Chapter 494: So-Called Containment

Behind the door is not a prison.

Nor is it the containment zone Ji Bai had rehearsed countless times in his mind.

White.

Everything in view is white.

White floor, white walls, white dome.

Sterile lights are arranged in thin lines, lighting every corner so that there is no shadow.

This place is too clean.

So clean it makes one nauseous.

Ji Bai stands at the doorway, the old black umbrella hanging in his left hand, its tip dragging across the floor, leaving a wet trace.

Blood drips down from his abdomen.

His right arm hangs limp, shoulder scorched black, unable to lift.

But he didn't care.

His gaze sweeps over the rows of transparent sealed chambers ahead.

Each chamber has a number.

Beneath each number is small print.

Name.

Rating.

Grudge stability value.

Consumable purity.

Ji Bai's Adam's apple twitched.

"Consumable..."

Su Xiaoya grips his hand tighter, her whole face turning deathly pale.

Meng Wan stands behind her, black water seeping from the hem of her skirt, then recoiling as the concealed purification lines on the floor scorch it.

She clenched her teeth and spat: "Beast."

No one responded.

Because those two words are too light.

So light they don't match what lies before them.

In the first row of sealed chambers, a girl about seven or eight years old is confined.

She curls up at the bottom of the transparent chamber, clutching half of a plastic windmill in her arms.

The windmill has no blades.

She also lacks a lower body.

A record card is affixed to the inner wall of the chamber.

Number: A31.

Former identity: Victim of the Ling Chang City school bus river accident.

Self-awareness: Intact.

Danger rating: B Ji.

Disposal opinion: Awaiting feeding.

Awaiting feeding.

Three words, placed beside the child's name.

Ji Bai's teeth grind together with a creaking sound.

Su Xiaoya couldn't help but step forward half a pace, pressing her palm against the chamber wall.

The girl inside the chamber lifts her head.

She does not cry.

She merely clutches the half windmill tighter and, mouthing the words, asks: "Sister, are you here to eat me too?"

Su Xiaoya's knees go weak.

"No."

She presses against the chamber wall, her voice hoarse.

"No, we are not."

The little girl tilts her head, unable to hear.

The chamber is soundproof.

It is thoroughly isolated.

Even cries for help cannot get out.

Ji Bai presses his hand onto the control panel, forcing his left fingers to deform the metal casing.

Crimson-clad resentment seeps into the gap.

The control screen flashes cold white text.

Insufficient authorization.

Ji Bai lifts his foot and kicks it.

Bang.

The control panel dents inward a large chunk.

The warning light comes on, but the door does not open.

Meng Wan whispered, "This isn't an ordinary lock."

Ji Bai didn't look at her.

"Then smash it."

"You could even smash three more doors right now."

Meng Wan stared at his bleeding abdomen.

"And then? You fall here, and they tag you too?"

Ji Bai paused for half a second.

Half a second later, he kept walking forward.

"Find Hong Jie."

His throat was very dry.

"Find her first."

Su Xiaoya followed.

She didn't dare to look at those cabins again.

But not looking wouldn't help.

There were too many faces in the transparent cabins on both sides.

Old man.

Child.

Woman.

Crippled man.

Some still retained a human shape, others were just a dim wisp of resentment, bound within a silver clasp.

Each cabin was clean.

Each cabin was quiet.

There was no roaring like in an ordinary Weird containment facility, no crashes, no mad laughter.

Only the lights.

Record card.

Nutrient fluid conduit.

And the cold, numeric tags.

Ji Bai walked past the third row and suddenly stopped.

A cabin on the left side was empty.

The cabin door was open, and there was no Fierce Ghost inside.

Only gray powder lingered on the floor.

The card on the wall was still there.

Number: B07.

Name: Zhao Bei.

Rating: quasi A Ji.

Former identity: survivor of the Jiang Hai Welfare Home arson case.

Self‑awareness: intact.

Resentment type: protective.

Handling note: feeding completed.

