Kraun Wants to Punish You

Just as Yu Xing was staring blankly at her fingertips, the door of the general store was pushed open.

The clown ornament on the door emitted a sharp, shrill laugh, but the guest who entered seemed completely unconcerned about its presence.

Yu Xing looked up and saw a person of short stature. Judging from the outline of the chest, it should be a woman, completely covered by a cloak. If it weren't for the fact that the style of this cloak was very different from that of the Wizard Cult, he would have almost thought that he had encountered Wizard Cult NPC as soon as he arrived on Dead Silent Island.

"Is this place open for business?" The person who came in was indeed a woman. Her voice was plain and unremarkable, the kind of tone that you would forget quickly after hearing it. The woman came to the counter and first asked about the sparse business situation of the general store.

"Open for business. What do you need? Feel free to browse around. If you need anything, just ask one of my two employees." Yu Xing gave a polite, business-like smile, while simultaneously scrutinizing all the woman's exposed features.

It was a bit strange; this woman not only covered her head with the hood of her cloak, but even her chin, which should have been exposed, was covered by a strip of cloth, as if she didn't want anyone to see her at all.

"I... I want to buy some bandages." The woman didn't go to Qu Xuanqing or Zhao Yijiu as Yu Xing had suggested, but instead stood in front of the counter and told Yu Xing what she needed.

Yu Xing repeated, "Bandages."

If he remembered correctly, the general store did sell bandages, but it was also clearly stated in his wishbook that the most recent request for bandages to be restocked was "yesterday".

The general store had a calendar with red circles marking each passing day. According to the calendar, today should be autumn on Dead Silent Island, October 31st.

In short, with bandages out of stock, the first customer opted for something outside the store's wide array of goods, which made Yu Xing narrow her eyes, sensing something amiss.

Seeing that Yu Xing repeated "bandages" and then hesitated to say anything more, the female customer took another step closer, observed his face, and then asked casually, "Boss, I haven't seen you before. Did you just start here recently?"

"Kraun and I are good friends. He had other things to do today, so I was looking after his property for him." Yu Xing delivered this explanation smoothly, while glancing at the clown doll in the trash can in the mirror. The doll's head had turned towards him at some point, still staring at him with its moving glass eyes.

Zhao Yijiu and Qu Xuanqing stood beside two different shelves, cautiously observing the area.

"I see. So, you don't know where the bandages are?" the female customer asked again. This time, her tone was colder than before. Yu Xing's expression changed uncontrollably. There weren't many things that could make him change his expression, and the power of the curse accounted for half of them.

Yes, because his physical condition improved after contact with the Ghost Tree, even though all his system-related abilities were taken back on the Dead Silent Island, he did not experience the side effects of the curse power, namely, that getting close to sacrifices and ghosts would make him weaker and weaker.

Now, as the female guest approached him step by step, he unexpectedly felt the power of the curse begin to stir within his body, flowing through his limbs and extremities, bringing wave after wave of irresistible coldness and the pain of his life force gradually slipping away.

It's just a bit inefficient; given his current level of activity, he can stay active for a very long time...

So Yu Xing's expression changed only for a moment before she put on a smile, "I'm sorry, the bandages sold so well that they're sold out, and Kraun hasn't had time to restock."

He didn't care about the passing of life anyway, which actually provided him with great convenience in a short period of time. For example, he instantly confirmed that the guest in front of him was indeed a ghost, that is, the so-called polluted entity on the Dead Silent Island. Although he didn't know its level, if it could only cause activity to the extent of curse power, it should still be level E, at most a little stronger than the human-limbed spider in the secret room.

It could also be classified as D-level, which would probably be because the Female Ghost can talk, communicate, and even buy things.

With a baseball bat at his side, he could easily beat up the customer who had stumbled into the shady business if things went wrong. The reason the deducers were so passive at the Human-Leg Spider's place was because they had no weapons. Now that they had weapons, they were much more confident in causing trouble.

"... No bandages." The Female Ghost murmured to herself from beneath her robe, "... What am I supposed to do without bandages?"

"What happened to you? Perhaps I can offer some help besides bandages?" Yu Xing raised an eyebrow.

"No..." The Female Ghost became even more sinister, and a drop of liquid dripped from under her hood. Yu Xing craned her neck to look at the ground, and lo and behold, wasn't that blood?

Her face was bleeding? Was she disfigured?

"I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry..." The Female Ghost suddenly changed the subject. She leaned forward, slapped her hands on the counter, and quickly moved her head closer to Yu Xing. Before Yu Xing could react, she could see the Female Ghost's face through the hood.

