Chapter 53: Two Ghosts

Page (1/3)

Li Luyan felt a chill run through her. She forced a look of eager anticipation. “Well… that’s wonderful. Please, make sure to remove my eyes perfectly.”

The old lady wore a smug expression, the kind of pride that comes from discovering a rare talent. She opened a bloodstained wooden cabinet and took out two small bottles, slightly larger than those used for colored contact lenses.

Inside the bottles were eyeballs—truly beautiful eyes, not the ordinary brown, but a light brown tinged with gray, like stars.

But if becoming those "stars" meant losing herself, Li Luyan was resolutely unwilling.

The old lady sighed with regret, “If I hadn’t gone so long without seeing anyone, I would have loved for you to stay and help me harvest eyes.”

“Your eyes are truly enchanting.”

“Of course… haha, of course.” Li Luyan forced a laugh, utterly disgusted by the old pervert before her. “I can’t wait to offer my eyes to you now.”

The old pervert chuckled gleefully, pleased with Li Luyan’s reaction. What a pity… but leaving her eyes behind would be another form of immortality.

As the old woman approached, Li Luyan suddenly drove a dagger into the monster’s abdomen, but it felt like she was plunging into thick tar.

She frowned; the situation looked grim. This monster was impossible to kill.

The monster chuckled, and countless tiny tongues sprouted from the wound, wrapping around her wrist. It muttered mockingly, “Why… do you… resist… me?”

“This… is my territory… my… city street!”

A searing pain followed, and Li Luyan watched her skin begin to dissolve.

She realized what “perfectly removing the eyes” meant: the old woman wanted to dissolve her body but leave two intact eyeballs.

“Is that so?” A figure suddenly dashed in, grabbing the old lady by the throat. She struggled, releasing the tongues that had bound Li Luyan.

Li Luyan recognized the newcomer—a ghost, in fact.

It was the old lady’s masterpiece, the true ruler of this domain: the girl whose eyes had been harvested.

The ghost suddenly exploded in fury: “Old hag, I’ve been hunting you for so long, and you’ve been hiding in my domain all along!”

The old woman laughed bitterly, “This is my domain too!” She wrapped her tongue around the ghost’s waist.

The two spirits clashed violently, neither gaining the upper hand. Regardless of who won, it spelled disaster for Li Luyan. She needed to find a way to break the deadlock quickly.

Otherwise, no matter the victor, she would end up with nothing but ruin.

As the two monsters fought, she slipped into the old woman’s bedroom. Even there, no reflective surfaces were to be found.

The battle raged so fiercely that the memory space itself began to collapse.

Plaster fell from the walls, revealing writhing flesh beneath, pulsating veins alive with a terrifying vitality.

She had to act fast. Who knew where she’d end up if the memory space shattered—perhaps back to where it all began, only to be killed by the victorious ghost, or simply erased with the collapsing space.

The room was small; some things would be plainly visible. So where was the key to breaking this nightmare hidden?

She glanced at the bedside table but shook her head. Such a crucial item wouldn’t be in an obvious place.

Page (2/3)

Then... where?

Li Luyan’s eyes flicked beneath the bed. Her grandmother used to hide things there. She crouched and lifted the hanging sheets.

Sure enough, beneath the bed was an iron box—the kind used for gifting cookies during the holidays.

Inside the cookie tin were photographs—pictures of girls taken after they were drugged by the old woman, their last moments captured on the sofa.

A wave of dread washed over Li Luyan. Had she eaten that meal, the outcome would have been terrifying—like a dead fish on a chopping board, helpless and at the mercy of others.

Not a single mirror anywhere... but wasn’t the iron lid of the cookie tin itself a kind of mirror?

Though not crystal clear, it reflected light.

She picked up the "mirror," but the face reflected was not her own. It was the old woman’s deeply wrinkled visage, still appearing kind.

*Click.*

The door opened. Startled by the sound, Li Luyan spun around.

The old lady stood in the doorway, her left arm grotesquely twisted, half of her tongue missing.

She saw the cookie tin lid in Li Luyan’s hand; her cloudy eyes suddenly contracted. “Put down my treasure.”

Suddenly, the old woman lunged forward with primitive ferocity—like a giant toad.

Li Luyan smirked. Wasn’t the old woman afraid of anything reflective? “Grandma, goodbye.” She raised the cookie tin lid, aiming it at the old lady.

“Ah!” The old woman’s face began to melt rapidly, like wax dripping away.

She rolled away quickly, escaping the reflection’s reach.

Outside, a chilling howl echoed—“Wife, why are you hiding? Give me back my eyes!”

“Give me back my eyes! My eyes!”

The entire building shook violently; the walls peeled even more, revealing blood-red flesh beneath, veins clearly pulsing.

The old lady’s face turned ashen. “She wants to destroy the domain! Hurry and give me the reflective object!”

Li Luyan gripped the iron lid tightly and stepped back, putting distance between herself and the old lady.

“Give me the reflective object!” the old woman screamed hysterically, most of her face melted away, exposing grim white bones.

Her only hope was to use this "mirror" against the old woman. Handing it over would be sheer madness.

Li Luyan raised the iron lid, deliberately reflecting light toward the old lady. “Step closer and I’ll make you disappear completely!”

The old woman let out a piercing wail and staggered backward.

Her eyes brimmed with fear and fury, but even more, bitter unwillingness.

Page (3/3)

“You can’t escape… this is my domain…”

“I am the master!!”

Just then, the door was violently flung open.

The true master of the domain burst in.

“Found you, wife!” she roared, her voice like the wails of a thousand tormented souls.

The old woman turned to face her, terror deepening her expression.

“No... no! Your eyes are my masterpiece! You can’t do this to me!”

“This is a sacrifice for art! How can you be ungrateful?”

“Masterpiece? Grateful?” the ghost sneered. “Ha ha ha... then prepare to be torn to pieces!”

The two spirits tangled anew, the room beginning to collapse around them.

Li Luyan glanced at the iron lid in her hand. If the old lady feared reflective objects, what was the ghost afraid of? Without eyes, would reflections affect her?

A smile curled on Li Luyan’s lips. This feeling of being backed into a corner was exhilarating. Well then, she would gamble everything on this.

She shouted to the eyeless girl, “Hey! Your eyes are right here!”

The ghost snapped her head around. Though sightless, Li Luyan could feel her "gaze" fixed on the iron lid.

“Give it to me!”

She howled and lunged at Li Luyan.

Without hesitation, Li Luyan threw the iron lid toward her.

The eyeless girl caught it—and instantly screamed a shrill, agonized scream. Her body began to melt, just like the old woman’s, as if made of wax.

“No... this is...” her voice trembled with pain and disbelief.

The old lady laughed menacingly. “Ha ha ha! Die! Your eyes belong to me.”

“Only I!”

“Only I can possess such beautiful eyes!”

“Then we’ll go to hell together!” she screamed, aiming the cookie tin at the old woman.