Three People, Three Wishes

"Tell me... your wish."

The instant "Chen Ping" appeared, Qin Manjiang pressed send on his phone.

He did not know whether He Jian would believe him, but this was all he could do for now.

"Tell me... your wish."

"Chen Ping" repeated himself. This was a very dangerous sign. Ghosts had never been patient beings.

Yet Qin Manjiang still refused to speak.

He was deeply reluctant to make a wish.

It was not that he had no wishes. Rather... he believed that even if a wish came true this way, he would eventually pay for it in some other form.

Besides, Qin Manjiang had noticed something all along.

According to this village's traditions, not everyone was entitled to make a wish.

Three ghosts had now appeared: the Immortal Sheep, "Chen Ping," and "Li Rong." Only Chen Ping demanded that humans make wishes. Yet only the person chosen to become the Immortal Sheep, and the lucky person selected by that individual, could make a wish...

That was where the inconsistency lay.

If someone was frightened into making a wish by "Chen Ping," then no matter what they wished for, it would not meet the ritual's requirements.

This was not how the process was supposed to work.

That was why, back in the Village Chief's courtyard, he had waited until the very last moment, when "Li Rong" attacked, before considering a wish as a temporary escape from danger.

And this was also one of the reasons Qin Manjiang intended to resolve everything within thirty minutes.

Shi Lianshan was already dead.

He Jian had wished for the vengeful ghosts to suspend all action for fifteen minutes. His life might very well end within the fifteen minutes that followed, because that had not been a wish. It had been a curse.

There were only fifteen minutes left to save him.

Hopefully, he could reach the Chen Family's home within those fifteen minutes.

And now, it was Qin Manjiang's turn to face this curse.

Qin Manjiang stared at the vengeful ghost "Chen Ping." Staying silent and pretending he could neither hear nor see him was useless. He had to find a way to avoid both making a wish and being killed by this ghost.

Strictly speaking, only two people were entitled to make a wish: the person who became the Immortal Sheep, and the person chosen by them.

But...

Looking at "Chen Ping," Qin Manjiang suddenly said, "Before you realized you were dead, you said something: 'Could something Miss Liu and I talked about have triggered the key to summoning the Immortal Sheep?'"

"That made a lot of sense. Perhaps, after using the Evil Curse Pendant, you saw far more information than we knew. You said it without realizing you were already dead."

"And it was because of you that I suddenly thought of another way to gain the right to make a wish, besides those two."

The eyes of "Chen Ping," now a vengeful ghost, were blood-red. But at that moment, he seemed to recall something. A trace of clarity and bewilderment flickered through his eyes. That clarity was quickly swallowed by venomous hatred, and he roared as he charged.

"Rest in peace, Green Vine."

Qin Manjiang spoke his Game alias rather than the name Chen Ping, because that was not even his real name.

Just before the ghost reached him, Qin Manjiang rapidly recited:

"This passage is the opening of the Sick Sheep Ghost Story. Although the story is called Sick Sheep, I think the key isn't the sheep, but the people. Inserting horns, shaving away bone, skinning-these descriptions aren't about processing a sheep, but transforming a human. The people in this village are creating a god."

He did not know which key word had summoned the Immortal Sheep, so he recited everything Liu Jingqing had said before its appearance the previous night.

And at that instant, that heart-stopping gaze returned.

"Chen Ping" abruptly stopped as well. After giving Qin Manjiang a strange look, he vanished into thin air.

Qin Manjiang picked up his phone. His own face, reflected in its screen, had already become... a black sheep.

The Chen Family's home.

As soon as Zhong Xueran reached the gate of the Chen Family's home, loud arguments and shouting reached her ears.

Had Liu Jingqing succeeded?

Had the silent domain been broken...?

She turned to look. Figures had reappeared on the village roads. Besides them, someone she had not expected was also sprinting toward the Chen Family's home.

"Mr. He Jian?" Zhong Xueran looked at him in surprise. "Why are you here?"

Phone in hand, He Jian panted, "I... I don't know. Young Qin told me to come..."

"'Chen Ping' isn't with me. He's with him!"

The corner of Zhong Xueran's mouth lifted. "Oh? He noticed too?"

He Jian looked at her in confusion. "Noticed what?"

Zhong Xueran was just about to explain when a sudden sense of danger seized her. She turned and saw a black sheep, along with... "Chen Ping," appear simultaneously at the bend in the road behind them.

"Looks like Chen Ping has made it here..." The smile vanished from Zhong Xueran's face. "Mr. He Jian, we'll have to fight for our lives..."

"Follow me!"

Zhong Xueran kicked open the Chen Family's gate.

"What do you think you're doing?" A member of the Chen Family came over to stop them, but Zhong Xueran grabbed her without hesitation.

"Before Wang Ju left the central square, he brought the 'Immortal Sheep' to your family. Where is he?" Zhong Xueran demanded.

Wang Ju? The Immortal Sheep?

He Jian had no idea what she meant.

"Let... let go of me... Who are you?" The Chen Family woman she had grabbed was still shouting, apparently unwilling to cooperate.

He Jian hurried over and shut the gate. Through the crack, he saw both ghosts approaching!

Zhong Xueran reached into the pocket of her jeans, drew a small knife, and slashed the woman's neck. Blood immediately flowed out.

"You get one chance. If you don't answer, I'll cut your windpipe," Zhong Xueran said evenly, though her actions were terrifying. "Chen Ping. Where did you take the Immortal Sheep? Tell me."

"In... in the back courtyard... the second room! Please, don't kill me..."

The woman fell to her knees and begged, completely unaware that Zhong Xueran and He Jian had already left.

