Truth?

Zhang Chen sat quietly in Ziyun Pavilion, the tea before him untouched. From time to time, he checked the time on his phone. At last, it was 7:20. Zhang Chen got up and headed outside the café. The summer sun had already set beyond the hillside, and the streetlights outside had come on, illuminating the people in the darkness.

"So she really came." Zhang Chen watched the Mercedes-Benz slowly pull up, and the anxiety in his heart vanished. After the white Mercedes-Benz slowly stopped in the parking area of Shangyin Island, a woman in a low-cut black bodycon dress stepped out. Her figure was seductive, and when she saw Zhang Chen, she let out a soft laugh.

If not for the ten bright red fingernails on her hands, which remained so eye-catching even in the darkness, Zhang Chen might really have been led around by the nose.

"Teacher Xie, the private room has been booked. Come in with me." Zhang Chen spoke to Xie Wen.

Xie Wen said nothing. She pressed herself against Zhang Chen's arm and followed him inside. Seeing such a woman beside Zhang Chen, the waitstaff all stared wide-eyed, immediately pegging him as either a rich second-generation heir or an official's son. Zhang Chen could not be bothered with their looks and strode into Ziyun Pavilion.

The waiter handed over the menu. Zhang Chen flipped through it for a long time, but not a single item cost less than thirty yuan. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and order an Americano. Xie Wen, seated across from him, smiled faintly at the sight.

"I'll just have a hot mocha," Xie Wen said softly without looking at the menu.

The waiter nodded and left. Before long, he brought two cups of coffee to the table. Once he had gone, Zhang Chen stood up and locked the door, then returned to his seat.

"Teacher Xie, are you human or a ghost?" Zhang Chen suddenly asked.

An ordinary person would surely have thought Zhang Chen was insane and stormed off. But Xie Wen gently lifted her cup, took a sip of coffee, and said one word: "Human."

Zhang Chen smiled. "Your family is so wealthy, you're highly educated and capable, and you're very beautiful too. Why did you come back to this godforsaken place to teach? Was it because of your dead husband?"

As Zhang Chen spoke, he carefully watched Xie Wen's expression. During the first half, she still wore a slight smile, but the moment Zhang Chen mentioned her husband, sorrow flooded her face. Yet Zhang Chen caught one detail: before she began to cry, there had clearly been a moment of intense hesitation, though it seemed to be immediately buried.

Could she really be innocent, a victim? Was the problem her husband? Had he died for some reason, then continued haunting her and killing those around her, forcing her to move back to this small county? But why drag her beloved cousin into it? And someone as wealthy as her must have spent a fortune dealing with whatever was following her in the big city. Did she distrust me because all of that had failed?

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Chen saw that Xie Wen was silent. He stared at the coffee in front of him. The liquid in the cup slowly rose, gathering drop by drop in midair into a brown sphere. Xie Wen watched Zhang Chen's display in disbelief as the sphere transformed into various shapes before slowly falling back into the cup.

Xie Wen became somewhat excited, but immediately sank back into dejection. Seeing this, Zhang Chen rose and gestured for her to follow. When Zhang Chen had first entered the café, he had noticed faint resentful yin energy emanating from a corner of the hall. If his guess was right, there was definitely a ghost inside—and no ordinary one.

Zhang Chen led Xie Wen to the corner. There was unexpectedly a three-meter-long passageway there, and at the end stood a door bearing the words "Staff Only," secured tightly with a large iron lock.

Once he was sure no one had followed them, Zhang Chen walked up to the door. The aura leaking through the crack was more than ten times denser than what he had sensed outside. Without another word, Zhang Chen fixed his gaze on the lock. Before long, it unlocked by itself. A gust of cold wind blew out, making Xie Wen shiver behind him.

"Are we going in?" Xie Wen seemed afraid. Beyond the door was complete darkness.

"Just follow me." Zhang Chen stepped inside. A wave of stench struck him, and he hurriedly covered his nose. With the light from the hallway, he could barely make out that this was an abandoned restroom. Xie Wen hesitated for a moment before following him in.

The instant Xie Wen entered, the door slammed shut. The light overhead switched on—not white, but a faint red light.

"Ahhh!" Xie Wen screamed, pointing toward the sink. Zhang Chen had sensed it as well. Looking over, he saw a man in a Shangyin Island waiter's uniform stroking his own hair. But in the mirror, what sat atop the man's head was not hair at all—it was covered in maggots.

The man turned around. He had once had a decent-looking face, but his nose had been cut off. He first looked at Xie Wen. Zhang Chen noticed that when the man saw Xie Wen's hands, a trace of fear flashed in his eyes. Then he abruptly turned toward Zhang Chen and lunged at him.

"Watch out!" Xie Wen shrieked.

But Zhang Chen did not care in the slightest. Having gone half a year without eating "raw meat," Zhang Chen grabbed the flying man, intending to swallow him in one bite. Unexpectedly, the man suddenly transformed. The hair on his head grew wildly long and wrapped tightly around Zhang Chen, while numerous strange appendages like a praying mantis's forelegs sprouted from his back and stabbed toward the entangled Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen remained utterly calm. He glanced at the toilet not far away. With a crack, the toilet was torn from the ground and flew straight at the waiter, smashing him into the wall. The hair binding Zhang Chen loosened as well. Before the man could get up, Zhang Chen grabbed him, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed him in a single bite.

The yin energy in the abandoned restroom immediately dispersed, and the lights returned to their normal white color.

A voice sounded.

"Devoured a complete low-level Fierce Ghost. Satiety gained: 17%. Skill acquired: Growth (Incomplete).

