LABMY CH66

“What on earth is going on?”

Liu Zhuqing crossed her arms over her chest, a gesture of insecurity. Only after subconsciously doing this did she realize she was trembling.

A chill ran down her spine. The lights here were bright, the decor warm, yet she felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

Something was tampering with their memories.

Qiu Leshan shook his head grimly, “Let’s leave this place first.”

However, when they reached the entrance, the two girls who had already fully accepted themselves as “Qingniang” refused to leave. Their faces were pale, and they retreated in resistance.

“No, guest. We cannot leave the hotel.”

Liu Zhuqing panicked, “Qianqian, we’re not Qingniang. We’re students from X University. Don’t you remember?”

“Just come with us first. We can talk about everything else later, okay?”

Qianqian shook her head violently and turned around with Jiu’er, attempting to walk away. Qiu Leshan exchanged glances with Liu Zhuqing and Liu Hong. The three of them suddenly stepped forward and forcefully dragged the two girls toward the exit.

“What are you doing?! Let me go!”

Qianqian and Jiu’er struggled desperately, clinging tightly to the handrails by the door, refusing to take a single step outside.

Qiu Leshan grabbed Qianqian, while Liu Zhuqing and Liu Hong worked together to pull Jiu’er away.

Wang Songwen stood to the side, dumbfounded, “Wait… bro, why are you grabbing the hotel staff?”

“If they don’t want to leave, just let go. Forcing it won’t help, you know?”

Qiu Leshan roared, “Shut up and help us!”

Wang Songwen grumbled as he stepped forward and pried the girls’ hands off the railing.

Amidst the girls’ blood-curdling screams, the six of them finally stepped out of the hotel entrance.

The grand hall, filled with drifting fragrance and draped in thin red curtains, appeared before them once again. The long table was adorned with bizarre candles, toppled wine glasses lay abandoned, and the small stage was surrounded by candleholders.

The luxurious and decadent hall unfolded before their eyes. Qiu Leshan stiffened and slowly turned his head to look at the door they had just stepped out of.

The moment they exited the hotel door, they found themselves back inside.

In the shadows, a hunched man holding a lantern watched this scene unfold. The wooden mask on his face was carved with a grotesquely upturned smile, mocking them in silence.

“So what if you’ve noticed the abnormality? You can’t escape. All you can do is helplessly feel your memories being stripped away, little by little.”

In the dim hallway, the man’s hoarse, raspy laughter echoed faintly, as if he were crying.

The hunched man turned and entered a room filled with wooden barrels, each containing chunks of raw meat. He scooped up a large basin of flesh and grabbed a bag of boxed meals before heading toward the basement floor.

The blood-soaked metal basin was casually placed on the floor, reeking of raw flesh. The hunched man, holding a red paper lantern in one hand and the meal bag in the other, walked through the sea of grotesque ghosts.

Around him, eerie creatures of various forms devoured the raw meat like rabid beasts, yet their eyes remained fixed on the hunched man, filled with hunger and greed. However, they dared not approach due to the red paper lantern in his hand.

The hunched man walked deeper into the corridor and pushed open a door at the end.

Inside, a terrified figure sat up abruptly. Upon seeing the hunched man, she was filled with panic and desperation.

The hunched man placed the meal on the ground. “Eat.”

Qing Eleven slowly stepped forward and took her portion, eating quietly. Meanwhile, in the corner, Tang Tang cowered, refusing to move.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” the hunched man asked.

Tang Tang trembled and whispered, “Can you let me go?”

“Or do you want me to feed you instead?”

The hunched man avoided the question. His mask suddenly fell off and pressed right up to Tang Tang’s face. Seeing Tang Tang tremble in fear, the grin on the mask’s face grew even wider.

“Do you want me to feed you?”

The moment the mask fell off, the hunched man’s body collapsed to the ground, lifeless and motionless. Apart from the faint rise and fall of his chest that proved he was still breathing, he looked no different from a corpse.

“Ghost Face.”

A sudden voice echoed, making the mask tremble in fear. Without sparing Tang Tang or Qing Eleven a glance, it hurriedly fled into another room in the corridor.

