Chapter 494: Are Evil Ghosts This Strong Now?

"Hide and seek?"

"What do you mean?"

Tang Luo promptly grabbed Ao Yulie, preventing him from falling to the ground, and briefly checked Ao Yulie's condition, which was very strange.

He had no external or internal injuries, yet he was constantly hovering on the brink of death, struggling desperately.

His whole body was gradually beginning to feel somewhat stiff.

If left unattended, there was a certain possibility he would not withstand death, and even if he did, he would definitely have to lie as a corpse for a period of time.

In this task world where heavenly and earthly spiritual energy is thin, there is basically no possibility of recovery.

Without corresponding treatment methods, Ao Yulie's mission this time is ruined.

Tang Luo grabbed Ao Yulie and hoisted him onto his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Zhu Bajie grabbed that man, tucking him under his arm, and the passersby completely ignored their actions.

They let them leave.

The man kept crying for help and struggling, but attracted no attention from anyone.

This had nothing to do with the evil ghost in the mission; it was purely Zhu Bajie using an illusion technique to conceal the past.

Soon, the four of them arrived at their residence.

That man struggled and shouted all the way, and by now he was out of breath, with no remaining strength.

Opening the door and walking in, what met the eye was a living room arranged like an office, with two rows of sofas on either side, a coffee table in the middle, and cabinets, water dispensers, and other supplies.

It still looked quite proper.

"Who are you, and what do you want to do?" the man who fell to the ground still tried to struggle up, but Zhu Bajie kicked him over with one foot.

"I made my brother like this, and you still ask who we are?" Zhu Bajie said, sitting down squarely on the man's back, "Now there are two options: one, you directly tell everything; two, I first rip off your thigh, and you tell me everything before you bleed out."

"What are you talking about? I don't know anything! I just accidentally bumped into him." The man shouted in a hoarse voice.

"It's fine, the night is still long, we have plenty of time to talk slowly." Zhu Bajie gently fanned the man's cheek with the back of his hand.

If he had tattoos and a big gold chain, he would be a living, breathing member of Black X.

The man's teeth clacked together, showing he was quite frightened.

Tang Luo brought Ao Yulie into the bedroom, laid him on the bed, and the Merit Jade Lotus appeared above his head.

After a moment, Ao Yulie opened his eyes, his complexion extremely weak.

Tang Luo did not stop, continuing to treat his injuries.

After a full five minutes, Ao Yulie finally did a carp leap, stood up at the bedside, his complexion gloomy: "Master, just now..."

This time, optimism was finally impossible.

"The merit power has been consumed greatly, cannot save many more times." Tang Luo said.

He has always had the habit of conserving merit power, supplies are still adequate, this time allowing Ao Yulie to fully recover.

The consumption is also not small.

"I understand." Ao Yulie nodded solemnly, in the past when the sky collapsed, his master bore it, so he didn't need to worry too much.

But this time, the situation is different, more complex than the sky collapsing, and much more dangerous.

"Let's go out first." Tang Luo said.

The two walked out of the bedroom; in the office, that man had already fainted, Zhu Bajie stood there, pulling out a cigarette from somewhere and lighting it.

Seeing Tang Luo and the two come out, he immediately pressed it out in his hand and threw it into the trash can: "All right?"

"No, but the merit power consumption is not small." Ao Yulie said, "What about him, did he say anything?"

Zhu Bajie said: "He said he was just playing hide and seek, that's the only way he could survive, specifics not yet asked, seems he was terrified badly, just fainted."

"Hide and seek..." Ao Yulie said, "I also heard hide and seek."

He began to recount what had just happened.

When the man said to Ao Yulie, "It's your turn to be the ghost," he faintly heard the three words "hide and seek," accompanied by a burst of laughter that even Ao Yulie couldn't tell if it was real or not.

Then, Ao Yulie reached out to stop the man.

It seemed he touched and grabbed the man's shoulder, but actually...

"At that time, a hand reached out and interlocked fingers with mine." Ao Yulie looked at his right hand.

"Then you got injured?" Zhu Bajie said.

"Injured?" Ao Yulie shook his head, "No, that feeling was simply as if I were about to die, I didn't even notice I was hurt."

"He also had no evil ghost or evil spirit possession on him, nor any trace of spiritual power." Zhu Bajie had already checked earlier, "Just an ordinary person."

"Perhaps..." Ao Yulie said, "The evil ghost was already on me at that time."

The hand that interlocked fingers with Ao Yulie did not extend from the man's shoulder, nor from empty space.

Ao Yulie felt that at that time, that icy, bone-chilling hand seemed to extend from his own body, interlocking tightly with him.

"Hide and seek..." Tang Luo said, "You being the ghost means he, as the 'ghost,' caught you, and you became the 'ghost'."

"The ghost transferred between us." Ao Yulie nodded slightly, "It's likely."

"That doesn't seem right." Zhu Bajie said, "You were almost dead, he's just an ordinary person—how did he survive?"

Concerning life and death, Ao Yulie's motivation surged: "I was near death not because I became the 'ghost,' but because I touched him."

"The simplest hide and seek, ghost-catching game: one person is the ghost, catches someone, and that person becomes the next ghost. But if two people frantically grab each other, it becomes meaningless, because once a person becomes the new ghost, they definitely cannot suddenly grab the previous ghost again; they need time or space as a buffer to proceed to the next round."

"I fear I violated the rules of hide and seek."

