On the blood-soaked ground, there was a long trail of footprints. The vengeful ghost that had appeared in the elevator earlier seemed to be haunting him, clutching the unfinished portrait.
"Goddess, I... I'll draw you a picture..."
Looking at the painting tainted by its bloody hand, Ruan Qing'an sighed deeply. Because she had been forcibly dragged into a separate space by the vengeful ghost, she couldn't even go back to her house.
If Zhang Wu hadn't drawn her portrait in the middle of the night before her death, and the original owner had neither killed anyone nor had any grudges, how could she have gotten entangled with it?
037: [Isn't it all because you, my ancestor, went to join in the fun?]
Ruan Qingan: ...So it's all my fault? I'm so angry.
But she was not alarmed. Right behind Ruan Qing'an, the house, which had been just for decoration, suddenly became filled with a strong yin energy!
A chilling wind blew, sounding like ghosts howling and wolves howling, mournful and piercing.
It was clearly a closed corridor, but now it felt like being dragged to the edge of hell. Wisps of black mist spread from inside, engulfing the vengeful ghosts in front of them. As if sensing a familiar aura, the vengeful ghosts with their hideous faces did not resist, and blood and black mist intertwined.
As the Yin energy surged, Ruan Qing'an lowered her eyes, made a hand seal, bit her fingertip, and the blood that gushed out instantly disappeared into the black mist. Then—the vengeful ghost was gradually swallowed into the house.
Its shriveled body, clutching the painting, had a faint trace of longing on its featureless face: "I...I like it..."
"I don't know who killed you, but—"
Ruan Qing'an paused, then chuckled, "Since you've already gotten involved with me because of the portrait you drew for me in the middle of the night, when your resentment was at its peak, why not use it to my advantage, Zhang Wu?"
As Ruan Qing'an finished speaking, the large patches of blood in the corridor gradually dissipated, and the moonlight crept into the windows that had been obscured by the blood, while she stood in the shadows.
It was as if... an endless abyss, with howling and raging winds.
The girl wore a pure white dress. When she bent her elbow, her slender fingertips brushed the hair behind her ear. Behind her, the vengeful ghost was like a guardian spirit, and even its roars sounded like the whimpers of a puppy.
037: [It seems the original owner wasn't simple either...]
"Of course, he is, after all, a dungeon boss. If I take down Jiang Shihe, the whole dungeon will be over."
Ruan Qing'an chuckled: "Based on the original owner's limited memories, she must have developed a twisted 'love' for Jiang Shihe after moving into this house. At the same time, this house seems to have been the site of many deaths, which is why it was cheap and accumulated a lot of yin energy."
"Furthermore, given the original owner's status as the boss, using this yin energy to control ghosts wouldn't be too difficult. Otherwise, how could she have stalked and spied on Jiang Shihe, a strong and powerful adult man, all while hiding behind the scenes?"
Ruan Qing'an paused, and the strangeness behind her gradually dissipated without anyone noticing. When she raised her hand, her fingertips seemed to be vaguely connected to something, like an invisible thread that stretched into the distance.
And the invisible thread seemed to have been suddenly touched.
"Hmm, what brings Jiang Shihe here?"
Ruan Qingan subconsciously looked out the window and saw a man emerge from the shadows at the end of the road in the moonlight.
037: [Huh? Isn't that the male lead?!]
As Jiang Shihe walked into the apartment, Ruan Qing'an leaned against the window with one hand, looking down at him with a slightly dark expression.
"They've finally arrived, but I can't wait even a moment longer..."
037: [But how did you know, ancestor?]
Ruan Qing'an narrowed her leaden gray eyes: "Little system, do you still remember what the original owner did to Jiang Shihe in the early days? Spying, stalking, taking photos... Because she could control ghosts, she specially arranged for a little ghost to follow Jiang Shihe."
"Most of Jiang Shihe's movements were under the surveillance of this little devil, who connected with the original owner to let her know. According to the original owner's memory, apart from the occasional loss of contact, she knew exactly what Jiang Shihe was doing."
037: [To be honest, it's pretty scary...]
Ruan Qing'an didn't speak, but as his eyes flickered, he seemed to have thought of something, and once again made a hand seal, and the evil spirit emerged.
...
However, as evening approached, the sky darkened, creating an oppressive atmosphere. Even passersby could see that while the streetlights in the apartment complex shone brightly, the surroundings seemed shrouded in a hazy mist, as if black fog enveloped everything, making it difficult for light to penetrate.
Although everything around him was somewhat strange, Jiang Shihe seemed oblivious, simply putting one hand in his pocket and calmly observing.
Ruan Qing'an's unusual behavior caught Long Qi's attention. Although Jiang Shihe was confident that she had little to do with the case, he still had to investigate her strange behavior. Long Qi was also worried and checked Ruan Qing'an's address with F University.
Just as Jiang Shihe was about to enter the building—
Suddenly, the light inside the unit door flickered for a moment, and then, even though no one had walked by, the automatic door suddenly opened.
Jiang Shihe paused in his steps.
His narrow eyes narrowed slightly, and his habitual observation of his surroundings led Jiang Shihe to focus his gaze on the streetlight at the entrance of the building. Under the warm yellow light, the shadow cast by the streetlight stretched to the entrance of the automatic door, and that shadow... seemed to be distorting little by little.
Indistinctly, it resembled a withered, long human figure.
Jiang Shihe frowned involuntarily, but just as his attention was diverted, he heard strange footsteps beside him—it sounded like someone was dragging their feet and shuffling along the ground.
'hiss……'
'hiss……'
Jiang Shihe paused, then slowly raised his head and saw a figure dressed in black carrying something, hunched over, walking past him with barely lifting its feet. The strange gait and walking posture followed closely behind Jiang Shihe...
He subconsciously turned his head to look – the person walking by had their head down, and their face was not visible in the shadows. They were wearing a mask, which was also worn high. Surprisingly, the mask did not bulge out and looked quite flat, but it was clear that it was pulled up to their nose.
It was so smooth, like a glossy surface, that it sent chills down one's spine. Jiang Shihe's hand tightened involuntarily, but he didn't move until the person had passed by—and the footsteps stopped.
"Your...face...is so beautiful..."
"Yeah?"
Jiang Shihe lowered his eyes, took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it with a flickering spark, and smoke rose up. He held the cigarette between his fingers and bit his lip: "Many people have said that, so I'm not surprised."
"Heh...hehehe, hehahaha—"
Behind him, the laughter grew sharper and sharper, almost ear-piercing. Jiang Shihe could clearly feel a chill that could penetrate to the bone rising up, but the laughter stopped abruptly the next moment.
Immediately following was the sound of hurried, running footsteps. The automatic door opened again, and a slender and delicate figure ran out.
Her face was deathly pale, as if she had been terribly frightened.
The pristine white dress was stained with specks of blood.
"Mr. Jiang, are you alright?!"
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