Chapter Twenty-Four: The Ghost on the Tip of the Tongue

At first, I thought Ah Si had spat out a snake!

But when I finally saw clearly the long, fleshy red object emerging from his mouth, my knees trembled and I nearly collapsed to the ground. Wang Hou was equally astonished, exclaiming, "Your tongue—what’s going on here?!"

It was then that the two of us realized, it wasn’t a snake that Ah Si had spat out, but his tongue itself had transformed to resemble a snake!

That pale red, saliva-coated thing extended more than three inches from his mouth, eerily reminiscent of the soul-claiming specters of the underworld.

First shocked, then curious, I uneasily raised my phone, examining that strange tongue with careful scrutiny.

At this moment, Ah Si’s “tongue” seemed no longer his own. In fact, it felt wrong to call it a tongue at all—it should be called a “serpent’s head.”

We watched as Ah Si’s tongue elongated at an astonishing rate, and the area where he’d dropped my blood morphed into a bifurcated organ, splitting into two like a snake’s forked tongue, slowly stretching toward me.

The way it writhed and crawled was uncanny, truly resembling a fleshy snake or a snail’s probing tentacles.

Amidst this bizarre scene, I suddenly recalled the “door ghost” I had glimpsed earlier as we entered this shadowy establishment—the one depicted on the barred doorway.

One of those door ghosts… wasn’t it spewing a white serpent from its mouth, much like Ah Si’s current appearance?

A suspicion arose in my heart: perhaps the door ghost was some kind of warning, or an ancient symbol.

In any case, the image of those two ghosts now overlapped uncannily with Ah Si’s transformation, as if trying to hint something to me.

What exactly, I did not know. I only sensed that the true meaning was understood by Boss Bai and that mysterious Xiao Jiu’er…

At that moment, Wang Hou gently tapped my shoulder, pointing at Ah Si’s “snake-tongue,” and said, “It seems… it’s smelling you?”

I glanced over and nodded, replying, “Probably because… because he dropped my blood on his tongue…”

The whole process lasted five or six seconds.

During that time, I noticed Ah Si’s tongue not only split, but the blood upon it was rapidly being absorbed!

I even felt, as if some kind of parasite within that twisted tongue was devouring my blood…

Finally, when the blood on Ah Si’s tongue had vanished, his tongue returned to its normal size.

Ah Si shut his mouth, sighed lightly, and explained that this was the so-called “White Food Gu.” Once inside a person’s body, it would lurk within the stomach, controlling the person’s appetite. Xiao Jiu’er could then manipulate the poison to control them.

At the time, I scratched my head and asked, “That venomous woman is ruthless! She even poisons her own people. Seems she’s afraid you’ll betray her.”

Ah Si nodded, still shaken, and recounted the miserable tale of being poisoned.

He said that after Boss Bai purchased him, he was treated fairly well. Aside from some minor tasks, he was mainly responsible for entertaining Xiao Jiu’er, who was quite fond of him.

Moreover, since Ah Si had performed acrobatics in the circus, this little dwarf had impressive skills—he could jump and fight, earning Boss Bai’s favor.

Thus, Ah Si gradually became a favorite around Boss Bai and Xiao Jiu’er. Wherever Boss Bai went, if Xiao Jiu’er was present, so was the little dwarf. He enjoyed a few days of glory.

But as the saying goes, “No one is flawless, no flower blooms forever.” As time passed, Boss Bai—and especially Xiao Jiu’er—began to change their attitude toward Ah Si.

Soon, Xiao Jiu’er found that simply making Ah Si perform exaggerated acts was not thrilling enough, so she started inventing new tricks. Eventually, these “tricks” evolved into cruel torture—whips and melted wax—and the abuse escalated as time went on.

At this point, Ah Si opened his dark mouth, which one would rather not look at, pointed at his mouth full of rotten teeth, and sobbed, “This is all Xiao Jiu’er’s handiwork! She said she liked me best as a little ghost, wanted me to be her ghost forever. Then that venomous woman fed me a bowl of goji berry and bird’s nest soup—I don’t know what she put in it. Since then, I was planted with the White Food Gu. My teeth rotted, I became sinister…”

Ah Si grew increasingly agitated, finally clasping his hands behind his back, his face full of regret and confusion, summarizing, “It’s all my fault for breaking the law! I used to be handsome! They called me the Yao Ming among dwarves! The clown from another world!”

