Chapter 179: The Despicable Me (4)
Chapter 179: The Despicable Me (4)
This chapter's ghost story is adapted from Yumeno Kyūsaku's short story The Hanged Corpse. Any resemblance to other works is not coincidental.
...
"Wait, did the woman finally fall into a water pit?" Dark Shadow interrupted Feng Bu Jue with this sudden question.
"Huh? You've actually heard of it?" Feng Bu Jue replied.
"I want a story that can scare me, not a lame joke", Dark Shadow retorted.
"Hmm..." Feng Bu Jue exhaled sharply. "Then I'll pick another." He had endless tales in his mind—hundreds, even. "You want something scary, right?" he muttered inwardly. Though honestly, this guy’s a ghost himself asking for ghost stories. The irony’s just... priceless.
This time, Feng Bu Jue seemed determined to get serious. Shorter stories worked best for horror. Within limited words, scaring someone purely through language was surprisingly challenging.
"That day, I was sitting on a park bench", he began abruptly, his expression twisting into eerie intensity as he switched to first person. "There was a fountain in front of me. I watched the water spout high into the air, then fall back down... The clear evening sky felt oddly chilly."
Dark Shadow listened silently. From an observer's perspective, Feng Bu Jue was remarkably convincing—his first-person narrative almost hypnotic.
"While listening to the fountain’s water, I unfolded a couple of evening newspapers. But no matter which paper I checked, there was no news about what I was looking for."
Feng Bu Jue exhaled a visible puff of cold air. "About two weeks earlier, a girl had been found dead in an abandoned house on the outskirts. I was searching for any coverage of that case." A grotesque smile curled his lips. "We’d been in love for some time. I remember that evening—a twilight tryst. She wore a petal-shaped hairstyle and her school uniform, short skirt... So beautiful it nearly stole my breath."
His eyes burned with fervor, breath quickening, his mouth twitching unnaturally. "So... almost instinctively, I took her to an empty house near X Crossing on the outskirts. There, I strangled the terrified girl." He paused, locking his widened eyes onto Dark Shadow’s. "It felt like a burden lifted. If I hadn’t done it, I’d have gone mad, heh... hehehe..." His laughter carried unsettling satisfaction, as if savoring the memory.
"I unbuckled her belt, hung her from the rafters, and staged it as a suicide", he continued. "Though I returned home nonchalant, since that day, I’ve visited this park every evening—bought two or three different papers, sat on the bench... and flipped through them."
He sneered suddenly. "Young Girl Commits Suicide by Hanging—that’s the headline I’d hoped to see." His hand shot out, clawing at empty air beside him as though grasping something tangible. "Then I saw it—a discarded old newspaper at my feet. On one page’s center, three large headlines pierced my eyes like electric shocks..."
His face contorted into a ghostly mask. "Unidentified Corpse Discovered in Abandoned House. In a derelict property near X Crossing, a two-week-old wrecked corpse was found. Victim: a young man dressed as a corporate worker."
Snatching the paper, he raved as he fled the park, inexplicably drawn to X Crossing and the abandoned house.
His eyes darted frantically, confirming no one had touched the crime scene before he opened the door.
Inside, pitch-black darkness. He fumbled to the eight-mat room where the corpse hung, striking a match...
Feng Bu Jue shone a flashlight on his face, leaning closer. "The belt hung from the rafters—my corpse dangled from it. Then, from the blackness behind me, came the girl’s voice."
"Ohohohoho... You finally came back for me..." Feng Bu Jue’s story ended abruptly.
His expression shifted instantly, reverting to normal. "Well?"
"Uh..." Dark Shadow’s glowing blue eyes dimmed. "I think you switching personas so fast is scarier than the story itself."
"Save the commentary!" Feng Bu Jue barked, drawing his gun again. "Since I walked in, you’ve wasted seven or eight minutes—twenty-six minutes total. If you still want..." His unspoken threat hung: If you want more, try listening to bullets.
"Fine, I’ll take you to the cell." Dark Shadow raised a finger before Feng Bu Jue could finish. "No need to panic. What’s coming is harmless. Don’t resist."
This warning was crucial. Without it, Feng Bu Jue would’ve fought tooth and nail against the chaos ahead...
White light flared at Dark Shadow’s fingertip, expanding into a glowing orb. From it swarmed countless strange entities—egg-like, shell-less creatures resembling pale, grotesque insect larvae.
They multiplied, swirling like a vortex midair. Though swarming, each seemed independent, their translucent, gelatinous bodies chasing, devouring one another—chaotic yet purposeful.
Feng Bu Jue felt like observing microscopic life, but before he could stare long, the nightmare descended. The creatures surrounded him, crawling faster, denser...
They slithered across his body, clustering until his entire form was smothered—eyes, ears, mouth, nose all sealed.
As Feng Bu Jue feared losing control, the pressure eased. The cold vanished. Eyes closed, he sensed light returning.
He opened his eyes—and saw...
(End of Chapter)
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