.....

21st floor, outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

Dong Xinrui’s body stiffened, her face drained of color, and her mind froze. Slowly, she turned her head.

She saw a man floating in midair, arms crossed as he approached.

The large window in front of her silently shattered into hundreds of pieces, cascading down in a shower of glass.

A breeze brushed past her face. The scene before her blurred for a split second—

Then, as if teleporting, Lu Ding appeared directly in front of the old man, his feet hovering just above the ground.

He raised a hand, gripping the old man’s forehead, channeling his Spiritual Energy inward to probe.

On the outside, it still looked like a human body.

But on the inside, something else had taken over.

Simply put—this was nothing more than a monster wearing human skin.

Beneath the surface lay an ancient malevolent ghost.

Lu Ding tightened his grip. The old man’s face twisted in agony.

Lu Ding’s voice remained calm, without a hint of emotion. “Where’s the original old man?”

“Hhhhuhuhu... Ate him... Ate him up. Too old. Kinda tough to chew.”

Lu Ding slapped him across the face, knocking out all his teeth.

“Maybe the problem is your teeth suck.”

His grip tightened.

The old man’s head burst like a watermelon.

Blackened chunks of flesh splattered across the floor, mingled with oozing green pus and blood.

Lu Ding flicked the filth off his hand.

A notification flashed across his Golden Finger panel—silent, but clear.

【Obtained: Colorless Crystal Shard ×1】

【Colorless Crystal Shard: A condensed form of pure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy, containing refined soul power. Can be used to replenish energy, enhance realm progression, and boost combat strength.】

Looks like this thing’s rank was too low to be worth storing.

No spell rewards—just these low-tier Colorless Crystal Shards.

Lu Ding wasn’t greedy. Profit was profit. But this wasn’t the real reason he had come—the real target wasn’t small fry like this.

He turned to look at Dong Xinrui, who was still completely frozen in shock.

While flying over earlier, he had seen her standing terrified in front of the window—that was why he had stopped to save her.

“Which floor is this?”

The fear in Dong Xinrui’s heart had mostly faded, leaving only lingering dread. She stammered out a reply, “This is the 21st floor… Apartment 2109.”

She didn’t know who this man was.

But she understood one thing clearly—he had just saved her life.

If not for Lu Ding, she might already be dead at the hands of that thing.

So... ghosts really do exist in this world…

“I have other places to go. Stay inside and don’t go anywhere.”

Dong Xinrui nodded frantically. She didn’t even need the warning—after witnessing that monster, there was no way in hell she was stepping outside before daylight.

Forget taking the elevator or walking down that pitch-black emergency staircase—she wasn’t doing any of that.

As Lu Ding floated toward the broken front door, preparing to leave, Dong Xinrui instinctively called out,

“Where are you going?”

“There are more of them in this building. I need to clean up.”

The moment she heard there were more monsters, Dong Xinrui visibly trembled.

“B-Be careful.”

Lu Ding floated away, and the broken door collapsed behind him.

The moment he was gone, Dong Xinrui bolted into her bedroom, locked the door, and curled up in bed, shaking like a leaf.

Outside.

Lu Ding went straight for the emergency staircase.

The woman who had reported the case at the Bureau earlier said her family lived on the 19th floor—Apartment 1911.

That was his next destination.

Descending to the 20th floor, just a few steps away from reaching the 19th, a young man stood frozen behind the emergency exit door.

When he saw Lu Ding floating, there wasn’t the expected human reaction of fear—instead, he looked annoyed.

His tone was impatient, “How many times has the Commander told you? Be careful. Be careful. Don’t stand out. Don’t do anything that draws unnecessary attention. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile, stockpiling resources, and waiting for the Ghost Festival.”

“What the hell are you doing? It’s only a few more days—couldn’t you just wait?”

“What, are your damn legs just decorations? Can’t you climb some stairs? If you really had to, you could’ve just taken the elevator. Damn it, after all this time, you still haven’t learned how to use an elevator? What a waste of a perfectly good body.”

“Speaking of which, your body does look pretty good—but why do you seem unfamiliar?”

Lu Ding didn’t interrupt.

Commander.

Ghost Festival.

Stockpiling resources, staying hidden.

This guy was definitely talking about the mastermind behind all this.

Commander… So the leader of these monsters was from ancient times—probably some kind of military official, and even had a title.

And the Ghost Festival?

That was the Hungry Ghost Festival—were these things planning to do something big on that day?

Lu Ding didn’t waste time.

In a blink, he closed the distance, grabbed the young man, and slammed him into the wall.

The concrete cracked from the impact.

Slash!

A clean cut—the young man’s arm rolled onto the floor.

Pain twisted his face, and he opened his mouth to scream—

But Lu Ding clamped down on his jaw, fingers crushing his mandible with a sickening crack, preventing him from making a sound.

“Now, you answer my questions.

If you take too long—

You’ll see your own brains.”

“Who is this ‘Commander’ you’re talking about?”

The ghost inside the man’s body smirked, eyes filled with mockery.

He had no intention of answering.

Lu Ding kept his word.

The ghost’s skull popped open, and his brain matter splattered across the pristine white wall.

Lu Ding casually flung the corpse aside.

“Loyal bunch, huh? Whatever, I’ll just find out myself in 1911.”

Outside Apartment 1911.

Lu Ding hovered in front of the door.

With a single kick, the entire doorframe shattered, revealing the scene inside.

A family of three sat at the table, eating.

Two elders, one child.

If nothing had gone wrong, this should have been the woman’s in-laws and her child—the people she had reported missing.

The moment the three creatures saw Lu Ding, they froze.

Their eyes filled with even greater confusion when they noticed he was floating.

What… was he?

A human?

Or was he… one of them?

Because in their understanding—humans couldn’t fly.

The old man slowly stood up.

“What manner of demon are you? This place is the garrison of the Pei Family Army. Leave at once, and I shall spare you!”

Lu Ding laughed. “What manner of demon am I?”

Bullsh*t.

He was a righteous and upstanding citizen—and somehow, he was the one being called a demon?

In a blur, he instantly closed the distance, kicking out with a powerful strike.

The old man flew backward, slamming into the wall so hard that his body embedded itself into it.

A large spray of green pus and blood burst from his mouth.

Beside him, the old woman sprang up, attempting to attack—

Lu Ding raised a hand. A cold gleam flashed.

From bottom to top, under the dim lighting of the room, the reflection of her shadow split into three parts.

A second later—

Countless long, twisted shapes scattered onto the floor.

Her body had been neatly dissected.

Lu Ding grabbed the child that had been replaced by a monster.

Before he could do anything—

The ghost embedded in the wall, still unable to move, let out a choked, broken cry.

“L-Let go of the Young Master! Come at me instead!”

With a single slash, Lu Ding severed both of the ghost’s legs at the root.

“Quit acting like some loyal retainer protecting his master. If someone walked in on this, they’d think you guys were the victims here.”

“If you want me to let him go, then start talking. Otherwise—”

“This little bastard is going to die, piece by piece, right in front of you.”

CRACK!

Lu Ding ripped off one of the child-sized monster’s arms with brute force.

At this moment, he was more ruthless than the monsters themselves.

“AAAAHHHHH! DAD!!!!”

Lu Ding sneered. “Shut up. You could scream for your grandpa and it wouldn’t matter. And you’re still calling for your dad?”

“I’LL TALK!!! I’LL TALK!!!”