I Changed My Mind

Zhao Ke glanced back at Qi Liang beside him and found that he had actually passed out. That kick had apparently been a little too hard, catching Qi Liang off guard and sending his head straight into a tree.

Seeing the steady rise and fall of his chest, Zhao Ke let out a long breath. At least Qi Liang was still alive.

"You have completed the main mission. Please return to the real world and claim your mission reward."

"You have completed the main mission. You may choose to remain in this horror space for ten days and return to reality at any time."

At that moment, a cold, mechanical voice sounded beside Zhao Ke's ear, as though someone were speaking directly into it. But Zhao Ke realized that the voice was not coming from beside him at all—it was coming from inside his mind.

To confirm his suspicion, Zhao Ke quickly covered his ears. Sure enough, the voice continued.

"You have completed the probationary mission. Upon returning to reality, please open the package to receive the official Postman brand and stamp album."

After the string of notifications ended, Zhao Ke fixed his gaze on the two people at the bottom of the pit. One was old, the other young. One of them was the female office worker Zhao Ke had accidentally killed before.

She was curled up against the wall below. She was not dead, but she did not look far from it. Her left arm had been cut clean off, and the wound had only been crudely bandaged. Even if she survived, she would be crippled for life.

The female office worker stared blankly at the bear corpse before her, its head pierced through. She opened her mouth, wanting to cry out, only to remember that she no longer had a tongue.

Then she looked up. When she saw the familiar figure standing at the edge of the pit, her eyes widened. A chill ran from her scalp through her entire body, and she could not help but shudder.

"Ahhh—"

After pointing at Zhao Ke and letting out a series of strange shrieks, the female office worker's figure began to fade before his eyes. By the time Zhao Ke realized something was wrong, she had vanished completely.

"Did she return?"

Zhao Ke's thoughts stirred. Sure enough, Xiong Er died, so she was considered to have completed the main mission as well and could return to reality. But... how did she receive that mission?

The mission to hunt Xiong Er had appeared after they killed Xiong Er's mother. By all rights, the female office worker should not have received such a mission. Yet since she could return to reality, she had clearly received a similar task.

"It seems there was more than one way to receive a mission."

Zhao Ke pondered inwardly. If that was true, then the female office worker was incredibly lucky. He had already crippled her, yet she had still managed to leave alive in the end.

By comparison, Chen Jing's psychiatrist had been far more unfortunate. Xiong Er had smashed his head apart with one slap, leaving Zhao Ke sighing to himself.

Zhao Ke turned his gaze to the other person at the bottom of the pit. He was a middle-aged man who looked to be around fifty. Judging by his clothes, he did not seem to be from the real world.

Like the female office worker, the middle-aged man's left hand had been chopped off. Zhao Ke remembered that the big man they had drugged to death earlier had been carrying two severed hands. At the time, he had wondered why one of them was a man's hand.

Now, it seemed the matter had been explained. What puzzled Zhao Ke was the identity of that big man and why he had set up such a trap here.

Seeing that the middle-aged man at the bottom of the pit was already half-conscious, Zhao Ke found several thick vines nearby, twisted them together into a rope, and slowly climbed down along the edge of the trap.

"Save... save me..."

Perhaps sensing someone approach, the middle-aged man struggled to lift his head.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

Zhao Ke helped him sit up and carefully inspected his injuries. They were crippling but not fatal. Still, judging from the wounds, Zhao Ke could tell that this man had been trapped here for at least two days.

"I... I'm a farmer from the village at the foot of the mountain. Save me. Take me down the mountain."

"A farmer?"

Hearing that, Zhao Ke gave him a sidelong look. A vicious glint flashed in the depths of his eyes as he smiled slyly. "Sure. But why should I help you?"

If someone else had claimed to be a farmer, Zhao Ke might have believed them. But he did not believe the middle-aged man before him.

Earlier, the man's severed hand had been thrown onto the table, and Zhao Ke had examined it closely.

There were irregular scars on its thick knuckles, especially hook-shaped calluses on the fingertips. Zhao Ke was familiar with such calluses. People who climbed often had marks like those on their fingers.

That alone was enough to prove the man was lying. Not to mention his clothing and the bulging temples on both sides of his head—no matter how Zhao Ke looked at him, he could not connect him with a farmer.

"Take me down the mountain, and I'll give you money."

