Chapter 39: Battle of the Ghouls

Under the cold, pale light of the ceiling lamps, the villa's living room was deathly quiet.

Upstairs, Le Dong and Cai Kun pressed themselves tightly against the banister, their breaths, ragged from the frantic dash, stifled by sheer force of will.

Steward Ma, who had been tailing them, witnessed the scene as well; his expression, already one of terror, curdled into absolute horror. Subconsciously, he gripped the "White Tooth" in his hand so hard his knuckles turned white, his body shrinking into the shadows of the wall corner near the stairs, not daring to even draw a full breath.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

Finally, heavy footsteps pounding on the stairs shattered the silence. "Old Master Hu," now controlled by the parasite, had caught up to the top of the stairs. It stood high above, its scarlet eyes locked onto the people below.

Down in the living room, the spirit of Old Master Hu seemed startled by the commotion above. It turned its translucent body with agonizing slowness, its movements stiff and jarring.

Those hollow eyes, shimmering with a baleful blue light, swept first over Steward Ma, huddled in the corner, then skipped past the terrified Cai Kun—who was still carrying Ma Wenwen—and finally settled on the unconscious Boss Hu, who was being carried on Le Dong’s back.

When the spirit’s gaze met Boss Hu’s bloodless, pallid face, it suddenly froze.

A monstrous, overwhelming resentment, cold as a physical ice storm, instantly swept through the living room. The box of gold bars on the coffee table snapped shut with an audible click.

"So! ...It is you!..."

The spirit’s voice was no longer a mere ripple of thought; it echoed directly in the air—dry, hoarse, and laced with a bone-chilling hatred. Its gaze remained locked on Boss Hu, as if piercing through skin and flesh to stare directly at the soul within.

Le Dong’s heart tightened. He couldn't fathom why the spirit was suddenly targeting Boss Hu.

"My gold... you were the one holding it..."

The spirit’s tone was filled with a realization twisted by malice. It slowly raised a translucent arm, pointing a finger at Boss Hu.

"Finally... I have found you..."

Le Dong paused, instinctively glancing at the unconscious Boss Hu on his shoulder. He felt a flicker of confusion; even though he was an ordinary man, he could clearly sense that this spirit was far more powerful than the spirits of the Hu couple. If it wanted to harm Boss Hu, why wait until now?

Thoughts raced through Le Dong’s mind, but there was no time to dwell on them. He tensed his muscles, bracing for a strike.

Yet, after staring "daggers" at Boss Hu for several seconds, the spirit’s malevolent gaze suddenly, and most eerily... shifted!

Its glowing blue eyes swept past Boss Hu’s unconscious form, past Le Dong, and finally landed at the top of the stairs—upon the very thing that had just charged down a few steps, reeking of rot and violence, the entity that had hijacked its own... corpse!

Instantly, the ghost and the corpse—bearing the same face—stared at one another across the air. The sight was so grotesque it made one’s skin crawl.

"Using my shell... are you also here to steal my gold?"

The spirit finally spoke, its face contorted with a complex array of emotions for the first time—anger, disgust, astonishment, and something else... an indescribable, savage fury, as if its most cherished toy had been soiled and desecrated.

Then, a line that reminded everyone of the way Master Zhao had died echoed in their minds:

"Trying to steal my gold? You will suffer the punishment of the throat-piercing..."

The spirit’s voice was cold and resolute, laced with an unquestionable sense of possessiveness. Then, its hateful gaze locked onto the parasite-controlled shell at the top of the stairs, and it let out a sharp, piercing shriek:

"The gold is all mine!!!"

Before the echo died away!

"ROAR—!"

The corpse on the stairs seemed to sense the powerful, hostile, and familiar resentment radiating from the spirit below. It abandoned Le Dong and the others, letting out an even more feral roar. Its scarlet eyes were fixed on the spirit downstairs, and a wave of offended, violent energy erupted from it!

In an instant, the living room felt as if a slow-motion button had been pressed, or as if the final, suffocating silence before a storm had descended.

The next second!

"WHOOSH—!"

Old Master Hu’s spirit transformed into a streak of ghostly blue, carrying bone-piercing winds and boundless resentment, hurtling toward the zombie on the stairs like an arrow released from a bow!

