After an unknown amount of time, she opened her eyes, her gaze clear and bright.
She finally remembered those sealed memories.
"It's such a pity I couldn't kill Xu Shaowei. What a waste of my jeweled staff; I clearly had other tools to deal with that Vengeful Ghost."
The system notification sounded, and after receiving all the tasks, Shen Ying's face was no longer relaxed at all, and the corners of her lips that had been raised turned into straight lines.
She checked everything in the Smart Bag; almost half of the compartments were gray.
Her preparations for this competition were all ruined by the system's restrictions.
Suppressing her frustration, Shen Ying took out her mask and raincoat and put them back on.
The rain is still falling, and the sacrificial offerings have not yet been made.
Her current identity is that of a follower of the Sun God Cult.
Thinking back to those fanatical cultists in her memory, perhaps she could use them to complete her third mission...
*
Su Cheng brought Xu Shaowei back to Red Moon Garden.
In the middle of the night, the surrounding hotels were either closed or fully booked due to the rain, or they felt eerie.
In comparison, Red Moon Garden is actually the safest.
Mu Ling held an umbrella for the two of them all the way until they reached the entrance of the residential area, at which point she took it back and slipped it into her bracelet.
Wang Tai was standing in the guard booth, talking to himself.
When Su Cheng left the residential area, she only hurriedly asked Wang Tai to open the door, as he was still conscious at the time.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that he had three souls within his body.
Three souls were forcibly squeezed into one body, and the weakest one was actually the true master of the body.
Although it's unclear how Wang Tai managed to attract another ghost, he must have heeded her advice during the day, otherwise his soul would have been completely devoured long ago.
"Open the door."
Su Cheng carried Xu Shaowei to the window of the security booth.
Inside the pavilion, Wang Tai was muttering to himself, completely absorbed in his thoughts. The indistinct syllables made it impossible to understand what he was saying; he seemed to be lost in a trance.
Knock knock knock!
Su Cheng used one hand to knock on the window, which finally drew Wang Tai's attention.
Wang Tai's forehead was dark, and although he was clearly a young man, his eyes were cloudy and aged. He moved slowly and spoke with difficulty, "Oh, you need to open the door."
The entrance gate opened, Su Cheng stepped into the security booth.
Wang Tai said kindly, "Little girl, you should go home quickly so late at night."
Then his expression changed to one of sharp sarcasm and meanness. "A perfectly fine girl like you isn't home late at night. I wonder where she came from."
Su Cheng's eyes remained unmoved as she took two steps forward and grabbed Wang Tai's arm, allowing the White Qi to enter his body.
Wang Tai's expression changed drastically. "Ah! What is that! Let me go!"
He frantically swung his arms but couldn't pull them back due to the clamp. White Qi circulated, and two old faces, a man and a woman, struggled and roared inside his body.
"Let me go!!"
The sharp and harsh sounds blended together, creating a ferocious appearance.
Su Cheng remained motionless, her fingertips digging into Wang Tai's arm with increasing force, causing a sizzling sound as black smoke rose from beneath the skin.
Wang Tai rolled his eyes back, veins bulged on his face, and his body trembled. Finally, that fragile soul regained its dominant position.
Su Cheng released his grip, staggered back two steps, and slumped into the chair behind him. "Thank you..."
Su Cheng nudged Xu Shaowei on the back, "You're welcome. But those two ghosts haven't been dealt with yet. You must have made offerings to them. To eliminate this threat forever, we need to find their vessel and burn it."
Wang Tai wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded gratefully. "Thank you! I understand. I'll go back and look for it later."
He lowered his voice. "Um... actually... I mean, you're probably not from this world either, right?"
Seeing his probing look, Su Cheng immediately understood that although Wang Tai was possessed by a ghost, he was already on the verge of awakening.
She didn't directly admit it, but said, "Don't easily trust people in this world, especially your family members from your memories. Think carefully about how you got here, and who you really are."
Wang Tai was stunned. He had originally thought that he and Su Cheng might both be time travelers, but it seemed that the other party did not entirely mean that.
But Su Cheng's words also made him realize that his ghostly encounters began after he accepted the amulet his wife sent him...
He never imagined that his gentle and considerate wife on the phone would harbor ill intentions towards him.
"Thank you, I understand what you mean." Wang Tai's expression was complicated. "By the way, I heard you've taken on the job of lost and found manager. Perhaps you could check on the owner of apartment 605 in building 5; she has some mental issues and is always looking for something... maybe you can get some clues."
Su Cheng noted down the location, thanked the guard, and left the security booth.
Wang Tai watched her departing figure with admiration in his eyes. The fact that she could save him while carrying someone on her back showed her strength.
Looking at the charred finger marks on his arm, Wang Tai couldn't help but think that if the world were a fake, being able to belong to the same camp as such a powerful person and fight against the world should be considered a kind of luck.
Su Cheng carried Xu Shaowei back to Building 4 and entered the elevator.
