Wishes and Sheep

"Mr. Qin, what exactly were those two ideas of yours?"

Liu Jingqing finally couldn't hold back. As they secretly followed Wang Ju, she had been thinking about the two ideas Qin Manjiang had mentioned.

"Oh, those." Qin Manjiang didn't seem particularly concerned. Or rather, he had no intention of concealing any of his deductions or ideas in the Ghost Story Game. "My first idea was this: since they could create an 'Immortal Sheep' and prevent it from granting wishes for revenge, they must have a way to control it. That's also the first route to survival I've found."

"A route to survival?!" Liu Jingqing's eyes instantly lit up.

Qin Manjiang nodded. "Yes. The entity at the heart of this ghost story is clearly an artificially created Immortal Sheep. From Chen Rui's description, something went wrong during their ritual, causing Li Rong to undergo a transformation. It's hard to say whether the one slaughtering people for revenge right now is Li Rong or the Immortal Sheep."

"Why would the Immortal Sheep want revenge?" Liu Jingqing asked in confusion.

"If Li Rong's consciousness isn't in control, there are probably two reasons the Immortal Sheep would kill people. First, the incomplete ritual caused some unusual change in it. Second... because of the accident during the ritual, Li Rong wasn't completely controlled. As the person sacrificed to become the Immortal Sheep, she made a wish for revenge in the final moment of her life, and the Immortal Sheep carried it out." Qin Manjiang explained all his thoughts in detail.

"So I think the method hidden somewhere in this village that lets them control the Immortal Sheep might be one route to survival." At this point, Qin Manjiang glanced at Wang Ju, who was hurrying ahead. "Look. Someone's even more anxious than we are."

Liu Jingqing wasn't stupid either. That glance from Qin Manjiang immediately made her realize where the hidden method of controlling the Immortal Sheep was.

"At the Village Chief's house?!"

"Yes." Qin Manjiang nodded, but he didn't look relieved. "But that's also where the problem lies. Even though the Village Chief had a way to control the Immortal Sheep, he still died. And he was thrown onto the platform in full view of everyone. That sort of emotionally charged treatment doesn't seem like the work of the Immortal Sheep that kills without a sound."

Qin Manjiang frowned slightly. "So I wondered whether that Chen Ping might be another 'Immortal Sheep' they hastily created after discovering Li Rong was missing. If both Immortal Sheep are killing people, things aren't so simple..."

Liu Jingqing listened, dumbfounded. Qin Manjiang had already pieced together so many clues from the fragmented events unfolding around them!

She was now even more curious about his second idea.

Qin Manjiang didn't hold anything back. He continued, "As for my second idea, it's some speculation about making wishes."

"Speculation about making wishes?"

This time, Qin Manjiang didn't elaborate, but Liu Jingqing vaguely grasped something too.

If wishes made to the Immortal Sheep were guaranteed to come true, then given how greedy humans were, there was no way they would only wish for their families to become wealthy. Perhaps it was just as she had previously suspected... wishes would come true, but people also had to repay them, to pay a price.

Perhaps the villagers only wished for wealth because repeated attempts had taught them that this was the only wish whose price they could bear. Or perhaps... it was one that could be fulfilled reasonably well?

"Before Zhang Yang died, his mother mentioned that he wanted to leave the village. Now he's dead. If he encountered the Sheep Ghost and made a wish, then that wish could be considered fulfilled. In three days, he'll be taken out of the village for an autopsy," Qin Manjiang suddenly said. "And that other man who died, Chen Shixing. There was a bottle of liquor beside his body."

Qin Manjiang suddenly stopped speaking. At that moment, he realized that there might be some kind of balance underlying these bizarre wishes.

Making wildly excessive wishes might bring even more terrifying consequences.

He hoped no one would do that.

"Mr. Qin, he went into the Village Chief's house!"

Qin Manjiang had seen it too. They glanced around. Almost everyone in the village was gathered in the square, and there didn't seem to be anyone in the Village Chief's house, so they immediately followed him inside.

