Lynn gently closed the ghost’s face, displaying an almost “warm guy” level of charm. He moved closer to her, his smile soft and mischievous as he slowly but firmly grabbed her wrist.
With a graceful curve to his lips, he said:
“Actually, scaring someone is an art form, especially for those with strong mental fortitude. Seeing terrifying things won’t break them.”
“You need to go a step further…”
“Make them witness the horrifying things happening to them—that’s what will truly make them fear you!”
He smiled softly, still holding her wrist, and slowly drew her into his embrace.
Creek creek—
The sound of something sinking into flesh echoed from his chest as blood began to stain his shirt, turning his chest a deep crimson.
“Do you feel something beating?”
“Does it still feel warm? Can you feel the blood flowing out? Yes, just as you thought—you’re now holding my heart.”
----------------------------------------
In the Regional Channel.
Everyone in the channel held their breath, wide-eyed, staring at the screen as blood poured out of his chest.
They watched in complete disbelief as his gentle smile remained, sending an indescribable shiver of fear and dissonance through their hearts.
[Sanity -1]
[Sanity -1]
[Sanity -1]
On the screen, Lynn maintained his warm smile as he gripped the ghost’s wrist, slowly pulling her closer. The ghost’s eyes trembled with increasing fear.
Lynn whispered softly into her ear:
“See? You need to slowly squeeze their heart. Let them feel the fear of their heart being gripped tightly, and make them watch as you pull their heart out from their chest…”
The ghost’s gaze locked onto the hand he was holding as it slowly pulled her hand from his chest.
Then, a blood-red, still-beating heart was slowly pulled out by the trembling ghost's hand.
[Sanity -1]
[Sanity -1]
Lynn’s voice, still gentle in her ear, continued:
“Once you’ve made them watch you pull their heart out, their mind will be on the edge, stretched to its limits…”
The ghost, already trembling with terror, was clearly at her breaking point.
In the Regional Channel.
Everyone in the channel held their breath, their hearts pounding in their chests.
Lynn lowered his voice, his tone becoming almost a whisper:
“And that’s when all you need to do is…”
Aaaahhh—!!!
Suddenly, Lynn opened his mouth wide, eyes bulging, hands instantly switching to a clawing position, and he let out a high-pitched scream.
In an instant, the ghost exploded with terror.
Her face contorted with sheer fear as she instantly broke down, overwhelmed by Lynn’s sudden shriek.
“Ahhh—ahhh—!!”
In the regional channel, the creatures, their focus completely engrossed in the scene, were simultaneously startled by Lynn’s unexpected scream.
“Ahhh—ahhh—!!”
[Blood Doll Sanity -50!]
[Burning Ghost Sanity -50!]
[Skeleton Demon Sanity -60!]
[Bloodstained Specter Sanity -40!]
The entire regional channel erupted, and from every corner of Soul Alley, simultaneous, inarticulate screams echoed out.
“I’m done! I’m done! (ΩДΩ)!! I want to go home!”
“Mom! Someone's scaring me!!”
“I can’t watch anymore!!”
The regional channel was filled with panicked, terrified cries.
Meanwhile, Lynn was laughing so hard that he had to hold his stomach, tears of laughter streaming down his face.
He took the heart of the faceless demon from the ghost, who was now cowering in a corner, shaking in fear. He blew gently on the heart before stuffing it into his bag.
He gave the ghost a thumbs up, still smiling:
“How’s that? Pretty effective, right?”
“That’s how it works. You need to first tighten their mental state, and then suddenly create terrifying sounds and images. That’s how you really catch them off guard!”
“Got it?”
The ghost, curled up in the corner, trembling uncontrollably, muttered:
Stolen novel; please report.
“I got it, I got it! Please, don’t come any closer! Wuwu!”
[Sanity -10]
[Sanity -10]
[Ding! The Blood Doll’s attitude towards you has changed from "Terror" to "Extreme Terror." You have gained 200 base experience!
[Ding! The Skeleton's personality trait "Brave" has been changed to "Sensitive." You have gained 300 base experience!
