Peach Haven Village (11)

At this moment, Ding Shi was reading Treatise on Ghosts in the library. The book introduced the basic classifications of ghosts in Ita World. Ding Shi felt Ita World had handled this well, laying everything out in the open.

Type One: Ghosts. They had no attack power or physical form, could not be seen except under special circumstances, and could not communicate.

Type Two: Obsession Ghosts. If someone had wanted to eat braised pork before dying but failed to do so, that obsession would form. For seven days, it would desperately search for braised pork. After seven days, it would disappear. As for whether it went to the Underworld or Heaven, no one knew.

Such ghosts were formed from obsessions and could not be destroyed. Human strength could not contend against them. They would only attack those who stopped them from eating braised pork. They had no concept of killing and no intelligence.

Type Three: Evil Ghosts. Rule-based ghosts. They normally had no physical form and could pass through walls into homes, only taking corporeal form when killing. Bound by the laws of heaven—that is, rules—they could generally only operate within a single area, such as a house or a ship.

Evil Ghosts were not very intelligent, but they possessed a strong instinct to attack the living and were bound by rules. Normally, they were no different from ordinary Ghosts. Once a living person triggered a rule, however, an Evil Ghost could take physical form and kill them.

The rules came in all kinds. For example, a living person might lose a game of rock-paper-scissors to a mirror at midnight, or steal something from the homeowner. Even sneezing might trigger its killing rule.

The way to eliminate an Evil Ghost was to complete a certain task without violating its rules.

Type Four: Ghost Kings. These things were extremely formidable: highly intelligent, extraordinarily powerful, and unrestricted by location. However, every Ghost King had a fatal weakness and could be destroyed by humans.

Ghosts: everywhere.

Obsession Ghosts: rare.

Evil Ghosts: appeared only in specific locations and could not be found elsewhere.

Ghost Kings: although they could kill freely, once their weaknesses were exposed, humans could easily kill them in return. Thus, Ghost Kings were nearly extinct in Ita World.

Treatise on Ghosts also mentioned ghosts, demons, spirits, and monsters. Ghosts were formed from dead humans. Demons were animals that had gained sentience. Spirits were plants that had gained sentience. Monsters were objects that had gained sentience.

Finally, Treatise on Ghosts explained that ghosts, demons, spirits, and monsters would only appear in specific instances.

On Ding Shi's system interface, an additional seal appeared on the main quest, bearing the character for ghost, indicating that ghosts were present in this instance. At the same time, the instance's danger level was adjusted from extremely low to low.

Ghost Granny was clearly an Obsession Ghost. She had something she needed to do or something she needed to find. Unable to find it at home, she would search everywhere, prioritizing her family because they were the most likely to help fulfill her obsession. To deal with an Obsession Ghost, one either waited seven days for it to dissipate on its own or fulfilled its obsession.

Ding Shi had intended to turn the bookshelf into a card, but the system refused. The system explained: The information provided by the bookshelf and its books was related to the instance quest and could not be stored privately or stolen. In the end, Ding Shi could only borrow two books through the self-service machine, paying a two-dollar deposit.

The moment he left the library, the village chief caught him with pinpoint accuracy. "Little Ding, help the Wang Family look for their grandson."

Zhao Liu was missing? Ding Shi knew Zhao Liu had not kept vigil last night, so Ghost Granny had failed to find him, but he had not expected the man himself to be unfindable as well. Ding Shi accepted the task and headed for the elementary school to find Sun Qi. If Zhao Liu needed help, there was a ninety percent chance he would first seek help from another player.

Yesterday, Ding Shi and Zhao Liu had clashed, and Ding Shi believed Zhao Liu would not prioritize coming to him if something happened. Based on Ding Shi's limited impression of Zhang San, Zhang San was not someone who would selflessly help others either. That left only the softhearted woman—Sun Qi—as the likeliest person to help Zhao Liu.

Sure enough, Ding Shi found Zhao Liu in Sun Qi's school dormitory.

Before Ding Shi could speak, Zhao Liu panicked first and threatened, "Wang Wu, if you dare betray me, don't blame me for getting nasty."

Sun Qi tried to smooth things over. "Don't get worked up. Wang Wu, have a seat."