It was a bloody, mangled mess that could be tentatively called a human face. Tiny tentacles extended from its eyeballs, dancing wildly in the air. Gushes of blood gushed out from the gaps between the tentacles and the eyeballs. Its nose had been cut off, revealing the red flesh inside, and the entire nasal bone had vanished.

The mouth was stretched wide, somewhat resembling the Kuchisake-onna (Slit-Mouthed Woman) from the urban legend, with the lips split open and extending to the cheek. Yu Xing noticed a resemblance between this split and the shape of the red paint on her face. Could it be that the clown doll and this "Kuchisake-onna" have some special connection?

"I'm so hungry!!!" The Female Ghost's mouth was wide open, revealing her bright red tongue, which was clichédly covered with bits of meat. It seemed that ghosts could never keep clean. If Yi Qing were here, she would definitely scold these ghosts for being unkempt and dragging down the appearance of the ghost realm.

It's true that Yu Xing's thinking is too jumpy; in such a frightening moment, he's always thinking about other things.

In a conventional sense, the Female Ghost's action is a jumpsare. She was perfectly fine just a moment ago, seemingly able to communicate, but the next second she leaps and attacks someone's face, easily causing an adrenaline rush, a violently beating heart, a sudden surge of cold sweat, and an uncontrollable scream, among other consequences.

Few people can maintain such a calm heartbeat and composure as Yu Xing, when facing an ugly Female Ghost at a distance of less than a decimeter.

He could even calmly smile and say to the Female Ghost, "If you're hungry, you can buy food from our shop; it's all fresh and not expired."

"No, I won't eat those things..." The Female Ghost's teeth were also revealed, and bloody saliva dripped from her mouth as she looked at Yu Xing.

Yu Xing took a small step back. "Madam, eating bandages when you're hungry won't help."

"I need bandages!!" the Female Ghost roared, reaching out to grab Yu Xing's shoulder. Yu Xing originally wanted to dodge, after all, he had heard Wu Kaiyun and Cui Hui's descriptions and knew that ghosts like the human-limbed spider could immobilize those they touched. In case this Female Ghost had a similar ability, he decided to try his best to prevent the Female Ghost from touching him.

Besides, he didn't know how much pain he would feel if he were touched by a ghost that was generally very strong. But in that instant, after realizing that the Female Ghost's movements were very slow and no faster than those of an ordinary person, an idea quickly formed in Yu Xing's mind.

As soon as the Female Ghost showed her intention to attack, Zhao Yijiu rushed over, the fruit knife in her hand gleaming coldly. It was a sharp fruit knife that Zhao Yijiu had just snatched from the shelf.

For him, clubs and similar weapons were not convenient; the feel of these small, cold weapons was the most familiar and comfortable.

However, he was a little too far away. Before he could get close enough to the counter, he saw Yu Xing pull a baseball bat from under the counter, dodge the Female Ghost's hand that was grabbing his shoulder, and then, without hesitation and with considerable ferocity, smash the baseball bat into the Female Ghost's head.

With a dull thud, the Female Ghost fell to one side, followed by Yu Xing's gasp. "Hiss... my hand is numb from the impact."

Qu Xuanqing Xianqing was originally watching the show from the sidelines. In her opinion, Yu Xing could handle the Female Ghost of this level perfectly well, not to mention that Zhao Yijiu was assisting her.

But she didn't expect Yu Xing's strength to be so great. The Female Ghost not only fell down, but also flew a distance on the ground due to inertia, stopping right at her feet.

And, if she wasn't mistaken, there was a sound of bones cracking coming from beneath her robe.

Sure enough, the knocked-down Female Ghost tried to get up from the ground, but it seemed that many of her bones, starting from her shoulders, were broken and could not withstand the kinetic energy required for her body to get up.

Qu Xuanqing: "..."

She bent down and casually lifted the female customer's hood, finally seeing the woman's face. Her brow twitched; she couldn't understand how Yu Xing could sell food to such a face without batting an eye.

Zhao Yijiu also saw the Female Ghost's true face. He fell silent, as if he was thinking about something.

Zhao Yijiu, who possesses the personality of a vengeful ghost, has indeed shown a significant improvement in intelligence compared to when he first entered the deduction field. Sometimes even Yu Xing doesn't know what he's thinking, which is due to the difference in his foundation and memory.