[Ding! The Long-Haired Ghost’s personality trait "Reclusive" has been changed to "Extreme Reclusive." You have gained 300 base experience!
Lynn: “???”
Lynn listened to the system’s notifications, utterly confused.
Because this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
Almost instantly, Lynn paused.
He realized the system was showing him these updates about the residents of Soul Alley, all of whom he had seen in the regional channel before.
Could it be that everything happening here was being broadcast to the regional channel in real time?
This was absurd!
Lynn's gaze shifted uneasily as he looked around.
In the regional channel, discussions erupted:
[Blood Doll]: "(Screaming) Queen! Evil Spirit Queen! I think this livestream should stop now. This guy is definitely not an easy target to crack!"
[Skeleton Demon]: "He didn’t crack, but I think we’re going to crack first!"
[Burning Ghost]: "(ΩДΩ) Queen, one of your maids is already crying after being scared. This guy seems like he’s trained for this!"
The Bloodstained Specter gritted her teeth, her fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
She knew this kid wasn’t an ordinary person, but she hadn’t expected him to be this tough!
It seemed like she was the only one left to deal with him.
Otherwise, she’d really lose face in front of all the little ghosts in Soul Alley today!
Smack—
She slammed the table and gritted her teeth.
“Enough of this livestream! I’m going down there to take care of him myself. Wait for some good news from me tomorrow!”
She jumped up, ready to cut the surveillance.
But just as her gaze fell on the mirror, she instinctively shuddered.
“This… this guy…”
In the screen, Lynn had clearly found the source of the surveillance. At that very moment, he was standing on a small stool, curiously peering into the camera with one eye.
Then, the camera moved.
Clearly, the thing watching him had been yanked off by Lynn.
He then carefully examined it, before, with a serious face (￣︶￣), stuffing it into his pocket.
“…”
Bloodstained Specter: "(Grinding teeth!)"
[Blood Doll]: "Queen, it’s up to you now! I don’t mind rushing in, choking him first, giving him a good beating, and then cutting off his head!"
[Skeleton Demon]: "Exactly! Don’t give him a chance to open his mouth—just snap it off to eliminate any future problems!"
[Long-Haired Ghost]: "(o﹏o?) Isn't that a bit rude?"
[Everyone]: "???"
[Long-Haired Ghost]: "⊙﹏⊙||| Uh, I was just saying…"
[Evil Spirit Queen]: "Don’t worry, wait for my good news. By tomorrow, his head will be sitting in the corner of my house, serving as my daughter’s night pot!"
After speaking, the Bloodstained Specter quickly closed the spying mirror, squinting her eyes.
Whoosh —
Tentacles erupted from her body, her teeth clenched as her form dissolved into a large pool of blood. The blood seeped into the floor, heading for the first floor.
In an instant, the candles on the first floor flickered wildly.
And above, thick, sticky blood began to drip onto the floor from the ceiling.
The blood quickly began to gather, taking shape into the cracked face of the Bloodstained Specter.
She looked around, but aside from her cowering ghost servant in the corner, there was no sign of Lynn.
"Where is that brat?" The Bloodstained Specter gritted her teeth.
Her gaze immediately fell upon her ghost servant.
The ghost, in a daze, pointed toward the wooden door leading to the corridor and said, "Master, he said he was getting impatient and wanted to find you himself. He just opened the door and went to the backyard..."
"This little bastard!!"
The Bloodstained Specter ground her teeth, instantly transforming into a twisted, shrieking demon, and charged toward the door.
She rushed through the backyard, searching through the rooms with lightning speed.
But she couldn’t find Lynn anywhere.
Just as she was about to give up, her eyes suddenly caught a dark shadow flashing through the window of the second-floor attic.
Her pupils shrank.
"This guy... he's snooping around my boudoir?!"
The Bloodstained Specter immediately became enraged.
The next moment, she leapt high, landing in front of the window, and ripped it open with a loud sound.
And then, she saw a scene that made her lose all composure.
Inside the boudoir on the second floor, Lynn was standing by the bed, holding the wide-eyed, already awake, cute child in his arms. He was gently tugging on her little ear, his face showing a look of confusion (??′?`?).
