Chapter 19: Who is the Ghost
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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Outside the window, it was raining.
Dream City, Hospital, Second Floor, Room 208.
“Finally, Snow White is with the prince!”
Lin Lan closed the fairy tale book, finishing the bedtime story. The Little Shiyus were lying in their quilts, the white blankets puffed up like little buns, obedient and cute.
“But… wasn’t Snow White dead before?” Water-gun Little Shiyu peeked out from under the covers with a pair of watery eyes, looking at Lin Lan. “Why did the prince go to kiss the corpse?”
“…” Lin Lan paused. “Uh, because that’s the princess.”
“But a princess’s corpse is still a corpse.” Popsicle Little Shiyu said, “Opening the coffin to kiss a female corpse, this prince is so perverted.”
“Yeah!” “Yeah!”
Lin Lan’s eyebrows twitched, his right eye twitched uncontrollably. It was difficult to fool five-year-old Brother Xie!
“Well then. This story… indeed has some small flaws, I guess I didn’t tell it well. How about tomorrow your older brother Chu Feng comes to tell you a more interesting story?”
“Okay!”
“Now, go to sleep obediently~”
The Little Shiyus obediently closed their eyes.
After settling five-year-old Little Xie, Lin Lan opened the door to the ward.
Creak—
Just as he was about to step out, suddenly!
Zap—
The bright lights in the hospital corridor went out, plunging the entire second floor into darkness.
Lin Lan was startled.
—Power outage?
Lin Lan suddenly thought: Oh no, this is a hospital…
Scenes he had seen in horror movies flashed through his mind, and he shivered.
No way…
Lin Lan shook his head vigorously. No, it couldn’t be! This is Dream City, except for Little Xie, there’s nothing else here! It’s very, very safe!
“Brother Lin Lan.”
Suddenly, someone called him from behind, a childish voice.
“What’s wrong?” Lin Lan responded, then abruptly covered his mouth!
He thought it was one of the Little Shiyu scared by the power outage responding, but the moment he spoke, Lin Lan recalled the words his elders used to caution him when he was a child:
If you’re alone in the dark and suddenly hear someone calling your name, absolutely do not respond!
In the pitch-black hospital, Lin Lan felt a child standing behind him.
The child seemed to have no warmth on him at all, as if he had come out of a freezer, emitting a chilling aura…
This definitely wasn’t a living person!
Lin Lan’s heart skipped a beat.
This is definitely not the time to turn around…
“Ahhh!” Lin Lan dashed out—
Clack!
The lights in the corridor suddenly came on!
Lin Lan opened his eyes to find himself still standing at the door of the ward, his shouting waking up Little Shiyu.
“What’s wrong? We’re all asleep, why are you yelling?”
“Sorry.” Lin Lan didn’t know what had happened. “I… just now… nothing, maybe it was just my imagination. Goodnight, Little Brother Xie!”
Lin Lan walked out of the ward, taking just a couple of steps…
“Brother Lin Lan,”
Lin Lan froze.
Creak. The ward door pushed open, and a Little Shiyu stuck his head out:
“You forgot your stuff.”
“Oh.” Lin Lan turned his head stiffly, sneaking a glance behind him:
Indeed, it was Brother Xie’s face.
Lin Lan breathed a sigh of relief and walked back: “What stuff?”
He distinctly remembered not bringing anything in.
Under the bright light, the Little Shiyu lowered his head. From Lin Lan’s height, he couldn’t see his expression.
“A fairy tale book.”
The Little Shiyu spoke in a childish voice, handing him a thick book.
Lin Lan remembered, the fairy tale book was placed in the ward by his cousin: “This wasn’t brought by me, it was…”
Crash!!
A flash of silver, a knife thrust through the book!
The sharp tip of the blade stabbed into Lin Lan’s stomach—
Sharp pain struck heavily, Lin Lan lowered his head in disbelief:
On his stomach, crimson blood gushed out.
The “Little Shiyu” held the knife, using the book to block it, preventing Lin Lan’s blood from splattering on him, a cruel smile appearing on his childish face.
***
The cold, frost-like white light flickered on the hospital corridor.
First floor.
It was raining tonight, drizzling. Chu Feng stepped on the puddles, splashing mud on his trousers.
The new system’s black spirit entity appeared, hovering over Chu Feng’s shoulder, holding an umbrella for him: “Be careful! The road is slippery in the rain.”
Chu Feng didn’t care, he rushed into the hospital, about to call Lin Lan, but the words stuck in his throat and he suddenly swallowed them back.
The bleak white light in the lobby on the first floor flickered as if it were malfunctioning, making an uncomfortable sound.
Something was wrong with the atmosphere in the hospital.
