Although He Jian had already been through two games, a Vengeful Ghost was something no human could ever get used to, no matter how many times they encountered one. Fear was still fear.
Once "Chen Ping" fixed his gaze on him, the terror inside He Jian nearly spilled over.
It's my turn to make a wish...
What should I do?
Shi Lianshan was indeed still alive, but in his current condition, he was hardly any different from a dead man.
Was his wish too greedy?
He Jian trembled all over.
He vaguely sensed something.
The Vengeful Ghost drew closer and closer, and the air around him grew colder.
Just then, He Jian suddenly spotted a bizarre doll on the Vengeful Ghost "Chen Ping."
It was small and blood-red all over, no bigger than a pendant. It hung around Chen Ping's neck like a little gourd charm.
Is that... a One-Time Item?!
He Jian stared at the blood-red, human-shaped pendant. Faced with life or death, his brain was forced to work at an extraordinary level.
He actually recalled most of the items he had browsed on his phone!
Unfortunately, although his phone showed pictures of every item and their prices in spirit pupils, it offered no detailed descriptions of their functions.
Players could only learn exactly what a One-Time Item did after exchanging for it.
Information about an item's effects could be shared without restriction, but that degree of trust was beyond people like them, who had only entered the Game once or twice.
The only thing He Jian could be certain of was that "Chen Ping" had used a One-Time Item during this game. He Jian did not know what it did. He did not even know what had happened to Chen Ping, or why he had still died so strangely and become a Vengeful Ghost after using it.
Time ticked away. He Jian could feel that the Vengeful Ghost was nearing the limit of its patience.
In the cold, sinister Ancestral Hall, Shi Lianshan had lost consciousness completely.
But He Jian still did not dare make a wish lightly.
After Shi Lianshan's attempt, He Jian understood all too clearly that once a wish was made, this Vengeful Ghost considered anything not covered by its wording permissible. It was very much a case of "anything not forbidden is allowed."
There were far too many loopholes for it to exploit.
Shi Lianshan's heart pounded.
He did not dare make an excessive wish. He did not know where to draw the line. He had even considered wishing that the ghost could not come near him for seven days.
But what if the ghost could kill him without coming near him?
And what if that wish went too far and triggered some other disaster?
He Jian had, in fact, reached the same conclusion as Qin Manjiang and the others.
If people really could wish for anything without restriction, the villagers would not have asked only for wealth.
It stood to reason that this was the most profitable wish the villagers had found through trial and error.
That was why He Jian measured every wish he considered against the most valuable house in the village.
Yet at this point, the problem became bitterly ironic.
The purpose of making a wish now was to save his life. But which was more valuable-his life or a house?
Suddenly, He Jian was no longer sure.
Reality was far more absurd than he had ever imagined. He had seen his own students nearly drain two families' savings to start a new household, then burden themselves with decades of debt.
All for a house that was not even particularly big.
If he wished to live on without pain or injury, would the value of that wish exceed that of the village's most expensive house?
He did not want to test whether his life was worth more than a house. Shi Lianshan's wretched condition had already shown him the answer.
It was indeed possible to stop the ghost from killing him, but it would torture and injure him. Ultimately, the ghost had the final say in how the wish was interpreted.
Do I have no choice but to let it do whatever it wants?
He Jian wanted to keep thinking, but... time was not on his side.
The Vengeful Ghost drew ever closer, its blood-red eyes growing more terrifying. Just as it was about to strike, He Jian finally spoke his wish.
"I want you to stand right here and stay still for half an... no... twenty minutes. No! Fifteen minutes!"
"I want you to cease all activity for fifteen minutes!"
He Jian's heart pounded.
An eerie atmosphere spread through the Ancestral Hall.
Three breaths later, the Vengeful Ghost's terrifying voice rang out. "As you wish."
It abruptly stopped moving. Even the blood dripping from its teeth froze in midair!
It worked!
It was not merely standing still-it had ceased all activity! The ghost looked as though someone had suddenly pressed pause on a film!
He Jian dared not waste a moment. He was about to turn and flee when he saw Shi Lianshan lying unconscious on the floor, still breathing.
Gritting his teeth, he immediately bent down to lift Shi Lianshan.
