Chapter 58: Fighting a Ghost

"Looking back, I shouldn't have rushed in so recklessly. I should have waited for daybreak, when all the administrators had gathered. But I wasn't thinking that far ahead at the time. I just crossed the dim living room and pushed open the bedroom door."

The story ended right there, abruptly and without a proper conclusion. The fact that Zhao Zhenjia was still standing here meant he hadn't encountered a true Fierce Ghost that night.

"The instant my hand touched the lock, the muffled noises and the girl's crying behind the door completely vanished. I hesitated for a second, but I pushed the door open anyway.

"Your bedroom was a complete wreck. Marbles were scattered all over the floor, and the once-white bedsheets were covered in slash marks, claw rips, and bloodstains.

"The only fortunate thing was that you weren't there. That... thing that slipped into your room was obviously targeting you.

"Once I realized it wasn't in the bedroom, I rushed straight to the window—but it hadn't jumped out to escape, either. I checked under the bed, in the bathroom, and anywhere else something might hide. Still nothing.

"Later, Jiang Yang finally arrived after returning from outside the Apartment. Xia Ta and Yusheng showed up soon after, and we searched the entire Third Floor from top to bottom. We didn't find any other anomalies."

That was why Gao Tian had to share a room with Jiang Yang after returning.

It was now certain that supernatural forces had fully descended to the Third Floor. If Gao Tian were to sleep alone in his bedroom, he would most likely be quietly murdered in his sleep. Even with Zhao Zhenjia and Jiang Yang living right next door and able to reach him in a dozen seconds, they probably wouldn't make it in time.

This also meant something else: the expedition team's departure to explore the upper floors had to be moved up.

If they dragged this out any longer, the entire Third Floor would likely turn into a supernatural hunting ground, and the danger might even spread down to the second floor. When that happened, there wouldn't be a single inch of safe space left in the Living Apartment.

Xia Ta glanced at the clock on the wall.

"Lan Zhu still has one day before returning to Shanghai City.

"Yusheng, you mentioned you would make a list for us detailing some of the Rule-Based Horrors and the certain-death rooms on the fourth and fifth floors.

"Gao Tian, just stay here and get some proper rest. We're going to the next room to discuss this. The subsequent plans have nothing to do with you."

The others in the room began getting ready to leave. Gao Tian lay on his bed. Now that he had lost his Black Card, it seemed he was destined to be excluded from the expedition team.

This was fine too, he supposed.

He had just returned from the Inner World; it was a good time to get a few days of proper rest.

...

A day later, Gao Tian had mostly regained his mobility in the Apartment.

During this time, he hadn't heard the sound of marbles rolling around upstairs at all.

Although he was sharing a room with Jiang Yang, Jiang Yang spent every day next door. The administrators were busy discussing detailed strategies for exploring the upper floors and formulating contingency plans for unexpected emergencies.

Each administrator possessed different kinds of Supernatural Items, making this level of group coordination completely unprecedented. Before heading up, they needed to agree on which type of Fierce Ghost each person would handle and how they would work together.

Gao Tian hadn't forgotten to retrieve the Future Urn from the next room—the Red Jar capable of predicting the future.

Even though he couldn't go upstairs himself, he figured he might be able to glean some kind of revelation from the Future Urn.

Inside the urn, the stream in the small cave landscape was crystal clear. The delicate skeleton of Master White Bone was still guarding the text behind it, maintaining its meditating posture.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but Gao Tian couldn't shake the feeling that the meditating Master White Bone had slightly changed its posture.

It was leaning forward just a fraction, as if trying to stand up.

The rest of the scenery in the cave hadn't changed in the slightest.

No fragments of the future appeared. Gao Tian called out tentatively, "Execute urgently as decreed?"

Master Yunshan had been a truth-seeking Taoist priest in life; would these words provoke a reaction from him?

The beautiful scenery inside the urn remained perfectly still; not a single ripple disturbed the pool of water.

"I want to see the future?"

"Please prophesy what will happen after they head up to the fourth floor the day after tomorrow."

"Open sesame."

...

He tried all sorts of passwords, but the urn remained completely inert. It was as though it had turned into an ordinary decorative pot, entirely devoid of the magical power it had displayed when he first saw it.

