After Saving The Villain, He Had Sex With The Female Ghost. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 The Surinam Toad (I)

It was the rainy season, and the drops fell incessantly. Chu Yu carried groceries home, first shaking the water off her umbrella outside the door before inserting the key into the lock.

Her peripheral vision caught an olive-colored lump hopping near her feet. Chu Yu looked down. The small creature bounced a few times and cried out loudly, “Croak!”

Water droplets clung to its bumpy skin. The small toad tilted its head, looking at her. Chu Yu felt a wave of revulsion and gently nudged it away with her foot. “Go on, shoo.”

The toad, finding no welcome, hopped away.

“The rain is really heavy today. Buying groceries took a lot of time.” Chu Yu put down the bags and changed her shoes. Li Heru was lying on the sofa watching TV. Seeing her return, she waved a hand. “The rice is steaming! Come look at this quickly.”

Chu Yu walked over, holding the cake she had bought for her. Li Heru snatched the bag, ready to eat. “Eat just a few bites, we still have dinner.” Chu Yu said this while looking at the television.

“-Recently, a strange infection broke out during the filming of a horror movie at an abandoned aquarium. At least six staff members experienced itchy skin on their backs, followed by ulceration and the appearance of fistulas. It is suspected they came into contact with an unknown pathogen inside the facility. All have been isolated and are receiving treatment.”

The news also showed several photos. Although censored, it was not difficult to see the bloody, raw edges of the fistulas, forming a deep pit on the back. Chu Yu frowned tightly. “That is truly disgusting.”

“Don’t be disgusted, your opportunity has arrived,” Li Heru winked. Since dealing with the Yu Mansion incident last time, coupled with the fact that the vengeful spirit Meizhi had managed to send nine ghosts to the afterlife in one go, the feeling of accumulating merit was like being bathed in Buddha’s light. Her luck had been incredibly good lately.

With this blessing, Chu Yu invested heavily in several stocks, which, as expected, soared dramatically. The living standards of the human and the ghost also rose. Of course, the money they earned didn’t stay warm in their hands for long; it was all converted into clothes and accessories from various luxury brands and burned for Li Heru.

“Hmm? Is this corpse poison? Or is there a ghost inside?” Chu Yu leaned closer to the TV to examine it.

The broadcast happened to show the interior of the abandoned aquarium. Several flashlight beams flashed across the screen, revealing the facility to be empty. Chu Yu stood up. “Did you see anything?”

Li Heru picked up a cushion and threw it at her back. “No, I didn’t. Wouldn’t we know if we went to the site?”

Late at night, Chu Yu put on a baseball cap and a mask, covering herself thoroughly before heading out. Li Heru, relying on the fact that others couldn’t see her, dressed like a peacock displaying its feathers, following Chu Yu in a magnificent manner, her boots clip-clopping on the ground.

Chu Yu couldn’t help but turn back. “Walk quieter.” Li Heru slapped her on the back. The sound of the slap echoed far in the night.

“Humans can’t hear me anyway. Mind your own business.” Chu Yu shut up.

The abandoned aquarium was on the outskirts of the city, a large, hemispherical building. The exterior was lined with many crude statues of marine life. The intense fluorescent colors looked even more bizarre under the flashlight beam.

Several torn missing person posters were plastered on the main entrance. The photo showed a young woman. Chu Yu wasn’t sure if it was a movie prop or a real missing person notice.

The area was temporarily cleared due to the incident. Chu Yu carefully lifted a few caution tapes and looked around. Some props and equipment hadn’t been moved yet.

The ground was surprisingly clean, without the puddles she had expected, but faint green moss was growing. Chu Yu instinctively warned Li Heru, who had run ahead, “Be careful, it might be slippery.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized the question was unnecessary.

Sure enough, Li Heru moved through the darkness like a fish in water. Hearing the warning, she turned back and smiled narrowly. “Thank you, but you should worry about yourself.”

Further inside the main hall, there was a glass curtain that reached the ceiling, likely used for mermaid performances in the past. Now the water had been drained, leaving only empty darkness.

Li Heru’s steps grew faster, darting here and there. Chu Yu could barely keep up with her. She panted slightly. “Wait for me.”

Before she finished speaking, Li Heru stopped. Chu Yu was curious why she hadn’t turned around to argue with her this time. The next second, a piercing scream nearly ruptured her eardrums.

The scream echoed in the empty hall, faintly accompanied by the sound of a baby crying. Chu Yu’s heart jumped. She rushed forward, only to see a dark shadow in the corner in front of Li Heru.

A rotting mermaid lay still under the flashlight beam. Her face was pale, with a delicate nose and curved eyebrows, appearing extremely fragile. Looking down, however, her abdomen was sliced open, the organs gone, replaced by a mass of wriggling maggots. The fish tail scales were mottled and bloody. Everywhere her gaze fell, there were insects.

No wonder Li Heru screamed. Chu Yu wrapped an arm around her, stepped forward herself, and examined it closely.

At first glance, it was horrifying, but upon closer inspection, she realized the insects on the fish body were completely still. She poked it with her finger; it was the familiar texture of silicone.

It was a false alarm. “It’s a prop. The film crew probably forgot it here,” Chu Yu patted her. Li Heru took a breath. “Horror movies making things this disgusting. What a terrible film.”

