Vol 4. The Grudge (2)
Chapter 1
Zheng and the other two waited until the area was crowded then came out from
under the trees. Since Yinkong’s clothes were stained with blood, Zheng gave her
his jacket put an arm over her shoulders just like a brother holding his little sister.
Jie and Yinkong looked at him in surprise. Zheng smiled calmly. “It looks more natural
this way. After we get inside the hotel, just chat about random stuff. Best if you can
keep a smile. We won’t attract attention this way… Hoho, is it alright to hold onto you
for a while, Yinkong?”
She turned her head away and replied coldly. “Doesn’t matter.”
Zheng and Jie realized her figure was so different when she took off her jacket. The
little girl’s chest was so big it instantly attracted the two men’s attention.
Although Yinkong didn’t care about their stares, her expression changed a bit when
Zheng put his jacket on her. So that was why she wasn’t annoyed when Zheng put
his arm around her.
“… Jie, Yinkong, I think our thoughts had gone into the wrong direction. Maybe it was
over confidence or maybe I lost myself after I came back from the real world, so much
that I forgot our original goal… to survive.”
“We all just want to survive.”
As the two of them looked confused, Zheng smiled bitterly. “Jie, do you still remember
what I said to you in the last movie? I said I will do my best to protect my comrades,
to trust and support them, then we will survive with the power of the team…
My thoughts went in the wrong direction. The problem is who can become my comrade?”
1
“Like those normal people, they’re mentally weak and can drag us in danger, and
those that can betray us at critical moments are not qualified to become our comrades.
Yet I included all these newbies. This was a fatal mistake.”
“I will continue with my ideology. The power of comrades is very important. We
should trust and support each other. I won’t treat everyone as a number like Xuan
did! But I will change what I did wrong. Only people who gained the trust of everyone
in our team, have the talent, and pass a trial can become our comrade. As for those
normal people…”
Zheng fell into a silence when he reached these words. Jie and Yinkong looked at
him quietly.
“As for those normal people… I can offer them some help, like weapons and warnings,
but their lives won’t be a reason to put this team in danger. In necessity, I will abandon
normal people for the team. Xuan was right with this point. This is a cruel world,
everyone is just struggling to stay alive. We are the same…”
It didn’t take long for their bus to reach Sunlight Hotel. Thanks to it being the tourist
season, they easily mixed into the crowd and got into the stairs. They didn’t want to
take the elevator because of the smell of blood. It wasn’t until they climbed over a
dozen floors and opened the door to their room did they let out a sigh of relief.
Zero, Lan and Tengyi were having breakfast on a table. Aside from the bandage on
Tengyi’s head, they looked like they were in good shape. At least they didn’t panic
when the three opened the door.
Zero asked. “Doing well?”
Zheng replied with a smile. “Yeah, stayed in the darkness for a night. Fortunately we
haven’t been killed by the ghost…”
The atmosphere became relaxed. Zheng and the other two also sat down for breakfast.
After eating, Zheng had them sitting on the sofa then stood in from of them.
“I’m sorry.” Zheng bowed at them then said. “This was my fault. I forgot that the most
important thing as a leader… is to be responsible for the safety of my team, and not
for everyone like a savior. They want to live. We too want to live. Sorry… From now
on, I will only be responsible for our team. I can help newbies but I will not risk our
team to help them. At the same time, any newbies that want to join our team must
have the talent, be someone we can trust and over half our team have to agree…
Sorry! Let us do our best to survive!”
2
The other five people looked at him in shock. Jie was the first one to jump up. “Zheng,
you don’t have to blame yourself. We were all too careless. We’re also responsible
for the loss of the scriptures…”
“No, I think he is right.” Yinkong adjusted the jacket and said calmly. “As a leader,
perhaps you don’t need to have overwhelming power, or an unparalleled intelligence.
What you need is to be able to identify and make use of everyone’s strengths. You
actually have the potential to bring together people around you. And anyone who
isn’t a team member… you have to view them as enemies before they become a team
member.”
Zheng smiled at her then her turned to Lan, who had been staring at him in a daze.
“Ok, that’s it for the self-blaming. Lan, aside from Xuan, you’re the best at deduction.
I want to ask why do you think God puts us through various horror movies.”
Lan blushed and forced herself to calm down. “Probably to have us experience horror?
Or to face death? No… If we include Xuan’s deduction, I think God wants us to
evolve, to break through the limitation of our body on the brink of death. Then evolve
and unlock the genetic constraint. If Xuan’s deductions are correct, I think this is the
only answer.”
Zheng nodded. “Right, I think so as well. God probably wouldn’t just want to put us
in the horror movies to die. There’s actually a method to solve or defeat the enemies
in each movie. In other words, God won’t put us in a hopeless situation.”
Jie finally got it. “You mean the scriptures were the hint God gave us? Fuck, those
two assholes…”
“No, I mean… uh, how should I put it. The scriptures may be one of the methods that
can fight the Ju On, but why should we be so scared of the Ju On?”
The other people were confused by what he said. Then Lan’s eyes lit up as she
thought of a possibility. Zheng continued with a smile. “Yes, why should we be afraid
of it? The main reason is that we can’t understand it. We had put ourselves in the
place of the movie characters! But we forgot that we aren’t actually people from this
world. We know that we are fighting against ghosts, even though we don’t know how
they attack but this is enough…”
“We don’t actually have to be scared of the Ju On. Just think of it as an Alien with
invisibility! Perhaps it will sneak up on us when we are not paying attention but it isn’t
something unbeatable, as long as we have the courage to fight it! It isn’t impossible
to kill the Ju On because we have the magical bullets!”
