Capital Ghost

An hour later, Fang Xiu lay on his bed with vacant eyes, as though he had lost his soul, staring blankly at the ceiling.

He had died dozens of times. Ghosts had driven him mad and pushed him past the breaking point, but in the end, he had come back to life.

Madness and hatred had dragged his sanity back from the brink of hell.

From then on, revenge-revenge against his wife, revenge against every Ghost in the world, making every Ghost in the world feel pain-had become his reason for living. Just as his name implied, he would not stop until death.

Now the Ghosts were gone. What was he supposed to do with all that hatred? What reason did he have to live?

And so he stared at the ceiling for the entire night.

Until the next day, when Zhao Hao called.

"Xiu! Hurry, check the news!" His voice was frantic.

But Fang Xiu showed no reaction.

"Xiu, the news says Hundred Willows Academy caught fire!"

At the mention of Hundred Willows Academy, a faint spark returned to Fang Xiu's eyes, and he began checking the news on his phone.

The very first report he saw left him stunned.

It read: At 7:49 p.m. yesterday, a major fire broke out at the Hundred Willows Academy sales office in Green Vine City's development zone, burning an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. Firefighters began rescue operations immediately after receiving the report, and the fire was extinguished at 10:00 p.m.

The incident reportedly claimed eleven lives.

The list of fatalities was as follows...

Hundred Willows Academy caught fire at 7:49 yesterday evening?

How was that possible?

Fang Xiu clearly remembered that they had been fleeing through the Ghost Domain at that time yesterday. He remembered it vividly because he had frequently taken out his phone to check the time.

Besides, it had been sometime after nine when he left Hundred Willows Academy yesterday, and he had seen no fire at all.

He hurriedly checked the list of fatalities, only to find his own name right there.

He even saw a whole string of familiar names.

Zhao Hao, Wang Ziteng, Wu Dahai...

Zhao Hao's anxious, terrified voice came through the phone.

"Xiu, did you see it? Our names are on the list of fatalities. Could it be... we're already dead?"

Fang Xiu said nothing, but the light in his eyes was returning at a visibly rapid pace.

"Xiu? Xiu, are you listening?"

"Heh... hahaha..."

Fang Xiu suddenly burst into wild laughter, barely containing his excitement.

"Hahahaha... Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. I knew they hadn't disappeared. They're just playing hide-and-seek with me."

"Xiu? What are you talking about? Don't scare me!"

Thud!

Fang Xiu hung up. Seeing the news of his own death thrilled him beyond measure. It meant the supernatural incident wasn't over and the Ghosts hadn't disappeared. What could possibly make him happier?

Just then, a ding rang out!

It was a WeChat notification.

From the sales office's work group chat.

Manager Wu Dahai had tagged Fang Xiu.

"Fang Xiu, why aren't you at work yet?"

"Why aren't you at work yet?"

"Why aren't you at work yet?"

A barrage of messages flooded in.

Fang Xiu smiled at the eerie sight.

The dead Wu Dahai was telling him to come to work?

Hahaha... Interesting. This was far too interesting.

Still making people work after they were dead?

It seemed Wu Dahai had become a Capital Ghost after his death.

For the first time in his life, Fang Xiu was this eager to go to work. But he didn't reply in the group chat, because he wanted to see what other delights Wu Dahai had in store for him.

As Fang Xiu continued to leave the messages unanswered, the phone's notification chimes came faster and faster.

Eventually, a line of bloody text appeared.

"Do you think I won't know where you are just because you keep quiet?"

The large, blood-drenched letters filled the screen, eerie and gruesome.

Then the bloody letters slowly began to change, gathering together until it was as though a pool of crimson blood had appeared out of nowhere on the phone's screen.

Gurgle, gurgle...

The blood began to bubble like boiling water. Gradually, an eyeball rose from it, trailing countless bloody strands as it grew out of the phone's screen.

The eerie eye stared straight at Fang Xiu.

"Fang Xiu, I can see you!"

Wu Dahai's sinister voice actually came from the eyeball.

The scene was so grotesque that it could have driven an ordinary person mad with fear.

But Fang Xiu was an exception. After a moment's thought, he calmly asked, "When will you pay my commission?"

The eyeball seemed to freeze for a moment, clearly not expecting this response from Fang Xiu.

"As soon as you come to work," the eyeball replied.

"Fine."

With that, Fang Xiu abruptly reached out and seized the eyeball with its trailing bloody strands, yanking it off the phone's screen as though pulling up a weed.

"Sorry, this is my only phone. Please don't take it over."

The eyeball let out an agonized wail, then vanished into thin air like a bursting bubble.

Fang Xiu opened his hands. They were empty, with no eyeball and no trace of blood.

"A hallucination?"

"Things are getting more and more interesting. Time to go to work."

And so Fang Xiu set out for Hundred Willows Academy once again.

Upon arriving at Hundred Willows Academy this time, he was surprised to find that the entire sales office had been burned black. It had clearly suffered an exceptionally severe fire, and police tape surrounded it.

He stepped straight over the police tape and entered the sales office. The moment he crossed the threshold, the scene underwent a miraculous change.

For a moment, he seemed to have returned to the sales office as it had once been. Everything gleamed with luxurious splendor, from the polished marble floor to the enormous crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Even Li Feifei, who had died long ago, was standing nearby in business attire and black stockings, chatting with her coworkers.

They even greeted Fang Xiu when they saw him arrive.

Li Feifei gave him a teasing look. "Oh, Fang's here. Nice and early today, aren't you?"

Fang Xiu walked up to Li Feifei and gave her a squeeze. Warm, full, and springy.

"Is this real?"

Li Feifei shrieked, slapped Fang Xiu's hand away, and began cursing him.

Fang Xiu ignored her and headed straight upstairs.

As soon as he reached the second floor, Zhao Hao came rushing over.

"Xiu, were you dragged here to work too?"

"No, I like working. Where's Wu Dahai?"

Zhao Hao froze briefly before coming to his senses. "In his office."

Fang Xiu nodded and went to find Wu Dahai. On his way through the office area, he saw his dead coworkers at their desks, some working and others slacking off, exactly as before.

Just as he was about to enter Wu Dahai's office, Wu Dahai stepped out first.

The moment he saw Fang Xiu, he began berating him. "Fang Xiu! Why are you only getting to work now? I tagged you in the group chat. Why didn't you reply? Do you have any idea..."

"When will you pay my commission?" Fang Xiu's calm question cut off Wu Dahai's tirade.

Wu Dahai snorted. "Commission? You have the nerve to ask me for commission? With that attitude toward work..."

"Even dead, you're still just as disgusting."

"What did you say?! Who's dead?! Is that any way to talk? I'm alive and well! You're the one..."

Wu Dahai's fury soared. He pointed a finger at Fang Xiu's nose, his mouth firing like a machine gun. His booming voice drew everyone in the office area over to watch.

Whoosh!

A silver flash streaked past.

The whole world fell silent.

Under everyone's shocked gazes, a bright silver Scalpel was buried squarely in Wu Dahai's thick neck.

A large hand gripped the Scalpel's handle firmly. It belonged to Fang Xiu.

Fang Xiu met Wu Dahai's wide, furious eyes with his own calm gaze and said mildly, "Aren't you dead now?"