"HRRRGGH!!!"

The corpse did not back down. Driven by the parasite, its stiff body unleashed terrifying strength as it lunged down from the stairs. Its withered arms spread wide, and its black, jagged nails, like ten poisoned daggers, tore through the air with a whistling sound, slashing fiercely at the incoming spirit!

A battle beyond imagination—between the physical and the ethereal, the corpse and the soul—erupted in the living room of the Hu villa!

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—"

Two storms of cold, foul energy entangled and dispersed in mid-air. The thick stench and the plummeting temperature forced Le Dong and the others to retreat further up the stairs, where they bumped into Zhang Houkui, who was stumbling out while clutching his chest.

Le Dong had expected to fight, but the ghost and the corpse downstairs were too preoccupied to notice them. Several frigid currents of air swept past like darting fish, brushing against the group. In the next second, everyone felt their legs go weak, and they collapsed onto the floor without warning.

"Damn it! Dong, I can't move my legs!"

"What is happening!"

"Steward Ma, didn't you say everything in the villa was under your control!"

"Damn you, if I could move, I'd kill you first!"

"No, no, why isn't the White Tooth working! She wouldn't lie to me, she wouldn't lie to me..."

For a moment, they were like fish stranded on a shoal, struggling helplessly and cursing. Steward Ma, however, ignored them all, clutching the White Tooth in a manic trance, laughing and crying at once...

Le Dong, bruised and battered from the sudden fall, looked around. Seeing Steward Ma and the others equally paralyzed, he didn't know whether to feel relieved or anxious. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he signaled Cai Kun to drag Ma Wenwen and Boss Hu away from the trio, huddling against the railing to contemplate their next move.

He figured that, at the moment, only Ma Wenwen might know the secret to this madness.

Le Dong turned to look at the trembling Ma Wenwen, praying for a sliver of lucidity to return to him.

"Whoosh, swish..."

The brawl downstairs continued, and Le Dong’s eyes were drawn back to the chaos.

It was clearly visible: the spirit’s attacks were erratic and ghostly. It seemed able to ignore physical barriers, occasionally passing through sofas and walls, its claw-like fingers plunging straight into the corpse’s hollow eye sockets. At other times, it would materialize behind the corpse, clawing at its neck with a chill that could freeze a soul.

Every strike left deep, acid-etched gouges on the corpse’s iron-hard skin, from which wisps of black smoke rose.

"Hrrgh... screech..."

As the battle dragged on, the corpse let out agonizing roars, which, toward the end, seemed to be underscored by the sharp, shrill hissing of the parasite itself.

"BANG, BANG, BANG—"

The pain only fueled the parasite’s rage. It controlled the corpse, charging blindly, every attack fueled by brute physical force. With every swing of its fists, the air cracked, and the floorboards shattered. It didn't bother dodging the spirit’s ethereal attacks, choosing instead to tank them with its hardened shell while tearing wildly with its withered claws.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

To everyone's surprise, this tactic was effective. Those black nails, raking through the spirit’s phantom form, managed to pull away ribbons of glowing blue light that looked like fragments of a soul!

This caused the spirit’s form to flicker violently as it let out a shrill, piercing scream—it was clearly suffering tangible damage.

"Dong... can we really make it out alive..."

Beside Le Dong, Cai Kun watched the chaos below, his eyes filled with despair.

"We have to!"

Le Dong thought of his cozy home, his wife and son, his voice firm. Just as he was about to say something to offer comfort, another loud crash from below interrupted him.

"BANG!"

The corpse slammed another fist into the spot where the spirit had just dissipated, shattering the thick, solid-wood banister into splinters!

"SHRRR-!"

The spirit materialized ghost-like at the corpse's side, its claws slicing under the zombie’s ribs, leaving a wound deep enough to expose bone, from which black gas poured out like thick smoke!

They were like two frenzied beasts, rolling, biting, and colliding in the cramped living room. Furniture was smashed to pieces as if made of paper, and the walls were scarred with deep claw marks and impact craters.

Their battle had long since filled the air with a thick, putrid stench and a bone-chilling, icy aura.

"Dong... look!"

"Is that parasite about to come out!"

Suddenly, Cai Kun’s shout made Le Dong lock his eyes on the corpse...