3
Zheng’s words affected everyone. They had never encountered the Ju On face to
face since they came into the movie. The reason Zheng was so scared since the
beginning was because he put himself into the shoes of the movie characters. All
the victims died in the movies. In contrast if it was someone who hadn’t watched this
movie and he had a gun and magical bullets, he would probably have the courage
to fight the Ju On. Because he would only think of the ghosts as a monster, and not
an unbeatable and unavoidable curse!
Yes, just think of the Ju On as a monster, a monster that one can hit and kill!
“Now then, we have just to verify one thing. That is if the magical bullets can damage
the ghosts from the Ju On!”
After Zheng finished talking and was about to assign them tasks, the communication
device he was carrying started vibrating. He quickly turned it on and there came the
familiar voice.
“This is Xuan…”
Zheng replied immediately. “Is it Xuan? Where are you? What was that creepy noise
from last night? Hello?”
“… If you hear this message, that means I am dead. This message will be sent twelve
hours after I died. As my final message… being able to meet all of you… thank you.”
“Then let me verify my last conjecture…”
“Immune to physical damage? Illusion? Or perhaps… Arnold, attack!”
“As expected… no rewards. And it takes a large amount of magical bullets to eliminate
a ghost…”
Xuan’s voice was sent through the device and along with it, the sound of gunshots.
Zheng put the device on the coffee table.
“Arnold, be cautious of your back, the ghost is likely to attack the one that damaged
her.”
“… Physical contact causes you to lose control of the body?”
“Must attack every part of the body…”
Another round of gunshots and the sound of a large object falling onto the ground.
“Still no reward, does the number seven hint at…”
“The ghost becomes stronger after every wave… I’ve killed it three times so this is
the fourth wave?”
4
“The fourth wave!”
“No! Still no reward, no notification. It will continue…”
After a period of silence, they heard a quarrel between a man and woman. Then the
woman screamed and shortly after followed by the sound of a knife slashing onto
meat.
“Illusion? Or…”
“The attacked part disappears then goes into my intestines. How did he do it? Not
physical and not a mental attack… A spirit type attack that’s unexplainable by science.”
“It can’t not exist. In other words, attacks are normally ineffective. Only the moment
he attacks you…”
“… Feels so bloated. I still prefer delicious looking food…”
“The fifth wave is… over!”
Then came the creepy kakaka sounds, as if the ghost making the sounds right into
the device.
“Invisible? Or is it… inside my body?”
“So this is the sixth wave? Attacking organs from inside…”
After a few more shots was the sound of another object falling onto the ground.
“Zheng, this is my last hint… Thank you…”
That was the end of the message.
“Xuan…”
Zheng sighed. He took a deep breath then said to Lan. “Lan, can you deduce what
happened during this message? I can remember every word, can you try to analyze
it?”
Lan gave him a strange look, then nodded lightly. “It began with Xuan encountering
the Ju On, probably quite far away from him. That was why he could still talk while
shooting. He used normal bullets in the first round, which was why he said ghosts
are immune to physical damage. Then he had Arnold attack it, this time with magical
bullets…”
“Then?” Zheng sat down and thought for a moment. “Did Arnold kill the ghost? No,
if he did then what attacked him afterward? The other ghost?”
5
Lan also thought for a bit. “Maybe it was eliminated temporarily. Then it comes back
even stronger. That’s what he probably meant… He warned Arnold to be careful of
his back. Probably because the ghost had already reached Arnold. So he said don’t
get in contact with it. Then…”
“Then Xuan killed Arnold along with the ghost.” Zheng sighed.
Lan nodded. “Xuan didn’t say a word after that. There were only gunshots and
creepy noises. He was shooting nonstop during this period. I think he probably
encountered many ghosts, so many that he couldn’t get a chance to talk. This is the
fourth wave of attack.”
“Then the fifth wave, the quarrel between a man and woman. This scene is also in
the movie. It depicted the formation of the Ju On. The husband suspected his wife
was cheating on him. So he killed her and hid her body in the attic. I think Xuan saw
an illusion of this scene then got attacked by either Kayako or her husband.”
“He shot at it but found that the magical bullets were ineffective. So he waited for
the ghost to approach him. After he was attacked he found the part of him that got
attacked disappeared then went inside his intestines… Uh, such a disgusting method.
But since the ghost can attack us, we should also be able to attack it the moment it
attacks. That was probably how Xuan killed the ghost once more…”
Zheng mumbled. “Then the sixth wave was the ghost entering his internal organs?
Then… he’s…”
Lan touched her forehead. “Yes, Xuan is probably already…”
Zheng sighed deeply. He suddenly felt a little empty, just like a friend that was on
bad terms passed away. That calm and intelligent Xuan…
(Farewell, Xuan… I should be the one to thank you.)
Ten seconds later, Zheng’s mind came back to the present. “Let’s organize this information.
Xuan kept mentioning the number seven. He said God wouldn’t assign us
a number randomly. This seven is probably the number of times we have to defeat
the Ju On. I have some thoughts about this. Lan, do you get what I am thinking?”
Lan nodded and smiled. “It’s you that thought about what I was thinking… Ahem,
anyway, it seems like from Xuan’s message, the Ju On’s ghost comes back stronger
every time it gets defeated. Especially the sixth time. It’s almost unavoidable death…
So, that seven hints at the number of times it will come back. The seventh time…”
Zheng continued. “When the ghost appears for the seventh time, it will probably be
its main body. We just have to kill the last ghost then we can defeat the Ju On!”
