Ghost: "Catch the Ghost" Chapter 4

It was 11:00 pm now. Many hours of interrogation had pa.s.sed. At this moment, w.a.n.g Xu was alone in a cell.

After the blood test, blood stains on w.a.n.g Xu's body was identified to belong to himself. However, the police still did not inform him the result.

On the police's side, they had also investigated other doc.u.ments about w.a.n.g Xu; thus, they discovered that there was the only person who had this name in the entire city. Although they had not found any identification papers with him, they easily recognized him through the pictures and doc.u.ments on the system.

The strange thing was, doc.u.ments about w.a.n.g Xu was miserably a little.

"w.a.n.g Xu, male, nineteen years old, graduated from high school two years ago, sole relatives were his mother and father, who were dead three years ago. The current address is …"

A twenty-year-old officer was reporting to the one who had just interrogated w.a.n.g Xu. This policeman a.s.sumed that he could find some cases like homicides or wanted information related to w.a.n.g Xu as he had a.s.signed many forces to investigate and collect information about w.a.n.g Xu. The only thing left to do was establis.h.i.+ng a special team.

'Ah, we also found out an explosion at his address at 5:00 pm this afternoon. From the field survey, the policemen in charge have preliminarily identified that the reason is damaged gas pipe leading to the explosion. Not to mention when this guy ran out to the street, he got a car accident. People there reported that he got crazy by that time, running into the city without noticing the wounds on his body."

As the other officer listened to the report, he knitted his eyebrows tightly, "I have misunderstood him. Perhaps this man has inhaled too much gas that his mind was not lucid anymore, not to mention he got hit by a car while running out of the house."

"Detain him tonight. If he still gets crazy by tomorrow, just take him to an asylum. Ah, if his status is normal, just let him go. Such a pathetic guy …"

In fact, they had just investigated one part. w.a.n.g Xu had started to live on his own three years ago. How could he survive when he was just a sixteen years old homeless?

Although w.a.n.g Xu did not know what was going on, he understood his situation was not really good.

The room where he was staying could not compare with the real prison. There were only a table, a chair, and a lamp. His hand was cuffed. Even though there was no one watching, he was not able to escape even if he wanted. Looking up, he saw a window with an iron net. The cell door was locked. The bamboo book was considered his belongings so it was pitched on the table.

That book was rubbish in the others' eyes, but for w.a.n.g Xu, it was the only treasure that could protect his life. He still remembered Mister Mao's words very clearly, if he could not get to the detective office, he would definitely die!

[This translation’s copyright belongs to The Invincible Ladies and Wuxiadream.com]

This was surely not a joke. After that guy told him to "watch out" more than twelve hours ago, he had only half of his life left. If this time he said "die", w.a.n.g Xu would doom soon!

w.a.n.g Xu gasped for breath so much that sweats were pouring out uninterruptedly. He was scared that ten pale arms would abruptly stretch out of the wall from nowhere. Because of fear, his breath gradually became heavily.

He suddenly noticed that he could see his breath. It was August now and the temperature in the south was very high. This weird thing scared w.a.n.g Xu out of his wit.

He hastily shouted, "Guard! Guard! Anyone, please! Come here quick! I want to pee!"

w.a.n.g Xu shouted very loud as he felt something was coming. Until now, this was the first time he had this feeling. w.a.n.g Xu guessed this was the effect of some 'psyche' [1].

The ugly face of a banshee gradually appeared behind w.a.n.g Xu. He also guessed this ghost was very different from those in the cemetery since this ghost could chase after him anytime. Maybe the situation 'ghost leading' which he had encountered before was gifted by this ghost.

I do not have any weapon to protect myself now. The only thing I could do was shouting to call someone to take me out of here.

"Why so noisy? Will you die if you hold it awhile?"

An impatient voice came up from outside, followed by the sound of unlocking.

"Not too far from the death, da-ge! Actually, not far from the death!"

w.a.n.g Xu shouted till his voice got hoa.r.s.e. The man outside thought that he simply could not hold it anymore.