The little black spirit floated on his shoulder: “Be careful, there’s something in this hospital!”
Chu Feng calmed down and slowly walked forward. The white light above illuminated him, casting a dark shadow that moved beneath his feet. The Little Shiyus’ ward was on the second floor, so Chu Feng climbed the stairs, the shadow under his feet being cut by the stairs, moving up step by step with Chu Feng’s pace.
Click, click,
The cold white light above flickered again, Chu Feng stopped, looking up and down.
There was nothing.
“It’s getting closer!” The system whispered, “Something is approaching us!”
“Can you find out what it is?”
The little black spirit tried hard, its antenna-like hair standing up, seemingly constipated as it hummed, trying to sense…
“It seems I can’t find out.”
Chu Feng: “…”
Feeling discriminated against by his master, the little black spirit was a little unwilling. Even the best antenna couldn’t receive signals in a thunderstorm, and its antenna-like hair drooped down in frustration:
“Because… this kind of messy signal hasn’t appeared before, I… can’t sense what it is.”
Chu Feng made a silent gesture, spending some coins from the system store to purchase an axe for self-defense.
Continuing to climb up, the floor number changed from 1 to 2.
The second floor was pitch black.
The lights had been extinguished.
—It couldn’t be certain it was a person; it should be said they were extinguished by some unknown entity.
201, 202… Chu Feng held the axe and approached step by step; Little Shiyu’s room was 208. His footsteps echoed in the hospital’s empty corridor, quiet and long.
The second floor was completely dark. In the darkness, Chu Feng suddenly heard: drip, drip.
Water sounds?
[Is there something behind us?] Chu Feng asked the system through lip movements.
The system’s little spirit read lips through night vision infrared recognition, interpreting the language.
[I… I can’t hear anything.]
The black spirit system floated on Chu Feng’s shoulder, vigorously raising its antennae-like hair to sense the surroundings. It projected a small square electronic screen in front of Chu Feng, displaying its response:
[The entire hospital is too noisy, full of signals, making it impossible to identify anything specific. The preliminary conclusion is that someone in here has been infected by a virus! That’s why the program data is showing this strange pattern.]
Chu Feng: [Can you determine what virus it is?]
System: [That would require catching an infected person and using my system program to detect the data flow on their wound surfaces. Only then can we find out. Of course, the premise is that the virus is one that has already been discovered. If it’s a completely new unknown virus, or a virus with secondary mutations, then I can’t do anything.]
Darkness spread through the corridor. You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face.
Chu Feng listened intently, but the dripping sound seemed to have disappeared.
He continued forward, 203, 204…
Beep.
A light bulb lit up on the system’s antenna, illuminating Chu Feng: “Be very careful! The signals here are really strange, in your words: this hospital might have ghosts!”
“Don’t illuminate. We might be discovered by [ghosts].”
Chu Feng held onto the bulb with one hand, and the little spirit obediently extinguished it.
But in that brief moment of light, Chu Feng suddenly saw something!
—Fresh red bloodstains.
Some were splattered, some dripped, on the walls and the corridor.
Chu Feng and the system were both startled. The fresh bloodstains extended forward along the corridor: 205, 206… Chu Feng extinguished the light and put on night vision goggles to begin tracking. They followed the bloodstains all the way: 207…
The end of the bloodstain stopped at room 208, precisely where Little Shiyu stayed.
Chu Feng took a deep breath, preparing for the worst.
Creak—
He pushed open the ward door.
The blankets on the four beds were puffed up.
“Xie Shiyu…?”
Chu Feng called out. He took brisk steps, opening one of the blankets…
A groggy Little Shiyu woke up, and the rest of the Little Shiyu were also awakened. They rubbed their eyes and suddenly exclaimed:
“Chu Feng! Chu Feng!”
The Little Shiyu in the blankets rushed over and hugged Chu Feng tightly: “Didn’t you say you had something today and couldn’t come?”
Their cute little faces looked up at him, their tender little arms and feet sticking to him. Chu Feng’s heart softened. He counted—one, two, three, four—four Little Shiyu popped out of the blankets, not more, not less, and none of them were injured.
Drip—
The system’s little spirit automatically issued a detection notification: “Congratulations, Master, none of these four little Xie’s are infected! Perhaps it’s because you saved them from the fire last time, reducing the possibility of being killed to 1%, so even though they were bitten by mosquitoes this time, they were not infected.”
Chu Feng felt a little relieved. This was a fortunate turn of events. The five-year-old Little Shiyu were too young. If they had been infected, their small bodies would probably have been the first to give out.
But…
If these four little Xie’s were all fine, what was the fifth Xie on the phone?