6
No matter what Xuan’s goal was, this message was as valuable as the scriptures. It
verified that the ghosts could be defeated and also gave them hope… The Ju On
wasn’t something they have to keep running away from. Sometimes horror wasn’t
scary, what was worse was when you didn’t even have the courage to resist. Perhaps
when you raise your weapon against it, it was just a slightly stronger monster. You
could also defeat it!
The rest of the afternoon was spent discussing how to defeat the Ju On. They could
guess that the first wave would start from afar then slowly approach you. At this point
you just had to attack it with magical bullets. These ghosts might be horrifying for a
normal person, but for them, as long as they could damage the ghosts, the rest was
easy.
The second and third waves probably appear from behind. They would have to attack
both the ghost and person.
“Bulletproof vest, we need five bulletproof vests. We also need six helmets to guard
against stray bullets. Zero, can you get them from the yakuza?” Zheng asked.
Yinkong suddenly said. “If it’s only bulletproof vests and helmets, I think I can get
them from the police network. But we will have to wait till tomorrow noon…”
Zero also said. “That’s about the same time I can get those.”
Zheng nodded. “Good, then I’ll leave it to you two. Please get them by tomorrow
noon. For the fourth wave, if we are going to get attacked by a lot of ghosts, I think
we need a large open area. Being in a room or a hallway would be disadvantageous
for us. I suggest that starting tonight, we will camp outside the park. It would be best
to pick one that’s over a hundred meters wide. Any opinions?”
Aside from Lan, everyone else nodded. Jie suddenly asked. “What about the fifth
wave? How should we deal with the ghost? We can only counterattack the moment
it starts attacking. And the part that gets attacked will go into your intestine…”
“So.” Zheng smiled. “So during the fifth wave, I will be the bait! I am very sensitive
to danger when I am in the unlocked mode. I will evade its attack and don’t forget I
have a weapon that counters ghosts, the Na ring. It’s a good opportunity to use the
Na ring to attack when the ghost closes in.”
“So let me be the bait for the fifth wave. That is the best plan for the whole team’s
safety!”
7
Chapter 2
No time was wasted after their discussion. Everyone packed their stuff and checked
out. Then they went to the park.
The time was evening and the park was still rather crowded. The six of them found
some empty seats. Then Zero and Yinkong went to scout the place without a word,
while the other four people kept a lookout of the surroundings.
As the sky gradually darkened, people began to leave the park. By the time there
were only a few people left, Zero and Yinkong came back.
Zheng smiled and said. “Thanks for your work, have you checked the whole area?
Did you get attacked?”
Zero nodded. Yinkong replied. “Nothing happened to the charms. We’ve gotten
most of the area down. There are several retail buildings west from here suitable for
sniping. The other three sides are wide streets. If our gunshots attracted the police
after we eliminated the Ju On, we should run east. There’s a manhole to the sewers…
That’s all we have for now. It will take another day or two to get everything down.”
Zheng laughed. “No, that’s enough. We’re only afraid of the Ju On. Once we eliminated
it, we can surrender to the police. We will go back to God’s dimension after
seven days. So we don’t have to be afraid of the police.”
Zheng and the others sat together with their back to each other. A few groups of
patrols had walked pass them already. Of course there were no laws prohibiting
people to sit on the park at night. So the patrols didn’t do anything but they still
glanced at the six people occasionally.
“I placed two charms in between us. We will take turns guarding through the night,
two people at a time. If you see the charms start to burn, wake everyone up immediately.
If there are no objections, I will assign the groups.”
When the clock reached twelve, everyone started to feel a bit sleepy. They had lived
the past few days in constant fear after all. Aside from the night that they had the
scriptures, how could they had slept in peace?
“Then Zero and Yinkong in a group, Jie and Tengyi a group, Lan and me a group. Jie
and Tengyi will start with the first shift. I will take the second, and Zero will take the
third. Three hours each shift. Is it alright with everyone?”
Zheng was cautious when he assigned the groups. He put a veteran into each group.
Jie could handle Tengyi if something were to happen. Even though Zero was a bit
8
weaker than Yinkong, he would wake everyone if Yinkong acted in any way strange.
Things like the scriptures being stolen shouldn’t happen again.
Three hours passed in the blink of an eye, especially when one was sleepy. Zheng
felt as though they woke him up right as he lay down. He slapped his face to wake
himself up. Though Lan didn’t have such willpower. She tried to open her eyes but
those eyelids felt so heavy. The sight looked so pitiful to Zheng.
“Lan, you can continue sleeping. I can take guard alone. It’s only paying attention
to see if the charms start to burn, one person is enough for this.” Zheng smiled and
said tenderly.
Lan shook her head with half open eyes. “No, talk to me. I will wake up when I start
talking.”
“Then we’ll have a chat…” Zheng thought for a bit but smiled bitterly. “But what should
I say? I’ll tell you a cold (lame) joke. A polar bear was bored so it starts pulling its fur.
By the time all its furs are gone…”
“No, no, don’t tell cold jokes. That’s all you ever say to me but they aren’t funny at
all…” Lan shook her head and sat beside Zheng. Then she slowly moved into his
arms.
Zheng froze, and without moving an inch he said. “Ok then… Then we will talk about
our current situation. Do you think I look like an idiot? I thought I am like a savior, but
in reality I can’t even guarantee the safety of my own life. Yet I was trying to save this
and save that person. I almost put my own team in danger for the newbies. No, I’ve
already put us in danger. If it wasn’t me, those scriptures…”
“If it wasn’t you, maybe we wouldn’t have went to look for the scriptures.” Even though
her eyes were still cloudy, she was starting to wake up. She leaned against his chest
and muttered.
“I don’t know how the others think but I feel safe when I am at your side… I’ve seen
so many similar things happened in the real world. People act indifferent when they
see someone gets robbed, but when they are the victims, they will complain about
everyone being apathetic… In this world, no one should have trusted anyone. People
would suspect and even attack each other. But the five of us sincerely followed you.
