Chapter 39: When Two Evils Collide

The final mental shock nearly knocked Wu Xian unconscious. Fortunately, the Ghost Mother’s emotions did not erupt, which meant the subsequent steps would be easier to manage.

With his eyes closed, Wu Xian fumbled his way out of Room 401. He stumbled as he moved, managing to pull the door of 401 shut behind him. He then returned to 404, quietly closed and locked the door, and only then completed the handover with the others.

From this moment on, no one would leave Room 404 again; instead, they would take turns clapping to rotate the status of the "seeker." Only the Ghost Mother remained, alone in 401, waiting for the arrival of 3:00 AM.

Three o'clock in the morning.

The Door-Breaking Spirit appeared abruptly at the foot of the hostel. Under the cold moonlight, its silhouette was chilling. It was furious. First, because its hostel had been occupied by the Ghost Mother the previous night, preventing it from killing living humans to its heart's content. Second, because Yu Yinghua was dead.

When she was alive, the Spirit had no real affection for Yu Yinghua—otherwise, it wouldn’t have strangled her and buried her in concrete in the supermarket basement. They had become a couple only because she was foolish and useful. But now that she had turned into an evil spirit and died, the Door-Breaking Spirit, Wang Zhiwu, was enraged. Without her, there would be no evil spirit to help him lure living humans into traps, so he decided to kill to his heart's content tonight.

Tonight, the Peace Hostel no longer carried that woman's scent; it had reverted to his territory.

Whoosh!

The hallway lights went out. The figure of the Door-Breaking Spirit instantly appeared in the middle of the corridor.

Bang!

He kicked open the door to 403. The room was pitch black and devoid of any human presence. The Spirit let out an angry roar. Then, he hesitated. Which room should he open next?

The Door-Breaking Spirit was restricted by the rules of the Blessed Land: he could only open two doors per day. The first door could be kicked open, but the second had to be opened with a key. He had just wasted his kicking opportunity; he had to choose carefully which door to use his key on. Since becoming an evil spirit, he had grown unaccustomed to thinking thanks to Yu Yinghua, but with her gone, he began to use his brain after a long hiatus.

Following standard logic, since these humans could kill Yu Yinghua, they must have noticed her markers, and therefore... they would avoid them!

The Spirit took out his key ring and found the key for 404. The survivors were huddled in 404, unable to open their eyes, pressing against the walls and waiting anxiously for sounds from outside. When Wu Xian heard the jingling of the keys, his blood ran cold. Of the remaining rooms, theirs was the only one that required a key!

The Door-Breaking Spirit walked to the door of 404, his large hand gripping the small key as he inserted it into the lock. The hearts of the four people inside leaped into their throats.

But just then—

Clap, clap-clap-clap...

Everyone heard rhythmic clapping. It turned out the Ghost Mother in 401 had reached her limit of patience. Not wanting to stay in the same room any longer, her emotions had grown volatile, and she began to clap loudly.

The Door-Breaking Spirit turned his head abruptly. To his surprise, he found that the door to 401 was only slightly ajar! The Spirit’s face, missing patches of skin, twisted into a terrifying grin. Since that room could be opened, there was no need to waste his precious key usage.

He kicked open the door to 401 and immediately caught sight of a woman’s shadow reflected against the window.

...

Making two evil spirits collide in a room as far away from the four of them as possible was the fourth condition of Wu Xian's plan. The plan had been sound, but he could never have predicted that Yu Yinghua’s death would force the Door-Breaking Spirit to start thinking. Fortunately, the outcome was favorable.

Hearing the sound of the door being kicked in, the four of them breathed a collective sigh of relief. Eyes still closed, Wu Xian picked up Lu Yuzhu’s phone and, following their practice from the day, fumbled to dial the number he had prepared.

"Now, there is only one last thing to do."

...

Upon seeing the Ghost Mother, the Door-Breaking Spirit was delighted. She bore no aura of an evil spirit; she was a living human! He immediately reached out his large hands to grab her, intending to tear her apart and bathe in her blood.

But he immediately sensed something was wrong. It didn’t feel like the soft, easily torn flesh of a woman. What he held felt more like a hard, jagged block of frozen ice!

The Ghost Mother raised her head, revealing a face even more terrified than the Door-Breaking Spirit’s.

"Ah!"

With a shrill scream, her evil aura exploded. The Door-Breaking Spirit’s hands were blasted away, and a spray of filthy blood erupted. The collision between the two great spirits caused the "Breath-Concealing Technique" to fail completely, and the Ghost Mother’s immense aura was released without restraint. She was already furious over this frustrating game, and the Spirit’s actions were a direct provocation, so she launched an immediate attack.

The Door-Breaking Spirit ignored the pain in his hands. Since becoming an evil spirit, this was the first time he had felt fear. He twitched unnaturally and let out a few strange cries toward the Ghost Mother, who responded in kind. This was the language of spirits—to human ears, it sounded like maddening gibberish.

After a brief exchange, the tense, hostile atmosphere between the two spirits suddenly vanished.

Evil spirits are like wild beasts. They all feed on humans and have their own territories. The Ghost Mother was stronger, so the Door-Breaking Spirit would naturally yield to her. This did not mean they were absolute enemies. Even beasts do not fight to the death every time they meet. The Door-Breaking Spirit offered a sign of submission, received the Ghost Mother’s pardon, and earned the right to retreat unharmed.

He began to back away slowly, and the Ghost Mother made no move to pursue. The clapping game was about to begin again.

The belief that two evil spirits would inevitably fight upon meeting was merely a naive and arrogant human assumption. Wu Xian had never been so optimistic. Therefore, to force the two spirits into conflict, there was a fifth necessary condition!

"Ding-dong, ding-dong!"

Zhao Juan’s phone rang. There was no internet in the Blessed Land, but the cellular signal remained. The ringtone was not music, but a recording Wu Xian had prepared in advance.

"Respected Ghost Mother, this may be our only conversation. If you wish to know the truth about your daughter’s disappearance, please answer this call, put it on speaker, and protect this phone—do not let anyone else destroy it."

The Door-Breaking Spirit, having just been granted permission to leave the Ghost Mother’s territory, froze in his tracks. It was perfectly clear who "anyone else" referred to.

The air stagnated. The vast evil aura suddenly recoiled, becoming heavy and dense. The Ghost Mother was prepared for battle. Under the nervous gaze of the Door-Breaking Spirit, she reached out with a pale finger and pressed the answer button.

"Speak!"