Ita Era

Chapter 129 Grudges

Ding Shi stepped out the door and found it pitch black outside, with visibility of only three meters, thanks to the lantern he was carrying. Most of the lanterns that had been hanging by the roadside were now out of oil.

The darkness fragmented the already limited number of players into isolated individuals. The sinister hand lurking in the shadows, the ghostly woman in red, and the mysterious inner shrine—all these elements instilled a sense of despair. In this environment, Ding Shi's first thought was of his bed; crawling under the covers, he could find peace.

Ding Shi took a deep breath and went outside, closing the broken door behind him. Because of the Black Hand's presence, no one could hide in the darkness, which was a good thing for Ding Shi. However, no one meant no ghosts. Ding Shi hadn't walked 20 meters when he bumped into Lady Ghost.

The ghost lady was quite polite, stepping aside to let Ding Shi pass first. Ding Shi thought the road wasn't narrow at all; three adult men could easily cross it, so why should she let him pass?

Ding Shi's question was quickly answered.

Ding Shi walked past the Ghost Lady and nodded in greeting. This gesture wouldn't burn many calories, but he still wanted to appear as friendly as possible. The Ghost Lady was different from the Ghost Grandmother; she possessed a degree of self-awareness. To be precise, she was an amnesiac ghost who only remembered her dowry.

The original, obsessive ghosts are not like that; they are not affected by Ding Shi. For example, the Ghost Lady won't step aside now. Ding Shi would swear on Cao Ying's head: it was absolutely that beast Wang Yi who did something to the Wang Lady's corpse.

Why is it that in Ding Shi's account, Lady Wang killing her clansmen to regain her youth is Lady Wang, while Wang Yi killing his clansmen to regain his youth is considered a beast? Because Lady Ghost is very beautiful.

Perhaps it's true that women dress up for those they admire. As Ding Shi walked past Lady Ghost, she turned and quietly followed behind him. Ding Shi's heart skipped a beat, and he stopped. Lady Ghost stopped too. Ding Shi turned to look at her; she kept her head bowed, maintaining proper etiquette and avoiding eye contact. Ding Shi continued walking forward, keeping his turn, while Lady Ghost followed with small, quick steps, keeping a meter's distance between them.

When Ding Shi was fast, she was fast too; when Ding Shi didn't move, she didn't move either.

Ding Shi swore that if he met such a beautiful girl in real life, who would follow him to the ends of the earth, he would take her home, even if she were Wang Yi's second wife or Wang Meng's own mother.

But this is a ghost, a ghost that can kill itself with a little finger. No matter how beautiful a woman is, is her life more precious? What were those guys who got Sadako pregnant thinking? I'm really scared now. Scared of what? I don't know, it's just a kind of fear that I can't shake off no matter how I try to understand it.

In the darkness, a lantern shines. A person walks in front, and a ghost follows behind, step by step, like a shadow.

Lady Ghost followed Ding Shi to her own mourning hall.

The funeral hall was brightly lit with many candles.

Ding Shi walked to the side, and Lady Ghost walked around the coffin to the offering table, looking at the black and white portrait displayed there. The portrait showed a beautiful woman, her half-white hair still unable to conceal the frost-like radiance. This was the legendary "beauty bone"—simply put, a woman possessing beauty bones wasn't stunningly beautiful, but very pleasing to the eye and less affected by the passage of time.

In men's terms, it means the more you look at her, the more beautiful she becomes, the more charming she is, and the more your heart flutters.

Many beautiful women don't stand up to close scrutiny; their individual features can't be examined individually. But women with beautiful bone structure—beautiful eyes, a beautiful nose, a beautiful mouth—are so beautiful together that they create a unique focal point for men. Most men's first impression of a woman is focused on one thing: her legs, her chest, her hips, her eyes, her hair, and so on. It's undeniable; men are just that superficial.