We all believe that if any of us are in danger, you will definitely do your best to save
us. That’s why this team exists.”
Zheng laughed bitterly then shook his head. “I’m not as great as you think. I just
want to combine everyone’s power to survive the horror movies… Compared to my
9
idiotic kindness, Xuan’s methods are more effective. He can lead the majority back
alive but I may be leading you toward an abyss. Isn’t that it?”
Lan shook her head lightly. “I don’t know why but I felt pity toward Xuan. Every time
I see his emotionless face, it makes people feel like he’s very tired… Enough about
him, your kindness isn’t idiotic. It got a hold of our hearts. You just have to choose
the newbies more carefully next time. Please keep that kindness… If I or any other
team member is in danger, will you come save me?”
Zheng nodded seriously. “Yes, I will… I said I won’t leave behind any member that I
acknowledged. If it is his fault that he got in danger, I will put the team’s safety ahead,
but if he got in danger for the team, I will go save him even if I am the only one left!”
“Really? You’re…” Lan started crying on his chest. She muttered. “Why are you so
similar to him? You’re an idiot, baka. Why do you have to act like a Samaritan… why!?
No one will remember you. Even I will forget about your face, your height, your smell
after a few years… Even I will forget about you, you idiot. Why are you a nice person…”
Zheng couldn’t move a bit. He just sat there in silence. Lan’s tears had soaked his
chest. Not only that, her hands held onto him tightly.
Time passed, when her crying started to fade, Zheng said. “If you want to talk, I will
listen quietly…”
Lan shook her head. Even though she had stopped crying, she still didn’t let go of
Zheng, as if this was the only way she could feel any safety. It wasn’t until they heard
a cough from behind them did she let go of him. Then she lay down on a chair without
looking at Zheng.
Zero and Yinkong had woken up. As they stared at Zheng quietly, he blushed and
also found a chair to lie down. Yet Lan’s crying still filled his mind.
They basically stayed together the whole time the next day. They ate some meals in
a restaurant then cleaned themselves up in a nearby hotel. Then they went back to
this park. When the sun set, it was the same guarding through the night in groups.
By the time it was Zheng’s turn, Lan sat next to him without a word and held onto
him.
Time flew by… It was already the seventh day. They just had to last seven more
hours, then they could go back to God’s dimension. Even though it was pity that they
couldn’t kill the Ju On’s main body but at least they could go back alive.
The park was crowded during the evening. They were all exhausted after these few
days of guarding throughout the night. That was why they started to rest during the
10
evening.
Zheng was sleeping peacefully when he got woke up. His mind was still a little fuzzy
then he heard Jie’s voice. “Zheng! Lan is gone!”
“What’s gone?” Zheng jumped up and yelled. “Lan’s gone? Wasn’t she sleeping
here? How can she disappear suddenly? Where is the charm? Is it burning?”
Zero and Yinkong also woke up from the yelling. Jie replied hastily. “Tengyi and I
didn’t even take a break. We were paying full attention to the surrounding. The two
charms are also intact. There were a lot of people before, did she go away with the
crowd?”
Zheng had noticed the sky had darkened. The time should be about eight or nine
pm. When he was about to ask more questions, the communication device vibrated.
“Lan? Where are you? Why didn’t you tell us when you leave? We are worried about
you… Lan?”
He heard Lan’s crying through the device. “I don’t know what happened. I just suddenly
woke up from a chill and found myself in that room in Sunlight Hotel. I don’t
know how I got here, I was sleeping on the chair… Zheng, the charm I am carrying is
burning. I am scared…”
Zheng shivered. The charm was burning… that meant…
“Zero, Yinkong, wait at the sniping spot on the roof. We will communicate through
the device. Don’t shoot until I say so. The ghost’s next wave will attack the one who
attacked it… Jie and Tengyi, you guys wait here. If the ghost follows me, please open
fire…”
Zheng turned off the device and said to them hurriedly. Then he ran outside the park.
Jie shouted at him. “Zheng! Where are you going?”
“To keep my promise! And… to save our team!”
A team existed because it had the ability to unite people with common interests.
Their current common interest was to survive with the help of each other. This was
one of the most powerful common interests, but it was his promise to never leave
anyone behind that got them together. Even without this promise… he would still go.
Otherwise this team would cease to exist and… he would live under Xuan’s shadow!
The way to Sunlight Hotel from the park wasn’t far. Though it would still take a few
minutes if he were to run there. Zheng’s thoughts became clearer as the situation
11
got more urgent. He didn’t see any taxis on the road so he blocked in front of a car
passing by. As the car was going to hit him, he jumped straight into the driver’s seat.
The owner of the car was shocked that someone suddenly ran out from the side. He
immediately stepped on the brake but the car still moved ahead due to inertia. Then
the front window shattered and the owner fainted from the impact.
He only felt a little dizzy from the intense impact. After a few deep breaths, he refreshed
himself. He pushed the owner off the car and apologized. Then blocked the
door and flew to the hotel.
“Lan, what’s the situation? Don’t cry, tell me the current situation!” Zheng stepped on
the gas pedal and shouted to the communication device.
Lan slowly stopped crying and muttered. “I haven’t seen the ghost yet. The charm
is burning slow but if I approach the door it will burn out very fast. I only have four
charms left, I can’t get near the door anymore… Zheng, what is that sound, are you
driving?”
“Rest assured, I will be at the hotel within two minutes! Wait for me no matter what!”