Listening to this clown’s words, I felt waves of disgust. I’d never seen anyone so narcissistic! Most baffling was, where did he get such confidence? Who taught him that?

I didn’t know whether he cared about his dignity, but to me he seemed utterly shameless!

By now, I’d rested enough. After checking my wound and confirming the bleeding had stopped, I straightened up and stretched a little.

Then I said to Ah Si, “Enough! Just get us out of this cold storage, help us find Boss Bai and Xiao Jiu’er, and you’ll have redeemed yourself. I’ll see the government treats you leniently.”

But Ah Si didn’t answer right away.

Watching his shifty little eyes, a sense of unease suddenly washed over me.

Ah Si forced an awkward smile and said, “Officers, I can get you out of the cold storage, but whether you can find Boss Bai—especially Xiao Jiu’er—afterwards depends on your own abilities!”

“What do you mean?” Wang Hou demanded, grabbing the little ghost and threatening, “You dare bargain with us?”

“No, no!” Ah Si waved his hands, explaining, “When I got here, Xiao Jiu’er had Boss Bai make a backup plan! There are four or five bodyguards waiting outside the door!”

After Ah Si spoke, Wang Hou and I both lifted our heads.

Our eyes met, and we exchanged a confident smile.

Wang Hou stretched his long-unused limbs and said casually, “A bunch of useless trash! Not worth a damn!”

Ah Si clearly didn’t understand Wang Hou’s tone. Instead, he scratched his head and said, “What are you laughing at? I’m telling the truth! They’re all armed! Knives! I advise you to wait for backup. Didn’t you say reinforcements are on the way?”

Looking at Ah Si’s expectant expression, I suddenly realized he was a typical fence-sitter, utterly lacking conviction. The reason he’d been so forthcoming was largely because he believed we were police and thought we’d already set up an inescapable net to capture them all.

Thinking this, I felt a bit proud, and I patted Ah Si’s shoulder, saying,

“Little ghost, you needn’t worry about police operations! My partner here is the big gun of the entire military district—no, the whole police bureau! Handling five or six bodyguards is child’s play. Your people… don’t stand a chance!”

With that, I urged Ah Si to open the door for us. After all, in this near-freezing environment, I was uncomfortable enough. Better to get out and “stretch my legs” than freeze inside!

Receiving my order, Ah Si seemed unconvinced by our abilities, but he had no choice.

After a brief hesitation, he sighed deeply and shuffled to the door of the cold storage, gently tapping on its surface.

Outside the ice storage, a vague, nervous voice called out, “Is it done? Didn’t kill them, right?”

Ah Si’s reply caught me completely off guard—and made me feel, once again, the full venom of Xiao Jiu’er.

He answered, “Open the door! Tell Miss Jiu’er to come and plant the Gu!”

Hearing Ah Si’s words, I glared at him in shock, deeply marveling at the ruthlessness of Xiao Jiu’er.

She wouldn’t kill police officers—she’d just knock us out and then plant the Gu poison in our bodies? Her scheme was ruthlessly calculated! No wonder she dared run a shadowy restaurant, a top chef of sinister arts!

With this tactic, she could control two police officers. If her trap succeeded, she’d not only escape suspicion but could extend her reach to threaten the police force itself—a masterful plan!

To be honest, I was eager to meet this venomous woman.

But just as I thought this, the cold storage lights suddenly flickered back to life.

And then… I heard the long-awaited sound of the lock turning on the door!

To prevent Ah Si from betraying us at the last moment, I yanked him behind Wang Hou.

As soon as the door opened a crack, Wang Hou and I sprang into action!

“Go!” we shouted, kicking the door wide open. Wang Hou and I, one after the other, quickly escaped the confinement of the cold storage.

But what greeted us outside the door was something that neither Wang Hou nor I had anticipated.