“It has a large audience. Some people love this kind of thing.” Chu Yu pulled her along and continued deeper inside. A rustling sound came from behind. She spun around. The flashlight beam shone on an open pool. The black-green water rippled slightly, and a toad hopped out, croaking once.

Li Heru frowned. “Gross.” The two continued walking.

They hadn’t seen anything abnormal yet, but the damp green moss, the murky water, combined with the hot, humid stench inside, accompanied by the occasional frog croaking, made them extremely uncomfortable.

“Why are there frogs croaking in an aquarium?” Li Heru asked. Chu Yu shone the flashlight upward. A wooden sign was broken in half, but the words “Amphibian Hall” were still discernible.

It was a miracle that frogs were still croaking in an aquarium that had been abandoned for so many years. The water here was deeper; the entire pathway was flooded. Ripples spread across the surface as some unknown creature swam past.

Chu Yu carefully stepped onto the surrounding pool wall. The water by the wall was dark green, and various garbage and sludge were splattered everywhere, as if the place had suffered a catastrophe.

The frog croaking sounded like weeping, accompanied by the cries of a baby from who knows where, echoing in the dark space—pure psychological torture. Chu Yu was forced to focus on the path beneath her feet, trying to distract herself from the noise pollution.

Just then, a frog hopped in front of her. This frog was very thin, perhaps due to the lack of sufficient food in the aquarium. It wasn’t very large, and its skeleton looked gaunt as its body moved.

Chu Yu saw its back.

Dense, honeycomb-like pores covered it. In every hole, a tiny frog was wriggling, its mouth trembling rapidly, emitting faint croaks.

The overwhelmed frog mother looked back at Chu Yu, then plopped into the pool.

“What’s wrong?” Li Heru asked from behind her. Chu Yu swallowed the heart that had nearly jumped out of her throat, took a breath, and said, “Nothing.”

If Li Heru had seen that creature, she wouldn’t have just screamed; she might have died again right there.

Chu Yu shone the flashlight onto a nearby pool. The sign above read “Surinam Toad.”

This type of toad lays its eggs on its back. Stimulated by estrogen, the female toad’s back skin softens and thickens, forming honeycomb-like pores. The male toad then uses its hind legs to press the eggs into the pores.

The young toads remain on their mother’s back while developing from eggs into toadlets.

She turned the flashlight forward, intending to continue walking, but saw a fast-moving black shadow ahead. The shadow was stretched long by the light. Li Heru behind her saw it too.

Without a word, the two sprinted forward.

However, the pool wall was narrow and covered in various slippery algae, making it difficult to walk. By the time they rushed to the exit of the hall, the black shadow had vanished without a trace.

Chu Yu bent over, hands on her knees, breathing heavily. Li Heru scanned the surroundings up and down. Suddenly, she frowned slightly. “Did you hear something?”

Chu Yu held her breath and concentrated. Sure enough, amidst the croaking and the faint baby cries, she heard a broadcast.

A mechanical female voice spoke emotionlessly. Chu Yu listened for a long time before finally extracting a few keywords.

“Diapers… baby bottles? Is this a parenting program?” Chu Yu was uncertain. Would someone be playing a parenting program in an aquarium that had been closed for eight hundred years?

She had initially thought the baby crying was coming from the giant salamanders in the Amphibian Hall, but now it seemed more likely to be a ghost infant.

She looked at Li Heru. Their eyes met, and they spoke in unison: “Ghost infant.”

This was trickier than ordinary ghosts. Ghost infants, due to their young age and immature minds, often possessed greater destructive power than adult ghosts.

In layman’s terms, they don’t listen to reason and are incredibly strong. Babies, whether dead or alive, are creatures people would rather avoid.

Chu Yu held the flashlight, and the two followed the sound of the parenting program. Leaving the Amphibian Hall, the signs on both sides pointed to one place.

“Children’s Playground.”

They occasionally kicked severed doll limbs or deflated plastic ocean balls on the ground. The flashlight shone on photo frames on the wall. The frames contained photos of children with the facility staff.

A young woman stood next to a seal, smiling brightly, embracing several children. She must have been the animal trainer in the Children’s Playground.

Chu Yu found the face familiar. Just as she was about to get closer to look, the sound of a baby crying crashed over her like a wave. She spun around. The flashlight beam landed on a pink spring horse. The horse, with its wide grin and vacant eyes, swayed slightly. It was empty.

She leaned back. A cold hand grasped her. Chu Yu’s heart leaped. She instinctively raised her elbow to strike the person, but Li Heru flicked her forehead. “Scared silly? It’s me.”

Chu Yu wiped the sweat off her brow, feeling her heart couldn’t take much more. This place was too strange. It wasn’t exactly terrifying, but it was a psychological assault, making her feel utterly uncomfortable.

Stepping through the entrance of the Children’s Playground, a flood of plastic ocean balls floated in sewage. On the counter, there was an old-fashioned radio. The emotionless female voice broadcasted: “Actually, a child’s picky eating might be due to texture or feeding methods. How should we correctly introduce complementary foods to our children…”

Chu Yu walked up and pressed the pause button on the radio. The flashlight illuminated the inside of the counter. She subconsciously looked in.

A gaunt woman, her hair wet and plastered to her face, was staring at her with wide eyes.

Her protruding, bony back was no longer skin, but replaced by loose, honeycomb-like pores. Curled up inside each pore was a mass of purplish-black flesh, like a fetus not yet full-term. Each mass of flesh cried out: “Mama! Mama!”