Peach Haven Village (30)

Just as he thought of this, Ghost Third Lady suddenly appeared in midair a hundred meters away. Visibility was poor at the time, but he could see Third Lady from that distance because the flash of red in the darkness was so conspicuous.

Ghost Third Lady's target was Auntie Wang, whose left foot had stepped into the field. Without a word, she swung her hand like a blade and severed Auntie Wang's head before vanishing into thin air.

Ding Shi switched on his flashlight and headed toward Auntie Wang. He carefully crossed the ridges between the fields and reached her body. Using the flashlight, he examined her for a while and found that Auntie Wang's left foot was submerged in the muddy water of the field.

Why had Auntie Wang been killed? Ding Shi looked up at the sky in confusion. He had already confirmed that actions such as turning on a light, speaking, and looking at the sky would not cause Ghost Third Lady to hunt him down.

Ghost Third Lady had said many things to Haitang, yet she had not immediately gone after Haitang after breaking free. That meant Haitang had not violated any rules.

What did Haitang and Auntie Wang have in common? And why had the person who wet their pants been killed? Could it have been because they were stained? Haitang, as a bride, had worn makeup. Her tears had ruined it, and her wedding dress had gotten dirty, so she had been killed. Auntie Wang had stepped into muddy water and dirtied her pants, so she had been killed.

Zhang San knew someone had been killed for wetting their pants, so he pulled out his dick to piss and did not dirty his pants. That was why Third Lady had not killed him.

Ding Shi looked himself over. Because of his encounter with Zombie Third Lady, he was filthy from head to toe, with plenty of yellow dirt still on his face. If Third Lady wanted to kill dirty people, he should have been first in line. Did she look down on him? Compared to that, Ding Shi felt it was more likely that she had fallen in love with him.

What? Narcissistic? Who didn't know Nie Xiaoqian? Maybe it was possible.

Of course, those were merely the wild thoughts of Ding Shi's overactive brain cells. He was still very rational.

Since he was still alive despite being so dirty, Ghost Third Lady's killing rule had nothing to do with dirt. Only by figuring out Ghost Third Lady's killing rules could he survive the next thirty hours.

At two in the morning on the seventh day, Ding Shi sneaked into Haitang's house.

Something had felt off to Ding Shi the entire way. It was not until he reached Haitang's house that he figured it out. Why was he acting all sneaky again? There was no need.

Though he had reasoned it out, Ding Shi still quietly slipped into Haitang's house. Haitang's home was the temporary residence for the ritual and was quite large. Haitang lived upstairs.

Ding Shi called softly, "Pan'er?" The village chief's daughter-in-law was named Pan'er. Characters like Pan and Di ranked among the ten most common names for rural girls, while names like Cuihua were actually less common.

Ding Shi felt his way into the main hall. There were four corpses here, but after checking them, he found no sign of Pan'er. Then he heard a sound coming from the room to the left of the main hall. With a gentle push, he opened the door.

Ding Shi did not enter immediately. Instead, he used his flashlight to check both sides. Perhaps it was just psychological, but he had the distinct feeling that Ghost Third Lady was following him or watching him.

If the enemy did not move, he would. Ding Shi stepped into the room and called in a low voice, "Pan'er?"

"Little Ding." Pan'er's voice came from behind the wardrobe.

"It's me. Don't get excited. Keep your voice down."

Ding Shi walked toward the wardrobe. Its front was fitted with a large mirror over a meter tall. As he passed the wardrobe, the corner of his eye caught a flash of red in the mirror. In that instant, every hair on Ding Shi's body stood on end. With incredible willpower, he stopped himself from looking at the mirror.

This explained why one could not make eye contact with Ghost Third Lady. When no one violated the rules, Ghost Third Lady could not appear in the real world, but she could hide in other worlds, such as mirrors.

Ding Shi lowered his head and used the corner of his eye to look at the bottom of the mirror. The red flash grew larger and larger, as though the person in the mirror were walking toward him. Ding Shi remained still. The figure had reached the surface of the mirror and seemed about to crawl out, yet did not.

Ding Shi gave a sinister chuckle. "Hehehehe, can't get out, can you?"

