Chengyang City TV Station, fifth floor of the office building.
At the entrance of the HR department, a young man sized up the sign and peered down the hallway without spotting any staff passing by.
"This should be the place, right?" Wu Liang muttered to himself, unable to find anyone to inquire.
Might as well just knock on the door and check it out!
But just as his hand was about to touch the door, it stopped in mid-air.
The next second, he furrowed his brows.
The rotten stench of two corpses inside the HR office faintly wafted through the door's gap.
At this moment, anyone who caught a whiff of this peculiar scent would realize something was amiss inside.
"Damn it!"
Wu Liang gritted his teeth a bit, turned away from the HR entrance, and walked toward the other end of the hallway.
Where is it... where is it?
Finally, after searching for a while, he found it.
Wu Liang then walked into the restroom.
"Sigh, why did nature call now? If only I'd gone before coming to the TV station!" He shook his head helplessly.
Just as he was about to open the door, he felt the urge to pee.
Wu Liang thought about how, even if he followed the process, he would still have to interview, so holding it in wasn't an option.
Better relieve himself first before the interview.
Then he pushed open the restroom door.
The first thing that caught his eye was a dark red teapot sitting on the sink.
And... blood flowing continuously from the faucet, its metallic odor nauseating.
"Huh?"
This bizarre scene made Wu Liang pause.
He just wanted to use the restroom, but why was there a ghost here?
He squinted, his face serious, and carefully examined the teapot before glancing at the restroom sign, speaking solemnly, "This should be a teapot, not a chamber pot, right?"
Having said that, he strode directly over.
Without any hesitation, he reached out and touched the teapot!
This action stunned the ruthless Teapot Ghost momentarily, followed by a surge of anger!
A regular person wants to touch my fierce ghost form? Not so easy!
The closer an alive person gets to my teapot form, the more palpable the fatigue they'll feel, a weariness that erodes one's will to resist, plunging them into despair!
Then, like fish on a chopping board, they become prey to my bloodsucking and slaughter!
Ultimately ending up like the employees in the HR office, powerless to resist until they become lifeless corpses!
Earlier, crafting an illusion and successfully trapping two Awakened on the fourth floor required excessive blood.
This guy just happened to come across me!
Why not torture him severely and drain his blood to replenish the teapot!
...
"Your thoughts seem overwhelming, are you pondering your last words?" A calm voice resonated from above the teapot.
Before the Teapot Ghost could react, it suddenly realized its form had been picked up steadily?
And as the youth's fingers flexed, it even felt the once rock-solid body of the teapot start to emit cracking sounds, the dark red fissures multiplying!
If this continues, in a few seconds my form will be crushed alive by this guy!?
How could this be!
In the face of danger, the Teapot Ghost hastily transferred all its remaining blood to the restroom ceiling's smoke alarm sprinkler.
Spritz —
Watching the sprinkler activate, spilling blood across the restroom, dyeing the youth from head to toe blood-red, the Teapot Ghost trembled with pride.
Now, it's my turn!
Blood that has been inside my teapot not only causes fatigue and inability to resist but directly corrodes and dissolves a living person's flesh, turning them into a "spineless" being.
Bang —
Before the Teapot Ghost witnessed Wu Liang collapsing in terror, it noticed the youngster rubbing his temples, then mysteriously conjuring a large red oil paper umbrella!
With a bang, as the oil-paper umbrella opened, a bizarre scene unfolded —
The blood staining Wu Liang flowed off his body like melting ice cream, even the dampness in his hair dried up.
[Shelter: An umbrella is for rain shade and sun protection; under it, all negative effects will be minimized or vanished]
Wait a minute? Materializing objects?
Now it was the Teapot Ghost's turn to be dumbfounded.
This kid isn't an ordinary person! He's an Awakened!
"Guys, I don't like this one, tear it apart," Wu Liang said, his lips moving, the cold words issuing from his mouth.
In his hands, a book appeared while rubbing his temples, taken from his mind, invisible to the Teapot Ghost — the Fierce Ghost Atlas.
The oil paper umbrella was naturally pulled from the Atlas, the fierce ghost's form conquered by Wu Liang could be summoned through the Atlas anytime.
In the baffled mood of the Teapot Ghost, it suddenly found out the youth behind him had conjured a shadow!
And then a third, fourth...
Until there were six ominous shadows behind Wu Liang, the Teapot Ghost despaired.
Among them, each fierce ghost's aura matched its own, and two even surpassed it substantially, reaching a level capable of wiping out half the city upon bursting!
And they're listening to the command of a living person?!
In moments, the six fierce ghost shadows had extended varied ghostly hands, gripping the teapot with diverse forms.
In controlling the whole TV station office building, causing a hundred to panic, trapping two official Awakened, now the Teapot Ghost was like a tiny chick picked up and kneaded wantonly.
Crack —
Its body split.
......
"Seal!" He Zhan's gritted teeth voice sounded.
The bloodstains on the walls froze, he quickly slammed open the door and rushed out.
That strange teapot which had been flickering at the storeroom door had vanished without notice.
Its disappearance allowed He Zhan to seize the chance to escape.
"Cough, cough, cough! Where's the Priest... he couldn't have encountered a fierce ghost too, could he?" He Zhan's face was somewhat grim.
He hadn't expected to be isolated upon entering the storeroom, then the walls seeping bizarre blood made him feel extremely fatigued.
Moreover, those bloodstains would transform into the likenesses of others in the building to deceive him.
If it continued, He Zhan might not have persevered a few more minutes.
"Boss! Are you okay?" Amidst his contemplation, the Priest's voice came from the corridor's end.
In a sorry state, he crawled out from another room, covered in sticky, eerie blood.
Oddly, now the blood seemed ineffective, no longer causing fatigue.
After conferring, the two discussed.
The Priest said he felt himself nearing death, but suddenly the "He Zhan" headless corpse turned into a puddle of blood, the teapot it held vanished.
He believed it was He Zhan outside resolving the fierce ghost issue.
"No... not me, I just got out of danger," He Zhan said, frowning.
The two didn't defeat the fierce ghost, likely neither did Liuyun in the first-floor lobby, let alone the two stationed outside.
Since no one's rose seeds were used, proving no one encountered the true fierce ghost form.
"So, what madness caused this fierce ghost to spare us? Could we have had help from experts?"
They exchanged glances, speechless.