Inside the restaurant, the Glutton Ghost had an overwhelming advantage — and that was precisely why she dared to take on all the Red-Robed ghosts in the building at once.
But she had clearly underestimated the Red High Heels and the Headless Woman. When faced with a life-or-death crisis, both Red-Robed ghosts erupted with astonishing power.
The blood threads at the Headless Woman's neck possessed a razor-sharp quality. Though she was being suppressed, she was far from helpless.
Flesh and blood flew everywhere she passed. From the direction of her advance, it was clear she was trying to link up with the Red High Heels.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. The Headless Woman deliberately closed the distance to the Red High Heels and the little boy — whether to have them share the burden, or to join forces against the Glutton Ghost, it was hard to say.
The prison formed by long tongues and blood vessels was steadily shrinking, leaving less and less room for the three ghosts to dodge.
At first, the blood vessels and long tongues hadn't directly targeted the Red High Heels, but as time went on, more and more of them set their sights on the heels — as though they intended to devour even these shoes steeped in curses and misfortune.
Thick blood vessels lunged from every direction like giant pythons, and just then, a woman's laughter rang through the restaurant.
It was crisp and pleasant, maddeningly alluring — you could tell from the sound alone that the woman behind it must have been devastatingly beautiful.
"The laughter is coming from the Red High Heels." The laughter seemed to contain a strange, supernatural charm that could influence one's emotions.
The moment Chen Ge heard it, the blood in his body began to accelerate uncontrollably. Red blotches surfaced across his skin as tiny capillaries, unable to withstand the surge, burst one after another.
Compared to the Glutton Ghost's deep, terrifying shrieks, the laughter emanating from the high heels was its complete opposite.
"Hungry… hungry… HUNGRY!"
The Glutton Ghost heard the laughter too. Whether out of jealousy or some other reason, Chen Ge could clearly sense her fury.
"Is the Red High Heels mocking the Glutton Ghost? Is this a provocation?"
The crisp laughter echoed through the restaurant, slowly morphing from melodious and pleasant to unhinged and hysterical, until finally, a tall, slender woman's figure materialized faintly above the Red High Heels.
She was on the thin side, taller than Chen Ge himself. Her entire body was wrapped in crimson bandages, without a single patch of skin showing.
This woman had a remarkable aura — she must have been extraordinarily beautiful in life. But the way she looked now, it was as though she had undergone a full-body skin graft operation right before death.
Her bandage-wrapped feet slid into the high heels. The tops of her feet pressed against the shoes, and blood seeped through the gaps in the bandages, as though the wounds on her body had yet to heal.
"This is insane." Chen Ge could barely imagine what the body beneath those bandages actually looked like. "If I'd known, I never would have provoked her on that bus."
Blood vessels and long tongues intertwined as they snaked toward the high heels, but she simply stood in place, showing no intention of dodging whatsoever.
When the blood vessels drew close, the woman raised both hands. The bandages perfectly outlined her figure, but none of the "people" present had any appreciation for it.
Blood seeped out from beneath the bandages. The woman let out a hysterical laugh — pain mingled with madness — and she tore through the blood vessels and long tongues with ease, striding forward.
"Attacking alone?" Chen Ge wasn't entirely sure what the Red High Heels was thinking. In terms of sheer presence, the Red High Heels was strong, but still noticeably weaker than the Glutton Ghost. "Could her special ability be something extraordinary?"
Every Red-Robed ghost possessed a unique ability, tied to the lingering obsession from the moment of their death. For instance, the Headless Woman's neck-borne blood threads had a sharpening property; Xu Yin grew stronger the more pain and injury he endured; Xiong Qing, who suffered from hemifacial hyperplasia, had half his body composed entirely of blood threads that he could freely reshape.
Judging from appearance alone, Chen Ge couldn't determine the Red High Heels' special ability. But right now, they were all in the same boat — the stronger the Red High Heels, the better for him.
