A Single Hair

Humans were extraordinarily complex creatures. In desperate situations, everyone's choices were fascinating.

Zhong Xueran had found the real Chen Ping. Since he was the last person to be made into an Immortal Sheep, anyone he chose would earn the right to make a wish.

Liu Jingqing had discovered the secrets of the Ancestral Hall and the Writing Brush. She had learned the method and process of creating an Immortal Sheep, and between fear and kindness, she had chosen the latter. With her own hands, she had driven a sheep's horn into her temple. She wanted to become the next Immortal Sheep herself, which would give her the right to make a wish.

As for Qin Manjiang... he had thought of that legend.

In their moment of despair, the refugees had seen a Black Sheep. He had heard their innermost wishes and led them to a Peach Blossom Spring.

So he had chosen to confront the Immortal Sheep himself.

Could a wish... really come true?

Even if they had the right to make a wish, the upper limit of what the Immortal Sheep could grant currently seemed to be no more than making someone's family wealthy.

If he could resurrect the dead or grant immortality, the villagers would have done that long ago.

There was only one chance to make a wish...

It couldn't be too outrageous, but it also had to ensure, as far as those limits allowed, that they could successfully complete this round of the Ghost Story Game.

Then... how should they phrase their wishes?

Zhong Xueran was the first to decide.

The source was... Chen Ping.

Long before deciding to make a wish, she had spent a great deal of time considering what she should do if she found herself forced to make one.

First, she had to consider the restrictions on wishes. Second, she had to determine the hidden mechanics.

For example, she had realized that when wishing to the Immortal Sheep, she shouldn't wish to change something that had already happened. Reversing an established past had to be harder than changing a future that had yet to occur, and the difficulty of fulfilling a wish reflected its value to some extent.

So this wish had to concern something that hadn't happened yet.

Furthermore, judging by Shi Lianshan's and He Jian's wishes, the more specific the wording, the less chance a Vengeful Ghost had to exploit loopholes. A wish as vague as wanting to leave alive and unharmed would give the Vengeful Ghosts far too much room to maneuver.

The easier a wish was to grant, the lower its value, and the more likely it was to be fulfilled perfectly.

But this wish also had to guarantee the safety of her entire group.

He Jian's heart had been torn out, and he had collapsed on the ground. The two Vengeful Ghosts were charging toward her.

After checking her reasoning several times, Zhong Xueran looked at Chen Ping and voiced her wish:

"I wish that, starting one second from now, nothing in Xianyang Village can cause outsiders harm in any form."

"As you... wish."

Chen Ping answered, a stiff smile still fixed on his lips.

But as he finished speaking, his hands began to tremble violently!

Chen Ping looked utterly horrifying now. Muscles twisted and bulged all over his body, his skin turned crimson, and veins and blood vessels stood out beneath it. The sight was terrifying.

At that same moment, the two Vengeful Ghosts at the door abruptly stopped moving. As though they could no longer see Zhong Xueran, they dropped He Jian's already lifeless body and eerily withdrew from the house, standing in the courtyard...

It had worked.

Zhong Xueran breathed a sigh of relief. Yet in the next instant, under her startled, doubtful gaze, Chen Ping's transformation continued?!

"A willing bargain... each wish settled in full..."

A muffled, terrifying voice emerged from Chen Ping's throat. Dense black wool covered his skin, and his eyes began rolling rapidly and unnaturally. His round pupils stretched and distorted into long slits in an instant!

No...

The wish has already taken effect. Even if I have to pay the price for it, he can't possibly hurt me.

Yet the reality was that Chen Ping had completely transformed into a hideous, terrifying humanoid black sheep! His teeth overlapped, and he stared fixedly at her.

Zhong Xueran's heart lurched.

If the severity of the price equaled the value of the wish, then the price of her wish had to involve something like her life and safety.

But I already wished that I wouldn't suffer harm in any form... why has Chen Ping still turned into this thing, looking as though he's coming to take my life?

Wait...

Chen Ping's terrifying black sheep form grew taller and taller, almost bursting through the roof. At that moment, Zhong Xueran realized something...

Nothing in Xianyang Village can cause outsiders harm in any form...

That legendary Immortal Sheep... perhaps he doesn't belong to Xianyang Village at all?

