Ah Xu moved through the mansion like a predator on the hunt.
His footsteps echoed softly against the dusty floorboards, his faintly glowing eyes scanning every shadow.
The system's voice whispered faintly within his mind.
[Target detected nearby… commence devouring sequence.]
He turned the corner of a crumbling hallway and found the ghostly figure crouched in the far corner, its once-arrogant face now twisted with fear.
"Stay back!" the spirit hissed, retreating helplessly until its back pressed against the wall.
But Ah Xu didn't stop. His expression was empty, his body moving as though guided by some unseen force.
A sudden gust of wind surged through the corridor, spiraling around him.
The air shimmered, pulling everything toward him—the dust, the cobwebs, and even the ghost itself.
The spirit screamed as it began to disintegrate, its form twisting and stretching as it was drawn into the vortex forming at Ah Xu's mouth.
"No! No! I am the superior being!" the ghost howled, its voice echoing through the mansion.
"I have fed, cultivated, and waited centuries to be free from this cursed place! I was so close—so close!"
The swirling force grew stronger, ripping through the decaying walls as the ghost's form was pulled apart, piece by piece.
"Curse you—curse you, Emperor Xu!" the spirit shrieked with its final breath.
"For sealing me in this godforsaken mansion!
All because I killed your precious daughter!"
With that, the last fragments of the ghost's body were consumed by the vortex and vanished completely.
The wind died down. The mansion fell silent once more.
Ah Xu stood motionless, his chest rising and falling slowly. The glow in his eyes flickered — then steadied.
A faint, echoing voice whispered inside his mind:
[Devouring complete. Host synchronization: 40%. Power assimilation in progress.]
Inside the taxi, Jia Le leaned forward anxiously, gripping the back of the driver's seat.
"Uncle, please—can you drive any faster?" he urged, eyes fixed on the dark road ahead.
The taxi driver shot him a glare in the rearview mirror.
"Are you crazy, boy? This is the fastest I can go! You think I wanna end up in a ditch at this hour?"
He muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
"What's with you kids nowadays, huh? Always going to that godforsaken place like it's some theme park…"
Jia Le frowned. "You mean Feng Mansion?"
The driver let out a heavy sigh.
"Yeah, that one. Earlier tonight, I just sent two people there — a boy and a girl. And now the app sends me you, heading to the same cursed spot!"
The car sped through the empty streets of East Pujiang, the headlights slicing through the fog that had begun to settle over the abandoned district.
Jia Le's grip on his phone tightened as he glanced at the livestream still running in his hand — the screen frozen on the eerie image of a dimly lit corridor and a motionless camera.
A cold dread crept up his spine.
He didn't know what waited for him at Feng Mansion, but deep down, he feared he was already too late.
Meanwhile, on the livestream, the comments section erupted in chaos.
"OMG! Is everything okay?!"
"Should we call the police?!"
"What just happened? Did anyone see that ghost?!"
"Is this real or staged?! This is insane!"
Viewers were reacting to the horrifying scream that had echoed through the mansion moments before — the same scream that pierced the halls when the ghost had been devoured by Ah Xu.
The camera, still lying on the floor, captured only flickering shadows and the faint outlines of debris in the cold, dark foyer.
The sense of terror and uncertainty was palpable.
Even thousands of miles away, the audience could feel something was horribly wrong.
Some brave commenters typed with trembling fingers:
"That sound… it wasn't human."
"She dropped the camera… where's the girl?!"
"Please, someone go check on them!"
The livestream had become more than just a dare—it was a window into a nightmare that was unfolding in real time, and no one watching could tear their eyes away.
[System synchronization complete.]
[Strong spiritual entity successfully devoured.]
[Initializing full system integration…]
A surge of energy coursed through Ah Xu's body. His eyes snapped open.
He gasped sharply, clutching his chest where the wound once was.
The pain was gone, but his body felt foreign—stronger, yet heavier, as if something vast now lived inside him.
His mind spun in confusion.
The last thing he remembered was the ghostly figure piercing his heart, then… nothing.
Only darkness.
"Xiao Ling…" he muttered weakly, staggering to his feet.
"Wait—where's Xiao Ling?"
Panic surged through him as flashes of memory returned.
He had told her to wait outside the basement. If anything happened, she was supposed to call for him.
He ran back toward the foyer, calling out her name.
"Xiao Ling! Where are you?!"
But the spot where he'd left her was empty.
Fear tightened his chest. He turned toward the corridor leading to the basement and saw a faint silhouette on the ground.
"Xiao Ling!" he shouted, sprinting over. She was lying motionless, pale but breathing.
Relief flooded through him as he knelt beside her and gently shook her shoulder.
"Hey… wake up, it's me. It's over now. I'm here."
Unbeknownst to him, the livestream camera was still rolling, broadcasting everything to thousands of viewers who had been watching in stunned silence since the ghost's last scream.
As Ah Xu's voice echoed faintly through the feed, the chat began to explode again:
"What's going on?!"
"Who's that talking?"
"Wait—is he alive?!"
"I hear voices! Is the girl okay?!"
The viewers didn't know what had truly happened in the basement—
but one thing was certain: something unnatural had changed in Ah Xu.
Jia Le watched the livestream, relief washing over him as Ah Xu's voice finally came through.
"We've reached the destination," he muttered to himself, gripping his phone tightly.
The taxi driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror, frowning.
"What are you doing here all alone at this hour, in a place like this?"
Jia Le forced a nervous smile. "I… I'm here to find my friends.
The ones you dropped off earlier."
The driver's eyes widened, a mixture of surprise and disbelief on his face.
"Hmph… kids these days. Really different from how we were back then."
He didn't say anything more.
Jia Le handed over the fare, thanked him, and stepped out into the cold night air.
The mansion loomed ahead, dark and silent, its shadow stretching across the empty street.
His heart pounded as he walked toward it.
Every step closer made him more certain: something terrible had happened inside, and he had to reach his friends before it was too late.