Chapter 78 — IAVD (QT) Chapter 78

After becoming a ghost, the evil ghost had probably never suffered such humiliation.

Kneeling on the ground, the thick yin energy around him began to boil like pitch-black ink. His already dark face turned even darker. He raised his head and glared at Ji Xiu, his crimson, eerie eyes filled with resentment.

“Ahhh!”

Suddenly, he threw his head back and let out a ghostly howl. Dense yin energy surged wildly in through the windows, pouring into his body. The living room windows creaked under the strain, and the light bulbs began to flicker.

“Buzz… buzz…”

After flashing a few times, they went out completely.

The living room fell into darkness, with only the dim moonlight outside shining in, illuminating the evil ghost in the center of the room.

The ghost’s body swelled several times over. His aura skyrocketed inch by inch, blotting out the sky and covering the earth, pressing down on everyone present. It made their blood feel frozen, as if the end of the world were approaching.

The players stiffened all over, wishing they could vanish from under the ghost’s gaze.

The evil ghost rose from the floor. A trace of malice and delight appeared in his eyes as he opened his blood-filled mouth and lunged at Ji Xiu.

The situation was critical. The man in the suit felt his heart leap into his throat.

Ji Xiu also frowned, his expression turning slightly grave.

Seeing this, the evil ghost became even more pleased. This human who had offended him was about to die by his hands, become his puppet ghost, and serve him as a slave forever. Hahahaha…

The next second, Ji Xiu lifted his foot and kicked the evil ghost back to the ground with a sharp smack.

The evil ghost’s eyes flew wide open, bloodshot pupils almost popping out of their sockets. He could not believe that even after using his ultimate move, he still could not beat Ji Xiu. His face was filled with shock.

Ji Xiu looked at him calmly. “Looks like you’re not willing to go and get yourself delivered.”

Hearing the threat in Ji Xiu’s tone, the evil ghost trembled. He silently shrank his body, hiding in the darkness and pretending not to exist.

“You think hiding is enough? Go fix the door.” Ji Xiu issued the command, then thought for a moment. “Since you don’t want to be delivered, stay and work under me for a few days.”

The evil ghost sneered.

He was a dignified evil ghost. How could he ever work under this human? What nonsense was this human dreaming about?

“Hm?” Ji Xiu looked at him.

The evil ghost: …I endure.

The evil ghost forced a dry laugh, swallowed the malice in his heart, and sneakily looked up at Ji Xiu’s expression. Enduring humiliation, he pretended to submit and drifted toward the doorframe under Ji Xiu’s gaze. Then he gave a strange smile and shot out through the doorway like lightning.

Fix the door, fix your ass. I am not fixing anything.

The evil ghost burst into wild laughter, delighted beyond measure.

What crap, daring to order him around. Once he went back and cultivated for a few years, devoured some yin souls, he would come back and teach this human how to write the word “dad.”

“…” Seeing the pair at the door, one big and one small, their bodies layered with resentment at a glance showing they were fierce ghosts, Wang Qiuyue and her son, the evil ghost froze for a moment. Then, as if nothing had happened, he drifted back to the doorway and began fixing the door seriously.

Ji Xiu let out a light laugh, his voice carrying faint mockery.

The evil ghost shut his ears and ignored it, brainwashing himself instead. Not listening, not listening, turtles chanting scriptures. I am just a door repairman. I know nothing.

Wang Qiuyue and Ji Chunsheng entered the room. As they passed by the evil ghost, they glanced at him. With a serious expression, Wang Qiuyue asked Ji Xiu, “Should Chunsheng and I just swallow him and be done with it, completely resolving him?”

With a thud, the evil ghost dropped to his knees. “Dad, I was wrong. Dad, please spare me. I swear I’ll reform and never hurt anyone again. I’ll immediately take a taxi to a temple and deliver myself. I will never harm anyone again. I still want to reincarnate…”

“……”

…

Ji Xiu searched online for the address of a certain thousand-year-old ancient temple, called a courier, and mailed the bottle containing the evil ghost over.

After sending the courier off, he rubbed his temples and planned to go back to his room to sleep.

To stuff the evil ghost into the bottle and use some methods to ensure he would not slip out during delivery, he had spent the entire night tossing about, testing several kinds of bottle stoppers. Glutinous rice, dog blood, garlic. He wasted a lot of effort before finally making a usable one.

