The owner’s wife could no longer be called a human being. She looked like a mass of twisted minced meat, only forcibly held together by the needle and thread that she used to sew herself up. After losing her day-time makeup, it completely revealed her terrifying face in the heavy darkness of midnight.
No one knew how the boss’s wife had become like that. The black figure felt the imminent threat of Jiang Luo’s group of three. The expression of the owner’s wife instantly became ferocious. However, she did not attack Jiang Luo’s group, instead she fiercely pounced towards the pair of old and young still sleeping on the bed.
Ye Xun subconsciously bit his finger and stuffed it into the mouth of the rabbit doll. Fresh blood dripped out. A dim light flashed in the bright, pitch-black eyes of the rabbit doll. Ye Xun looked dignified as he placed the doll on the ground, “Xiao Fen, go swallow her.”
Xiao Fen’s movements were stiff as it walked towards the owner’s wife.
The doll, actually, moved.
Jiang Luo rarely lost control of his expressions; he looked at Xiao Fen without any reaction.
Worried, Ye Xun threw ‘Bottom Rank 1’ and ‘Bottom Rank 2’ out of the door, “You guys go out, don’t make trouble for me here.”
The bedroom door slammed shut before Jiang Luo and Lu Youyi’s eyes. Jiang Luo slowly took his time. He and Lu Youyi walked out all the way onto the balcony, and squatted down beside the owner who was smoking.
They had the exact same pose, yet he and the boss were the very image of the difference between an idol drama and reality. The boss didn’t notice; his heart was so flustered that the cigarette held in his hand trembled along with it. He, himself, didn’t know what to talk about, aimlessly rambling to express his anxiety, “How did she become like that? Did I see it wrong?”
Faint smoke drifted towards Jiang Luo, blurring his face.
As if casually, Jiang Luo asked, “Boss, what zodiac sign are you and your wife?”
The owner said, “I’m a Rat; my wife’s a Horse.”
Jiang Luo nodded, seemingly absentminded.
Beside him, the boss sighed and dejectedly said, “Ever since the business failed, I’ve been so unmotivated everyday. It’s all my fault. It’s all because I didn’t pay attention to my wife in time,” he gradually choked up and rubbed away his tears. “My wife became like that… I actually didn’t realise… I’m really not f*cking human!”
His cries were so loud, and his appearance was unsightly. Lu Youyi’s eyes also turned red. Jiang Luo lowered his head in silence. Amidst the smoke, his expression was somewhat indifferent. Waiting until the boss had finished his cigarette, Jiang Luo stood up and looked at the owner condescendingly, saying, “Did you really not realize anything?”
The owner who was still crying became startled.
Jiang Luo: “This land is a kind of Feng Shui treasure that’s not easy to find. You had the guts to open a hotel here. That’s enough to prove that you pay attention to the matter of Feng Shui. Your zodiac sign is the Rat, which corresponds to the ‘Zi’ of the 12 Earthly Branches; its element is ‘Water’. While your wife’s zodiac sign is the Horse, corresponding to the ‘Wu’ of the 12 Earthly Branches, which is from ‘Fire’1This entire paragraph is most likely in reference to the Chinese Bagua [Eight Trigrams]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagua; This turtle doesn’t know how it works, so just take it as it is. . Two such people would clash. This room sits north facing south. The design of this room is favourable to a male owner but unfavourable to the female owner. Do you really not know anything?”
The owner dully raised his head from his palms and looked at him.
Jiang Luo smiled; the corners of his lips were curled up, but his words were ice cold and to the point, “It’s just because you dislike troublesome things, too lazy to care, and don’t take things to heart that this kind of catastrophe could happen.”
He turned around and went back into the room.
Lu Youyi followed beside him; his mood, complicated as he said, “Jiang Luo, is what you said really the truth?”
Jiang Luo let out a hum.
Lu Youyi wilted as he pursed his mouth.
