Chapter 33: Everyone is in Danger
Jiang Yan carefully moved Mao Mao step by step to my side and Si Yino. Si Yino, who had protected me earlier, tightly hugged my waist and hid behind me. Little Bai, on the other hand, tightly wrapped itself around my neck, appearing even more frightened than its owner. It was almost choking me!
“With such good skin, I should tear it off and make a purse~~~~ Hehehehe…” Mao Mao’s claws slid slowly across the Faceless Ghost’s skin. Immediately, a crack appeared, and the Faceless Ghost convulsed in pain.
“You ugly monsters!” Mao Mao raised her chin, looking at the struggling Faceless Ghost with a dark expression on her wolf face. Her teeth were sharper than ever, gleaming coldly. “Others might fear you, but we don’t! Mortals only fear you because they don’t know your weaknesses! You hide inside human bodies, using them as shields! In reality, you’re nothing! Completely vulnerable!” Mao Mao’s claws aimed straight at the abdomen of the physical monster!
“His blood is poisonous!” Jiang Yan immediately shouted. Mao Mao’s claws paused, and she turned her face viciously toward Jiang Yan. The look in her eyes clearly indicated that she found Jiang Yan’s interference annoying, ruining her enthusiasm for killing the demon creature!
Jiang Yan looked at her gravely. “Enough, Mao Mao!”
Mao Mao’s sapphire eyes narrowed, and she exhaled a hot breath from her mouth. “Such… a bother!”
Just then, the Faceless Ghost suddenly broke free from Mao Mao’s grasp and ran toward the door!
Coincidentally, the door opened, and Qing Ming entered, holding a mirror. The Faceless Ghost collided with the mirror, and in the blink of an eye, Jiang Yan stepped forward and sealed it on the mirror!
The Faceless Ghost thrashed about inside the mirror, and Qing Ming appeared from behind the mirror, looking at everyone in confusion. “Is it over?”
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “It’s over…”
“It belongs to me—” Mao Mao ferociously and angrily lunged at the mirror, but Jiang Yan swiftly leaped over Mao Mao’s head and landed behind her. Turning around, he swung his palm and struck the back of Mao Mao’s neck, causing her to collapse.
Gathering my courage, I stepped forward, with Si Yino following closely behind me, holding onto the back of my clothes, and I peeked at Mao Mao’s fallen form. “Mao Mao… can transform?”
“Yes, it’s like a split personality,” Jiang Yan said. “We only discovered it today. It was our mistake. It seems that intense self-insecurity caused her to develop a strong self-protective Mao Mao. But… this Mao Mao seems hard to control…” Jiang Yan furrowed his brows, appearing even more serious than when exorcizing spirits.
“So scary…” Si Yino hid behind me. I never imagined that within the depths of Mao Mao’s insecurities, there was a queen of sadomasochism!
I wiped the sweat off my forehead and caught a whiff of perfume, immediately freezing up. “Earlier… you mentioned… the blood of the Faceless Ghost was poisonous. What about its slime?”
“Yes,” Qing Ming replied without much emotion. Then, everyone looked at me, their faces filled with worry and urgency. “Right! When you examined it, you touched its slime!”
“Yes, I did…” Suddenly, I felt dizzy, collapsed, and fell into their arms.
“Quick, take her back for treatment!” In my dazed state, I heard their voices and the chaotic footsteps. I smiled happily. Finally, everyone… had shown their strength… to the entire realm…
In the darkness, I felt disoriented, my chest heavy, and my body weighed down. I tried to open my eyes, but they refused to cooperate. There were voices speaking, distant and as if coming from another world…
“Is she going to be okay…” The voice was familiar, like Feng Lingcan, my senior at the academy. “Can she be cured…”
“Hmph…” Another voice chimed in, “The most difficult to treat in the realm are humans…”
“You can’t cure her?”
“How could she not be cured…” the speaker sounded arrogant. “The question is how to treat her. If a human has a fatal injury and you save her, it disrupts the natural cycle of life and death. If she’s meant to be crippled, but you insist on healing her, who will take responsibility? Wait for instructions from higher-ups. She won’t die in a day or two…”
Why did it feel like they were passing the buck here too?
I struggled to open my eyes and through the narrow opening, I saw an unusually dark sky. Red lightning crisscrossed the sky, and gray-black flakes drifted down like the end of the world.
Exhausted, I closed my eyes, and the faint distant voices reached me once more.
“She’s a student of the realm now, she should have the right to receive treatment in the realm…” Feng Lingcan’s voice sounded somewhat anxious. He always cared so much, being a descendant of the Nuwa Clan.
“You care about her so much? Hmph… that’s not a good thing…” It was that voice again. I really wanted to see what this arrogant person looked like.
I made an effort to open my eyes and what I saw was that gloomy sky again, but this time, it was clearer. I could even hear the rumbling thunder.
Red lightning cut through the sky, as if splitting it apart, leaving behind crackling electric patterns that illuminated the entire sky in red.
Black flakes continued to float down from above, like black snow.
