Seeing the situation reverse, Shu Lan immediately stepped forward to pick up the statue.
She had said it herself, these ghosts dared to act presumptuously in front of the divine child simply because they did not know what was good for them.
Yet when she saw the divine child’s appearance, her breath hitched, and she nearly fainted.
The divine child’s face was broken!
Clasping the statue, Shu Lan cried her heart out: “Wah, I have failed you!”
Mu Li was just trying to break free from the restraint when he was startled by the reporter’s wails: “It is fine, the divine child won’t care.”
He was right in the middle of comforting her when he heard Shu Lan sniffle and say:
“What do you know? This is an antique left behind by my great-great-grandfather. It is said to be a divine statue carved by the national preceptor of the Feng Dynasty himself, worth tens of millions on the market, wuwuwu.”
“Oh.”
Mu Li suddenly turned expressionless: “As long as you are happy.”
However, judging by its quality and texture, it might really be an antique from a thousand years ago.
The ghost mother was already restrained, and the most important task now was to drive the ghost out of Mu Li’s body.
Having expended too much stamina earlier, Feng Yi rested for a brief moment before launching an attack on the possessing ghost.
HP minus 1, minus 1, minus 1.
Feeling himself being attacked, Mu Li looked at Feng Yi with a look of utter grievance: “Do you really want to kill me?”
“I said before, if there is a next time, I will definitely kill you.” Feng Yi wore an expression that showed he had no desire to listen to nonsense.
Mu Li: ” “
He had no choice but to shift his gaze to Pei Kanyan standing off to the side.
Boss.
Save me, save me!
Seeing the youth blinking his round eyes and looking at him with full anticipation, Pei Kanyan couldn’t help but sneer inwardly.
Hah, thinking of him now, are we?
He advised Feng Yi: “This ghost is intertwined with Mu Li’s soul. If you kill him, you’ll hurt Mu Li.”
“That’s right, that’s right, our souls are intertwined,” Mu Li hurriedly chimed in.
Hesitating for a moment, Feng Yi raised his hand: “Then I’ll just separate you from his body.”
Mu Li suddenly felt a turbulent shock in his soul as multiple overlapping images appeared before his eyes: “Don’t, don’t!”
“Stop!” Pei Kanyan stepped forward and grabbed the doll in Feng Yi’s hand.
Noticing that the bespectacled young man had been trying to stop him all this time, Feng Yi said bitterly, “Why won’t you let me kill that ghost? Are you in cahoots with the ghost?”
“You’re going to get him killed.” Exerting force in his hands, Pei Kanyan began wrestling for the doll.
Startled by the unexpected strength of the bespectacled young man, Feng Yi found himself struggling to win the tug-of-war, so he increased his strength.
With one person pulling the body and the other pulling the head, the doll was torn between them so violently it was nearly decapitated.
Unable to take it anymore, Mu Li felt as though his soul was being ripped apart by two opposing forces while the entire world spun around him.
“Stop! I’ll tell you the truth, I am Mu Li. I lied to you earlier because I thought you couldn’t accept it. I apologize to you, please let me go now.”
If the player were actually killed by a teammate, it would be the ultimate miscarriage of justice.
Seeing Mu Li’s pale complexion, Pei Kanyan stopped pulling on the doll.
“You are Mu Li?” Seeing the youth’s face contorted in agony, Feng Yi wavered for a split second, but the thought of how the ghost could harm other ghosts steeled his resolve once more.
“You’re lying to me. Only ghosts can hurt ghosts!”
Mu Li was dumbfounded.
Wait, that was his own skill!
Had he completely sabotaged himself?
“That’s my ability! I can reflect the damage I take. Besides, have I ever harmed you? Have I ever harmed anyone?” Mu Li argued, unable to voice his grievances fully.
Feng Yi choked for a moment.
Indeed, up to this point, this ghost hadn’t successfully harmed anyone. In fact, looking back, it had helped them, and more than once.
It was also because of him that the ghost mother had been successfully restrained.
He was finding it hard to strike. If his judgment was wrong, he would end up hurting the real Mu Li.
“But the company investigated. Mu Li is just an ordinary orphan; it’s impossible for him to have such powerful abilities. Besides, Sister Wei has also interacted with him. If there were any issues, she’d never let him team up with me on a mission.”
“Your company’s investigation is wrong. You know nothing about my abilities. Have you never considered that this is my true self?” Mu Li explained earnestly.