Inside the room, the banshee was coming closer. Its arms nearly touched w.a.n.g Xu's shoulders.

As soon as the door opened, w.a.n.g Xu promptly rushed out. That shocked the policeman a lot. However, as he had heard that this man was crazy, he was not vigilant too much.

w.a.n.g Xu thought with this officer escorted him, he was temporarily safe. However, as he turned his head around, the banshee was unexpectedly standing in front of him; fangs in its mouth shone off terrifyingly.

w.a.n.g Xu glowered at that banshee, speaking in his mind with a trembled voice, "You dare to commit a crime at the police station? Hmm, you are very dangerous…

He dexterously dodged a blow from that banshee. His reaction was not too different from that of homeless martial artists. After quickly glared across the room, w.a.n.g Xu noticed the bamboo book on the table.

[This translation’s copyright belongs to The Invincible Ladies and Wuxiadream.com]

He immediately grabbed it. The banshee seemed to be scared of the book in w.a.n.g Xu's hand, which did not look so anti-personnel. Then, she gradually disappeared.

The policeman, of course, could not see either fairies or demons. Instead, he was so frightened by w.a.n.g Xu's behavior that he had to move backward two steps and groped for his police rod cane. However, the policeman unexpectedly saw his opponent got crazy waving the book in his hand.

The policeman suddenly felt he was like a monk who was only 1.2 meters tall [2], he shouted in panic, "What are you doing? Tell me now!"

"I …"

w.a.n.g Xu tried to find a reasonable explanation, but in such a short time, only his ability of babbling worked.

He then said, "When I do number two, I need an ancient book to read."

Five minutes later, that policeman was standing and smoking outside the toilette. White smoke flew out from his mouth nonstop. He was trying to restrain his irritation. There was a black line on his forehead [3].

w.a.n.g Xu felt that if it had been only a little bit later, he should have been dead already. Perhaps a whole flock of ghosts and demons would gather to fill the streets at midnight, while he was not different from an ant in this city. No, to be more exact, an ant, which was being hunted by many hungry wolves. He had to try all the ways to flee and arrive some sh*tty place called 'detective office'.

Another ten minutes had pa.s.sed. The policeman let out a big yawn then looked at his watch, "Are you done now? Sh*t, what the h.e.l.l are you doing for so long?"

There was no one replying. He shouted several times. The dim light on the corridor remained unchanged.

He felt something wrong. Would this boy escape from this place?

He hastily rushed into the toilette then unexpectedly received a slash on his nape as soon as he stepped through the toilette door.

His last thought before being unconscious was, "d.a.m.n it, I was fooled.

w.a.n.g Xu pulled down the brim of his hat, bowed his head, walking out of the police station. The police uniform was quite fit, at least it was much better than his b.l.o.o.d.y and muddy clothes.

While walking on the street, he could feel the existence of spirits in this city. The majority of them was like a peaceful melody without any offensive intention. It seemed they could not give something up so they still wandered in this world. However, there was a soul with offensive intention chasing after him. It was flas.h.i.+ng and getting closer to him.

[This translation’s copyright belongs to The Invincible Ladies and Wuxiadream.com]

w.a.n.g Xu didn't need to think to know it was the same banshee. Fortunately, he was not far from the address. As he had had some time to rest at the police station, he now had enough strength to sprint.

Finally, w.a.n.g Xu arrived at number 13, Eastside road. A bar named "Black Cat" occupied the first floor. There was no dancing area inside the bar, only one counter, and several big tables. It looked more like a coffee shop at the first glance.

Seeing w.a.n.g Xu in the police uniform looking around in front of the bar, a muscular guy like an electric pillar approached him, blocking his way.

"Who are you looking for?" The muscular guy stared at w.a.n.g Xu then asked.

"Is there anybody here named Mister Mao?"

The big guy felt relief after hearing the question, "Ah, you are his customer. You don't use this way to go to the second floor. Take the stair at the end of the alley. Don't make this mistake again."

w.a.n.g Xu nodded, turned around to leave.  Suddenly, that muscular guy unexpectedly told him, "There is something following you. Be careful!"

w.a.n.g Xu wanted to ask him if he could stop it for a while. However, as he turned back, only the closing door welcomed him. He released a long sigh, glancing at the roadside.