Ding Shi looked at the Ghost Lady and couldn't help but say, "AI is so powerful, I can already see the future of humanity." How can a stomach that has been used to refined grains adapt to coarse food?

A perfect female homemaker costs only 998. How many men would still get married and have children? And women? It's pretty much the same. If they want a child, they can just go to the bank and get one. They can even customize the bloodline, appearance, and even intelligence.

Technology changes lives, high technology will destroy humanity.

The ghost lady suddenly turned to look at Ding Shi, startling him so much that he took two steps back. After all, she was a ghost, not the custom-made mistress.

The ghost lady stepped towards Ding Shi, who was terrified. No matter what you're going to do, I will definitely fight back.

Then Ding Shi was pulled back five meters in mid-air by a tremendous force, crashing into the wall and falling to the ground. Madam Gui walked past where Ding Shi had stood and headed towards the inner hall.

Ding Shi sighed. It turned out he had blocked someone's way and thought they were trying to harm him.

Ding Shi stood up and quickly followed the Ghost Lady. He sensed that the Ghost Lady did not have much malice. In addition, he found that the Ghost Lady seemed to be a little smarter than before.

Madam Ghost led Ding Shi on a tour. Ding Shi saw Madam Ghost's jewelry box but didn't dare to take it. They then followed Madam Ghost to the mourning hall. Madam Ghost looked at Ding Shi with some confusion on her face.

Ding Shi's mind and eyes clicked simultaneously, and he asked, "Are you looking for... your lover?" Actually, I was looking for him too.

The ghost lady rarely spoke, but she asked, "Where is he?"

Ding Shi glanced at the half-closed coffin. If his guess was correct, his adopted son had pried open the coffin and lay down inside after returning.

The ghost lady was somewhat intelligent. She turned to look at the coffin, and the coffin lid floated up and stopped in the air. She floated to the front of the coffin, looked inside, and saw her adopted son who had died with blood flowing from his seven orifices.

Suicide by suicide, 100% suicide by poison.

Blood tears streamed from the Ghost Lady's eyes, her lips trembled involuntarily, and a murderous aura emanated from her, her entire body surging with red light. With a dull thud as the coffin lid closed, the Ghost Lady flew into the air, searching for someone to kill.

The obsessive ghost changed her obsession, from the original dowry to murder. All of this was thanks to Wang Yi. When Wang Yi saw the ghost lady's corpse, he knew she would develop an obsession and become an obsessive ghost. So he sealed most of the ghost lady's memories, leaving her only with the desire to find the dowry.

From this perspective, Wang Yi saved the players.

With Ding's help, Lady Ghost went on a day trip home. Feeling something was missing, Ding pointed her to the coffin, which completely broke Wang Yi's seal.

Upon seeing the Ghost Lady's blood-stained tears, Ding Shi turned and ran. Hearing the eerie winds and ghostly wails behind him, Ding Shi didn't look back. Seeing the west courtyard gate open, he immediately went inside to hide. He had a feeling that the Ghost Lady would repay kindness with enmity.

Upon entering the west courtyard, Ding Shi saw light shining from the main house. He was about to knock on the door when he suddenly felt the temperature in the room drop significantly, so he quickly crouched down and hid. The next second, Madam Ghost floated over the high wall and looked down at the west courtyard.

A minute later, the door to the main room in the west courtyard opened, and Ziqing walked out with a lantern in hand. When she looked up, she saw the ghost lady floating in mid-air. Startled, she immediately turned around and went back into her room, closing the door behind her.

The Ghost Lady: "Where is Wang Yi?" Her voice was no longer ethereal, but mournful and shrill. It was like a wife arguing, crying and shouting, the kind of sound that bystanders couldn't understand at all.

After a few breaths, there was no response. The door of the main house in the west courtyard flew out, and the Ghost Madam rushed into the main house, where screams and shouts filled the air. Ding Shi took the opportunity to use the lantern as a stepping stone to escape.