Su Xiaoya's breathing missed a beat.

She walked over step by step and knelt before the cabin door.

Her fingertips brushed the layer of ash.

Ash particles stuck to her pale fingers.

The next moment, her whole body trembled.

It wasn't fear.

It was pain that left her speechless.

"This is…"

Su Xiaoya pressed her finger to her chest, and tears streamed down.

"This is Brother Xiao Bei's aura."

Ji Bai turned around.

Su Xiaoya looked up at him, her tears falling more fiercely, yet she made no sound of crying.

"Brother Xiao Bei used to be at the Ferry Port."

"He didn't fight, was timid, and liked to braid Xiao Li's hair."

"Whenever a newcomer was scared, he would soothe them with candy."

"He said that when he could go out someday, he'd set up a stall at the welfare home entrance to sell roasted sweet potatoes."

She lowered her head, looking at the ash, her palm pressed to the ground, powder filling the gaps between her fingers.

"He's already been eaten."

When that sentence fell, the entire white Corridor became even more glaring.

Su Xiaoya suddenly raised her hand and slammed it onto the floor.

"This place is nowhere near a prison!"

"This is a slaughterhouse!"

Meng Wan's Black Water churned at her feet, and her face was full of uncontainable hatred.

"The Investigation Bureau says we're dangerous."

She smiled a little, and the smile was ugly.

"So the danger is because we haven't been put onto the serving tray yet."

Ji Bai stood in place.

He said nothing.

His left hand clenched the umbrella handle.

The old cloth on the handle was soaked through with blood.

Zhao Bei.

Xiao Li's mouth held little brother Xiao Bei, who could fold sugar paper into tiny boats.

The owner of the empty bunk in the Ferry Port.

Ji Bai had asked big sister before where Xiao Bei had gone.

Big sister said he was taken by the Investigation Bureau, and after rescuing Hong Jie later, they'd conveniently bring that child back home.

Conveniently.

Two words so light.

Now that child is just a layer of ash on the ground.

Ji Bai walked forward.

His steps quickened.

"Hong Jie."

He looked at the numbers one by one.

"Lin Zhi."

"Red-clothed."

"Quasi A Ji."

"Jiang Hai Shengyuan Group pollution case."

He ran from the first row to the second row.

Then to the third row.

He paused in front of each sealed cabin.

Not.

This one isn't either.

Not.

The number is wrong.

The rating is incorrect.

The resentment type is wrong.

Ji Bai's breathing grew more chaotic.

Blood from his abdomen dragged a long streak across the floor.

Su Xiaoya tried to help him, but Ji Bai brushed her away.

"Don't touch."

His voice was so low it sounded hoarse.

"I can still walk."

Meng Wan looked at the blood line and cursed lightly.

"What heroics are you showing?"

Ji Bai did not look back.

"I'm not a hero."

"I'm here to fetch someone."

The words were too brief.

So brief it was painful.

At the end of the Corridor there was another area, isolated on its own.

A red label was stuck on the door.

High danger level.

Ji Bai stopped in front of the door, his left hand pressing the door gap.

Red-clothed resentment surged from his chest, slipping through the door gap.

The lock emitted a harsh screech.

Click.

The first lock opened.

Click.

The second lock opened.

The third rule lock lit up with blue patterns, trying to reverse-seal the red-clothed resentment.

Ji Bai lowered his head, the veins at his temples bulging.

"Get out of the way."

Ji Bai lifted their knee and slammed it.

The door panel shook.

Blue patterns cracked, revealing fine lines.

Again, a slam.

The cracks widened.

On the third strike, the metal door was forced inward.

Ji Bai staggered in.

Su Xiaoya and Meng Wan followed inside.

Then, everything stopped.

In the high-danger-level compartment, there was nothing.

No Hong Jie.

No Fierce Ghost.

No containment chamber.

Only gray powder remained on the floor.

More than the one in Zhao Bei's room.

Half of the label on the wall had been manually torn off.

A few lines of text remained stuck on it.