Only now did overwhelming terror wash over her like a tide. Zhong Xueran hadn't felt anything like this in a long time.

She watched helplessly as a horrifying sheep's face opened a mouth larger than her head and slowly drew closer...

The source was... Li Rong.

Feeling the terrifying power inside her body, so frightening that it made her tremble, Liu Jingqing still held to her judgment.

Every description in the Opening Lines had been from Li Rong's perspective. Moreover, the fundamental cause of this chain of events was that they had murdered Li Rong, leading to a mistake in the ritual meant to transform her into an Immortal Sheep.

So...

Unlike Zhong Xueran, Liu Jingqing hadn't considered whether her wish would come true or whether the price would be too great. She hadn't even made her wish from the standpoint of her own group.

No one had stipulated that a wish had to be for oneself.

Chen Ping's mother had been able to make a wish for her son.

It was simply that, amid such terror and uncertainty over life and death, everyone would naturally think of themselves first.

She recalled each line of the Opening Lines, along with something Qin Manjiang had once said...

"You're excellent at analyzing text. I trust you."

[I am a god.]

[I... don't want to become a god.]

Liu Jingqing's consciousness grew increasingly hazy. A terrifying presence too vast to describe had nearly crushed her individual will to dust. She felt as though the being that had suddenly descended into her would burst her body apart.

It hurts so much...

Am I... going to die?

She lay on the floor, struggling to open her eyes, but her body only grew more exhausted.

No...

I can't fall asleep...

At least I have to...

With difficulty, she opened her eyes. Summoning all her strength, she slowly voiced her final wish, one word at a time:

"I... wish..."

"That Li Rong..."

"Could..."

"Have... her wish..."

Liu Jingqing lost consciousness completely and collapsed in a pool of blood.

And at the very moment she voiced that wish.

Suddenly!

"Li Rong," who was in the Chen Family's back courtyard, let out a piercing scream!

The terrifying giant black sheep that the real Chen Ping had become also threw back his head and howled!

The same happened to the player "Green Vine"...

Zhong Xueran, who had thought she was doomed, immediately rushed out of the back courtyard without hesitation. The sight stunned her as well.

Who was it?

Did someone wish for the ghosts to disappear completely?

A wish like that was obviously impossible to fulfill and should have incurred an extraordinarily terrible price.

Who was it? How did they do it?

She glanced back. "Li Rong," reduced to a single head, had tears streaming down her face. She clawed wildly at her own face as arm after arm grew from beneath her head and reached toward "Chen Ping" and "Green Vine"!

The Vengeful Ghost "Li Rong" was attacking "Chen Ping" and "Green Vine," who were Vengeful Ghosts themselves?

Why?

She was the Tenth Seat, but perhaps precisely because she was the Tenth Seat, she had long since grown accustomed to absolute rationality, just like the other top ten.

No one would care about a ghost's feelings, much less a ghost's wishes.

She wouldn't. Yang wouldn't. Neither would Qin Manjiang.

Perhaps, in the entire Ghost Story Game, only Liu Jingqing-a female author who loved warm everyday moments and sweet storylines-would still choose to see the good in everything even while surrounded by darkness, and still remember... the final sentence of the Opening Lines.

That was Li Rong's final plea for help, and also... her final wish.

Liu Jingqing hadn't kept the wish for herself, nor had she racked her brains trying to maximize its benefits and minimize its cost.

She had simply thought... if Li Rong still had any awareness left, she must desperately want someone to reach out and help her.

So... she had made that wish.

A pitch-black fissure opened in the ground, as though it led straight into an abyss.

Li Rong wailed and shrieked, her voice so miserable and venomous that it made one's scalp crawl.

She had long since become a Vengeful Ghost, with a dense mass of arms sprouting beneath her head.

But... she was crying. The savagery and malice had vanished from her expression. Arm after arm seized "Chen Ping" and "Green Vine," wrapping tightly around their entire bodies.

Howling and struggling, she enveloped them and plunged into the fissure in the ground with them...

Just like that, the three ghosts vanished amid piercing howls.

Zhong Xueran stared blankly at the ground as it closed again, momentarily dazed.

