NOVEL NEXT Ch. 18
Chapter 18: Have You Ever Heard of Ghosts Fighting Ghosts?
“Brakes... the brakes failed!”
In the driver’s seat, the panicked Fatty Wong was drenched in sweat. He hurriedly lowered his head to check where the brakes had gone wrong, tried to open the car door, and then frantically spun the steering wheel to avoid the oncoming vehicles.
There were quite a few cars on the road, all moving at high speed. If an accident happened, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Feeling a chill in his heart, Li Zhen tried to open the back door but failed.
This ghost was vicious.
Who would have thought that just a conversation in the car would provoke the ghost into trying to kill them both?
Good thing it didn’t follow Fatty Wong directly into the building.
“Squeak, squeak!”
The Red-Eyed Bat hidden in Li Zhen’s arms began to squirm anxiously.
It could feel intense malice.
Since its birth, this was the most terrifying ghost it had ever encountered.
The Little Ghosts nurtured by Ma Gusu were nothing compared to this one.
The booklet had said that when raising a Little Ghost, one could give it children’s toys to build a stronger bond — proof of what kind of existence those ghosts were.
But this ghost before them...
As Fatty Wong shouted in panic, the car veered further off the main road, gradually entering a desolate lane.
A thick, white fog unknowingly rose on both sides of the road.
The car continued forward, as if uncontrollably plunging toward a terrifying hell.
Sweating profusely, Fatty Wong sensed that something was wrong. His panic deepened, and he nearly drove the car into a ditch.
“Just focus on driving. Don’t worry about anything else,” Li Zhen said calmly.
Hearing Li Zhen’s words, Fatty Wong finally found his anchor. With a tearful face, he said, “Master, I think we’ve run into something unclean.”
Li Zhen comforted him, “Maybe your car’s just too old…”
At the very instant the car entered the white fog, the Red-Eyed Bat in his arms suddenly poked out its head, its pair of crimson eyes staring straight at the window to their right.
Li Zhen swiftly drew out the Palm-Leaf Whip and lashed it against the window glass.
Amid a painful, ragged gasp, a distorted human face flashed across the glass and vanished.
With a loud “Bang!”, the car crashed into a large tree that had appeared out of nowhere.
Under the powerful impact, Li Zhen’s head slammed into the passenger seat.
Intense pain and a surge of violent rage flooded his mind simultaneously.
The Red-Eyed Bat sensed Li Zhen’s emotional turbulence and let out a shrill cry.
Li Zhen furiously kicked open the car door, wiped the blood from under his nose, and glared into the fog that still lingered around them.
“You want to kill me? You think you can kill me?”
Dazed and dizzy, Fatty Wong struggled to push open his door, whining, “I didn’t… didn’t do anything! Why is it after me?!”
He crawled to Li Zhen’s side on all fours and clung to his legs. “Master, save me! I don’t want to die!”
The surrounding mist writhed and began to close in on them.
Deep within the fog, faint shadows flickered. The eerie, labored breathing grew closer.
Li Zhen fixed his eyes on the vague silhouette in the mist, veins bulging on his hand that gripped the Palm-Leaf Whip.
“You can’t kill me!”
“Today, I only want to take him away!”
“In your life or after your death, you and I have no enmity. Today, I only want to take him away!”
“He hasn’t offended you, or else he wouldn’t still be alive! Let him go, and I’ll take him away right now!”
The dense fog expanded, enclosing Li Zhen, Fatty Wong, and the wrecked car in a narrow space — like an isolated island in a vast, ghostly sea.
Trembling all over, Fatty Wong whispered, “M-Master, it’s coming!”
Li Zhen let out a cold laugh, raised the Palm-Leaf Whip, and shouted, “You’re already at the critical moment — do you still want to provoke unnecessary trouble?”
Silence.
The air grew heavier and heavier.
After an unknown span of time, the fog began to thin.
Li Zhen’s expression did not change, though he secretly let out a breath of relief.
Though rage simmered within him, his mind remained crystal clear.
The Palm-Leaf Whip could only harm Little Ghosts — it couldn’t kill them. Against such a powerful ghost, it could at most inflict some pain and serve as a deterrent.
If the ghost refused to back off, Li Zhen would have no choice but to release the Red-Eyed Bat to drive it away.
According to the booklet, the Red-Eyed Bat was an extremely sinister creature, unafraid of spirits.
But judging from its reaction, it was likely no match for this particular ghost.
As the core of the Head-Descending Curse, the Red-Eyed Bat was bound to Li Zhen. If it were harmed, Li Zhen would suffer as well.
Thus, he couldn’t release it lightly.
“M-Master… that thing… is it gone?” Fatty Wong asked timidly.
“It’s retreated — for now.” Li Zhen wiped the blood still dripping from his nose with his sleeve and began walking back in the direction they came from.
They were in a small grove, unsure of where exactly.
But Hong Kong Island wasn’t that big. If they kept walking, they should reach civilization soon.
Wiping his sweat, Fatty Wong hurriedly followed Li Zhen. “Master, where are we going now?”
“Find somewhere to clean up the blood and dirty clothes first,” Li Zhen replied without looking back.
Fatty Wong seized the chance to suggest, “Let’s go to my place? I’ve got hot water… and food!”
Seeing that Li Zhen said nothing, he took it as silent approval. Glancing back nervously, he muttered, “I didn’t do anything. Why did something unclean come after me?”
“Maybe it sensed some sort of disturbance,” Li Zhen said, “and wanted to eliminate potential obstacles before they got out of its control.”
“What kind of disturbance?”
“Maybe my appearance. Maybe something you did today. Maybe something one of your colleagues did — or said.”
“That’s… unreasonable…”
“Since when do evil ghosts care about reason?”
“Will… will it come for me again?”
“It’s only retreated temporarily. With that level of malice, it’ll come for you again — when the time is right.”
“What time?”
“The time to kill you.”
“Master, what should I do then? Leave? Hide in the countryside?”
“I can leave. But how could you? If an evil ghost wants you dead, there are countless ways.”
“But didn’t you say you’d take me away — far away?”
“Did I? I meant I’d take you away from here.”
“Oh… that’s what you meant?”
“Yes.”
“Master, do you have a way to deal with that ghost?”
Li Zhen turned his head slightly and gave him a faint smile. “Have you ever heard of… ghosts fighting ghosts?”
The dim yellow light from a distant streetlamp filtered through the sparse branches, falling across Li Zhen’s face, illuminating the blood-streaked half of it.
The Red-Eyed Bat poked its head out from his chest, squeaking at Fatty Wong. It bared two sharp fangs — eerily harmonious with Li Zhen’s expression.
That sight…
Standing frozen, Fatty Wong couldn’t tell whether the ghost was scarier — or the Master before him.
By the time he came back to his senses, Li Zhen had already walked far ahead.
“Master! Wait for me!” Fatty Wong cried in panic, rushing to follow.
If he wasn’t fiercer than a ghost, how could he make a ghost afraid?
He could only comfort himself with that thought.