Jiang Luo glanced at Lu Youyi from the corner of his eye.
Lu Youyi’s sense of justice was strong. He would cry up a storm over a fictional story, and he would become furious over the tragic deaths of those three girls. Such a person was like a burning fire. Would there also be a time when his fire is extinguished because of the darkness and despair of reality?
Jiang Luo’s thoughts went wild as he waited with Lu Youyi by the bedroom door. After waiting for fifteen minutes, Ye Xun opened the door with a head full of perspiration, “It’s fine.”
Inside the room, there was no longer any sign of the boss’s wife. In Ye Xun’s arms was the pink rabbit doll whose appearance was still the same as before. The grandmother on the bed had already woken up, trembling as she held her frightened grandson in her arms.
The boss rushed in from behind. The little boy instantly burst out sobbing the moment he saw his father, tears running down like a faucet, “Daddy, huggy!”
The owner immediately held his son, while also soothing the old lady. Then, with a complicated expression, he walked up to Ye Xun, “Ye tong xue2同学: student/classmate; in this case because it’s used as an honourific I will use the pinyin version., my wife…”
“She has already been afflicted. We will find a way to transcend her soul.” Ye Xun paused, then said, “Her body was mixed with the skin and flesh of at least three people. We have fulfilled your request.”
The boss’s eyes were red. He wanted to ask something else, but his child was still hugging his head, complaining that he was sleepy. He was hesitant to continue talking, only wanting to carry his son and coax him back to sleep, “Please, can you wait until tomorrow? I still have something I want to ask about.”
Ye Xun nodded in affirmation.
Waiting until after the boss had carried his child back into the room, the grandmother, who was still in shock, also went into another room to rest.
As the three of them went downstairs, Ye Xun said, “Jiang Luo, did you say something to the owner? He didn’t dare to even look at you.”
Jiang Luo waved off the question, “Who knows.”
Lu Youyi, who had returned to his senses, murmured, “Yeah, who knows.”
Once downstairs, Ye Xun and Lu Youyi started heading back to their rooms to sleep; however, Jiang Luo stood still. The two men turned around and looked at him doubtfully, “You’re not heading back?”
Jiang Luo looked around, then simply and nonchalantly sat down on the steps, “Let’s wait.”
“Wait for what?”
Jiang Luo looked upstairs, “Wait for a scream, or the smell of a virgin boy’s urine3童子尿 – transliteral: boy’s urine; the reason why I put virgin boy’s urine is because it’s really just that. Technically a twenty-year old’s urine would work too if he’s a virgin because he hasn’t become a man yet (all according to ancient Chinese culture)..”
Ye Xun titled his head, “A scream?”
Lu Youyi: “Virgin boy’s urine?”
Jiang Luo leisurely asked, “You guys don’t really think that the boss’s wife is the murderer, do you?”
Ye Xun said matter-of-factly, “She had the flesh of three people inside her body. Xiao Fen confirmed it when she ate her.”
Jiang Luo propped his chin on his palm and seriously asked, “But no human can just suddenly turn into a ghost without rhyme or reason. She was obviously human before, yet now she’s become that lump of minced meat-like thing. Haven’t you guys ever wondered why?”
Lu Youyi and Ye Xun stared at him, dazed.
These two people were very skilled, but too naive. Of course if they weren’t so innocent, they wouldn’t have believed Jiang Luo’s made-up nonsense about him and Chi You.
Jiang Luo patiently continued, “Is it possible that she’s also a victim?”
After pausing for a while, he said, “To be honest, she gave me the feeling of someone who had been chewed up into large bites; swallowed into a stomach; managed to break out and escape while taking the chewed up flesh of the other victims with her; then haphazardly stitched herself up into human form.”
Lu Youyi became horrified and couldn’t help taking a step forward, “What?!”
