After pondering for a moment, Jiang Min bit her lip lightly and said, "Then let's go inside and eat. I hope the food you make isn't too bad."
Upon hearing this, Wu Liang beamed with a bright smile and said confidently, "My cooking skills are exceptional!"
With that, he turned around and walked back into the house.
Jiang Min paused for a moment at the door, but she still walked in with unwavering steps.
In an instant, images never before seen began to flash in her mind — a sofa, dishes, a chandelier, a bleeding rope...
But this time, she didn't immediately retreat. Instead, she gritted her teeth and continued walking towards the living room, stopping in front of the sofa to take a deep breath before sitting down steadily.
Watching Wu Liang turn around and busy himself in the kitchen with cooking, Jiang Min couldn't help but murmur to herself:
"Wu Liang... why is it that in my premonitions, you never appear?"
She finally realized what was odd about her premonitions.
In the images, a rope dripping with blood would seek her life, trying to hang her in this house, yet no matter where she ran, she never saw Wu Liang's figure.
She didn't even know how the dishes on the table appeared. There was no image of Wu Liang coming out of the kitchen with a plate, the dishes just appeared out of thin air.
And there was something else she hadn't mentioned before.
Back in the TV station's office building, Jiang Min sensed on the second floor that the building would soon be blocked by a Fierce Ghost of unknown whereabouts.
According to the dream images, it was just enough time for her to escape.
That's why she ran downstairs in a panic.
Unexpectedly, she bumped into Wu Liang halfway, causing a delay of a few seconds that prevented her from escaping in time.
But in the premonition images from the second floor, she didn't see a dazed boy standing at the stair corner, which caused her to bump into Wu Liang.
Last time, Jiang Min thought it was an accident, but this time, even though Wu Liang was in the kitchen cooking, he still didn't appear in her premonitions, as if he was a ghost not existing in future images.
Why is that?!
Sand啦——沙——
While Jiang Min was still lost in thought about what Wu Liang truly was, a faint, almost inaudible rustling sound came from the chandelier in the living room.
It sounded as if something was being dragged, inch by inch, descending from the chandelier.
"Try my braised pork!"
Just as the invisible entity was about to touch Jiang Min, an excited voice came from the kitchen.
Immediately, Wu Liang placed a fragrant dish on the table, snapping Jiang Min back to reality.
"Wow! I didn't expect you to have such cooking skills?" She couldn't help but praise Wu Liang's culinary skills, temporarily putting aside her earlier doubts.
But when Jiang Min picked up her chopsticks to try the meat, Wu Liang noticed some inexplicable dust on her shoulder.
He glanced at the chandelier on the ceiling.
Silently, he picked up the puppet doll on the cupboard and tossed it next to the sofa before turning back to continue cooking in the kitchen.
As soon as Wu Liang left, the commotion from the chandelier began to start up again.
But just as it began to descend slightly, it saw the peculiar puppet doll on the sofa turning its head, fixing its button eyes on it.
This puppet doll, like the red umbrella at the door, was a Fierce Ghost!
In an instant, the Hanged Ghost hidden on the chandelier recoiled in fear, not wanting to confront another Fierce Ghost head-on.
Thinking of this, the Hanged Ghost clutched the rope in its hand and stealthily moved behind the sofa, silently lifting the invisible rope to slip it over Jiang Min's neck.
Surely, this time, it can kill this woman!
Soon! Soon, it'll hang a living person!
Ding ding——ding——
However, just as the rope was about to slip over, the phone at the entrance suddenly rang!
Immediately after, Wu Liang's voice called from the kitchen, "Sister Jiang, could you answer that for me? I'm cooking!"
"Okay." Jiang Min stood up, brushing past the invisible rope, without feeling anything amiss.
Watching her narrowly avoid the fatal rope again by sheer coincidence, the Hanged Ghost behind the sofa was stunned.
It couldn't fathom why this woman's luck was so good.
After two or three attempts, she was still alive. How could it maintain its Fierce Ghost dignity?
Thinking of this, the Hanged Ghost felt suddenly frustrated, controlling the invisible rope to start floating toward the kitchen.
If it can't kill her, then it'll kill the boy cooking in the kitchen!
There's no way he could have the same luck!
Once the boy is dead, the woman will certainly come to check the kitchen, and then it will be able to hang her too!
Sand啦——沙——
In the kitchen, beneath the noise of Wu Liang skillfully tossing food in the oil wok, the movement of the invisible rope remained almost imperceptibly silent.
Floating to the kitchen ceiling, positioning itself directly above Wu Liang, a blood-soaked rope began to slowly slip downward.
Just a little further!
The Hanged Ghost grew more excited, already envisioning the victim struggling under the rope's grip, the sensation of life slipping through its grasp, the torment of blood seeping from the orifices!
Absolutely wonderful!
Swoosh——
Plop——
A flash of silvery knife light swept through the air, the rope that had already touched Wu Liang's hair, about to hang him, was suddenly cut into two pieces, falling onto the cutting board.
Thump, thump, thump, thump——
What followed was Wu Liang's incredibly fast, almost eerily skilled chopping, shredding the invisible rope into a pile of powder in the blink of an eye.
How is this possible?!
How can a mere kitchen knife cut through the Fierce Ghost's rope?!
The Hanged Ghost was terrified!
"You finally dared to make a move on me, I've been waiting for you..."
The Hanged Ghost, already heavily wounded from the severing of its rope, was trying to retreat to safety.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Wu Liang spoke bizarrely while chopping, inciting further terror as it saw the youth suddenly glance up at it.
He... he can see me!
Before the Hanged Ghost could retreat back into the ceiling, Wu Liang jumped up, grabbing the end of the rope still connected to the ceiling.
With a fierce tug, the Hanged Ghost was pulled straight out of the ceiling by him.
"So you've been hiding in the ceiling's cavity all along, no wonder I didn't find you sooner."
Wu Liang twirled the kitchen knife in his hand, the smile spreading on his face was nearly wide enough to touch his ears, his manic laughter making him seem more like the villain threatening a damsel than a hero.
At this moment, the handle of the knife split open with a squelching sound.
The fissure slowly opened to reveal an eye!
The Hanged Ghost was utterly despairing.
It couldn't comprehend.
Why was the oil paper umbrella at the door a ghost, the puppet doll on the sofa a ghost, and even the kitchen knife before it a Fierce Ghost itself?!
It thought they were competing for the prey, which was why it hadn't confronted them directly.
Never did it expect they were protecting these two living humans!
Why! Why aren't they killing the living with me?!
The Hanged Ghost repeatedly conveyed this to the Kitchen Knife Ghost before it, thinking if only it willed it, it could just turn around and cut down the boy holding its body, couldn't it?
Thump——
Before it could continue, the Kitchen Knife Ghost detached itself from Wu Liang's control, swiftly slicing through another segment of its rope.
Kitchen Knife Ghost: Boss! Rest assured! This knife bears no ill will! This deceitful ghost deserves no good end!
The ever more weakened Hanged Ghost: ?