“Did you see Lin Lan?” Chu Feng asked the Little Shiyus’ as he squatted down.
“He left after telling us the story.” The Little Shiyus’ were very vigilant. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing, nothing!”
Chu Feng comforted the Little Shiyu while lifting them off the bed, the four Little Shiyu surrounding his trouser legs.
“Let’s go.”
First, he had to get the Little Shiyus’ out of this hospital.
Sizzle—
The system’s antennae emitted a sound of signal interference.
“What’s wrong?” Chu Feng asked, “Is… a [ghost] coming?”
“Probably.” The system shrank a bit, whispering, “This hospital is like it’s haunted…”
“Ahhh—!!
“There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost!”
Outside the corridor suddenly came Lin Lan’s sharp scream.
Chu Feng immediately protected the four little Shiyus’ behind him, reaching out to open the door of the ward—
Drip, drip.
Chu Feng saw Lin Lan clutching his stomach, blood flowing from his abdomen, panic-stricken as he ran from the end of the corridor: “Cousin! Cousin!! Save me!!”
“What’s wrong? Calm down first and explain what happened.”
Chu Feng quickly and calmly bought a bottle of hemostatic medicine from the mall and poured it onto Lin Lan’s stomach.
Fresh blood dripped, drip, drip, dripping on the ground, gradually stopping. Lin Lan’s face was pale, panting heavily, fingers trembling as he pointed in the direction of rooms 209 and 210:
“T-there… there’s a ghost over there!! Cousin! Brother Xie has turned… turned into a ghost!! Ah—!!”
Lin Lan suddenly saw the four little Shiyus behind Chu Feng, frightened and about to run away.
Chu Feng hurriedly held him back: “Calm down! The Xie Shiyus here are fine; the system just checked.”
“But… but there’s still… one over there! It’s a ghost!!”
“Don’t panic, tell me, exactly where did you see it?”
“T-there…” Lin Lan seemed to calm down a bit, “At the end of the corridor, by the staircase, going upstairs, at the junction of the stairs between the 2nd and 3rd floors…”
Chu Feng patted Lin Lan on the back, “You wait here, keep an eye on the little Shiyus’ for me, I’ll go up and take a look.”
Lin Lan nodded like a scared little mouse.
The four young Shiyus’, hearing about the ghost, held onto Chu Feng’s pants leg tightly, “Don’t go.”
Chu Feng squatted down, gently patting each of them, “It’s okay, there are no ghosts in this world, it’s just a strange virus, we’ll get rid of it. You guys stay here with Lin Lan, don’t move, okay? I’ll be back soon.”
The young Shiyus’ let go of his hand, obediently nodding.
Rooms 209 and 210…
The corridor on the second floor ended, revealing a staircase, dark and gaping like the mouth of a monster.
With night vision goggles on, Chu Feng could see clearly in the darkness, but there was nothing around.
Tap, tap, tap.
Chu Feng’s footsteps echoed on the stairs, making faint sounds.
Lin Lan said he found another “ghost Shiyu” between the staircases on the second and third floors.
Chu Feng looked around, but there was nothing here. He squatted down to inspect carefully.
The little spirit on his shoulder poked him with its dumb hair.
Chu Feng saw it too, there were some bloodstains on the handrail of the staircase!
The bloodstains led them to continue upstairs.
Chu Feng climbed the stairs, the floor numbers jumped from 2 to 3.
The lights on the 3rd floor were also turned off, the whole floor was in darkness.
Chu Feng walked slowly, the smell of hospital disinfectant pervading the corridor, so quiet that even a pin dropping could be heard. The sound of rain hitting the glass of the ventilation window.
Chu Feng walked towards Room 306 where Dr. Xie was supposed to be, it was pitch black behind the door crack. The door to the consultation room was locked.
Dr. Xie was not there, there was nothing here.
Lin Lan said he saw Little Shiyu turn into a ghost, it seemed that the ghost had already fled. Chu Feng was about to go downstairs when suddenly—
He heard the sound of heavy breathing!
Panting, wheezing, coming from the staircase…
Chu Feng tightened the axe in his hand. The sound of that heavy breathing was getting closer and closer, as if someone was climbing the stairs.
Chu Feng lay in ambush beside the staircase on the third floor, squatting down, waiting for this unknown thing to come up.
The panting grew closer!
Even the system spirit held its breath, raising its dumb hair, ready to sense—
Thud, thud, thud.
The footsteps approached incessantly, along with the growing sound of heavy breathing.
That thing was coming up, it climbed another step! It was about to reach the third floor…
Chu Feng lifted the axe, the silver light flashing—
“Ah! Ah—!!”