“No! I don’t allow you to come here! Please don’t come, the Ju On will kill you…
Please, no one will remember you. If you died, people who love you will be sad…
Lori will be so sad.” Lan suddenly got emotional, her voice was almost shouting.
Zheng was quiet for a bit then said. “This is the promise I made to you… I also
promised Lori. I won’t die no matter what, I will survive… I will keep my promises,
so I will definitely live!”
With a squeak, the car slid on the road for over ten meters then stopped. Zheng
kicked open the door and sprinted toward the hotel. He was inside the hotel before
the receptionist could react.
Zheng ran up through the stairs. His speed was very fast already but he still heard
Lan’s cry through the device. “No more charms!” Followed by gunshots from upstairs.
(Speed! Speed!)
Zheng screamed silently in his mind. He desperately recalled the feeling he had
when he unlocked his genetic constraint. After some time, he felt something within
him had unlocked. This was the first time he tried to unlock it when there weren’t any
immediate danger… and he succeeded!
Yet it came with a price. Zheng spit out several gulps of blood. He felt worse than
dying, his muscles were convulsing and cramping, he felt as if a hand was stirring
12
in his stomach, and his bones were crackling. If it wasn’t that his charms were still
intact, he would have thought the ghost had attacked him.
Along with the pain was a sensation of power even greater than the previous times
he had unlocked the constraint. The countless fighting instincts, the ability to sense
danger, and the techniques to use his strength made him feel so powerful.
If someone was to see Zheng’s movements right now, they would be scared. Because
he was running on all fours on the wall. His speed was so fast that kept him
on the wall without falling… just like a beast.
“Ah!”
Zheng screamed as he got to the floor Lan was in. At the same time, the charm in his
pocket started to burn. It was burning faster and faster as he moved closer to Lan.
Then he saw the suite with an opened door.
The situation inside enraged him. Lan was standing there shivering. A pale white
hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her neck. Then a woman’s head
appeared next to her shoulder.
Zheng sprinted over to Lan and placed a charm on her face. That pale woman fell
back while making the kakaka sounds as if she just got burned. Once she got away
from, Zheng took out his submachine gun and sprayed at her. This woman was
laughing hideously as the magical bullets dispersed her.
Lan fell on the ground once the ghost got away from her. Then her body started
trembling. The charm on her face was burning even faster. It only took a moment for
the whole charm to finish burning. But the paleness on her face gradually subsided
and blood started to come back.
“The second…” Lan tried to open her mouth. But she was so weak right now that her
voice was barely audible.
Fortunately Zheng was in the unlocked state and could hear her voice. He held onto
her while he took out his last charm and placed it on her face. He asked in a hurry.
“Second what?”
“The second… that’s the second wave…”
The second wave, then the third wave is also going to be from behind?
Zheng’s eyes became sharp. He put down Lan and ran to the nearest wall. He ran up
to the wall as that feeling of danger swept at him. Then a pale hand appeared from
behind his neck but before the hand could reach him, he turned himself around in
13
midair and punched at it… using the hand that was wearing the Na ring. He channeled
his Qi to the ring and the punch went straight through the woman. The invisible field
surrounding the ring was like acid. The woman immediately disappeared once the
field touched her.
“This is the third wave. Then the fourth wave… getting attacked by a lot of ghosts?”
Zheng immediately ran over to Lan after he landed on the floor. Just as he brought
her into his arms, the kakaka sounds came from every direction, like several hundred
ghosts were making these creepy sounds nonstop. The feeling of danger reached
its extreme. It was a sense of terror like death was looming in.
The first pale farm reached in from the door. A pale woman with a twisted body was
crawling in on the wall. Then there was a second, and third…
Zheng started spraying with his gun. Even though the gun wasn’t too powerful, it
was fast and could carry a fair amount of bullets at a time. After killing off ten women,
a sense of danger came from behind. He turned around just to see more arms were
crawling up from the windows. He ran over to the window after shooting them off
then he suddenly calmed down when he looked out the window.
The roads outside the hotel were packed with these pale women. There were almost
a thousand from what he could see and who knew how many more beyond the roads.
There deaths were only a matter of time…
“Lan, do you believe me? Even if it looks like death…”
Lan had recovered a bit of energy. She nodded lightly and said. “Yes. Even if you
want me to die… I will still believe you.”ff
“Ok!”
Zheng wrapped Lan inside his bulletproof vest… Just like that time he carried Lori.
They were held together tightly.
“Hold onto me! Believe me… we will survive no matter what!”
Then Zheng screamed in pain. To Lan’s shock, his right arm started to enlarge in
visible speed. It looked three times as thick as a normal person’s arm. The puffed
muscle felt like a mutated organism.
“So this is the second stage of the unlocked mode… Hold on to me! Lan!”
Zheng held onto her with his left hand, and onto the progressive knife with his mutated
right hand. He shattered the window with a kick then jumped down the hotel.
It was the twelfth floor of the Sunlight Hotel…
14
“Ah!”
Right as Zheng jumped out, he stabbed the knife into the wall. The two of them
started falling rapidly along with the split on the wall caused by the knife.
Chapter 3
The knife’s sharpness was unparalleled. It sliced the wall all the way as they fell.
When they got to the sixth floor, the knife finally stopped its vibration. But the inertia
still kept them going down. Zheng’s arm absorbed the force that was generated by
the sudden drop in speed.
Even his mutated arm was almost not enough to sustain this force. He felt pain from
his arm along with the sound of muscle and bones pulling apart. It was as if his whole
arm was pulled off. But being in the unlocked mode allowed him to suppress the pain
signals instantly.
“Ah!”
