Chapter Ten: The Devil's Lair

  That female ghost has been dead for more than three years, and she died on the fourth floor of that office building.

  The flesh trade is said to be an ancient profession, and this world will never lack women who are infatuated with vanity and unscrupulous, as well as men who are used to flirting. In modern times, in this era where brothels and sing-song houses are not allowed to appear, various dens have also learned to hang up high-end, atmospheric, and upscale brand names, such as massage parlors, foot bath lounges, or even more advanced ones, certain art institutions.

  This Tianli Art Training Institute is one of them. Since the behind-the-scenes boss rented the fourth floor of this office building and hung up a sign for art training, there have been all sorts of women coming and going here, but most of them are looking for rich men to be their second wives, lovers, or directly selling their bodies.

  When she first went in, she had the idea of finding a big client. That year, she had been unemployed for half a year and was about to be evicted by her landlord, so she was desperate. However, she didn't find a big client who would support her as she wished, but instead sold herself several times. Then one night, she was spotted by the boss behind the scenes, who asked her to stay and "work overtime" with him for a night.

  The boss had left behind many "classmates" before, and she was used to it. But she didn't expect that the boss was a complete BT. Not even ten minutes into "overtime", her body was already covered in bruises. She couldn't take it, and struggled back. As a result, she was strangled to death. Then the boss dismembered her and flushed her down the sewer.

  After becoming a ghost, she only knew that before her, there were not a few people who had been strangled to death. However, these fallen women did not even have their families knowing where they were or what they were doing, so naturally no one was concerned about their sudden disappearance. Even after some time passed and the family discovered that their daughter seemed to have lost contact with home for a long time, she could never be found again.

  The boss also couldn't escape his retribution. Less than a year later, he got drunk and mistakenly took a passing girl as one of his "students" at his villa, pulling her in and killing her. When the police went to arrest him, he committed suicide in his own villa.

  His "school" was also searched, and all the "students" and "staff" were dealt with. However, those vengeful spirits he had flushed into the sewers remained there until recently when he suddenly transformed into a malevolent spirit that appeared before them, turning them into female ghosts, and continued to add companions for them.

  The female ghost finished speaking and left.

  Zhuangzi's face contorted in a mixture of shock and horror, his eyes wide with an unblinking stare. He seemed to be on the verge of convulsions, his hands involuntarily rising to rub his face, which was not actually flesh. His mouth opened as if to speak, but no words came out. Wei Xiangtu also looked somber, hanging his head in silence.

  Li Huan was indeed more receptive and quietly smiled wryly as he poured each of them a cup of tea.

  "According to what she said, that 'boss's' villa should be near Old Man Wang's house."

  Wei Xiang nodded and said, "According to Old Master Wang, it's the 'Punishment' jade tablet." As he spoke, he looked towards Zhuangzi Meng. Zhuangzi Meng was rubbing his face with one hand while speaking in a cold tone, "Punishment? This pervert must have suffered psychological trauma, thinking that all prostitutes deserve to die, so he keeps killing this kind of person. In the end, he can't escape death himself! He doesn't even think about how he's also a pimp. If we're talking about evil deeds, he's the first one who should die!"

  Li Huan let out a sigh of relief and said, "The results are out, but the problem is how to deal with it. I feel that these facts are useless to us too."

  Zhuangzi's eyes narrowed as he gazed at him, his face pale: "No, at least we know that the fourth floor is just a den of evil spirits. After this, we can go there to burn Buddhist scriptures and perform rituals to exorcise the little ghost. My idea is that we must take care of that thing during the day. At night, we definitely won't be able to do it. At worst, we can only go to that villa in the daytime, snatch the jade plaque, and get rid of that ghost head."

  Wei Xiang furrowed his brow and said, "I think it's not right. Based on past experiences, the ghost head can devour the vengeful spirit to strengthen itself. I have a hunch that if we don't get rid of the fourth floor, we won't be able to defeat the ghost head. Otherwise, let's discuss this with Old Master Wang and figure out what to do."

  Zhuangzi seemed somewhat dissatisfied with the dream, but didn't say anything. After hesitating for a long time, he said: "Xiangtu, I think...I want to go out and investigate. Let's see where that ghost head hides during the day and where it goes at night."

  "During the day, I can only stay in my own place. At night, I can go wherever I want. What are you looking for? Aren't you afraid of being harmed?" Wei Xiangtu bluntly refused.

  Li Huan listened and suddenly had an idea, saying: "If we can really confirm that he can only stay in the villa during the day, it's easy. We can take care of the fourth floor in the afternoon and go collect the ghost head in the afternoon. Isn't that done?"

  "You're sure you can finish him off in just one afternoon?" Wei Xiangtu's mind was a mess, and he suddenly poured cold water on the idea. "Don't drag it out until nightfall, when that demon will be completely lawless and wipe us all out."

  "It's simple, at worst we'll split into two groups, we'll go after the ghost head, and Old Master Wang will go to the fourth floor." Li Huan looked at the entangled human and ghost, and suddenly became entangled himself, "Anyway, it's daytime, he can't run around, of course, he also can't run to the fourth floor to eat the ghost..."

  "Guī Tóu can grab a ghost at will, as long as it's within his killing aura range. You're thinking too simply, but your method is indeed the only feasible one." Wei Xiangtu said after thinking for a long time.

  The current situation is that we can only split into two teams, one team goes to the fourth floor to exorcise or eliminate the vengeful spirits, in order to avoid the ghost head being forced to obtain a large amount of energy when it's urgent, and the other team goes to the villa where the ghost head died to deal with the ghost head.

  And these two things must be started in the daytime and finished before it gets dark.

  In short, it's very tricky.

  According to the female ghost, the male ghost is still increasing his companions, that is, he is still harming people and increasing the number of vengeful spirits. However, the male ghost is selective in targeting fallen women, so there isn't a large increase in the number of victims. After all, if a single woman living alone outside suddenly loses contact without warning, her family might not even notice until she has been gone for several years. But every day that passes means more vengeful spirits are created.

  We need to contact the old man immediately, discuss countermeasures, and it's probably impossible to take action tomorrow. Now that it's already dawn, after a round of discussion and arrangement, it will probably be dark again, do you dare to face a fierce ghost with dark circles under your eyes, carrying a body full of fatigue?