Serial Player
Chapter 880 - 538: Hooked

Chapter 880: Chapter 538: Hooked

Yun Ting saw a familiar face, naturally, it was Zhao Jiu, whom she had seen twice at Yanyun’s.

She drove the vehicle, following the traces left by the Chang Ghost, all the way to Ruhua Village.

Seeing that the traces disappeared near Ruhua Village, she followed suit.

She planned to obtain some information from the owner of the guesthouse.

"You’re looking for that person?" The guesthouse owner knew who it was when he heard the car plate number mentioned by Zhao Jiu. However, after sizing Zhao Jiu up, he asked warily, "What do you want with him?"

"He bears a striking resemblance to the father of a close friend of mine," Zhao Jiu had prepared her story well, "My friend’s father went missing years ago when he went to work out of town..."

Soon, the owner had constructed the image of a ’friend’ who had lost contact with their father in their earlier years and was now earnestly searching for him.

Although, this friend was made up out of nowhere.

"Oh?" The owner became interested and said, "Indeed, he lives in our village, in a row of houses at the fork in the road near the village’s ancestral hall. He’s been here for almost half a year and works at the factory."

"Factory?" Zhao Jiu was surprised. Was there a factory inside Ruhua Village?

"Just continue down that road outside the village. Walk about two kilometers and you’ll see the factory," the owner explained, "It’s a mannequin factory. It was originally located in the chemical industrial park, then for some reason that fat boss decided to move it here. Business is doing well. Look..."

The owner pointed towards the doorway of the guesthouse. A freight truck had just passed by.

"Those are materials being transported to the factory. They make several trips a day; it’s all big business. The owner is quite generous too, he’s helped us repair our roads. It’s just that the smell over there is rather strong, and the villagers don’t like to go there. If you can’t find him at home, he might be at the factory," said the owner. "The working hours at this factory are rather odd; sometimes they don’t come back for several days, and sometimes they get several days off in a row."

"Thank you," after asking for directions to the ancestral hall, Zhao Jiu bid the owner farewell and returned to her car.

She quickly located the house where the middle-aged man lived.

According to what the guesthouse owner said, all those dwelling here were workers from that factory. The generous factory owner had rented several houses to serve as employee dormitories.

Since these employees did not interact much with the villagers, Zhao Jiu had to slowly search for the precise location of the middle-aged man herself.

Zhao Jiu did not rashly approach them, fearing that she might startle the Chang Ghost.

Instead, she parked her vehicle at a distance and observed the people from inside her car.

It was now the afternoon, and the workers were walking around in the yard in small groups.

In Zhao Jiu’s view, there was a faint Black Fog around each of them, some more, some less.

Their complexions weren’t good, and those unaware might think it was due to excessive work at the factory, but Zhao Jiu knew that this was a symptom of having too much contact with the Abnormality. The presence of the Abnormality could affect the common person’s Physique more easily.

At the least, it could cause loss of appetite and dizziness. At worst, their bodies could become so weak that a slight cold could turn into a severe illness.

Zhao Jiu had once expelled a special Ghost Eel.

It had died in a traffic accident and, without realizing, had returned home. It was only later from the news that it learned of its own demise.

But even as an Abnormality, it still took care of its blind elderly mother.

And that mother didn’t even know that her son had died in an accident.

Sadly, no matter how carefully the Ghost Eel cared for her, its own aura was continually worsening the mother’s condition.

In the end, the Ghost Eel voluntarily sought out Zhao Jiu and willingly allowed himself to be expelled.

The mother was then meticulously cared for by the officials, and they created the illusion that her son was still alive. This was the Ghost Eel’s last wish—if it could deceive, let it deceive for a lifetime...

That is the so-called great divide between the living and the spirits.

Possession, on the other hand, was even more dangerous; ordinary people simply couldn’t bear the strength of spirits. If possessed, they would be quickly drained of life.

Even for players, after a ghost possesses their bodies, each aspect of their consumption increases.

Therefore, many players with supernatural symbiotic bodies often start by increasing their physique’s strength.

For instance, Li Changhe also raised his physique to 13 points because of Yun Ting.

It can be said that Li Changhe’s transformation into a primary physique player has much to do with Brother Ting.

In the car, Zhao Jiu observed the employees’ lives while analyzing the situation.

From the current situation, the Chang Ghost’s Ghost Eel is not here.

It’s almost certain that it’s inside that factory. Only there could the employees have come into contact with these traces.

Was the Chang Ghost someone who died in an accident at the factory? Zhao Jiu checked the factory-related news.

Information was quickly found.

Shortly after moving here, an employee accidentally fell into the cleaning pool and, with no one around, the surveillance room also failed to notice.

His cries for help were heard by no one.

It wasn’t until the next day that his body was discovered.

"Is it because he was left unnoticed by his coworkers, that he harbored resentment?" thought Zhao Jiu. It seemed necessary to investigate the factory after all.

At this moment, the employees, in groups of twos and threes, began walking out of their homes. The middle-aged man haunted by the Chang Ghost was among them.

He walked toward the entrance of the village, laughing and talking as if nothing was wrong, apparently heading to work.

What was strange, though, was that the Chang Ghost wasn’t on him.

"Is it hiding? Or has it latched onto someone else?" Zhao Jiu wondered, taking out two palm-sized paper dolls from the backpack and tossing them through the gap in the car window.

Once the paper dolls landed, they began moving on their own. They hid in the crevices between the stones by the roadside, and as two employees passed by, the little paper dolls silently attached themselves to the soles of their shoes. As they neared the factory, if anything was amiss, they would immediately notify Zhao Jiu.

Zhao Jiu herself was hiding in the back seat of the vehicle.

This car had undergone special modifications, and its defense force was quite impressive. The windows in the back seat had been given an optical treatment, rendering outside onlookers unable to peer inside the car. This was also why she often stayed in the car.

If any danger arose, she could immediately drive this fully modified off-road vehicle out of harm’s way.

She planned to wait inside the car until all the employees had left, and then stealthily enter the employees’ dormitory herself for an inspection.

If the Chang Ghost was still in the dormitory, she could eliminate it immediately.

Even if it wasn’t there, she could set up a formation in the dormitory targeting it.

Zhao Jiu inside the car checked her equipment and consumable skills.

"Alright, all that’s left is to find it," thought Zhao Jiu.

On the other side, inside the factory office.

The man in the suit sat in the principal seat, while the girl stood silently by his side.

After hanging up the phone, the portly middle-aged man told the suited man, "Doctor, it’s confirmed that she’s arrived at Ruhua Village. And she’s inquiring about our employee dormitory. Judging by her methods, she seems to be an extraordinary practitioner of Daoist arts. Should we warn the passengers?"

"No need, now that she has come to Ruhua Village, we don’t have to worry about her escaping." The man in the suit chuckled lightly and touched the stitched scar on the girl’s neck, saying, "Same rules as always. Don’t leave too many scars on the body."

"Understood."