Ghost Exorciser: Is Loved By All-Chapter 749: Payment

"What the—?!"

His right hand clawed at his left, trying to pull it off.

He rolled to the side, kicking his legs wildly.

"Stop—!" he croaked, barely able to speak.

His fingers finally pried his own hand loose, and he gasped for air, coughing hard as he fell off the bed and landed on the floor with a thud.

For a second, he just lay there, trembling. He looked at his left hand, which now hung limp and still by his side.

It wasn’t moving anymore.

It looked normal.

But his throat burned, and there were red marks on his neck where it had grabbed him.

Tears prickled the corners of his eyes.

"What’s happening to me...?"

Then he heard his own voice, but it was hoarse and demonic,

"I am taking over you."

Lin Zhihao was so scared that he moved away from his bed and turned to run. His eyes suddenly fell on the mirror, and what he saw made his hair stand.

In the mirror, he saw himself—but it wasn’t really him.

The thing in the reflection looked like him on the outside, but its eyes were all wrong.

They were pitch black, like bottomless holes. No light, no color. Just darkness.

And it was smiling. Not a normal smile, but a creepy, twisted one that stretched too wide, like its face was made of rubber.

Its head tilted slowly, like it was studying him.

Zhihao’s whole body froze.

His mouth opened to scream, but no sound came out.

Then, the reflection moved—but Zhihao didn’t. The real him stayed still, but the thing in the mirror raised its hand and waved.

Like it was saying hi.

"No... no, no, no—" Zhihao whispered, backing away until his back hit the wall.

The mirror-Zhihao stopped waving. Its smile dropped into a scowl, and then it charged forward, slamming its hands against the inside of the glass.

BANG.

Zhihao jumped and almost fell again. His heart was racing so fast that he thought it might explode.

The thing inside the mirror was still pounding on the glass, over and over.

BANG. BANG. BANG.

But the mirror didn’t crack. It didn’t even shake. Like it wasn’t really a mirror anymore... like it was a window.

And the worst part?

Each time the thing hit the glass, Zhihao’s head hurt. A sharp pain stabbed his skull like something was trying to drill into his brain.

He clutched his head, groaning. "Get out... get out... get out!"

Zhihao’s head was spinning. The banging on the mirror wouldn’t stop. His eyes were wide with fear as he rushed toward the door, hoping—praying—he could escape.

But just as he reached for the doorknob—

CRASH!

The mirror shattered into a thousand sharp pieces.

Zhihao screamed and threw his arms over his head as glass rained down—but that wasn’t the worst part.

From the broken mirror, the other him stepped out.

The dark-eyed, smiling version of Zhihao.

Except now, it wasn’t just a reflection. It was real. Its skin looked cold and gray, like a statue. Its smile stretched wider than ever, filled with something evil.

Zhihao backed away, slipping on the floor, crawling like a terrified child.

"I should’ve kept the talisman..." he whispered, tears falling down his cheeks. "I should’ve listened..."

The creature didn’t speak. It didn’t need to.

It zoomed forward, impossibly fast, and wrapped its hands around Zhihao.

Tight.

Too tight.

Zhihao gasped as all the air left his lungs. His vision started to blur. It felt like something was pulling the life right out of him. He could feel his arms going numb, his legs heavy. Like he was sinking into a black ocean.

His thoughts got slower.

Cold spread through his chest.

"I don’t want to die..." he thought weakly. "I don’t want this..."

Inside his fading mind, he screamed,

"I wish I could go back! I wish I hadn’t given her back the talisman!"

The creature leaned closer, its breath cold like ice, its black eyes swallowing everything.

"This body is mine now," it whispered.

Zhihao’s heart was barely beating.

He was slipping away.

But then—

BAM!

The door of the room flew open, crashing against the wall with a loud bang.

A gust of wind blew in, making the broken pieces of mirror clatter on the ground.

And standing in the doorway, calm as ever, was—

Yu Holea.

She stepped inside, holding something between her fingers.

A yellow paper.

A talisman.

Her face was serious, her voice cold.

"Get away from him."

The creature hissed, its grip tightening.

But Holea didn’t flinch.

She flicked the talisman through the air like a card.

