Starting with dissecting ghost stories

There are still many unfinished buildings in this redevelopment area. Li Ya led Shen Xing into a small alley and into a dilapidated bungalow.

On the way, Shen Xing had already done a lot of thinking. He was thinking about how to shut Li Ya up while clearing away all the doubts about himself.

He needs a plan to extricate himself from the situation unscathed.

Unfortunately, Shen Xing had thought a lot and could only come to a few conclusions.

As long as Li Ya is alive, either he himself or the strange thing will eventually be exposed to the authorities.

If you turn someone into a vegetable, it shouldn't be considered murder, right?

While Shen Xing was still thinking, Li Ya had already spoken.

"Ah Xing, you're a college student, you've read a lot of books, and you've even been a policeman. What are you going to do now? So many people have gone missing, the police will investigate, won't they?"

It is clear from Li Ya's words that the reason he chose to conspire with Shen Xing was because he wanted to use Shen Xing's knowledge to evade police investigation.

"Uncle Li, do you believe me?" Shen Xing continued, following the other person's train of thought.

"Of course, why would I show you those things if you don't believe me?" Li Ya said matter-of-factly.

"Then tell me in detail about that 'ghost.' If you want to get away with your crime, you absolutely can't do it without that thing." Shen Xing got back on track and began to ask the other party about the specific situation of the doll.

For example, how did Li Ya discover this puppet? And how did she utilize it? What is the puppet's operational logic? Is there only one puppet?

"Isn't the 'ghost' you're raising supposed to eat everything?" Li Ya looked at Shen Xing with some suspicion. "Why don't you just let it eat its head?"

"My 'ghost' isn't a doll, it's a wall, it can't be moved," Shen Xing said, then added, completely dispelling the other person's idea, "It can't be brought over either, it only eats one person a week, it's already eaten this week, we'll have to wait until next week."

Shen Xing's explanation was somewhat far-fetched, and seemed to be a deliberate attempt to avoid Li Ya's words.

But now Li Ya is also in a precarious situation, so he has no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to trust Shen Xing, just to take a gamble.

"I've almost forgotten that I picked it up a few days ago. It was completely bulging back then. Later, that shrew came to me demanding money, threatening to tell everyone about this place if I didn't..."

Li Ya began to recount in a low voice the events of encountering the puppet and killing the first person, her voice filled with hatred.

His first victim was his ex-wife who ran away.

His ex-wife was no pushover either, trying every means to squeeze more money out of Li Ya, and threatening him that if he didn't pay, she would expose his location to Li Ya's creditors, those loan sharks.

Li Ya, who was already upset about losing money, took advantage of his drunken state that night and stabbed his ex-wife to death.

After stabbing the person to death, Li Ya belatedly felt fear. He wanted to dispose of the body, but he had absolutely no experience in doing so.

As he dragged the body toward the room, the blood-stained and still-warm corpse touched the shriveled doll that looked like nothing more than a layer of cotton skin.

Then something strange happened.

The cotton cloth began to wriggle, absorbing the blood from the ground and spreading towards the corpse.

Li Ya was so frightened that he wet himself and fainted. When he woke up, he found his ex-wife still by his bedside. Everything that happened last night seemed like a dream.

Somewhat mentally unstable, Li Ya ran out, not knowing where to go, so he went to the underground casino he was familiar with.

But to his surprise, his luck seemed to have turned around.

No matter what he gambles on, he always wins. Even when he's just walking outside, he'll accidentally step on a wallet...

At first, Li Ya thought it was all luck. When he returned home with the money, he thought his ex-wife would have left long ago, but she was still standing in the spot where he had arranged the dolls, without moving.

No matter how much I scold or beat the other person, they show no intention of leaving. They even obey my every word and can still talk and communicate.

“‘I’m your luck, you can’t get rid of me…’ That’s what she said back then, and then, I think I knew what was going to happen.” Li Ya’s voice was filled with excitement and agitation as she said this, “I found that head in the corner of the video arcade, used the money I won to buy an altar, and enshrined her there.”

Can we... communicate?

It sounds smarter than muscles.

Is this genuine communication? Or is that weirdo using his ex-wife's memories and language logic to repeat something to him to achieve their own goals?

In any case, it has a certain degree of self-awareness and will act according to the instincts generated by that self-awareness; that's for sure.

As for the rest of the story, Shen Xing only selectively listened to the key parts. He didn't care how Li Ya killed the person; he only wanted to know more information about the puppet.

After obtaining the information he wanted, Shen Xing asked:

Why doesn't it eat you?

This is a very crucial question.

【0111】It will not react with other flesh and blood, but will actively merge with Shen Xing.

Could it be that Li Ya also possesses some "special" qualities? Is it also a fusion? But [0111] did not get hot when she met Li Ya.

Hearing this, Li Ya gave a half-smile. He looked at Shen Xing and said with a smile, "You're asking too many questions, Xing."

"I can't help you deal with those three heads without understanding its capabilities," Shen Xing said, also smiling.

Li Ya has a way to control that puppet... and he doesn't want to reveal that method.

It is very likely that this method, or this pattern, is replicable or extremely easy to replicate.

He was worried that Shen Xing could also take control.

If Li Ya's existence is indispensable and unique in the method of controlling the puppet, he would definitely have said it directly... This could also be used to threaten Shen Xing; as long as he doesn't cooperate, the puppet won't cooperate either.

Li Ya has a way to control puppets...

Shen Xing raised his hand and looked at his watch; the hour hand was pointing to four in the afternoon.

I've talked enough with Li Ya today; I need to find a chance to slip away and go to the infirmary.

"Uncle Li, write down my phone number. Give me a call after the doll gets back to you, and we'll deal with it together."

"Either we wait until next Saturday, when my wall opens up again."

"Remember, don't use a sack to dispose of the body yourself, because you'll definitely be found, and that will confirm your crime."

To show his sincerity, Shen Xing left his phone number with Li Ya and told him to use a coin-operated public phone booth when he needed to contact him.

Although Li Ya was very dissatisfied with not getting a solution from Shen Xing, he simply nodded because he still needed Shen Xing's help.

Just as Shen Xing was about to leave, Li Ya spoke up behind him.

"Ah Xing, I don't want things to end up with both sides losing."

"If I can make it eat others, I can make it eat you."

"Do you understand?"

A naked threat.

Shen Xing didn't turn around; he simply waved as he walked down the alley.