Chapter 34

Chapter 34

A shudder ran through Fang Lin’an. He thanked his lucky stars that there weren’t two copies of him. Otherwise, he might have lost a hand.

But seriously, didn’t this count as assault? Yun Jianyue really was a lawless menace!

Inside the house, Zhou Benxin gritted his teeth and said fiercely, “Fine! If that’s what it takes to prove I’m innocent, then what’s one hand? Cut it off!”

The Zhou Benxin in the courtyard, however, quietly backed several steps farther away from Yun Jianyue. “Do you have any idea how long it takes to get down this mountain? By the time you get me to a hospital, I’ll have bled to death!”

Seeing that the Zhou Benxin in the courtyard didn’t dare accept, the one inside the house smiled triumphantly. “Senior, he doesn’t dare! He has to be the fake!”

Yun Jianyue’s gaze slowly settled on the Zhou Benxin in the courtyard. She raised the chainsaw.

Behind her, the Zhou Benxin inside the house grinned wider and wider.

The next instant, his grin froze.

Yun Jianyue hurled the chainsaw in her hand. It flew straight at him and lodged squarely in his chest.

Blood streamed down the chainsaw. Zhou Benxin stared at Yun Jianyue in disbelief, a pained smile twisting his face. “Senior… you killed the wrong person…”

Yun Jianyue reached him in a few quick strides and yanked the chainsaw from his chest. Blood sprayed across the floor, splattering her from head to toe.

As the Zhou Benxin inside the house slowly collapsed, Fang Lin’an stared in shock. “Y-you… Yun Jianyue, what are you doing?! Even if you’re with the Paranormal Bureau now, you’ll still go to prison for killing an ordinary person!”

The Zhou Benxin in the courtyard was just as stunned. “Holy crap, it can even bleed? That’s way too realistic!”

Yun Jianyue didn’t turn around. She simply looked down at the dying figure before her.

Tilting her head slightly, she asked, “Do I look like an idiot to you? What normal person would willingly chop off their own hand just to prove their innocence? You’ve spent all this time pretending to be human in dreams, but you still don’t understand what real humans are like, do you?”

The eyes of ‘Zhou Benxin,’ which had been fluttering weakly shut, snapped wide open. His face twisted with rage as he scrambled to his feet, furious and humiliated at having been exposed.

“I stole his shadow and his flesh! I even have all his memories! How could you still tell which one was him?”

Yun Jianyue looked at the Doppelganger as if it were an idiot. “Because we’re human. Having his face and his memories doesn’t make you him.”

The Doppelganger flew into an impotent rage. “I don’t understand!”

Lu Changxue couldn’t listen to any more. She emerged from the jade pendant and kicked the Doppelganger. “You don’t understand, and you still say it like you’re in the right?!”

The vengeful ghost’s kick sent the Doppelganger stumbling. It glared furiously at Lu Changxue. “You and I are both ghosts! Why are you helping these damned humans?!”

“What’s wrong with you? Don’t ghosts come from humans? Weren’t you human once?” Lu Changxue shot back, the words pouring out like machine-gun fire.

Fang Lin’an silently gave her a thumbs-up. This ghost’s ideological awareness was truly impressive. She was practically a model supporter of humanity!

The Doppelganger was left speechless. It had been dead for many years, wandering the mortal world without ever managing to reincarnate. More than anything, it longed to become human again, free to bask in the sunlight and embrace nature.

That was why it had set its sights on an intersex child.

Perhaps because the child was intersex, their three spiritual flames were not as strong as those of an ordinary child, making it easy for the Doppelganger’s ghostly energy to enter their body.

It had been waiting for the child to die so it could seize the body at that very instant, only to be captured by a damned old Taoist priest!
That old Taoist priest had turned it into the Doppelganger, making it believe it had become this child and forcing it to suffer the tribulations meant for him over and over again in dreams!

Now that it had finally broken free of the restriction, it knew this child was the reason it had suffered all these years. It had gone to painstaking lengths to reclaim the life that should have been its own. What had it done wrong?

If not for that old Taoist priest, it would have become Zhou Benxin long ago!

It was only taking back what had always belonged to it. Why were these humans and that malicious ghost all trying to stop it?!

“What’s with that look? Not convinced?” Lu Changxue rolled up her sleeves and moved to beat up the Doppelganger.

The Doppelganger reacted swiftly, ducking out of the way. It turned and bolted with astonishing speed, so fast that even Yun Jianyue failed to catch it immediately.

“Stop it!” Yun Jianyue shouted at Fang Lin’an, who was guarding the doorway.

Fang Lin’an instinctively planted himself in the doorway and spread his arms, trying to stop the charging Doppelganger.

The next second, the Doppelganger sent him flying.

He flew.

He flew so high.

That was the only thought in Fang Lin’an’s head right before he crashed heavily to the ground.

Yun Jianyue sprang forward like a cheetah and shouted at Zhou Benxin, who was still rooted to the spot, “Why aren’t you running? Are you waiting to die?!”

Zhou Benxin stared at the Doppelganger right in front of him. Terrified, he scrambled to his feet and started running laps around the courtyard.

The blood-soaked Doppelganger was even faster, constantly reaching out to grab him.

He ran. It chased. Escape was impossible.

“Senior, save meeeee!” Zhou Benxin screamed like a chicken possessed, shrieking as he sprinted for his life. His screams even startled the distant birds into scattering from formation.

Yun Jianyue lunged forward and hooked her hand precisely through the Doppelganger’s waistband. She yanked hard, dragging its pants more than halfway down and exposing one pale butt cheek.

The Doppelganger turned its head stiffly. Its blood-covered face erupted with overwhelming resentment. “Are you a pervert?!”

Seeing the identical copy of himself in such an undignified state, Zhou Benxin instinctively covered his own butt and roared, “Put its pants back on!”

How was this any different from pulling down his own pants?!

It wasn’t!

Fang Lin’an screamed too. “You shameless woman! Even a younger Doppelganger isn’t safe from you?!”

Lu Changxue mused, “Younger guy, Doppelganger… That pairing sounds weirdly shippable.”

“Shipping everything will be the death of you!” the Doppelganger roared irritably, instinctively reaching down to pull up its pants. It might be a ghost instead of a human now, but it still had dignity!

“Shipping everything gives me a balanced diet!” Lu Changxue declared with perfect confidence.

Only Yun Jianyue looked impatient. “What are you all yapping about? Is today your first day finding out I’m a pervert?”

She would never admit that she had meant to grab the Doppelganger’s arm and throw it over her shoulder, only for it to run so fast that her grasping hand had caught nothing but its waistband.

The resentment pouring from the Doppelganger grew denser and denser. Lu Changxue hurriedly cried, “I think it’s about to go full villain! Watch out, Darling!”

“I’ve never been one of the good guys, damn it!” The Doppelganger’s resentment surged even further. Today, it would dispense justice on heaven’s behalf and kill every last one of these morons!

Just as the resentment was about to swallow Yun Jianyue, who stood closest to it, she raised the chainsaw high and brought it down hard.

Blood sprayed once more.

The Doppelganger’s eyes blazed scarlet. “You dare cut me again?!”

“I cut you because I felt like it. What, was I supposed to pick an auspicious date first?”