Chapter 111: “Clear Conscience”

Amid the howling wind, Yu Guo suddenly felt an icy chill shoot up from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

Chang Nian was still Chang Nian, yet no longer truly herself.

Her body remained hers, but her face had been entirely replaced with that of the ghost bride.

Thinking carefully, Yu Guo realized this was just the killer’s disguise—the entity had dressed itself as the ghost bride even now.

“Possession?”

Yu Guo was stunned. He stared at the ghostly pale face, motionless, the hands still clutching the wooden comb and brushing hair that was not her own.

Then he suddenly noticed the hair on the comb starting to fall, like strands shedding naturally.

But as they hit the ground, the hair seemed alive, weaving through the corridor and slithering into the grass like black snakes, rapidly attacking his position!

Furious, Yu Guo cursed, swung his backpack behind him, and ran.

While sprinting, he shouted over his shoulder, “Damn it, Tongguan! Your wife’s turned into a ghost—come deal with this!!”

The black hair twisted through the dense grass like hidden hunters, and Yu Guo became the sole prey.

He ran at full speed, wind trailing behind him, but the human body has its limits. As his pace faltered slightly, he felt a sudden bite at his calf.

Looking down and lifting his pant leg, he saw a black strand had pierced his ankle and was burrowing upward into his flesh.

Even through his skin, he could see the black line wriggling!

Yu Guo screamed—he had always feared snake- or worm-like things, and this sight nearly made his soul leave him.

Fortunately, his mental resilience was exceptional. Almost instantly, he drew his knife.

Pressing one hand against the climbing hair, he slashed his thigh, shoved his fingers into the wound, and, with brute force, pulled the hair free.

Flesh and blood came out with it, leaving him unable to stand. His lips trembled uncontrollably.

A piercing scream echoed through the empty Li Mansion.

Before him, the grass was now a writhing, dense mass of black hair, coiling and surging forward, ready to consume him.

“Ton… Tongguan?”

In the nearby warehouse, Tao Xiaoyi finally stirred, opening her eyes to see Tongguan.

But she immediately noticed his face had gone ashen, body tense as if facing a mortal enemy.

Only then did she turn her head in confusion, seeing the vast, floating red…

A blood-red wedding dress, symbolizing blood and sin, hovered before them. Though it hadn’t moved yet, it watched them with predatory intent.

A strong, chilling aura pressed down, seeming to freeze the warehouse itself, threatening to kill any living being inside.

Shivering, Tao Xiaoyi fully regained consciousness.

“G-go… go go go!”

She tore herself from Tongguan’s support and dashed toward the rear door, slamming her hands against it with desperate force.

But the seemingly fragile wooden door was now unbreakable, as solid as steel.

“No need to try. You can’t get out.”

Tongguan’s eyes narrowed, fixed unblinkingly on the floating red dress. The scene reminded him of Xiao Lan’s death not long ago.

The pattern was the same: encircle and kill.

The dress was here; the ghost itself might not be.

Their only option was to find a flaw in the dress and escape. If they could get out, there might still be a chance.

“Why isn’t it moving…”

Tao Xiaoyi panicked at the unmoving, hovering dress and instinctively stepped behind Tongguan.

This had been Tongguan’s question too. Ten minutes had passed since he entered, yet the dress had made no move.

Without action, he could not discern an attack pattern, making escape even more difficult.

“Is it bluffing?”

Tongguan suspected the dress was not simple. If it could trap them here, it surely could kill them. But why the delay…

Was something missing?

Tao Xiaoyi, seeing Tongguan deep in thought, lowered her gaze, remaining quiet to avoid disrupting him.

Yet when she glanced toward the moonlight seeping through the door crack, her survival instinct surged.

Whatever the dress’s purpose, survival meant escaping.

How to escape, though…

Gradually, her eyes hardened, especially when glancing at Tongguan’s back. The struggle between life and death, between good and evil, became visible.

At twenty-five, Tao Xiaoyi felt she had not yet lived enough.

In the past, she had done many things for survival; now, for survival, what she did—who could judge her wrong?

Here, only two people remained, and she knew one of them would die. If she could escape, even when Ji Li and others asked later, she would have her answer.

Truth or falsehood does not rely solely on her words.

With this thought, the seed of the devil had already taken root.

As long as one could find a reason sufficient to convince oneself, a person could do anything.

At this very moment, Tao Xiaoyi had slowly reached her hand out. Just a fist away from Tongguan’s back, she could push him toward the wedding dress—and survive.

Tongguan, seemingly deep in thought, had already unconsciously glanced behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tao Xiaoyi shift from initial hesitation to an unnerving calm.

Her breathing had grown heavier, signaling she was preparing a decisive, urgent move.

Tongguan frowned briefly, then relaxed, letting out a sigh.

As the former manager of Branch Eleven, he had survived this long because he understood the human heart even more profoundly than Ji Li.

In fact, he had been pondering why the wedding dress had not acted. At this moment, he realized: perhaps it was waiting for the living to turn on each other, to kill one another.

Closing his eyes briefly, Tongguan opened them sharply, calm and composed. He anticipated the move, stepping aside just in time.

With both hands, he grabbed the ones that were about to push him into the abyss, then shoved forward with force.

Tao Xiaoyi stumbled past him, falling toward the wedding dress, its flowing sleeves spreading like an open embrace.

The terrified, panicked figure at the brink of death was enveloped tightly, compressed into a helpless bundle.

Tongguan watched this death with no trace of pity—only an unshakable calm.

In that moment, his presence, in some ways, mirrored Ji Li’s.

Perhaps he never spoke of it, but he had long understood the wedding dress’s purpose: to make the living kill one another, to push them toward death.

Yet he did not warn Tao Xiaoyi, choosing instead to use the plan against itself, going with the flow.

Having grown into the manager of Branch Eleven, how could he not have his hands soaked in blood?

Tongguan—was he truly as upright as he claimed?

He manipulated others, claiming he acted with a clear conscience, yet in this, how different was he from Tao Xiaoyi, who numbed herself with survival as her excuse?

As long as one can find a reason to convince oneself, a person can do anything.