Hunter of Mysterious Creature-Chapter 347 - 17: The Female Ghoul

"Alright, alright, I’ll find a place to stay right away."

Sun Hang turned back to the Zhou Family’s courtyard, kicked open the gate that had been somehow repaired, and swaggered inside.

Most of the houses in the town are worn and old, and this Zhou Family courtyard is a rare "mansion".

"Pardon me, just borrowing a place for the night." Sun Hang shouted towards the main house.

Initially, Sun Hang felt a bit guilty for wiping out an entire family, but upon hearing the rumor that the town’s "people" come with an "immortal BUFF" and that the Zhou family’s children were eradicated for touching things they shouldn’t have, not actually killed by him, his guilt immediately dissipated.

"Woooo...." A mournful wail echoed from all directions, a mass of hair wrapped in a robe floated out from the main house, shrinking away in a corner, gazing at Sun Hang.

This time, "she" didn’t charge at Sun Hang in a frenzy.

Not sure if it was out of fear, or knowing the true cause of her child’s death.

"Don’t be afraid, Madam, it’s just for one night," Sun Hang waved at the bundle of hair, "I’m not a Cao, why keep your distance? Come over and talk."

The mass of hair did not float over but hovered in place, the strands wavering as if trembling.

"I won’t harm you, don’t fear me," Sun Hang adopted a more normal tone, "I simply have a few questions to ask you."

"Woooo..." The mournful wail was the response.

"I remember you can talk, didn’t you always scream ’give me back my son’s life’? Now all you do is wail, huh?" Sun Hang scratched his head, "Resurrect with a faulty voice box perhaps? Then again, you don’t have a normal voice box."

The hair retreated a few steps, nearly pressed against the main house’s wall.

"If you don’t come over, I’ll go to you then?" Sun Hang said.

The entity visibly shivered, then slowly floated toward Sun Hang, finally stopping at about five meters away, refusing to come any closer.

Sun Hang sat right down in the courtyard, took out an alcohol stove from his backpack, set it up on the ground, and lit it—the Zhou Family courtyard was fine except for one thing, there was no light source. One had to rely on the moonlight overhead or stray light from nearby houses to see anything, the entire courtyard was pitch black, visibility was far worse than the streets.

It had been slightly brighter when Sun Hang set something on fire earlier, but now that the fire was out, everything returned to its original state.

With the alcohol stove lit, Sun Hang exhaled deeply, "Phew... much more comfortable now."

He looked up at the mass of hair, waved, "Care to join me by the fire?"

The hair expressed refusal by shrinking back a few inches.

"Alright, suit yourself, I’m leaving at dawn regardless," Sun Hang nodded, "As long as you answer a few questions, I guarantee not to harm you."

Once Sun Hang had the whole Zhou Family courtyard ablaze, he confirmed—it wasn’t that he had lost all his abilities; at least, that inexplicable peculiar constitution was still intact.

"...What... do you want... to ask?", a soft female voice came from within the mass of hair.

If the earlier cries of "give me back my son’s life" were from a vengeful ghost demanding lives, then now this entity seemed to have transformed into a gentle, weak female ghost... Sun Hang recalled that Dongying people had even created quite a few R18 doujinshi with Sadako as the prototype. If these creators knew about this existence, who knows how many new creations would pop up overnight on certain websites.

Wife, mother, widow... filled with trending tags, add some contrast stories, it’d be hard not to be popular.

As long as you’re brave, even supernatural beings can go on maternity leave.

The only pity was, the figure beneath the robe was really too thin.

In Sun Hang’s memory, the only Sadako doujinshi he had seen featured the heroine getting stuck in the screen because a certain body part was too large, ending up entirely at the mercy of the male protagonist.

"Ah... big is beautiful, big is good," Sun Hang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

But right now, let’s focus on business.

"In Maoyun Town, someone like me has visited before, right?" Sun Hang pointed at himself, "An outsider like me."

"There was... an outsider... before," the entity nodded the non-existent head, "But he’s... different from you."

"Uh, how different?" Sun Hang immediately asked.

"He... was... human..."

"You mean... I’m not human?" Sun Hang’s expression turned complicated.

The entity didn’t respond.

No response likely meant agreement.

Sun Hang somewhat helplessly sighed, though if viewed this way, it wasn’t incorrect; normal people wouldn’t try to burn down an entire yard with their blood...

These supernatural beings must view him like humans view supernatural beings...

"How long did he stay in Maoyun Town?"

"Two months... three months..."

"So, two months or three months?"

"..."

"Alright, maybe it’s not important," Sun Hang said, "Do you know his name?" 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Li... Li Junwen."

Sun Hang had never heard of this name, and he didn’t know if the person managed to leave Maoyun Town and return alive to the realm of human civilization—putting this name into the Dubhe Tower’s archives might yield some information with his access, provided Sun Hang could return to his original world.

"Was he like you guys... meaning, not immortal?" Sun Hang asked again.

"Not... the same." The female ghost shook her head, her black strands fluttering with the wind, casting moving shadows on the stone slabs in the firelight, "He didn’t... receive... the initial blessing... he would die. But... as long as he... left... he could... eat his fill."

"You mean, as long as he left Maoyun Town, he could escape the curse... or be rid of the blessing?"

"What he ate... wouldn’t... fall out..." the female ghost said, "But he... would still... feel hunger... an unending... hunger."

"Why don’t I feel hunger, is it because I ate recently?"

"..."

"Do I need to stay in town for a while before I become like you guys, perpetually unsatisfied with food?"

"..."

"Is it that you don’t know, or you don’t want to answer?"

"..."

"Okay, let me ask something else." Sun Hang looked at the female ghost, "Is your essence just a bunch of hair; do you even feel hunger? If you do, how do you eat with no mouth?"

"..."

Sun Hang examined the female ghost up and down, then suddenly slapped his forehead, "Oh, I get it! Turn around."

The female ghost hovered in place, hesitated for a moment, then slowly turned around.

Sun Hang pulled out his phone.

Under the lens, the female ghost ceased to be a mass of hair without a body, instead, she appeared as an extremely pale, emaciated woman, her hair so long it reached the ground, making it hard not to worry that she’d trip over it someday.

Although Sun Hang couldn’t see her front, he suspected there was probably a large hole in her throat.

"A bit odd, why do I see the other townsfolk as humans, and only in mirrors do they appear distorted, while you’re the opposite—seen as a supernatural entity by eye, appearing somewhat human in reflection."