The panting figure exclaimed as the gleam of the axe scared him. Chu Feng immediately stopped swinging the axe and looked up, seeing Lin Lan’s face through the night vision goggles!
Lin Lan was terrified, screaming and crouching down, his face extremely pale.
—There was no wound on his stomach.
Beep.
The system turned on its own illumination light on its dumb hair. The light came on, and Lin Lan curled up on the ground, trembling like a scared little mouse. He slowly raised his head, seeing Chu Feng holding the axe.
“C-cousin! What are you doing here? Did you come back from the company? Oh my god! Cousin, it’s so scary here, do you know? Just now, there was a Brother Xie trying to kill me…”
“Why are you here?” Chu Feng asked suspiciously, “Weren’t you supposed to stay in place and watch over Little Shiyus’?”
“….Wh-what Little Shiyu?”
Chu Feng was stunned, but in an instant, he realized! He immediately grabbed the axe and ran down the stairs, rushing back to the second floor. At the same time, he shouted anxiously:
“Lin Lan, have you called me before? Saying you saw 5 little Shiyus’.”
“……Call? What call, cousin? I didn’t make any calls!” Lin Lan also realized something was wrong and shouted: “How could I have told you about 5 little Shiyus! I know there are only 4 Shiyu brothers in the kindergarten, I’ve seen the Little Shiyu Illustrated Handbook!”
—The Lin Lan from just now was the ghost!
Chu Feng rushed downstairs with the axe, sure enough, there was no one on the second floor anymore!
[Ghost Lin Lan] had taken the four Little Shiyus with him, and he didn’t know where they were headed.
“Can you track them?” Chu Feng asked the system.
“Hurry! [Ghost] just ran out of the first floor!”
The system connected to the hospital’s cameras and saw the figure of [Ghost Lin Lan] holding the four Little Shiyus.
Chu Feng, Lin Lan, and the system spirit rushed down at the fastest speed.
“What’s going on?” Chu Feng asked as they ran.
Lin Lan briefly explained the process of what happened.
After he finished telling the fairy tale to the Little Shiyus, he wanted to go back. Just as he opened the door, suddenly the lights in the hospital corridor started flickering, he felt something was wrong with the atmosphere. Just as he was about to leave, one of the little Shiyu’s told him he forgot to take the fairy tale book.
Lin Lan turned back to get the book, and in an instant, that Little Shiyu pulled out a knife from behind the book and stabbed him in the stomach!
“I was so scared!” Lin Lan said, “I thought I was done for at that moment. Luckily, cousin, your Dream City key was with me, so I immediately popped out!”
Lin Lan returned to reality, and the stab wound disappeared. When he reconnected his brainwaves and entered Dream City, the blood injury on his body also disappeared.
—So the one without a bloodied wound on the stomach is the real Lin Lan.
“After I came in, I didn’t dare to go to the second floor again. I wanted to go to the third floor first to tell Dr. Xie about this. But then I ran into you at the staircase landing!”
At this moment, Chu Feng, holding the axe, rushed to the hospital’s main gate on the first floor, just seeing [Ghost Lin Lan] grabbing the four Little Shiyus and running towards the small woods in front of the hospital.
They immediately followed into the woods.
The rain gradually intensified, pattering down.
Chu Feng had excellent hearing. In this rain, he heard the sounds of scratching.
—Like nails scraping on skin.
“Lin Lan, what are you doing?”
“Cousin… The back of my hand itches a bit.”
The system’s little spirit flew over and saw a red bump on Lin Lan’s back:
“Oh no! He’s been bitten by a mosquito!”
“Huh?” Lin Lan looked confused. “Being bitten by a mosquito… is that strange?”
—He passed through this small woods when he entered the hospital; there were many mosquitoes in the woods, so it was normal to get bitten.
System: “These are not ordinary mosquitoes! They’re red-bellied mosquitoes, extremely dangerous mutated mosquitoes. You’ve been infected with the virus! That’s why ‘Ghost Lin Lan’ appeared in the game!”
“Infected? What? Virus? Isn’t this just a mosquito bite?” Lin Lan was bewildered, but Chu Feng had already quickly pieced everything together while running.
Lin Lan was bitten and infected on his way to the hospital, causing the virus to replicate “Ghost Lin Lan.” After Lin Lan finished telling stories to the Little Shiyu’s in the ward, “Ghost Little Shiyu” stabbed him and he was ejected from Dream City. At the same time, “Ghost Lin Lan” deliberately called him, telling him about the five Little Shiyu’s, leading him into Dream City.
Now it can be confirmed that there are two ghosts: “Ghost Lin Lan” and “Ghost Little Shiyu.”