Now that the sky was bright, there was nothing left for him to do. All he wanted was to go back to his room and take a short nap.

As soon as Ji Xiu left, the three night watchers hurried to follow him, sticking close step by step, unwilling to leave his side.

Ji Xiu stopped and turned around to look at them. “What are you doing?”

The skinny old man froze and explained, “We’re following the captain.”

Ji Xiu frowned. “I’m going to sleep. Are you coming too?”

The skinny old man gave a thick-skinned dry laugh. “That’s not impossible. The captain can sleep on the bed. We’ll just sleep on the floor. It’s already daylight anyway. Our night watch duty is done.”

Ji Xiu: “……”

Looking at the skinny old man, he smiled without smiling. “Then if I say my wife and child will be resting with me, are you still coming?”

The skinny old man’s expression stiffened, his gaze uncontrollably drifting aside.

The two figures standing next to Ji Xiu looked unremarkable, but no one could ignore their presence.

One big and one small, the pressure radiating from them was more than even the evil ghost could bear. At a glance, they were fiercer than the ghost that had just been sent away, very likely the legendary fierce ghosts, the kind only formed after devouring at least hundreds of lives.

And these two fierce ghosts were Ji Xiu’s wife and child.

In other words, Ji Xiu was raising two ghosts.

The skinny old man swallowed hard. A big shot with the conditions and ability to support fierce ghosts was something he would never encounter a second time in his life. If they did not cling tightly to this thigh, they would be idiots.

“S-sure, as long as the captain is willing.” The skinny old man squeezed out a smile, smiling like a chrysanthemum, his face full of flattery.

As long as they could obtain Ji Xiu’s protection, what did it matter to sleep in the same room as ghosts?

Ji Xiu’s smile vanished abruptly, his expression turning cold. “But I’m not willing.”

The skinny old man’s shameless behavior disgusted him. Ji Xiu frowned and even began considering whether, when night fell again, he should push the skinny old man out to be killed.

Someone this much of an eyesore, someone who stabbed people in the back, was not worthy of being a teammate.

The man in the suit paid the most attention to Ji Xiu. Sensing the subtle change, he sneered inwardly at the skinny old man’s lack of self-awareness and stepped forward, carefully stating his stance.

“Captain, you must be tired. Please go rest first. When you wake up, just tell me what you want to eat and I’ll prepare it in advance.”

Ji Xiu glanced at him and gave him a bit of goodwill. “Whatever. Clean up the living room. I’ll rest first.”

“Alright. Take care, sister-in-law, take care, young master too…” The man in the suit bent over obsequiously.

Ji Xiu nodded and went into the first-floor room with Wang Qiuyue.

Ji Chunsheng’s eyes rolled. He did not follow them in. Instead, he circled over to the man in the suit, sized him up from top to bottom, then revealed a fox-borrowing-the-tiger’s-might expression. “You’re pretty good.”

The man in the suit did not expect that in his lifetime he would be able to interact with a fierce ghost at such close range, and peacefully at that. He gave a forced smile, suppressed his trembling legs, sweat breaking out on his forehead, and forced himself to speak.

“Not at all, not at all. The captain saved my life. I’m just repaying his kindness. Besides, I can’t compare to you, young master. You’re a renowned fierce ghost. Ordinary ghosts get scared stiff the moment they see you…”

Ji Chunsheng’s eyes lit up.

Back in Ji Family Village, he had always suffered malicious ridicule and abuse from children his age. When had he ever enjoyed such soul-soothing flattery?

The young boy’s soul was corroded by sweet words. In a happy mood, he narrowed his eyes and thought about it, deciding that once he went back, he would suggest to his parents that they bring this man in the suit along when they left, make him his underling, and have him praise him all the time.

“You’re really pretty good, hehe.”

Ji Chunsheng stood on tiptoe, patted the man in the suit on the shoulder, showed a silly grin, then happily turned and went into the room.

The man in the suit stood there stunned. Had he just latched onto a big thigh?

He felt a little dizzy, with excitement, exhilaration, and lingering fear all mixed together. But none of it could compare to the joy of successfully clinging to a big thigh. His steps felt light, like walking on cotton. He was about to turn and hurry to the kitchen to plan lunch, not even intending to sleep.

As he turned around, he noticed the other two had not left.

