Cleaver Raised, Zhang Qiang Really Came

Old Ghost was just a wandering spirit, enduring the wind and rain year after year.

He had no idea how many years it had been since he had last eaten an offering.

He simply could not resist the temptation of food for the dead. He raised a hand and reached for the Chicken Blood Flower Cake.

But at that very moment, I raised the Dragon-Head Cleaver and brought it down.

The cleaver gleamed with a cold light, aimed straight at Old Ghost's face.

Old Ghost jerked in fright.

Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough to avoid the vital blow.

Even so, my blade struck him directly on the arm.

"Ah!"

Old Ghost let out a miserable cry. The arm I had severed instantly burst into a mass of green ghost fire and vanished.

Old Ghost fell to the ground, staring at me with terror written all over his face.

The wandering ghosts around us were so frightened by the scene that they turned and ran.

In the blink of an eye, they had vanished without a trace...

But I had no intention of giving him any chance to catch his breath.

With the cleaver in hand, I climbed on top of him and pressed the blade against his throat.

Old Ghost trembled all over and hurriedly pleaded, "Don't, don't, don't kill me! Little brother, don't kill me.

Weren't we cooperating?

We can talk this out. We can talk this out properly!"

"Cooperating? Do you believe that?"

I shot back.

If I had not wanted to learn more about the "fierce woman" he had mentioned, I would have ended him with one stroke already.

I did not dare kill people, but to stay alive, I really was not afraid of killing a ghost.

Old Ghost was momentarily speechless, though he still wanted to make excuses.

But I did not want to hear them, nor did I have any interest in hearing them.

I cut him off directly. "Cut the crap and tell me.

What did the fierce woman you saw last night look like? How tall was she? Was she holding anything?"

I fired off three questions in a row.

With his life on the line, Old Ghost did not dare hesitate.

In a trembling voice, he said, "She was... she was very pretty. There was a tiny tear mole at the corner of her left eye.

She was tall and well-proportioned.

Oh, right. She... she was holding a black paper umbrella."

The moment I heard that, my heart skipped a beat, and I involuntarily drew a deep breath.

The traits Old Ghost described basically matched my ex-girlfriend, Xiao Yu.

There was indeed a tiny tear mole at the corner of Xiao Yu's left eye.

It made her features more distinctive and a little more alluring.

She was tall and well-proportioned, and every time she came out to meet me, she carried a black paper umbrella too.

She said it was in case it rained.

That meant the "fierce woman" who had frightened all the ghosts out of the pavilion last night was my ex-girlfriend, Bai Xiaoyu.

But why had she saved me, only to avoid me afterward?

And Old Ghost had said before...

that she could barely protect herself. What did that mean?

With that in mind, I continued, "Also, you said she could barely protect herself. What did you mean by that?"

Threatened by me, Old Ghost was about to answer.

But the moment he opened his mouth, his eyes locked onto something behind me, and an expression of utter terror appeared on his face. "Ah! Ah..."

He suddenly cried out in terror.

At the same time, a chill ran down my back, and waves of fishy stench drifted over from behind me.

A few drops of water also fell onto my neck with soft drips.

The icy aura, the sudden droplets, and that foul stench made my heart tighten.

My whole body froze in place.

Because I could feel someone standing behind me.

Before I could react, an icy, deathly pale hand landed directly on my shoulder.

At the same time, a faint voice sounded beside my ear.

"Jiang Ning, I've been looking for you for two days..."

The moment I heard that voice, half my body went cold.

It was Zhang Qiang.

At this critical moment, he had somehow crawled out of the lake without a sound and appeared behind me.

My body trembled twice, and I did not dare move.

From the corner of my eye, I saw that the hand on my shoulder had grown long, sharp nails.

They were stark white, angled right beside my neck.

Never mind whether he would bite me.

If I moved recklessly, he might stab those sharp nails straight into my neck and kill me on the spot.

"Z-Zhang Qiang..."

Cold sweat broke out all over me. I no longer paid attention to Old Ghost beneath me.

Zhang Qiang stood behind me and suddenly took two deep breaths in.

With those two breaths, I felt as if my soul were about to be sucked out.

My entire body shuddered with cold, as though all the warmth had been drawn from it.

Not only that, Zhang Qiang continued in a resentful tone, "Jiang Ning, why do you smell so nice?

But why are you riding an old man?

And holding a knife to him?

Put the knife down.

If the school finds out, they'll definitely expel you."

His voice was slow and soft, but it carried an icy, eerie feeling.

I could not see Zhang Qiang's face at all.

To keep him calm, I could only say, "Okay, I'm getting up now. You... you take your hand off first. I'll put the knife away right now."

I spoke nervously, my heart practically pounding out of my throat.

But Zhang Qiang lowered his voice and slowly dragged out the words, "Put it away..."

The sound made my scalp tingle.

All I could do was slowly stand up and slide the blade back into its sheath.

The instant Old Ghost beneath me saw me put away the knife and rise, he scrambled to his feet and fled.

In the end, he plunged headfirst into the nearby shrubbery and disappeared.

Behind me, Zhang Qiang's voice sounded again. "That old man runs pretty fast!"

His voice was slow and emotionless.

But the more emotionless he sounded, the more frightened I became.

Still, I had to stay calm.

I had come here today because of Zhang Qiang.

Nervously, I slowly turned around.

Out of the corner of my eye, I gradually got a clearer look at Zhang Qiang.

He was still wearing the clothes from a few days ago.

But his hands and feet were unnaturally pale and somewhat swollen, covered in water droplets.

When I saw his face, I shuddered.

His face had swollen beyond recognition.

He looked exactly like a bloated corpse floating in water, with droplets constantly dripping from him...

He was completely different from how he had looked in life.

He was no different from a waterlogged corpse.

"Jiang Ning, where have you been these past two days? I've been looking for you for two days!"

Zhang Qiang spoke again. There was not a trace of life in his eyes.

His whole demeanor seemed dull and vacant.

It was a stark contrast to when he had just died three days ago.

"W-Why have you been looking for me?"

I asked instinctively.

Without thinking, Zhang Qiang answered, "The teacher told me to come find you."

Last night, I had heard him muttering to himself.

He had said that if he could not find me, he would not know how to explain it to the teacher when he went back.

But he was dead. Who did he have to answer to? What teacher?

Or was he trapped in some obsession?

Since I could still communicate with him, I continued, "Which teacher told you to come find me?"

Zhang Qiang seemed a little confused. He thought for a while before answering, "The teacher. Come with me now!"

Before I could even react, Zhang Qiang grabbed my wrist.

The icy, wet touch made me deeply uncomfortable.

And he was incredibly strong. I could not break free at all.

Holding my hand, without even asking whether I agreed, he turned around and dragged me straight toward the lake...