Livestream: While Others Flirt, I Catch Ghosts - Chapter 9
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Chapter 9: Escape from Death
For a brief moment, Dong Jianren felt a pang of conscience. He could escape this small room now, relying on the villa’s spaciousness and large yard to hold out until eight o’clock, but…
“But screw that!”
Dong Jianren abruptly turned back and rushed into the room, raising the bottle of “Rootless Water” he had brought with him.
“You son of a bitch! Take this sulfuric acid!”
He threw the liquid from the bottle towards the man in the suit’s face.
Hearing Dong Jianren shout “sulfuric acid,” the man in the suit flinched and quickly withdrew his hand from hitting the girl in white, shielding his face with his arm.
Dong Jianren took this opportunity to pull the girl in white to his side.
Smelling the urine stench all over him, the man in the suit knew he had been tricked and roared angrily, swinging his axe towards Dong Jianren.
Just as the axe was about to land on him, the man in the suit suddenly froze in place.
The man looked around, unable to find the cause, but Dong Jianren could see it clearly. The ghost that had almost strangled him in the compartment was now tightly binding the man in the suit’s arms with its hair, stained with blood and ice.
Following his gaze, Dong Jianren couldn’t tell if it was his imagination, but he felt that the ghost’s eyes, which had been filled with resentment towards him, now held a hint of softness as it watched him protect the girl in white.
Just when Dong Jianren thought he was saved, a black smoke that only he could see emerged from the man in the suit. The female ghost, who had been tightly entwining the man with her hair, let out a mournful cry and fell limply to the ground.
The man in the suit was oblivious to this, thinking he had merely dodged.
He raised the axe again, ready to hack the “little mouse” who had splashed him with urine.
Seeing the man in the suit attack again, Dong Jianren tried to pull the unconscious girl in white away to escape, but he couldn’t budge her.
Dong Jianren could have abandoned the girl and fled on his own, but his sense of chivalry held him back.
“Argh!”
Mustering his courage, Dong Jianren let go of the girl’s arm and charged headfirst into the man in the suit.
Things didn’t go as planned. Instead of a heroic takedown, Dong Jianren was met with a swift kick to the chest from the man’s size 45 foot, sending him flying backward.
Just as the man was about to finish him off, the unconscious girl in white suddenly woke up and grabbed his leg.
Seeing the ruthlessness in the man’s eyes, Dong Jianren knew he had to act. Without hesitation, he lunged forward, shielding the girl with his body.
The axe blade flashed, and pain seared through him. Dong Jianren felt his shoulder go numb, his vision blurring.
‘Is it my left or right shoulder? Doesn’t matter, I’m Yang Guo now. Except Yang Guo protected Xiaolongnv,* and I’m protecting… Pig-Faced Girl?’ Dong Jianren thought wryly, the pain barely registering as he looked at the unconscious girl.
[TL/N: In this context, Dong Jianren is comparing himself to Yang Guo, a well-known character from the classic Chinese novel “The Return of the Condor Heroes.” Yang Guo is a martial arts hero known for his bravery and unwavering devotion to his love interest, Xiaolongnv (Little Dragon Girl).]
‘Well, after twenty-five years as a loser, it’s not bad to be a hero for once before I die.’
As the man raised the axe again, Dong Jianren closed his eyes.
Bang!
A gunshot echoed through the villa, and the man collapsed.
Dong Jianren, fading in and out of consciousness, saw white flashes.
He felt himself being lifted, a voice shouting, “Suspect down! Call an ambulance! We have a serious injury here!”
The voices grew distant as Dong Jianren lost consciousness, his grip on his phone loosening.
The phone fell, its screen illuminating the time: 8 a.m.
[Ding! Main Quest 2 completed! Survive in the villa until 8 a.m. the next day without being caught by anyone or anything. Quest completion reward: 500 exchange points!]
But Dong Jianren was beyond hearing the notification.
…
He awoke in a sterile white room, the sharp scent of disinfectant filling his nostrils. His arm was a tangle of IVs and wires.
A surprised voice exclaimed, “Officer, he’s awake!”
A man in a police uniform appeared beside his bed.
Dong Jianren strained to see him, but a jolt of pain shot through his shoulder.
The officer steadied him, saying, “Don’t move. That axe fractured your shoulder and nearly hit an artery.”
Dong Jianren looked down to see his shoulder encased in a cast.