Zheng pulled out the knife, shook it and immediately stabbed it back in the wall. Then
he and Lan continued falling as the knife regained its vibration…
When they got to second floor, the vibration stopped again. Zheng pulled out the
knife and jumped down. His landing generated two cracks on the concrete ground.
Then he sprinted toward the car he used to get there.
Numerous ghosts closed in from all sides. Zheng sprayed at them with the gun as
he ran. His right arm had returned to normal but it was red and swelling, and a lot of
the blood vessels were broken.
“Lan! Can you drive? Can your arms and legs move?” Zheng shouted when he got
the chance.
Lan also shouted in reply. “Probably, but I don’t have any energy to step on the gas
pedal.”
“Good! I’ll leave the driving to you!”
Zheng got to the car and emptied his gun. He carried Lan inside then took off the
bulletproof vest at once. He stepped on the gas pedal and shouted. “Hurry! Take
control of the wheel!”
15
Lan immediately held onto the wheel with both hands. The car started driving along
the road. She was sitting on Zheng’s laps like a little girl. Before she had the chance
to think of anything strange, Zheng started trembling violently. It was trembling from
extreme pain, the pain that came after unlocking the constraint.
A minute later, Zheng began calming down from the pain. He exhaled and said. “We
were lucky. We escaped before my unlocked state ends. Lan, how did you suddenly
get to Sunlight Hotel?”
Lan moved a bit from unease. “I don’t know. I was sleeping then suddenly a large
door appeared in my dream. I opened it then walked inside. When I woke up, I was
already in that room.” She began sobbing as she said this.
“… I’m sorry. I almost got you killed back there…”
Zheng smiled tenderly. As he was about to comfort her, his expression changed.
He turned around and saw a crowd of ghosts following behind the car. They were
crawling faster than the car was moving.
“What’s wrong? What’s there behind?” Lan felt Zheng turned his body then asked.
Zheng immediately took out a magazine from the ring and put it in his gun. “Focus
on driving. We just have to get back to the park. Jie and the others are waiting there.
We will have enough firepower to kill all these ghosts!”
The ghosts in the front were getting so close the car. At the same time the park also
came into view. Zheng said. “Don’t stop! Drive into the pedestrian street. They will
open fire when they see these ghosts. Then we will stop.”
It was almost 10pm, yet there were no one in the park, not even the patrols. Zheng
also just realized there were no other cars on the whole way they were driving. Did
everyone disappeared when the ghosts attacked?
As he was thinking, gunshots came from the other side of the park. When he carried
Lan out of the car, he saw Jie was standing there with a heavy machine gun.
Jie looked excited as he sprayed at the ghosts. Tengyi was also looking fanatical as
he was holding on the ammunition belt for the machine gun.
“Shit, this feels so good. We were getting scared by these ghosts the whole time and,
it’s so satisfying killing them!” Jie shouted as he looked at those ghosts.
The ghosts couldn’t get near them under this firepower. They also returned to their
normal crawling speed once Zheng got off the car. When the machine gun ran out
of ammunition, there were only a hundred ghosts left.
16
Zheng and the others finished these hundred ghosts with ease. Then they let out a
sigh of relief. Even though they had a machine gun, the amount of ghosts still looked
horrifying. They didn’t have enough to give each ghost a piece if they didn’t have
the magical bullets.
“Wow you guys, where did you attract so many of them?” Jie let out a sigh of relief
and asked.
Zheng and Lan forced a smile but before they get to answer, the area in front of them
lit up. A series of shoji appeared and a man and woman were quarreling behind the
shoji.
“It’s the fifth wave. Everyone stop attacking, just don’t attack. Leave the first round to
me!” Zheng shouted to everyone. He even repeated it to Zero and Yinkong through
the communication device to make sure they heard it.
The shoji gradually opened up. Behind them were indeed a man and a woman having
a quarrel. The scene in front of them was exactly the same as the one Xuan saw.
Kayako’s body was dismembered, and that man started walking toward Zheng while
holding a knife… No! Even Kayako’s body was crawling toward Zheng in twisted
motions.
(Really no sense of danger, as if there was nothing around me… Come on, unlock the
constraint again. Hope my body can still take it!)
Zheng’s eyes became sharp. He experienced the sensations from unlocking the
second stage again. His muscles and bones convulsed violently, but this pain quickly
went away. The other people saw him spit out several gulps of blood then sprinted
toward the ghosts.
“Wind… wind spirit!” Lan’s expression changed. She took out a little glass sphere and
yelled.
Zheng suddenly felt his body became lighter as he was running. His speed increased
by about 30%. He had already reached the man by this time. That man raised his
knife and slashed at Zheng. He felt a sense of danger the moment that knife was
about to touch his chest and jumped sideways without any hesitation. Then he struck
the man’s head with his left hand while activating the ring’s energy field. The man’s
whole upper body was crushed instantly.
“Great!” Jie and the other people yelled excitedly after the man’s upper body was
crushed.
17
Zheng also felt relieved. Even though he didn’t know why his speed suddenly increased,
but it allowed him to evade the man’s attack. The other ghost would be
much easier to deal with now that he killed one.
Yet before he had the chance to turn to Kayako, fog began to gather around the
man’s upper body. A few seconds later, it recovered without any damage. At the
same time, Kayako had crawled next to Zheng.
(What’s wrong? Why wasn’t the attack ineffective? What’s wrong with Xuan’s hint?)
Zheng immediately jumped backwards and dodged the two ghosts’ attacks. Now he
was presented with another problem, and that was the end of Xuan’s hints. He didn’t’
know what will happen in the sixth wave. He didn’t even know how to survive this
fifth wave.
Zheng tried to approach Kayako, and sensed the same danger when she was about
to touch him. He dodged to the side and sprayed at her with the submachine gun.