At this moment, there was no one on the street.

This could not happen in such a busy and famous for nightlife place like S city. Peeking to the middle of the street, w.a.n.g Xu saw a girl in white dress standing alone there. Her bizarre smiley face was fierce, taking one step after one step, coming closer to him.

[This translation’s copyright belongs to The Invincible Ladies and Wuxiadream.com]

Numerous ghosts with white pale faces, or without arms or legs suddenly scattered out from all of the alleys around. The number of them should be nearly one hundred.

"s.h.i.+t! Hundred Demon Night Parade! Also, the appearance appeared so talented. After all, why do things turn out to be like this? Moreover, I am now a wanted criminal because I have ambushed a policeman and escaped from the police station. Perhaps I will be on TV tomorrow. Not sure if they also say something like providing any clue will get a bounty…"

While talking nonsense, w.a.n.g Xu was running into a small alley next to the bar. As soon as he saw the stair leading to the second floor, he hurriedly ran up.

He saw two words 'Detective Office' written on a gla.s.s door. He realized immediately it was the address printed on the business card, which could only be seen by using spirit observation.

Without knocking, right before w.a.n.g Xu was about to break the door, he noticed it was not locked. He rushed into the room and turned on the light.

There was no one in the room. Rubbish was everywhere, the desk was crumbling and the sofa was already worn out … It was easy to tell that this room was also Mister Mao's lair.

He saw a dagger on the desk. After taking a good look at it, he realized it was not a kind of dagger that could be easily bought in a shop. It looked like more of a weapon on martial art novels. There was a piece of paper under the dagger.

"Being able to get here means you have pa.s.sed the preliminary challenge. I have not told you about several things: The reason you are being chased is very special, thus you cannot hide in any place, only running nonstop can help you escape. What called 'Demons and G.o.d Cry' also has a due date. They will keep repelling until 4:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, which was exact twelve hours since you have been chased. This was also the time when spiritual energy has appeared in this world for twelve hours. So, if you can survive after twenty-four hours, you will not be chased after anymore. Completing the preliminary challenge means you are going to work here. Thus, I need to act like a boss. This dagger is the one that can dominate ghosts. Use it to protect yourself. Hey, do not disturb people at the bar downstairs. It is even more difficult to deal with them than with ghosts."

Signature: Mister Mao.

[This translation’s copyright belongs to The Invincible Ladies and Wuxiadream.com]

P/S: After investigating, I know you have encountered a banshee in the cell. Her story is very interesting. She seems to be cheated to death. That's why she often looks for male homebodies to take revenge. Hehe, we actually cannot apply logic to women. As her resentment energy is very strong, it is more difficult to deal with her than other normal ghosts. Hope you will not meet any other one as dangerous as her this time.

P/S P/S: I suggest you use my dagger. The bamboo can only harm ghosts when you are really focused or your mentation is agitated. Not to mention its material is very special; you still need to rely on your own strength. If you lose your concentration, the bamboo book's effect will reduce dramatically. Anyway, it is not a real weapon. In short, you should be aware of everything. I will come to see you tomorrow morning."

After reading the letter, w.a.n.g Xu crumpled it up, then ran out of the room with the dagger. His face blackened like charcoal, clenching his teeth and said, "Haha, I am fooled again. s.h.i.+t! You P/S then also P/S P/S … Teachers haven't taught you how to write a letter in school, have they? Also, Hundred Demon Night Parade and Demons and G.o.d Cry?  And the banshee has chased after me for a whole day. s.h.i.+tty all of you, I don't care if you are alive or dead. Now, I will go out and whack you in in the middle of the market. Later, I will tie up that f.u.c.kin' Mister Mao in his b.l.o.o.d.y old Honda and push it down to the valley. Do you hear me? F*kin' jerk!"

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[1] Psyche: describes the harmony of both soul and spirit

[2] It means to be completely at loss

[3] In j.a.panese Manga, the black line describes a restraint of anger.