Chapter 62: Resentment Rises

Cui Chengzhi inspected the lock and said with certainty, "It is protected by the system, so we cannot force it open. But where are we supposed to find the key to Room 201..."

Just as Cui Chengzhi was worrying, he suddenly heard a clattering sound beside his ear.

Xia Wulei pulled a bunch of keys from her pocket and rummaged through them. "Which one was it again? 201?"

Li Lianxin was stunned. "Wulei, where did you get those keys?"

Xia Wulei picked out the key for Room 201 and expertly slid it into the keyhole.

"Oh, this? I got it from old Liu. Well, you know, just in case, so I had him hand over all the spare keys."

In reality, Xia Wulei had sensed the spiritual vine's curiosity about the outside world and let it out for some fresh air in the middle of the night. She never expected that on its trip out, it would hook the keys right off Uncle Liu's belt.

What Xia Wulei did not know was that the spiritual vine appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the night had scared Uncle Liu under the bed out of his wits, causing him to pack his things and flee overnight.

Another ghost had been resolved without them even trying.

He Daqiang was still sitting anxiously inside the room when he heard the lock turn. The next moment, the door was shoved wide open.

He Daqiang stared in utter shock. "How—how did you guys get in?!"

Without a word of explanation, Li Lianxin rushed into the room with Yu Guang and Bake, snatching a three- or four-year-old boy right out of Aunt Zhao's arms.

He Daqiang attempted to resist, but the moment he saw sparks of electricity flashing in Cui Chengzhi's hand, his courage instantly evaporated.

After tying them up, Xia Wulei didn't hesitate to drag them straight to Room 502 and toss them inside.

A chilling wind immediately swept through the room. Not daring to linger, Xia Wulei and the others slammed the door shut, hearing the agonizing wails of the occupants echoing from within.

Bake's throat bobbed. "Boss, if we let them be killed, won't they be unable to kill us later..."

Cui Chengzhi's brows knitted tightly. "Is doing this really the right thing?"

Seeing the blank looks on the others, Cui Chengzhi explained, "Flesh and blood will incite a ghost's bloodlust. Consuming the flesh and blood of their enemies might make the female ghost even more ferocious..."

Xia Wulei disagreed. "Is leaving grievances unvented the right thing then? If people aren't allowed to vent their frustrations, would she have turned into a vengeful spirit haunting this entire apartment building?"

Cui Chengzhi fell silent.

The little boy tightly gripped Cheng Cheng's hand, looking terrified.

Seeing this, Cheng Cheng led him back to Room 503 to soothe him.

After a long while, the wails inside the apartment gradually died down. When Xia Wulei and Cui Chengzhi went in to check, Aunt Zhao and He Daqiang had already been reduced to two corpses, their eyes wide with eternal resentment.

"Wait outside."

Cui Chengzhi instructed the others before stepping into Room 502.

With a slight stir of curiosity, Xia Wulei followed after him.

Seeing Xia Wulei trail in, Cui Chengzhi did not stop her, presumably figuring she possessed some capability of her own.

Inside the room, Cui Chengzhi expressionlessly disposed of the two bodies while Xia Wulei peered around, inspecting her surroundings. Just then, the door of Room 502 slammed shut with a heavy thud, trapping the two of them inside.

"Senior Brother, Wulei!!"

Li Lianxin and the others' panicked shouts and pounding echoed from outside the door.

Cui Chengzhi's brows furrowed deeply as he instinctively pulled Xia Wulei behind him.

The surrounding environment suddenly plunged into darkness. The sounds from outside vanished instantly, and dark red blood began to seep from the walls, flowing down in a continuous stream.

"Not enough... Still not enough..."

A ghostly female voice echoed by their ears, and palpable malice surged toward the two of them, making the air grow thin.

"Her resentment has escalated," Cui Chengzhi said.

Xia Wulei quietly formed the Five Thunder Incantation in her hands, though Cui Chengzhi's movements were even faster than hers.

Cui Chengzhi wove extremely intricate hand seals at a blinding speed, leaving Xia Wulei utterly dumbfounded.

It looked as though he were arguing with someone using sign language.

The blood on the walls slowly coalesced into countless black hands that clawed viciously toward them.

Finally, Cui Chengzhi brought his hands together and told Xia Wulei, "Hold onto my arm, or anywhere. As long as you're in contact with me, my spells won't harm you."

Xia Wulei promptly stepped on Cui Chengzhi's foot.

Cui Chengzhi: ?

Xia Wulei: "You said anywhere."

She was holding the Five Thunder Incantation in her own hands too; she couldn't afford to place all her hopes on Cui Chengzhi alone.

Cui Chengzhi had no time to deal with Xia Wulei's eccentricity. As the ghostly hands were about to touch them, he parted his joined hands.

"Whoosh—"

A burst of flames materialized out of thin air around Cui Chengzhi, expanding outward in a wave of heat that instantly filled the entire room.

Xia Wulei watched in amazement. When the flames brushed past her, she felt only a pleasant warmth.

Yet the ghostly hands that touched the flames seemed to be corroded by acid, dissolving instantly into bubbles and bursting into nothingness amidst a hissing sound.

Holy crap, so overpowered, and so cool.

Xia Wulei immediately retracted her Five Thunder Incantation and looked at Cui Chengzhi with hopeful eyes.

"Can we meet again twenty-eight days from now?"

Cui Chengzhi paused, weighing his words before replying, "That's hard to say..."

Xia Wulei felt a pang of disappointment, but then again, who knew which instance anyone would be thrown into twenty-eight days later.

Seeing that they posed no threat, the woman in red finally manifested.

However, she harbored considerable wariness toward Cui Chengzhi's methods and kept a generous distance from them.

Xia Wulei took the initiative. "What is wrong with you? We even brought the people you wanted, and this is how you repay us? Can I still trust you after this? Where is your self-restraint?"

Cui Chengzhi frowned slightly, whispering, "Ghosts always act on impulse. It's useless to talk to them about moral standards..."

Before he could finish, a line of blood-red characters suddenly materialized in the air before them.

[I'm sorry.]

The woman in red stood by the door, head lowered in a docile admission of guilt.

Cui Chengzhi: ?

Xia Wulei whispered, "I happened to read an essay she was writing earlier. Her dream was to study philosophy, and the first line was a quote from Plato."

Self-restraint is an order, a control over one's pleasures and desires.

Words from a great philosopher of ancient Greece.

Cui Chengzhi was rendered speechless.

Seeming to have regained her sanity, the woman in red felt remorse for her actions. Rummaging around in a corner, she fished out a small box and carefully offered it to Xia Wulei with both hands.

Inside lay a withered, shriveled little yellow flower.

[This is, repayment]

The woman in red formed another line of text.

Cui Chengzhi glanced at it, seeing only an ordinary flower with nothing special about it. However, Xia Wulei noticed that the spiritual vine in her spatial storage seemed rather curious and fond of the flower, so she asked for Cui Chengzhi's permission and accepted it.

Seeing her return gift accepted, the woman in red straightened her posture somewhat.

[Still not enough, I still need people]

Xia Wulei looked puzzled. "Who else do you need? Can you stop speaking in riddles?"

The woman in red paced back and forth anxiously, then, as if making up her mind, waved her hand as a line of blood-red text slowly formed.

[Still not enough, bring *** here]

Xia Wulei narrowed her eyes.

"What is this? How is there censorship on blood-red text?"