Just like before, she was dispersed but quickly recovered.
(What should I do? What should I do now? Attacks are only effective the moment
they attack, and it seems like I have to kill both of them at the same time, otherwise
they will recover… What should I do? What… will Xuan do in this situation? If it’s him…)
Jie and the other two people saw Zheng suddenly stopped. He gave them a feeling
of calmness or perhaps, apathy. He held out his right arm right in the center of the
two ghosts.
The two ghosts closed in on him. Zheng stepped forward the moment that knife
and Kayako were going to touch his arm. He focused Qi on his left arm and punched
through the man’s waist and into Kayako’s head. All of that happened in an instant. As
Zheng went through their bodies, both his right arm and the two ghosts disappeared.
“Uh… so bloated, I still prefer to eat… uh? Like to eat what?”
Zheng’s expression changed. He exited from his simulation of Xuan. Jie and the
others ran over to him with surprise. Especially Lan, she jumped into his chest.
Jie patted his shoulder and said. “Bravo, that made our hearts clenched. When did
you become so strong? You even sacrificed your whole right arm, you’re not scared
huh?”
Zheng smiled bitterly and turned to Lan. “Lan, what was that wind spirit? Why did I
feel like my speed increased a lot?”
18
Lan got away from him coyly then smiled. “It’s the enhancement path I am taking. I am
going for enhancements in magic. But almost all enhancements from this category
require ranked rewards so I only exchanged an acceleration magic for now. Surely
you don’t expect a girl to run around with a gun right?”
Zheng suddenly sensed the same danger again. Though this sensation was not as
strong as it was previously. It almost felt a little too faint. He was confused by the
sensation. This didn’t seem like an attack from inside like Xuan had said. If it was,
the sense of danger should be much stronger than it currently was.
“Everyone be careful, something’s not right. Do any of you feel… Lan? Lan!”
Zheng was about to warn them to beware of their body then he suddenly saw Lan’s
face turned pale. Blood gushed out of her nose and mouth along with some fragmented
pieces of internal organs…
“Lan! Trust me! None of us will die!”
Zheng shouted as he pulled Lan toward him. Then he focused all his Qi on his left
hand and struck at her stomach…
The power of this punch could easily go through Lan’s body, but Zheng had extremely
fine control over his strength in the unlocked mode. His fist barely hit the skin of Lan’s
stomach. The real attack was the force field generated from the Na ring.
With a boom, they felt as if something had disappeared after the fist hit her. Lan
relaxed her forehead then fell backward. Zheng got a hold of her with his left hand.
Her eyes were still closed and her face was pale. Dark blood was gushing out of her
nose and mouth.
“Jie! Keep an eye on the surroundings please.”
Zheng shouted then he placed Lan on the ground and stripped her clothes. To the
other two men’s shock, he slashed open Lan’s stomach.
It immediately bursted out a lot of dark blood along with some fragmented pieces of
flesh and internal organs. Zheng took a careful look inside it and saw that a large
part of her intestines were cut off, and some other organs were also attacked. There
was massive bleeding going on.
Zheng couldn’t help the other organs but he took out the hemostasis spray and
stopped the bleeding on her intestines then wrapped her up around the waist with
bandage. It wasn’t until all this was done did her face reagined some color. But her
breathing was still very weak, as if it was going to stop at any moment.
19
Zheng took a deep breath and stood up. Before he got to say anything, he saw the
whole place was surrounded by normal people. They saw the whole process when
Zheng slashed open Lan’s stomach and were standing there in terror and shock. Jie
and Tengyi were looking at these people in confusion.
“What happened? Why is there suddenly so many people?” Zheng asked Jie.
Jie answered in confusion. “I don’t know. Some normal people suddenly appeared
then there was more and more. There are so many now just like when it was at ten
normally… Did we eliminated the Ju On’s main body?”
Zheng placed Lan on the ground carefully. He was confused also. “It can’t be. I
haven’t received any rewards… wait, do you hear anything?”
“Hear what?”
Jie and Tengyi listened carefully, but aside from the noise from the crowd, there was
no other sound. As they were about to ask Zheng, they suddenly heard the kakaka
sound coming from the crowd. This sound was getting louder and louder then a huge
pale woman stood up from the center of the crowd.
“Ah!” Tengyi yelled from the scene. Zheng and Jie immediately fired at the woman.
It seemed like the crowd didn’t notice the woman. They started panicking when
Zheng and Jie pointed the guns at them, and anyone that touched the huge woman
fell to the ground unconscious. Yet the normal people couldn’t seemed to be able to
see her. As more and more people fell to the ground, the crowd was getting into a
chaos.
That huge woman was over ten meters tall. She started crawling toward Zheng’s
group swiftly. As she was getting closer and closer, suddenly a bullet shot through
her head from above with a loud bang. The bullet crushed her head and even several
normal people on the way then went into the ground. Those normal people died
instantly.
Zheng clenched his teeth. “Attack! Ignore the normal people. She’s still growing. It
seems like she can absorb the souls of the people she killed. Attack! It’s better if we
can also scare these people away!” Then he pulled the trigger on the submachine
gun.
Jie and Tengyi also started firing their guns. Yet, this huge ghost kept recovering the
damage by gathering up like fog. Only the first shot from the Gauss sniping rifle delt
huge damage to her. The magical bullets from the submachine guns barely had any
effect. She quickly recovered then started crawling at them again.
20
Yet another loud bang. The sniper shot crushed her whole leg this time. She was
only seven meters away from the four of them.
“Tengyi! Carry Lan and run away! Run as far as you can and don’t attack her! Jie,
drive away all the normal people… or kill them! If the police come, do you best to
hold them off… It’s 11pm. Just one more hour, just one more hour and we can go back
to God’s dimension! Don’t die!”
