Volume 9: The Days Can’t Be Lived Anymore
Lust Ghost Possession1
Why doesn’t the older sister lying prone in the snow behind us have legs?
Because the distance was too far, the lights of thousands of households blurred into small rectangular blocks, and with the fluttering snowflakes, the entire scene misted into a hazy ink wash painting2.
Snowflakes fell on everyone’s heads, and the group of people walked forward in silence, the wuwu sound of the wind echoing around them.
The footprints following them were only of the front half of the sole, so at first glance, one would probably think they were made by some animal.
The little boy in Boss Huo’s arms raised his head again, persistently resting on his father’s shoulder, quietly looking behind him.
As they were walking, Xiao Lou suddenly spoke: “What are you looking at?”
The question was clearly for the child, but Boss Huo’s entire body trembled, as if he had thought of something very terrifying.
The little boy did not answer.
“My son is an evolver… he can see the ghosts we cannot see.” Boss Huo lightly patted the little boy’s back. “Dongdong3, what did you see? Can you tell Papa?”
Huo Dongdong4 tilted his head to look behind his papa. After a long moment, he opened his mouth and lightly said something, but it was drowned out by the sound of the wind. Even Boss Huo, who was closest to him, couldn’t hear clearly.
Afraid of scaring the already introverted child, Boss Huo said in a soft voice, “Dongdong, don’t be afraid. Tell Papa a little louder, what did you see?”
The little boy took a deep breath, his childish voice containing an innocence that understood nothing.
He said——
Papa, why doesn’t the older sister lying prone in the snow behind us have legs?
In Paradise Lost, there are many types of ghosts. The vast majority are the kind that everyone can see with the naked eye, which live by feeding on human fear. This type of ghost’s personality is relatively gentle; they won’t go on a killing spree at the drop of a hat, like the two rows of footprints following them. There is also another type, ghosts that ordinary people cannot see with the naked eye. This type of ghost is more ferocious, and the park’s ten death quotas are basically fulfilled by them. The probability of it being more bad than good after an encounter is very high.
In this kind of situation, the best method, of course, is to run away quickly.
Without anyone needing to give an order, their clasped hands instantly loosened, and the four of them immediately started to run, their legs moving in unison.
The thing behind them had no legs and was lying prone on the ground; thinking about it, it probably couldn’t float. As long as they were fast enough, it definitely couldn’t catch up to them relying on only two hands.
The thick snow made running inconvenient, and every step was exceptionally strenuous. Especially since Boss Huo was also carrying a child, he soon found his strength unequal to the task5, and his speed gradually slowed.
“Mr. Huo,” the stout man said anxiously, “Let me hold the child for you?”
Boss Huo hesitated for a second, then quickly stopped to hand the child over.
Huo Dongdong did not resist at all, obediently resting in the strange uncle’s arms, his eyes fixed on what was behind them without blinking.
Fortunately, they were relatively lucky tonight. At least they didn’t encounter a “ghost hits wall” situation, and the group ran safely to the place where she lived.
Ren Yue pulled open the glass door, but instead of going straight in, she turned sideways to clear the doorway, beckoning to Xiao Lou. “Quick, come in!”
Xiao Lou wasn’t polite with her and was the first to rush in.
Boss Huo and Da Xiongdi6 were a little behind them, still some distance away, but she had no intention of waiting for them and followed Xiao Lou inside.
A few seconds later, the other two also ran in, panting. Boss Huo said between breaths, “You… huff huff… really show differential treatment, ah…”
Ren Yue acted as if she hadn’t heard.
Da Xiongdi was much stronger than Boss Huo; after running all the way while holding the child, his breathing was only a little heavy. He bounced the child in his arms and asked, “Is that older sister still chasing us?”
Huo Dongdong shook his head.
So he put the child down. The child walked to Boss Huo’s side and took his papa’s hand.
Inside the building, the lighting was ample and the temperature was high, but looking around, not a single living person could be seen, making it seem somewhat empty.
Ren Yue unzipped her down jacket and said, “I live on the top floor.”
Boss Huo: “Please lead the way.”
She kindly reminded them, “There was a little accident on the escalator when I went out. Do you want to take the escalator or the stairs?”
Boss Huo was a little worried. “I’ve run until my legs are soft… the top floor might be a bit difficult.”
Xiao Lou looked at Huo Dongdong and said, “The escalator, then.”
Hearing this, Boss Huo lowered his head to glance at his son. Huo Dongdong seemed to sense something and also raised his head to look at him.
The father and son exchanged a look. Boss Huo simply squatted down, looking levelly into his son’s eyes, and said, “Dongdong, if you see any strange people in a little while, remember to tell Papa, okay?”
Huo Dongdong nodded.
Da Xiongdi picked up the child again. Huo Dongdong took off his little hat and scarf and looked around seriously.
The four adults and one child stepped onto the escalator. The steps, which had been stationary for a long time, started to operate again, slowly carrying them upstairs.
When they arrived at the location of the accident, Ren Yue saw the bloodstains on the edge of the escalator that hadn’t been wiped clean yet. She stood still in front of the escalator and looked back at Boss Huo. She didn’t speak, but her meaning was very clear: this was the place where the accident happened.
Boss Huo immediately said to his son, “Dongdong, look at the escalator. Is there anyone on it?”
Huo Dongdong glanced and shook his head. “No.”
Boss Huo breathed a sigh of relief. “Then shall we go?”
But Xiao Lou, who was beside them, shook her head. “Wait a moment.” After speaking, she raised her foot and stepped on the bottom-most step.
