It was still staring at me...
When she turned and saw the dead head on the floor, its spine still attached, Qiao Ziruo felt all the blood in her body freeze.
Am I going to die?
The impact of seeing a Vengeful Ghost appear before her own eyes was nothing like the earlier veiled hints or what she had imagined.
Qiao Ziruo's mind went completely blank. Her whole body stiffened, and she could not move at all.
What kind of world is this...
Why is this happening?
Thud-
She dropped onto her backside and could no longer move.
She suddenly understood why, in the animal world, most weak animals could do nothing but tremble before predators.
Under the stare of that bloody dead head, she could barely even blink, as though someone had pressed pause. This was not the Vengeful Ghost's ability, merely a manifestation of having completely lost the will to survive when faced with a terrifying being far beyond her.
This was pure fear.
Am I going to die...
At that instant, other images began flashing rapidly through Qiao Ziruo's blank mind.
Her family's hardships, her impoverished childhood, the loneliness of studying late into the night, the helplessness of struggling to understand a concept, the joy of receiving a scholarship... every memorable moment of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness in her life so far flashed through her mind, one after another.
Only then did Qiao Ziruo experience firsthand that the human brain really was not being fully utilized.
It had reviewed her entire life of its own accord, yet only an instant had passed in the real world.
So... it really is true that your life flashes before your eyes before you die.
At this point, every thought had become meaningless. Instead, Qiao Ziruo's gaze settled once more