They rushed toward the back courtyard. As she ran, Zhong Xueran explained, "Qin Manjiang also realized that only the two chosen people can make wishes. That's why he sent you here."

"I've prepared a slip of paper with my name on it. In a moment, I'll have the real Chen Ping draw it. Keep watch for me. If the ghosts arrive, try to hold them off for a while. Once I'm confirmed as the chosen lucky person, I'll immediately wish to erase this ghost story."

She spoke quickly and left many things unexplained, but He Jian finally understood what she meant.

"All right!" He agreed at once.

They charged into the back courtyard. Most of the Chen Family had gone to the village's central square after the incident there. The remaining elderly people, women, and children could not stop them.

They pushed open the door, and an icy chill washed over them. Closed eyes, upturned lips, an unfamiliar face... Chen Ping. This was the real Chen Ping of Xianyang Village. He was here, just as she had expected.

Zhong Xueran took out the slip bearing her name and offered it to Chen Ping in her cupped hands.

Suddenly, He Jian saw two deathly pale faces appear at the entrance to the back courtyard!

A human head on a sheep's body... Li Rong.

The dead player... "Chen Ping"!

He Jian's calves trembled, but he still planted himself in the doorway without hesitation. He had given his word, and he would keep it.

"Hurry!"

He turned and shouted to Zhong Xueran.

At that moment, Chen Ping opened his eyes inside the room. He glanced at the ball of paper in Zhong Xueran's hands-the only one-and spoke:

"The drawing begins."

He reached out, picked up the paper, unfolded it, and read, "Zhong Xueran."

Joy surged through Zhong Xueran. Tedious as this ritual was, it was essential!

"State your wish."

The Immortal Sheep Chen Ping spoke.

No wonder he possessed the power to grant wishes. After the accident during Li Rong's god-making ritual, he had become the newest Immortal Sheep!

And because the player "Green Vine" and Chen Ping's souls had shared one body before death, the two had become inextricably entangled. "Green Vine" had also acquired the subconscious impulse to let humans make wishes.

"I..."

Before Zhong Xueran could finish, she suddenly heard a wet squelch!

She turned to see a twisted, deathly pale arm thrust through He Jian's chest, clutching a bright red heart.

Blood gushed out. He Jian's body went limp, and the light rapidly faded from his eyes...

At his feet, two arms had emerged from "Li Rong's" head and were rapidly reaching toward Zhong Xueran as well!

Zhong Xueran glanced at He Jian. Her gaze was cold and decisive as she said:

"I wish..."

The Ancestral Hall.

Liu Jingqing looked at Shi Lianshan lying in a pool of blood, his face covered by clothing, all four limbs gone. Tears instantly spilled from her eyes, and she clapped a hand over her mouth.

Mr. Shi... had died just like that.

Only through the images relayed by the writing brush had she learned that just two people truly had the right to make wishes.

Mr. Shi was already dead. Mr. He Jian had made a wish too. He would die as well... he would definitely die.

No... not everyone could make a wish. Unless...

Her gaze settled on the tray in front of the incense burner.

The tray was empty, but... that "Chen Ping" could see the sheep horns and sheepskin inside it.

No one else could die... Mr. Qin, Mr. He Jian, Miss Zhong Xueran... none of them could make another wish...

Liu Jingqing slowly raised the writing brush, aimed its blood-red tip between her eyebrows, and pressed it down!

Cold...

Hot...

It hurt so much!

Tears instantly welled up in Liu Jingqing's eyes. A mass of black veins suddenly bulged around them. When she looked back at the tray, she could see them too-

A pair of black sheep horns, and a black sheepskin...

She reached out with trembling hands, took the sheepskin first, and draped it over herself.

As if alive, the sheepskin seeped through her clothes and clung tightly to her skin!

Tears streamed down without stopping. Liu Jingqing nearly fainted from the pain, but she gritted her teeth and held on, extending her shaking hands toward the pair of black horns.

At the ends of the horns, two sharp iron nails gleamed dark red. The sight was horrifying!

Liu Jingqing was terrified, but time was slipping away. Everyone had always looked after her. Whether it was Yang in the previous ghost stories, or Mr. Qin and Miss Zhong in this one, none of them had abandoned her...

Now, the chance to turn things around, even to end the Game, was right before her!

It was time for me to do something for everyone.

She still could not stop her fear, and her whole body shook violently. Even so, she grasped the two horns and slowly... aligned them with her temples.

"You consent..."

"I agree..."

Tears slipped down without her realizing it. Liu Jingqing closed her eyes in fear.

"Wish by wish..."

"Our debts are cleared."

As the final word fell, she suddenly thrust hard, driving the iron nails at the ends of the horns into her temples!

"AAAAAH!!!!!"

Intense pain instantly reached every corner of her body, even touching her soul...

An unfamiliar consciousness, so vast that it made her tremble, abruptly descended into her body. Liu Jingqing felt as though she was dying...

Her awareness grew increasingly hazy. That enormous consciousness was about to crush her until nothing remained.

But at the very end, she clenched her teeth, opened her eyes, and said weakly:

"I wish..."

I originally thought two long chapters would finish this volume, but apparently not. It'll take another chapter tomorrow, followed by the beginning of the new volume.

Thanks to purej999, Eating Meat, Nangong Little Frog, Qingyang Tianweizi, Wang Dajuan, Final Shore, Old West, Book Friend 2022, Deadwood Grows Leaves, and Lü yeah for the tips. Thank you, everyone!

If you have any votes, please send a few my way. Thank you, everyone!

(End of chapter)