Chapter 21
The moment that Xiao Li entered the second instance, a private luxury clubhouse.
The woman with long wavy brown hair picked up a glass of red wine and leaned back on the sofa with noticeable discomfort on her face.
There was a middle-aged man sitting opposite her. He looked at the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist, the neon light reflecting off the surface. He put down his hand and murmured, "Mrs Xiao, it is better to talk straight."
Xu Mei looked at the wine in her hand and slowly frowned. "Mr Ye, is there any way to make a person disappear without anyone else knowing?"
The opposite man called Mr Ye laughed. "Disappearing is simple but making no one notice is indeed slightly difficult. After all, the Xiao family is a famous family.
"That's why I can afford the price that Mr Ye wants."
Mr Ye picked up a bottle on the side, poured a glass of wine, dipped his finger in the liquid and wrote the number '5' on the table."It is impossible for us to make someone disappear without a trace. Everything that exists must leave traces. Only ghosts are a natural weapon."
Every year in the entertainment circle, there were countless artists who raised ghosts and accumulated yin. They didn't hesitate to shed blood to become famous overnight.
Xu Mei looked at the other person's eyes and then drank the wine with satisfaction. "Deal."
She no longer wanted to wait. Xiao Ming running out of Xiao Li's room was the last straw while the oldest son studying abroad was coming back. Now was the best time to get rid of Xiao Li.
Mr Ye was someone her good sister, a famous social flower in the circle introduced. He came from a mysterious background and did things nearly. Those who were tangled up in his 'ghosts' would go crazy and then commit suicide. It was a great way to make the death look like it was from mental illness.
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Midnight, a classroom.
This time, Xiao Li was already used to the feeling of returning but he was a bit worried about whether he would appear in the classroom again. However, when he opened his eyes, he had returned to reality in the classroom at night.
Xiao Li pulled out his mobile phone and it showed that it was near 11 o'clock on the day he left school, despite staying at the orphanage for three days. The time flow rate was different from the first Nandu Girls' High School. Was it the difference between the novice instance and an official instance? Or was every instance world different?
Xiao Li walked out of the classroom and clicked on Zheng Yi's WeChat sign. There was a line of words asking about what happened at noon today. At this point, the school gate was closed and he could only find the guard to go out. Xiao Li didn't want the trouble and went straight to the back wall of the school, skillfully climbing over the wall.
The driver must've long gone back by this time. Xiao Li had no feelings for the Xiao family and didn't want to call the driver back. This was near a famous aristocratic university and taxis rarely came here. Xiao Li was thinking about what to do when an orange taxi stopped in front of him.
The driver was a thin man. His eyes stared straight ahead and his cheeks were sunken. He wore a long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up high and the empty care icon in front of the taxi flashed like ghost fire in the darkness.
The teenager's movements momentarily paused but after glancing at the empty seat, he opened the back door, sat inside and reported the address of the Xiao family. The driver in the front row pressed the empty car button and the counter started ticking. The driver was quiet and had no intention of talking to Xiao Li. His arms were on the steering wheel, flat and steady.
Xiao Li sat in the back seat and watched the street view outside the window. From the school to the Xiao home, it didn't require passing through the city centre. Thus, there weren't any neon lights. There were only greenery and street lights appearing in intervals.
"Buzz—" The phone in Xiao Li's hand vibrated. He opened the screen and found Zheng Yi's reply message: 【 Noon? Nothing happened at noon. Didn't you leave at noon? I came back in the afternoon and thought you were busy. I placed the 10 boxes of mineral water at the school gate.】
Did it create an illusion that he left at noon so that he wouldn't disappear in public?
【 Wait, asking me this… did you go in again to that world? 】
Xiao Li briefly sent back a 'yes.' Then as if he noticed something, he closed his phone and raised his eyebrows towards the front. The taxi was moving closer and closer to the suburbs. The view outside the window was becoming bleak.
After driving for so long, the driver's breathing was very light, as if he wasn't breathing at all. They passed by another yellow streetlight and Xiao Li noticed that the other person's arms exposed by the rolled-up sleeves were showing more and more spots. The spots on the white arm seemed like plague spots and t was terrible. If ordinary people saw it then they would immediately ask the car to stop.
