The Otherworldly God I Serve Is Actually a Demon - Chapter 18

Li Fang lived in an old residential complex with narrow, one-way streets. The Didi driver circled around for quite a while before finally finding the main entrance to the neighborhood.

The security guard at the gate was an elderly man who didn’t ask many questions and simply let them in. The two followed the address Li Fang had sent and made their way inside.

“Unit 4, Apartment 7-4. Found it, it’s here,” Xiang You located the exact spot using the unreliable map app.

The iron door at the entrance of the building was wide open, its dark, shadowy entrance silently welcoming them. Despite it being nearly dinnertime, the entire building was eerily quiet. There was no sound of cooking, nor the usual smell of oil and smoke from kitchens. Instead, a foul, unpleasant odor hung in the air.

They climbed the stairs to the seventh floor. As soon as they entered the stairwell, they were met with piles of garbage scattered everywhere. It was unclear how long it had been since the place had been cleaned.

Ruan Jiao pinched her nose, regretting having thrown away her mask earlier. A faint yet persistent stench assaulted her nostrils, causing a wave of physical discomfort.

Holding their breath, the two quickly made their way up to the seventh floor and found the corresponding door number. Outside Li Fang’s apartment were two large black garbage bags, bulging and emitting the smell of rotting cooked meat.

“Li Fang’s place is so unhygienic. It stinks,” Xiang You couldn’t help but cover her nose.

At that moment, all they wanted was to deliver the items and leave as quickly as possible.

After knocking, there was no sound from inside. They waited for a while before finally hearing movement at the door. It was as if the person inside had teleported directly to the entrance, skipping the step of walking over.

“Creak…”

The sound of the iron door opening was like that of rusted metal, and it swung open unusually slowly. From the crack, a pale hand with bright red nail polish emerged.

The fingers were pale and slender, with long, sharp nails. Upon closer inspection, one could see reddish, mud-like grime lodged beneath them.

Ruan Jiao hated how close she was standing, seeing every detail clearly. It was disgusting.

Half of a gentle, smiling face appeared, softly asking the two outside, “Are you… Fangfang’s classmates?”

The woman spoke slowly and softly, her smile as stiff as an oil painting hanging on a wall. Aside from her voice, there was no sense of life or movement about her.

“I’m Fangfang’s mother.”

An inexplicable tension tightened in Ruan Jiao’s chest. Li Fang’s mother gave her a strange, almost gloomy feeling. Usually, when she had such an uneasy premonition, it meant she was encountering something supernatural.

But considering Li Fang had mentioned her mother suddenly fell ill yesterday, it could explain her odd demeanor. In any case, they were only here to drop something off and leave. No need to dwell on it, just get this over with quickly and go.

“What brings you to see Fangfang?”

Li Fang’s mother stood blocking the doorway, showing no intention of inviting them inside. Through the gap beside her, they could see the apartment was dimly lit, with no lights on and the curtains tightly drawn.

Hadn’t Li Fang said her mother had bought lots of snacks and had been waiting for them all afternoon? But given the situation, it seemed their arrival was unexpected and intrusive.

Ruan Jiao concluded that Li Fang had lied, her mother clearly had no idea they were coming.

But why? Why would Li Fang deceive them?

Even though their conversation at the door was quiet, anyone inside would surely have noticed. Since Li Fang hadn’t come out after all this time, she probably wasn’t home. But if she wasn’t there, why had she been in such a hurry to trick them into coming?

Ruan Jiao couldn’t figure it out. She felt she must have overlooked something unusual, but couldn’t quite piece it together at the moment.

Xiang You took Li Fang’s group assignment from her bag and handed it over. “We came to bring Fangfang her homework, Auntie. Since she’s not here, we’ll leave it with you. We have to head back to school soon anyway.”

With Li Fang not home, there was no reason to stay longer. Besides, Li Fang’s mother gave off an uncomfortable vibe, better to leave quickly.

Li Fang’s mother didn’t take the assignment from Xiang You’s hand. Her smile remained unchanged as she said to Xiang You, “Just leave it by the door.”

She didn’t invite them inside, nor did she explain why Li Fang wasn’t home, as if it were understood. She didn’t reach out to take the homework either, simply instructing them to leave it at the entrance.

The two had already intended to leave, but upon hearing this odd request, they wordlessly complied. Xiang You bent down and placed the assignment on the ground.

Just as she set it down, Ruan Jiao suddenly heard a strange noise. It came from inside the house, behind Li Fang’s mother, like something had fallen to the floor.

Then came a faint rustling sound, as if something was crawling across the ground.

Thump, thump, thump.

A door inside the house was knocked on.

Li Fang’s mother didn’t even blink, nor did she turn to look. Her face still wore that same unchanging smile.

It was then that Ruan Jiao realized what felt off. Li Fang’s mother’s face seemed a little too smooth.

When a normal person smiles, subtle wrinkles appear on their face. Even with excellent skincare, the nasolabial folds around the corners of the mouth would still curve slightly.

Even a child’s delicate skin forms creases when smiling, because facial expressions are made by muscles, and muscle movement inevitably causes changes.

