Chapter 64 Predatory Beasts

“No need, thank you!” Li Han politely declined Tan Ya’s offer of ghost money, his voice carrying a sense of relief, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Chu Ning watched the taxi speed out of sight and then glanced at Tan Ya beside him. She truly was indecisive! She had nearly ruined everything—how could someone playing the part of a vengeful ghost show such vivid emotions? It was simply asking to be exposed!

They had managed to ride for free, but Tan Ya could not bring herself to feel happy.

Shaking herself from her memories, Tan Ya recalled how she had thought her first attempt to invade the human world stemmed from her uncontrollable urges—losing herself in the frenzy of slaughter, hunting humans to replenish her own power.

But who could have guessed that her first venture would be like this? Playing the role of a monster was absurd beyond measure!

“Let’s go inside,” Chu Ning said. He seemed to have a natural talent for picking locks; after fiddling with the door using a sturdy wire he always carried, the villa’s door swung open.

Don’t ask why he carried such an unconventional tool—every detective needs it.

Chu Ning believed lockpicking was an essential skill for any detective. If one didn’t possess a few talents that could instantly turn one into a criminal, one could hardly be called a proper detective.

“Thank goodness! Truly, birds of a feather flock together. No wonder he was my friend; even his choice of lock is identical to mine!” Chu Ning considered Wang Jinkai a true friend, so considerate in not installing a high-tech electronic lock—knowing full well Chu Ning could only pick standard locks.

He felt that lockpicking was an innate gift, perhaps a legacy from his predecessors, he mused oddly.

He looked down at his slender hands in silence, unable to shake off the traces left by his former self. Still, it was not so bad—to have acquired so many skills out of thin air.

Once inside the villa, they saw the living room floor strewn with decayed, dried meat, and the dead larvae and flies breeding upon it. Among the remains were copious black hairs, their origin indiscernible from their appearance.

The black hairs were so long and much coarser than human hair. The internal organs lay scattered like lonely islands amid a sea, surrounded by dyes of various colors—green, red, yellow, white, black.

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The organs were placed according to a pattern of mutual restraint, each matched with a corresponding dye: yellow beside the liver, white beside the heart, black beside the spleen, green beside the lungs, red beside the kidneys.

All of it had the air of a ritual, especially the ground, smeared with blood in red and black, forming symbols of varying length. The sight inspired a sense of awe and mystery in those who witnessed it.

The room felt like a sea of death.

Standing amid the shattered meat, Chu Ning breathed in the stench of decomposition—a nauseating mix of rotting flesh and filth. The room’s temperature seemed to have fermented the odor, making it even more unbearable.

Tan Ya, meticulous as ever, closed the villa’s door upon seeing the revolting scene, trapping the foul smell inside once more. She dared not imagine what would happen if someone followed the scent here and saw this inhuman spectacle.

“Ugh!” No matter how many times she witnessed scenes of carnage, Tan Ya could never face them calmly. Leaning against the wall, she dry-heaved repeatedly.

Chu Ning frowned, doubting his own existence as he trembled amid the overpowering stench and sight of dismembered bodies, forcing himself to recall the details of his conversation with Wang Jinkai.

The room was eerily silent, interrupted only by the buzzing of flies and the faint sound of maggots gnawing at meat. Chu Ning recoiled from the flies, which, having feasted on flesh, seemed more aggressive than before.

But that was only the spark; the dormant creatures in the house awoke and swarmed toward Chu Ning.

Swarms of flies launched suicidal attacks, their numbers uncountable, a black mass that terrified Tan Ya. She stumbled backward, pressing herself against a smooth marble column.

The cold stone chilled her even through her thin clothes, as she watched the gathering black army in fear. Not only the flies moved—brown maggots wriggled across the floor, slowly approaching Chu Ning.

Every living thing in the room, like sharks scenting blood, surged toward Chu Ning in a frenzy. Despair flashed in Tan Ya’s eyes; she trembled, lips quivering, wanting to urge Chu Ning to flee.

I must save Chu Ning! The thought struck like a command from deep within her consciousness, one she could not resist, even as her body shivered with fear.

She did not understand why the carrion-eating creatures ignored her, but she seized the chance to rush to the door and open an escape route for Chu Ning.

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Chu Ning’s lips curled into a wicked smile, his eyes gleaming dangerously red. He manipulated black mist to toss aside the mangled kidneys, then used the red dye piled nearby to ignite a blazing fire.

The pitch-black flames clung to the attacking flies, spreading like a plague among the living creatures. Tan Ya watched, entranced, her movements halted as she opened the door, unable to resist a quiet exclamation: “How beautiful!”

The dark flames flashed through the air like fireworks, vanishing in an instant. After the blaze, the room was thick with the smell of roasted protein, and the floor was covered in black ash.

Chu Ning brushed off his sleeve calmly, gazing at the scene without emotion. He cared nothing for what he had wrought, as if it were a trivial matter, hardly worth boasting about.

“Have you regained control of your body?” Tan Ya, seeing the scene, knew at once another presence had returned. She tiptoed carefully around the scattered meat, moving to Chu Ning’s side—the changes inside the villa were far too frightening.

Tan Ya could not imagine what it would feel like for flies and maggots to burrow into one’s body; the mere thought sent a chill through her, terrifying her to the core.

Chu Ning ignored Tan Ya, pacing the room leisurely, closing his eyes and touching the furniture, occasionally murmuring softly to a piece of modern art or a decorative porcelain vase.

“I…” Tan Ya stood frozen, her gaze tracking Chu Ning’s movements, barely daring to breathe, afraid to disturb him as he slipped into some neurotic trance.

Chu Ning’s strange behavior reminded Tan Ya of something terrible; she recalled seeing a similar scene in the villa on the northern outskirts, when she nearly met her end at his hands.

Now, Tan Ya clasped her hands in silent prayer, hoping the gods would help Chu Ning return to normal. She knew her actions were absurd, but she truly had no other options.

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