"Get out of here!"
A low, cold shout came from behind me. Immediately afterwards, Gu Fancheng's figure appeared in front of me.
The female ghost had already experienced his power in the experimental building. Without hesitation, she fled backwards.
"… Hehe, she's not the only one here. I can go after others…"
The female ghost cackled triumphantly. She stretched out her twisted arm and made a casual swipe, trying to pull a passer - by from the subway station into the illusion she had created.
Unexpectedly, a spine - chilling gust of yin wind suddenly swept in from all directions, instantly blowing the female ghost's illusions to smithereens.
We were still on the steps of the subway station, and people were still coming and going around us. However, they all seemed to be under a spell, frozen in the position they were in the previous second... Even the droplets of milk tea splashed by a girl were suspended in mid - air...
"Well, this is A Pang's doing..."
Gu Fancheng, who had already pulled me into his arms, saw my wide - eyed look of inexperience and calmly explained.
"Moo!"
A low roar sounded in the void, like a thousand - pound hammer striking my heart. I was nearly knocked unconscious by the impact.
Gu Fancheng frowned and pressed his cold, thin lips against my forehead. An extreme coldness immediately seeped through my skin into my brain, making my suddenly halted heart start beating again.
Then, I saw a bull charging out of the void somewhere among the crowd!!!
A bull with white manes and red horns, but with a human body, charged straight at the panicked female ghost. The female ghost didn't even have the thought of escaping. Wailing, she knelt and cowered on the ground, allowing the bull to grab her.
"Lord Third, spare me..." the female ghost shrieked pitifully. "I didn't commit suicide. I was killed by my mother. I escaped just to take revenge!!"
"Quibbling!"
The Ox - headed Man's eyes, as big as copper bells, were blood - red. He glared coldly at the female ghost and said, "You killed your mother in life, and after death, you bribed the ghost messengers to secretly find a substitute and escape from the Underworld. I'll take you back and throw you into the Avici Hell, where you'll suffer the torment of the karma fire for all eternity!"
The Ox - headed Man's words contained a great deal of information. Did this female ghost really kill her own mother in life?!
Then... Who was Wang Anran standing in front of us, and whose soul was she?
My head was in a complete mess.
"… No, I didn't... Spare me..."
The female ghost still wanted to argue, but the Ox - headed Man grabbed her by the hair and stuffed her directly into his mouth.
"… Ugh!"
Thinking of the stinky blood on the female ghost, I couldn't help feeling nauseous.
After devouring the wailing female ghost, the Ox - headed Man's terrifying eyes glared at Wang Anran.
Wang Anran could obviously see this monster too. She cowered in fear and knelt on the ground.
"Humph." The Ox - headed Man snorted a puff of white steam from his nose. "You have two more years. If you don't return, I'll come for you!"
Wang Anran thanked him repeatedly... She lay on the ground, not daring to lift her head.
The Ox - headed Man glared at her one more time before turning around and walking towards Gu Fancheng and me.
Looking at his strange appearance, I immediately thought of the well - known Ox - headed Man and Horse - faced Man in the Underworld recorded in books.
The Ox - headed Man and Horse - faced Man were two famous fierce gods in the Underworld. Only second to the civil and military judges, they were respected by the world as Lord Third and Lord Fourth. Different from the Black and White Impermanence who guided souls to the Underworld, they were specifically responsible for capturing evil ghosts that escaped from hell to the human world!
I tightly grabbed the hem of Gu Fancheng's T - shirt, worried that this Ox - headed Man might do something to him!
"I'm sorry to have frightened you."
Unexpectedly, the Ox - headed Man clasped his fists and bowed to me.
I was instantly stunned and looked up at Gu Fancheng in a daze.
Gu Fancheng's face was not looking good. He said coldly, "She's just an ordinary person. How could she withstand your roar?!"
"… A Pang knows his mistake. Please forgive me." Hearing Gu Fancheng's words, the Ox - headed Man's ears twitched, and there was a hint of panic in his big eyes.
"Forget it." Gu Fancheng said indifferently, "You're no longer under my command. What right do I have to forgive you?"
The Ox - headed Man became even more panicked. His two thick ears flattened behind his head. "A Pang has never dared to forget your identity."
My attention was all on the ears of this Ox - headed Man who called himself "A Pang". Seeing that he flattened his ears behind his horns like a cat, I couldn't help bursting out laughing.
The hand around my waist tightened, as if it were a warning to me.
Gu Fancheng's face remained calm. He still said indifferently, "You did a good job today. This place is not suitable for you to stay long. Go back."
The Ox - headed Man was stunned for a moment, and his big eyes rolled twice.
He didn't expect that because of my laugh, Gu Fancheng would let him off so easily. He gratefully glanced at me with his big eyes, took two steps back, and then disappeared into the void...
"Whir..."
The moment the Ox - headed Man disappeared, the whole world suddenly came back to life, and all kinds of sounds filled the surroundings again.
I felt like I had just had a dream. I looked around, extremely curious.
"Was that the Ox - headed Man and Horse - faced Man just now?" I asked, grabbing Gu Fancheng's fidgety hand.
Gu Fancheng seemed to be very interested in my waist. His cold fingertips had slipped under my T - shirt.
"A Pang."
Hearing my question, he answered absent - mindedly.
"… Xixi!!"
Zhao Zifeng finally caught up from the steps below. "Why did you suddenly drag the senior sister here? Senior sister, I'm really sorry for delaying your work. My best friend is being silly!"
She blushed slightly, feeling that she had caused trouble for this kind - tempered senior sister.
"… Zifeng, don't say that!"
Wang Anran had already stood up from the ground. She gratefully glanced at me. "It was your best friend who saved my life... I'll treat you two to a meal some other day to thank her for saving me."
"Hey?!"
Zhao Zifeng didn't know how I had saved Wang Anran in such a short time. However, seeing that our relationship had improved so much, she was relieved. Then she exclaimed excitedly, "Great! Senior sister, we're planning to go to David City to have some fun. Come with us!"
"I can't do it now. I'm on the late shift today and won't get off work until eleven o'clock."
Although Wang Anran's face was as pale as a sheet after what had just happened, her smile was still very gentle. "Some other day, I'll pick you two up from school and show you around to your heart's content."
"Okay!" True to her nature, Zhao Zifeng was always in high spirits. "We'll go and have fun by ourselves today. Then senior sister will take us out later. It's like having two rounds of fun. It's really worth it!"
After saying goodbye to us, Wang Anran returned to the control room.
Although I had a lot of questions, seeing that she was really busy as soon as she got back to work, I didn't have the heart to bother her anymore.
There would be plenty of time in the future. The Ox - headed A Pang said that she still had two years. I was determined to get an explanation from her for all the doubts in my heart!
After walking through a long underground passage, we arrived at the subway exit of David City. All we had to do was step on the escalator and we could reach the shopping mall on the first floor.
Gu Fancheng stopped beside the elevator.
"Xixi, you two go ahead. I still have something to do." He took out a card from his pocket and handed it to me. "I won't go up with you."
"That's not okay!" Zhao Zifeng immediately protested. "Mr. High - quality, you can't back out at the last minute! We two might buy a whole bunch of things. Who's going to carry them for us then?"
"Gu Nian." It seemed that Gu Fancheng had already thought of this.
I suddenly remembered that once we got on the escalator, we would be in the above - ground space... After all, he was a ghost and couldn't show himself in a place with a large number of living people and strong yang energy on the ground!