However, in this strange taxi, the black-haired teenager just took a glance before closing his eyes and taking a leisurely posture, as if the driver of the car was becoming more beautiful instead of a ghost.
The journey continued and they could close to the Xiao home. It was just that the driver in front also started to change. He turned his head bit by bit until it was turned 180 degrees in an inhuman manner, staring back at Xiao Li.
The doll in Xiao Li's pocket, which hadn't returned often to the little yellow book since coming out, moved her head. The movement was so subtle that no one noticed it.
Xiao Li raised his eyes and saw the driver. He looked at the window in front of him and raised his eyebrows. "Drive well and pay attention to the front."
Mr Ye who was controlling the driver's spirit from afar, "…"
What was wrong with this second master of the Xiao family? Should the current focus be on driving? Shouldn't he be crying and screaming?
The young man's clear voice was heard but the driver didn't react. He twisted his neck and stared at Xiao Li with blank eyes. Black liquid poured from his nostrils, followed by his eyes, mouth and ears. These liquids dripped from the driver's face into the taxi, bit by bit.
This time, Xiao Li couldn't be calm. He moved to the side to avoid the black liquid staining his clothes but the driver opened his mouth and reached out for Xiao Li. He completely let go of the steering wheel and his hands were hanging by his side. The taxi lost control and started to sway. The front of the car rubbed against the railing along the road, causing intense friction.
The strange doll climbed out of the teenager's pocket and turned into human form on the front passenger seat of the taxi. The girl who suddenly appeared in the passenger seat was still wearing very thick clothes. Her face was dull and her black hair was hanging down. She was facing the window but she extended a hand to one side to hold the driver's head. Her other hand extended like elastic to press against the steering wheel, returning the car to the normal direction.
If a car came from the opposite direction then the driver would probably doubt their life.
Tan Li looked like a weak girl but her life had been used to raise a tiger and after becoming a ghost, she wasn't soft. She restrained the driver with one hand, pinching his head and swiftly dragging him out of the driver's seat.
The girl dragged the driver to her, opened her mouth and swallowed the driver in one gulp. The moment Tan Li completely engulfed the driver, her sharp teeth bit off an invisible line that caused imperceptible ripples in the air.
Another light flashed from the little yellow book and Zhou Ying's image also disappeared. A small figure chased along the thin line.
Mr. Ye, who was manipulating from a distance, couldn't sit still. He used to look at the taxi through his ghost. This was his habit. Every time he used ghosts to kill people, he would quietly appreciate his masterpiece. In particular, the image of people who were scared and begging for mercy would bring him great pleasure.
Yet the moment Tan Li appeared, he almost fell off his chair at home. This was a ghost? How did that Xiao kid know how to control ghosts? In particular, that female ghost looked real and was full of spiritual energy. It obviously wasn't a low-grade ghost but a ghost with a serious atmosphere. It might be able to make it onto the 'malicious spirits' list! He had spent years in remote villages and funeral homes yet only produced dozens of low-grade ghosts and one intermediate ghost. Where did this kid obtain such a female ghost?
Was he a member of a family?
Mr Ye's face was cloudy and uncertain. He sensed that he had sensed someone big this time. He jumped up and prepared to book a ticket to another province and city. However, before he could speak, he suddenly felt his feet being grabbed by something.
He bowed his hand and saw a child with long bangs holding Mr Ye's feet. "…Do you want to play a game?"
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The taxi.
Tan Li was already sitting on the driver's seat and her hands were on the steering wheel like an ordinary human. She looked a bit confused like she didn't understand why she was sitting here instead of at the back of the car.
She wanted to return to Xiao Li's pocket but the black-haired teenager told her, "Keep driving."
Tan Li hadn't been able to drive when she was a human and then she became a ghost. Thus, she rigidly held the steering wheel and moved it from time to time using spiritual intuition in the direction of the Xiao home.
She quite liked the flower clusters outside Xiao Li's window. She didn't know if they had withered after being gone for a while. The teenage girl was thinking about this.
Meanwhile, Xiao Li sat in the back seat and didn't seem worried about his new driver getting into an accident. He was looking at the little yellow book spread open on his knees. 【 You… don't want them, okay? I can do all of this. Isn't it good to just let it be the two of us? 】
Below this line was a reply from Xiao Li. "No, I have a collection habit."