Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Yu Lingling did not act rashly. She could only vaguely sense the intensity of the energy fluctuations within them.
Sometimes, however, the intensity of one’s energy fluctuations did not represent one’s absolute strength.
She herself was a perfect example.
Although Yu Lingling did not know exactly what was going on with her, the moment she saw this building, she had a premonition that nothing here was capable of threatening her.
Based on her conversation with Brother B and his attitude toward the instance, Sister A, and Brother Knife, Yu Lingling surmised that Brother B could gauge their strength.
He simply could not gauge hers, which was why he had stayed by her side to probe her.
From Brother B’s subsequent actions, words, and expressions, Yu Lingling could tell that he had truly categorized her as a complete rookie who knew nothing about instances.
Brother B had been friendly enough toward Yu Lingling, but she was certain that, in truth, he harbored neither malice nor goodwill toward her. As for the important matter Brother B had mentioned at the end, she was not particularly interested in that either.
Everything Yu Lingling had experienced since childhood had taught her one thing.
Rules were only for the weak. Once someone was strong enough, they no longer needed to follow rules. They could even make the rules themselves.
Yu Lingling discovered that the man’s strength was enhanced within this room because he was its owner. Those three dolls were no pushovers either. Individually, they were weaker than the man, but when they worked together, baleful energy surged around them, actually suppressing him.
The man let out a furious roar. The wounds on his arms and hands began to bleed, and the human skins he used as bedding seemed to come alive. They writhed as they flew toward the Four Dolls and Yu Lingling.
At the same time, the man’s shadow swelled into an enormous, hideous shape. Countless human heads and ghostly faces surfaced across it.
Although this was Yu Lingling’s first time witnessing anything like this, she did not panic in the slightest. It was as though she instinctively knew how to handle it.
First, she could not let the human skins touch her bare skin.
Gripping the dagger in her right hand, Yu Lingling took a step back and grabbed a faded round stool with her left. She used it to block the human skin flying toward her, then advanced instead of retreating and pinned the skin against a wall covered in overlapping layers of newspaper.
The Four Dolls were not as wary of the human skins as Yu Lingling was. They reached out and tore at them directly.
A corrosive sizzle sounded the instant they touched the skins.
The Four Dolls had been born from resentment, so the meager resentment contained in those human skins could not harm them. Their clothes, however, had been bought for them by Yu Lingling at the mall. As soon as they awakened, they had gone to inspect the rooms, clothes, toys, and food Yu Lingling had prepared for them.
They had already divided the rooms among themselves in private and changed into their favorite clothes.
When they first came out, they had wanted to give Yu Lingling a scare, but deep down, they had been somewhat happy.
Now that they saw their clothes being ruined, resentment roiled around the Four Dolls. The shrill, piercing cries unique to children rang throughout the room, and the ghostly figures of countless women, children, and infants who had died gruesome deaths at the hands of the people of Auspicious Village appeared.
The apparitions clawed and tore at the human skins. The Four Dolls threw themselves at the man together, clinging to his body as they bit and ripped into him.
Although their attacks drew no blood and left no wounds on the man’s body, he screamed again and again.
Yu Lingling looked at the man’s grotesque shadow, which was crowded with countless heads and ghostly faces. As the Four Dolls tore into him, the faces and heads within the shadow began to disappear. The man rolled across the floor in agony, clawing and biting wildly.
A female ghost with blood pouring ceaselessly from her belly appeared beside Yu Lingling. She grabbed one of the human skins that was still struggling and trying to attack Yu Lingling, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it directly into her own belly.
Yu Lingling looked at the familiar female ghost, then at the belly that seemed to serve as her second mouth. “It’s you. That’s a pretty convenient way to eat.”
This was the same female ghost Yu Lingling had seen locked inside the chicken coop in Auspicious Village. Hearing Yu Lingling’s words and noticing her curious stare, the ghost pulled open her belly to show her what was inside.
It resembled a black hole.
Just as Yu Lingling was about to reach out and touch it, the female ghost took a step back, silently refusing.
In her human form, she had possessed neither teeth nor a tongue. After becoming a ghost, however, her mouth was filled with sharp teeth, and where her tongue should have been was a tiny, pitch-black hand.
The female ghost glanced at Yu Lingling, then walked over to the dazed woman in an apron sitting in the corner.