"Tell me... your wishes."

Blood ran from the corners of Chen Ping's eyes as he stared fixedly at Shi Lianshan and He Jian.

Chen Ping was actually a dead man? Why?

Neither of them could make any sense of it.

They instinctively searched for somewhere to escape, but the inner hall was locked. The only way out was through a window, and Chen Ping was standing right in front of it.

"Do you... have no wishes?"

Chen Ping's voice was unnerving beyond belief.

The two were trying to figure out how to escape, but that voice sent a chill through them and made their hearts race. They couldn't think of anything else.

Something had to be wrong...

If Chen Ping was the Chen Ping from this village, why didn't the villagers recognize him?

If Chen Ping wasn't from this village, when had he died? When had he become a ghost?

He had appeared outside Xianyang Village from the very beginning. He had been with them since before they boarded the vehicle.

What on earth was going on?

Fine beads of sweat formed on He Jian's forehead.

Shi Lianshan also sensed that something terrible would happen immediately if he didn't obey this ghost and make a wish.

"Yes! I have a wish... I want to make a wish..." Seeing that He Jian was still desperately trying to work things out, Shi Lianshan finally took the plunge first.

"Chen Ping" turned his gaze toward Shi Lianshan, his scarlet eyes filled with malice.

What should I wish for?

First... I have to make sure he can't kill me. Could I wish to leave Xianyang Village alive in seven days?

A bold idea emerged in Shi Lianshan's mind.

As the vengeful ghost "Chen Ping" stared at him with an increasingly terrifying gaze, even the surrounding air seemed to freeze. Shi Lianshan finally couldn't bear it anymore and immediately said:

"I wish to leave Xianyang Village alive in seven days!"

He Jian stared at Shi Lianshan with wide eyes. Similar wishes had crossed his mind just now: "not dying in this Ghost Story Game," "all the vengeful ghosts disappearing," and even "making me immortal."

But he couldn't shake the feeling that a ghost was still a ghost. If something this good really existed, it wouldn't have become a ghost story.

The silence inside the Ancestral Hall was chilling.

After hearing that wish, the vengeful ghost "Chen Ping" remained motionless for a long time.

Cold sweat kept dripping from Shi Lianshan's forehead.

Could it be... that my wish worked?

He swallowed, his legs trembling uncontrollably.

The wait was agonizing, as though a hundred claws were scratching at his heart...

Finally, the "vengeful ghost" Chen Ping spoke!

His scarlet eyes fixed on Shi Lianshan, and his mouth stretched into a grotesque grin, revealing sharp, terrifying teeth. "As you wish..."

Under Shi Lianshan and He Jian's horrified gazes, "Chen Ping" opened his monstrous, fang-filled mouth and pinned Shi Lianshan to the floor!

"Aaaah!!!"

Shi Lianshan let out an utterly harrowing scream. He Jian's eyes bulged in horror as he watched the vengeful ghost devour Shi Lianshan's left hand, his right hand... his left leg, his right leg, right beside him!

The horrifying crunch of chewing echoed through the Ancestral Hall, setting his teeth on edge. The ghost's meal lasted a full ten minutes!

For those ten minutes, Shi Lianshan suffered pain worse than death. He watched in despair as his hands were eaten and his legs gnawed away, yet he couldn't die.

By the end, Shi Lianshan was barely breathing. Only his head and upper body remained on the floor, and even the bleeding had eerily stopped.

He Jian collapsed onto the floor, his mind completely blank.

But the vengeful ghost "Chen Ping" turned his head. The deepest malice shone in his scarlet eyes, and Shi Lianshan's flesh and blood still clung to his teeth:

"Your turn."

Thanks to Qingmen You Chuiliu, Lai Chi Yi Wan Mian, Xiumu Zhang Chu Ye, Lü yeah, Dachu purej999, and vold for the tips. Thank you, everyone! That's all for today's updates. If you have any votes, please send some my way-the more the better. Good night!

(End of chapter)