"Money? Forget it. How much money could a farmer like you possibly give me? You're hurt so badly that if you die halfway down, I won't be able to explain myself. Better forget it."

After saying that, Zhao Ke stood up and prepared to leave. The middle-aged man's expression changed. His remaining hand suddenly grabbed Zhao Ke's wrist as he said urgently, "Don't, don't go! Rest assured, the one who harmed me was Hunter Wang. It has nothing to do with you. Take me down the mountain, and I'll tell you a secret."

As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, another notification sounded beside Zhao Ke's ear.

You have obtained a side mission: Escort the injured man down the mountain.

Hint: Side missions do not conflict with the main mission. You may interrupt them and return at any time.

Zhao Ke had not expected this middle-aged man to have a side mission attached to him. Somewhat surprised, he looked at the man and nodded. "Fine, I'll take you down the mountain. But first, tell me why that Hunter Wang wanted to harm you, and what exactly this secret is."

"This..."

The middle-aged man hesitated. Zhao Ke's face immediately turned cold. He shook off the man's hand, stood up, and said, "If you don't trust me, then stay here and wait to die."

With that, Zhao Ke turned to leave in apparent anger. The middle-aged man's expression changed, and he could no longer afford to hesitate. "Don't go! I'll tell you!"

"That's more like it. People need trust between them."

Zhao Ke paused, walked back, and stared at the middle-aged man. "Go on. But don't lie. If I find out you're deceiving me, I'll leave immediately."

The middle-aged man nodded and said to Zhao Ke, "The man who hurt me is named Wang Xiaochang. He's a hunter..."

After hearing the explanation, Zhao Ke suddenly understood. Many of his doubts were instantly cleared up.

The middle-aged man before him was named Zhou Shun, while the big man Zhao Ke and the others had taken out earlier was Wang Xiaochang.

They were all local hunters. It was a year of disaster: the crops had dried up, not a single grain had been harvested, and even the mountain game had become scarce.

Later, Wang Xiaochang had heard somewhere that there was a household on the mountain whose ancestors had been officials. They had made a fortune and hidden many treasures in their home.

Wang Xiaochang was tempted. He called his son, Zhou Shun, and two other hunters, planning to borrow the family's treasures.

Of course, Zhou Shun put it tactfully. What borrowing? They had clearly planned to murder and rob them.

Later, they really did find the box hidden beneath the old woman's bed. But they had not expected that neither the old woman nor Xiong Er was human.

Two of the hunters were bitten to death by Xiong Er, while Wang Xiaochang's son had his throat bitten through by the old woman. Only two of them escaped.

After Zhou Shun narrowly escaped death, he insisted on going down the mountain. But Wang Xiaochang was unwilling. He wanted revenge. When the two disagreed, Wang Xiaochang simply chopped off Zhou Shun's arm with an axe, set up this trap, and threw him inside, intending to use him as bait.

Fortunately for Zhou Shun, Wang Xiaochang had thought that way. Knowing bears did not like eating corpses was what allowed Zhou Shun to cling to life in there until now.

"Little brother, I swear every word I said is true. I haven't lied to you at all. Hurry and take me away."

"Hey... where are you?"

At that moment, Qi Liang's shout came from above. Zhao Ke raised an eyebrow. He had not expected the kid to wake up so quickly. He looked back at Zhou Shun and pointed upward. "Perfect. I have another brother up there. We'll pull you up in a moment."

"Good, good, good!"

Zhou Shun's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly, unable to suppress his joy. Zhao Ke stepped forward, hooked one arm over his shoulder, and shouted upward, "I'm down here!"

"Let me ask you one more time. You really didn't lie to me?" Zhao Ke suddenly turned back and asked Zhou Shun again.

Hearing this, Zhou Shun grew somewhat impatient and nodded repeatedly. "Really, really. If I lied to you, I... mmph!"

Before he could finish, Zhao Ke suddenly covered Zhou Shun's mouth and nose with one hand, pulling him tightly into his embrace. With his lips close to Zhou Shun's ear, he whispered, "Sorry, I changed my mind."

As he spoke, Zhao Ke drew a black dagger with his right hand and stabbed it straight into Zhou Shun's heart.

It seems everyone really dislikes this cover, though it is indeed pretty creepy. The editor said it would be replaced on Thursday, so everyone can wait until then. The cover will be changed.