“Is there a kind of ghost that can take the form of a human being, sneak into a person’s home, and then devour them when they are not paying attention?” Jiang Luo was deep in thought as he slowly said, “It has a face identical to that of a human being and cannot be detected by the naked eye when it reverts into a ghost. But it really loves to eat human flesh and will devour a person from head to toe, from skin to bone, leaving only a few hairs that are stuck to the pillow—Ye Xun, Lu Youyi, is there a ghost like that?”
Lu Youyi said, “How’s that possible—”
His words came to an abrupt halt. In astonishment, he turned his head to look at Ye Xun. The two people said in unison, ” A changeling4人面客 – transliteral: human-faced guest; technically calling it a changeling might not be accurate. I’m also not entirely sure if this thing is something the author made up or an actual type of creature. That being said, its characteristics are extremely close to that of a changeling (i.e. taking the place of a human being without any of the original’s family members noticing) so I decided to translate it as that.!“
A changeling was a type of ghost that took on the appearance of a living person when dressed in their discarded clothing. Taking advantage of that living person’s absence, it would sneak into the human being’s home. During the day, it would chat and laugh with the family members; at night, the changeling would reveal its true nature and go from room to room to eat people.
Until everyone was eaten clean; not even crumbs would be left behind.
The two men thought of a certain possibility; Ye Xun didn’t know what to do5 手足无措 – idiom meaning not knowing where to put one’s hands and feet; feeling out of place or at a loss. So that original line with Ye Xun and Lu Youyi was supposed to be more rhyme-y and poetic; Yexun didn’t know what to do with his hands and feet, while Lu Youyi didn’t even know how to speak—that kind of thing., while Lu Youyi didn’t know what to say. They looked at Jiang Luo completely stunned, as if they had been scared stiff.
Jiang Luo pointed towards the ceiling, “Therefore, I’m waiting for a scream or the smell of a boy’s urine.”
*
His son was frightened; with much difficulty, the boss managed to coax his son to sleep. His own mind was confused and weary. After a long while, he finally followed his son and slowly fell asleep.
Just when he was almost fully unconscious, he suddenly jolted awake. In the middle of the night, his eyes flickered open.
Who knew that as soon as he opened his eyes, he would see a dark and eerie figure standing beside the head of his bed.
The owner was startled; his heart went ‘whoosh’ as it flew into his throat. At max speed, he quickly turned on the light. When he finally saw who it was, he breathed a sigh of relief. Dripping in cold sweat, he said, “Ma, why did you come over here?”
The old woman smiled. Her face covered with a heavy deathly aura; her smile was strange and eerie. Affectionately, she said, “Dear Son, go back to sleep.”
The old woman’s mouth was still chewing on something; her words were very slurred. The boss subconsciously felt a little uncomfortable, “Ma, what are you eating?”
He stared intently. Then, he saw the fresh, bright red bloodstains on the old woman’s row of white teeth. Suddenly, an uneasy feeling rose up in the boss. He looked down to see that the old woman’s two hands were holding onto his arm that already had a chunk of flesh gnawed off.
The owner’s eyes immediately widened; a chill rushed up his spine. The extreme horror caused his throat to make a cold “Uh Uh” sound; he couldn’t even scream properly.
The old woman continued to smirk as she buried her head in his arm, chomping down with a big bite. The old woman reverently inhaled the fresh blood into her mouth with such greed, as if she was drinking a delicious fruit beverage.
The sound of chewing food grew louder and louder. Half of the old woman’s wrinkled face was stained red with fresh blood. The boss’s eyes almost fell out in horror as his entire body convulsed. His other arm shook nonstop as it constantly pressed down on his son’s small, bulging belly. The sleeping child was completely oblivious of the world. After holding back a day’s worth of pee, it silently, without warning, dyed the large bedsheet.
The old woman ate and ate. Suddenly, her face changed; she violently retreated to avoid the child’s urine. Her eyes glared resentfully at the boss and his child.
The boss was finally able to scream, “Ah—!”
