I'm being held captive by a monster

Chapter 255 The Red-Haired Girl
"..."

Upon seeing the scene inside, Lin Xing'an's mind went blank.

Inside the coffin, there was a person curled up...

It's not a gluttonous ghost, but a human.

Those timelines, drifting like duckweed in the darkness, emanated from this girl's body.

How can it be……

Lin Xing'an bit his tongue to calm himself down.

A gluttonous ghost and a human were standing together at the same time.

They are indistinguishable to the naked eye.

Neither the gluttonous ghosts nor humans could find their own kind.

This is common sense, and it's also a "rule".

But for some reason, without any basis or cause...

Lin Xing'an could immediately confirm that this was a human being.

And at the same time, a feeling of indescribable warmth welled up in his heart...

It was as if he and this girl knew each other very well, but hadn't seen each other for a long time.

But... how is that possible?

Lin Xing'an's heart was pounding.

Perhaps it was the chaotic timeline surrounding her that gave Lin Xing'an a natural sense of familiarity?

Perhaps it's because of her...

wrong……

I've seen her before...

"how come……"

When Lin Xing'an saw the girl's long, fiery red hair, he was first stunned, then his pupils shrank!
Looking more closely at the girl's face, even though her eyes were tightly closed, and even though countless silver-white timelines were constantly obstructing Lin Xing'an's vision...

But these facial features, the feeling between these brows and eyes, slowly overlapped with the memories that Lin Xing'an had long kept hidden in his heart...

"is her……"

Lin Xing'an's memory instantly returned to fifteen years ago.

When he was six years old, in the pouring rain at the train station that day, he opened the River of Time for the first time because of his ability to copy ghosts.

In that silvery-white river, the clone was completely erased by the river of time as a "bug".

But just before Lin Xing'an stepped out of the long river...

A red-haired girl who called him "brother" ran from afar, seemingly trying to remind him of Peach Blossom Village.

At that moment, Lin Xing'an could only make out her lip movements.

I have absolutely no idea what she's trying to tell me.

At the same time, he couldn't understand why this girl would appear in the river of time, or why she would deliberately come to remind him of what happened back then.

And now...

The girl was curled up asleep in the coffin in front of Lin Xing'an at this very moment.

And he looks only seven or eight years old.

She was much smaller than when Lin Xing'an saw her at the age of six fifteen years ago.

"..."

Lin Xing'an closed his eyes, his heart filled with extreme vigilance.

He observed out of the corner of his eye Uncle He, who had remained silent since entering the room.

My thoughts kept surging uncontrollably in my mind.

Why would a human being be inside a coffin bearing the shrine's insignia and belonging to the shrine?
Why is this coffin here? And why has it been here for so long?

Why did the coffin open on its own after he arrived?

Who exactly is this girl inside?

There are just too many questions surrounding her...

Furthermore, its connection to the shrine adds to the mystery.

But right now, for Lin Xing'an, the most important thing is...

Why did Uncle He bring him here?
Did Uncle He know that there was a person inside that coffin?

If I knew...

Could this be a test for him?

but……

"Uncle He, this is a human-animal hybrid."

After thinking for a moment, Lin Xing'an spoke tentatively first.

"Humans and animals..."

Upon hearing his voice, Uncle He turned around in utter confusion.

"What are humans and animals...?"

He asked in an aged voice.

All that remained in his eyes was chaos.

"..."

Lin Xing'an looked at Uncle He in silence, his brows furrowed tightly.

As the gluttonous ghost gets older... would it become so confused that it doesn't even know what humans and animals are?
is it possible?

"Uncle He, humans and animals are food, and we need to eat them."

Lin Xing'an spoke again.

These words seemed to awaken Uncle He, causing him to suddenly look up at him.

"You are no better than a beast."

His eyes widened, and he suddenly said!

But the next second, Uncle He shook his head violently.

"No... I can no longer... eat humans and animals..."

Uncle He swallowed hard, his hunched body swaying slightly.

"This is Yu Yu's order, it's Yu Yu, she..."

“I remember now… Yu Yu sent me…”

“Child, this is what Yu Yu left for you. Yes, this is what your mother left for you.”

"She said you would come, she... she said it a long, long time ago..."

Uncle He seemed to be in a state of confused and disordered memories, muttering to himself.

Yu Yu......

Lin Xing'an closed his eyes.