Zhang Chen

Main Soul Slot Status: Activated

Main Soul: Gluttonous Ghost

Satiety: 72%

Compatibility with current body: 35%

Secondary Soul Slot Status: Not Activated

Number of Skill Slots: 3

Skill Slots Used: 1

Skills Possessed: Telekinesis (Upgradeable, In Use), Growth (Incomplete, Cannot Be Used)

Telekinesis: Can manipulate invisible force through thought. Current proficiency: 41%.

Physical Condition: Poor

Perception Ability: High

Overall Evaluation: Poor"

"So delicious. And my luck was this good too. Killing this ghost even gave me a skill, but what does incomplete and unusable mean?" Zhang Chen had only intended to find some wandering ghost at random to make Xie Wen believe him. He had not expected to encounter such a formidable one.

Xie Wen, meanwhile, was already dumbfounded.

"Let's go." With that, Zhang Chen led the stunned Xie Wen back to Ziyun Pavilion, locking the abandoned restroom door behind them.

Xie Wen was still somewhat shocked, but she said with a few traces of grief, "Student Zhang, I actually knew you were somewhat different, but I've met people similar to you before. Since you want to know, I'll tell you."

"I met my husband when I had just started university. I was in the School of Literature, while he was in the School of Fine Arts. We met while participating in club activities. Back then, he told me he was from Jinxi County too. He looked ordinary, but he was very kind. Whenever we went anywhere, he would buy me a bottle of yogurt and say it was good for my health. Gradually, we got together."

"He was very skilled at manicures and had a special fondness for nails. Every day, he would make my nails look beautiful. We were truly happy then." As she spoke, Xie Wen actually began to shed tears.

"Over the four years, our feelings grew very deep. But when we graduated, we ran into problems. His family was poor, and my family would not allow us to be together. I went on to graduate school, while he opened a nail salon outside our university. He lived frugally and saved every cent he earned, hoping that after my three years of graduate school, he would be qualified to marry me."

Zhang Chen noticed that Xie Wen's face was covered in tears as she said this, yet something still felt wrong. Unable to figure out what it was, he could only continue listening to her.

"After three years had passed, he took the money he had earned to my family to propose, but my brothers drove him out. They said he was a toad dreaming of swan meat and threw him out. I cried for a long time, but my family never allowed us to be together. In the end, while I was at home, I received news that he had died."

Zhang Chen immediately asked, "So you two never got married? Also, how did he die?"

"We didn't get married, but I don't know how he died." Xie Wen wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"You don't know? How could you not know?" Zhang Chen asked in surprise.

"I was locked up at home for several days and forbidden from going out. A few days later, my brother came in and told me he was dead. I asked how he had died, but he would not say. After that, I truly could not contact him anymore. The nail salon he had opened was closed too, and I could not find any news about him at all."

"But just when I was about to forget him, something happened. My brother at home said one of his fingernails had turned red. None of us could see it, and we thought something was wrong with him. But every day after that, he said another fingernail had turned red. No one paid much attention. Ten days later, my brother died. He died in his own bed, with his limbs and head all cut off. It was horrifying."

"Then my brother's wife and child both died as well. By the time my own fingernails started turning red, my family spent money to hire people who claimed to be powerful, but they were all frauds. My fingernails still turned red one day at a time."

"Until one day, my parents brought back a man from somewhere. He was barely one meter seventy tall and looked very strange, but he could see my red fingernails. After he arrived at my home, he looked around. Then suddenly, all the features on his face sank into it, turning him into a Faceless Man. Not long afterward, he returned to normal and said, 'Come with me to Jinxi County.'"

"I have no idea where my parents found that person. With no other choice, we returned here. Following his instructions, we came to the house where I live now. He told me to wait outside and said he would go in to take a look. I stood outside the door and occasionally heard things shattering inside. I was terrified, but all I could do was wait."

"Before long, the door opened. Both of his arms had been severed, and his face was badly scraped. I screamed right then. Unexpectedly, the moment he opened the door, he fell to the ground, and a sheet of paper slipped from his body."

"Wait." Zhang Chen suddenly interrupted her. "Was his throat cut too?"

"Yes. How did you know?" Xie Wen asked.

"Go on." Zhang Chen did not answer.

"The paper said: 'Miss Xie, if you wish to live, buy this house. You must remain inside the house after 9 p.m. Consider this repayment for the favor your parents once did me.' After that, I moved here and stayed home before nine as the paper instructed. Even after all ten fingernails turned red, nothing happened."

After listening, Zhang Chen gleaned several pieces of information. That Faceless Man had to be the mutilated ghost that had kept shaking his head when Zhang Chen escorted Wang Yizhi to Xie Wen's house last night. It had probably been warning Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen suddenly said, "Why did you drag Wang Yizhi into this?" The instant he spoke, the entire table began shaking violently, yet the coffee in the cups did not move at all.

"Could it be that Yi Zhi's nails have turned red too?" Xie Wen abruptly stood up, seeming completely unaware of the matter. Her eyes filled with tears again. "I don't know either. I thought that thing would only target me. After all, nothing happened to my parents. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have... sob, sob..."

Seeing Xie Wen so heartbroken, Zhang Chen felt as though he had gone too far. It seemed this older cousin truly knew nothing.

After a long silence, Xie Wen checked the time, and her face changed. She immediately dabbed away her tears with a tissue and said, "It's already eight-thirty. I have to go back."

Zhang Chen nodded. Though he still had some doubts, it would be terrible if something really happened. He paid the bill and followed Xie Wen outside. Watching the Mercedes-Benz drive away, Zhang Chen stood where he was and thought, Was this the truth?