Chapter 24: The Knocking Inn (Part IX)

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

With a speed almost visible to the naked eye, the walls of each room crumbled and ground down, transforming into murky, ash-colored grit.

This grit, swirling like smoke and mist, was drawn entirely into the body of the Doorbell Ghost. Its frame, originally that of a normal woman, swelled rapidly, growing over two meters tall in the blink of an eye.

Yet, its figure became increasingly withered and grotesque. Flesh shriveled, bones pierced through skin, eye sockets sank deep, and the eyes hidden between the strands of its hair glowed a blood-red. To put it simply, it looked like a desiccated corpse drained of all moisture.

"—!!!"

Accompanied by a sharp, piercing shriek that no human throat could produce, its elongated, razor-sharp claws struck with intensified ferocity and an overwhelming, malevolent aura.

Zhou Ke could already hear the screeching sound of the steel door being torn apart. At this rate, it wouldn't hold much longer.

"What do we do now? Give us an order, Zhou Ke!" Linghu Shiyu shouted anxiously.

Their limited wits were completely helpless in the face of this scene; they could only rely on Zhou Ke now.

"I'm thinking." Zhou Ke held his chin with one hand, his deep, dark eyes scanning the constantly changing environment, eventually settling on the corner at the end of the hallway.

Only the wall there remained uncorrupted.

"Head for the stairs," he said.

"Are you sure?" Linghu Shiyu frowned. She felt an instinctive aversion to the place where the Doorbell Ghost had appeared and vanished.

"Trust Ke-zai, it's a sure win, no problem at all!" Li Hua said with blind loyalty.

"Fine, then." Linghu Shiyu knew there were no other options, so she had to make do with what they had. "But we can't get past right now. That thing is too strong, and it doesn't seem to get tired."

The Doorbell Ghost’s assault was relentless, and coupled with the heavy steel door and the narrow hallway, it was difficult for everyone to push together. They couldn't move forward. Those few meters felt like a chasm.

"Little beauty! Quick! Now! Tear my clothes!" Louis gritted his teeth and shouted at Li Hua.

"Huh?" Li Hua was positioned right behind Louis's backside, and couldn't help but look disgusted. "At a time like this, you're still thinking about my chastity?"

Louis’s face was turning a deep liver-color, and he had no energy left to explain.

"Do as he says first." Zhou Ke sensed something was off and gave Li Hua a push.

Li Hua had no choice. Eyes squeezed shut, he fumbled at Louis’s waist and gave a mighty tug!

The thin tank top, already stretched tight by bulging muscles, tore into fluttering white shreds with little effort. Along with the ripping sound, it felt as if Li Hua’s lost innocence had vanished forever.

"Hahaha! I shall let the giants see, let the giants be amazed, let the giants worship this perfect, ultimate physique!"

Suddenly, Louis, now stripped of his shirt, erupted in orange-red battle aura—that was the ether boiling and evaporating. Underneath his molten skin, muscles bulged like solid, resolute boulders, and his stature grew to over two meters.

If Louis’s original form was a beautiful plaster sculpture, he was now the incarnation of a demigod from epic mythology.

"Hraaah!!!" He roared with madness, his voice vibrating through the air. He clamped his arms firmly onto the door, using sheer brute force to suppress the Doorbell Ghost.

Every step left a footprint; two steps left cracks; three steps left deep craters. Louis moved faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run.

Like a charging warhorse, an invincible warrior, the steel door acted as a shield, pinning the Doorbell Ghost against the window at the end of the hallway!

It wasn't until black, bloody gore splattered across the entire wall that the others finally reacted.

"What the hell? You act like you’re on stimulants just from tearing a shirt?"

Li Hua looked at Louis, then at the white rags in his own hands, and couldn't help but shudder. It was too perverted; he couldn't stand it.

"Hahaha!" Louis laughed heartily, explaining: "My Truth is Michelangelo’s 'David.' The more skin I expose, the cooler my physical performance becomes!"

As if to demonstrate his power, he held the steel door with one hand and gave everyone a giant thumbs-up with the other.

"Hmm, I didn't know there was such a perverted Truth." Zhou Ke muttered and nodded, though it was unclear whether he meant "perverted" in the literal sense or in terms of the ability.

However, as the saying goes, a real man can’t stay cool for more than three seconds.

The scraps of flesh splattered by the Doorbell Ghost were rapidly converging, and soon, a third of its form had pieced itself back together. It seemed the steel door only restrained the Doorbell Ghost; it couldn't truly kill it.

Louis naturally realized this and returned to holding the shield with both hands, attempting to curb the creature's regeneration.

"Little beauty, hurry! My 'cool' state won't last long; my ether will be drained soon!"

Zhou Ke and the others understood and rushed toward the stairs at the corner without delay.

Below, there was still a cement wall covered in couplets, but since it hadn't been affected by the corruption, it meant they hadn't come to the wrong place.

"Let me try." Linghu Shiyu stepped to the front and summoned a small hammer engraved with frost and snow.

Zhou Ke looked at the small hammer curiously, wondering if using this trinket to smash a wall would be too inefficient. It was probably no different from trying to drink soup with a fork, though it was likely faster than his own tiny spring-loaded knife—his was more like trying to drink soup with a toothpick.

Linghu Shiyu noticed Zhou Ke's gaze and stopped hiding it: "My Truth is Stephen Edwin King’s 'The Shawshank Redemption.'"

"This ability allows me to break through any form of [restraint], including picking locks and smashing walls!"

"Fear can hold you prisoner, hope can set you free."

The moment those words left her lips, the hammer struck the wall. There was no massive physical feedback, no earth-shattering explosion. Yet, the wall, centered on the point of contact, instantly rippled with countless spiderweb-like cracks, turning into something fragile that would shatter at a touch.

"Badass, heroine!" Li Hua couldn't help but praise.

"Any form of [restraint]... if we consider the Doorbell Ghost a restraint keeping us from leaving, could we smash it to death with one hammer too?"

Zhou Ke’s imagination, as usual, expanded in a rather bizarre direction.

He looked at Linghu Shiyu, only to find the "heroine" now curled up in the corner of the stairs, all her previous heroic flair gone.

"What's wrong?"

"I, I'm sorry... using my Truth consumes my own [Hope]. Once hope is depleted too much, my heart falls into uncontrollable fear, and I can't move anymore. The harder the restraint is to break, the greater the consumption. I... I've reached my limit. I'm sorry." Linghu Shiyu said, trembling as teardrops the size of beans fell.

After speaking, she buried her head deep between her knees, not daring to look up. She looked strangely, contrastingly cute.

"So, there is a limitation to the use of Truth," Zhou Ke realized.

If Linghu Shiyu really had the ability to smash the Doorbell Ghost with one hammer, there would have been no need for him to guide her.