But Li Fang’s mother’s face remained perfectly smooth when she smiled. It was like a smile had been sketched onto a blank sheet of paper, no wonder it looked so stiff.

Moreover, from the moment she opened the door and saw them, Li Fang’s mother hadn’t blinked once, like a plastic mannequin.

Thump, thump, thump.

The knocking inside grew louder.

Ruan Jiao stared at Li Fang’s mother’s unchanged expression, her sense of unease nearly overflowing. Even though the hairband on her wrist wasn’t giving off a stinging sensation, she wanted to get away from here as quickly as possible.

Xiang You straightened up after setting down the assignment, her expression odd as she looked toward the inside of the house. She had heard the knocking too.

But Li Fang’s mother acted as if nothing was wrong, offering no explanation, not going to check, seemingly unaware that her own expression was strange. She simply kept smiling at the two of them.

“Um…”

Before Xiang You could finish her question, Ruan Jiao covered her mouth.

“Auntie, since there’s nothing else, we’ll be going now. We have evening self-study at school,” she said, forcing an unnatural smile as she lied.

Li Fang’s mother nodded and began to close the door, not even bothering to pick up the assignment from the ground.

Xiang You’s eyes widened as she too sensed something was off. Without Ruan Jiao covering her mouth, she shut it herself, not uttering another word.

Both of them lowered their heads, not daring to look.

Though they didn’t know what was going on with Li Fang’s mother, as long as they didn’t engage, they’d be fine. Ruan Jiao thought, taking a step back as she prepared to leave with Xiang You.

Just then, a voice came from inside the house.

“Help… help me…”

The voice was hoarse, as if coming from a throat parched for too long, straining to shout but only managing to produce such a faint sound. If the door hadn’t been left ajar at that moment, no one outside would have heard it.

This voice was very familiar.

It was Li Fang’s voice.

The door, which was about to close, froze. The smile on Li Fang’s mother’s face vanished quickly. She seemed somewhat annoyed, casting a displeased glance into the room.

Ruan Jiao really wanted to pretend she hadn’t heard anything. She had never been one to meddle in others’ affairs. Unless it was her own mother inside, she would only consider calling for help after ensuring her own safety.

Xiang You, however, wasn’t as calm as her. Instead, she looked at Li Fang’s mother with fear, her face clearly expressing the question, “What have you done to Li Fang?”

In fact, she voiced it out loud.

Ruan Jiao’s attempt to cover her mouth was half a beat too late. She could only watch as Li Fang’s mother, who had been relatively calm until then, was exposed.

“Oh dear, this child is so disobedient. Didn’t I tell her not to make a sound?” The gentle, fake smile on Li Fang’s mother’s face disappeared, replaced by a sinister, cruel grin.

Her lips, painted with bright red lipstick, parted to reveal a mouthful of sharp teeth. Her gaze toward the two of them was filled with nothing but malice, as if she had given up on hiding her true nature after being exposed.

“Since you’ve heard, why don’t you both come in and sit for a while?”

Ruan Jiao turned and ran, but she didn’t get far. She collided heavily with a wall, and blood immediately seeped from her nose. Clutching her nose, her face contorted in pain.

The hallway in front of them had vanished at some point, replaced by a bluish-red brick wall that sealed off their path, trapping them right at Li Fang’s doorstep.

Ruan Jiao’s nosebleed seemed to have flipped a switch. Li Fang’s mother’s grin widened further as she stared at Ruan Jiao, her eyes filled with greed and desire.

“So fragrant, your blood is so fragrant. Why did I only notice it now…”

Ruan Jiao fell silent. She wasn’t scared of encountering another ghost; in fact, she felt a bit exasperated.

What kind of constitution did she have, running into ghosts twice in one day?

However, hearing Li Fang’s mother say she only noticed her scent now reminded her unexpectedly of the day she first felt the gaze of the peeping ghost.

That day, she had tripped and fallen while passing a street corner, scraping her knee and bleeding a little. It was from that day onward that the peeping ghost had started haunting her.

When she encountered the starving ghost, she hadn’t been injured, but it could still smell her scent. There must be something different about it. What could it be?

The word “level” suddenly flashed in Ruan Jiao’s mind.

The starving ghost was one of the Nine Great Ghosts, and the purple-robed old woman could fight it evenly, so their levels were likely similar. They could directly smell her scent because their levels were higher than that of the peeping ghost.

As for the peeping ghost and Li Fang’s mother, they only noticed her after she bled.

Lower-level ghosts usually haunted one person at a time, while higher-level ones could capture many at once. But if someone willingly walked into their trap, ghosts of any level would gladly take them.

This was evident from the fact that Li Fang’s mother hadn’t intended to harm them until Li Fang cried for help.

So that’s how it was. Pinching her nose to stop the bleeding, Ruan Jiao pulled Xiang You back against the wall, thinking of a way out.

The good news is, ordinary ghosts won’t directly haunt her unless she’s unlucky enough to cross their path.

The bad news is, once a ghost actively chooses to haunt her, it’s definitely a malevolent one.

So unlucky, so unlucky, so unlucky, why not give this kind of constitution to someone else? She’s just a student who wants to live an ordinary life.