It now seems that Madam Ghost's obsession isn't killing people, but killing Wang Yi. She questions everyone, and even if they can't answer, she won't kill them; she'll just shake them until they're like noodles. It's similar to a romantic drama where the male lead grabs the female lead's shoulders and shakes her back and forth: "Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" The female lead, like a mute, cries silently, happily enjoying the violent shaking.

Ding Shi didn't know if Zi Qing could withstand the shaking, but he certainly couldn't. If the lantern pole broke with a shake, without the lantern, he would be dragged into hell by the ghostly hand.

Where to go? Ding Shi chose the outer ancestral hall. This place was good; there were even oil lamps lit here. If Madam Ghost came looking for him, he could even point her in a way to kill Wang Yi, and maybe he could even pick up the scraps. Now it wasn't a matter of whether Ding Shi wanted to take the risk or not, but rather that there was nowhere safe in the entire Wang residence.

Then Ding Shi met Cao Ying in the outer ancestral hall. Cao Ying was squatting in the southwest corner, behind two bundles of firewood.

Ding Shi held up the lantern, slowly approached, and asked, "Are you taking a dump?"

Cao Ying was not using the toilet, but pouring tung oil. However, he knew that Ding Shi absolutely could not find out about this, otherwise it would cause a lot of trouble. So he said, "Yes, don't come any closer."

"Stop being so narcissistic. Nobody looks good when they're pooping." Ding Shi found the nearest seat and sat down. Hearing this, Cao Ying felt like killing Ding Shi on the spot, but not wanting him to ruin her plans, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

Ding Shi took off his shoes to make his feet more comfortable and replied, "I'm queuing to poop."

This is why Cao Ying was wary of Ding Shi, because it was difficult to discern Ding Shi's thoughts and actions from his behavior and words.

Just like when Ziqing and Dingshi were dating, Ziqing couldn't understand what Dingshi was thinking or what he would do. Sometimes he was all smiles and gentleness, and he really was. But other times, he would turn around and beat someone half to death while still maintaining a smile. To put it nicely, he was good at keeping his emotions in check; to put it bluntly, he was unpredictable.

Unfortunately, many people are angered by Ding Shi's behavior and words, losing their defensive stance and allowing Ding Shi to take the initiative.

Cao Ying took a deep breath, trying not to let her emotions show, and said, "Then you'll have to wait a long time."

Ding Shi: "What? Did you get diarrhea?"

Cao Yingren.

Ding Shi: "Still in the bamboo courtyard, did I attack the wrong spot when I ambushed the lower body?"

Cao Ying couldn't resist and threw a flying knife.

Ding Shi easily dodged the attack from 20 meters away. Why keep such a distance? Why get so close when someone's using the restroom?
Cao Ying: "Turn your head around, I'm putting on my pants."

Ding Shi: "I wasn't looking at you." He was looking at the closed gate of the inner ancestral hall.

Cao Ying: "Spin it again."

Ding Shi turned his head again, his eyes fixed on the gate. Although he couldn't make out the details of the gate, it gave Ding Shi a sense of weight and solidity tonight.

Cao Ying was surprised that Ding Shi would listen to her. She really didn't know what he was thinking or what he would do. Cao Ying pretended to pull up her pants and walked towards Ding Shi.

Ding Shi carried a lantern toward the firewood. Cao Ying asked in surprise, "What are you doing?"

"Didn't I say I was going to the toilet?" Ding Shi hung up the lantern and leaned against the wall to relieve himself.

Cao Ying: "..." Can it still be lit?
Ding Shi sniffed a few times and asked, "Did you eat tung oil? Why do you smell like tung oil?" Of course, he wouldn't use a lantern to shine a light on it; who wants to see someone else's excrement?

Cao Ying explained, "I accidentally knocked over an oil lamp."

Ding Shi looked puzzled, zipped up his pants, and watched Cao Ying walk back. He sat down in front of Cao Ying, looking her over from side to side. Cao Ying was speechless: "What's wrong with you now?"

