Chapter 175: You’re Surrounded
Chapter 175: You’re Surrounded
“Swish!”
The security guard’s sudden, vicious movement gave no one time to react.
Yet Lu Xin seemed to anticipate it; Little Sister’s eyes warned him of the anomaly behind him.
He twisted around unnaturally, reaching to seize the security guard’s arm.
“Crack!”
As he caught the arm, the guard’s expression instantly turned vacant—the Ghost had vanished again.
The lobby lights began flickering erratically, bathing every face in alternating light and shadow. The abrupt chaos and unstable voltage filled the hall with panic; people tensely scanned their surroundings.
And in that tension, they began changing one by one.
Their mouths emitted choppy, alien syllables: “You… think… I… can’t sense… your Mental Power… rushing toward me?”
The words spilled from separate mouths but formed a connected sentence.
As the surrounding Chaos intensified, the voice grew unnervingly strange: “Oppose me… and you court death…”
……
……
When the fragmented speech from the crowd ceased, Lu Xin frowned.
Though not terrifying, an ability user like this was troublesome.
Beside him, Li Mengmeng trembled anew in the eerie atmosphere. The sight of people’s faces abruptly morphing, then staring at her with hollow eyes, twisted her sense of reality—as if everyone had become Monsters.
Normally, this scene would horrify her more than the last, but Lu Xin’s presence kept her from screaming.
“No one can shield you…”
“If not for forcing you to kneel willingly… I’d already possess you…”
“I could even use your Father’s body to claim you…”
“……”
The shifting faces pressed her again. One after another, features contorted into nightmare masks as the voice hopped between bodies. Every speaker used different tones woven into one chilling refrain: “I can become anyone near you… kill anyone near you…”
“So why still resist me?”
“Dare you still refuse me?”
“The Administrative Hall… police… even him… none can protect you…”
“……”
Under this psychic onslaught, Li Mengmeng pushed past madness. Drawing strength from Lu Xin, she shut her eyes tight and howled: “You deranged Maniac…!”
“Get out! Pervert! Get away from me…!”
“……”
“Hah—”
Lu Xin eyed the girl shouting like this was a marketplace, amazed by this courage despite her fear.
Meanwhile, Little Sister tilted her head, studied them both, and let out an eerie giggle.
……
……
“Ha… haha… HAHA!”
“Daring to reject me still…”
“You seek death…!”
Li Mengmeng’s defiance seemed to enrage the Ghost. Beneath the flickering lights, a snarling roar erupted—impossible to pinpoint.
Within the Chaos, a sturdy young man shoved his clinging girlfriend aside. His face twisted into a sinister grin as he lunged at Lu Xin, his movements monstrously large. He now clutched a Dagger—somehow drawn unseen—and thrust it toward Lu Xin’s abdomen, striking just as the overhead lights pulsed out.
“Gently now…”
Lu Xin softly cautioned again. He caught the young man’s wrist, then smoothly bent it downward.
A sharp crack echoed. The young man screamed, the Dagger clattering to the floor. His face went blank with confusion.
“Wang Zhi! Wang Zhi, what’s wrong?!”
His girlfriend rushed over frantically, seemingly trying to help him up.
Instead, her hand plunged down mid-motion. She snatched the fallen Dagger and slashed at Lu Xin’s throat.
Lu Xin seized her blade-wrist before it struck, wrenched the Dagger free, and pulled Li Mengmeng backward.
He deliberately avoided touching her directly. For when he shifted her grip, her expression dissolved into pure, stunned terror.
In the hall, people continuously rushed toward Lu Xin, their expressions turning viciously cruel.
But after he blocked or dodged them, they abruptly stopped moving, looked momentarily lost, and then screamed in terror.
As they screamed, soon another person would display sinister eyes.
The entire hall became a bizarre and distorted world. Everyone was terrified by the ongoing anomalies, shrieking in panic. But within this chaotic crowd, someone could abruptly turn hostile at any moment, launching sudden attacks. This felt like an intensified nightmare, making everyone seem capable of deadly betrayal…
Under such circumstances, Lu Xin had no choice but to steadily retreat, distancing himself from everyone.