The problem was, the four kindergarten Little Shiyu’s were not infected due to the possibility of being killed being reduced to 1%, so this “Ghost Little Shiyu” wasn’t the five-year-old Little Shiyu.
Chu Feng clenched his fists. To the left of the hospital’s small woods was the elementary school! Could it be that the seven-year-old Little Shiyu was infected…
The system quickly reminded: “You must kill that red-bellied mosquito as soon as possible! It’s been spreading the virus everywhere, and who knows how many characters have been infected. Moreover, this mosquito carries many viruses! It can spread multiple viruses, and if they cross-infect and mutate into new viruses, it will be even more troublesome!”
But Chu Feng thought of something new:
“Lin Lan is infected. Check his wound to see what virus it is.”
“Huh? Do… do you have to check me?” The hamster Lin Lan felt terrified, as the system’s little spirit extended its antennae-like hair and poked into the skin where Lin Lan had been bitten by a mosquito.
The system’s little spirit’s black eyes rolled around, analyzing the program data:
“Virus analysis in progress, requires three minutes.”
Squeak, squeak,
Chu Feng and Lin Lan ran through the small woods, chasing after “Ghost Lin Lan” and the four kidnapped Little Shiyu’s.
The Little Shiyu’s encountered ghosts in the middle of the night, and their mood values plummeted. Chu Feng glanced at the Little Shiyu’s Handbook; their mood value was too low, he couldn’t use the fishing rod to rescue them. Using the fishing rod would deduct 50 mood points, and if the mood dropped to 0, the character would die spontaneously.
The dark shadows of the trees gathered around like ghosts and demons. Raindrops fell on the damp summer night, and neither Chu Feng nor Lin Lan bothered to use an umbrella, desperately chasing after the ghostly figures. The ground became muddy, leaving muddy footprints with each step, splashing mud on their pant legs.
They were getting closer and closer to the front, almost catching up!
“Oh d*mn!” Lin Lan shouted, “What’s that thing in front! Why does it look exactly like me…”
He belatedly realized, “Is… is it a ghost created by that virus replication?”
“Let’s split up.” Chu Feng didn’t waste time with him. “I’ll go around to the front and flank it.”
“No problem, Cousin!”
Chu Feng bought Lin Lan a long stick from the store and rushed into the forest with the system to flank from the front.
The rain continued, and the sound of raindrops on the trees and branches echoed. The damp summer night was filled with moisture.
Lin Lan, after all, graduated from the police academy, quickly caught up with the ghost in front! He made up his mind and stabbed the ghost in the back of the head with the stick!
“Ah—!!”
“Ghost Lin Lan” screamed in pain, turning his head—
Seeing himself, he became exceptionally furious.
Just as “Ghost Lin Lan” turned his head, Chu Feng burst out from the front!
With a flash of silver—
He swung the axe down, chopping off the ghost’s right leg on the spot.
“Ah ah ah ah ah!”
Blood splattered…
The ghost’s right leg was chopped off below the knee, and as he loosened his right hand—two Little Shiyu’s fell out of his arms.
Chu Feng seized the opportunity to grab them, while Lin Lan grabbed the red hat of one Little Shiyu behind the ghost and snatched him back too! Chu Feng reached out again to grab the last Little Shiyu with the water gun…
“Step back—!” the system urgently warned.
Sizzle—
In an instant, the ghost’s face melted, and thick black liquid dripped from its entire body. The liquid seemed highly corrosive, sizzling as it dripped on the ground.
The “Ghost” transformed back into its original form, completely black, without a face or skin, the same height as Lin Lan. The black ghost grabbed the last Little Shiyu with the water gun, cackling strangely, and fled deeper into the woods.
Beep.
The system’s little spirit issued a notification: the infected person’s virus has been analyzed:
[Ghost Virus] –
High-risk S-level –
After infection, it will replicate a ghost identical to the infected person –
When the ghost is attacked, it will return to its original form.
(Please note that when reverting to its original form, it will drip black liquid with strong corrosiveness. Do not approach the ghost at this time.)
Lin Lan held the stick, Chu Feng held the axe, and they chased after the ghost:
“What are the effects of this virus on humans?” Chu Feng asked.
“The Ghost Virus will consume the host’s mental power as nutrition. The host will feel tired, dizzy, nauseous, and mentally weak until death. At the same time, the strength of the ghost is inherited from the host. The stronger and more aggressive the host’s mental power, the harder it is to defeat their ghost!”
“That’s it!” Lin Lan cried out in pain, “Cousin… The entire city is filled with Brother Xies…”
Chu Feng: “Can you see the combat power of that ghostly figure ahead?”
