The car sped down the road. We stuck to less crowded routes, racing ahead. It was early morning, and the roads were pretty congested.
The Municipal Works Hall was less than half an hour away from us. When we arrived, the area was already cordoned off. Ordinary police officers had sealed the scene. After Vivian Ouyang showed her credentials, we passed through the blockade.
Within a kilometer, the area was sealed off, with military units assisting. At the entrance of the Municipal Works Hall, Hugh Thompson stood, his face grave, staring at the building.
Richard Li was discharged from the hospital yesterday. Early this morning, he entered the Municipal Works Hall. As soon as he went in, the police began forcibly evacuating the other people inside.
Outside, Hugh Thompson and more than ten members of the Ghost Burial Squad remained.
"How's the situation?" I shouted as soon as I got out of the car.
"Ten minutes ago, over twenty people went in and have completely lost contact."
The sky was heavy with dark clouds, as if rain could fall at any moment. Across from us, on the 13th floor of the Municipal Works Hall, a large room was lit up—that was Richard Li's office.
"Let's go," I said, heading inside. Suddenly, all of us felt it—a chill. Vivian Ouyang immediately hugged her arms and crouched to the ground.
A ghost gently descended before us—it was Helen Chen.
"Why are you here?"
"Michael Chen..."
With a piercing scream, Helen Chen flew into the Municipal Works Hall.
We all rushed in after her. The Ghost Burial Squad members behind us were all armed with submachine guns, and Hugh Thompson carried one too.
"When we go in, if we encounter resistance, shoot immediately. Don't think of them as people—they're... monsters."
Hugh Thompson spoke. I tightened my grip on the handgun in my pocket.
"Xiao Wei, wait outside and stay safe. You don't need to come with us."
Rachel Lan said, and the dozen or so of us got into the elevator.
The elevator slowly ascended to the 13th floor. As soon as the doors opened, we saw Li Zuodong's office—closed. The hallway was wide, with a wooden door over two meters tall and two meters wide.
I walked up. The Ghost Burial Squad members stood on either side of the door, gripping their submachine guns, ready for action.
I pushed open the door. In an instant, anger surged within me and my eyes widened.
Helen Chen was struggling as Michael Chen gripped her neck.
"Well, it's been decades, hasn't it, wife? Do you still remember how good I was to you?"
Helen Chen sobbed. With a bang, Michael Chen slammed her hard to the ground. She cried out, floated to the corner, and began to weep, heartbroken.
"You bastard!" I shouted, charging forward.
"Wait, Ethan Zhang."
The man before us, who had changed his name to Richard Li but was originally Michael Chen, was the notorious bully of Chen Family Village. Now, he looked nothing like before—his body was huge, his face fierce, especially those beast-like eyes.
"Everyone has a ghost inside their heart. Don't you think so, Ethan Zhang?"
It was the masked man from last night—I recognized the voice. Then Michael Chen looked at Helen Chen.
"She's nothing but a wretched woman. If she hadn't gone behind my back and gotten close to Principal Roy Chen, I wouldn't have tormented her like this. Isn't that right, Helen? Am I wrong?"
Helen Chen lifted her head, shaking it.
"No, it was you, you took me first, that's why I..."
"Yes, I took you. So what? If you want something, you have to seize it with your own hands. That's how the world works."
"Shit," I cursed. Suddenly, Helen Chen shot up, a mass of her hair lunging at Michael Chen.
"Can't you understand words?"
Helen Chen's hair wrapped around Michael Chen.
"I've waited for this day a long time. No matter how I searched, I couldn't find you. Today, through Ethan Zhang, I finally sensed you. It's you—I want you to pay with your life."
"I've waited for this day a long time. No matter how I searched, I couldn't find you. Today, through Ethan Zhang, I finally sensed you. It's you—I want you to pay with your life."
Helen Chen grabbed Michael Chen, then opened her mouth wide and bit into his neck.
Michael Chen didn't move, smiling. With a tearing sound, Helen Chen bit off a chunk of flesh from his neck, blood splattering everywhere.
"Had enough biting, wife?" Michael Chen said, suddenly grabbing Helen Chen's head with one hand.
Her eyes were pitch black. Helen Chen kept wailing, black tears streaming from her eyes.