Feng Yi’s mind was in utter turmoil.
Could the company’s investigation be wrong? Was the decisive and ruthless youth before him Mu Li’s true appearance? Was his previous weakness all an act?
Placing both dolls into one hand, he used his free hand to reach for his phone.
He had an emergency communicator; even within the world within paintings, he could contact the company. He had to order a re-investigation.
Yet upon checking, there was no signal, making his heart sink.
A sudden thought struck Feng Yi, and he pulled out Sister Wei’s doll, hoping to contact her.
To his horror, he discovered that words had been carved into the doll’s arm:
“Possessed by an evil ghost”!
How did Sister Wei know?
She couldn’t possibly have known!
A chilling creepiness washed over Feng Yi, sending a shiver straight from his spine up to the back of his head.
With icy limbs and a voice dropped to freezing temperatures, he asked, “If harming ghosts is Mu Li’s ability, why didn’t you use it against the ghost passengers on the train?”
Sister Wei must have uncovered something in the outside world. The only thing she could investigate was Mu Li’s past, which meant…
Mu Li had already been possessed before entering the paintings!
“That’s because I wanted to wait until I could secure a one-hit kill. Otherwise, once they found out about my ability, they’d just run away again,” Mu Li nearly coughed up blood.
He had learned his lesson from the female wraith, and he certainly didn’t want a repeat of that.
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
Using that excuse just to let the ghost passengers injure him?
Gnashing his teeth, Feng Yi glared at the ghost that was wearing Mu Li’s face while putting on an innocent act, realizing it was nothing but a pack of lies.
He had almost been fooled again!
Mu Li was dumbfounded. He couldn’t understand why, just as Feng Yi’s expression had started to soften, pulling out a doll had somehow made his resolve even firmer.
What on earth was going on here?
“Why won’t you just believe me?”
With trembling hands, Feng Yi was reaching his limit. He had to suppress the ghost mother, attack the possessing ghost, and fend off the bespectacled young man all at once.
If this kept up, he’d completely burn out.
Yet he couldn’t back down; his complexion had already turned pale: “I’ll give you one last warning. Are you going to leave his body yourself, or do I have to drag you out?”
“I’ve been in this body since I was born, where am I supposed to go?”
With a darkening expression, Feng Yi said, “Fine, then don’t blame me!”
He tightened his grip on the doll and exerted force.
Mu Li felt his health bar drop again.
Ahhhhh, help!
At that moment, Pei Kanyan made his move.
Raising the side of his hand like a blade, he struck Feng Yi on the back of the neck.
With just that light strike, Feng Yi felt his body suddenly become ten times heavier, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground, overwhelmed.
“I guessed it right, you and the ghost are in cahoots!”
Biting his tongue hard to force himself to stay awake while still clutching the doll tightly, he raised his head with difficulty to glare at the bespectacled young man.
Ignoring him completely, Pei Kanyan squatted down and easily pried Feng Yi’s fingers apart, snatching the doll away.
Mu Li instantly broke free from the restraint.
Stretching his neck, he picked up a nearby book and smacked it against Feng Yi’s back while cursing up a storm:
“Are you an idiot? Are you an idiot?”
Lying flat on the floor with a resentful glare, Feng Yi spat, “I’ll never let you go!”
Looking down at his overly stubborn teammate, Mu Li felt his breath catch in his throat: “I”
A sudden smell of burning drifted past his nose, prompting him to follow the scent.
Pei Kanyan was using his sleeve to cover his hand.
Sensing something was wrong, Mu Li grabbed Pei Kanyan’s arm and rolled his sleeve up.
Severe burns covered his hand, with the fire glowing with an ominous red light like molten lava, creeping upwards along his veins.
“How did this happen?”
Pressing his lips into a thin line, Pei Kanyan finally spoke: “I’ve been targeted by the taboo.”
“That unquenchable fire?” Mu Li frowned deeply. “Does that mean every time you make a move, you trigger the taboo?”
“I’m fine.” Pei Kanyan pulled his hand back.
“How could you be fine? The fire won’t go out. If this continues, it’ll spread all over your body.” Growing anxious, Mu Li paced back and forth while holding his head.
That single chop had essentially burned away an entire hand.
What would happen if his identity were exposed? Would he end up burned clean to ashes just like the sculpture room?
“Let’s drop that for now. The ghost mother has been trapped.” Pei Kanyan diverted his attention.
“Right, we need to seize control of the painting.” Mu Li found his objective.