Trapped within the cage of blood vessels and long tongues, the Headless Woman and the little boy couldn't break through on their own. Their individual strength was nowhere near enough to oppose the Glutton Ghost, so they could only follow in the Red High Heels' wake.
With the Headless Woman and the little boy fending off attacks from behind, the Red High Heels' pressure was significantly reduced. She tore through blood vessels and long tongues alike, pressing forward.
"What is she trying to do?"
The scene before them was like a blood-soaked hellscape. The Red High Heels, tiny by comparison, and the colossal Glutton Ghost were drawing ever closer to each other.
With so many blood vessels, some inevitably slipped past the heels' defenses. But what struck Chen Ge as strange was that those vessels that struck the Red High Heels didn't seem to do her much harm.
What the bandages wrapped wasn't so much a body as it was a mass of flowing blood. Under the heels' control, blood vessels would pass clean through her body, minimizing damage as much as possible.
The fruitless attacks only made the Glutton Ghost more agitated. The mouths covering her body bulged outward, each one straining as if desperate to swallow the Red High Heels whole.
She had lain dormant in the Liwan Town restaurant. Her movement speed was sluggish, and the other Red-Robed ghosts in the area knew she wasn't to be trifled with, so they rarely came to her of their own accord. As a result, she seldom got the chance to taste the flavor of a Red-Robed ghost.
Stimulated by this "food," the Glutton Ghost's body swelled once more into an enormous fleshy ball. Even more blood vessels spread from her body, concentrating their assault on the Red High Heels.
She went berserk, separating the Red High Heels from the Headless Woman. Three-quarters of the blood vessels attacked the Red High Heels, while the remaining quarter boxed in the Headless Woman and the little boy.
No matter how many blood vessels the Headless Woman severed, more blood vessels and long tongues took their place. This was a fundamentally unequal battle.
If she cut a blood vessel, the Glutton Ghost's main body was completely unharmed. But if the blood vessels ever latched onto her, she would likely lose all chance to resist — dragged inch by inch toward the Glutton Ghost's maw and swallowed whole.
"The Glutton Ghost only needs a quarter of her blood vessels to hold back the Headless Woman, and she still looks like she's got it easy." Chen Ge's palms were slick with sweat. He was still searching for the right opportunity.
The threat the Red High Heels posed to the Glutton Ghost was far greater than the Headless Woman's. Even with three-quarters of the restaurant's blood vessels swarming her, the Red High Heels continued to close the distance with the Glutton Ghost, slowly but steadily.
At first, the Glutton Ghost had been wary of the Red High Heels, but eventually her ravenous hunger must have won out. Her eyes turned crimson, all caution abandoned, and she charged toward the Red High Heels with a wild scream, every mouth on her body splitting wide open — as though she meant to tear this woman apart and swallow every last shred.
A silver-bell laugh rang through the restaurant once more. The woman spread her arms wide. Her tall, slender frame stood in stark contrast to the Glutton Ghost's grotesque bulk. The bandages on her forehead loosened and began to fall away, one layer at a time.
Long, jet-black hair cascaded over her shoulders. She stood with her back to Chen Ge, and with the blood vessels and long tongues blocking the view, of everyone in the restaurant, only the Glutton Ghost saw the woman's face.
"Am I beautiful?"
Three simple words, yet they carried the most venomous of curses. The crimson drained from the Glutton Ghost's eyes in an instant. Her massive body tried to retreat, but it was already too late.
The bandages fell away completely. Every drop of blood on the woman's body, steeped in thick, concentrated hatred, sprayed toward the Glutton Ghost.
The droplets fell like scorching flames. The blood fog sizzled and burned away. Every mouth on the Glutton Ghost's body wailed in agony.
"A single drop of blood is a curse. What did this woman go through in life? How could she possibly harbor such terrifying hatred?" Chen Ge was deeply grateful he hadn't angered her. If even one drop of her blood touched you, you might never be free of misfortune again.