Lin Xuan led them into a house.
"Change your clothes and put on these human skin masks," Lin Xuan said, tossing them a bag.
Though curious, they didn’t question him and simply followed his instructions.
After changing and donning the masks, Lei Hui and Butler Wang stepped out and came face to face.
"Ah—!"
"Ghost!"
Lei Hui screamed and instinctively threw a punch at Butler Wang.
Fortunately, Butler Wang had undergone specialized training and was quick enough to dodge the blow.
"Mr. Lei, it’s me—Butler Wang from the Su family," Butler Wang said helplessly.
Hearing the familiar voice, Lei Hui let out a sigh of relief.
So it was just the butler. That was good, that was good.
If Butler Wang was dressed like this, then what about his own appearance…?
Spotting a mirror in the room, Lei Hui picked it up and took a look.
His eyes widened in shock.
This… this was terrifying!
His mouth gaped open like a bloody maw, his face was mottled with green and red patches, and his eyes dripped with blood-red tears—he looked like a vengeful ghost.
Lei Hui vaguely guessed the plan and couldn’t help but ask, "Boss, are we dressing up as ghosts to scare them?"
"Exactly," Lin Xuan nodded. "Just beating people up every time gets boring. Sometimes we need to switch things up for fun."
He had already instructed Cheng Da and Cheng Er to prepare the place.
When Lin Li’s men arrived later, they’d feel like they’d stepped into a haunted factory straight out of hell.
There were even lifelike mannequins here.
No matter how much they believed in science, they’d be scared into thinking ghosts were real.
Old Liu and Old Wang, along with their gang members, frowned as they stared at the seven-story factory.
"Old Wang, something feels off. Coming to such a remote place in the dead of night and entering a factory… I can’t shake the feeling they’ve set a trap for us," Old Liu said, an inexplicable chill running down his spine.
He subconsciously rubbed his arms.
"What’s there to be afraid of?" Old Wang scoffed. "Lin Xuan couldn’t possibly know we’re after him. He wouldn’t have prepared anything. Besides, there are ten of us and only three of them. What could Lin Xuan even do?"
Old Liu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Fair point.
Lin Xuan couldn’t possibly do anything to them.
"Let’s go in. The sooner we catch Lin Xuan, the sooner we can wrap this up," Old Wang said.
TV shows often depicted villains who talked too much and ended up dead.
Every time the bad guys tried to deal with the hero or heroine, they’d ramble on and on until reinforcements arrived.
If they’d just shut up and acted, they would’ve won.
So Old Liu didn’t want to waste time.
"Alright."
The group of ten marched into the factory.
The lights inside flickered dimly, casting an eerie glow.
Old Wang’s heart pounded violently, as if it might leap out of his chest.
"Old Wang, do you think there are ghosts here?" Old Liu asked, gulping nervously.
"What ghosts?" Old Wang said dismissively.
He barked orders to the others, "Search every corner! Find Lin Xuan!"
"Yes!" they replied obediently.
They combed through the factory meticulously—first floor, second floor, third floor… all the way up to the sixth.
But there was no sign of Lin Xuan or his men.
"Old Wang," Old Liu panted, bending over with his hands on his knees, "Do you think Lin Xuan realized we were after him and slipped away?"
Old Wang shook his head. "Impossible. I checked—this factory only has one entrance, and all the windows are sealed shut. There’s no way he could’ve escaped."
Old Liu furrowed his brows.
A factory with all its windows tightly sealed… wasn’t that suspicious?
Old Wang glanced at the staircase. "There’s still the seventh floor left. I bet Lin Xuan’s hiding up there."
"Everyone, move out!" he commanded.
The ten men marched up to the seventh floor, which was pitch black.
With a loud bang, the door behind them slammed shut.
Old Liu jumped in fright. "Old Wang!" He instinctively shuffled closer. "Why did the door suddenly close?"
Old Wang sighed. "It was just the wind. What’s there to be scared of?"
The wind?
Old Liu grew even more terrified.
The windows were all sealed—where would wind come from?
"Old Wang," Old Liu said, his voice trembling, "Let’s hurry up and search. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can leave."
Something about this factory felt deeply wrong.
"Fine, let’s go," Old Wang agreed.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past them.
Old Liu shuddered violently.
How could there be wind here?
None of them had brought flashlights—only two had their phones.
They turned on their phone lights.
Looking around
"Ahhhhhh—" A sudden howl pierced the air.
Old Wang was startled by Old Liu's scream.
"What's going on?" Old Liu frowned and asked.
"So many memorial portraits... and wooden tablets carved like tombstones," Old Liu pointed shakily at a spot, his fingers trembling.
Old Liu walked over,
eyeing it suspiciously.
His heart began pounding.
Could there really be something sinister here...?
Suddenly,
the dark floor was faintly illuminated as the lights flickered on—though they were dim, unnervingly dim.
Thud.
Something dropped behind them.
Old Liu noticed and moved to investigate, but then—a woman appeared, ghostly pale, draped in white, her hair disheveled like a vengeful spirit.
She merely glanced at Old Liu and Old Wang before walking straight to the corpse, crouching down.
Crack. She tore off the corpse's arm.
The body must have been freshly dead—blood was still oozing.
Under the horrified gazes of the onlookers, she shoved the arm into her mouth and began devouring it ravenously.
Noticing their stares, she extended the half-eaten limb toward them.
A ghastly white light flashed across her face,
making her blood-streaked features even more terrifying.
Old Liu shivered in fear.
Even the usually bold Old Wang felt his heart thumping uneasily.
"Care for a bite?" Her voice echoed through the eighth floor, as if amplified by some unseen speaker.
As she spoke, blood from the arm dripped from her lips.
Happy holidays, everyone~ Good night!
Thanks to Little Panda 06 for the character summon.
Thanks to the author Fei Fei for the gifts, and to the lazy, carefree Capybara and other sweethearts.
Uu.
his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…
rowess are unmatched, commanding a million-strong army! Yet, the Emperor wants to depose him for the sake of a false prince? Hold on, are you throwing me into some female-oriented romance plot? How can I tolerate this? With a grand wave of his hand—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! Slander the Emperor? Very well, all of you shall die! ... The False Prince: "Although I am not the biological son, Father and Mother love me more. The throne should be mine!" The Female Lead: "Qin Xiao, you are the Emperor, and I am a commoner. If you wish to marry me, you must abdicate. Otherwise, you will never have me!" The Empress: "After we divorce, you must give me half the empire!" The Transmigrator Consort: "You worthless Emperor, why should I kneel to you? All men are equal—I advise you to be kind!" The Great General: "The enemy general is my childhood sweetheart. For her sake, I willingly abandon the frontier defenses!" The Retired Emperor: "Although Yu'er was adopted, I prefer him. Qin Xiao, you should abdicate and let him become Emperor!" ... Very well! So this is how you want to play? Facing this twisted world of female-oriented tropes, Qin Xiao grins and raises his hand to unleash—the Nine Clan Extraction Technique! I am the Emperor. Why would I bother reasoning with you? Seal the gates! Leave none alive!
to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