The room was filled with iron chains, and beneath them, countless pregnant female ghosts were bound tightly. They let out meaningless wails of agony, writhing and struggling, but the chains held them firmly in place.

Suddenly, one of the female ghosts in the corner let out a piercing shriek. From between her legs, a pair of small, bloody hands slowly emerged, touching the ground. Then, another hand followed.

With these two hands, the creature slowly pulled itself out of the female ghost’s swollen belly.

However, aside from these two hands, nothing about it resembled a human. Its body was covered in black, festering sores, and beneath its bluish-purple skin, something dark and wriggling could be seen crawling under the flesh.

An old man dressed in a black suit stepped forward and caught the newborn ghost baby with one hand. He was dressed impeccably, clean and refined, except for his deathly pale face, which exuded a chilling authority.

The old man glanced at the ghost baby with disgust and tossed it onto Ghost Face’s body as if it were a piece of trash.

Ghost Face stumbled backward and caught the ghost baby with its wooden mask body. It trembled in fear, unable to stand up. “Master.”

“Another piece of garbage. Your experiment has made no progress at all.”

Ghost Face panicked. Beneath the mask, countless wriggling worms gathered, forming a human-like shape. It knelt on the ground and said in terror, “Master, I’ve already mastered the method to control the Seven Souls of humans. Just give me a little more time, and I can produce more ghost babies.”

The old man sneered coldly, “What’s the point of producing so much trash? What I want is a living, breathing human born from a ghost.”

“Not these failed, stitched-together monstrosities.”

As Ghost Face broke out in cold sweat, the old man’s tone suddenly shifted, “That one still hasn’t recovered his memories?”

Ghost Face shook its head. “Master, could it be that the art of Ghost-Taming isn’t as the legends describe?”

“I’ve watched him all this time, and he hasn’t recovered his memories, nor has he summoned a single ghost.”

The old man waved his hand, and suddenly, Tang Tang’s figure from the next room appeared in midair. The old man narrowed his eyes as he examined her.

“There’s no trace of any blood contract on him. What’s going on?”

“He’s gained the art of Ghost-Taming and even participated in the Heavenly Master’s exam, yet he hasn’t contracted a single ghost?”

Ghost Face hesitated, “Then… what should we do now? The Heavenly Masters are already sensing that something is wrong.”

The old man waved his hand dismissively, “Send a few ghosts for them to exorcise. Let them think the matter is resolved and leave this place.”

After a moment of silence, the old man stared coldly at Ghost Face.

“And you… find an opportunity to let Jiang Tang contract you. Stay by his side and keep an eye on him for me.”

“The original plan was to use the Heavenly Master’s exam on Duanlong Mountain to pull him in and test his strength. I didn’t expect him to be this weak.”

“Stay by his side and let him contract more ghosts. When his Ghost-taming art reaches perfection… that will be the moment my plan succeeds.”

The old man sneered, “Humans are truly useless. Holding onto such a godly technique for so long, and yet he’s still nothing but a waste.”

Ghost Face stiffened but could only lower its head in submission. “Understood, Master.”

The wooden mask on its face slowly split in two, and its body divided into two identical forms. Due to Ghost Face’s unique nature, even if it were contracted by Jiang Tang, it wouldn’t be bound by the contract. This was why the old man trusted it.

The old man walked over, bent down, and picked up the lifeless ghost baby from the ground.

“If you can’t give birth to a true human, your experiment is over.”

“I think… it’s already over.”

At that moment, the door creaked open.

Jian Yuanbai stood at the entrance, smiling faintly at them.

Behind him, Yin Lengchun hadn’t recovered from her shock. The sight before her made her scalp tingle with fear.

The room was filled with countless pregnant female ghosts, howling and struggling. Through their thin, translucent skin, tiny ghostly handprints could be seen pressing outward from inside their swollen bellies.

Yin Lengchun covered her mouth, struggling to suppress the nausea rising from her stomach.

This scene was simply too horrifying, too inhumane.

Even if these were mindless female ghosts, they shouldn’t be subjected to such torment.