Doing so might just provide a way to lift the taboo.
Helping his teammate up and making him sit on a chair, Mu Li stared into those angry eyes:
“I know you still don’t trust me, but right now our goal is the same.”
Yet Feng Yi remained hostile, though having lost the doll, he could no longer control the opponent.
Walking over to the ghost mother, Mu Li demanded, “Where is the painting? Where is your body? Where is the mortician? If you don’t tell me, I’ll have Feng Yi kill you.”
According to Shu Lan, the painting depicted the scene of the pregnant woman’s murder. If the ghost mother was the pregnant woman, she must be the owner of the painting and would definitely know its whereabouts.
Seeing the youth’s eyes brimming with killing intent, the ghost mother felt the approach of death once more and experienced true fear for the first time.
If this ghost cared nothing for its own life, what was hers worth? He really would kill her.
However, that red-haired guy was different, he was the softest-hearted among them.
Shifting her gaze to Feng Yi, she pleaded, “You can’t kill me. Weren’t you here to save me? My baby hasn’t been born yet, you can’t leave him without a mother.”
“I’ve said it many times, we’re here to help you. Why won’t you listen? Why did you try to kill us?” Looking down from above, the youth stared at the ghost mother with eyes as cold as ice.
Catching the fierce, swirling killing intent in the youth’s blood-red eyes, the ghost mother shuddered.
She looked at the red-haired guy, whose face was conflicted.
Regaining a bit of confidence, the ghost mother sneered, “Save your breath, he won’t kill me.”
Mu Li pressed his pen knife against his own neck.
Startled, Feng Yi scrambled to stand up and stop him, though he lacked the strength: “What are you doing now?”
Ignoring Feng Yi, Mu Li stared straight into the ghost mother’s eyes and articulated every single word:
“If I say that if he doesn’t kill you, I’ll kill this body instead, guess whether he’ll make a move or not?”
Hearing this, the ghost mother cursed aloud: “You lunatic!”
This ghost was entirely certain of the youth’s importance to the red-haired guy; therefore, to save the youth, the red-haired guy would definitely kill her.
“Fine, I’ll talk,” the ghost mother relented.
Mu Li lowered his pen knife.
“My body is with the mortician, and the mortician should be at the graveyard,” the ghost mother said after some deliberation. “As for the painting, I don’t know.”
The graveyard?
That was the place where they had been attacked by corpses earlier. Could all of this be the mortician’s doing?
The missing victim, the child inside the ghost’s belly, and the manipulated corpses all seemed to point to the mortician. Finding him would unlock all the mysteries.
Wait, the ghost mother didn’t even know about the painting!
With a face dark enough to drip water, Mu Li narrowed his eyes: “Let me ask you again, who on earth killed you?”
With trembling lips, the ghost mother replied, “It was Doctor Yang. The doctor killed me on the operating table.”
“Wasn’t it that mental patient?”
“No, I don’t know any mental patient.”
Upon hearing this, Mu Li snapped his gaze toward Shu Lan.
They had first met her at the station.
She was the one who had told them about the victim’s ordeal.
She was also the one who had described the painting.
After a brief moment of silence, Mu Li popped open his umbrella.
“I’ll be right back.”
Feng Yi watched as the ghost’s figure vanished, only to reappear a minute later holding a piece of paper.
Damn it, that ghost could actually use Mu Li’s abilities too.
Squatting down in front of the reporter, Mu Li said, “Didn’t you say you forgot to pick up your physical examination report? I went and grabbed it for you.”
Shu Lan, who was still busy mourning her statue, blinked: “Huh?”
“Can I take a look?” Mu Li asked.
Startled for a second, Shu Lan scratched her head: “Sure, go ahead, there’s nothing major in it anyway.”
Mu Li opened the examination report.
[Congratulations to the player for matching the task target: Shu Lan. Main Quest: Rescue the Reporter at the Station, unlocked.]
[Obtained limited-time skill: Possessed by an Evil Ghost, countdown: 120 minutes. It seems only ghosts can deal damage to ghosts, doesn’t it?]
So that was it. Everything made sense now.
A sudden thought occurred to the ghost mother: “Wait, if you’re a ghost, why didn’t you kill me yourself?”
Ghosts killing evil ghosts required no price. If the youth was truly a ghost, why go through such a massive roundabout way to make the red-haired guy kill her?
He had said his ability was reflecting damage received, what if that was true?
“Could it be, you actually can’t hurt me at all?”