[Soul-Shaking Ancient Village] Killing the Body and Breaking the Heart

Flames flickered in the alley, and smoke billowed into the sky. Naturally, it drew the attention of the entire village, and crowds of villagers hurried over.

The other five players were also heading that way. Si Yehan slipped quietly into the crowd and turned into the alley, keeping an eye on what was happening around him.

Villagers from every household came running out with basins of water to put out the fire.

The old village chief who had appeared earlier arrived with the same two farmhands. His tense expression eased a little when he saw that the burning house belonged to a family he was at odds with.

Si Yehan stood in the shadows at the mouth of the alley. Dark clouds filled the sky, and not a ray of sunlight shone through. Heavy footsteps sounded, and the burly man with bulging muscles turned into the alley.

The moment the burly man saw Si Yehan, he froze, then gave a sinister grin. "Just as well. I'll finish you off here."

He had naturally found a handy weapon in the village as well, and he pulled an iron rod from his waist.

Seeing that Si Yehan had no weapon, the burly man's grin grew even more vicious. "You know why I hate you so much? Because in my first instance, I ran into a newbie like you who'd killed someone before entering the game. I nearly got killed, and ever since then, whenever I meet something like you, I can't rest until I've killed them."

A sneer appeared on Si Yehan's cold face. "In that case, you and that person are both trash."

"Before you die, I'll give you my name, so you know who killed you. I'm Zhang Kui! Don't go looking for the wrong person after you're dead."

Zhang Kui's face darkened further. He swung the iron rod with a howl of wind. All he wanted now was to smash the handsome young man's head as quickly as possible!

Si Yehan watched the rod hurtle toward him. Instead of dodging to the side, he decisively moved backward. The wind howled; if he took that blow head-on, he would suffer broken bones at best and lose the ability to fight on the spot at worst.

Zhang Kui's swing missed, making him even angrier. "I can't kill those ghost slaves in the instance, but you think I can't kill you?"

He leaped up suddenly and swung down hard at Si Yehan. This time, even retreating wouldn't be enough to avoid it.

The smile on Zhang Kui's face grew wider, as though he could already see Si Yehan's skull being smashed.

Instead of retreating, Si Yehan advanced. He kicked out as a cold glint flashed from his sleeve, and he drew a dagger. His foot struck Zhang Kui's right hand, knocking the iron rod from his grasp.

Si Yehan swung his left fist, punching Zhang Kui in the left side of the face. Unfortunately, it wasn't flabby flesh, or it would have flown through the air. At the same time, he drove the knife in his right hand into Zhang Kui's chest, slashed sharply, and quickly pulled it back.

When Zhang Kui came down, he stumbled and fell to the ground, leaving a trail of blood. He coughed violently, spitting out blood along with two front teeth, and his words came out with a lisp.

Clutching his chest, Zhang Kui grimaced in agony. "How are you so good at fighting? You're just a newbie, yet you're this terrifying."

Zhang Kui's muscles knotted and his veins bulged. He took off his blue-green long robe and threw it to the ground, letting blood pour from his chest. After he rose to his feet, a murderous aura surged from him, and he said through gritted teeth, "If I could, I'd really like to take back what I said to you back then. I didn't want it to come to this."

"You'd have died whether you said it or not. It was only a matter of time," Si Yehan said calmly. Facing Zhang Kui's murderous aura, he remained unmoved. The ghosts' characteristic abilities couldn't be used in the instance anyway. Since that was the case, in one-on-one combat, as long as there wasn't a huge difference in their weapons, he feared no one.

Zhang Kui exhaled heavily, then lowered his head and charged forward like a maddened bull. He used no technique whatsoever, relying entirely on his body to ram into Si Yehan. He wanted to use his physical advantage to win and knock Si Yehan to the ground.

Si Yehan kicked the iron rod off the ground, put away the dagger with a turn of his hand, and caught the rod. Continuing the motion, he kicked off the wall beside him and sprang upward.

He easily jumped over Zhang Kui, who was still charging blindly forward.

Before Zhang Kui could react, Si Yehan swung the iron rod and smashed it into the back of his head. Blood splattered, and Zhang Kui roared furiously, "Bastard, I'm going to kill you!"

The gap between their fighting skills was too great. Zhang Kui was completely overwhelmed by Si Yehan.

Si Yehan said with a scornful smile, "I didn't expect you to have nothing but that physique, without a shred of fighting skill. I actually thought you had a forty percent chance of killing me before. I misjudged you."

A cold wind rose, lifting Si Yehan's coat. The smile on his handsome face only made him look even colder.

When Zhang Kui brought his arms together and struck, Si Yehan thrust the iron rod straight out, driving it into his eye socket!

The immense pain left Zhang Kui unable to fight, and a scream rang out. Si Yehan stepped back, drew his knife, and stabbed Zhang Kui more than ten more times. Only when blood was flowing freely did he stop.

Looking at the dying Zhang Kui as he screamed in pain, Si Yehan said calmly, "Next, I'll ask you some questions, and you'll answer them. If everything you say is true, I won't go and kill that male student again."

Zhang Kui gasped for breath. "All right, ask. Promise me you won't kill that child. He looks so much like my son..."

In such a desperate situation, Zhang Kui was actually choking up, not out of fear, but because he had thought of his son again.

Si Yehan remained impassive. "Do you participants have a forum in the outside world? Or how do you contact one another?"

Coughing up blood, Zhang Kui answered, "There's no forum. There's no record of anything about the Weird Game on the internet, and participants rarely contact one another. In the outside world, we're more commonly called Ghost Tamers. There are Ghost Tamers in the Xia Kingdom's government too, but not many.

"There are no such things as supernatural incidents in the outside world, so the government's Ghost Tamers only work to keep social order stable. Generally speaking, as long as a Ghost Tamer doesn't massacre a city, killing thousands or tens of thousands at a time, nothing happens. The game also makes those deaths appear reasonable."

Si Yehan asked another question. "Is there any way for ordinary people to learn that Ghost Tamers exist?"

Zhang Kui shook his head. He had nearly bled dry. "No. Ordinary people can't witness the power of ghosts, and they can't learn of their existence either. Even when ghosts kill them, it appears to them as an extremely bizarre method.

"Those Ghost Tamers in the Xia Kingdom's government were part of the system from the start and still have a sense of responsibility. They call on all participants to do their utmost to get rid of the Weird Game. After all, no one knows whether ghosts will invade the real world in the future."

"All right, I have no more questions." Si Yehan turned to leave.

Zhang Kui's voice sounded behind him, filled with the air of death and a trace of reluctance. "Remember what you promised me. Don't kill that child."

Si Yehan turned to face Zhang Kui, a smile on his face. It made Zhang Kui panic, but by then he could no longer speak. His eyes widened as he stared.

He listened as Si Yehan said, "I said I wouldn't go and kill that male student again. After all, I already killed him, so I can't kill him a second time. Your reading comprehension needs work."

Zhang Kui wanted to curse him, but he could no longer get the words out. The already dim alley before his eyes gradually faded, and he died full of resentment and rage.

A "veteran" who had been through several instances had died so easily at the hands of a newcomer to the game.

If they had been in the outside world, the situation might have been reversed.

Unfortunately, he only had one life.

Si Yehan put away his smile and watched indifferently as Zhang Kui turned to ash. Feeling pleased, he turned and left.