Gradually, he reached the wall. Frowning slightly, he simply retreated upward along its surface.
Holding Li Mengmeng with one arm, he retreated against the wall, seemingly immune to gravity, then peered down with furrowed brows.
This abnormal action instantly plunged the hall into greater turmoil.
Even outside the hotel, curious onlookers pressed closer, craning their necks to peer inside.
The larger the gathering of spectators grew, the greater the danger became.
…
“So, you’re no ordinary person either…”
Observing Lu Xin ascending the wall, a middle-aged man with a briefcase below suddenly looked up. Behind his glasses, his gaze turned icy as he chuckled coldly, “If so, we should be two of a kind…”
“Why oppose me then?”
“Give this woman to me. Choose someone else—I’ll help you. We can cooperate…”
“If we want it, everything in this City would be ours, isn’t that true?”
“Whatever we desire, nothing can be out of our reach…”
“…”
Lu Xin glanced down at him. “Truly, you’re breaking the law right now…”
“Hmph…”
The man with the briefcase let out a dark chuckle, interpreting Lu Xin’s words as mockery. “If death is what you seek, I’ll oblige. True, many stand here, yet none carry firearms. But fret not—I shall retrieve one for us.”
As he spoke, his expression suddenly glazed over. After a brief pause, he snapped back to awareness—instantly terror-stricken.
Pointing rigidly at Lu Xin, he screamed: “Ghost… A ghost…!”
Even Li Mengmeng, cradled in Lu Xin’s arms against the wall, trembled uncontrollably.
Being pulled to the wall frightened her too.
Yet she didn’t scream, shutting her eyes tightly instead—too scared to look downward or at Lu Xin.
His uncanny abilities surpassed all her imagination.
Yet the insanity below and the venomous expressions contorting every face horrified her just as sharply.
“What’s happening… what’s happening…”
She whispered these words repeatedly as her sanity seemed to shatter blow after blow.
“It’s alright. Don’t fear. Some Maniacs exist in this world…”
“But likewise, others stand ready to protect you…”
Lu Xin soothed her quietly before sliding swiftly down the wall and depositing Li Mengmeng aside.
Through the glass windows, he’d spotted a Police Officer charging forward.
“Guard her. And… cease unsettling her.”
Lu Xin instructed Little Sister, then accelerated toward the entrance.
…
Leveraging Little Sister’s strength now, his movements became agile and swift. Within the flickering hall lights, he carried an unnerving aura.
Compared to when Little Sister assisted him fully, however, his action remained relatively slow and clumsy. Yet it proved sufficient—he reached the doorway just as the officer burst inside.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The Police Officer stormed inside, pistol already drawn, firing instantly.
His face bore a savage and frenzied expression—he shot randomly, caring not who stood in his path.
But Lu Xin surged to him in that instant, violently shoving his wrist skyward. Bullets struck the ceiling.
As Lu Xin moved to seize his throat, the Officer’s expression abruptly shifted vacant.
“Hahaha! Why stop at this one?”
Meanwhile, a little girl behind Lu Xin suddenly screeched with laughter, childish features blazing with excitement. “Fear not! I’ll bring countless others—even fetch a Submachine Gun from the City Patrol Army!”
Screaming this, she brandished her pencil and plunged it toward Lu Xin’s spine.
“Enough!”
Lu Xin retreated a step, voice low.
He hadn’t even struck; he knew she’d pause.
Indeed, the little girl’s face twisted blank, then crumpled into loud wails.
But on the left, an Old Man huddled on the floor—seemingly cowering from the Chaos—suddenly lifted his head.
His eyes held unmistakable scorn. “Fear taking you now?”
…
Lu Xin furrowed his brows at the Old Man.
The Old Man glared back, defiance burning in his gaze.
Lu Xin slowly lowered his head and pressed one palm to his left ear. “Time should be sufficient, yes?”
He listened briefly, then nodded. “Good.”
“To whom do you speak!?”
Abruptly suspicious, the Old Man fixed Lu Xin with his glare.
“Playtime’s ended.”
Lu Xin met the Old Man’s gaze, brow tense. “The City Patrol Army encircles this place. Will you desist?”