"Are evil ghosts really this strong now? To be honest, at first I didn't even notice fully." Zhu Bajie said.

"Me neither." Tang Luo said.

Although they saw the man walking over, they never expected him to bump into Ao Yulie.

This nearly impossible event occurred just as naturally as an ordinary person accidentally bumping into someone.

"Master, when you healed my wounds just now, you expelled the evil spirit..." Ao Yulie said.

"No, it was just pure healing. I didn't fully sense any evil spirit possessing you." Tang Luo said.

Ao Yulie suddenly felt a sharp toothache.

After waking up, he also checked his condition and found nothing abnormal, yet a faint unease lingered in his heart, a shadow he couldn't shake off.

"Wake him up and ask him in detail." Tang Luo said.

Zhu Bajie and Ao Yulie walked over and rudely woke the man, beginning a deep conversation.

The matter started three days ago.

The man's name is Jiang Heguang, an ordinary office worker, a corporate drone, living a monotonous and peaceful life, occasionally working overtime with manageable intensity, no risk of sudden death.

There was also no newcomer showing off their girlfriend in front of him, the single dog.

So, Jiang Heguang also had no chance to transmigrate to another world and thrive.

Moreover, he was extremely unlucky.

Three days ago, he got off work and walked home, bumping into someone on the street.

At the moment of impact, that person said to him the exact same words Ao Yulie had said to him today.

Jiang Heguang found it strange and wanted to stop that person, but his reaction speed was clearly not as high as Ao Yulie's, and the person vanished in a flash.

Not taking it to heart, Jiang Heguang repeated yesterday's routine.

While at work, he even accidentally bumped into several colleagues, and even the boss.

The next day after work, Jiang Heguang encountered that man again.

To be precise, that man proactively blocked his path.

He told Jiang Heguang that now it was Jiang Heguang's turn to be the ghost, and he must find the next target within the allotted time and say to them, "Catch you, now it's your turn to be the ghost," or else he would die.

Jiang Heguang naturally didn't believe it and thought the man was mostly selling amulets, so he ignored him.

However, after shaking off the man and taking just two steps, Jiang Heguang accidentally bumped into someone.

Before he could apologize, the old man he bumped into suddenly said to him: "Now it's your turn to be the ghost."

After that, walking back from the bus stop to his residence, a short distance of a few hundred meters, Jiang Heguang inexplicably bumped into dozens of people.

Each person said the same thing to him: "Now it's your turn to be the ghost."

It seemed like a reminder for him to go catch someone to be the next ghost.

By the time he returned home, Jiang Heguang's spirit was already taut to the limit, and after being bumped so many times, he felt like he might suffer internal injuries.

Soon, he stepped out of his door, intending to try.

"So I am your first captured person?" Ao Yulie asked.

Jiang Heguang nodded.

"Why me?" Ao Yulie asked.

Jiang Heguang didn't know how to answer.

He couldn't say he walked back and forth, unable to make up his mind, during which many people "intentionally" bumped into him, reminding him.

He couldn't even dodge.

Then, the collapsing Jiang Heguang suddenly noticed Tang Luo and the others standing out so conspicuously, and being his most hated pretty boy, he heatedly charged forward.

"Why are you running?" Zhu Bajie asked, "Can't you explain the situation?"

Jiang Heguang didn't speak; his reason for turning and running was simple—self-preservation, better to do less than more.

Wasting words explaining, whether the other believes it or not, is just inviting complications.

The previous ghost probably regained conscience and rediscovered Jiang Heguang.

"Quite interesting." Tang Luo said, "It seems the so-called 'evil spirit' is not the conventional understanding of a 'ghost'."

What is a ghost in conventional understanding?

Simply put, it's a soul that doesn't perish after death, wandering the human world—that's what is called a "ghost."

After an ordinary person dies, the soul leaves the body; over time, it gradually loses consciousness, and due to hatred, obsession, resentment, etc., it becomes a harmful evil spirit.

In the Shan Hai Realm, the underworld's ghost officials capture souls, one reason being to prevent evil spirits from appearing.

Evil spirits wandering the human world are also no small trouble.

Eliminating evil spirits isn't particularly difficult; many things can cause them some damage.

For example, the famous "black dog blood."

Or, evil spirits may rely on or depend on certain objects, which then become their true form; if the object isn't destroyed, they are hard to eliminate.

Whether tangible or intangible, evil spirits in various stories and legends take countless forms, but they mostly follow similar patterns.

The ghost encountered in the initial mission to meet An'an was like this.

But this time...

The evil spirit nearly killed Ao Yulie, and he didn't even notice.

This is something a "conventional evil spirit" couldn't do.

"It's nothing to do with you, you may go." After leaving a "mark" on him, Ao Yulie dismissed Jiang Heguang, and he and Zhu Bajie sank into contemplation.

This mission made them feel true danger.

"Really, you didn't feel any special power or curse, etc., attached to you?" Zhu Bajie asked.

Ao Yulie shook his head: "So, by tomorrow or later when I go out, will a bunch of people intentionally come bump into me?"

By then, we can test it, see if we can detect anything.

We can also continue observing Jiang Heguang's side.

"No need for that trouble, come over, grab me to be the ghost and try." Tang Luo said, "I'd like to see what this 'unconventional evil spirit' actually is."

"..."

""

Zhu Bajie and Ao Yulie exchanged a glance—Master really is as reckless as ever.