"You probably don't know, do you? Heh, all those corpses in Chen Family Village—Chen Hongyan wasn't the only one responsible."
As soon as Michael Chen finished speaking, there was a crack—he twisted Helen Chen's neck all the way around, then slammed her body to the ground.
To our shock, the neck that Chen Hongyan had bitten open was now slowly healing, as if it had never been injured.
"What is truth, Ethan Zhang? You only know half the story. There's another half—a boy who lost his parents in Chen Family Village, and the one who caused it was Helen Chen's father, Samuel Chen. You didn't know that, did you?"
Helen Chen struggled again. Michael Chen bent down, grabbed her hair, and whispered.
"Poor woman, used by her own father like a prop, heh."
Helen Chen's eyes widened, the blackness vanished, and panic shone through.
"People outside the door, put down your weapons. What you hold is useless against me. After all, I can't be called human anymore, heh."
As Michael Chen spoke, he suddenly appeared right in front of me. He reached into my pocket, pulled out my handgun, and handed me the grip.
I stared at him in shock.
Michael Chen leaned forward, pressing his head against the barrel of my gun. Instantly, I started to tremble.
Michael Chen leaned forward, pressing his head against the barrel of my gun. Instantly, I started to tremble.
"What's wrong, Ethan Zhang? Don't you want to destroy me? I'm no longer human—just a monster wearing human skin. Go ahead, shoot."
"Ethan!" Rachel Lan suddenly shouted.
Bang! The gun fired. Michael Chen collapsed, a bullet hole in his forehead. He lay on the ground, eyes wide open. I stared at him, stunned, the gun falling from my hand.
Hugh Thompson and Rachel Lan rushed over. Hugh Thompson knelt down, placing a hand on Michael Chen's neck. After a moment, his face turned grave.
"He's dead."
"Is that so?" Suddenly, we all jumped in fright. Michael Chen, lying on the ground, spoke. Then the bullet hole in his forehead began to shrink. With a crisp 'ding,' the bullet popped out of his skull and fell to the floor. Michael Chen's eyes moved, and he instantly sat up, calmly returning to the chair at his desk.
Helen Chen looked utterly lost, crying as black tears streamed down her face. She held her head, as if remembering something, and wailed.
"Heh, as expected, I really can't be called human anymore." Michael Chen smiled. We stared at him in shock.
"Chen Family Village developed a terrible habit at some point, but this habit started more than forty years ago, when the Immortality Society arrived."
Suddenly, I was stunned.
"Want to hear it? This story is your reward for finding me. If you want to act, wait until you've heard it all."
"Go ahead," I said, walking over and glaring coldly at Michael Chen. He laughed loudly, covering his face.
More than forty years ago, Chen Family Village was extremely poor. Helen Chen's father, Samuel Chen, had just become village chief. To improve the village's finances, he constantly traveled between the village and the county, but always returned empty-handed.
In truth, he didn't return empty-handed. Due to poor transportation and lack of information, Samuel Chen kept all the government funds for himself. Eventually, a married couple noticed.
Then, on a stormy night, Michael Chen went to the couple's house, using money to buy their silence. But the good times didn't last—their greed grew.
In the end, Michael Chen chose to kill them both. That night, he dumped the couple's bodies into the underground river, thinking no one would ever find out. But their six-year-old child witnessed everything.
At that moment, two members of the Immortality Society arrived at Chen Family Village, bringing a one-year-old baby girl. They learned everything, and, persuaded by the Immortality Society, Samuel Chen decided to join them and took on the responsibility of raising the baby.
At this point in the story, we were all too shocked, staring at Michael Chen and Helen Chen.
"That baby girl was Helen Chen. And the one who witnessed their parents' murder—was you, wasn't it?"
"Correct, heh." Michael Chen clapped, looking at Hugh Thompson.
Suddenly, I remembered—Yin Choujian once said Chen Hongyan's ghost soul was very special.
"Helen Chen was born on the fourteenth day of the seventh lunar month."
As soon as Michael Chen finished speaking, Chen Hongyan raised her head.
"It's you—you aren't human, none of you are..."
Helen Chen cried out again, floating upward, glaring fiercely at Michael Chen.
"That's right, we're not human. Samuel Chen, who raised you, wasn't human either. Heh, and all those villagers—they weren't human. Haven't you noticed? You were the only one who was."