The Bloodstained Specter was stunned.
"Let go of my daughter!!"
With a long howl, the Bloodstained Specter furiously summoned her tentacles, which quickly coiled around Lynn, surrounding him and aiming for him.
Lynn snapped out of his daze and looked at the enraged woman, flicking his monocle. He smiled and said:
"Madam, this isn't how you treat your guests. You invited me to dinner, but all I got downstairs was a scare. I haven't even seen your face yet."
He hugged the cute baby and sighed, "This is so disappointing."
The Bloodstained Specter sneered. "Stop pretending to be kind in front of me. I already know what you did to my daughter. What, are you trying to use those sweet words from earlier to deceive me?"
"You clearly did something to my daughter, yet you're talking about how it reflects your true kindness! I can't wait to tear your mouth off right now!"
Lynn knew.
In situations like this, you absolutely couldn't go along with her narrative.
Otherwise, no matter how many mouths you had, you wouldn't be able to explain yourself.
Lynn adjusted his monocle, calmed down, and said:
"Madam, I don’t know what you think you know, but I assure you, I have not told you a single lie. If I’ve had even the slightest intention of deceiving you…"
"Let Heaven strike me with lightning!"
Crack—
A lightning bolt suddenly streaked through the air, striking the yard.
"…"
"…"
Lynn wiped the sweat off his forehead and said: "Uh… as you can see, for some reason, the lightning didn’t hit me. So, this should prove the trustworthiness of my words. What do you think?"
The Bloodstained Specter sneered.
Her expression said: "I’m just quietly watching you make a fool of yourself."
At this point, Lynn sighed and gave up on the pretense. He sat down on the bed, holding the cute baby, shook his head, and said:
"Alright… I admit it, I did something to her. But, madam, you must understand, I really didn't mean any harm."
"Also, when your daughter was born, her face looked so disfigured, with pimples and pus oozing out…"
"As a compassionate doctor…"
Lynn sighed helplessly.
"If I hadn’t corrected it, when that pig-headed demon comes back to claim the ghost baby from her stomach, how could I look at the kid with a face full of pus and say, ‘This is your daughter?’"
"She looked so mangled!"
The Bloodstained Specter sneered. "Keep making up lies! Let’s see how long you can keep this up!"
[Crisis Level 87]
[Crisis Level 97]
Lynn immediately raised his hands in surrender, helplessly saying:
"Fine, there’s another reason, and this one is true."
"Say it!"
"First," Lynn closed his eyes, raised one finger, and said: "I’m afraid. I’m afraid that when your daughter completely falls apart, you’ll kill me first, since she’s a vengeful spirit."
The Bloodstained Specter sneered. "That excuse actually sounds somewhat reasonable."
"Second," Lynn raised his head, closed his eyes, and continued: "I wanted to test my abilities and see if I could make a doll that meets my aesthetic standards. So, I used your daughter to grind some experience."
The Bloodstained Specter ground her teeth. "And the third?"
"Third…" Lynn said awkwardly:
"Well, I also had a tiny hope that maybe that pig-headed demon wouldn’t show up to claim her and that I could make a cute girl doll, raise her, marry her, and have kids…"
"Yada~~" The cute baby in his arms made a sound (?＞︶＜)?
"……"
"……"
The Bloodstained Specter froze, as if petrified.
Lynn made a playful face, adjusted his monocle, and grinned:
"I’m just kidding! How could I, Lynn, have such dirty thoughts? I just wanted to make a more visually pleasing doll, something easy on the eyes, hehe."
"……"
"……"
"Do you think this is funny?" The Bloodstained Specter ground her teeth.
Lynn shook his head, eyes closed, and said: "Not funny."
The Bloodstained Specter was so enraged that she almost burst out laughing. "I think it's hilarious! Do you want me to tear your mouth apart right now so you can laugh to your heart's content? What do you think?"
Lynn’s face remained calm, and he smiled:
"Madam, I think we should sit down and have a proper conversation. If you really want to kill me, I’m not a match for you, but you need to know what’s important."