At this point, Uncle He was almost rambling incoherently, and it was most likely not an act.

Moreover, the so-called "not eating humans and animals" was probably not because he had become senile, but because of Yu Yu's orders.

It was just like giving Xin Xin an order back then.

"After Yu Yu arrived in Nancheng, he must have visited Uncle He once after I appeared, and used his abilities to implant commands into Uncle He..."

Lin Xing'an pursed his lips slightly.

Uncle He's true strength is absolutely top-notch.

Even while using commands to suppress his instincts, Yu Yu was still able to implant such life-altering commands into Uncle He and Xin Xin...

How terrifying must Yu Yu have been at his peak?

A complex mix of emotions and reflections arose in Lin Xing'an's heart.

But Uncle He said that the coffin was left to him by Yu Yu...

Lin Xing'an remained skeptical...

After all, the coffin still bore the shrine's emblem.

Neither Yu Yu herself nor Tao Yuan ever said that she had any connection with the Divine Palace...

"But no matter what, we must find a way to contact Yunxia and use her abilities to see Yu Yu again..."

Lin Xing'an thought to himself.

But given the current situation, even if Uncle He is safe, how can he possibly get the girl out of here with this coffin?
Jiang Rong is still waiting outside...

Lin Xing'an glanced at Uncle He, who was still in a daze and kept muttering to himself.

He then looked at the girl in front of him.

"..."

As if sensing his gaze, the girl's long eyelashes trembled slightly, as if she were about to wake up.

"Rumble..."

"……Um?"

But just as Lin Xing'an was thinking of a solution, the sound of the river of time suddenly came to his ears.

Lin Xing'an's heart skipped a beat, and his mind went blank!
How could that be?
He was in perfect physical condition and did not actively seek to revert to a previous state.

But the river of time ignored Lin Xing'an's obstruction and control, and appeared in front of Lin Xing'an!
If this happens at this critical juncture, Xu Zhe will definitely hear about it and make the connection!
"you……"

But then, as if realizing something, Lin Xing'an suddenly turned around and looked at the girl in the coffin. The girl had already fully woken up at some point.

Like a little beast, she bared her teeth at Lin Xing'an with feigned ferocity, then used Lin Xing'an's body to jump directly into the River of Time!
So agile was she that Lin Xing'an couldn't stop her at first.

Or……

It was the timeline emanating from her that actively blocked Lin Xing'an from view.

The river of time seemed to have developed its own consciousness, welcoming the girl's entry!
"Dangdang!"

After the girl woke up and left, the coffin that had been floating in the air fell to the ground.

After confirming that Uncle He was not reacting and remained as if he had crashed, Lin Xing'an calmed himself down.

He first felt his connection with the river of time.

Only after confirming that he could still actively shut down the River of Time did he briefly breathe a sigh of relief and look at the girl in the River of Time.

"...Is she eating time?"

Lin Xing'an narrowed his eyes in surprise.

This child, like a fish, "swam" through countless silver timelines.

It was as if he hadn't eaten for years, slurping up noodles and swallowing mouthfuls of timelines.

His face showed visible satisfaction and contentment!
The silver light dimmed slightly after she touched the thread, turning it somewhat grayish-white.

I can't see any difference in the others.

"Is this her ability or something else?"

"What would happen to her if I shut down the River of Time right now...?"

Lin Xing'an gritted his teeth.

But there was no time to hesitate any longer.

Because he had already seen Jiang Rong walk into the basement through the shadows left outside.

After glancing again at the girl eating heartily in the long river, Lin Xing'an breathed a sigh of relief and stopped worrying about it.

With his will, the river of time vanished into thin air as if it had never existed.

Along with it, all traces of that red-haired girl also vanished.

But in the air, many drifting timelines still float by.

However, these timelines have lost their source.

"An'an, Lao He?"

Jiang Rong's voice came through.

"here!"

Lin Xing'an glanced at the dazed Uncle He, cleared his throat, and called out.

Half a minute later, Jiang Rong held up a flashlight, bent down and entered the room, where she saw Lin Xing'an frowning as he carefully examined something.

"Grandma, something's not right about this coffin."

Lin Xing'an turned around and said seriously.

"This……"

Jiang Rong, who originally wanted to speak to Uncle He first, had a drastic change in expression when she saw the coffin in front of Lin Xing'an!
“Grandma, there’s a shrine symbol on this coffin.”

“This belongs to the shrine.”