Zheng quickly assigned everyone’s responsibilities then he sprinted toward the
ghost. He raised his left hand and struck the ghost’s other leg when her mobility
was still impaired. The Na ring was such an amazing counter to spiritual beings. His
punch dispersed the ghost’s leg immediately. It was so much more powerful than
magical bullets.
Then he sprayed the ghost’s body with the gun as he ran around her. The ghost tried
to catch him with her arms but those movements seemed so slow in Zheng’s eyes.
He just had to be careful and not get caught, the ghost couldn’t do anything to him.
Another loud bang, the sniper shot struck again and crushed the ghost’s head. Zheng
made use of the opportunity and dispersed the ghost’s left arm completely. She
seemed to be unable to attack anymore. They just had to hang in there a little longer,
there was even a possibility to eliminate the ghost.
(We can win! We can definitely win… uh?)
As Zheng was about to use another attack with the ring. A pale hand suddenly extended
out from his back, and at the same time the woman’s head extended out from
his shoulder. His whole body was already unable to move by the time he sensed the
danger. All his stamina and Qi was absorbed by that hand… His body was gradually
turning pale. His gun fell off his hand to the ground.
Chapter 4
Zheng’s strength was gradually disappearing. His eyelids felt heavier and heavier.
Hopelessness started to fill his heart.
Strength, Qi, and stamina were all disappearing, he event felt that his life energy was
disappearing. His consciousness was fading away for every second that passed. It
wasn’t until now that he got a clearer look of the woman. Her body was made out of
numerous faces in pain. The faces of those that were killed by her.
21
Zheng’s vision was going out of focus. He felt as if his spirit was being pulled out of
his body by that pale hand. His sense of danger had reached an extreme, as if he
was going to die in the next second. Suddenly he felt he heard a boom. A stream of
hot energy gushed out from his head then repelled the pale hand. This energy had
corrosive properties and also lit the hand on fire. The ghost on Zheng’s back was
shortly burned into nothingness.
Yet that energy not only burned the ghost, it circulated into every part of Zheng’s
body. Zheng could feel the burning just like being scalded by boiling water. That
pain was as intense as when he unlocked his constraint. Even though he shut off the
pain signals in his body, he still shouted out in pain.
The blood energy! Unlike how he used the blood energy instinctively in the last
movie, this energy was now totally released from his head and filled his whole body.
Zheng’s eyes were bloody red. The world from his eyes was painted with blood. And
the ghost became a light green color weaved from numerous twisted human bodies.
That huge woman was actually created from numerous ghosts. Zheng could make
out several familiar faces, the red faced man from the beginning of this movie, and
even Bingyi was in there. In other words anyone that was killed by the Ju On became
part of it. It absorbed all their hatred. Looking through these ghosts, Zheng saw a
woman with a twisted face in the center of the body that looked just like a mini version
of the huge ghost. That was the main body of Kayako!
Zheng was still out of strength. He rolled away on the ground then took out the
communication device.
“Zero, can you see the chest of the ghost? Kayako’s main body is around that location…
Zero?” Zheng muttered in a faint voice.
“… Zero was attacked from his back. I only managed to save him but he’s out of
strength now… You have to wait ten minutes for him to recover enough strength to
snipe.” Yinkong’s voice came through the device.
Zheng fell into a silence. He and Zero did the most damage to the ghost so both
of them were attacked. As the ghost was gradually recovering, they were trapped
in a dire situation. He couldn’t find a way to kill it… Were this the end of their lives?
Getting wiped when there was only less than an hour left?
(No, I don’t want to die, I will live!)
“Yinkong, protect Zero. I’ll leave him to you. I will hold the ghost for ten minutes…
Then I’ll leave my life to you two!”
22
Zheng struggled to get up from the ground. His stamina and Qi were almost empty
and the blood energy didn’t have the property to enhance his stamina like Qi. It only
increased his recovery rate. Zheng ran to the submachine gun on the ground. The
ghost had recovered her upper body by this time and her legs were about to be
completed.
Zheng’s speed was much slower than before. The ghost swiped at him with that
huge hand as he picked up the gun. He didn’t have any time to think and forced out
his blood energy while he rolled away. His upper body nearly dodged the pale hand
but it still grazed his shoulder.
Fortunately the blood energy easily corroded the area of the hand that touched him.
Then the energy spread to the rest of the hand and burned it away. Of course Zheng
also felt that the energy in his body gradually lessened.
Zheng too a deep breath then turned around and ran. But he laughed in bitterness
after only a few steps.
All the normal people had ran away from the park. Jie and Tengyi was guarding on
the edge. While there were sirens coming from far away, the cops hadn’t reached this
place yet. Yet the ghosts of Kayako began appearing on the edge of the park. Their
number was getting higher and higher until the whole park was filled with ghosts.
There were at least several hundred if not more. And the huge ghost behind him
was almost done recovering and about to start crawling. He was out of strength,
stamina, and Qi.
“Are we really… really going to die? No, I will live no matter what!”
Zheng shouted in desperation. He gathered his last bit of strength and ran toward a
large clock in the center of the park… It was about ten meters tall, right at the height
of the huge ghost’s chest.
Zheng was out of strength. If it wasn’t for the acceleration buff on him, he would be
running at a jogging pace. It was then that he realized how important that buff was.
This buff increased his speed by a constant rate instead of a percentage. It wasn’t
too obvious when he was running at normal speed, but now that he was weakened,
it showed its importance.
Zheng finally reached the clock tower before the ghosts got to him. He sliced open
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login