It flew straight at the creature and hit it square on the chest.

For one second, nothing happened.

Then,

"Ahhhh!"

The creature let out a horrible scream, like metal scraping against metal.

Smoke poured from its body, and it stumbled back, clawing at the talisman now burning into its skin.

Zhihao dropped to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath, his body shaking.

He looked up with blurry eyes and saw the monster writhing on the ground, its body cracking like glass.

Holea walked forward slowly, another talisman in her hand. However, she didn’t flick it; instead, she sat on the bed with a calm expression.

"Holea!" Lin Zhihao rushed toward Yu Holea as if he had seen his savior.

Yu Holea raised her hand and stopped him. With a calm expression she continued,

"I can only do this much for 100 yuan. Any further, you have to pay."

Yu Holea admitted that she was petty. She felt challenged when Lin Zhihao returned the talismans to her and didn’t listen to her words.

Zhihao’s face turned pale.

He could barely stand, but he stumbled to his feet and rushed toward Holea like a drowning man grabbing a lifeboat.

"Please!" he cried. "Help me! I’ll pay whatever you want!"

Holea didn’t even look up.

She sat calmly on the bed, legs crossed, holding the talisman like it was just a snack wrapper.

"How much?" Zhihao begged. "Tell me!"

Holea finally looked at him and tilted her head, eyes cold as ice.

"Ten million."

Zhihao blinked. "W-What?!"

"Ten. Million. Yuan," she said again, slow and clear, like she was talking to a kid who couldn’t count. "Not a yuan less."

Zhihao gulped. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. That was... more than everything he had.

But then he glanced at the monster on the floor. It was still twitching and smoking from the talisman stuck to its chest.

Its black eyes were staring straight at him, and it grinned again—half its face already cracking like a broken plate.

Zhihao’s whole body shivered.

"Fine! I’ll pay! Ten million! Just get rid of it!" he shouted.

Holea smiled faintly.

"Smart choice."

But then, from the floor, the creature suddenly stopped writhing. It coughed—like it was clearing its throat—and sat up slowly.

"Wait... wait..." the creature rasped, its voice still dark and twisted, but now kind of... business-like.

It looked at Holea.

"I’ll give you twenty million."

Zhihao’s jaw dropped. "WHAT?!"

The monster nodded, still grinning through the pain.

"Twenty million. Just walk away. Let me have his body. You don’t even have to lift a finger."

It tried to straighten up, dusting itself off as if it wasn’t half-dying.

"Come on, lady. Think about it. Easy money. He’s not that fun to be around anyway."

Zhihao pointed at it with a shaking hand. "Y-You can’t BRIBE her!"

The creature shrugged. "I can, and I am. Twenty million. Cash. Gold. Crypto. Whatever she wants."

It looked at Holea again. "You’re a smart woman. He tried to return your talismans. That’s rude. And honestly? I think you and I could get along. I won’t bother you once I’m in his body. Promise."

There was a long pause.

Holea blinked once. Slowly.

Then she stood up.

Zhihao gasped. "No, no, no! You’re not actually thinking about it, are you?!"

Holea looked at the demon. "Twenty million, huh?"

The demon smiled wider. "Yup. No questions asked."

There was another pause.

Then Holea leaned forward slightly, her expression unreadable.

"You know," she said, voice low and calm, "for a demon... you really don’t know how to negotiate."

She slapped the second talisman straight onto its face.

"WAAAARGH—!"

The creature let out a bone-chilling scream, louder than before. It flailed wildly as smoke burst out of every crack in its body. Its face started melting like wax, and its black eyes burst like ink bubbles.

"YOU SAID—TWENTY MILLION—!!!" it howled, curling in on itself.

Holea yawned. "Yeah. But I don’t do business with soul-stealing weirdos."

Zhihao collapsed onto his knees, shaking and wheezing.

The creature gave one last ear-piercing shriek and then—

BOOM.

It exploded into a puff of black smoke, which faded away into nothing.

The room went silent.

Holea brushed invisible dust off her clothes and turned to Zhihao.

"Payment due by Friday."

Zhihao stared at her, mouth open, still trembling.

"...Can I pay in installments?"

Holea rolled her eyes. "Don’t push it."

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