Mission Accomplished

"The hell kind of way is that to talk? How the hell could I not be alive!"

Zhou You immediately wanted to give the man the middle finger, but as he turned around, he suddenly saw a face filled with extreme panic.

It was as if all the fear in the world had been smashed, pulverized, and then seeped bit by bit into the skin. The entire face was twitching uncontrollably, the eyes were bloodshot, and the eyeballs were bulging so far out of their sockets that it seemed they might burst at any moment.

Zhou You recognized this person.

It was the security captain who had lectured him earlier.

But this man had lost all his arrogant bluster; instead, he was trembling like a leaf, acting like a terrified little girl. Judging by that look of horror, it wouldn't be surprising if he wet himself the next second.

Seeing this, Zhou You was no longer in a hurry to flip him off. Instead, he stood up with a beaming smile and walked toward the middle-aged man.

"Captain, look at what you're saying. How could I not be a living person? Oh my, you don't look so good. Did you have a sudden illness? We're close, why are you being so formal? Come, come, let me give you a hand..."

"Don't come over here!"

Seeing Zhou You getting closer and closer, the captain's face turned even uglier. When Zhou You was within arm's reach, the man finally couldn't help but let out a shriek and bolted toward the exit.

Zhou You instinctively wanted to grab the figure, but a system warning followed immediately.

Please note: You are currently unable to interfere with the actions of this entity. If you force an intervention, this scenario will immediately fail...

Zhou You had no choice but to pull his hand back in frustration, but suddenly, a thought occurred to him.

Currently?

That word didn't seem to be there before...

After the captain had completely fled, Zhou You searched the room again.

But to be fair, compared to the previous day, there were a few changes in the room.

First, his uniform had reverted to the one stained with blood.

Second, there were two more newspapers on the table.

"City's richest man... condition worsens... feared that..."

"Old district renovation... proceeding steadily..."

"Traditional culture... promotion... temples..."

"Today... improvements to sanitation workers' benefits... commendation..."

Just like before, the text was difficult to decipher, but this time Zhou You read it with extreme focus.

Soon, he discovered two issues.

First, this was the second time he had seen news about the "city's richest man" being critically ill. With such heavy emphasis, could this person be the key to this scenario?

Then there was the improvement in benefits—this was clearly referring to what Zhou You had done during the day. In other words, his actions during the day would directly interfere with the story of the entire scenario?

"Add in that security captain who probably knows the inside story, and the pile of problems is getting bigger and bigger," Zhou You habitually tapped the table. "But there's still nothing to connect these issues. I feel like I'm playing a jigsaw puzzle, holding a bunch of pieces but missing a few key ones..."

Just then, the clock behind him let out a heavy chime.

It was 11 o'clock.

In an instant, the entire room began to change.

Deep red blood welled up from the floor that had been clean just moments ago, the lightbulb overhead began to flicker incessantly, the plants in the flowerpot by the door turned into twisted limbs, and the broken television turned on by itself. Amidst the flickering static, one could occasionally catch a glimpse of a grotesque and hideous human face...

Wait, this didn't happen the previous night, did it?

Zhou You was just about to say this, but the worsening situation left him no time to think. Before the security room completely turned into a haunted house, he hurriedly grabbed his patrol flashlight and walked out.

Fortunately, the outside was no different from before. The only thing worth mentioning was that the streetlights were dimmer; he used to be able to make out the road by the light alone, but now, in many places, he had to rely on the beam of his flashlight to see clearly.

Zhou You carefully felt his way along until he reached the small food stall.

The incandescent light was still bright, but unlike his first visit, the moment he saw that light, his tension suddenly vanished. He casually lifted the curtain and walked inside.

"Young man, you're here to eat, right?"

It was the same line, but this time Zhou You didn't hesitate; he sat straight down on the chair.

Then, he flashed a brilliant smile.

"Boss, trouble you for a bowl of soup."

...The other party hadn't expected him to get straight to the point, but he went with the flow, reaching out to lift the lid of the pot where the human heads were boiling.

However, his hand was suddenly pressed down.

This is a serious violation of the rules.

The disturbed entity suddenly raised its head, its eyes turning extremely ferocious. Half of its face began to rot at high speed, and at the same time, Zhou You felt his arm, which was in contact with the entity, go numb, while rotting spots vaguely began to surface on his skin—

But the next second, all the anomalies stopped abruptly.

The reason was simple: Zhou You had pulled a white scarf from his jacket and placed it gently on the grease-stained table.

"How did you get this thing!"

The shopkeeper stared fixedly at Zhou You with his only remaining eye, his crazed expression as if he were about to devour someone.

However, Zhou You merely smiled.

"Rest assured, the old lady gave this to me of her own volition. So, can we have a proper talk now?"

..

"She knitted this for me ten years ago. Back then, my brother and I had just lost our jobs, and it happened to be winter. It was freezing cold, and she felt so bad seeing us shivering every day that she scrimped and saved, pinching pennies from her own mouth just to knit these two things."

The stall owner, now returned to his original form, hunched his back and stroked the scarf, his face filled with nostalgia.

"My brother lost his years ago; he's always been careless, otherwise he wouldn't be this old and still unable to find a wife..."

The head in the soup pot bobbed up, seemingly wanting to protest, but the owner immediately pressed it back down with a ladle.

"As for mine, it was kept safe, and she refused to throw it away even after I died... Sigh, thank you as well for bringing this over and helping my lonely, helpless wife. If there is anything this dead ghost can do for you, just say the word, and I will do my best."

Listening to those calm words, Zhou You did not hesitate, simply smiling as he spoke.

"In that case, could you please give me a normal bowl of soup?"

The owner's hand paused, and then he wore an inexplicable expression.

"You know this is a ghost stall, yet you still make such a request? You really are strange."

Despite saying that, he lifted the lid of another pot, took a clean ladle from under the stall, scooped up a bowl, and placed it in front of Zhou You.

This bowl of soup contained no rotting meat or pus, but it also lacked the mouth-watering chunks of meat and vegetables from before. It was just a plain, ordinary pork rib and lotus root soup, the kind that every household in certain regions knows how to make.

Nevertheless, Zhou You smiled in thanks, then took it and drank.