As it turned out, the little girl in the room had no other means of attack besides the two terrifying mouths on the back of her head. Those two terrifying mouths were also constrained by her hair. The hair looked very useful, so much so that Gu Mian began to harbor evil intentions toward it. This led to the conversation at the end of the previous chapter.
The other two didn't have scissors in their item inventories, and Gu Mian's Saw didn't seem suitable for cutting hair. Fortunately, Chu Changge still had the old, battered fruit knife he had drawn back then. Gu Mian had no idea why he'd kept it; Gu Mian himself had immediately thrown away the tissues he'd drawn. Thanks to their combined efforts, Gu Mian finally obtained the head of hair.
It turned out that items plucked from a ghost could indeed be special items. Gu Mian examined the hair's properties.
[A Splendid Head of Hair (Disposable)]
[Description: Believed to be the hair of an underage girl, cruelly cut off by a suspected criminal. Utterly deranged!]
[Function: Can block any ghost's attack, provided the ghost's attack lands on this head of hair.]
[Note: Cannot be divided for multiple uses!]
Gu Mian gazed at the head of hair, lost in thought. This thing could serve as armor, but to do so, I'd have to make it into clothes or a piece of fabric, and there doesn't seem to be enough material.
"In short, it's a special item that looks impressive but is actually rather useless, unless we encounter a ghost that specifically targets people's hair," Gu Mian concluded.
The head of hair was quite horrifying. Since Gu Mian didn't have an item inventory, he obviously couldn't carry it around in his hand, so he casually tossed it to Fatty beside him, saying, "You hold onto it for now."
Fatty was somewhat reluctant to take the head of hair but obediently held it.
Just then, Gu Mian suddenly noticed a change in the clothes he was wearing. He had almost forgotten that the white coat he wore was a special item. It was a special item that needed to absorb resentment to level up.
[Blood Clothes Wrapped in Resentment Lv. 8]
[Level: 8]
[Function: Can resist one feeble attack from a blunt axe.]
The last time Gu Mian had checked, his Blood Clothes Wrapped in Resentment were Level 4. Now, they had somehow jumped to Level 8. I don't recall doing anything particularly outrageous or resentment-inducing during this time, Gu Mian thought. Well, if I didn't cause resentment in humans, perhaps I caused it in... other things...
Just then, Fatty's voice came from the side, "Doctor, look at this lantern."
Hearing this, Gu Mian immediately looked at the lantern associated with the girl with pigtails. He had already solved her lantern riddle earlier. The little girl's "reward" hadn't been her splendid hair; instead, she had prepared to devour them one by one. Although Gu Mian didn't think *that* constituted much of a reward, for someone who could draw a Wanted Order from a lottery, it wasn't particularly surprising.
Now, that lantern disappeared, and a new item appeared in Gu Mian's hand. Just then, rustling sounds came from outside; it seemed the five-minute ghost wave had arrived.
[Mind Amplifier]
[Introduction: Are you troubled that friends can't understand your thoughts?
Are you troubled by certain things you can't bring yourself to say?
Worry not! The Mind Amplifier will help you solve these problems.]
[Function: The wearer of this item can convey their thoughts to others without needing to speak.]
"Mind Amplifier..." Gu Mian murmured, looking at the item in his hand. It resembled a necklace. Where a pendant might hang, there was a small loudspeaker, about the size of a little finger. Presumably, the wearer's thoughts would be voiced through this speaker, he thought.
As he thought this, Gu Mian turned his gaze to Chu Changge, his eyes clearly asking, "How about you try it?"
Chu Changge took a step back, his expression unchanging.
Undeterred, Gu Mian shifted his gaze to Fatty. Fatty quickly shook his head and waved his hands, vehemently refusing.
"Alright then..." Seeing that neither of them seemed interested in testing the device, Gu Mian moved to put the necklace into the pocket of his white coat. But just then, he suddenly glimpsed someone else nearby. It was the female ghost, standing quietly in place, a lantern still hanging from her hand.
Seeing this, Fatty also looked at the female ghost. "Speaking of which, she doesn't seem to have ever spoken. Can she not talk?"
Having spent some time with this ghost, Fatty found her quite quiet. She would never move suddenly when she wasn't supposed to, startling people. Besides, with Gu Mian present, Fatty wasn't too afraid of this largely motionless female ghost.
"Ghosts, of course, need to maintain an air of mystery," Gu Mian said, looking at her. But even as he said this, his hands moved with lightning speed. Before anyone could react, Gu Mian abruptly looped the necklace around the female ghost's neck.
Fatty jumped in fright at Gu Mian's action, but his attention was immediately drawn to something else. The instant Gu Mian looped the necklace onto the female ghost's neck, a strange, hoarse, and unpleasant female voice abruptly filled the entire room.
"Don't cut my hair!"
"Don't cut my hair!"
"Don't cut my hair..."
Gu Mian: "..."
Fatty chuckled awkwardly, hiding the head of hair he was holding behind his back. "We won't cut your hair, we won't cut your hair..."
Only then did the room quiet down, sinking into a dead silence. Gu Mian, Fatty, and Chu Changge stared at each other.
Chu Changge was the first to break the silence. He pushed up his glasses and asked, "This Mind Amplifier... does anyone want to use it?"
Clearly, anyone wearing this thing would have all their thoughts broadcast aloud. Gu Mian definitely wouldn't hang it around his own neck. Of course, he might consider putting it on Fatty late at night while he was sound asleep and snoring, just to see what he was dreaming about.
He glanced at the now quiet female ghost, then at Fatty. "Forget it. Let's just leave it on her for now. It's not like it's useful for anything else at the moment."
Perhaps because the female ghost's voice had been too loud, the three of them suddenly heard sounds from the door panel—something had likely been attracted by the noise. It sounded as if something was scraping against the door panel.
Mr. Green was probably still in the little girl's house; there was no one outside to help them fend off ghosts anymore. Just as Fatty was cowering and holding up his pot, his eyes fixed intently on the doorway, that strange and hoarse female voice suddenly erupted from behind them—
"Run!"
"Run!"
"Run!"
Whatever was outside was clearly startled by the voice. Gu Mian heard the thing that had been scraping against the door seem to leap back a large step, then flee.
After that, it was the same every time. Whenever there was a noise outside the door, the female ghost in the room would involuntarily cry out. Later, she might have realized this, as the frequency of her outbursts lessened considerably, though she still kept repeating meaningless phrases.
For instance, right now.
The dangerous five minutes had passed. Gu Mian was opening the door, preparing to check on Mr. Green. But just as he was opening the door, the female ghost behind him began to vocalize repeatedly again,
"Go get the lantern, go get the lantern, go get the lantern!"
Only then did Gu Mian remember he had thrown a lantern outside earlier.