no telling who would obliterate whom!”
Master He glared in indignation, arguing defensively:
“We had reached terms, but who could have foreseen a hotheaded fool jumping out and driving Chen Ping’s ghost into a frenzy?
I took your money to do a job, but I never agreed to lay down my life for you.
If I can subdue it, I’ll give it my all; if I can’t, of course I’m going to run!”
With that, the old man strapped on his gear, greased his soles, and took his granddaughter to slip away amidst the confusion.
For having old arms and legs, he sure ran fast.
Faced with this awful mess, Manager Huang couldn't even muster a bitter smile.
He wasn't insane; he wasn't going to say things like “We’ve all been marked by a vengeful ghost, we're all doomed, run for your lives!” in front of so many people.
And so, Manager Huang announced on the spot that everyone could clock out two hours early tonight.
Fortunately, amidst the utter chaos, nobody was paying attention to the strained look on his face.
...
...
“...Nan Zhi, your reflexes were so fast just now.”
Sitting at her workstation, Zhang Qiuyu was still shaken.
Her mind was still in a daze, her facial expression lagging like an ancient computer running on fumes.
At that moment, she had frozen completely, only realizing what had happened when the people around them began to wail.
When she looked at Nan Zhi, her eyes were filled with confusion.
When no one else had reacted in time, how had Nan Zhi pulled her away to dodge it?
It felt...
...as if she already knew the bulb above their heads was going to explode.
Rate on N.U.