Ding Shi once again confirmed that the rules could restrain Ghost Third Lady. He walked forward a few steps and saw Pan'er hiding behind the wardrobe, sitting on the floor. He reached out, took her hand, and pulled her up.

Ding Shi said, "Pan'er, keep your head down. Don't look at the mirror on the left." Why not smash the mirror? Ding Shi feared that if he broke it, countless Ghost Third Ladies would appear on the ground.

Pan'er responded repeatedly, keeping her head lowered as she followed Ding Shi. The two safely left Haitang's house.

The moment they stepped outside, a flash of red appeared fifteen meters to their left. Ding Shi immediately said, "Don't breathe."

The newcomer was Zombie Third Lady. She pounced toward them at terrifying speed, then stopped four meters away.

Ding Shi held Pan'er's hand and left on tiptoe. Having completely lost the scent of her prey, Zombie Third Lady tapped the ground with her toes, shot five meters into the air, drifted sideways for over ten meters, and landed in Auntie Li's backyard.

Fuck, it's a flying zombie!

A flying zombie's body was more flexible than a human's, and it could fly for long periods. It possessed immense strength and was impervious to water and fire. Its only weakness was that it still had no intelligence. The superior form of a flying zombie was called a ba. That thing possessed some intelligence, but used all of it for destruction.

Before long, a man's screams and cries for help came from Auntie Li's house.

Could he make Zombie Third Lady and Ghost Third Lady fight each other? No, because Zombie Third Lady was not alive.

Ding Shi and Pan'er passed Auntie Li's door. Hearing the screams inside, they did not stop and continued on tiptoe.

After walking several dozen meters, they came upon a puddle in the road ahead. The moon suddenly emerged, piercing through the black mist and fog. Ding Shi saw a red shadow in the puddle.

I didn't even do anything. Why is Ghost Third Lady so determined to kill me?

Ding Shi pulled Pan'er close to the wall and walked past without looking at the puddle on the ground. Once again, they avoided danger and safely returned to the village chief's house.

The village chief opened the door and ushered them into his room. Two candles were lit inside, and to Ding Shi's surprise, Zhang San was there too.

Ding Shi asked curiously, "Where's your bride?"

Zhang San's already ugly expression turned even uglier, but he looked utterly dejected and had no mood to respond to Ding Shi. Ding Shi found it boring as well and held out his hand to the village chief. "I brought Pan'er back."

Task complete. Village chief satisfaction: 101.

Ding Shi nearly spat blood. So one hundred was not even full marks? There was a one hundred and one? Fine. Fine!

The village chief readily handed him a small mirror and twenty dollars. The mirror was only half a palm in size, octagonal, with a bagua design painted around its exterior and a mirror surface half a palm in size within. Ding Shi inspected it for a while but found no incantation on the Demon-Revealing Mirror. He put it away first. Its item category was treasure.

Ding Shi asked, "Village chief, why is he here?"

The village chief said, "You three are the smartest people in our village. I gathered you here to ask you to think of a way for the village to survive this crisis."

Ding Shi asked, "Where's Little Sun?"

The village chief said, "She's hiding in the dormitory and refuses to come."

Task issued: Bring Sun Qi to the village chief's room.

Ding Shi quit. "I'm done."

The village chief encouraged him, "Little Ding, don't give up. We still have a chance."

Ding Shi said, "White Cloud Daoist has already been killed by Blind Zhao. What chance do we have left?"

The village chief thought for a moment. "A chance to endure until the ritual day passes." Fighting back was impossible.

Ding Shi spread his hands. See? Even the village chief had given up.

Zhang San spoke up. "As long as we don't court death, we can hold out until the ritual day ends." That was eight in the morning on the eighth day.

Ding Shi was more pessimistic. "Not necessarily."

Ghost Third Lady was the greatest threat. Every second, she was watching everyone. Ghost Third Lady's first killing rule was that no one could make eye contact with her. The second was that no one could say the word "ghost." Ding Shi had yet to figure out the crucial third rule. He had a feeling that the third rule was deadly—deadly enough to take his life.