The Taste of Revenge

A... a backup!?

Everyone stared at Fang Xiu's calm face, their minds reeling. His actions had been so brazenly ruthless, so utterly unexpected, that they were shaken to the core.

True, none of them wanted to die. When a choice had to be made, someone had to make it.

But Fang Xiu had given them no room for discussion or choice. He had simply attacked.

Injuring one person was bad enough, but keeping another as a backup? His utterly abnormal way of doing things had shattered their understanding of the world.

Now they were all intensely wary of Fang Xiu, afraid he might decide to keep another backup.

But Fang Xiu did not strike again.

"The right is a dead end. If you want to live, take the left."

The others looked at Fang Xiu suspiciously. Clearly, they no longer trusted him.

One of them asked, "If the way out is on the left, why aren't you going?"

"I'm waiting to touch a thigh."

Touch? A thigh??

Apart from Zhao Hao, the other two people present thought they must have misheard.

Where were they supposed to find a thigh to touch in a Ghost Domain? A Ghost's thigh?

Just then, the sound of moving joints rang out. The Female Physician approached across the ceiling, her crawling limbs producing a series of sharp cracks.

Crimson blood still clung to the corners of her pale lips, dripping down.

"Ah!"

The two screamed in panic and turned to run, but they feared Fang Xiu was lying to them. They hesitated, venturing only a short way into the left-hand corridor without daring to go farther.

Fang Xiu, by contrast, did not run. Instead, he walked toward the Female Physician.

Of course, he stopped only a short distance from Wang Ziteng.

Seeing Fang Xiu approach, Wang Ziteng's eyes filled with hatred and rage. He reached out, seemingly determined to grab Fang Xiu's trouser leg even if it cost him his life, and drag him down with him.

Thud!

Fang Xiu stamped down, pinning Wang Ziteng's hand firmly beneath his foot.

"Aaaah!! You! You!"

The excruciating pain drove Wang Ziteng completely mad. Burning with fury, he lost almost every shred of reason.

Then Fang Xiu slowly lowered his head and said calmly, "Do you like how I've repaid you?"

Before Wang Ziteng could answer, it happened.

A silver gleam flashed, and everything fell deathly silent.

Fang Xiu slowly straightened, as though he had done something utterly insignificant.

Then he walked over to the Female Physician and began touching her thigh.

The others nearby were scared witless. Even after witnessing it with their own eyes, they still could not believe that when Fang Xiu had said he would touch a thigh, he had truly meant a Ghost's thigh.

Just then, Fang Xiu turned to Zhao Hao. "Want to join me?"

He had never forgotten what Zhao Hao had done in the storage room. Although he no longer possessed an emotion called gratitude, Fang Xiu still hoped to help Zhao Hao as much as he could.

He felt that his emotions were slipping away-or rather, that he was gradually losing his humanity. His heart held too much hatred and madness. He did not reject that feeling, but neither did he want to lose every emotion that made him human.

Zhao Hao hesitated at Fang Xiu's invitation, simply because Fang Xiu looked far too terrifying now.

Blood covered his calm face, the crimson contrasting with his fair skin in a strangely beautiful way. Wang Ziteng's severed limbs and remains lay at his feet. Standing shoulder to shoulder with a Ghost, he made it momentarily impossible to tell which of them was the Ghost.

Zhao Hao hesitated for a moment, but ultimately chose to trust Fang Xiu. He had few friends-or perhaps Fang Xiu was his only true friend.

With an ordinary family background and the looks of a loser, he had always been an outsider at the sales office. Only Fang Xiu, an orphan, had been willing to spend time with him, and over time, they had become good friends.

Slowly, Zhao Hao walked to Fang Xiu's side, and the two began touching the thigh together.

As for the other two, they had already fled.

The Ghost had not scared them into fleeing, but when Fang Xiu turned around, he had.

"Xiu." After a moment's hesitation, Zhao Hao finally asked, "Why did you suddenly attack Wang Ziteng and Wu Dahai?"

"This Ghost is far faster than any human. If we want to survive, our only option is to buy time with human lives. Someone has to be sacrificed. Given Wang Ziteng's and Wu Dahai's positions and status, who do you think they'd choose when the time came? Me, who has a grudge with them? Or you, whom nobody has ever liked?"

Zhao Hao's face turned unnaturally pale. He was about to speak when Fang Xiu continued, "Can you feel a faint chill seeping into your body?"

Zhao Hao froze, then shook his head.

Something stirred in Fang Xiu's mind, and he focused on the sensation.

It wasn't my imagination!

An uncanny chill really was passing from the Female Physician's thigh into his palm, then spreading throughout his body.

Could this be the corruption of the Ghost's power?

Why didn't I feel anything when I touched her thigh before?

No, perhaps I did feel it, but it was too faint. It must be approaching some kind of threshold now, which is why the sensation suddenly grew stronger.

If I'm right, this could very well be a sign that my Spirituality is about to ignite!

Zhao Hao felt nothing because he had yet to truly face life and death. His mindset was not up to the task.

They kept touching her thigh for a while longer before Zhao Hao suggested, "Xiu, it's about time. Let's go."

"No rush. There's still Wu Dahai. I feel like my Spirituality is about to ignite."

Zhao Hao was instantly delighted. "Really, Xiu? That's great! We're saved! What does igniting your Spirituality actually feel like? Why can't I feel anything?"

"Although you've spent a long time in contact with a Ghost, your mindset isn't ready. You haven't truly faced life and death, so you can't feel it."

Zhao Hao wanted to speak but held back. He badly wanted to ask, We've been together this whole time, so when did you face life and death?

After saying that, Fang Xiu pulled Zhao Hao back. Only after the Female Physician dismembered Wu Dahai did they resume touching her thigh.

Wu Dahai was very fat. With that much flesh, buying five minutes would be no problem.

Fang Xiu decided to keep touching her thigh for another two minutes, leaving three minutes to escape. If his Spirituality still had not ignited after two minutes, he could not keep going.

With that, he closed his eyes, moving his palm in irregular strokes as he focused intently on the sensation.