Ghost Sacrifice

After all the candlelight went out, only two candles remained in the room, illuminating Liu Haoyu's face.

The man stared at the candles before him, still chanting silently in his heart.

"Qin Liu... Qin Liu..."

The girl's name echoed endlessly through his mind.

In this dim world, all Liu Haoyu could hear was his own unceasing call.

And the rapid pounding of his heart.

He was nervous.

Even if he could face death calmly, when death truly became a possibility, Liu Haoyu could not help but tense his body.

He had always been a man with strong nerves, so even in a haunted house at midnight, he had managed to suppress the fear in his heart.

The oppressive atmosphere made it hard for Liu Haoyu to breathe.

He lowered his head and looked at the dish of blood on the floor.

At that moment, it was so vividly red that it resembled the Fierce Ghost's crimson bridal gown.

Though the blood was so murky, Liu Haoyu could clearly see his reflection in it.

Under the dim candlelight, the man in the reflection looked utterly exhausted. Several consecutive days of insufficient sleep had left his eyes bloodshot, while his lack of water had made the corners of his lips dry, cracked, and pale. He looked like a... zombie.

Perhaps it was Liu Haoyu's imagination, but the reflection of himself looked utterly unfamiliar.

Even somewhat terrifying, as if it were not him at all.

Realizing this, Liu Haoyu made a scissors gesture at his reflection.

The reflection made paper.

That really was not him.

Liu Haoyu silently straightened his back, then shifted his gaze away from the reflection and toward the offering placed between the two candles.

For some unknown reason, the already chilly house grew even colder.

As though something bad had entered.

At that moment, the sound of "Qin Liu" still echoed endlessly beside his ears.

Even though Liu Haoyu was not chanting it at all, that name continued to whisper in his ears.

Who was speaking?

No one knew. Liu Haoyu did not know what exactly was speaking, either.

He only knew that he had to keep his gaze fixed on the offering between the two candles.

The moment he looked away, the Ghost Sacrifice ritual would fail immediately.

All his efforts would come to nothing, and there was even the risk of death.

So Liu Haoyu stared fixedly at the offering, afraid that it would vanish the instant he blinked.

Yet something unexpected happened.

The red and blue candles went out at the same time.

The room was plunged into complete darkness.

A strange rustling sound rose in the room, as though countless things were crawling around.

Judging by the sound, they seemed like bugs of some kind—perhaps cockroaches?

Even though the room had gone dark, Liu Haoyu could still clearly see the dish of blood beneath him despite the pitch-black darkness.

The reflection in the blood remained perfectly clear.

After the two of them exchanged a glance, Liu Haoyu saw black, strange liquid begin seeping from the face of his reflection.

Until the entire face turned pitch-black and festered, its lips finally rotting away completely to expose rows of ghastly white teeth.

Liu Haoyu could clearly feel it.

It was smiling at him.

Faced with such a chilling sight, Liu Haoyu understood his current situation very well. The Ghost Sacrifice ritual required a great deal of blood.

As a result, he had almost completely lost the ability to move.

If the Fierce Ghost was dissatisfied with the offering he had presented, the reflection in the blood would kill him in an instant.

As time passed, even the air seemed to congeal, making it impossible for Liu Haoyu to catch his breath.

But even so, he continued to grit his teeth and endure.

When the candlelight lit up again, the last thing Liu Haoyu saw was the burning red candle.

The blue one... had gone out.

The next morning, Liu Haoyu suddenly jolted awake on the floor.

He hurriedly checked his body.

He was still alive...

Why was he still alive?

The Fierce Ghost had clearly rejected the offering and lit the red candle.

That meant his situation at the time had been certain death.

Not only would the Fierce Ghost in this haunted house refuse to spare him, even the wandering ghosts nearby would not have let him go.

But... he was still alive.

Liu Haoyu slumped against the wall and silently lit himself a cigarette.

The pungent, rich smoke entered his lungs, numbing Liu Haoyu's taut nerves.

He let out a breath.

Why was Liu Haoyu so calm, even somewhat thick-skinned?

The fundamental reason was that when facing a Fierce Ghost, amid prolonged repression and fear, if you could not force yourself to calm down and relax, the body's stress response would make you lose your mind outright, perhaps even descend into frenzy and madness.

That was when death truly became inevitable.

Liu Haoyu exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. Leaning against the wall and looking at the wreckage strewn across the floor, he felt a jumble of emotions.

The blue candle had been sliced in two as well.

The red candle, meanwhile, continued burning without pause.

As for the dish of blood that had been placed between the candles, it had been completely shattered, blood flowing all over the floor.

But the problem was that the offering had vanished too.

Normally, if the red candle was lit, the offering should have remained where it was.

So, given the current situation, Liu Haoyu did not even know whether the ritual had succeeded or failed.

He only knew that he was still alive.

At the same time, Liu Haoyu could not help looking at his hand—more precisely, his palm.

Bandages that had appeared from nowhere were tightly wrapped around the wound.

Who had done it was already self-evident.

"How depressing..."

He stubbed out the cigarette in his hand, then stood up and began cleaning up the scene.

Whatever the outcome, at least his life was still in his own hands.

After clearing everything away, Liu Haoyu returned to the bedroom.

He lay on the bed, resting an arm across his forehead as he stared at the dilapidated ceiling, his heart filled with doubts and confusion.

To resolve them, he took out the Black Book.

But before he could write anything, a line of words appeared in it.

"The Ghost Sacrifice ritual has ended. The red candle was lit; it seems your offering successfully enraged the Fierce Ghost within the haunted house."

"Although it is regrettable that you did not receive a result to your satisfaction, for some reason, that Fierce Ghost spared you once. But it will likely come for you very soon."

"That red candle, flickering like a dying flame in the wind, seems to foreshadow your fate."

The Black Book's words left Liu Haoyu feeling rather puzzled. Wasn't he still alive and well?

He scratched his head and wrote.

"What exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I mean is... how the hell are you still alive?! Was this ghost your lover in a past life?!"

After writing that passage, the Black Book closed itself without even needing Liu Haoyu's help.

Clearly, it had not figured out what was going on either.

Just then, Liu Haoyu's phone began to ring.

With an energetic ringtone playing, Liu Haoyu answered the call.

From the other end came the embarrassed and angry voice of a maiden.

"Get out of my house!"

"..."

He had to admit, her voice was rather pleasant.

Liu Haoyu thought thoughtfully.