The three people downstairs instantly rushed up the steps.
When they arrived, the owner was huddled in a corner of the bed with his son in his arms, shivering as he protected his child. When the blood-covered changeling saw them, his eyes became extremely spiteful. He turned around as if to jump out the window and escape.
Lu Youyi’s reaction was quick. He pulled on the changeling’s clothes, about to drag it back, but then the clothing tore. The moment the clothes were torn and destroyed, the changeling’s skin was destroyed with it. Instantly, it became a mass of blood and rotten flesh.
Like a man without skin.
The boss couldn’t even sigh before his eyes rolled back, fainting.
Lu Youyi almost let out a scream, but the head of the decapitated walking corpse beat him to it, “Ahh! Ahh! So scary! It’s so scary!”
Lu Youyi’s scream got caught in his throat. Contemptuously, he tossed the head—who had purposely followed them to watch the commotion— over to Jiang Luo, “I’ll go deal with the changeling! This ghost is afraid of fire, get a fire!”
Jiang Luo dug out a lighter from the boss’s body and threw it to him. Lu Youyi pulled the bedsheet over and was about to pounce onto the changeling.
The smell of the child’s urine was still on the sheets; the changeling let out a screech, its voice as ear-piercing as the sound of a mouse. Ye Xun suddenly understood. With a smile, he glanced at the small child who was sleeping soundly and said, “Fortunately the child had wet the bed, otherwise this changeling would have already eaten up the owner long ago.”
Jiang Luo shrugged—doing a good deed without credit, “Yup.”
Ye Xun was worried that Lu Youyi wouldn’t be able to control the changeling, so he bit his finger once again to let Xiao Fen help Lu Youyi. The rabbit doll’s hand shook, then it got up and walked towards the changeling.
Jiang Luo shifted over to Ye Xun’s side and watched with rapt attention, “Ye Xun, is that thing really a doll?”
Ye Xun glanced at him and said, “Wraith doll.”
Jiang Luo: “…” What he had randomly said before to fool the boss seemed to have come true.
Anything that contained the two words “resentful spirit6怨灵玩偶 – wraith doll, apparently translated as such; transliteral: ‘怨灵’ resentful spirit and ‘玩偶’ doll. If you search this up, ‘Chucky’-like existences will appear…“ in its title was not to be trifled with. Ye Xun took the initiative and asked, “You want one too?”
Jiang Luo felt flattered, “Can I?”
Ye Xun laughed, “No, I just wanted to hang your appetite.”
Jiang Luo: “…”
Lu Youyi, who was still struggling with the changeling, said with much difficulty, “F*ck, can’t you guys just pay attention to me?”
As soon as he said this, the rabbit doll had already reached in front of the changeling. The doll, which was half the size of an adult, was extremely sturdy. Its furry claws latched onto the changeling. With a tearing sound, it scratched up the rotten flesh of the changeling’s body.
The changeling’s body was composed of all the various humans that it had eaten. Several people’s lives may have been lost to make up one grain of meat. Lu Youyi’s stomach turned. He stepped aside and let the rabbit doll and the changeling fight each other. The changeling roared at the doll rabbit in anger, like a mouse whose tail had been stepped on.
Lu Youyi covered his mouth as he retreated to Jiang Luo’s side, “So disgusting… “
Jiang Luo thought for a moment, petting the hair of the decapitated ghost in his arms. He suddenly burst out with a smile, “Hey Ning Xiu lao ge7老哥 – transliteral: old older brother; it’s an endearment for a older male than oneself, usually more respectful and friendlier than just ge[哥], how ‘bout a favour?”
The head was dazzled by his smile and foolishly answered, “Okay, sure.”
Jiang Luo said, “Thanks, Ning Xiu lao ge.“
At the end of his words, Jiang Luo straightened his arm. Using that momentum, he swung the head around in half a circle, treating the decapitated ghost as a rubber ball and ruthlessly hurled it at the changeling.
