Volume 2, Chapter 32 (Chapter 70):  Hell’s Kitchen

Back in her apartment, Lu Yibei heaved a sigh of relief.

She decided not to take the elevator; a lone girl pulling a trolley case and a statue may attract unwanted attention.

Although the Night Division may not pay close attention to her place of residence, it’s better to be cautious.

Pushing open the door to the stairs, dusty air greeted her nostrils. Carrying the statue in one hand and the trolley case in the other, she carefully closed the door, trying not to make any noise.

Climbing up the stairs, she quietly analysed tonight’s events.

The Plate Deity game harbours a great evil, but she learnt that through incantations, she was able to stimulate the power in her own body.

Now that she ruined the ritual, it doesn’t mean that she’s off scot-free. The entity behind the ritual may still target her, so she must find its source and be prepared to deal with it.

‘Pity that my clearance is too low. Otherwise, I could easily look for it in the Night Division records.’

‘Just how do I become a full-time worker in the Night Division?’

‘The girl in my dreams told me not to be involved with the Night Division if I wanted to survive, but if you can’t beat them, join them.’

When she came back to her senses, she found that she had already reached her floor.

She pushed open the iron door of the stairwell and entered the password to open her door.

Accompanied by a soft sound, she could hear a commotion coming from inside her house.

“Hurry! She’s back! We have to clean up!”

“I’m not afraid of her! We are free spirits; we have the right to roam around the house!”

“There he goes again. You still need to help us clean up! Come on, hold this stick in your mouth and clean up the cobwebs!”

Lu Yibei paused outside the door, waiting for them to finish cleaning.

She could tell that if she were to enter now, she might devour them out of spite.

After performing that weird ritual, she felt unstable.

It was as if she had awakened something within her, and violent thoughts would pop up in her mind.

Although she was still able to control it, it’s hard to guarantee that she’ll remain sane.

After waiting for a few minutes, she slowly opened the door, only to be greeted by a terrifying figure.

“Welcome back, Mrs Witch!”

An eyeball, with a wig and false teeth and dressed in a fluttering white skirt, bowed to greet her.

Lu Yibei jumped in shock, gradually regaining her composure.

Yibei simply nodded as she carried the statue and trolley case into the room.

Seeing her return, the other apparitions went straight into the room wordlessly. They felt a terrifying atmosphere filling the room, and they didn’t want to provoke the beast.

Lu Yibei walked to the centre of the living room, dropped a box on the coffee table, and announced loudly, “Come. I have something to ask you.”

‘Did we not clean well enough?’ the apparitions discussed amongst themselves. ‘Is she going to eat us?’

‘Eat you, Mr Eyeball. You’re our sacrifice.’

‘W-what? No!’

‘We’ll remember you!’

Hearing their conversations, Lu Yibei couldn’t help but stare blankly.

Something catapulted in the room, and Yibei stretched out her hand instinctively. Something wet wriggled and struggled in her grasp, only to be greeted with an eyeball staring at her in a bewildered manner.

“I-I’m not going down without a fight!”

“C-calm down,” Yibei said. “I just want to ask who among you knows the correct way to eat the cores of urban legends.”

Yibei set the eyeball down and opened the trolley case. A faint bloody smell permeated the air instantly, and bursts of sinister energy fluctuations spread across the room.

Although they were much less suffocating than Yibei’s own presence, they still felt fearful of the contents.

“Well, how do I eat this thing?”

Although they were truly the core of the urban legends, their outward appearance was still made of artificial leather and textiles.

“I think you have to eat it directly,” the wig said. “While I was wandering outside, I saw a ghost devouring a cat demon whole.”

“Absolutely not,” the dentures said. “I think you have to suck them dry.”

“How?”

“Using your mouth!”

“None of you know how to eat this thing, do you?”

Right.

‘How could such weak apparitions have the ability to eat the cores of other urban legends?’

“Hehe, I know!” the eyeball chuckled.

“Oh? Have you eaten one before?”

“Nope!”

‘This little…’ Yibei grumbled. “Hold that eyeball down. Don’t let it run away.”

“I’ve got some experiments I want to try.”

Since she couldn’t get any useful information out of them, she could only do it by trial and error.

To be on the safe side, she had to figure out how much she could eat at a time.

She guessed that eating something as sinister as this would definitely cause some side effects.

Lu Yibei picked up a charred doll and walked towards the kitchen.

The other apparitions panicked after looking at this scene, and under her coercion, they held the eyeball down amidst his protests.

In the kitchen, Yibei rummaged through the cabinets and found her family’s ancestral set of knives.

They were stored in a brown leather bag, and there were three knives in total.

Ever since she was hospitalised following the car accident, she hadn’t touched these knives in forever. Surprisingly enough, they weren’t rusty at all.

‘Are these magical knives?’

She dismissed the idea.

Thinking about it, she held a knife out, pressed the core of the doll with one hand, and then brought the knife down with the other.

“Maybe I should make a salad,” Yibei said to himself.

The other apparitions shuddered, seeing the doll being cut in half cleanly. Could this knife be used against them in the future?

It truly was Hell’s Kitchen at that very moment for them.