Rapid dwindling

["Guarding the Year": You can stop your own time for one breath (that is, pause yourself for one breath, during which you cannot take any damage or move). Usable once per day.]

["Suppressing Evil": You can transfer negative conditions such as fear, pain, or fatigue into a copper coin, freeing yourself from those conditions. The coin must be given to another living creature within one hour, or those negative conditions will return at double their intensity. The coin's holder will suffer those negative conditions.]

["Year-End Banishing": You can expend varying numbers of copper coins based on an evil entity's strength to eliminate it, but this can only be used once per day.]

!!!

Tang Zhixue's eyes immediately widened, and he couldn't help swearing, "Holy shit!"

The latter two of the three rewards were nothing special, and they even cost extra copper coins, but the first was absolutely a god-tier skill!

Although he wouldn't be able to move, having a period of invincibility was enough. After all, victory and defeat were often decided in an instant.

"Oh, I almost forgot!"

Tang Zhixue suddenly clapped his hands and hurriedly opened the regional chat channel.

When he saw the number at the top of the interface, he froze.

[Regional chat members: 485/1,000]

Too many!

Too many had died!

Less than half were still alive!

[Tang Zhixue: Everyone, whatever you do, don't answer the Year Wraith's questions. Keep your mouths shut!]

[Tang Zhixue: If you've already answered, do everything you can to find the Year Wraith's true body hidden inside the black mist!]

[Tang Zhixue: The Year Wraith's true body looks like a baby, but its eyes and mouth have switched places. Just hold it upside down and shake it. Once the Year Wraith spits out a piece of [New Year's Money], it'll dissipate.]

[Tang Zhixue: I don't know whether the Year Wraiths you encountered are the same as mine, but you can use this as a reference.]

[Tang Zhixue: Fuck! Where is everyone? Say something!]

As he watched the silent regional chat channel and the steadily dwindling number at the top, Tang Zhixue's heart grew heavier.

"Fuck!"

He couldn't help swearing again.

Experiencing that overwhelming sense of helplessness once again, Tang Zhixue grew even more worried about his older brother. "I hope my brother can get through this..."

Ten years ago, Tang Zhixue and his older brother, Tang Zhiming, had watched a mudslide swallow both their parents.

Ten years later, the brothers had been unexpectedly separated. Tang Zhixue didn't want to lose his last remaining family member.

[Xu Shi: Holy fucking shit! Good thing I took a moment to check the channel, or I wouldn't have known how to deal with that cloud of black mist! Thanks, cuz!]

Tang Zhixue, who had been staring at the chat channel, immediately felt relieved when he saw someone reply.

[Tang Zhixue: Motherfucker! If you saw it, why didn't you reply? You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were all about to die.]

[Xu Shi: Hey, cuz, wasn't I busy trading blows with that Year Wraith? I only just got the time.]

[Tang Zhixue: I wonder how everyone else is doing.]

[Xu Muqiu: Fuck me, that Year Wraith was a real fucking pain to deal with.]

[Xu Shi: Hey, another survivor.]

[Xu Muqiu: Oh, I only just noticed the guide you posted, cuz. If only I'd seen it sooner.]

[Tang Zhixue: Muqiu, could you tell us what happened to you?]

[Xu Muqiu: The Year Wraith I encountered was also a cloud of black mist. The problem was that I just had to go and answer it, and then something terrifying happened.]

[Xu Muqiu: I watched that Year Wraith turn into me. Even its clothes were exactly the same, and it even had the same Talent ability.]

[Xu Shi: Holy shit! How did you survive, then?]

[Wen Yue: Holy shit! It was that terrifying?]

[Tang Zhixue: Another survivor.]

[Xu Muqiu: Uh, how should I put it? I felt like that Year Wraith wasn't very smart.]

[Xu Muqiu: After it turned into me, it tried to use its Talent ability against me, but it tripped over a rock on the ground. I took the chance to finish it off with my weapon.]

[Tang Zhixue: ...]

[Xu Shi: ...]

[Wen Yue: ...]

[Fang Yunxi: ...]

[Yuan Lexian: ...]

[Luo Hongcai: ...]

[...]

Xu Muqiu's words prompted everyone lurking in the chat to come out and post a few ellipses.

"Are Year Wraiths really that stupid?"

Tang Zhixue couldn't help questioning himself. "Then why was I so scared of it? Even if it really turned into me, it'd be easy to deal with..."

[Fang Yunxi: Why was my experience different from yours? Do you think it might have copied your IQ, and that's why it happened?]

[Yuan Lexian: Very possible.]

[Tang Zhixue: Highly likely.]

[Xu Shi: Wait, Sister Fang, are you insulting me?]

[Wen Yue: Sure enough, Sister Fang was right!]

[Xu Shi: ...]

Watching everyone joke around in the channel, Tang Zhixue smiled, but his smile faded considerably when he saw the number at the top.

[Regional chat members: 238/1,000]

Fortunately, the number had stopped dropping.

"Only a little over two hundred people left. Sigh..."

Through the others' conversation, Tang Zhixue also learned that Year Wraiths could take on other people's appearances and even copy their corresponding strength.

But that made things drastically easier.

Although dealing with another version of oneself was also very difficult, or there wouldn't have been only a little over two hundred people left in the entire region.

Still, no matter how you looked at it, whether it had a physical body made a world of difference in difficulty.

After watching everyone chat for a while, Tang Zhixue lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Of course, before going to sleep, he took off his pants to use as a pillow and placed the piece of [New Year's Money] underneath.

Without a pillow, he could only make do like this.

Fortunately, he now had a fireplace, so at least it was warm enough when he fell asleep.

"I slept so badly last night..."

Dry branches didn't last long in the fire at all. Tang Zhixue had been woken by the cold three or four times during the night.

Every time he woke up, the fire in the fireplace had long since gone out, leaving only residual warmth, without even a spark visible in the ashes.

As a result, he had to start the fire again every time, which was miserable for the cold and sleepy Tang Zhixue.

Although he had received the [New Year's Money] reward the first time he woke up, he had only glanced at it a few times through bleary eyes before ignoring it.

In truth, he had been so groggy then that remembering to start a fire and add more wood within a short time was already quite an achievement.

Only after being woken by the cold just now and noticing light outside through the gap beneath the door did Tang Zhixue climb out of bed, his face weary.

He moved aside the pants serving as his pillow. There was nothing on the bed, but Tang Zhixue wasn't surprised.

"I never thought I'd get this reward. Honestly, it's a bit of a surprise."