The decapitated ghost shrieked in mid-air as it crashed smack dab into the back of the changeling’s head.
The changeling screeched and fell to the ground. Lu Youyi took the opportunity to wrap the changeling with the bedsheet. He used the lighter and set it on fire.
He and the rabbit doll firmly pinned down the sides of the bedsheet. When the flames spread to the edge of the bedsheet, Lu Youyi picked up the rabbit doll and backed away. They watched with wide eyes as the raging fire completely surrounded the changeling.
As the flames grew bigger, Jiang Luo returned to his senses and asked, “What comes next?”
Exhausted, Lu Youyi rubbed his arm and said, “No wonder your credits are only 3 points… Of course we need to phone the police and then call an ambulance. Oh right, we should also call the fire department as well.”
Jiang Luo: “…” I’ve learned well… it appears that things could still be so scientifically mundane.
Jiang Luo was inexperienced. He obediently followed Lu Youyi and Ye Xun’s instructions. Half an hour later, the police and ambulance arrived at Hotel 129. To Jiang Luo’s surprise, the police and paramedics reacted calmly to the crime scene’s abnormality. After extinguishing the fire, they placed the burnt changeling into a yellow cloth bag and led Jiang Luo’s group of three away.
Just before leaving, Jiang Luo suddenly thought of something. He turned around and walked towards the small child’s hand. He reached out his hand and touched that ring of black mist.
Countless fragments of memories quickly rushed into his mind.
He “saw” the memories of the boss’s wife.
The owner’s wife had opened her eyes in the middle of the night, only to see her mother-in-law—with whom she had been chatting and laughing with during the day—standing by the window, eating her up bite after bite.
He saw the desperation and the fear of the owner’s wife; saw the hatred and the anger she felt after the changeling began coveting her son.
The greatness of a mother’s love would always be astonishing. The owner’s wife dragged her body of chewed-up flesh, crawled out of the depths of the changeling’s stomach, and sewed herself up into a human shape with needle and thread.
She had lost her ability to think as a human being, but instinctually wanted to protect her son. After waiting until her son fell asleep in the middle of the night, she would stand stiffly at the end of the bed, staring down at her son and the changeling’s every move.
This child… was so cute.
She thought.
She couldn’t scare him.
That’s why she thought of doing her make-up.
It was also because of this reason that the changeling never ate another person after killing the three girls and the owner’s wife.
The wife’s obsession with protecting her son rushed into Jiang Luo’s mind.
Jiang Luo was so affected by the turbulent emotions that he could not control his tears. He gritted his teeth as large droplets of tears fell heavily onto the floor.
Jiang Luo struggled, gasping for oxygen as he crouched on the ground trying to calm his emotions.
How could familial love be so noble?
This was not a story performed on television nor some good deed reported on the news; it was happening right before Jiang Luo’s eyes. Frame by frame, scene by scene, along with the wife’s emotions of desperation and anger, it was all incredibly real.
It turns out that a mother’s love could be like this.
Jiang Luo lowered his head, raising his hand to prevent people from worrying about him. He tried his best to steady his voice as he said, “I’m fine.”
After a long while, he lifted his head. He looked back complicatedly at the little fatty, then followed his companions out.
In the car, the police uncle brought them a cup of hot water and said in a warm tone, “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of the rest. You guys are too tired today. The intensity of this case has exceeded our expectations, we’ll talk to the school about giving you extra credit.”
Lu Youyi, who currently didn’t care about credits anymore, nodded. His eyes would shift towards Jiang Luo from time to time. Hesitantly, he said, “Jiang Luo, are you alright?”
Jiang Luo shook his head. He didn’t want them to ask any more, so he took the initiative to change the topic and said, “Are the police allowed to know about matters of the metaphysical community?”
