Substitute Death Ghost

The Magpie, now dead, fell straight from a branch of the pomelo tree, turning into a man in a suit who hit the ground with a thud.

It was Zhang Yangxu.

Ning Zhe's mind was briefly hazy, but he soon understood what had just happened.

The ghost had killed the Magpie.

But hadn't the world where He Family Village was located already shattered when the Snake God died? Even if it hadn't, why was that Magpie still alive?

Someone who was already dead couldn't die a second time. Otherwise, Ning Zhe would have come straight over in Zhang Yangxu's body.

But that Magpie had just died in his place. Did that mean... it was still alive?

"Run."

After a moment of confusion, Ning Zhe quickly abandoned the question. He couldn't get an answer anytime soon, and he couldn't afford to waste any more living identities he could use as substitutes for death.

His body became that of a bird that had long since died. He flew through the trees and into a lush flower bed filled with hydrangeas.

The ghost wandering around Bishuiwan Manor was far more vicious than Ning Zhe had expected. Taiyi had no ability to kill, and the Snake God Zhaoyou could avert bad luck, but this ghost in the manor killed indiscriminately. Ning Zhe had merely gone near it and lost a life.

Fortunately, after killing the Magpie, the ghost didn't keep chasing him. A piercing scream rang out in the distance behind him. It seemed to have gone after other people who were closer.

"Does the ghost's killing rule have something to do with distance? Is the connection direct or indirect?"

Ning Zhe didn't have time to think it through. He returned to his original form and went back to the pavilion, grabbing Feng Yushu by the hand. "Let's go. We're leaving."

The ghost in the manor was too vicious. Ning Zhe had lost a life just by going near it. He wasn't reckless. He would only risk his life when he had no other choice or when he was truly confident of success. It was clear that neither was the case now.

With Taiyi's rules on his side, he had plenty of ways out.

"I don't need to fight this ghost to the death here. Even if I really have to figure it out, the more sensible thing would be to return to Ancient Tablet Town first and get enough living identities to use as substitutes for death. Then I could test its killing rule without worrying about what might happen to me."

Ning Zhe had a clear head. He knew exactly what he needed to do.

Feng Yushu, however, was nowhere near as calm.

The manor was brightly lit. The screams and cries had faded, leaving bodies scattered across the ground. Feng Yushu bit her lip, her eyes red. "I... my daughter is still inside. I can't leave."

"What can you do by staying here?" Ning Zhe let go of her hand. "Become the next body the ghost kills?"

"...You're right, Ning Zhe. I'm weak and slow to react. Even if I stay here, I can't do anything." Feng Yushu's legs gave way, and she dropped to her knees before him. Her trembling hands clutched at the hem of his clothes. "But you can do something, can't you? Ning Zhe, you must have a way... Please, help me, will you? Help me save Azhi. I'll do anything you want. Anything I have, you can have it. Please... I really can't lose her..."

Not a word about her husband...

Ning Zhe pried Feng Yushu's fingers from his clothes and sighed. "In the past, you might have been able to win me over with money. But I'm not interested in money anymore."

To him, money was nothing more than a string of numbers.

Seeing Feng Yushu shakily reach toward her chest, he added, "And I'm not interested in you, either."

With that, Ning Zhe didn't waste any more time talking to her. The boy's body turned into a Magpie again, and he flew out of the pavilion toward the wall.

He wouldn't risk himself again until he had enough living identities.

Watching Ning Zhe's figure disappear into the night, Feng Yushu covered her face with both hands and sank to her knees in despair, sobbing uncontrollably. But after her breakdown, she braced herself against a pillar of the pavilion and struggled to her feet. She wiped her tears and headed into the manor.

She had to go to her daughter, even if she died on the way.

But before she had gone more than a few steps, a nimble figure dropped from the sky and landed beside her.

"Ning Zhe?!" Feng Yushu burst into tears of joy. "Did you come back to help me?"

"Sort of. I can't get out." Ning Zhe said it lightly. "The manor's been sealed off."

The Magpie Ning Zhe had turned into had flown straight into an obstacle at the wall. It was an invisible barrier, like a huge hemispherical dome turned upside down over the entire Bishuiwan Manor.

"I flew over the wall, but I didn't see the rushing Tao River outside the manor. All I saw ahead was a brightly lit European-style castle—as if I'd just come in from outside." Ning Zhe spoke softly. "You can think of it as some kind of bizarre spatial-folding phenomenon. There's no way out of this manor now."

He stepped toward the Tao River outside the gate, only to find himself facing Welcoming Avenue inside the gate the next moment. The space along the manor's boundary had been folded. Any movement "outward" would automatically bend back "inward."

"Let's go find your daughter. Since she dreamed of what He Family Village looked like without ever having been to Ancient Tablet Town, she might know something about what's happening now." As he spoke, Ning Zhe turned into a Magpie again and perched on Feng Yushu's shoulder. "Let's go."

"...All right." Feng Yushu nodded at once.

Of course, she could tell that Ning Zhe was using her as a scout, making her risk her life to test the way ahead for him. But Feng Yushu willingly accepted his cold, ruthless use of her.

As long as it gave her a better chance of saving her daughter, she was willing to let Ning Zhe use her for anything, just as she had in He Family Village.

Bishuiwan Manor covered a large area, about one hectare. There weren't many people living there: Bai Fugui's family, a few executives from the New Homeland Group, and the staff who maintained the greenery and cleaned up.

Most of them had been terrified by the bizarre sight of the Evil Ghost killing people and the bodies scattered across the ground. They had fled in every direction, with most heading for the other side of the manor. From what Ning Zhe had seen earlier, the ghost seemed to have been drawn there by the crowd as well.

"Hurry. The ghost hasn't killed them all yet, so you don't have much time," Ning Zhe reminded her.

"Okay." Feng Yushu held the Magpie perched on her shoulder with one hand and ran along the wall into the European-style castle at the center of the manor.

"You don't need to hold me. I can stay on just fine," Ning Zhe reminded her again.

"Okay!" Feng Yushu quickly let go, took off her high heels, and carried them in her hand. Barefoot, she kept running.