Ding Shi shook his head: "No." Could it be a fake Phantom? He was actually patiently explaining himself in the face of his own harsh words. Either it's a fake, or he's changed, or he's plotting something.

Ding Shi frowned when he thought of Cao Ying crouching in the southwest corner, using firewood as cover. His sharp eyes startled Cao Ying. Had he seen through her?
Ding Shi said, "You want to dig a tunnel to the inner ancestral hall?"

Cao Ying suffered a heart attack. He didn't know how Ding Shi came to this conclusion, so he could only reply, "It has nothing to do with you."

Ding Shi asked, "Can I watch you dig a tunnel? I've never seen tunneling before, and I'm very curious." First, let's see what happens when you dig a tunnel into the inner ancestral hall. If there's no outcome, then you can experience it yourself.

Cao Ying decided to steer the conversation in the right direction: "Haven't seen each other for over a year?"

Ding Shi: "Yes."

Cao Ying racked her brains and asked, "Are you alright?"

Ding Shi was wary: "What are you trying to do? We're not even acquainted."

Cao Ying: "I'm just concerned about your situation."

Ding Shi said, "It's good to be alive."

Cao Ying: "You killed my god-sister."

Ding Shi said, "Yes."

Cao Ying asked, "Why?"

Ding Shi pondered, "What was my original answer to you?"

Cao Ying said, "You said she wanted to kill you, so you killed her."

Ding Shi nodded: "That's a good answer."

Cao Ying: "But after my investigation, I found out that she was just an information broker who had just settled in City A and was selling scraps of information. She would never kill you."

The correct answer is somewhat related to Ziqing. Ding Shi's superior urgently summons him, saying that an undercover agent's identity has been exposed by a rival gang and he might be executed. Ding Shi meets with his superior in a private room and rescues Ziqing. That night, he leads a raid on the rival gang, killing their second-in-command. The undercover agent, who was being held captive, takes the opportunity to secretly escape.

An investigation by her superiors revealed the emergence of a small organization in City A called the Akatsuki, comprised entirely of overseas returnees. The Akatsuki was a branch of a foreign intelligence network, and Cao Ying's adopted sister's purpose in coming to City A was to establish a new branch. Knowing that the Dragon Gang and the Summer Gang were the two largest gangs in City A and would inevitably clash, she decided to hedge her bets on both, seeking business from both sides. The intelligence she provided to the Summer Gang was her undercover identity.

The superior contacted the security personnel, who confirmed that the Akatsuki was an extension of a certain country's intelligence network. However, the Akatsuki was newly established and hadn't done anything wrong, so the security personnel couldn't take action; they could only keep them in check and see if they could find any evidence. The superior took on the task and assigned it to Ding Shi.

A few days later, Ding Shi harassed Cao Ying's god-sister at an underground boxing ring. Enraged, he ordered two of his henchmen to stab her eighteen times. Because of this, Ding Shi was severely reprimanded by Wang Meng and had to sell his villa to raise ten million yuan to compensate the owner of the underground boxing ring, who then settled the matter.

On the surface, the Dragon Gang was behind this incident. Cao Ying, in order to avenge her adopted sister, started with the Dragon Gang and eventually targeted two henchmen from the Beacon Fire Hall.

Cao Ying decided to use someone else to do her dirty work, stealing the accounting books of Yi Xia Company, which Ding Shi controlled. This way, she could both destroy the Dragon Gang's Yi Xia Company and get Wang Meng to kill Ding Shi. Unexpectedly, to prevent the Xia Gang from making a comeback, Wang Meng let Ding Shi go.

In order to get the account book from Ding Shi, Cao Ying used her beauty to seduce him, knocked him down, stole the account book, and ran away.

That's right. Although Cao Ying's appearance is androgynous, physiologically speaking, she is 100% female.

(End of this chapter)