The escalator, which had stopped because no one was on it, started operating again, moving upwards at a constant speed. The others didn’t know her intention, but waiting a little longer wouldn’t delay anything, so they stood at the escalator entrance, watching the steps being carried up one by one.
Ren Yue secretly7 glanced at Xiao Lou. The bulky down jacket couldn’t hide her curvy figure. Her gaze went from top to bottom, then from bottom to top. After one look, she wanted a second, a third, a fourth, until finally she was just staring fixedly at her, little fireworks exploding in her heart.
She’s so good-looking…
How can she be so good-looking…
Xiao Lou looked over coldly. “You don’t want your eyes anymore?”
Ren Yue’s face turned red, and she hurriedly retracted her gaze, lowering her head to look at her toes as her ears slowly turned red.
Xiao Lou gave a cold snort, not wanting to give her another glance at all.
“Ya!” After a few more seconds, Huo Dongdong, who was in Da Xiongdi’s arms, suddenly let out a small cry of surprise.
His voice was very quiet, but in such a silent environment, it was particularly noticeable. The others immediately looked at him, and Boss Huo was the first to ask, “Dongdong, what did you see?”
Huo Dongdong’s small, gloved hand pointed at the escalator step by their feet. “There’s an older sister lying prone here.”
As his voice fell, everyone present couldn’t help but take two steps back.
Ren Yue’s sharp eyes saw a blood-stained step moving upwards, disappearing before their eyes bit by bit.
Boss Huo made a prompt decision. “This floor, we take the stairs.”
Ren Yue gave Xiao Lou a thumbs-up. “Xiao Lou, you’re amazing! You could even guess this!”
Xiao Lou’s brows were knitted tightly. She spat out one word: “Scram.”
“Oh.” Ren Yue obediently scrammed to the front to lead the way.
With the help of her ability, they safely returned to the top floor and arrived at her doorway.
The neighbor’s neighbor didn’t dare to court death at night and didn’t poke their head out to see what was happening. She used her key to open the door. The hallway light shone into the room, revealing a pitch-black shadow lying quietly on the refrigerator, as if welcoming her home.
She expressionlessly hit the light switch. The living room lights came on, and the black shadow dissipated into nothing.
The people behind her entered like a string of fish8, and Ren Yue raised a hand to close the door.
A small room can give a much greater sense of security than a large space. Under the light, darkness has nowhere to hide, which is very reassuring.
Because there weren’t enough slippers, everyone simply stood barefoot on the floor, scattered around the living room.
Boss Huo asked, “Can I sit on your sofa for a bit?”
Ren Yue nodded. “Be my guest. In fact, this isn’t my sofa.”
The houses everyone lives in are all issued by the officials, and the furniture inside also belongs to the pre-apocalypse owner of the house.
Boss Huo plopped down on the sofa and let out a long sigh of relief. “I’m dead tired.”
Huo Dongdong got down from Da Xiongdi’s arms and moved to his side, staring at the paper and pen on the coffee table, a look of longing in his eyes.
“Go ahead and take it.” Ren Yue unsparingly displayed her generous side in front of Xiao Lou.
“Thank you, Jiejie.” Huo Dongdong called out softly, then leaned over the coffee table and started to write and draw.
Da Xiongdi sat down next to Boss Huo, while Xiao Lou leaned against the refrigerator with her arms crossed.
Ren Yue looked at her. “Have you eaten dinner? Are you hungry? What kind of food do you like?”
Xiao Lou said impatiently, “Not hungry.”
Not hungry, that means she hasn’t eaten.
Beside them, Boss Huo said helplessly, “Excuse me… could you give your gold master9 some food?”
Ren Yue nodded, then walked in front of her and tilted her head up slightly to look at her. “I want to get some vegetables.”
The distance was a bit close. Xiao Lou frowned and pushed her away, moving from the refrigerator to lean against another wall.
Ren Yue took out some green vegetables and meat and obediently went to the kitchen to cook, looking even more docile than Huo Dongdong, who was leaning over the coffee table.
She closed the kitchen door, leaving the living room to them with a sense of relief. As she passed the sink, she casually turned on the faucet.
Dark red, fishy-smelling bloody water flowed out. After a short while, it returned to clear tap water. She seized the time to wash the vegetables, then hummed a song as she washed rice and stir-fried the dishes, enjoying herself immensely.
The sound of vegetables hitting the wok rang out. The three people in the living room looked at each other in dismay. Boss Huo stroked his son’s fluffy head and said to Xiao Lou, “Ba-ge said she might be possessed by a ghost.”
Xiao Lou gave a cold sneer. “A lust ghost?”
Boss Huo said helplessly, “Dongdong, are there any other people on that older sister’s body?”
Huo Dongdong was seriously drawing stick figures on the paper. Hearing this, he shook his head. “No.”
Boss Huo breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then.” After speaking, he asked Xiao Lou, “Why do you hate her so much?”
Xiao Lou: “I don’t know. Just seeing her face is annoying.”
Da Xiongdi scratched his head good-naturedly. “What standards do you girls use to judge appearances, ah? She’s actually very pretty. If a girl that pretty pursued me so enthusiastically, I definitely wouldn’t be able to hold back. But if it were a big old man chasing me like this, I’d probably hit him.”
Xiao Lou remained expressionless. “It’s not that she’s ugly. Anyway, I just hate her face, and by extension, I hate her.”
LP: So it’s not really Ren Yue, but Maomao wearing her face in this instance.
Anyway, so far, this instance is interesting and difficult, considering the fact that it seems to be interfering with the players’ memories.
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