Chapter 9: I Am Broad-Minded and Never Hold Grudges

There truly are other ghosts! And they’re still in the hospital. This suggests that having a relatively intact corpse is one of the conditions for ghostly activity... Cao Yu confirmed his suspicion.

He had anticipated the presence of ghosts in the hospital area. He had even asked Du’s father in advance, confirming that their route home would pass by the city hospital.

As for why he didn’t warn Du’s father to avoid it beforehand... he was still piecing together the puzzle in his mind. To push his hypotheses further, certain key points needed verification.

Otherwise, he would just be gambling blindly.

Cao Yu turned to Annie in the passenger seat and asked, “Can you drive?”

“No,” Annie replied, “I’m not old enough yet, haven’t learned.”

“...Zhou Zheng, you drive then,” Cao Yu instructed.

Fortunately, he had been cautious earlier and asked Du’s father for the home address, jotting it down. He gave the address to Annie, instructing her to navigate with her phone, choose a new route, and take the lead.

He swiftly got out, climbed onto the car roof, grabbed the roof rack, and tightly held his “blower gun.” Eyes scanning every direction, he stayed alert for danger while carefully observing every detail around.

Zhou Zheng moved Du’s father to the back of the car, took the driver’s seat, shifted into reverse, and began backing up.

Annie activated her device, unleashing a powerful repulsive force toward the rear, pushing away vehicles that had stopped behind them to the roadside, forcefully clearing the way.

With their coordinated efforts, the vehicle quickly departed the hospital area.

From his vantage on the roof, Cao Yu noticed four figures suddenly bursting out from a distant building. Their speed was incredible—beyond human limits—and with a few leaps, they landed amidst the crowd trapped in hallucinations.

Then,

An unimaginably bloody massacre began.

Those four figures moved like bloodthirsty beasts, their hands swinging like raptor claws, effortlessly tearing through flesh. The powerful gusts from their movements even stirred up dust from the ground.

Wherever they touched, the “hallucinated people” died instantly, bodies splitting apart. Limbs and fragmented arms flew wildly, blood splattered everywhere, suspended mid-air before rushing toward the four figures, merging into their bodies.

Inside the car, Chen Ran and the others witnessed the scene. Immediately, they recalled the events at the funeral parlor... those four figures were all vicious ghosts, much like Du Ruo!

After the slaughter, the four ghosts moved even faster, charging toward other “hallucinated people” to continue their killing... No, it seemed more like feeding.

“Damn! The more they suck blood, the stronger they get? Are these fuckin’ vampires!?” Zhou Fan’s voice called from inside the car.

“Though strong, this level is no match for the modern military,” Zhou Zheng said while driving. “Do you really think they could threaten the world?”

“Don’t forget they all come with wide-range illusion control!” Chen Ran added. “And the most deadly part isn’t the obvious threat, but that the dead become ghosts... Wait! That person—looks like the guy with the hood... he’s coming toward us!”

Chen Ran actually saw the hooded man in the crowd.

At this moment, the hooded man had just escaped the crowd of “hallucinated people,” biting his tongue fiercely to stay conscious. He spotted Cao Yu crouching on the car roof and shouted urgently:

“Save me! Quick! Save me!”

Behind him, a ghost arrived just in time, slaughtering nearby “hallucinated people” before chasing after him.

As the ghost drew closer, Cao Yu made out the details—his exposed skin was pale, blotched with patches of corpse-like discoloration, and his mouth was twisted into a strange, eerie smile.

The hooded man, feeling his scalp crawl and his soul panic, desperately ran toward Cao Yu’s position, aiming to lure the monster.

“Idiotic bastard!” Zhou Fan cursed loudly. “Stop right there! Don’t come any closer!”

From the roof, Cao Yu remembered the hooded man’s earlier insult when fleeing the funeral parlor—“I’ll block you, you damn lunatic!”

A smirk tugged at his lips. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and fired a “Gale Shot,” sending the hooded man flying straight into the arms of the pursuing ghost.

This wasn’t petty revenge or grudge.

The man was baiting the monster; Cao Yu was simply defending himself.

The ghost grabbed the hooded man, its nails digging deep into his flesh. Then, with a sickening rip, it tore him in half, spilling intestines and organs onto the ground.

“Holy shit...!” Zhou Fan was stunned.

The others inside the car were also disturbed by the gruesome scene.

Only Annie stared unblinkingly, lost in thought.