ID: S17.

Name: Lin Zhi.

Commonly known as: Hong Jie.

Danger rating: quasi-A Ji.

Self-awareness: highly intact.

Grievance type: revenge-type, protective-type hybrid.

Handling suggestion: prioritize transfer to dragon feed storehouse.

Ji Bai's world paused for a frame.

Ji Bai stepped inside.

The left foot stepped into the ash.

Ash particles scattered, clinging to the sole.

Su Xiaoya covered her mouth.

Meng Wan's Black Water surged outward uncontrollably, but the Purification pattern burned it, making a squeaking sound.

"Ji Bai......"

Ji Bai crouched.

The movement was slow.

Ji Bai extended the left hand and brushed the ash.

No temperature.

No response.

No familiar pull of the red‑clothed grievance aura.

There was nothing.

The aura that once burned in his chest, saved him in the abandoned chemical plant, taught him to wield an umbrella, and scolded him "don't be cowardly," was cut off here.

Cut off completely.

Ji Bai lowered their head; the shoulder twitched.

Again, a twitch.

Su Xiaoya tried to speak but could not form words.

Meng Wan closed her eyes; the grievance aura on her face pressed the cabin lights into a flickering.

Ji Bai suddenly laughed.

It wasn't joy.

The laugh forced out of the throat was dry, hoarse, shattered, making one's stomach turn sour.

"Prioritize transfer to dragon feed storehouse."

Ji Bai recited the line.

"Rations."

"Hong Jie saved me."

"She told me that humans and ghosts are the same: don't kill indiscriminately, don't harbor hatred indiscriminately, don't turn yourself into trash."

"In the end, you turned her into rations."

Ji Bai lifted their head, looking toward the corner monitor of the compartment.

The black lens faced Ji Bai.

It turned gently.

At the same time.

Qiu Ce Yuan infirmary.

Chu Che sat behind the desk, a pot plant trimmed bare beside him.

Only a few branches remained; the soil was moist, but the roots glowed with a Weird dark red.

The screen is divided into twelve sections.

Each section shows a different angle of the third underground level.

In one section, Ji Bai kneels before the ash powder in a high‑danger‑level cabin, his left hand coated with residual ash, as if his entire being has been stripped of its final shell.

Chu Che lifts the potted plant and brushes the soil surface with his fingertip.

The movement is very light.

As if tending a precious specimen.

"Pain is an excellent catalyst."

He raises his hand and taps beside the screen.

The clearance for a certain safety door on the third underground level is opened half a slot.

Not fully opened.

Only enough to create a single lure.

Outside the infirmary, someone passes in the Corridor, and the sounds of students' frolic echo through the door panel.

Chu Che's expression returns to that of a gentle school doctor.

He places the potted plant back by the window and snips the last wilted leaf with his slender fingers.

On the screen, Ji Bai still stares at the monitor.

Chu Che whispers, "Come on."

The third underground level.

Ji Bai stands up.

He presses his ash‑stained hand against his chest.

The red‑clothed totem begins to heat up.

Pain.

Very painful.

But this slight pain is negligible compared to the empty cabin before him.

Su Xiaoya kneels on the ground, gathering the ash powder bit by bit for Zhao Bei and Hong Jie.

Her hands shake violently, yet she is very earnest.

"Ji Bai."

She says, lowering her head.

"Let's take them back to the Ferry Port."

Ji Bai remains silent for a few seconds.

"Take."

Meng Wan suddenly looks up.

"Wait."

Outside the Corridor, the lights flash twice.

It's not an alarm.

It's a certain device deeper down being activated.

Ji Bai hears it.

It's not special‑ops footsteps.

Nor the sounds of Liang Wen and Su Ming pursuing.

It feels more like something falling from above.

Clang—

The sound of metal striking the floor comes from the far end of the sealed Corridor.

Very clear.

Immediately after, a second strike.

Clang—

Su Xiaoya looks up, tears still on her face.

"Anyone else?"