But the moment he moved him, Shi Lianshan opened his eyes and came to.
He stared at He Jian. Seeing that He Jian was trying to move him, he seemed to understand something.
But... there was no longer any color in Shi Lianshan's eyes.
"Kill... me..."
Bloody froth spilled from his mouth. His voice was extremely weak, but the pain and resolve in it made He Jian's heart tremble.
"Let me... die..."
"Let me... die!"
Shi Lianshan struggled to raise his upper body, his voice hoarse and resolute.
"Stop talking. We don't have much time."
With difficulty, He Jian helped Shi Lianshan up and tried to get him onto his back. But Shi Lianshan had lost his hands and feet, and the wounds left by the Vengeful Ghost's gnawing were so horrific that, for a moment, He Jian had no idea how to carry him.
Forget it. I'll carry him in my arms.
He Jian exercised year-round and did not lack strength. Besides... Shi Lianshan had already lost a considerable portion of his body weight.
Yet when he lifted Shi Lianshan into his arms, Shi Lianshan bit down hard on He Jian's forearm!
In pain, He Jian instinctively let go.
Shi Lianshan fell to the floor. He Jian glared at him. The Vengeful Ghost frozen beside them looked as though it might come back to life at any moment. He cursed, "Do you want me to die with you?"
The dullness in Shi Lianshan's eyes gradually receded, revealing profound pain and despair.
"Leave me..."
"Kill me... please, kill me."
"Leave me a little dignity... please..."
"Let me... die... as a human being..."
Shi Lianshan had not cried while the ghost chewed on him, but now, tears fell from his eyes.
He Jian trembled all over, but this time, it was not from fear.
He knew Shi Lianshan had already resolved to die, and he no longer wanted to persuade him otherwise.
He put himself in Shi Lianshan's place. If this had happened to him, what would he choose?
Perhaps he would make the same choice as Old Shi.
They had already wasted nearly a minute. He had no time to delay any longer.
With trembling hands, He Jian took off his shirt and soaked it in the blood pooled across the floor. Then he slowly... laid the blood-drenched shirt over Shi Lianshan's face.
"The car keys... in my jacket pocket..."
Beneath the blood-red shirt, the outline of Shi Lianshan's face was faintly visible. He was still thinking about how the others could escape the village.
He Jian took a deep breath and, trembling, retrieved the Off-Road Vehicle keys from Shi Lianshan's pocket.
Shi Lianshan's voice grew weaker and weaker.
"Stay alive..."
"All of you... have to..."
"He..."
"Thank you..."
Suffocation was torture for anyone, but for him at that moment, it was release.
He Jian could bear it no longer. He broke into a run!
Grief for someone who shared his fate surged wildly through his heart. He had not known Shi Lianshan long, but they had already faced life and death together. Seeing a man who had been so full of life moments earlier reduced to such misery, stripped of any desire to live and wanting only death, He Jian felt his hatred of the Vengeful Ghosts outweigh his fear for the first time.
Why?
Why could they slaughter humans however they pleased, while humans were utterly powerless to fight back?
Two minutes had already passed. In another thirteen minutes, the frozen ghost would be able to move again.
Within those thirteen minutes, he had to leave the Ancestral Hall and reach somewhere a Vengeful Ghost would not dare appear openly.
He opened a window, climbed out, rushed toward the main doors, and opened them from inside. The men guarding the entrance froze, then moved to grab him, but the tall, powerfully built He Jian struggled desperately and broke free.
They wanted to give chase, but seeing He Jian's bare upper body and the blood on him, they figured he could hardly have stolen anything from the Ancestral Hall.
Still, two of them went inside to see what had happened, while the other two remained at the entrance, not daring to leave their posts without permission.
He Jian ran for his life. He had to reach the most crowded place he could find. Only there might the Vengeful Ghost show some restraint.
And right now, the most crowded place was undoubtedly the Village Central Square, where the festival was underway.
He Jian felt numb inside. At that moment, he had only one thought-
I have to... stay alive.
I'd meant to post three updates, but I accidentally clicked an icon whose color looked a lot like my writing app's. It's all Naraka: Bladepoint's fault-I wasted two hours, so there'll only be two updates. Sigh...
(End of chapter)
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