THUMP!

Gao Tian slammed heavily onto the ground. Even though he had prepared himself and aimed for the thickest patch of weeds, the impact still made him see stars, and his entire back went numb. For a moment, he suspected he might have injured his spine, his lower body paralyzed and numb.

From the third-floor window, a woman’s face, contorted in a twisted smile and supported by an elongated neck, stretched out. She babbled endlessly at Gao Tian below:

"Zhao Qiang."

"Zhao Qiang!"

"Zhao Qiang."

"Zhao Qiang—"

"Zhao Qiang?"

...

The only thing that surprised Gao Tian was the red pot he’d been clutching. Despite the immense impact, not only did it not shatter, but there wasn’t even a single crack on its surface.

’The feel of the pot and its sheer durability suggest it’s no ordinary object. There’s definitely more to this. Xu Yuan must have hidden some secret in it.’

He limped to his feet and began to hobble with difficulty toward the courtyard exit.

Every step was an agony.

He had arrived at the white house late at night with nine lackeys. Now, as he departed, it was already dawn, and the cuckooing of birds could be heard in the distance. Gao Tian was all alone, covered in bruises and cuts, clutching a large, blood-red pot as he struggled away from the bizarre white house.

Behind him, the woman’s face in the third-floor window continued to call out the name "Zhao Qiang" at his receding figure. But Gao Tian couldn’t be bothered to pay her any mind.

...

Although he had escaped the white house alive, he hadn’t used the Facestealer Ghost’s ability to copy the woman’s-face ghost’s killing pattern.

The main reason wasn’t that he was too busy making a panicked escape to get the five required instances of eye contact.

The Facestealer Ghost only had three empty slots, one of which was already occupied by the Memory Ghost. The remaining two had to be chosen with care.

Gao Tian wouldn’t choose a simple killing pattern like this one. Even if he acquired the woman’s-face ghost’s ability, he couldn’t kill another ghost by repeating its name three times; ghosts were, after all, immortal. The ability was rather useless, a waste of a slot.

...

He hailed a taxi by the roadside and got in.

Zhao Qiang’s memories contained information about tens of millions in cash. But Gao Tian didn’t dare go get it right now, afraid he’d have the money but not the life to spend it.

Once Xu Yuan discovered the pot hidden in his hometown had been stolen, he would definitely return for a frenzied revenge. At that point, anyone even remotely associated with "Zhao Qiang" would likely end up dead.

He gave the driver the address for the Living Human Apartment, and the car started moving.

During the three-hour drive, Gao Tian’s entire body ached from his seat in the back. Blood trickled from his forehead, staining the backseat.

The red pot in his hands weighed about three or four pounds. He had no idea what was inside. Peering into the mouth of the pot, he saw only pitch-black darkness, its contents obscured. To see clearly, he would have to put his eye right up to it.

Gao Tian suppressed his curiosity and chose not to look inside the pot.

He remembered Xia Ta’s advice: any supernatural item must be brought into the Living Human Apartment before being inspected. Many such items housed terrifying powers that could kill the user on contact. The safest way was to use the apartment’s power to suppress them first.

The taxi waited near the apartment building. After getting out, Gao Tian first went up to his room on the third floor, set down the red pot, and cleaned his wounds.

He dozed off for a while to regain some strength. Only then did it feel like he had made it through this whole chaotic mess, shaken but alive.

Looking at the black card in his hand and the enigmatic red pot in his room—

Gao Tian knew that he had managed to snatch the pot from Xu Yuan’s hometown right under his nose, and without even using the black card.

The only price was letting the Ghost Card place one of its cards on his soul.

The trade-off was absolutely worth it.

Just imagining Xu Yuan’s furious reaction to finding his family pot stolen made it all worthwhile.

Now, the only thing that mattered was what was inside the red pot.

...

...

[Living Human Apartment]:

The pot from my hometown was stolen.

[Ghost Infant]:

How is that possible?

[Ghost Cave]: 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Weren’t you raising a ghost in that room? And didn’t you set up a Ghost Realm to trap any intruders? It should have been foolproof.

[Infinite Floors]:

To be honest, Xu Yuan, I’m starting to doubt whether you’re still fit to be the leader of the Jialan Society.

A pot hidden that securely was still stolen by a bunch of mortals. And then there’s that madman, Fenshi Gui, in the group. He’s been reported countless times, yet you insist on keeping him instead of kicking him from the chat.

You may have founded the Jialan Society, but if you’re too incompetent, the rest of us have the right to leave, or to choose a new leader.

[Fenshi Gui]:

Hey, hey, @Infinite Floors, I’ve been watching this chat the whole time, you know. I haven’t looked away for a second.

Talking bad about people behind their backs isn’t very nice.

[Living Human Apartment]:

@Ghost Cave @Ghost Infant

This whole thing is indeed strange. Even a professional Ghost Hunter would have a hard time escaping after being trapped in a Ghost Realm while under attack by a vengeful spirit.

How did these ordinary people escape a house where a ghost was being raised, and without the help of any supernatural items?

I suspect there’s a master among them, playing the fool.

