Chapter 34: Looting the Eerie Realm

Guo Sheng is a Rat-man, and Liu Ya is a Cat-man.

If wiping out one side could terminate the game early, should they do it? And which side should be killed?

Cat-men make up only about one-tenth of the total population, and more than half had already died in the first round, leaving only a thousand or two. However, there are still fifty or sixty thousand Rat-men. Comparing the two, it seems that wiping out the Cat-men is the correct choice.

Liu Ya’s face was filled with worry. She was still young, in the prime of her life, and did not want to die here.

Guo Sheng frowned tightly. "Don't worry, it’s just a guess. It might not be feasible; there might be another way."

Liu Ya knew him too well. If he became certain that killing the Cat-men or Rat-men would end the game, he would undoubtedly choose to kill all the Cat-men without hesitation. Sacrificing the few to save the many was the consistent style of the Bureau of Occult Affairs.

"Two of you, this game doesn't seem too dangerous. Why don't we split up? I'd like to look around," Xia Tianqiong suddenly suggested.

Guo Sheng was stunned for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "That works. Be careful, try to stay hidden, and don't do anything strange to avoid triggering death rules."

"Understood. You two take care as well."

Just as Xia Tianqiong was about to leave, Guo Sheng called him back and handed him something the size of a cigarette case.

"This is a custom-made communication box that works even here. If you are in danger, hold down this button, and we will rush to find you. If the red light on top flashes rapidly, it means we are in danger or have something urgent to discuss with you. Follow the arrow on the screen to find us."

The Occult Realm isolates the world and blocks communication signals. This device was a specialized piece of equipment from the Bureau; while it could not transmit voice, it could facilitate simple information exchange through indicator lights and positioning. In his previous life, this item was standard gear for every ghost-hunting squad.

Xia Tianqiong took the communication box and turned to leave.

Shortly after he left, Liu Ya asked, "Why let him go? Isn't it safer for us to stay together?"

Guo Sheng shook his head. "I was originally planning to find an excuse to send him away; I didn't expect him to take the initiative himself."

"Why?"

"We need to test out more rules as soon as possible. He hasn't joined the Bureau yet, and it wouldn't be convenient for him to see how we operate."

With that, the two left the street and entered the courtyards. Liu Ya’s vision was currently impaired, so she was led by Guo Sheng.

After Xia Tianqiong left, he strolled among the white walls and black tiles like a tourist, occasionally examining a courtyard or inspecting the wood carvings on the beams. He was not nearly as panicked as the others.

This area of Hui-style architecture was full of life. The white walls looked as if they had weathered thousands of years of wind and rain, leaving mottled traces of time. Every courtyard was fully furnished with daily necessities visible everywhere. On the desks, stationery was neatly laid out, and the ink in the inkstones had been ground but not yet dried. The dining tables were filled with dishes; although cold, they had not rotted or spoiled. It was as if people had been living here just yesterday and then vanished overnight.

Xia Tianqiong suddenly felt that this place was not a space conjured out of thin air by an anomaly, but rather a small piece of reality intercepted from a certain time and place in the past and turned into an Occult Realm. Otherwise, it would not be so full of life.

If that were the case, the items here were real and could be brought back to the real world.

Xia Tianqiong became interested. There were many paintings, pieces of calligraphy, porcelain, and various rosewood furniture here. If brought back to the real world, they would all be antiques. Although a chaotic era was approaching and antiques might not be worth much, he wanted to collect some to place in his mirror space, creating an antique-style environment where he could go to experience the ancient atmosphere when he had nothing to do.

Action followed thought. Xia Tianqiong began to shuttle between the courtyards. While others were struggling to find hiding places, he was busy collecting various items.

"Get lost! I was here first. Go somewhere else!"

When he opened a wardrobe, he found a man hiding inside.

"Pardon me."

Xia Tianqiong closed the cabinet door and turned to leave. However, he didn't close it tightly. The man peered through the gap and was immediately shocked by the scene in the room. Pushing the cabinet door open, he saw that the room, which previously had tables, chairs, utensils, potted plants, and paintings, was now completely empty. Aside from the wardrobe he was hiding in, there was nothing left—as if a moving company had cleared everything out.

"Damn it, how am I supposed to hide here now!"

With only one wardrobe left in the room, it was extremely conspicuous and clearly no longer suitable for hiding. The man cursed and quickly left to find another spot.

Xia Tianqiong scavenged various items within the Occult Realm. What pleased him most was a bronze mirror. It was palm-sized with a smooth surface and exquisite patterns carved on the back. It was much sturdier and better-looking than a glass mirror. He quickly abandoned the old one and had the Mirror Ghost and Gambling Ghost move into the bronze mirror. For the Mirror Ghost clan, any mirror that could reflect a person would suffice.

