Chapter 184: The Cold Storage Confrontation

I wanted to warn them, but I found myself at a loss for words. I couldn’t explicitly state that I had witnessed the old man commit murder or that I knew him to be a killer. Such a revelation would leave me unable to explain why I hadn’t reported it, and it would undoubtedly complicate any future investigations.

Even now, I knew I had to distance myself from the situation, keeping as clean a slate as possible. Thus, I continued walking towards the group of elderly people practicing Tai Chi, leaving my Golden Rat to follow the ghost-hunting team.

Just like the day before, the early risers were already practicing their forms, guided by the broadcast. I blended into their ranks, mimicking their movements, though my mind was far from the practice. The urgency I had felt yesterday was completely absent.

My presence there was solely to establish an alibi; these people should recognize me by now. My full attention, however, was fixed on the Golden Rat, observing the ghost-hunting team’s every move.

Initially, I had expected them to be careless or perhaps ill-equipped for a human killer rather than a ghost. Yet, they had clearly made some preparations.

As they neared Building Thirteen, their captain issued a few concise orders. The five members spread out into formation, with one woman staying outside as a lookout, ensuring their retreat wouldn’t be cut off.

They then readied their weapons. The captain wielded an electric baton, while two other team members carried expandable batons. Another held a taser, and the last member clutched a piece of talisman paper.

Although this ghost-hunting team might not have been seasoned, their equipment was comprehensive. They were evidently prepared for a confrontation with a human, and they even possessed some supernatural capabilities.

Only after these preparations were complete did they step into Building Thirteen. As they descended the pitch-black staircase, where one couldn’t see their own hand, the captain immediately caught the scent of blood.

“Lights,” the captain commanded. A team member behind him raised a hand, and a glowing star materialized, illuminating their surroundings. Simultaneously, two other members switched on their flashlights.

“Hiss!” They gasped involuntarily as they surveyed the scene. The floor was covered in solidified black bloodstains, sticky underfoot, as if countless layers of dried blood had accumulated.

The walls were covered in strange, scrawled talismans. The captain instantly recognized their purpose: “These are ghost-suppressing runes. There might be an evil spirit sealed underground. Prepare for combat against a spectral entity.”

They swiftly exchanged their weapons for spiritual artifacts and their ghost-detecting devices. The captain’s artifact was the most formidable—a horsetail whisk, its spiritual glow immediately signaling its extraordinary nature.

‘Idiots!’ I cursed inwardly. The old man was clearly human, not a ghost, yet seeing those ghost-suppressing runes had made them switch to protective spiritual artifacts. Those runes were most likely drawn by the old man himself, perhaps due to a guilty conscience from too many murders, fearing vengeful spirits coming for him.

“Eh? Little sister, who are you suddenly scolding?” A few people practicing Tai Chi nearby turned to look at me, their ears surprisingly sharp, despite my efforts to keep my voice low.

“Ah! No, I’m just preoccupied with some thoughts. I wasn’t scolding anyone, I apologize.” I quickly bowed to those around me.

Xia Yubing’s appearance proved quite useful. No one could truly stay angry when such a beautiful and adorable young woman bowed in apology. Besides, I hadn’t explicitly named anyone. They simply nodded and resumed their practice.

Meanwhile, the ghost-hunting team had reached the first and second basements. The cold storage door was tightly shut. Following the bloodstains to the entrance, they found the door sealed, prompting the captain to make a gesture.

One of the teammates stepped forward, holding a key. It was an old-fashioned copper key, seemingly completely incompatible with the cold storage lock. Yet, he merely touched the keyhole with it, and the heavy cold storage door swung open on its own.

The key radiated an ominous aura, clearly a cursed artifact. It likely possessed the conceptual ability to unlock anything, allowing it to open any door lock regardless of its physical match.

They stepped inside and turned on the cold storage lights. Despite being prepared for a gruesome, terrifying sight, they found nothing. The cold storage was utterly empty, save for a few hanging pig legs and cured meats.

Such a vast cold storage, yet so deserted, struck the ghost hunters as unsettling. The captain waved his hand, instructing his team to search the freezers for anything, while he himself scanned the area with his detector.

“Nothing, Big Brother. There’s nothing in these freezers.” The ghost hunters opened several freezers, finding them all empty. The entire cold storage appeared as though it had just been cleared out.

Just then, a hoarse voice suddenly echoed from the doorway: “Who are you? What are you doing sneaking into my cold storage?”

“Ah?!” The last ghost hunter standing by the door, the one holding the talisman paper, jumped in fright. He was responsible for watching their rear, but he hadn’t noticed when the old man had appeared behind him.

The white light from the cold storage shone through the doorway into the darkness, illuminating the old man. His features were even more grotesquely distorted than before; his left eye skewed upwards and to the left, his right eye downwards, both bulging as if about to pop out.

His mouth was twisted diagonally, and his nostrils were no longer aligned. His appearance was already unsettling, but now it was utterly terrifying.

“Y-y-you’re a h-human?!” A ghost hunter raised his spiritual artifact towards the old man. Clearly, the old man’s horrifying appearance had immediately categorized him as a demon or monster in their minds.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Of course I’m human! You shifty-eyed, ugly-looking bunch, why are you trespassing in my cold storage? Were you the ones who emptied my cold storage a few days ago?!” the old man demanded righteously.

His bold accusations, however, made the ghost-hunting team feel somewhat guilty. After all, they knew they had illegally broken into and searched someone else’s cold storage without permission.

Yet, for the terrifying-looking man before them to call *them* shifty-eyed and ugly left the ghost hunters speechless. It felt like the pot calling the kettle black.

“Enough with your old ghost nonsense! We’re searching for a missing person. You haven’t harmed them, have you?” another ghost hunter retorted.

“Ha? You petty thieves, trying to frame me after being caught stealing! And now you want to escape, do you? You’re not allowed to leave! I’m calling the police to arbitrate this!” the old man declared, reaching for his phone.

The ghost hunters were completely taken aback that the ‘evil spirit’ they had identified was threatening to call the police first, acting like an upright gentleman. Now it was their turn to panic, for if the old man truly was innocent, their illegal intrusion would surely not go unpunished.

“Old man, wait a moment!” The ghost hunter at the door, holding the talisman paper, immediately reached out to snatch the old man’s phone.

‘Here it comes!’ I exclaimed inwardly. The next instant, I saw a flash of a blade.

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