She had long since grown accustomed to being the protagonist of the Game. She ought to be the protagonist: she ranked among the top ten and possessed a Permanent Item. It had seemed only natural that she should resolve everything.

But at that moment, she suddenly realized... this wasn't a game. These were their lives. Every person was different. Each had their own unique ideas and ways of thinking... and each was desperately struggling to live...

Meanwhile, lying on the verge of death inside the Ancestral Hall, Liu Jingqing heard a barely audible, utterly unfamiliar woman's voice in her final moments:

"Thank you..."

Was it over?

Chen Ping, Green Vine, and Li Rong had all disappeared...

Yet what appeared on Qin Manjiang's phone screen was someone identical to him, except that the figure's head... was a black sheep's.

Sure enough, this being's second means of manifestation was through mirrors.

He... was the source.

Qin Manjiang listened to the villagers behind him. The Vengeful Ghost's howls seemed to have terrified them.

But soon, the ground beneath the entire village began to shake as well.

The people fleeing in all directions could no longer even stay on their feet.

Looking at the black sheep on his phone screen, whose eyes brimmed with malice, Qin Manjiang couldn't help murmuring, "What the hell are you..."

The villagers had believed they had encountered a savior. In truth, he was some ancient, evil being.

According to the legend, the Black Sheep had led them here, where they had gathered and formed a village.

But soon, they had built his Ancestral Hall. Once every three years, people had to offer sacrifices to him...

Viewed another way, all these years, he had been collecting the price for fulfilling the refugees' wish for a place to settle. He needed to eat people-living people!

Was it over?

This round of the Game?

Strictly speaking, it could indeed end now.

But...

"Also, Qin, this is for you. You've only just entered the Game, so there's a lot you don't know yet... it has more than one terrifying ability. It might possess immense strength or appear and disappear without a trace..."

"You must be careful. If you encounter it, stay calm and look for a chance to escape..."

Shi Lianshan's voice from before they entered the village echoed in his mind.

Someone had died.

How could he just let that go?

Even a ghost had to pay the price.

"For my next wish, I'm willing to pay any price. Can you grant it?"

Qin Manjiang stared at the black sheep's head on his phone and asked.

The reflection on the screen should have been his own, but now that black sheep's head split into an eerie grin:

"As you wish."

Four eerie black characters appeared on the screen.

Qin Manjiang smiled too.

"My wish is..."

He stared at the phone screen. The moment he spoke, an eerie, terrifying gaze settled upon him. Somewhere unseen, an ancient and evil presence had fixed its attention on him.

Qin Manjiang slowly raised his hand to the wispy bangs on his forehead and pinched a single hair.

The corner of his mouth curled up:

"For the next second, this hair won't break."

As soon as he finished speaking, he gave a gentle tug. The hair snapped effortlessly.

Time seemed to freeze. The black sheep's head reflected on the screen seemed never to have imagined anything like this happening!

"I made a wish. A very simple wish, but you couldn't fulfill it." Qin Manjiang stared at the screen, his expression faintly mocking. "Pay the price, Lord Immortal Sheep."

The instant he finished speaking, amid the trembling pleas of everyone in Xianyang Village, an enormous black sheep apparition rose from the ground!

He roared wildly and struggled, his shrieks filled with resentment and unwillingness!

Yet...

An eerie pupil covered in spiral patterns appeared out of nowhere in the sky. It appeared and vanished in an instant! Had Qin Manjiang not been watching the area around the giant black sheep the entire time, he would never have noticed its fleeting appearance!

It was the eye of the Ghost Story Game on his phone!

It merely glanced at the giant black sheep. That ancient, evil body began trembling violently, then immediately collapsed...

Bzz...

His phone vibrated.

Qin Manjiang lowered his head to look.

[Strange tale: Sick Sheep.]

[Cleared.]

He did not read any further. Instead, he turned off his phone and murmured:

"Rest in peace."

The Sick Sheep arc of Strange Tales is over!

There won't be another update tonight. Updates will continue tomorrow with a new volume!

Thanks to Deep Valley Dusk, Unreliable Qiangtang, Come Have a Bowl of Noodles, Qiyan, Xiang Jian, Baozi, Borao, and Roast Duck for the tips. Thank you, everyone!

Good night!

(End of chapter)