Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Plan Begins

After taking a few sips, it suddenly occurred to him that if he poured the wine over himself, it might also help mask his scent.

He chuckled to himself—why hadn’t he thought of this sooner?

But wait, what if the monster liked the smell of alcohol? Wouldn’t that just make things worse?

Judging by Fei Xin’s demeanor, the next chance to leave would likely present itself in the main hall. Xiuming longed to ask her when exactly they’d be able to get out, but he knew nothing would ever go as smoothly as he hoped.

Regardless, that monster had to be dealt with. Otherwise, he would never be able to move freely, and if the creature were to enter human society, the consequences could be disastrous.

Since that was the case, he would find a way to eliminate it, just as he’d originally planned.

But first—a bit of sleep.

He hadn’t been asleep long when his ear, pressed against the floor, caught some noises.

Huh? What’s that?

Xiuming’s eyes snapped open. He listened intently.

Thump… thump… The sounds were disordered, not like the banging of a door.

Could this be a signal—the chance to escape?

At that thought, he could no longer remain lying down. He hurried to the cellar entrance, cautiously pushed the door ajar, and peered out toward the main entrance. It was still shut tight.

He slipped out of the cellar and approached the door, pressing his ear against it to listen.

The banging had stopped.

The monster must be somewhere outside now.

No point hesitating!

Xiuming dashed back into the cellar, drenched himself in several bottles of wine, then flung the door open and bolted out.

The main hall was just ahead—he only needed to check if escape was possible!

But the moment he burst through the doorway, a dark figure appeared to his right.

The monster!?

The thought barely crossed his mind before he spun around and crouched low.

Wait—this wasn’t the monster.

Looking closer, he realized his mistake. The outline was all wrong.

“Fei Xin?” The figure resembled Fei Xin.

The shadow paused and turned toward him.

“Did you hear those noises just now?” Xiuming called out to the figure ahead.

The shadow began to approach.

Xiuming slowly backed away, his pace cautious—slower than the figure’s, but ready to flee at any moment.

As the figure drew nearer, the dim light revealed its true form.

He gasped. Even Xiuming couldn’t help it.

It was Tao Tao, her entire body a bloody, mangled mess. Her face, once unrecognizable, now bore two deep claw marks. One arm was missing entirely, and the other was reaching out toward him.

Her mouth moved ceaselessly, as if trying to speak.

Xiuming forced himself to remember: Tao Tao was dead. Whatever stood before him was not Tao Tao. Even if her soul lingered, she was no longer the classmate he once knew.

Without hesitation, he turned and sprinted toward the main hall.

Fei Xin was sitting in her usual spot, watching Xiuming approach with a cold smirk. “Not bad—you’re still alive.”

He noticed blood at the corner of Fei Xin’s mouth. Clearly, the monster’s attack had wounded her.

“But be careful,” she added. “Whatever’s behind you seems eager for your flesh.”

Behind me? Xiuming glanced back. Tao Tao’s lifeless eyes stared straight at him, her jaw gaping as she lunged forward, only a few meters away.

Damn, she really has become a zombie! Xiuming dared not speak; he simply ran for his life.

Reaching the hall’s entrance, he glanced outside. The world beyond was still shrouded in gloom, and Fei Xin remained inside. Clearly, the time to escape hadn’t come.

With no sign of the monster nearby, it seemed an opportunity to question the spirit inside Fei Xin.

He began circling the hall, with Tao Tao’s zombie intellect barely sufficient to keep up.

“When can we leave?” he asked as he ran.

Fei Xin, seated on her bench, watched him. “I don’t know. A few days, perhaps.”

A few days? That was valuable information.

“Why is Tao Tao different from you? You’re clearly smarter.”

“That’s because she’s a soul, and I’m a ghost,” Fei Xin replied, adjusting her clothes. “A soul retains some memories at first, but soon becomes muddled. Didn’t you encounter a three-headed soul last time? But if a soul lingers long enough to become a ghost, even I wouldn’t be able to handle it. So I acted first.”

“You destroyed those three brothers?”

“A soul can’t be destroyed. I could only scatter them—they’ve probably gone to the underworld by now.”

“The underworld is real?”

“You do ask a lot of questions. But I don’t know that one. Still, you might be useful, so I’ll give you this advice: you should hide and don’t do anything rash.”

“No! I have to destroy the monster! If it escapes with us, there’ll be chaos!” Xiuming lunged past Tao Tao, looking to Fei Xin. “You have to help me.”

“You can’t even handle yourself, yet you’re worried about others?” Fei Xin shook her head. “Take care of yourself.”

With that, she gazed upward. “The monster doesn’t kill me simply because it doesn’t want the trouble.”

The monster is upstairs? Xiuming tossed a hurried thanks over his shoulder, raced back to the kitchen, slammed the door, and hid in the cellar.

He gasped for breath.

The monster spared Fei Xin because it didn’t want the hassle? That must mean Fei Xin had some power—enough so the monster hesitated, afraid she might fight back.

Consuming human flesh only stopped the monster from eating him—it didn’t prevent it from killing him. That’s why Tao Tao had those claw marks.

Luckily Tao Tao was already dead, so it didn’t matter if she was wounded. But if he hadn’t known the truth…

So, eating human flesh or not, it all depended on the monster’s mood.

If Tao Tao had come downstairs, then what about Guo Zhengxiang and Wang Qian?

They should be safe, as long as they moved slowly and avoided the monster. The plan could still work.

But first, he needed Tao Tao’s flesh.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Tao Tao, dead or not, had once been a classmate.

Suddenly, Xiuming remembered something.

That arm! Where was Tao Tao’s missing arm? If he could find it, grind it up, and smear it on himself, he could put his plan into action.

Why had Tao Tao’s arm been torn off?

There was only one possibility.

In the central room upstairs, Tao Tao, Wang Qian, and Guo Zhengxiang had been gathered by the well.

Guo Zhengxiang was missing half his body, and he’d never eaten human flesh. So, after Xiuming hid, the monster must have smelled Guo Zhengxiang’s blood and flesh.

Then, for some reason, it attacked Tao Tao—she fled, while Guo Zhengxiang was likely eaten by the monster. That must have been the source of those earlier, chaotic sounds.

If so, then Tao Tao’s arm was still in the central room upstairs.

If he went up now, he risked running right into the monster.

No, he’d have to wait for a better moment.