Chapter 484: Count Me In

The umbrella handle left a deep gouge in Ji Bai's palm. Warm yellow light from the ceiling poured down, framing his whole figure in a blurry halo, like a frozen old photograph.

Su Xiaoya cradled the ice‑cold enamel cup and said nothing more.

The area beside the Chinese chess table fell silent. The suited uncle twiddled his pieces without moving any. A translucent man hovered his hand in mid‑air, staring at the board, his eyes flicking toward Ji Bai.

The old man stood by the stove; the soup in the pot had long since cooled, and he held the ladle motionless.

The air in the entire Air‑raid Shelter seemed to solidify.

Ji Bai lifted his head. His eyes were not red, his breathing even, and he looked no different from when he had been speaking. Yet Su Xiaoya noticed that the knuckles he rested on the umbrella handle were white with tension.

"Her name is Lin Zhi."

The voice was very soft, as if afraid of shattering something.

"She was an accountant at Shengyuan Group's Heming Bay construction site before she died," Ji Bai said. "On the day the project detonated the sealing layer, she happened to be reconciling accounts in the Underground Parking Garage. The Weird Domain leaked, and she was trapped in the deepest part. No one rescued her. People from Shengyuan Group locked the garage doors, publicly claimed she was a 'missing employee', paid her family 50,000 yuan, and closed the case."

Su Xiaoya's fingertip trembled.

"Her grudge is exceptionally strong. Not because she died a terrible death, but because before she died she heard the security guard's intercom outside," Ji Bai's tone was overly flat. "The intercom said, 'The superiors have ordered that no one inside be released, lest it cause a big commotion.'"

The Air‑raid Shelter was so quiet you could hear the hum of the ventilation duct blades turning.

"She was trapped alone in the darkness for three days," Ji Bai said. "On the third day, her grudge erupted completely, and she became the only Fierce Ghost in that area."

He paused for two seconds.

"Because she was wearing a red dress when she died, I called her 'Sister Hong.'"

Su Xiaoya set the cup down; its bottom knocked against the table edge, producing a soft clink.

"She helped me. She taught me how to control my emotions, how to distinguish goodwill from malice, how to find a balance between humanity and the Weird," Ji Bai's voice lowered. "She said she wasn't a good ghost. She had killed people—killed Shengyuan Group's security guards, killed those project managers who stood by and did nothing, killed every dog‑like thing that got in her way."

"But she said she never regretted it."

Su Xiaoya remained silent.

"She taught me many things," Ji Bai's hand that was wiping the umbrella halted, his gaze fixed on the void. "She taught me how to wield Weird power, how to capture Rule System Weird, and how to find a way to live in a desperate situation."

He tilted his head toward Su Xiaoya.

"She split herself in two: one half stayed at the Ferry Port to stabilize the grudge field, the other half lodged within me as the original source of my 'Weird Manipulator' ability."

Beside the chess table below, the suited uncle's piece fell onto the board—Clack!

"Why did she do that?" Su Xiaoya's voice was hoarse. "Why..."

"Because she was once human," Ji Bai cut her off, his voice suddenly rising, then forcibly dropping from the peak. "She was an accountant in life, liked raising succulents, spent weekends volunteering at a welfare home. After she became a Fierce Ghost, those memories remained."

He lowered his head, looking at his own blurry reflection on the umbrella canopy.

"She told me that a Fierce Ghost's grudge doesn't arise from nothing. Behind every strand of grudge is a once‑living person, a life that was trampled and destroyed."

Ji Bai's fingers tightened, and the umbrella handle let out an overburdened creak.

"She made me understand one thing," his voice was as cold as quenched ice. "The greatest evil in this world isn't Fierce Ghosts killing people, but humans who, after killing, label the dead with a 'monster' tag, allowing themselves to continue wrongdoing with a clear conscience."

Deep within the Air‑raid Shelter, a dripping sound echoed. One drop, then another.

"What happened next?" Su Xiaoya asked.

Ji Bai remained silent for a long while.

So long that Su Xiaoya thought he would never answer.

Then he spoke. His voice was even, as if recounting someone else's story.

"Later, we killed the last informed executive of Shengyuan Group," Ji Bai said. "That night, I used the 'Umbrella of Severed Judgment' to break his bodyguard's defense, and Sister Hong personally snapped his neck. When the revenge was complete, dawn was nearly breaking."

He paused.

"I asked her what to do next. She stood on the highest rooftop in the city, looking at the brightly lit CBD below, and said she wanted to find a place to rest. She said she was tired."

Su Xiaoya's throat tightened.

"I told her I'd help her find one. I said I could build a place specifically to shelter Fierce Ghosts like her," Ji Bai's voice began to tremble. "I hadn't finished when she laughed. She reached out, touched my head, her hand still as cold as ever."

"She said, 'Xiao Bai, you've grown up; sister is at peace now.'"

A suppressed sob rose from below. It was the faceless girl clutching a cloth doll. She had woken up at some point, her book fallen to the floor, hands covering her face.

Ji Bai's gaze swept over her, then withdrew.