Thankfully, after tearing the hooded man apart, the ghost ignored them and charged toward other trapped hallucinated people.

Seeing this, Cao Yu withdrew the “Immortal Severance Curse.”

It seemed the “Safe House Protection” was effective; the ghosts no longer regarded them as targets.

Meanwhile, the unconscious Du parents inside the car drew far less attention than the clusters of “hallucinated people.”

Zhou Zheng seized the moment to turn around, shifted into drive, and floored the accelerator, leaving the hospital area behind.

...

“Well, lovebirds die young for sure now,” Chen Ran joked, trying to lighten the mood and suppress the psychological impact of the bloody scene.

More than ten minutes had passed since they had escaped the hospital, and they were nearing Du Ruo’s home.

Having witnessed a fragment of the apocalypse, everyone felt heavy-hearted and remained silent along the way.

Chen Ran’s joke helped dissipate the oppressive atmosphere.

By the way, Cao Yu had already returned inside the car from the roof.

“Those four ghosts must have escaped from the hospital morgue,” Zhou Fan said, puzzled. “That hospital is quite large; there should be more than just those four.”

“There must be conditions for the dead to become ghosts,” Chen Ran speculated.

“We previously guessed the ghosts’ origin might be the ‘Couple’s Grudge.’ These ghosts only kill couples. Could it be that the ‘Couple’s Grudge’ itself also kills couples?”

“The ‘Couple’s Grudge’ kills couples, and the couples become ghosts after death, continuing to kill couples... Could that be the pattern?”

After speaking, she looked at Cao Yu and asked, “What do you think?”

Everyone else also looked toward Cao Yu, eyes full of expectation.

“Look with your own eyes,” Cao Yu replied.

Chen Ran blinked in confusion.

“Do you think I’m all-knowing?” Cao Yu said, exasperated.

“I’m just asking casually,” Chen Ran chuckled.

At the same time, she silently thought—Oh no, my “external brain” is starting to malfunction.

“I do have some guesses about this,” Cao Yu said. “But we’re almost at Du Ruo’s house. Let’s first see if he left any information.”

Fortunately, my “external brain” is still working well... Chen Ran said. “Don’t keep us in suspense, come on, spill it.”

“...Ghosts exist in multiples, and their source is likely the ‘Couple’s Grudge.’ That’s probably not in dispute.”

Seeing Chen Ran’s insistence, Cao Yu stopped holding back.

After all, this was Singers’ City; being a riddle master wasn’t helpful.

He continued:

“Let’s look at the background story of this case. Du Ruo and his girlfriend were in love... the girlfriend died in a car accident... returned on the seventh day after death... Du Ruo was killed... This is a ready-made supernatural victim’s perspective, a ready-made death pattern.”

“So regarding the ‘Couple’s Grudge,’ there’s no need to guess wildly. The pattern has already been revealed in the background story.”

“If Du Ruo’s family left no records, we might as well follow this line of thought and investigate the police records, pull all similar cases, and trace back through the timeline. Maybe then we can find the answer.”

“We’ve arrived.” Zhou Zheng stepped on the brakes.

Cao Yu said no more, waking the unconscious Du parents, opening the car door, and asking them to lead the way ahead.

The seven of them quickly reached Du Ruo’s home and searched his bedroom thoroughly.

The gambling moment had come again.

Fortunately, it paid off—they found a bound dossier and a pink-covered notebook labeled “Diary” in Du Ruo’s bedside drawer.

Inside the dossier were densely packed sheets listing deceased individuals’ information, complete with photos, highlighting a specific death group—couples where the girlfriend died in a car accident, and the boyfriend experienced brain death seven days later.

There were 198 victims meeting these three conditions, spanning a timeline just over a year.

Including Du Ruo and his girlfriend, the total was 200 victims.

This was no coincidence.

It was definitely a supernatural phenomenon.

Cao Yu’s earlier words were confirmed—the background story had long provided the supernatural pattern.

“Adding Du Ruo and his girlfriend, 200 people, 200 ghosts...”

Though mentally prepared for “many ghosts,” Chen Ran was still a bit frightened:

“The side quest is to save the world... It can’t be that we’re supposed to kill all these ghosts, right?”

They had “Safe House Protection,” so normally they wouldn’t be attacked by ghosts. But if they took the initiative to offend them... the ghosts wouldn’t just take it lying down, would they?

Even with 200 pigs, if they were surrounded, they could be gored to death.

...