Chapter 51: Possessed by a Ghost
Was Li Mingjuan being controlled by the Dismemberment Ghost?
Li Mu widened his eyes as he watched the ghost, which looked like a skinny little girl, come out of Li Mingjuan’s body.
Now it made sense why Lin Xi was killed even though she had never left the school for weeks, and why they couldn’t find any trace of the ghost on campus.
Li Mingjuan once said she dreamed about Lin Xi being pushed off a building before she died… Turns out, it was true. She was the one who pushed Lin Xi.
No wonder every time he encountered Li Mingjuan, he found that this girl's personality didn't match Li Mu's memories. Maybe being around the ghost for so long had already changed her mind and personality.
If he guessed correctly, she was also responsible for the dismemberment case. That would explain the strong perfume, probably used to cover up the smell of blood.
“After the ghost took over her body, she had no awareness at all? But when Lin Xi took over me before, I could still stay conscious.”
When they had talked before, Li Mingjuan would always look sad when Lin Xi was mentioned. It didn’t seem like she was pretending.
“And why did the Dismemberment Ghost come out now? Why not keep hiding inside her?”
“Lin Xi was a residual soul. This is a vengeful ghost, much stronger,” Chen Yi said seriously as he looked at the two ghosts facing off. “Possessing her was just a way to hide. In a real fight, the ghost is stronger on its own, so it came out when it saw the Raincoat Ghost.”
Yu Fan grumbled, “Stronger? It almost chopped me to pieces.”
Their original plan was to lure out the Raincoat Ghost and then let the Dismemberment Ghost, who wouldn’t live much longer anyway, attack it and try to absorb it.
But things didn’t go as planned from the very start.
The Raincoat Ghost seemed to recognize an enemy. With blood-red eyes, it rushed toward the Dismemberment Ghost and swung its chopping knife sideways.
The knife cut through the Dismemberment Ghost like it was made of rubber, there was a bit of resistance, but the ghost’s body was sliced in half. However, just a second later, the Dismemberment Ghost’s body returned to normal and it started fighting back with its bone cleaver.
Neither ghost had any flashy powers. They just fought like people in a street fight, clawing and swinging at each other.
The fight went back and forth, but Li Mu seemed to see -1 above their heads, and the health bars that weren't moving at all.
At this rate, the fight could go on forever. No wonder the Dismemberment Ghost gave up using Li Mingjuan’s body. If she got hit a few times, even if the ghost didn’t care, her injuries would slow them down.
“Eh? Eh?! Ow! That hurts…”
A confused female voice called out. Li Mingjuan had woken up. She sat up, holding her injured right arm, her eyes filled with bewilderment, like saying, ‘Where am I? Who hit me? What’s going on?’
She grabbed her bruised, swollen arm, tears in her eyes from the pain. When she looked up, she saw two blurry figures fighting nearby.
She got even more confused. “Huh? Are they filming an action movie?”
It had been said before, only people who can see ghosts can be possessed by them.
Seeing that she had woken up, Li Mu didn’t say a word, he just ran over. Yu Fan hesitated for a second, then quickly followed.
The two of them reached Li Mingjuan and didn’t explain anything. Each one grabbed one of her arms and lifted her up, running back with her.
“Li Mu? Yu Fan?!”
She had no idea what was happening and was totally confused as they brought her over to Chen Yi.
Chen Yi turned back to the car and grabbed a can of Yunnan Baiyao spray. “Hold still. This will sting.”
"Why are you all here?" Even if Li Mingjuan was slow, she realized something was wrong. While enduring the pain from the spray, she asked, "What's going on?"
Yu Fan and Li Mu looked at each other and realized they were thinking the same thing. Then Yu Fan started making things up and said, “The three of us went out to get a late-night snack, and we saw you sleepwalking, so we followed you. You hurt your hand when you walked into a power pole.”
“I was sleepwalking?! But why were those two people fighting?”
“Oh, just two drunk guys arguing. We already called the police.” He stepped to the side to block Li Mingjuan’s view of the two ghosts fighting, worried she might notice something strange.
“Then why is there so much fog around here? And it’s so cold.”
Yu Fan stayed calm and kept lying. “It’s autumn now. Heavy fog is normal.”
Maybe it was because of Yu Fan’s calm look and confident tone, but Li Mingjuan seemed to believe him a little, though she still looked confused, like something didn’t feel right.
Noticing her doubt, Yu Fan suddenly moved a bit closer and spoke gently, with a bright smile. “Is your hand okay? Do you want me to take you to the hospital?”
Li Mingjuan could almost smell the manly scent from Yu Fan. Her face turned bright red, and she stepped back shyly. “N-no… it’s fine…”
“Let’s still go to the hospital, just in case. It looks serious. I’ll pay for it.”
“Huh?”
“You were crying from the pain, weren’t you? And you’re saying it’s nothing?” He pulled a pack of tissues from his pocket. “Here, let me wipe your tears.”
“No need!” Li Mingjuan quickly took the tissues and looked down, blushing like a girl with a crush.
Li Mu glanced at Yu Fan and his “handsome guy” act with a look of disgust.
Hmph, playing the handsome guy card.
Hmph, girls!
“Let’s go! We’re heading to Li Mingjuan’s house,” Chen Yi was already standing by the car door and called out to them. “Get in!”
Now that they had drawn out the Dismemberment Ghost and the Raincoat Ghost, the next step was to find their life container, or what you might call their core.
Ghosts can’t be too far from their life container, and since the Dismemberment Ghost had possessed Li Mingjuan, its location should be easy to figure out.
Yu Fan held onto Li Mingjuan’s hand and walked toward the car. “It’s so foggy, hope we don’t crash into anyone.”
Li Mingjuan’s face was red like it was about to drip blood.
“We’ll just drive slowly.”
All four of them got in the car, taking turns with the seats. Chen Yi glanced at the two ghosts still fighting behind them, then stepped on the gas and drove forward slowly like a turtle.
Li Mu sat in the front passenger seat. He suddenly felt that the Dismemberment Ghost looked familiar.
And at that moment, Li Mingjuan suddenly realized something. “Wait! Why are we going to my house?”
No one knew how to explain it, so Yu Fan just kept using his charm, trying to distract her with his “handsome guy” act.
But Li Mingjuan wasn’t that dumb. She asked again, “Why are we going to my house?”
“Because you took something you shouldn’t have,” Chen Yi answered in a low voice as he drove.
“Huh?”
“You know what I’m talking about.” Chen Yi lifted his head a little and looked at her through the rearview mirror. Just as he thought, the color drained from her face. Her blush disappeared, and she started to look pale.
At the same time, Li Mu slowly remembered where he had seen the Dismemberment Ghost before.
It was in a news story he saw by accident. The girl had looked very thin, and she had worn a bright red jacket, which had left a strong impression on him.