Lin Xing'an turned to the side and said.

Jiang Rong lifted the coffin, touching the patterns on it, her eyes filled with an inscrutable expression.

"Old He, how did this ship end up with you?"

After a long silence, Jiang Rong looked at Uncle He and asked in an extremely serious voice.

"...What ship? Where is this?"

"This...this has always been here?"

Just as Lin Xing'an had predicted, Uncle He spoke in a daze.

But Lin Xing'an dared not relax in the slightest.

Because he sensed that the girl was now seemingly struggling to break free from the flow of time...

If he relaxes even a little, the river of time will resurface!

"Old He, look at me, how did this ship get here?"

Jiang Rong placed her hand on Uncle He's shoulder, infusing him with vibrant life force.

She instantly looked ten years older.

But Uncle He didn't change at all.

Even under Jiang Rong's serious questioning, his eyes became even more clouded and confused.

After confirming that she really couldn't get anything out of Uncle He, Jiang Rong withdrew her life force.

"...Grandma, when Uncle He first brought me in, he said this cruise ship had been here for thirty or forty years."

Lin Xing'an suppressed the flow of time and spoke at the opportune moment.

"Thirty or forty years? Impossible."

But Jiang Rong shook her head decisively.

"An'an, when you came, this coffin was lying on the ground, was it open?"

She shone a flashlight inside the coffin.

He pulled out a broken red hair from the corner.

"...It was lying on the ground, but it wasn't fully open; it was only slightly ajar."

"Uncle He said this was left for me, and I opened it after I helped him up."

Lin Xing'an looked at the severed hair in Jiang Rong's hand and said without changing his expression.

"Left for you?"

Jiang Rong turned to look at Lin Xing'an, "After opening it, was there nothing inside?"

she asked again.

"Yes, there's nothing there."

Lin Xing'an nodded and said.

Jiang Rong silently looked into his eyes.

"Grandma, is there...something in here?"

Feeling uncomfortable under his gaze, Lin Xing'an's Adam's apple bobbed, and he asked the question.

"It's nothing, don't be nervous. I didn't expect... this thing to be here either."

Jiang Rong smiled and said with a sigh.

"An'an, look at these timelines, most of them have turned gray, right?"

"This proves that this thing has been here for at least fifty years."

She looked up, put away the red hair found in the coffin, and said.

Lin Xing'an paused for a moment.

Jiang Rong couldn't possibly see the timeline.

"...What...timeline?"

He frowned and looked up, following Jiang Rong's gaze.

A look of confusion appeared on his face.

But Jiang Rong ignored Lin Xing'an, "But some timelines are silvery-white, which means that the people in these timelines have only been gone for a short time."

She stood up and looked at Lin Xing'an.

Lin Xing'an was taken aback.

"You're saying...this coffin...contains a person? Or an animal?"

"How is this possible? This coffin... it's so small..."

Lin Xing'an gasped.

But then he immediately released his ghostly domain and looked deeper into the cruise ship, thinking, "If they really are humans or animals, and they just left, they can't have gone far!"

He made a move to search deeper into the area.

But Jiang Rong stopped Lin Xing'an.

"No need. My judgment may not be correct; I was just saying it casually."

As she spoke, she instantly drained Lin Xing'an's life force!
Lin Xing'an's breath hitched!
Although he knew Jiang Rong was testing him, but...

In his ears, the rumbling sound of the river of time came!
The sudden attack, coupled with the girl's disruptive and reckless behavior inside, made it impossible for Lin Xing'an to control her!
The silvery-white river has reappeared!

The red-haired girl also peeked out!
"Sa!"

At the same time, a torrent of dark energy surged forth, transforming into a sharp blade in mid-air!
Jiang Rong snorted coldly, and the ring on her finger transformed into vines to protect her arm while firmly capturing Lin Xing'an.

But a ruthless glint appeared in Lin Xing'an's eyes.

This sinister blade ignored Jiang Rong completely, severing Lin Xing'an's own arm without the slightest hesitation or doubt!
Blood splattered everywhere!

Jiang Rong's expression changed!
I never expected Lin Xing'an to be so decisive!

Despite the vines spreading rapidly, trying to catch Lin Xing'an.

But Lin Xing'an was even faster!
"go!"

In the gloomy rearguard action, he used his remaining arm to scoop up the red-haired girl who had fallen out and rolled her into the river of time!

(End of this chapter)