This time, Yu Lingling truly did not need to lift a finger.
The man had intended to overwhelm them with numbers, only to discover that Yu Lingling’s side had even more. In the end, he was the one being bullied.
At that moment, however, Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room had gone completely black. Unlike when a Livestream Room vanished after its streamer died, this looked more like a poor signal.
“What’s going on?”
“Is she dead?”
“So human skin can do this too? No one ever survived long enough to see the monster use this move before.”
Some viewers opened the Livestream Room for Brother B and the others to check what was happening, only to discover that despite being in the same instance, the Livestream Room for each of the other three was working perfectly. Yu Lingling’s was the only one having problems.
“It can’t be a bug, can it?”
The screen in Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room flickered several times before finally returning to normal.
The viewers found Yu Lingling standing before the woman in the apron, cradling her Teddy Bear Doll in one arm and holding the man’s severed head in her other hand.
“What happened?”
“Why did it suddenly skip ahead?”
The horde of ghosts summoned by the Four Dolls had disappeared. Only the Four Dolls remained, standing in the corner. The frailest one, who wore a puffy dress, let out a satisfied burp.
Yu Lingling turned to look at her.
The doll silently covered her mouth with both hands. The pink bow hung crookedly in her hair, and there was no trace of the ferocity she’d shown while tearing into the man moments ago.
Yu Lingling pursed her lips. If she hadn’t moved quickly enough, there wouldn’t have even been a head left.
When Yu Lingling turned back to the woman in the apron, the other three dolls quietly shifted. Thinking Yu Lingling wouldn’t notice, they hid their youngest sister behind them.
The woman in the apron was still dazed. She stared at the man’s head – all that remained of him – and revealed her scar-covered face for the first time. As if unable to believe her eyes, she reached out to verify that the head was real.
Yu Lingling took a step back, keeping it out of her reach. Her voice and tone remained sweet and obedient. “Auntie, am I a good child?”
The viewers in the Livestream Room looked at the severed head, then at Yu Lingling in her fluffy pajamas.
“Holy shit.”
“Just who is the monster here?”
The woman in the apron opened her mouth. “Yes… Yes! Yes! You’re a good child! You’re a good child!”
Her voice was quiet at first, as though she wasn’t used to interacting with people, but it soon grew much louder, and her speech became smoother as well.
Only then did Yu Lingling extend her arm and offer her the head. “Then do you like my gift?”
Sweet, obedient, and polite.
The woman in the apron eagerly reached for it. “I do! I do!”
Yu Lingling didn’t let go. Instead, she asked one final question. “Then have I provided you with enough meat?”
The woman stared fixedly at the man’s head. She stood and nodded vigorously. “It’s enough.”
Only then did Yu Lingling release it. “Thank you, Auntie.”
The invisible force restraining Yu Lingling vanished.
The woman in the apron clutched the man’s head tightly, her rough fingers sinking deep into his skull.
When she saw Yu Lingling preparing to leave, the woman suddenly called out in a muffled voice, “Wait.”
Yu Lingling tilted her head and looked back.
The woman violently gouged out one of the man’s eyes, then took a rusty copper key from her pocket. She pressed the eyeball hard against the key.
After absorbing the eye, the rusty copper key transformed into a brand-new silver key.
The woman held it out to Yu Lingling. “This is for you.”
Yu Lingling’s Livestream Room fell silent for a moment. Then countless question marks and incoherent messages flooded the screen before eventually converging into a single word.
“JEALOUS.”
When Yu Lingling didn’t immediately take the key, the woman pushed it closer.
Yu Lingling had understood the key’s purpose the moment she saw it. The woman was giving her this house.
“Then where will you live?” she asked.
The woman uttered a word she had imagined saying countless times but had never dared tell anyone else.
“Home.”
Only then did Yu Lingling accept the key. “Thank you, Auntie. I really like this gift.”
With that, Yu Lingling took out the counterfeit-looking wallet she’d once obtained in Auspicious Village. There wasn’t much money inside, but it was all the money from this world that she had. She handed the wallet to the woman and left without another word.
All of the Four Dolls exchanged glances, communicating through looks only they understood, then followed Yu Lingling out.
As the door closed, Yu Lingling heard anguished sobbing from inside the room. A moment later, it was joined by laughter and the sound of chewing.