Chapter 28: Misdirection

Zhou You had two reasons for choosing the path on the left.

First, the female ghost’s route was the easiest to traverse. The route guarded by the Eyeball Ghost on the right was far too dark, and the road conditions were terrible. As for the Devout Ghost in the middle, it stood at the very end of the road, nearly doubling the distance he would have to run.

Second, among all the ghosts, the Eyeball Ghost killed the moment one turned around. The Devout Ghost was even worse, severing heads the instant it was seen. Only the female ghost’s face-stripping ability required a certain amount of activation time.

Putting everything together, this was the best choice.

The only uncertainty was whether triggering the female ghost would still cause the spatial folding effect.

But judging from the outcome, Zhou You had won the gamble.

The white-clad figure was no longer visible ahead.

Yet an enraged howl immediately rose from behind him.

A sinister aura seeped into his bones, but Zhou You did not slow down. He sprinted straight out of the fork in the road and immediately turned toward another direction.

His objective was simple.

Ghost Granny’s home.

The howl behind him clung to him like a parasite.

Even without seeing her face, the resentment and misery in that shriek made it obvious that if she caught him this time, the result would be hundreds of times more horrifying than merely having his face peeled off.

But Zhou You had no intention of being afraid.

Whenever his speed began to drop, he cut open his arm with the Bloodstained Dagger again.

Only after his entire arm had become drenched in blood did he finally arrive in front of the shop.

At night, the store carried an even stronger ghostly atmosphere than during the day.

Zhou You did not bother knocking.

He kicked the door open, grabbed the handle, and held it tightly shut.

A few seconds later, the lingering chill behind him finally dispersed.

It seemed the old woman had not been lying.

The building truly could shield its occupants from the monsters’ perception.

However, the enraged creature outside had no intention of giving up.

Even after hiding indoors, Zhou You could still hear the unending cries.

“At least I can finally catch my breath. I’ve lost a lot of blood on the way here.”

Zhou You shook his head with a bitter smile.

Then, the moment he looked up, he saw a pair of eyes.

Old eyes.

Furious eyes.

Eyes that looked as though they wanted to skin him alive and devour him.

Yet facing those eyes, Zhou You suddenly smiled.

“Well, if it isn’t the boss lady. You’re still open this late at night? That’s some real dedication. Oh, right, have you eaten yet?”

The other party completely ignored his enthusiastic greeting.

Grinding her teeth, she said word by word,

“I believe I already told you not to bring me trouble. Yet you actually led that thing here and deliberately brought it right to my doorstep. What exactly are you trying to do?”

The smile on Zhou You’s face did not change in the slightest.

If anything, his tone became even more familiar.

“Boss Lady, let’s not say things that way. What do you mean deliberately? I just happened to run into that thing. With nowhere else to go, I thought I’d come take shelter in your shop. You’re such a kindhearted elder, surely you wouldn’t turn me away?”

Hearing such blatant provocation, Ghost Granny revealed a savage grin.

The nails on her hands twisted and lengthened like withered branches.

She immediately wanted to teach this ignorant brat a lesson.

But the moment she saw the calm expression still sitting on his face, her movements suddenly stopped.

Something’s wrong.

This fellow’s behavior is completely different from how he acted during the day.

Something unusual is always suspicious.

Could it be... he’s prepared some kind of trap for me?

Ghost Granny rapidly ran through the list of all her enemies in her mind.

Yet no matter how she searched, she could not find anyone connected to the man standing before her.

In the end, she merely gritted her teeth and pointed toward the door.

“Get out. This shop doesn’t welcome you anymore. If you’re smart enough to leave now, I’ll pretend this never happened.”

To her surprise, someone simply grinned and leisurely replied,

“What if I don’t leave?”

Ghost Granny laughed from sheer anger.

After being provoked again and again, she stopped worrying about potential enemies.

After all, Zhou You could not possibly overturn the heavens while inside her shop.

As for any schemes, she could deal with them later.

Could a mere human really climb onto a Ghost Granny’s head?