The system projected a small rectangular screen, focusing on the [Ghostly Figure Lin Lan] running ahead:
Beep beep, the screen displayed: [Ghostly Figure Lin Lan]
Combat Power: 5
Lin Lan: “??? Why am I such a weakling in combat? What’s the full score?”
“100 points.” The system sprite glanced at Lin Lan, “Having 5 is already pretty good for you.”
Chu Feng spent money in the mall to buy a handgun and fired it into the air: Bang—!!
A loud noise.
The ghostly figure ahead indeed screamed and crouched down, trembling and scared, just like Lin Lan.
Chu Feng threw away the gun and rushed up while the ghostly figure was stunned. He hadn’t practiced shooting with a gun, and his aim wasn’t good. He didn’t dare to aim directly at the ghostly figure since it was still holding the Little Shiyu.
“Wait—”
The system spirit firmly stopped Chu Feng and suddenly trembled: “Hurry…run! Dr. Xie… Dr. Xie is coming!”
“That’s great, Brother Xie is coming to save us, right?” Lin Lan exclaimed joyfully.
However, Chu Feng sensed a deeper meaning from the system’s words. Dr. Xie, unlike the kindergarten young Shiyus, hadn’t experienced a fire, hadn’t been lit up in the Little Xie Illustrated Handbook. His likelihood of being killed was still: 10%. After being bitten by mosquitoes, Dr. Xie was also infected like Lin Lan.
But the ghostly figure produced by Dr. Xie and the one produced by Lin Lan were completely different in terms of magnitude.
The system retrieved the data sequence of [Ghost Virus], and in the entire forest area, at this moment, a black shadow appeared on the detection and analysis screen: [Ghostly Figure Dr. Xie]
Combat Power: ∞
Chu Feng felt a chill.
This symbol… It’s a mathematical term: infinity.
“Run!”
The system grabbed Chu Feng’s collar, and Chu Feng pulled Lin Lan along, hiding in the bushes. Ghost Lin Lan, recovering from the gunshot, grabbed the Little Shiyu with the water gun and ran in the opposite direction of Ghost Doctor Xie.
The system continuously monitored Ghost Doctor Xie. Chu Feng and Lin Lan crouched in the bushes, Chu Feng holding two Little Shiyus and Lin Lan holding one. They closely followed Ghost Lin Lan, hoping to seize the opportunity to snatch back the last Little Shiyu with the water gun.
Chu Feng: “Is there any way to eliminate the Ghost Virus?”
“It’s probably not feasible in the short term,” the system’s little spirit explained.
“The Ghost Virus spreads like a spider web. It takes the character with the highest combat power in your Dream City as the host, obtaining the highest mental power, and then radiates outward from the host, spreading extremely quickly. Each infected character, and even players, will produce a ghost, but those ghosts are not the host.”
Chu Feng frowned.
Lin Lan also sensed something amiss, “What… what do you mean by host? Does that mean… even if I defeat my ghost, I’m still in an infected state? Can’t I recover?”
“I’m sorry, that’s how it is,” the system’s little spirit said regretfully to Chu Feng.
“Even if you eliminate Ghost Lin Lan, a new Ghost Lin Lan will probably appear after some time. The time for the reappearance depends on the combat power. The higher the combat power, the shorter the time it takes for the ghost to reappear. But rest assured, like your cousin, who’s a weak fighter, after you eliminate his ghost, it probably won’t reappear for a long time.”
Lin Lan: “…”
Chu Feng: “If we can find the host, will the Ghost Virus affecting the entire city be lifted?”
“Yes,” the system said, “but it’s very difficult for you to know who the true host of the Ghost Virus is. Of course, the premise is that the red-bellied mosquito only spreads the Ghost Virus. If that mosquito continues to fly around…”
Who knows how many more viruses it will spread.
Lin Lan: “Didn’t you say that this virus will inhabit the character with the highest combat power as the host? Then it must be Doctor Xie!”
System: “The problem is, where is Doctor Xie?”
Chu Feng also realized that the character Doctor Xie’s combat power was most likely the highest, but since a while ago, Doctor Xie himself had disappeared, and instead, Ghost Doctor Xie was approaching step by step.
System: “The virus knows that if we control the host, we can eliminate it. We know it, and the virus knows it too. It won’t let us find the host so easily.”
Lin Lan: “So… under the approach of the infinitely powerful Ghost Doctor Xie, we have to snatch back Little Shiyu from my weak ghost, and then… find a way to locate the true host, Doctor Xie?”
“No,” Chu Feng said, “there’s another ghost.”
—The one who initially stabbed Lin Lan, Ghost Little Shiyu.
Chu Feng: “What does the Little Shiyu attacking you look like?”
Before being attacked, the ghost looks exactly like the host.
