The Natives of This World Are So Fierce - Chapter 30: Chippelo's Filth
Everyone heard Doudou.
His words made everyone from the Guo Family look at Haohao on the floor.
When they saw that his chest was still rising and falling, they all breathed a sigh of relief. But since the "master" had yet to speak, and the thing in his hand was so frightening, none of them dared approach or say anything, afraid that some crucial step was still unfinished.
Su Su did not dare interrupt Qin Xiaoxia as casually as Doudou had, either.
Everything that had just happened had left her no time even to react.
This young man with graying hair had risen immeasurably in Su Su's estimation.
She thought again of how Doudou had claimed to be "only seventy" at the barbecue restaurant.
Looking at Qin Xiaoxia, whose silence carried an intangible air of authority, she could not help wondering.
How old was he really?
Qin Xiaoxia was already holding the Faceless Yin Ghost's "corpse."
Yes, at the very last moment, that bizarre thing had finally revealed its name and origins.
The wondrous thing about magic language was that a single word could often carry a great deal of meaning.
Though this was not always the case, it even made Qin Xiaoxia think of the information contained in "true names" as described in certain works of fiction.
Beyond their broad meaning, the precise significance of words shifted with the speaker's magic power and emotions. It was quite remarkable.
Corpse-Shadow Chippelo was that thing's native world. Like Faceless Yin Ghost, the name was Qin Xiaoxia's translation of its meaning.
It was a dark creature of extremely low intelligence.
More precisely, it was the juvenile form of an even more disgusting monster.
A Ghoul!
Not the sort of Ghoul found in games, but something considered filthy contamination even in Chippelo.
They loved corpses and normally attacked only creatures weaker than themselves.
These things ran completely counter to Earth's biology.
Qin Xiaoxia did not even know whether he should classify them as living beings.
In their juvenile stage, they were things that prowled in the shadows, neither human nor ghost-the Faceless Yin Ghosts. They were easy to overlook in the darkness.
They had almost no physical substance, and to grow further, they needed to parasitize a host.
That was the state Haohao had been in.
Their cold, filthy power gradually corroded the host's soul. How long this took depended on the soul's inherent strength.
The process of parasitism also transformed the host, gradually changing them into a "Ghoul."
Once the host's face vanished completely, the first stage of parasitism was complete. At that point, even if the original soul had not yet died, the host was essentially beyond saving.
Through parasitic metamorphosis, they eventually took over the host entirely, becoming Ghouls of all different forms.
Although adult Ghouls changed in appearance, their general shape, and especially their size, remained closely tied to the original host species.
So Ghouls did not necessarily all look alike.
But what made them disgusting was their love of corpses and contamination.
Flies!
After learning all this through the "true name" conveyed in magic language, that word had sprung into Qin Xiaoxia's mind, though it was not quite apt.
Even setting aside their parasitic juveniles, Ghouls themselves were walking sources of disease.
Like flies, adult Ghouls that had completed their metamorphosis liked to excrete contaminants while they ate.
This contamination was not merely the waste produced by biological digestion. It altered the surroundings, turning the whole area into an environment Ghouls favored. For many living creatures, especially those on Earth, such an environment was lethally toxic.
And!
Ghouls might be lowly creatures in Chippelo, but that would not necessarily hold true on Earth.
When they regarded their targets as "weak," their aggression would inevitably increase, perhaps even to the point of changing their habits.
With their ability to reproduce asexually, they posed an enormous threat, even if their rate of reproduction was not particularly extreme.
"We got here in time. Otherwise, there would've been no saving Haohao."
Qin Xiaoxia finally emerged from his thoughts and spoke to the three members of the Guo Family, who had not dared disturb him.
All three breathed a sigh of relief.
"Come over and check on Haohao."
With that, Qin Xiaoxia stepped aside to let them approach Haohao.
He went to a corner of the room and picked up a beer bottle.
Wrapping the Faceless Yin Ghost's "corpse" in magic power, he compressed it into a ball, then stuffed it into the beer bottle along with the magic threads binding it.
"Doudou, catch!"
Seeing the beer bottle flying toward him, Doudou reluctantly reached out and caught it.
He had also heard the magic language just now. Although he had grasped less than a third of what Qin Xiaoxia had, he understood the basics: the bottle contained something filthy.
Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoxia picked up some tissues from the room and wiped his hands in utter disgust, as though some filth had stuck to them.
The Guo Family held Haohao, their faces full of heartache.
This was the most peaceful the child had been in all this time. Before, he had not settled down even at night.
"We got here in time and stopped that thing from succeeding. But his face... there's no changing it back now."
Qin Xiaoxia spoke partly in lament, partly in explanation.
"Let him get a good night's sleep. He'll wake up once he's rested enough. Give him light food!"
After all, now that he thought about it, they were still his paying clients.
"It's all right, it's all right! We're already more than satisfied that you got rid of that filthy thing. More than satisfied... sob... my poor child..."
Haohao's mother began sobbing as she spoke.
"Sis, cosmetic surgery is so advanced these days. Some people get it as casually as they eat a meal. Haohao can have it too."
"Yes, yes! Cosmetic surgery. He can get cosmetic surgery!"
That was the advantage of having money. Whatever the situation, the wealthy always had a little more hope and a few more opportunities than the poor.
Amid the Guo Family's profuse thanks, Qin Xiaoxia and his two companions left the villa.
Guo Zhenbang, the barbecue restaurant owner, made sure to drive the three of them back into town in his van.
Of course, before that, the five-thousand-yuan exorcism fee had already been transferred to Qin Xiaoxia through a mobile app.
In the van, neither Qin Xiaoxia nor Doudou felt the joy they should have felt at earning money.
Qin Xiaoxia looked particularly grave.
The atmosphere in the van kept Su Su and Lao Guo from daring to speak.
"Doudou, it looks like the Dam isn't very stable!"
Doudou held the beer bottle and remained silent.
Only Doudou and Qin Xiaoxia understood that remark. Su Su's brow kept furrowing and relaxing, clearly struggling to work out what it meant.
"Lao Guo."
"Huh? Yes, yes, I'm here!"
Caught off guard by Qin Xiaoxia calling him, Lao Guo nearly failed to react, answering in a fluster.
Qin Xiaoxia found it rather amusing.
Clearly, the impression he had left on everyone was deeper than he had imagined.
"Don't be nervous."
"Try not to tell anyone what happened just now. It wouldn't be good for you or Haohao. If the neighbors ask, just say you hired a 'master' to perform an exorcism."
Instead, a question arose in Lao Guo's mind. Aren't you masters?
Naturally, though, he kept voicing his agreement.
"Of course, of course! We don't want it affecting Haohao's life in the future, either."
Qin Xiaoxia merely offered that one reminder.
After all, there were plenty of spirit mediums and exorcists in the countryside. Even if word got out, how many people would take it seriously?
"Some things really are dangerous..."
Qin Xiaoxia murmured with a sigh, his feelings complicated.
If Haohao's condition had been left alone, it might have brought a major crisis down on the people of Qiantang, or even a much wider area...
I hope everyone will support this with more votes. The new book's results are honestly too miserable to look at, haha. Sigh. ╥﹏╥