Since they were both in Liwan Town, the Headless Female Ghost definitely knew the restaurant was the Gluttonous Female Ghost's territory, but she probably hadn't expected the latter to wake from her slumber the instant she set foot inside.
At close range, a Red Dress could kill an ordinary person in a second using dozens of different methods, which was exactly why she had dared to waltz into the restaurant without a shred of caution.
In her mind, by the time the Gluttonous Female Ghost woke up, she would have already finished slaughtering everyone and left. She knew she couldn't beat the Gluttonous Female Ghost head-on, but it wouldn't be easy for the Gluttonous Female Ghost to chase her down in an open space, either.
The plan was perfect — if only she hadn't run into
In the eyes of a Red Dress, ordinary people were nothing more than food that could provide resentment. In Chen Ge's eyes, an ordinary Red Dress was simply food that could enhance his employees' abilities. All beings were equal — that was Chen Ge's definition of fairness.
The timing was impeccable. The Headless Female Ghost, lured by Chen Ge, had charged to the junction where the kitchen met the hallway, and the Gluttonous Female Ghost chose that exact moment to emerge from the kitchen.
The distance was far too short. The Headless Female Ghost had no chance to dodge — she could only take the Gluttonous Female Ghost's first strike head-on and then figure out a way to escape.
The Gluttonous Female Ghost seemed to have read her intentions. Her massive body, driven by hatred and hunger, rolled forward like a charging elephant. Blood mist scattered in every direction, and the entire building seemed to come alive at the same time. Dense blood vessels began pulsing in a rhythmic pattern, then detached from the interior of the structure like chains, sealing the restaurant's front door and cutting off the Headless Female Ghost's retreat.
Her eyes burned with undisguised malice. Countless blood threads burst from the severed stump of her neck. Knowing she was at a disadvantage, she didn't waste energy trying to trade blows with the Gluttonous Female Ghost. Instead, she concentrated her power, spreading blood threads across her entire body.
The severed head was stitched back onto the neck — this was presumably what she had looked like before death. She wore a nightgown, its hem dyed red with blood.
Countless blood vessels surged toward her. The female ghost dodged desperately, and when evasion was impossible, she wrapped herself in blood threads and forcibly smashed through the vessels.
The Gluttonous Female Ghost hadn't even moved her main body — merely controlling those thick blood vessels was enough to leave the Headless Female Ghost in a wretched state.
"The gap in strength is a bit too big!" What Chen Ge wanted to see was an evenly matched fight — ideally, both Red Dresses would finish the battle severely wounded. But what was happening now was a one-sided massacre. The Gluttonous Female Ghost could simply grind the Headless Female Ghost down at her leisure, defeating her without a scratch.
Inside Xiao Bu's game, once Chen Ge had Xiao Bu witness the two Red Dresses clash, he immediately pulled Xiao Bu away. He had no idea what happened after that.
"Should I step in and help the Headless Female Ghost?" Three options lay before Chen Ge. The first was to help the Headless Female Ghost hold off the Gluttonous Female Ghost, and after the Gluttonous Female Ghost was badly wounded, turn on the Headless Female Ghost. Too many variables in that approach — the Headless Female Ghost might seize the first opportunity to flee and never bother allying with Chen Ge at all.
The second option was to do nothing. Let the Gluttonous Female Ghost wound the Headless Female Ghost, then have
The third option was to leave. Apart from Zhang Ya, Chen Ge didn't even have a single intact Red Dress on his side. An ordinary Red Dress could be dealt with through numbers, but when facing a top-tier Red Dress, running was the only option.
"If only I had more time. Give me another week — once
Chen Ge deliberated for a minute or two, but the situation inside the restaurant had already shifted dramatically. Slits had opened across the Gluttonous Female Ghost's massive body, and from within them came the faint sound of a woman's voice.
"Hungry…"
The voice drifted out from one of the slits — barely audible at first, but gradually, every single mouth on her body began repeating the same word.
Countless mouths opening and closing on a single body — the sight was enough to make one's scalp tingle. The Headless Female Ghost was affected too; her speed increased once more. She had never intended to fight back from the start — escape was her only goal.
"Hungry, hungry, I'm starving!"
The Gluttonous Female Ghost shrieked. The mouths on her body ripped open toward both sides. Countless blood threads intertwined, extending from those gaping mouths like tongues.
"This thing is terrifyingly strong." Chen Ge's Yin Eye gave him a crystal-clear view. The mouths on the Gluttonous Female Ghost were subtly different from one another, as if they belonged to different people. "Does she keep the mouth of every 'food' she devours? Those mouths on her body belong to different people?"
One blood-red tongue after another reached toward the Headless Female Ghost, and the space she had to dodge shrank with every passing second. After being driven into the left side of the lobby, one tongue coiled around the female ghost's foot.
"Damn it!" Chen Ge shot to his feet. The gap between the two Red Dresses was far too great — the fight could end in an instant, and he had to make a choice. "If I help the Headless Female Ghost, she might not even be grateful. But if I flee, the Gluttonous Female Ghost will devour the Headless Female Ghost and become even stronger."
An ordinary Red Dress would slumber for a long time after consuming another Red Dress, but Chen Ge suspected the Gluttonous Female Ghost could compress that time to the bare minimum. She had been screaming about hunger all along — this monster's body was like a black hole that could never be filled. Her digestive ability was likely far beyond that of any other Red Dress.
"The Gluttonous Female Ghost guards this restaurant, and the restaurant sits right in the center of Liwan Town. Clearly the Shadow trusts her deeply, entrusting such a critical location to her. After she devours the Headless Female Ghost, she'll become even more terrifying — that bodes very poorly for my later confrontation with the Shadow." Chen Ge was thinking far ahead, not limiting himself to the present. "If only Zhang Ya were here. None of this would be necessary."
Chen Ge turned to look at his own shadow. He had only meant to glance at it casually, but to his surprise, he noticed his shadow was slowly changing shape.
"Zhang Ya has been hiding inside my shadow this whole time. What is she doing?"
There was no more time to think. A scream from the Headless Female Ghost echoed through the lobby. When Chen Ge whipped his head around, he saw that the female ghost had deliberately severed her own left foot — the one the tongue had wrapped around.
Detached from her body, the foot dissolved into blood threads that the tongue coiled around and dragged back into the Gluttonous Female Ghost's body.
Tasting fresh blood, the Gluttonous Female Ghost grew even more frenzied. Her entire body trembled with excitement, mouths snapping open and shut one after another as more blood-red tongues extended toward the Headless Female Ghost.
Driven to the brink, the Headless Female Ghost realized escape was impossible. The blood threads across her body began contracting, rushing up toward her neck — she seemed prepared to abandon her body entirely and send only her head out.
"Boom!"