Smiling pleasantly, Ding Shi sat down nearby. "You caused this mess, didn't you? I wanted to help you fix it, but you lied to me. Now you're shamelessly threatening me. How can someone be this shameless?"

Zhao Liu's face turned the color of pig liver, and for a moment, he had nothing to say.

As Sun Qi poured water, she asked, "Wang Wu, what exactly happened?"

Ding Shi answered, "Zhao Liu failed to deliver the pickled vegetables to the driver on time, which led to Granny Wang's death. Last night, he left the mourning hall and lost his last chance at survival."

Zhao Liu asked, "Last chance at survival? What do you mean?"

Ding Shi replied, "Granny Wang will come looking for you tonight."

Zhao Liu shot to his feet. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Ding Shi said, "Your only chance now is to figure out Granny Wang's obsession before she died and fulfill it before eleven tonight. Otherwise, you're on a dead-end road."

Zhao Liu retorted, "How am I supposed to know what she wanted?"

Ding Shi said, "A salary of one dollar a day, no work to do, good food and drink, and Cuihua warming your bed—I imagine you had no time to notice Granny Wang's every move while she was alive. That's the situation. Figure out what you want to do. Either kill yourself and leave the instance, or wait for Ghost Granny to come knocking."

Sun Qi asked from the side, "Wang Wu, are there really ghosts?"

Ding Shi nodded. "Check your main quests. There's now a ghost tag on them. I should get going. Good luck." He gave Sun Qi a deep look. The unspoken meaning was: I've said all I can. If you take Zhao Liu in again tonight, you'll be the fish caught in the crossfire.

Ding Shi left and informed the head of the Wang Family. The Wang Family's younger men went to block Zhao Liu. Although Zhao Liu had fled first, Ding Shi's task was already complete.

Granny Wang's maternal relatives had arrived. After a round of wrangling, several middle-aged and elderly men from the neighboring village—half monks, half Taoists, specializing in funeral rites—set up an altar in the mourning hall and began chanting scriptures.

Ding Shi watched with great interest. The three men wore kasayas and chanted scriptures in the local dialect. One held a bell, one beat a wooden fish, and one pressed his palms together as they circled the coffin. With every circuit, the three had to lower their bodies a little further. Ding Shi did not understand the gesture, so he asked an auntie who was also watching. She quietly told him that they were supposed to kneel and bow once per circuit, but after decades of simplification, it had become this.

After finishing their circles, the three sat down and chanted, while assistants nearby struck gongs and drums. The rhythm was distinct, and it sounded rather interesting.

After lunch, the village chief sent Ding Shi to hang banners and paint slogans: Better ten more graves than one more person. Family planning is good; the government will help provide for your old age. In the afternoon, he took part in the supply cooperative's inventory. One task followed another. None were difficult, and all were fairly interesting. Setting aside the tasks caused by players courting death, the system tasks gave Ding Shi a comprehensive taste of rural life in that era.

He dug sweet potatoes before dinner and accompanied the village chief on a walk after dinner to aid digestion. These were all tasks. It was not until nine that night that the village chief and Ding Shi returned home, and the third day of life in Peach Haven Village was drawing to a close.

Ding Shi slipped out of the village chief's house, skillfully climbed over the wall into Cuihua's home, and climbed up the persimmon tree. Granny Wang's house was brightly lit, but empty.

"Kid."

Ding Shi turned his head and saw Blind Zhao standing outside Granny Wang's wall, looking up at him.

Ding Shi climbed down, vaulted over the wall, and landed beside Blind Zhao with a cheerful smile. "I saw it was still early, so I came over to take a look. Uncle Zhao, are you here to catch her?"

Blind Zhao said, "Catch my ass. She's beyond anything human strength can fight now. Unless some old monster with profound cultivation shows up, no one can beat her."

Ding Shi asked, "Then why are you here?"

Blind Zhao sighed. "When I was young, I revealed heavenly secrets and ended up without descendants for life. I hope to earn some Yin Virtue so I won't be reborn into the animal realm after I die."

Ding Shi asked, "Yin Virtue?"

Blind Zhao said, "Fulfilling Grandma Wang's obsession will earn Yin Virtue."

Ding Shi asked, "Has it been fulfilled?"

Blind Zhao shook his head. "No."