“I haven’t seen it in the Little Xie Illustrated Handbook,” Lin Lan recalled, “The Little Shiyu attacking me didn’t have a water gun or wear a red hat and squeaky shoes, nor was it with a popsicle. It should… not be the 5-year-old Little Shiyu. Right! It should be slightly taller than them! Cousin, could it be… the mosquito has already bitten other Brother Xies in places outside the hospital? Are there other Brother Xies nearby?”
Chu Feng fell silent for a moment, “The left side of the forest leads to the elementary school.”
—It’s highly likely that the attacker was the 7-year-old Little Shiyu, in the first grade.
“Elementary school… Oh my god! Has the mosquito infected that place?” Lin Lan exclaimed, “Cousin, you’ve known Little Shiyu since he was seven. They were in the same class for six years. There must be…”
—There must be many Brother Xies, and surely many of them have been infected.
Lin Lan stopped himself halfway, afraid of worrying his cousin even more.
In the pouring rain, Chu Feng and Lin Lan were both soaked as they continued their pursuit.
“You have nowhere to run.”
Chu Feng and Lin Lan emerged from the bushes, blocking Ghost Lin Lan.
This was the end of the small forest, with a vertical cliff below. It was a bottomless abyss. Falling down meant certain death.
The Ghost Lin Lan, whose leg had been chopped off by Chu Feng, held the Little Shiyu with the water gun and kept retreating until he reached the edge of the cliff, with nowhere else to go.
Chu Feng stepped forward, “Hand over the person in your arms, and I can spare you.”
Ghost Lin Lan stared at Chu Feng, then turned to look at the deep abyss below the cliff, seemingly weighing his options.
Chu Feng waited.
—Waiting for this ghost to let go of the Little Shiyu in his arms so he could rush up and kill it.
Suddenly!
The ghost seemed to see something below the cliff, chuckled twice, hugged Little Shiyu with the water gun, and whoosh—
Jumped down!!
In the blink of an eye, Chu Feng rushed up! He grabbed Little Shiyu’s hand!
Crackle—
Chu Feng was pulled down by the weight of the ghost and Little Shiyu falling. His body dragged on the muddy ground, and it looked like he was about to be pulled down—
“Cousin!!”
Lin Lan rushed up and grabbed Chu Feng.
At this moment, at the edge of the cliff, the heavy Ghost Lin Lan was fiercely dragging Little Shiyu, using its own weight to pull him down, intending to fall into the abyss together and die. Chu Feng held onto Little Shiyu’s hand tightly, while Lin Lan desperately pulled Chu Feng from behind, preventing them from falling.
Crackle, crackle.
Lin Lan’s body also slid on the muddy ground… it was too heavy!
Suddenly, a thunderous sound!
A bolt of lightning struck down, illuminating the dark cliff.
On the cliff wall, there was another person!
—Ghost 7-year-old Little Shiyu.
“Ah! Cousin!! That’s the one who attacked me!”
Chu Feng suddenly realized why Ghost Lin Lan jumped down. These ghosts also had intelligence like their hosts. Although Lin Lan was usually timid, sometimes he could be quite clever…
With a cruel smile on its childish face, Ghost Little Shiyu held a sharp blade and stabbed towards Chu Feng, who was hanging at the edge of the cliff—
At the critical moment! The system’s little spirit immediately illuminated the light on its antennae!
Ghost Little Shiyu’s eyes flickered, the blade missed its target, Chu Feng dodged, and then swung back with an axe!
“Ah—!”
Ghost Little Shiyu let out a scream of pain, its youthful face immediately melted, reverting back to its original dark shadow form. The half-height ghost dodged Chu Feng’s axe and darted down, sliding along the cliff’s soil and rocks, landing on the 5-year-old Little Shiyu—
The weight suddenly increased!
“Ah, let go, get away!!”
Little Shiyu struggled, he was grabbed by Ghost Lin Lan and Ghost 7-year-old Little Shiyu, their combined weight dragging him down—
Whoosh—
Chu Feng was suddenly pulled down, his entire body almost hanging in the air, and Lin Lan was dragged down fiercely. On the cliff above, there were only three 5-year-old Little Shiyus left. They used all their strength to hold onto Lin Lan’s legs, while the system grabbed Lin Lan’s hand and wrapped its antenna around a tree trunk, desperately anchoring them.
The rain poured down incessantly.
Lin Lan was in a state of stalemate.
He’s now dragging a Chu Feng, a 5-year-old Little Shiyu, a 7-year-old [Ghost Little Shiyu], and a [Ghost Lin Lan] of equal weight as himself.
Pulling him were: three 5-year-old Little Shiyus and the system’s dumb hair.