Xia Tianqiong held the bronze mirror and used a hundred taels of gold to open a mirror space inside. He specifically chose a grand and elegant courtyard, replicated it in the mirror space, and then moved everything he could from the courtyard into the space, arranging it exactly as it was before. Although various items could be replicated, they lacked a sense of reality, and Xia Tianqiong preferred using the real things. He even wanted to dismantle the entire courtyard building and move it into the space, but unfortunately, he couldn't reassemble it, so he had to give up.

While he was scavenging for items, crying and shouting came from a courtyard.

"Please, don't find me! I don't want to die!"

"I don't want to die either, but I have no choice! If I don't catch someone, I’ll die."

"Can't you go find someone else?"

"No. Since I bumped into you, just accept your bad luck!"

Fifteen minutes had passed in the second round, and the cats had begun to catch the mice. Xia Tianqiong passed the courtyard entrance and glanced inside; a middle-aged man was grabbing a woman. He had no intention of meddling and continued walking forward.

When the woman saw a Rat-man passing by, she immediately shouted, "Help! Save me!"

As she struggled, she somehow found the strength to break free from the man and quickly ran out of the courtyard. Seeing the figure not far away, she rushed over. "Please, save me! That man wants to catch me."

Xia Tianqiong turned to look at the woman and his eyes lit up; she was stunning, with looks rivaling those of a movie star. However, he only looked for a second and had no intention of saving her.

"Cats catching mice is only natural. Either don't get caught, or fight back and kill him."

He said this indifferently and continued walking. The woman suddenly grabbed his arm as if it were a life-saving straw.

The middle-aged man caught up and grabbed the woman by her hair. "Running away? Do you think you can escape?"

Xia Tianqiong broke free from the woman and kept walking, showing no sign of wanting to save her.

The middle-aged man suddenly stepped forward, his sharp claws digging into Xia Tianqiong’s shoulder. "You're a mouse too. You’re not allowed to leave."

"You’ve already caught one. Why grab me too?" Xia Tianqiong stood still, tilted his head slightly, and looked at him coldly.

"I’ll use you for this round, and her for the next. At least I won't have to look for anyone else for two rounds."

The middle-aged man looked proud, seemingly pleased that he had caught two mice at once. "Accept your fate. Since your identity is that of a mouse, you are destined to die."

Xia Tianqiong’s eyes turned cold. He suddenly grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted it with force, dislocating his entire arm. He now had eight Shop Assistants, one Delivery Ghost, and one Ghost Infant in his body; even without using occult techniques, his physical prowess far exceeded that of an ordinary person.

The man let out a miserable shriek and stumbled back in pain, accidentally tripping over his own feet. His other hand was still clutching the woman’s hair, so she fell to the ground with him. The woman was terrified and struggled desperately. Whether intentionally or accidentally, her claws slashed the man’s throat.

Blood sprayed wildly, staining the white wall red—an eye-catching sight in this black-and-white world. The man clutched his neck, convulsed a few times, and died completely.

"I... I killed someone... Ah!" The woman panicked and screamed.

She looked up abruptly, only to see that the young man had not stopped; he was still walking forward at a leisurely pace, as if strolling and taking interest in looking around.

The woman stared at his back, and thinking of that cold, indifferent face, she felt a strange sense of security. She scrambled up and quickly chased after him.

"Brother, let's go together. We are both mice, so we can look out for each other."

The woman was in her twenties, but Xia Tianqiong appeared to be eighteen, so she called him "little brother," feeling too embarrassed to call him "big brother" and not daring to call him "younger brother."

"Don't follow me. Following me is even more dangerous!"

Xia Tianqiong remained cold, but the woman didn't care and followed closely by his side.

Meanwhile, Guo Sheng and Liu Ya were acting together. They easily caught two Rat-men—a young girl and an elderly man.

"Sir, young lady, first of all, I apologize. We need to use you to conduct some tests."

Guo Sheng bowed deeply to apologize, but when he stood up, his expression was icy. "Young lady, please kill this gentleman."

The young girl was filled with confusion and panic. "Why? He and I are both mice. Why do you want me to kill him?"

"To conduct an experiment, to try to save more people. Please kill him; otherwise, he can kill you instead."

As Guo Sheng spoke, a face of a woman with bleeding eyes suddenly emerged from his body, causing both of them to scream in terror. After several threats and intimidation, the girl finally used her claws to slash the old man’s throat, killing him.

In the next instant, the young girl’s body exploded, and she died immediately.

"A Rat-man killing a Rat-man triggers a death rule. By this logic, a Cat-man killing a Cat-man should also trigger a rule," Liu Ya concluded from the side.

Guo Sheng wiped the blood splattered on his face, his expression grave. "To be safe, we still need to find two Cat-men to test it."

This was the modus operandi of the Bureau of Occult Affairs. To test the death rules, they would not hesitate to use human lives. In the past, ghost hunters were rare and extremely precious, so if someone had to die, it was always ordinary people, never a ghost hunter. If the general public knew of such behavior, it would absolutely cause an uproar, which was why Guo Sheng agreed to let Xia Tianqiong leave—he didn't want him to see it.

The two then went to find others to continue their tests.