The three looked at each other, the atmosphere strangely awkward.

Earlier, when Ji Xiu had suppressed the entire scene, everyone had forgotten what happened before. Now that Ji Xiu had left, they naturally remembered the farce that had occurred when the evil ghost arrived.

Xiao Chen had abandoned the skinny old man. The skinny old man had wanted the man in the suit to die. The man in the suit looked the most innocent, but he had not held back from mocking Xiao Chen on normal days either.

In the end, it was a cycle.

All three wore strange expressions. Xiao Chen was the first to be unable to endure the atmosphere and slipped toward the staircase.

It was also at this time that the players on the second floor woke up and came downstairs one after another.

The bottom of the stairs was the living room. Seeing the still somewhat messy environment even after being cleaned up, the fat man was startled. “Something happened last night?”

Xiao Chen did not dare speak. He stood at the bottom of the stairs, lowering his sense of presence.

The skinny old man was simmering with anger and did not intend to answer.

Only the man in the suit came back to his senses and responded. Thinking of what had just happened, he became animated and excited, telling the fat man about last night’s events.

Du Sheng and the others came down behind him. Hearing this, their expressions remained calm, because this was simply normal behavior for their boss. There was nothing special about it.

But the fat man refused to believe it.

“You’re not possessed, are you?” The fat man tried to touch the man in the suit’s forehead. “Or did you get a fever and scare yourself stupid? Otherwise, why are you talking nonsense?”

If there were really such a powerful big shot who could beat evil ghosts with his fists and raise fierce ghosts, then why would he still enter the game? Wouldn’t he just clear it and return to reality directly?

No matter how the man in the suit explained, the fat man refused to believe it, muttering, “If you stayed up all night and got stupid, hurry upstairs and rest. Don’t waste time here.”

The man in the suit frowned. Seeing that it was impossible to explain, he simply stopped trying. There were still two days left anyway. Sooner or later, the fat man would see how powerful Ji Xiu really was.

…

In the afternoon, Ji Xiu came out of his room alone.

Huang Wenli and the others curiously looked behind him. Not seeing Wang Qiuyue or Ji Chunsheng, they muttered a bit in their hearts but let it go, moving closer to talk to Ji Xiu.

Before they could open their mouths, however, the man in the suit who was busy in the open kitchen suddenly jumped up. He quickly brought out all the food that had been kept warm in the pot, serving rice and ladling soup, rushing over to flatter Ji Xiu.

“Boss, you’re up. Are you hungry? Want to eat something? I wasn’t sure what you like, so I just made a bit of everything. If there’s something you want now, just say it and I’ll make it right away…”

Squeezing past the others, the man in the suit smiled attentively and eagerly guided Ji Xiu to look at the table.

Ji Xiu glanced at it and nodded. “No need. This is fine. I’ll just eat a bit.”

During special times, he did not care much about food. He casually ate something to fill his stomach, thanked the man in the suit, then gathered everyone at the sofa for a meeting.

The man in the suit was so excited his face flushed, the first to obey.

Du Sheng and the others had been fairly relaxed, but seeing this, they suddenly felt a sense of crisis. Their expressions turned subtle, and they hurried over as well.

The fat man could not help muttering under his breath, feeling that everyone except him was being overly respectful toward Ji Xiu.

Could what the man in the suit said earlier actually be true?

The fat man thought about it. Half-believing and half-doubting, he still did not dare be sure, and could only keep it in mind for the time being.

Everyone quietly sat around Ji Xiu.

Ji Xiu smiled lightly, his demeanor calm and relaxed, as if he were just here on vacation, without the slightest tension.

“Everyone should already know about what happened yesterday.”

“Although we resolved the first killing condition and also learned about the second one involving the stairs, a B-rank world won’t be that simple. There will definitely be a third killing condition. We must find it before the third night arrives. Today is the weekend, and most of the apartment residents are at home. Since that’s the case, I’ll give everyone a task. This afternoon, go in pairs to ask the residents about the apartment’s situation. When you come back, we’ll line up the clues together. That way, we won’t just sit around doing nothing and getting anxious.”

Everyone already had this in mind. They agreed one by one. After the meeting ended, they paired up and went out to work.

Ji Xiu went out with them, but did not knock on doors together with them. Instead, he wandered around the corridor for a couple of rounds, then headed for the staircase.