I stood up, puzzled, only to find myself surrounded by a desolate world.
Suddenly, something was approaching, and I could feel it. I started feeling uneasy; this unfamiliar world gave me a bad feeling.
Could this be a dream?
“Crack.” Like glass being stepped on, I immediately turned around, and behind me was a broken-down car covered in the same black flakes. As I focused on examining the car in front of me, suddenly, the face of the Faceless Ghost appeared before my eyes.
“Ah!” I exclaimed, falling backward. Immediately, “bang, bang, bang.” One after another, Faceless Ghosts leaped towards me, cautiously approaching.
I felt like I was trapped in the midst of hellish demons.
“Ka, ka, ka, ka.” Strange sounds emanated from their throats as I nervously watched them getting closer. One of them jumped in front of me, bringing its faceless head closer. I saw a wound on its body—it was the one we captured!
I sat on the ground covered in ashes, anxiously watching it approach. I could feel that this place was real.
“When will she wake up…” Just then, Feng Lingcan’s echoing voice came from above. Surprised, I looked up, and instantly, all the Faceless Ghosts seemed to be triggered, making terrifying “gurgle, gurgle” sounds as they entered a state of alertness.
I felt like I was walking on the edge of two worlds—the terrifying doomsday in front of me, but I could still hear the voices coming from the realm.
I started breathing rapidly, and my heart began to race. I slowly lowered my face, and all the Faceless Ghosts stared intently at my every move.
“What’s wrong with her? Something seems off!” Feng Lingcan’s voice sounded again from above, but I dared not make any sudden movements. Could it be… they were talking about me in their previous conversation?
“Let me check… Strange… It’s strange… It’s as if she… isn’t here…”
What the hell?!
I can tell you’re a doctor!
“Not here… then where is she…” Their conversation grew more and more distant, fainter and fainter. I couldn’t hear Feng Lingcan’s final words anymore.
It seemed like I had to find my way out of this nightmare on my own.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and when I tightened my grip, I realized my bag was still with me.
“Ka, ka, ka, ka…” The Faceless Ghost in front extended its sharp claws, inching closer to my face.
I twitched the corner of my mouth. “I knew you hated me, hehe. Actually, we’re just different species…” I spoke without moving, “Can humans compare themselves to dogs? Can dogs compare themselves to cats? Can cats compare themselves to butterflies? So, I wasn’t the best among humans, but you, you were definitely the most beautiful among the Faceless Ghosts.”
The Faceless Ghost in front slowly retracted its claws, and its featureless face looked around.
I picked up my bag, and as I made a slight movement, it immediately turned its face back towards me. I remained still. “Don’t be nervous, don’t be nervous. I know you want facial features, and I can give them to you, really.” I slowly picked up my own pen pouch, and all the Faceless Ghosts closed in. I slowly took out my drawing pens. “Look, here are pens for drawing.”
Then, I slowly took out a pen, and the Faceless Ghost leaned in to inspect it. Gradually, I took out a notebook, opened it, and started drawing on it. “Look, I can draw facial features.”
The Faceless Ghosts gathered around, and I saw my poorly drawn facial features twitching. They were so ugly, damn it. I had been influenced by those exaggerated comic strips, and all I drew was that ghostly face.
I forced a stiff smile. “Right? Facial features?”
The Faceless Ghosts started looking at each other, then all turned to the one with scars left by the “fur.” It glanced left and right, and brought its face closer to mine. I paused for a moment, then regained my senses and picked up the pen. “It might hurt a little, but… beauty always comes with a price.” I slowly raised my hand and gave it my best effort! I drew a set of facial features like a beautiful girl from a comic!
It had been so many years since I last drew, and my hand was rusty. Let’s not talk about the result.
Well, it was just two big eyes, with some small bubbles added, thick eyelashes, you know the typical comic face. In reality, it would look really ugly with eyes staring at you. It would probably scare people to death!
Then, I drew a tiny nose and used a red marker to draw a small mouth. Let’s add some blush too. Adding blush was simple, just apply more red marker on my thumb and press it on its face.
Finally, it was done!
I nervously smiled. “Let everyone take a look. Is it good-looking?”
The Faceless Ghost tilted its head and turned to the other Faceless Ghosts. Immediately, the other Faceless Ghosts leaped over excitedly, sniffing its face with extreme envy. Even the injured Faceless Ghost we had wounded became happy, and the drawn mouth actually started moving, revealing a smile. Then, its eyes began blinking. Although it looked extremely eerie, I didn’t expect the facial features I drew to come to life.
The creatures themselves possessed magic, undoubtedly their own magic, which brought the facial features I drew to life.
I chuckled as well, even though those facial features were actually quite ugly.
Then, one by one, the Faceless Ghosts leaped in front of me. They formed a long queue, and I twitched the corner of my mouth. No way! Do they all want me to draw?
Well… it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to go home until I finished drawing.
“Alright, next one~~”
I sat on the ground, covered in ashes, and started drawing different facial features for each of them, one by one…
