Volume 1, Chapter 10: Vengeful Spirit

The leader of the thugs fell silent mid-sentence. His eyes were visibly filled with panic.

A thug beside him nudged the bleached-blonde ringleader, whispering, "Boss, something is really wrong. From the moment we entered that alley, we couldn't find her anywhere. Are you sure the person we were chasing was actually her?"

The room fell into a heavy silence.

It was uncanny. As the thugs recalled that moment, the hair on their arms stood on end, and cold sweat broke out across their foreheads.

Chu Guang remained as calm as ever.

Zhou Wei’s eyes darted slightly. He observed both sides with his peripheral vision—the thugs, looking panicked, and Chu Guang, looking composed—creating a stark contrast.

The team sent to collect samples from the right side of the alley returned. Seeing the slightly awkward atmosphere, they were curious.

"Team Leader Zhou, we're back. There were indeed spilled wontons on the right side of the alley, and they have already started to mold. According to the machine’s analysis, they were dropped there several days ago."

"Furthermore, we found bloodstains there."

He handed the evidence to Zhou Wei. "It seems the alley was too uneven, and she was running too fast. She must have tripped, cut herself on a sharp rock, and bled. DNA testing confirms it is Chu Guang’s."

Chu Guang listened to this string of evidence. She took the initiative to lift her pant leg, revealing a wound on her knee. "The wound on my knee hasn't fully healed yet. Do you need to examine it?"

"That won't be necessary. Can you answer one question for me?"

"Please, go ahead."

Zhou Wei’s eyes suddenly flashed like blades. "Tell me, after you saw them running toward the left side of the alley that day, what was the second thing you did?"

"I went straight home," she replied earnestly, without hesitation. "After I saw them run off, I immediately headed back in the direction I had originally come from."

"Very good. Tell me, how long did it take you to get out of that alley?"

"It shouldn't have taken long. It took the same amount of time it usually does. If you don't believe me, you can compare it to the time it took me to get home over the following days, or my previous transit times through that alley."

Chu Guang did not panic in the slightest. "Because I was running that day, I might have been a bit faster, or perhaps a bit slower, because I was frightened by the scene and stood there stunned for a moment. Do you need me to walk it again to calculate the time exactly?"

Zhou Wei lowered his head. "No need. According to the chain of evidence, you are basically cleared of suspicion."

Chu Guang nodded, her expression unchanged.

It worked. The suspicion was cleared.

"Nether Money" could induce physical exhaustion, and physical exhaustion could deceive the brain. Combined with intense nervousness and adrenaline, people generally perceive time as moving much slower than it is.

When the thugs claimed it took twenty-five minutes, Chu Guang’s suspicion was effectively dismissed.

Those bloodstains were merely tools to make her chain of evidence and testimony flawless.

The time-perception distortion effect would deceive everyone involved.

Once cleared, Chu Guang had no intention of staying longer; in matters like these, the less one was involved, the better.

She signed the statement. "May I ask, do recent events have something to do with Nether Objects? I thought you had already caught the culprit."

"We did," the officer taking the statement said, looking troubled. "But we’ve discovered that there is more than one person using Nether Objects. Even those thugs encountered them. What if they use these objects to harm others?"

Chu Guang returned the pen. After signing, she was just about to walk out of the Special Handling Bureau when a gust of wind blew past her.

"Ah, for heaven's sake, where is this wind coming from?"

Where was there wind?

Chu Guang only felt a deep chill settling into her bones, while her vision began to blur and heat up.

It was happening again.

That suffocating sensation.

Her face turned pale, drawing the attention of the counselor standing nearby. Seeing her look so unwell, the counselor quickly steadied her. "What’s wrong?"

She gasped for air. "Teacher, I think... I need to go to the hospital."

Chu Guang panted, cold sweat breaking out across her skin for no apparent reason. Her eyes felt as though they were burning. The hallucinations were starting again.

It took only fifteen minutes for the taxi to reach the hospital. Chu Guang was rushed into the emergency room, her face ashen.

The counselor waited anxiously outside. Less than half an hour later, the emergency light went out.

The doctor stepped out. "Did the patient experience sudden shortness of breath and extreme pallor?"

"Yes, it started in the car. Doctor, what is wrong with her?"

The doctor shook his head. "It’s very strange. We didn’t find anything abnormal. Aside from being slightly fatigued, her body is perfectly fine. Yet, she appears to be in great pain. Does she have a medical history?"

"No."

"That’s very odd. Her data shows no issues, but her heart rate is extremely low—it’s reached a dangerous threshold."

The doctor hesitated, then realized something. "Looking at her heart rate data, we may need to administer some specialized medication, but these drugs are very expensive..."

He looked uncertain. "I’m not sure if you want to proceed."

The counselor couldn't make the decision; she wasn't Chu Guang's parent or immediate family and had no authority to decide for her.

Just as she hesitated, a nurse ran out. "Doctor, the patient has woken up, but her condition is still very dire."

Chu Guang said, her voice strained, "Use the medicine. No matter how expensive it is, use it on me!"

Chu Guang was hazy in the operating room.

Blood. So much blood.

Amidst the chaos, she only felt the suffocation. "Save me... no matter the cost, save me... I will pay."

It was unbearable. It felt like countless knives were stabbing into her.

The red light of the operating room lit up once more. When she emerged, Chu Guang’s condition had stabilized.

She was wheeled out of the emergency room. The counselor paused, then hurried to the bedside.

She saw only an unconscious Chu Guang. Her small, fair face was pale, her brows tightly furrowed. She looked frail, as if she had only a single breath left.

At night.

The execution ground.

The corpse, which had long since been dead, began to emit wisps of black smoke. A thick, damp, and gloomy aura shrouded the area.

A bleak wind blew through.

Faint, eerie laughter could be heard. But if one looked closely, there was nothing there.

Drops of blood coalesced into a river of gore, exuding a foul, fishy stench. The congealed blood filaments looked increasingly grotesque.

Out of thin air, a sharp, ghostly laugh echoed: "Hahaha... Heaven will not destroy me. Even the heavens want me to be above all others, hahaha."