Plague God Possession

Lin Zijian and the others had barely sat down when a chill ran through him. He frowned. It was still early autumn, wasn't it? Why was he cold?

Lin Zijian gave it no more thought. No one else would have, either.

As dish after dish arrived, the group began drinking and toasting one another...

From a distance, Shen Bing and his friends caught bits of their conversation: Nancy Building, exterior walls, a project worth hundreds of millions...

None of it had anything to do with Shen Bing, so they paid it no mind.

Shen Bing had to admit that a rich, handsome guy like Lin Zijian had advantages over losers like them. Even though Lin Zijian had yet to graduate, he handled himself at the dinner table with impeccable manners and poise.

No one would have taken him for a student. He looked more like a veteran who had spent decades navigating society.

That composure vanished when Brother Yu, seated beside him, used too much force while picking up food and sent a tender piece of fish, sauce and all, flying into his face.

The fish broth was rather hot, but what Lin Zijian couldn't stand was the humiliation. If anyone else had done that to him, he would have flown into a rage.

But it was Brother Yu who had made the mistake—the very man Lin Zijian was trying to curry favor with. He felt stifled with resentment, yet he had to force a smile and pretend it was nothing.

"Hahaha..."

"Old Shen, you weren't kidding. Karma came fast!"

Wang Bo was the one laughing, and Sun Li was the one making the jab. Old Yang, meanwhile, quietly enjoyed watching the people across from them scramble to clean Lin Zijian's face...

Unlike his three friends, who were merely enjoying the spectacle, Shen Bing was reeling inside.

So it really works! Plague God Possession is something else. That piece of fish had leaped off the plate, sailed through the air, and struck its target dead-on. There was only one explanation: Lin Zijian's luck had gone straight to hell!

"Come on, guys. How can you laugh at someone else's misfortune? Young Master Lin was just a little too eager to eat some fish!" Shen Bing twisted the knife again. He didn't speak loudly, but several nearby tables could hear him, including Lin Zijian's.

Lin Zijian couldn't lose his temper. If he did, what position would that put Brother Yu in? After all, Brother Yu had been the one to "serve" him that fish.

He could only swallow his anger. Inwardly, though, Lin Zijian hated Shen Bing and the others with a passion.

While smiling and entertaining Brother Yu, Lin Zijian plotted how to teach Shen Bing's group a lesson. Distracted, he picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. Then...

"Urgh... urgh..." Lin Zijian suddenly clutched his throat, his face contorted in pain.

"Zijian, what's wrong?"

"Young Master Lin, what happened? Don't scare us!"

Everyone at the table panicked. To their horror, Lin Zijian's face turned deathly pale within seconds...

They were all children of wealthy families. None had dealt with anything like this, and for a moment, they were at a loss.

Brother Yu reacted quickly. "Call an ambulance! A fish bone's probably stuck in his throat."

A fish bone stuck in his throat? That was normal for a child eating fish, but a man in his twenties was bound to draw some strange looks.

Besides, could an ordinary fish bone leave him in that state? Had it pierced his throat?

The restaurant manager and staff rushed over, frightened by the sudden turn of events. The owner appeared to know Brother Yu, and the thought of Brother Yu's status filled him with dread.

The incident seemed to have nothing to do with him, but if anything happened to their guest, he knew he would be in trouble.

There was little he could do. The restaurant had plenty of tricks for dealing with fish bones stuck in customers' throats, but they had never seen a case as severe as Lin Zijian's.

"He really must have done a lot of bad things, to have luck this rotten..." Old Yang remarked calmly before returning to his meal.

The ambulance arrived quickly, but Lin Zijian's face had already lost all color. Even the doctor was startled. For a fish bone to cause this much trouble was extraordinary.

"Don't tell me this is going to kill him," Shen Bing muttered, glancing at Little Black Cat curled up in his lap. He didn't regret it, though.

Lin Zijian was loaded into the ambulance. Brother Yu and the others could hardly stay and finish their meal. Brother Yu and one other person squeezed into the ambulance to accompany him to the hospital; there was no room for everyone else, so they had to take taxis.

Just as Shen Bing thought it was over, the ambulance pulled away and reached the intersection. Bang! A minibus struck it from the side.

The ambulance's lights kept flashing, impossible to miss.

Shen Bing saw it through the restaurant doors. He couldn't help feeling sorry for the ambulance crew. They had been dragged into Lin Zijian's bad luck.

I'd better be careful the next time I use Little Doudou. This is downright terrifying!

