Ghost Taming

Qiqi's seven orifices began to bleed. At the same time, blood seeped continuously from her skin. Thick, black blood trickled down her cheeks and from the ends of her hair, drop by drop, quickly pooling on the ground beneath her.

The female ghost, who had only partially manifested, gradually began to fully materialize.

Not long ago, on the bleachers beside this very field, she had first triggered her manifestation. Ye Jiu had kissed her then, stopping her progress just in time.

But now Ye Jiu had cornered another woman and was busy kissing her, completely ignoring Qiqi.

That made her full manifestation progress exceptionally smoothly.

Sharp canine teeth sprouted in her mouth and bared themselves between her lips. Claws grew from all ten fingers, sharp as blades.

Her skin turned purplish blue, and a faint circular marking appeared on her neck. At first glance, it looked like a yin-yang bagua diagram.

[Wait, did you all see that marking on Qiqi's neck?]

[Yeah, clear as day.]

[Is that... a Ghost-Taming Mark?]

[Holy crap, Qiqi actually has a Ghost-Taming Mark?!]

[This is a one-in-ten-thousand chance, and the streamer actually ran into it. Could he be the legendary child of destiny?]

[Looks like things are about to take a turn.]

[Could this be the key to breaking the deadlock?]

[You're getting ahead of yourself, man. You can't just use a Ghost-Taming Mark whenever you want. You need a high enough affinity rating. The first mission hasn't even ended yet. How high do you think the streamer's rating is? 15%? 20%? 30%? At most, it won't be over 30%. That's nowhere near enough to use it.]

[True. What a shame. If Qiqi fully manifested during the third mission, I feel like the streamer might have had a chance.]

[Forget all that. If I were the streamer, I'd buy a Safety Bubble right now. Staying alive comes first.]

[Same. He should buy ten Safety Bubbles in bulk and stock them in his backpack, just in case.]

[Backseat player? Have you ever actually run a dungeon? The streamer's only lv1, the lowest tier of player. They can only buy one Safety Bubble at a time, and they haven't unlocked the Equipment Backup Slot. That only opens after the first settlement. So if they buy one, they have to use it immediately. Stock up ten? Dream on.]

[And the Safety Bubble only lasts thirty minutes. The school belle is still sitting alone in the infirmary, crying. Nobody knows how long her pheromones will last. What good will thirty minutes of protection do if they don't stop all night?]

[The point is, it's not just Little Chili and Qiqi. Big Bear's here too. Big Bear's a top-tier four-and-a-half-star female ghost, and she ignores Safety Bubbles. Even if the streamer uses one, it won't stop her.]

[So what's he supposed to do now?]

[No solution?]

[No solution.]

[It's over.]

As Wen Nan kissed Little Chili, he kept a close eye on the other two behind him.

The cold around Aunt Mei grew more and more intense. Frost spread across the ground around her feet, where the chill she radiated had frozen the earth.

The frost continued creeping outward. It was about to freeze Wen Nan's back.

Little Chili, nestled in his arms, had stopped breathing fire under his kiss. But her body was still as scorching as a little furnace against his chest, putting considerable strain on him.

At the same time, Qiqi approached from his side, covered in blood. As she walked, she dragged a long, dark trail behind her.

As Qiqi drew closer, Little Chili sensed the threat and grew restless again. Even with her lips blocked and unable to spit flames, a scorching glow gathered in her palm. It swelled rapidly, on the verge of bursting outward.

Qiqi looked at the flames gathering in Little Chili's palm with her hollow, all-white eyes. Then she raised her arm, and her five sharp nails, like the claws of the Nine Yin Skeleton Claw, jabbed toward Wen Nan and Little Chili.

Boom—

Whoosh—

Crack—

Now!

Wen Nan suddenly released Little Chili and spun around as fast as he could, lunging at Qiqi.

He spread his arms and wrapped them tightly around her. They fell to the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.

Behind them, the flames Little Chili had unleashed collided head-on with the fierce chill Lin Xuemei released. The clash of extreme heat and cold formed a powerful shock wave that swept over Wen Nan and Qiqi.

Wen Nan shielded Qiqi with his body, taking the impact for her.

Behind him, the opposing heat and cold surged against each other with a sizzling hiss. Then everything around them fell silent.

...Did it work?

Had the ice and fire behind them, one cold and one hot, canceled each other out?

Wen Nan braced his hands on either side of Qiqi's head and twisted to look behind him. But the scene before his eyes was not merely different from what he had expected—it was the exact opposite!

The ice and fire hadn't collided with each other. Instead... they were both coming straight for Wen Nan and Qiqi.

There was no choice. Wen Nan could only call out to the system in his mind: [9527.]

9527: [I'm here.]

Wen Nan: [Open the shop and buy a Safety Bubble.]

9527: [Certainly. You have purchased the Safety Bubble. Equipping it now—]

Wen Nan: [No, not for me. Put it on Qiqi.]

9527: [...]

[Your account is currently lv1, so you can only purchase one Safety Bubble. Are you sure you want to use this equipment on Qiqi, a character in the Trial Zone?]

Wen Nan: [Yes. Hurry.]

9527: [Certainly. The Safety Bubble is now active.]

As soon as the system finished speaking, a layer of rainbow-colored light shimmered around Qiqi.

Qiqi lay on the ground. Her previously hollow eyes now held a trace of confusion. In a hoarse voice, she asked, "Why... would you do this?"

Wen Nan stroked her blood-covered cheek and smiled. "I said I chose you. Trust me, I won't let anything hurt you."

With that, Wen Nan stood and walked toward Lin Xuemei.

Little Chili was hostile toward Qiqi. If Wen Nan didn't step in, Little Chili might hurt her. That was why he had to put a Safety Bubble around Qiqi.

But the Safety Bubble only worked on characters with four stars or fewer. Aunt Mei had four and a half stars. If she went after Qiqi, the Safety Bubble wouldn't be able to protect her.

So Wen Nan decided to deal with Aunt Mei himself.

A high-difficulty, four-and-a-half-star target...

Wen Nan had no idea how good his chances were.

But he had to grit his teeth and try.

With that thought, Wen Nan tightened his collar and stepped into the cold wind.

But after only two steps—

9527: [Congratulations! Your affinity rating with Qiqi has exceeded 90%!]

9527: [Qiqi has been identified as an extremely rare, tamable character. She possesses a Level 1 Taming Sigil. When a player's affinity rating with a character reaches 90%, the sigil can be activated.]

9527: [Would you like to activate the sigil and make Qiqi your exclusive character?]