But luckily, I went back to my hometown an hour ago and investigated the people who broke in.

A bunch of small-time gangsters. My ghost killed all of them. Only one survivor escaped, and the pot must be in his possession. We just need to find him in the real world, kill him, and the pot will be ours again.

Ghost Infant, you’re the best at navigating cyberspace. I’ll have to ask you to handle this.

[Ghost Infant]:

Seriously? More overtime.

Fine, fine. Give me the survivor’s name. I’ll kill his whole family as soon as I can and find out where he hid that pot.

[Living Human Apartment]:

Thanks.

The man who stole my pot is named Zhao Qiang.

[Living Human Apartment]:

@Infinite Floors

Now is not the time to kick Fenshi Gui. You’ll have to bear with it a little longer.

If you can’t stand it, you can leave the Jialan Society yourself.

Your abilities are formidable, but what we have planned next doesn’t absolutely require you.

[Infinite Floors]:

Heh.

I’ll stay for now and observe your capabilities a little longer. *Leader*.

Your past accomplishments are hyped up to be legendary, but I haven’t seen any proof of your abilities. Is this the judgment of someone who supposedly cleared ten green-text missions in the Living Human Apartment while he was alive?

The day my patience with you runs out, it won’t be as simple as me just leaving the group chat.

I will contact the others and demand a change of leadership.

[Living Human Apartment]:

Be my guest.

[Ghost Cave]:

The more I think about it, the more I’m sure there’s something seriously wrong with this Fenshi Gui.

Why would he suddenly go crazy in the chat, muttering to himself and revealing the only way to break the Ghost Realm?

Maybe the thieves trapped in the Ghost Realm saw that chat log and figured out how to escape.

[Ghost Infant]:

You’re saying Fenshi Gui is the living person hiding in our chat group?

Does that mean I have to trace his IP address too?

Ugh, my workload this month is getting a little high. Is there any overtime pay?

[Ghost Cave]:

No, Fenshi Gui isn’t human. He’s a ghost.

What I mean is, there’s *another* living person hiding in this chat group.

He most likely saw the leader’s previous messages and learned about the pot in his hometown from them.

He went to steal the pot, was cornered by the leader’s vengeful spirit and Ghost Realm, and then, through our chat group, he saw Fenshi Gui’s message, discovered the Ghost Realm’s weakness, and managed to escape.

[Ghost Infant]:

Ugh, here you go again with your fantasies.

Last time you came up with this idea that there was a living person among the dozens of us ghosts. Didn’t we already do what you asked, and everyone claimed a "black packet"? Even if there was a human, the curse in the packet should have killed them already.

Besides, the leader already said the only person who escaped with the pot is named Zhao Qiang. As long as I follow the trail and kill every single person named Zhao Qiang in Shanghai and Hengzhou City, this whole thing will be over.

There is no so-called living person in our group. Can you please stop being so paranoid?

[Ghost Cave]:

Ugh, I hope so.

[Living Human Apartment]:

@Ghost Infant

I’ll DM you the information on that Zhao Qiang guy. His entire family, including distant relatives and some friends, should be around a hundred people.

Find them one by one, torture them slowly, and force them to reveal everything they know.

Skin them alive, break their bones. Make them wish for death. Make them understand that you don’t touch things that aren’t yours.

Then, whether they give up the pot’s location or not—even if they hand it over—continue the torture. Nothing less will satisfy my hatred.

[Ghost Infant]:

Roger that.

Ugh, wait a minute.

How am I a ghost and still feel like I’m stuck at a dead-end office job?

...

...

That was all from the Jialan Society’s chat for today.

Gao Tian watched silently, a lurker feeling both joy and sorrow.

The joyful part was how hilarious these people were.

When Xu Yuan claimed he’d found out who the sole escapee was, Gao Tian’s heart had jumped into his throat. He really thought he’d been found out.

’In the worst-case scenario, I’d probably have to hide in the Living Human Apartment forever, only leaving for missions.’

He would be facing the relentless pursuit of dozens of ghosts from the chat group.

But in the end, even Xu Yuan believed the escapee was "Zhao Qiang." The Facestealer Ghost’s ability was truly top-tier; even Xu Yuan couldn’t see through the stolen identity.

The Zhao family would take the fall for him. His parents, his friends—none of them would escape. The Jialan Society was about to unleash unprecedented retaliation.

However, considering the Zhao family’s shady, criminal background, having vengeful spirits uproot them completely could be considered a service to the public.

The sorrowful part was that Ghost Cave had the nose of a bloodhound.

While the other ghosts had completely relaxed, he still hadn’t let go of his suspicion that there was a living person in the group.

’I wonder if he’ll do some private digging and trace it all back to me.’

There was nothing to be done about it. The only thing Gao Tian could do was get as strong as possible, so that on the day Ghost Cave finally came knocking, he would have the power to counter—or even fight back.

After dealing with the chat group business, Gao Tian sat on his bed in the apartment and looked at the red pot resting quietly in the corner.

Now that he was back in the Living Human Apartment, it was time to inspect the pot he had risked life and limb to steal, the one that haunted Xu Yuan’s every thought.