What Shen Bing didn't know was that, of the nearly twenty people aboard the ambulance and minibus, Lin Zijian was the only one hurt. His leg had been trapped between the stretcher and the side of the vehicle, and it was broken...

After the crash, the ambulance obviously couldn't take Lin Zijian to the hospital. The hospital had to send another vehicle to collect everyone, including Lin Zijian, who had now suffered a second injury.

The poor unlucky bastard. Would this leave him traumatized?

After dinner, Shen Bing and his three friends returned to school.

Wang Bo and the others had no idea Shen Bing was behind Lin Zijian's misfortune. To them, it was just another story to tell. Shen Bing, on the other hand, was filled with anticipation.

A kitten he had extorted was already this powerful, and his phone was connected to the Immortal Realm. Just think of the Howling Celestial Dog, or Lord Lao's Azure Ox...

All right, Shen Bing knew he was getting carried away. He had no way to get his hands on those immortal beasts.

Back at the dorm, Shen Bing lay down on his bed and began fiddling with his phone. He had long since abandoned the idea of introducing his friends to the game.

This wasn't a normal game at all!

His character was still on the Floating Island. After a little exploration, Shen Bing had worked out how to leave: the Novice Teleportation Talisman the system had given him.

Previously, only its name had been displayed. Now a pair of parentheses had appeared after it, showing 2/3.

That meant the Novice Teleportation Talisman could be used three times, and it had two uses left.

Its first use had taken him to the Plague God Hall.

Having figured out what it did, Shen Bing set it aside for the moment. What interested him most was the Treasure Pavilion.

Yes, the Treasure Pavilion. What a tacky name! It was the pavilion-shaped icon Shen Ice had earlier complained made the game look like it was all about selling things.

He wasn't complaining now. In fact, he hoped the things for sale would be even more precious. It would be best if there were treasures like Immortal Peaches or ginseng fruit.

He opened the Treasure Pavilion with excitement, only to find himself on the verge of cursing. There were just two items inside.

What a rip-off! This is supposed to be the Treasure Pavilion? It's more like a beggar's shack! Shen Bing cursed inwardly. One of the two items was a Teleportation Talisman, which only made him feel worse.

He had more or less figured out what the Teleportation Talisman did: it was for traveling within the Immortal Realm. It couldn't transport anything to the real world. That left only the other item as something that might benefit him in reality.

At least its price wasn't high: one Immortal Jade.

Aperture-Opening Pill: Upon consumption, greatly increases brain development, up to a maximum of 50%, and grants the ability to remember anything seen. Price: 10,000 Immortal Jade. First-time purchases from the Treasure Pavilion qualify for a special price of one Immortal Jade.

Shen Bing was frustrated. It wasn't that the Aperture-Opening Pill was bad. On the contrary, it was incredible.

A person normally used only around three percent of their brain. If that could be raised to fifty percent, the result would be astonishing.

But it wasn't what Shen Bing had hoped for! The world in his phone was the Immortal Realm. Shouldn't its shop sell things like Nine-Cycle Golden Pills? Swallow one and ascend to immortality on the spot! Or Immortal Peaches that let you live as long as heaven and earth.

Compared with those, the Aperture-Opening Pill seemed downright feeble!

What frustrated Shen Bing most was that the special price applied to his first purchase, and that price was only one Immortal Jade.

Imagine if a Nine-Cycle Golden Pill, an Immortal Peach, or a ginseng fruit had been on offer instead. Now that would have been something.

It seemed unrealistic to buy piles of treasures from the Immortal Realm through the shop. He would have to rely on quests and hope their rewards were better.

He wasn't confident about that, either. He had yet to complete a single quest.

That was all there was to the Treasure Pavilion. Shen Bing turned his attention to the last icon, an eye.

Endless worlds seemed to lie hidden within its pupil.

"The Eye of Truth? What the hell is that?"

Shen Bing tapped the icon. His Inventory opened, along with a slot marked by a mysterious design to its right. Beneath the slot were the words "Analyze."

Presumably, he was meant to put an item from his Inventory into the slot for analysis.

But what did "analyze" mean?

Shen Bing was a man of action. He dragged the only item in his Inventory, the Novice Teleportation Talisman, into the slot and tapped "Analyze" without hesitation.

First-time analysis is not restricted by system level. Confirm analysis of the Novice Teleportation Talisman?

"Confirm!"

Another progress bar appeared...

Before it had even reached two percent, Shen Bing regretted it. What if the analysis used up the talisman? What would he do then? How was he supposed to keep playing?

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