Pure Malice

"Wait!"

Bai Yuze suddenly spoke, stopping Yukino in her tracks.

"What is it?"

Yukino was a bit puzzled. They weren't in a rush to get anywhere, so was he planning on taking a "sulfuric acid bath"?

"A wild brat has spawned."

From Bai Yuze's perspective, directly ahead on the path they were walking, a wooden bucket was floating, filled to the brim with liquid. The bucket was being carried by two figures resembling transparent children.

Bai Yuze knew clearly that the bucket contained a corrosive liquid, and a single bucketful was enough to dissolve a person entirely, leaving not even a scrap of bone behind.

"I hate brats the most."

As he said this, Bai Yuze picked up his flashlight and shone it toward them.

The moment the flashlight beam hit them, the two children dissolved into specks of light and vanished.

Clang!

The bucket lost its support and crashed to the ground, the liquid inside spilling out and mixing with the water on the floor, emitting a hissing sound.

"Such pure malice!"

Yukino exclaimed in surprise. They looked like children who had just learned to walk, yet their malice toward others was far higher than that of adult ghosts.

"The malice of a child is the purest kind. It contains no conflicts of interest, only simple, emotional disgust. Because of this, they wouldn't feel a shred of remorse even if they took someone's life. The only reason they cry is because they know they're about to get a beating."

"You're quite knowledgeable. Well, do you like children?"

"I don't know, but I know I hate brats. I can't stand them for even a second; the moment I see one, I want to strangle it. Throw it into a septic tank to use as fuel."

He recalled some unpleasant experiences. To summarize simply: relatives had come to his house, he had gone out for something, and the brats had entered his room... that was roughly the situation.

Those few short words were the pain of Bai Yuze's entire life.

"Hmm, you're quite sincere. You aren't good at pretending, are you?"

Yukino smiled slightly. Her view on brats was that they were unevolved monkeys, and the parents who could give birth to and raise such a miraculous species were rare, top-tier pieces of trash.

"No, I have a feeling those brats aren't convinced yet. In any case, let's proceed with caution. You take the flashlight and try to illuminate all the space in front of us."

One cannot let their guard down when dealing with brats, and brats that have turned into ghosts require even more focus. He didn't want to die at the hands of a group of children.

"Alright, I understand."

Yukino took the flashlight and continued walking. Bai Yuze followed behind, still dragging the corpse, and picked up the wooden bucket from the floor along the way.

Nothing strange happened along the way, but Bai Yuze knew this was merely the calm before the storm.

"We're here. This is the Green Gate."

Yukino pointed to a green door beside the corridor, while Bai Yuze frowned. This Green Gate... it seemed to be fading in color?!

Just as Yukino was about to approach, Bai Yuze pulled her back.

"What's wrong? Is there a situation?"

Yukino immediately went on high alert. In the time she had spent with Bai Yuze, she knew he wasn't the type to joke around.

"You step back a few paces."

Bai Yuze picked up the bucket and scooped up a bit of the water from the floor. Although it was only a little, it was enough.

Bai Yuze tossed the bucket's contents onto the door. The door hissed, and then the green faded away, leaving only a patch of deep crimson.

"This is... a Red Gate?!"

Yukino was stunned. A Green Gate that large had turned into a Red Gate just like that. Moreover, both she and Bai Yuze had been able to see it; if it were just her eyes playing tricks, that would be understandable, but for both of them to be hallucinating at the same time was impossible.

Bai Yuze pondered for a moment. Suddenly, he thought of something and took the flashlight from Yukino's hand.

He immediately turned the flashlight around and adjusted it to maximum brightness, shining it directly onto his own face.

Following that, he heard a scream from above his head. When he turned his head, he saw a Ghost Infant crawling on the ground.

This time, it wasn't so lucky; its body was pinned to the ground by a throwing knife from Bai Yuze.

The infant let out an unbearable shriek. Bai Yuze stepped forward and stomped the infant's head into a pulp on the spot.

The world went quiet.

"What are you doing? Why did you suddenly throw a knife at the ground?"

Yukino's inquiry reached him. Just as Bai Yuze was about to answer, the scene he saw was an infant riding on Yukino's shoulders, covering her eyes with its hands.

"So that's how it is. No wonder we got lost; it turns out we fell for your tricks!"

Bai Yuze turned the flashlight on Yukino as well. The moment the infant touched the light, it fell to the ground, where it was also cleanly and efficiently finished off by Bai Yuze.

"When did they latch onto us?"

Yukino felt a lingering fear. She couldn't help but touch her own neck, terrified that something might still be riding on it.

"I estimate they were there since we were chatting. They even went out of their way to orchestrate a conspiracy, all to protect the two Ghost Infants riding on our heads."

Bai Yuze saw through the purpose and methods of these infants. They had first obscured his vision to carry out their plan, and the subsequent appearance of the Ghost Infants carrying the bucket was a deliberate arrangement. At that moment, the Ghost Infant on Bai Yuze's neck had loosened its grip, all to make Bai Yuze believe that his eyes were fine.

Just as Bai Yuze finished off the two Ghost Infants carrying the wooden bucket, the Ghost Infant on his neck covered his eyes once again, a move intended to make it easier for the Ghost Infants behind to cover Yukino's eyes.

Thus, the plan became increasingly perfect; after all, who would ever doubt their own eyes? Especially eyes that had been enhanced.

Bai Yuze couldn't help but marvel at the intelligence of these Ghost Infants. The reason they knew Bai Yuze could see them was that he had once suddenly turned on his flashlight to attack them while they were outside his field of vision, and the scene where he fought the Male Corpse in the darkness later on had confirmed the extraordinary nature of his eyes.

So, they came up with this idea, all for the sake of killing Yukino and Bai Yuze.

But unfortunately, Bai Yuze had remained vigilant, and combined with his habit in his past life of occasionally falling asleep to ghost stories, these two factors led him to suspect that there was something unclean on his neck covering his eyes.

It was fortunate that Bai Yuze had kept his guard up, otherwise, he and Yukino would have met their end here.

"Those damn little brats, if I don't get my revenge, I'll go leave a positive review for Sanguosha."

Bai Yuze was so angry he laughed, and while Yukino didn't understand the second half of his sentence, she knew that Bai Yuze was very angry right now.

Just then... that Red Gate, without anyone pushing it, silently creaked open...