Thus, she spread open her hand, whose fingers now resembled sharp daggers, and sneered.

“Then don’t leave at all. My own legs have been failing lately, and I was just thinking about replacing them. Why don’t you kindly leave your body behind as compensation?”

But just before she could strike, a clear ringing sound suddenly echoed through the room.

The next moment, it was as though someone had pressed a pause button.

Every movement stopped.

Ghost Granny froze in place with her claws half-extended.

Stiffly, she turned toward the door.

At some point, the wailing outside had ceased.

In its place, faint sobbing could now be heard from beyond the shop entrance.

The Faceless Ghost was right outside.

Seeing this, Ghost Granny abruptly raised her head and glared at Zhou You.

“What exactly did you do?!”

“Nothing much, really.”

Zhou You smiled as he removed the bell capable of attracting monsters from his wrist and casually spun it around his finger.

“It’s just a little precaution on my part. I was worried you might suddenly lose your temper and get too impulsive. But don’t misunderstand, this is purely for self-defense. I truly mean no harm.”

Ghost Granny did not answer.

She merely stared fixedly at the spinning bell.

After a long silence, she finally asked,

“What do you want?”

“Talking with smart people really is convenient.”

Zhou You stopped spinning the bell.

His smile did not reach his eyes.

“What I want is simple. You should have items that can help people avoid those things, right? Personally, I’d rather not pay with my internal organs. So I was wondering whether you’d be willing to extend me some credit.”

The look in her eyes instantly became ferocious enough to devour flesh.

Yet staring at the bell that could ring again at any moment, she ultimately gritted her teeth and pulled a face-shaped piece of skin from beneath the counter, tossing it toward him.

“Fine. You’ve gotten what you wanted. With this, the thing outside won’t be able to kill you. Now get out.”

Yet Zhou You did not move.

He casually stuffed the face-skin into his clothes before speaking again.

“I said those things, plural. So please be so kind as to give me all of them.”

“You damned... don’t push your luck!”

“Oh, come on. No matter how excessive I am, can I really be more excessive than someone who takes advantage of people in desperate situations and uses them as replacement parts?”

Zhou You lightly shook the bell.

A faint ringing sound echoed through the room.

“The other two. Please bring them out. Otherwise, I don’t mind dying together with you right here. I’m just an insignificant nobody. Trading my life for a profiteering Ghost Granny like you is a bargain no matter how you look at it.”

More than ten seconds later, an eyeball and a piece of incense came flying toward him.

“Now... are you satisfied?”

“Satisfied? Of course I’m satisfied. I never expected you to be this generous. Thank you very much.”

Zhou You smiled so brightly that flowers might as well have bloomed around him.

Just as Ghost Granny thought he was finally willing to leave, he suddenly seemed to remember something and raised his mangled right arm.

“Oh, right. One last favor. Look at my arm. I got all these injuries rushing over here. Do you happen to have any ointment that could help?”

This time, Ghost Granny could not even be bothered getting angry.

She stared at Zhou You as though trying to carve his image permanently into her memory.

Then she casually tossed several small boxes at him.

“That’s all. If you ask for anything else, I’ll kill you first even if it means dying together. Now get out.”

Only then did Zhou You put away his smile.

Without turning around, he slowly backed toward the door.

When he finally reached the entrance, he straightened up.

Then...

He suddenly fastened the bell back onto his wrist and shook it hard.

The next instant, a scream utterly unlike a human voice erupted.

“What exactly are you doing?! I already gave you everything you wanted! Do you want to die that badly?!”

But Zhou You merely raised the Bloodstained Dagger and pointed it toward his own heart.

Smiling, he said,

“I’m already quite used to dying. It’s not a big deal to me anymore. But since we’ve already become enemies, I’m not going to leave you any opportunities to get in my way.”

“Of course, the more important reason is...”

Slowly, Zhou You pushed the blade into his own chest.

“As someone who genuinely lives for entertainment, I’ve sincerely wanted to smash up your shop from the very beginning.”

Immediately afterward, accompanied by a piercing shriek, the figure in white charged into the shop!