Ch. 86 - “Goodnight Ojousama”—Did Family Lose His Mind?

Lin Baoyu widened his eyes, then gave Family a big thumbs-up.

As expected of the one whose talent surpassed his own. Back in the day, he too had been hailed as a prodigy—but because of his arrogance, he had walked a lot of crooked paths.

Looking back now, he realized just how foolish he had been. Both were geniuses, but whereas he once wanted to compare himself against Family, seeing the younger man’s composure now, Lin Baoyu couldn’t help but feel inferior.

So this is why he’s gotten further than me—it’s not without reason.

On the side, Luo Lan hesitated. She wanted to ask if she could also hide… She was only at the level of a C-rank hunter, and going up against this so-called Mountain God was too much for her. But as the only local here, if she didn’t at least lead the way for the HQ elites, she’d look useless. With no choice, she had to grit her teeth and go along.

Watching Bai Wan plaster himself sheepishly behind Su Lingling, she couldn’t help feeling envious.

Ah, I want to cling to a big shot too…

They walked a while longer. Suddenly, Su Lingling turned back to Bai Wan, looking slightly embarrassed.

“You don’t need to be quite this close…”

She had told him to stay near, but hadn’t expected him to stick so close. Looking at him right behind her, she felt like if he wasn’t careful, he’d step right off her shoes.

“Ah… sorry, it’s my first time entering a paranormal domain. I’m a bit nervous.” Bai Wan coughed awkwardly and took a few steps back.

With a salted-fish mentality of don’t act if you don’t have to, cling to the strong when you can, Bai Wan was having a very pleasant time. This time, his teammates were reliable. He didn’t have to worry about carrying the whole team, and that made him feel especially at ease.

The group cautiously explored the paranormal domain. The deeper they went, the darker their expressions grew. The place was filled with the victims who had gone missing—dead climbers lay everywhere.

“So many people vanished here…” Su Lingling’s eyes narrowed as she scanned ahead. In the distance, she spotted a woman hanging from a tree.

“Did she commit suicide because she couldn’t escape?” Bai Wan also noticed the hanging woman.

“Careful. An A-rank squad was already wiped out here.” Jiang Zai’s expression turned sharp as he warned them.

The group carefully walked beneath the tree.

Suddenly, a man lying on the ground lurched up and charged at them.

Hoo-hoo-hoo…

Without hesitation, Su Lingling raised her lantern.

Bang! The man turned paranormal was blown back by the flame.

Immediately after, Jiang Zai cast his hook and reeled the entity straight into a capture bag.

But just as the lantern went out, the woman hanging from the tree suddenly turned her eyes, and in an instant, she swung straight toward Bai Wan.

Because Su Lingling and the others were busy dealing with the entity in front of them, they overlooked the hanging woman in the tree, allowing her to quickly close in on Bai Wan.

Su Lingling’s eyes flickered, ready to support him—

But then, to their shock, Bai Wan calmly pulled out a blue hammer and swung it.

CLANG!!!

The hammer smashed full-force into the ghost’s face, sending her swinging back the way she came. At the same time, a golden coin popped out of her body.

Su Lingling: “???”

Jiang Zai: “???”

The others all froze.

The hell? Where did that coin come from?!

Before they could react, they saw Bai Wan rush forward, hammer raised, whacking left and right as if possessed.

“So you like swinging on a rope, huh??”

BANG BANG BANG!!

Bai Wan pummeled her while cursing inwardly. 

Oh, ambushing me?! You think I’m easy prey, huh?!

The poor hanged ghost’s once-delicate face swelled like a pig’s head. Foaming at the mouth, she swung on the tree again and again, coughing up one Mario coin after another.

Su Lingling and the others gawked with slack jaws. Each strike from Bai Wan’s hammer knocked loose another shiny coin, accompanied by crisp ding ding sounds. For some reason, it was strangely satisfying to watch.

What kind of hammer is that? It can actually damage a paranormal? And doesn’t even cost coins?

No wonder he cleared an unsolvable dungeon. He really did have hidden trump cards.

But then, they were stupefied all over again.

After smashing for a while, Bai Wan put away the hammer. Then—he began to sway his hips, dancing flamboyantly. Pointing at the ghost, who was already rolling her eyes in a daze, he sang out:

“Yareyare~ Ojousama, it’s time to go to bed! If you don’t stop, I’ll have to dance even harder!”

“Goodnight! Bam! Ojousama! Bam! Goodnight! Bam!”

The hanged ghost’s face flushed red with rage. Struggling desperately, she took another hammer blow right in the face and passed out cold.

Su Lingling: “……”

She stared at Bai Wan, who was still twirling and hammering away. She wanted to tell him—couldn’t there be a possibility that this so-called “Ojousama” wasn’t being lulled to sleep at all, but was just beaten unconscious?

And yet she kept spitting out coins even while fainted!

And she couldn’t even stop swinging from all the hammering, could she?!

Jiang Zai was also dumbstruck for a long while. Watching Bai Wan shimmy and grind around the unconscious hanged ghost, chanting yareyare with greasy poses, he felt himself hard-stunned for several seconds…

“Has… has Family always been this abstract?” Lin Baoyu sucked in a sharp breath. Back when he was young, he had been pretty unhinged too—but never to the point of dancing Goodnight Ojousama to a hanged ghost!

And then, to everyone’s horror, the fainted ghost suddenly reached into her pocket—pulling out a paranormal coin and handing it to Bai Wan.

“????”

What the hell is this??

Did Bai Wan’s hammer scramble her brain so badly she thought his dance was good, and tipped him??

This was beyond absurd. Even the veteran hunters, who had seen almost everything, were mentally blanked out.

Then Bai Wan trotted back, slipping behind Su Lingling again, feigning terror.

“Was that hanged ghost just attacking me? That was so scary!”

Su Lingling glanced at the ghost, still dangling and incapacitated, then looked silently at Bai Wan.

So this is your reason for dancing around her? You were scared, so you… broke into interpretive dance?

For the first time, she realized Family wasn’t as meek—or as weak—as he pretended to be.

Jiang Zai sighed, finally snapping out of it. He looked at the unconscious ghost, winced in pity, and stuffed her into the capture bag.

“Alright, let’s keep moving. Don’t drop your guard.”

The group nodded and pressed on.

…

They soon reached a small wooden hut—the kind the mountain rangers once lived in. But the cabin was decrepit, like it had been abandoned for decades.

At that moment, Su Lingling’s detector flared blood-red, shining twice as bright as before. Her expression shifted as she stared at the dilapidated cabin.

Something terrifying is inside. Can it be… the rumored Mountain God? As long as they capture the paranormal source, the domain will collapse.

Bai Wan also grew alert. 

Is this the place where my future self appears?

If it is, then it’s dangerous beyond imagination—that would mean a ghost with bug-creating physique is inside. Just the thought of it is chilling.

Jiang Zai and the others exchanged glances, then slowly approached the cabin.

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