Yu Xing flicked her wrist, dissatisfied with the effect of her strike. The force and lethality were as good as ever, but the reaction force was just too exaggerated!

He wasn't joking when he said his entire arm was going numb from the shock; it was genuinely numb, and he almost lost all feeling in it.

"The customer is everything! How could you hurt a customer! Oh, my plague god, look what you've done! You need to be taught a lesson before you learn to follow the rules!"

Just then, the clown's voice rang in the ears of every strategist in the general store. Although it sounded like he was furious, his inner surprise and joy were completely undisguised.

It was as if he hadn't told the predictors beforehand that they couldn't attack the guests, and was just waiting for this moment when they broke the rules.

"You didn't say that," Qu Xuanqing immediately seized the loophole, "You didn't tell us before that customers couldn't be harmed, so for those of us temporarily minding the shop, this rule doesn't exist, or rather, it only starts to apply from now on. You can't punish us for this."

"Hehehehe, who said I made the rules?" The clown was clearly delighted. "Even if I didn't tell you, it's still a rule that exists, the God of Plague is my witness! According to the punishment, I can now..."

Yu Xing remembered the plague god the clown mentioned. Europe at that time really liked the concept of gods, even with increased mechanization. Presumably, Dead Silent Island had a similar setting.

Then he glanced at himself in the mirror.

The clown doll remained motionless in the trash can, but behind him in the mirror... an extra pair of hands appeared.

His hands were covered in paint, one hand holding a brush and the other a palette. The brush tip had just brushed across his face, leaving a red mark on his nose.

As if noticing Yu Xing's attention, the hands paused for a moment, and then a head slowly peeked out from beside Yu Xing's shoulder.

It was a clown silently watching him with a maniacal laugh.

The clown's appearance was no different from that of a clown doll, except that he had transformed from a doll into a three-dimensional human. His hair was smeared with blood, strand by strand, and fell to the sides under his pointed hat. His mouth was as real as that of Female Ghost lying on the ground, split open.

It's unclear whether the clown was floating or not, but after his head was fully exposed, only his neck and shoulders were visible, and it appeared to be more than ten centimeters higher than Yu Xing's horizontal position.

When Yu Xing met the clown's dark eyes, she felt her curse power become more active, and a sense of weakness surged from her heart.

It leaned down and pressed its split lips close to Yu Xing's ear, and then Yu Xing heard the clown's voice again. "I can punish you by turning you into a clown! Hehehe."

The sense of distance and the voice were exactly the same as the clown's voice he had heard before. Yu Xing suddenly realized why, despite the existence of the clown puppet, the clown's voice never came from the puppet. It turned out that the invisible clown was always lurking behind the deducer.

The clown is actually a ghost without a physical form?

This is much more troublesome than a physical monster like the female guest.

Yu Xing smiled and said, "Since I'm going to be punished by being turned into a clown by you, I can't let myself be the one to suffer."

He leaped over the counter and walked towards the fallen Female Ghost, snatching the fruit knife from Zhao Yijiu's hand as he did so. He warned Zhao Yijiu, "Did you hear what the great Kraun said? You can't be violent towards customers. I'm confiscating your knife."

Yu Xing, holding the confiscated fruit knife, squatted down in front of the Female Ghost customer and, with one stroke, severed the already swaying neck of the Female Ghost customer. "But I'm different. I'm already going to be punished because of her, so it's okay to just kill her, right?"

With a crisp snap, the Female Ghost died quickly in every sense of the word. Her body withered and dried up rapidly, leaving only one thing behind, just like a spider with human limbs.

A tooth.

"That's not right," Yu Xing still questioned. "Why does this thing seem easier to deal with than the limb-manipulating spider? At least the limb-manipulating spider has a skill that can immobilize and mentally pollute, but this thing has nothing."

Based on her demonstrated Combat Power, if the pollutants were classified as F-rank, she would undoubtedly be among them.

The strangest thing is that the curse power within him was unaffected when facing the human-limbed spider, but it became active when facing this much weaker Female Ghost.

Zhao Yijiu.

He frowned, having already realized the Joker's incorporeal nature. "Being turned into the Joker could have unpredictable consequences. I warn you not to go along with it."

"Don't worry, your captain isn't as weak as you think." Yu Xing picked up the tooth with a hint of disgust and put it in his pocket while reassuring Zhao Yijiu, "It's just a ghost without a physical form, right? Don't worry, if it tries anything against me, I'll just draw a circle and curse it!"

Qu Xuanqing: "No, those words always sound like they've done something to your intelligence."