Ye Xun said, “The state knows about the existence of the metaphysical world, so naturally the police officers dedicated to dealing with our side of things will know about it too.”
Seeing Jiang Luo’s dull expression, he explained in more detail, “The metaphysical community cooperates with the state. All across the country, there are twelve universities and colleges that have established ‘Natural Science and Social Studies’ programs. Each program only has one class, and each class has less than ten students.”
“The metaphysical community is declining these days; there are fewer and fewer talented people who work in this line of profession. The total number of students in those universities and colleges only add up to about a hundred people give or take,” Ye Xun fell silent for a while, “Whenever the state encounters paranormal activity, it will distribute it as a task to the twelve schools according to region. Apart from the schools, there’s also the Six Great Sects of the metaphysical community.”
Ye Xun looked towards Jiang Luo, his pitch-black eyes cold as jade, “Chi You is a part of the Chi Family that’s known as the Puppet Soul Refining Sect.”
“Puppet Soul Refining?” Jiang Luo repeated.
Ye Xun said, “It’s a technique that can manipulate both people and ghosts. Not only can it refine the souls of the living, it can also refine the souls of the dead. It’s what makes the Chi Family so dreadful. Except, this technique is too heaven-defying; the only person in the Chi Family who had genuinely mastered the art of puppet soul refinement was Chi You.”
That was to say, when Chi You was still alive, no matter if it were people or ghosts, all could become puppets – marionettes – in his hands.
He could have eyes anywhere.
Jiang Luo raised his head with a sense of wariness, looking at the people around him. Each person was hurriedly going about their own business. Occasionally a person would meet eyes with Jiang Luo and give him a polite and courteous smile.
In Jiang Luo’s eyes, such a smile seemed to be filled with a ghostly aura, eerie and terrifying, gradually twisting into the image of Chi You.
Jiang Luo snapped out of his thoughts and sneered at himself, suspecting that he was too paranoid.
According to the original novel, Chi You was currently still in a weakened state due to his soul being incomplete. It was only thanks to the help of Feng Li, the protagonist gong, that he was able to cultivate and get revenge.
Previously he was able to manifest in the washroom because of the compatibility of the timing and location.
How could he have already recovered to the point where he could control people?
13 thoughts on “Chapter 6 – Changeling”
So glad that someone picked this up!!!!! The dynamic between the ML and MC kinda reminds me of Thriller Trainee, so I’m really excited to see where this is gonna go. THANKS FOR THE CHAPTER!!!!!!!!
I haven’t read that one yet, but it’s on my list lol. I guess I should push it up a little more. I like this kind of dynamic too.
Thanks for picking this up despite tea novel posting raw mtl, it wasn’t… very enjoyable to read.
So thanks again for the update! :3
The translation was absolutely quality. Thank you for picking this novel up and not locking it. Trying to hold off from discord as much as possible but thank you again. XD
THANKYOU FOR PICKING UP THIS NOVEL
I really want to read this novel, and your translations is good & readable.
Thank you so much for picking up this novel! I always wanted to continue reading this but unfortunately, I could not stand the MTL. Thank you again for the amazing translation :).
Thank you so much for picking this up. Been putting this novel on hold since I can’t find reliable translation. Really glad you decided to translate this. Thank you again for your hard work! 💜
Thank you thank you
Thank you for the translation…
Thank you so much for picking it up!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the translation! I loved this novel and MTL’d the rest of it because I couldn’t just leave it in the middle. I’m so glad it’s getting picked up! I do have a question, if you’re up to answering it, do you know what they mean by “window brakes”? It wasn’t in this chapter, but in one of Indolent Purple’s previously translated chapters (beginning of CH. 3). It’s been bugging me ever since the first time I read it. It’s not important, just one of those things that occasionally come up and you try to find answers (I google’d and still couldn’t find anything).
I’m so excited to find this translation since I couldn’t understand the MTL. Looking forward to catching up on chapters!
thank you so much for translating this omg