"Then the alarm sounded," his voice suddenly turned cold. "A fully armed task force—six armored vehicles, four helicopters, and three S Ji Weird Manipulator leaders—directly surrounded the rooftop."

Su Xiaoya's breathing stopped.

"They said it was to 'contain high‑risk anomalous Weird,'" Ji Bai said. "'Sister Hong's grudge was already nearly dissipating at that moment. She turned, gave me a glance, and shook her head.'"

"She didn't resist."

Ji Bai's fingers released the umbrella handle, then grasped it again.

"When those restraining chains pierced her scapula, she hummed—a faint sound, like a needle prick," Ji Bai's tone was eerily flat. "Then the chains began corroding her grudge core. Her body gradually turned transparent, the red dress faded more and more, until it became a ghastly pallor."

"From start to finish she never glanced at the task force. She only looked at me."

Ji Bai lifted his head, his eyes shining terrifyingly.

"Before she was shoved into the seal box, with her last ounce of consciousness she sent me a message," Ji Bai paused after each word. "She said, 'Live on.'"

The Air‑raid Shelter was dead silent.

Even the hum of the ventilation ducts vanished.

Ji Bai stood, placing the cleaned black umbrella on the platform edge. He walked to the rim of the Air‑raid Shelter, looking down at the group of Fierce Ghosts below, some sitting, some lying.

There was a little girl ghost curled in a corner, hugging her knees and trembling; the suited uncle seated by the chessboard, lost in thought; the faceless girl lying on a hammock humming; the old man squatting by the stove, silently adding firewood.

All were Fierce Ghosts. All were the world's 'outcasts.' All were monsters hunted, contained, used as mission targets and upgrade material.

But at this moment, they simply sat here quietly, like a band of homeless wanderers.

"You ask why I do this," Ji Bai's voice echoed through the cavernous Air‑raid Shelter, each word striking the floor. "Why, risking being wanted by the Federation, hunted by Eden Garden, labeled a madman by the world, I hide in the Underground Pipe Network, raising a flock of Fierce Ghosts."

He turned, his gaze sweeping over Su Xiaoya, then over all the uplifted heads below.

"Because this world has no home for us."

Ji Bai's voice suddenly rose, like a blade cutting through the oppressive air.

"Human law says we are a threat, human order treats us as merchandise, human justice sends us to die. But on what grounds?" he pointed to his chest, "On the grounds that we were bullied in life, and must be bullied after death? On the grounds that our desire to survive is wrong?"

A suppressed sob rose from below.

"I'm gathering strength here. Gathering supplies, gathering Intelligence, gathering every companion willing to join." Ji Bai's speech grew faster, like a flood held back too long finally breaking the dam, "I shelter those desperate Fierce Ghosts, teach them to control their power, teach them to discern good from evil, teach them how to live like humans in this god‑damned world."

He walked to Su Xiaoya's side, crouched, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"And my ultimate goal." Ji Bai paused after each word, each syllable heavy enough to draw blood, "is to breach the Federation's Qiu Ce Yuan underground ultra‑secret containment facility."

Su Xiaoya's pupils contracted sharply.

"Take her home."

After saying that, Ji Bai stood up.

The Air‑raid Shelter fell silent for three seconds.

Then a low, suppressed roar rose from below. Not anger, not a howl, but something deeper, more resolute. The suit‑clad uncle slapped a piece onto the board, and the piece shattered into powder. The translucent man rose, the mist inside his body roiling violently. The faceless girl set down her book and straightened. The old man tossed his ladle and straightened his hunchbacked back.

All Fierce Ghosts stared at Ji Bai.

Ji Bai looked at Su Xiaoya.

"Now, do you understand?" he asked, "Why I have to do this?"

Su Xiaoya cradled an enamel cup, its surface warm in her palm. She lowered her head to stare at her own blurred reflection in the cup, watching for a long while.

Then she lifted her head.

"I understand," she said, "but I have a question."

"Speak."

"The underground containment facility of Qiu Ce Yuan is the Federation's highest‑level classified installation. Inside it holds only B Ji, even A Ji‑and‑above, extremely dangerous Weird. The guard force is the Federation's strongest Deceptive Squad, and its defensive system can withstand nuclear‑bomb‑level strikes."

Su Xiaoya paused.

"On what basis do you think you can breach it?"

Ji Bai smiled.

That was the first time Su Xiaoya saw him smile. It was not a sneer, not a wry smile, not a forced grin. It was a seventeen‑ or eighteen‑year‑old boy's sincere, almost naïve smile.

"Because I can't do it alone," Ji Bai said, "but I'm not the only one here."

He turned, looking down over the entire Air‑raid Shelter.

"Ji Bai," Su Xiaoya called him.

"Hm?"

"In that containment facility…" Su Xiaoya's voice was soft, but each word was terrifyingly clear, "Besides Sister Hong, does it also house other Fierce Ghosts?"

Ji Bai turned, looking at her.

Light fell on his face, his eyes shining astonishingly.

"Yes," he said, "so many, so many. So many that you couldn't even count them yourself."

Su Xiaoya set down the enamel cup and stood up.

"Count me in," she said.