The system spirit howled, “Dumb hair! The dumb hair is about to break!!”
The two ghostly figures were tightly clinging to the Little Shiyu with the water gun, determined to drag him down…
The icy rain kept pounding on them, Chu Feng gritted his teeth, holding onto the Little Shiyu with the water gun tightly, refusing to let go.
Crack, crack.
Suddenly, Lin Lan heard a chilling sound, like the cold surgical scissors cutting in the darkness.
Creak, creak.
Footsteps, stepping on twigs, approached, along with the patter of raindrops, sounding like a sharpening knife ready to take lives.
[Ghost Dr. Xie] appeared behind them.
Lin Lan broke out in a cold sweat.
Beep.
On the system’s small square analysis screen, the combat power of [Ghost Dr. Xie] was projected again: ∞
“In…infinity…” Lin Lan trembled as he looked at it, “What does this mean? Th…there’s no way to defeat him…forever?”
“Well…we can’t say it’s absolutely impossible, there…there must be vulnerabilities…somewhere.” The system spirit drooped its dumb hair, trembling all over: “The infinity symbol indicates…the combat power is currently so high it can’t be displayed.”
The icy rain poured down from the pitch-black sky.
Chu Feng was speechless.
One of his arms was bearing the weight of a 5-year-old child, an adult, and a 7-year-old child.
The two ghost figures, one large and one small, seemed determined to drag the Little Shiyu down. They even realized that Chu Feng would never let go, so they began to crawl up the Little Shiyu’s body—
On the slope, [Ghost Dr. Xie], with combat power so high it couldn’t be analyzed, wielded shining surgical scissors and was coming towards them.
“What do we do? What do we do?!” Lin Lan was so anxious he was about to cry, the Black Spirit System also started to panic, its dumb hair almost couldn’t hold onto the tree trunk anymore, and the three Little Shiyus couldn’t bear the weight of Lin Lan, an adult, gradually losing strength…
Once they lost strength, Lin Lan, Chu Feng, the 5-year-old Little Shiyu with the water gun, and the two ghosts would all fall into the abyss of the slope and die.
Veins bulged on Chu Feng’s arm.
Raindrops fell down his smooth forehead and straight nose, dripping onto the hand he held onto Little Shiyu’s.
Chu Feng lowered his head and smiled gently, “Don’t let go, wait a little longer, and I’ll pull you up.”
Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle, chuckle!
The two ghosts, big and small, bit Little Shiyu’s arms, intending to climb up onto Chu Feng—
At the same time, the sound of the ghost doctor’s scissors also drew closer.
Little Shiyu, with the water gun in one hand and holding onto Chu Feng with the other, looked up at the slope, beyond Chu Feng, and saw Lin Lan—
Lin Lan was grabbing Chu Feng, his eyes full of despair. Little Shiyu looked up, met Lin Lan’s desperate gaze—
—From Lin Lan’s eyes, he understood the true situation:
If he didn’t let go, he would drag Chu Feng to his death.
Buzzing—
In the rainy night, a mosquito flew over.
Buzz, buzz, buzz!!
The system’s radar quickly sounded: Red-bellied mosquito detected! The main culprit, red-bellied mosquito!
“Quick, kill it!! Don’t let it spread the virus again!” The little spirit shouted, holding onto Lin Lan, its antenna tied to the tree trunk.
—No one moved.
Chu Feng held onto Little Shiyu with one hand, and was grabbed by Lin Lan with the other. Lin Lan’s hands were both holding onto Chu Feng, the three Little Shiyus on the cliff couldn’t spare a hand, and the two ghosts were busy dragging Little Shiyu down—
No one had a spare hand to swat the mosquito.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz…
The red-bellied mosquito leisurely flew around them, and finally, it gently landed on Chu Feng’s neck.
On Chu Feng’s long, white neck, a mutated mosquito with a red spot stopped, its sharp mouthparts about to pierce into Chu Feng’s blood vessels—
Sizzle!
Suddenly, a jet of water sprayed out, and Chu Feng felt a chill on his neck. The red-bellied mosquito was shot by the intense water jet, flew to the ground, and its swollen belly burst open under the pressure of the water jet, spilling a small pool of blood—
Buzz, buzz—
The system issued a notification: Red-bellied mosquito detected, status: deceased!
Chu Feng was stunned, he lowered his head and saw 5-year-old Little Shiyu holding up the water gun, aiming at him.
—Just like their first meeting in kindergarten.
Little Shiyu, holding the water gun, smiled at Chu Feng and said:
“Goodbye.”
In the next moment, Little Shiyu let go of Chu Feng’s hand—
With the two ghosts clinging to him, his small body plunged into the abyss of the cliff—
The rain continued to fall.
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