Gao Tian felt a bit discouraged. He tried to recall the very first time he had seen a fragment of the future, trying to remember exactly what he had done back then. Any minor detail could be the key to triggering the Future Urn.

While he was still deep in thought, layers of gray mist suddenly began to rise within the urn, completely shrouding the skeleton, the stone walls, and the small pool. Seeing this, Gao Tian's heart leaped. He remembered that this was the exact same phenomenon that had preceded the Future Urn's first prophecy.

The Future Urn was finally taking effect.

Through sheer dumb luck, it had finally activated, though he had no idea what he'd done right.

As the mist slowly dissipated, a narrow, dilapidated alley was revealed. It was a bizarre place—the front, back, left, and right were absolutely plastered with Mirrors of all sizes. They crowded the space so tightly that the path left for pedestrians was incredibly narrow. It would be quite a challenge to walk through this Mirror Alley without breaking any of the glass.

What truly shocked Gao Tian was that in such a cramped alley, where even walking sideways would be a struggle, two humanoid figures were rolling on the ground, locked in a vicious grapple.

One of the figures had a build very similar to his own and was wearing a white shirt. When he looked closer, he realized it was the future "Gao Tian." There he was in this unknown Mirror Alley, brawling with someone in a state of absolute, ruthless frenzy.

Pinned firmly beneath "Gao Tian" was a terrifying old man. The man looked as if his entire body had been flayed, exposing the blood-red flesh underneath. Gao Tian could even faintly see his heart beating just below the surface, and his large and small intestines slowly squirming.

What little skin remained barely seemed able to hold his bones and internal organs together. He looked like he could fall to pieces at any moment.

This wasn't a fucking human—this was a ghost, right?

"Gao Tian" was in a fistfight with a ghost?

Seeing this, Gao Tian felt like his eyes were about to pop out and drop right into the urn.

Was his future self really this much of a badass?

The battle in Mirror Alley was incredibly intense. While it looked like "Gao Tian" had the upper hand, that wasn't the reality. Pinned beneath him, Old Man Red was hammering punch after punch into "Gao Tian's" chest. Even though the world inside the urn was completely silent, Gao Tian could see shockwaves kicking up from the impacts like sonic booms.

Just how much strength did this Old Man Red have?

The physical capabilities of humans and ghosts were simply not on the same level. Even a shriveled-up thing like Old Man Red possessed the monstrous strength of a demon.

The "Gao Tian" on top wore an expression of intense agony. His Blood Shroud absorbed half of the damage, and his injured internal organs were rapidly healing thanks to its effects. If it weren't for that, "Gao Tian" would have been beaten to death in just two punches with his ordinary human constitution.

After landing a few blows, even Old Man Red was utterly astounded by how sturdy this kid's body was. While its intellect wasn't very high, a single punch from it in the past was enough to crack a human skull wide open. This was the first time it had ever encountered someone so incredibly tough.

It was never suited for close-quarters combat to begin with. After throwing seven or eight punches and failing to kill "Gao Tian," Old Man Red decided it was time to run. The red ghost had completely lost its will to fight. It shoved at "Gao Tian" frantically, squirming in a desperate bid to escape this miserable alley.

Damn it all, it had never met a human this psychotic before.

But "Gao Tian" proved unbelievably stubborn. He was battered and bloodied, bleeding so heavily he was practically dyeing his Blood Shroud all over again, yet he remained tightly straddled over Old Man Red.

The two of them exchanged a chaotic flurry of wild punches. Even with his face beaten to a bloody pulp, "Gao Tian" refused to let the ghost go, plunging right back into their relentless, unending struggle.

Watching this unfold from outside the urn, Gao Tian was completely dumbfounded.

What kind of deep-seated grudge was this?

If he were actually in that situation and the ghost wanted to run, he would have just let it run. It wasn't like he could kill the thing anyway. Pinning it down and tanking the damage with his physical body meant he'd eventually be beaten to death by Old Man Red.

But the "Gao Tian" inside the urn seemed to have gone completely berserk. He was willing to be pummeled into internal bleeding just to keep Old Man Red pinned down, absolutely refusing to let it escape the Mirror Alley.

This future "Gao Tian's" behavior was completely abnormal.

Just what in the world was going to happen in the future?