Once inside the building, the rain finally stopped soaking them. Both of them were wearing raincoats, and rainwater slid off the hems, dripping onto the ground and forming a puddle.
"Bite"
The elevator doors opened on the second floor.
Su Cheng raised an eyebrow; she only pressed the button for the 4th floor.
It was pitch black outside the elevator when a little girl in a pink dress floated in with her head down.
This time, Su Cheng saw it more clearly. The little girl looked to be eight or nine years old, and there was a very obvious bluish-purple ligature mark on her white neck.
It raised its pale little face, gave Su Cheng a sweet smile, its white teeth covered in blood. Then, not caring whether it received a response, it turned its head and pressed the button for the top floor.
Su Cheng looked at it inquisitively.
After the little girl pressed the floor button, she stood obediently in the corner. It meant no harm, but the crimson resentment on its body did not mean it was without danger.
The last time I saw it was in the stairwell; it seems to have been wandering around the building the whole time.
What are you going to do on the rooftop? Do you live in Building 4?
It took the little girl a long time to realize that Su Cheng was talking to her. She stiffly turned her head, opened her mouth, and found it covered in blood, with only half of her tongue remaining.
"Ahhh..."
The remaining part of the tongue trembled, and hoarse syllables came from its throat.
Su Cheng looked at its bewildered eyes and softened her voice, "You can't speak. Have you forgotten what happened in your past life?"
The fact that the little girl kept drifting around suggests that she had a strong attachment to the past, and that she had probably lost her memories of her previous life, which is why she kept lingering near the point of her death.
The girl shut her mouth and nodded.
Do you remember your name? Write it here.
The little girl blew a breath of cold air onto the elevator wall, then raised her hand and carefully wrote two characters on it: Ruoruo.
" Ruoruo," Su Cheng murmured.
With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, and we arrived at the 4th floor.
Su Cheng summoned Mu Ling and asked it to take Xu Shaowei to her bedroom, while she went with Ruoruo to the rooftop to take a look.
Ruoruo watched with a mixture of curiosity and fear as Mu Ling appeared and disappeared. It always kept its distance from the other ghosts in the building; this was the first time it had seen one of its own kind face to face.
Su Cheng took out the lost and found box. "Is anything of yours in here?"
Ruoruo looked at them one by one, her gaze settling on the medals. A dark scene flashed before her eyes, and she unconsciously reached out to touch the medals.
The round bronze and gold medal is strung with blue and white ribbons, and has a row of small characters engraved on it: Gold Medal in Long Jump at the 5th Sports Competition of White Moon City Elementary School.
"Hmm..." Ruoruo took out the medal and hung it around her neck. The resentment flowing in the medal returned to her body, and she seemed to remember something. After the elevator reached the top floor, she floated straight up.
Su Cheng followed behind, broke the iron chain locking the stairwell, and went up to the rooftop.
The rooftop has a railing and two large water tanks.
"Boom!"
A thunderclap exploded in the sky.
A boy in a raincoat appeared beside the water tank, smiling and waving at Ruoruo, " Ruoruo, come and splash in the water!"
Ruoruo was now wearing a yellow raincoat. She ran towards the boy, letting out a cheerful, clear laugh, "Okay!"
Looking at the two children, their figures half-transparent and like phantoms, Su Cheng realized that this was Ruoruo's memory.
Two children ran and played on the rooftop, splashing water everywhere; the heavy rain had become their favorite toy.
Tired from playing, Ruoruo suggested going home, but the boy leaned closer and stared at the medal on her chest, saying, "This medal is so pretty."
"This is me... uh!"
The boy suddenly laughed and tightened his grip on the medal. The pull around her neck caused Ruoruo to fall, her head hitting the stone steps that had been raised to support the water tank.
Blood oozed from the back of the boy's head, its bright red color attracting his attention.
A sickly glint flashed in his eyes as he pressed down on Ruoruo's back, pulling the medal ribbons backward and tightening them around her neck.
"Uh... uh..."
Ruoruo's face turned a deep purplish-red; her remaining strength and the sudden feeling of suffocation were insufficient to help her break free of her restraints.
The boy only relaxed when she closed her eyes and collapsed, exhausted.
He was very excited throughout the process, and even choked her neck for a while before calmly calling his mother with his watch.
Not long after, the woman in the apron rushed up to the rooftop and, after learning what had happened, raised her hand in disbelief.
The boy then cried helplessly, "If Dad didn't praise her every day, I wouldn't be like this, sob sob, Mom, you have to help me..."
The woman's eyes reddened. "Your father is a lunatic, and so are you! I shouldn't have given birth to you!"
She cried and cursed, but did not call for emergency help when she realized the girl had only fainted and was not dead.
"If Ruoruo's mom finds out, will she lock me up? I don't want to go to jail, waaaaah, Mom... Mom, Mom..."
The boy's words were precisely the reason for the woman's hesitation. In her memory, Ruoruo's mother had always been domineering, and if she found out about this, the other party wouldn't let it go easily...