Eyes that have undergone complete evolution have a certain chance of distinguishing ghosts.
Although it hasn’t served a similar purpose until now, it has at least seen through the disguise of a ghost hand.
The hands resting on his shoulders were definitely not the color of a normal person’s skin; more accurately, it was a bizarre fist.
It was reddish, covered in a sticky layer of fat. The fist was small and narrow, and the fingers were not yet separated. When it patted his shoulder, the chill emanating from it sent a shiver down Zhou Qi’an’s spine.
Once he realized this, his sense of smell became exceptionally acute.
A putrid smell wafted from the side of his cheek.
Zhou Qi’an controlled his instinctive trembling, his mind picturing the scene behind him.
The Village Chief stood with his back to him, his deformed tumor twisted into the form of an underdeveloped infant, mimicking the Village Chief’s voice and speaking to him.
“Expert, do you have medicine?”
“Some villagers are injured and need medicine.”
The “Village Chief” kept asking.
Zhou Qi’an suddenly felt a surge of curiosity: “Um, are you wearing clothes?”
Normally, the Village Chief’s tumor was covered by clothes. Could it be that the other party was now shirtless?
“…”
During the Village Chief’s silence, Zhou Qi’an completely calmed down.
Untouchable Priest.
Judging from the deaths of the Little Red Riding Hood members, even touching through cloth was forbidden.
This death condition wasn’t particularly strict; it must refer to actively reaching out to touch, otherwise, he would be dead by now.
Feeling a little uneasy, Zhou Qi’an tentatively asked, “You don’t have a habit of streaking, do you?”
Otherwise, if the Village Chief streaked around, and players accidentally made eye contact with the tumor-shaped priest on his back, they’d all be wiped out. What would be the point of playing then?
A grinding sound came from behind.
This stalemate lasted for about half a minute.
Zhou Qi’an stubbornly refused to turn around. He appeared calm standing there, but in reality, all the muscles hidden beneath his shirt were slightly tensed.
The large trees nearby blurred their shadows in the setting sun. Zhou Qi’an’s focus was highly concentrated. If the Village Chief made a move, he could react immediately.
He just needed to constantly ensure he didn’t make eye contact with the bastard.
As if feeling discovered, the fist on his shoulder gradually began to open.
“Expert.” The Village Chief’s voice grew more urgent, and the stench spread further. “Are you listening to me?”
“Why don’t you turn around and look at me?!”
When he spoke the second sentence, his voice rose an octave.
The muscles in Zhou Qi’an’s shoulders and neck seemed to freeze.
He suddenly raised his hand and slowly said, “The expert is praying.”
As he spoke, he solemnly made the sign of the cross on his chest: “May the Lord bless me.”
The Lord?
This sentence seemed to provoke the entity behind him. Its voice suddenly changed from hoarse to sharp: “The Lord? Heh heh… the Lord…”
The tone was filled with deep mockery.
Zhou Qi’an was silent for a moment.
The Priest was very knowledgeable about religious culture. He probably didn’t deceive the villagers about his identity; he was indeed a priest once.
When fervent faith received no reward, and calamity descended as expected, that faith easily transformed into towering rage.
Seizing the moment of the Priest’s emotional agitation, Zhou Qi’an calmly summoned the golden trident. The moment the cold metal shaft appeared in his palm, he gripped it tightly and thrust it backward.
The entire action was smooth and decisive.
At such close range, even the King of Heaven himself would be pierced.
The Village Chief was standing with his back to Zhou Qi’an, and the purplish-red monstrous flesh attached to his back barely revealed a deformed face.
“Heh…”
There was another thin membrane outside the face, through which the laughter was muffled. The mass of flesh watched the trident, carrying its terrifying aura, approach, twisting into a grotesque smile.
Zhou Qi’an suddenly paused.
“Something’s strange.”
The tumor grew on the Village Chief’s back, so its range of movement must be very limited. How could the Priest protect himself?
A moment of hesitation made Zhou Qi’an risk retracting the holy artifact.
He was a very decisive person.
The golden trident disappeared from his hand.
In its place, a slender staff abruptly appeared, replacing the trident and striking heavily backward.
Zhou Qi’an: “Damn it!”
I hit it!
The staff seemed to hit a ball of cotton. When it finally made some contact, there was a muffled thud.
It seemed as if a scorching wave extended upward along the staff’s airflow.
Zhou Qi’an felt as if his entire arm was on fire.
It hurt.
It wasn’t the sensation of a skin burn, but rather something acting on the nerves, as if fire was searing him from within.
“Heh…”
This time, he heard the indistinct mockery from the mass of flesh.
Zhou Qi’an suddenly screamed towards the distance: “Saintess!”
As if he had actually seen the Saintess.
The thing behind him seemed to react. At the same time, the [Little Hammer] abruptly appeared in Zhou Qi’an’s other hand.
Zhou Qi’an attacked again, striking backward for the second time.
A muffled cry of pain echoed.
Zhou Qi’an: “Heh.”
Flesh mass: “…”
As long as the move worked. After calling out to the Lord, Zhou Qi’an used the same trick again, using the Saintess to distract the monster.
A cold notification sound came in succession:
[You have successfully enraged the Priest]
[The Priest, who has always watched the village, will now watch you continuously]
Completely disregarding the content of the notification, Zhou Qi’an seemed to notice something, and the curve of his mouth disappeared. The next second, he awkwardly dodged sideways at top speed.
Almost less than a fraction of a second later, a few candles floated in mid-air where he had been standing.
In the last glimmer of twilight, the shadows of the candles on the ground were strikingly prominent. Zhou Qi’an had seen the candle shadows, which was why he immediately dodged.
“So that’s how it is…” he murmured, squinting.
Besides the boss, there were two other types of ghosts known in Fengshui Village: Skin-Peelers and the Candle Ghosts they encountered on the first night.
When Zhou Qi’an was chased by the Candle Ghosts, he had seen ethereal ghostly figures in the water. Rather than being Candle Ghosts, they were more like ghosts formed from transparent mist, holding candles and killing people.
Zhou Qi’an strongly suspected that they were transformed villagers after death, otherwise, they wouldn’t be so respectful when facing the church.
“Almost lost big time.” Zhou Qi’an was still shaken.
A huge loss.
Each time a holy artifact pierced a monster, it consumed about 400ml of blood. If a few transparent ghosts silently blocked the Village Chief, one trident strike would send him to reunite with his ancestors in heaven.
More and more candles floated around.
The sun was about to set completely. The faint candlelight resembled venomous snakes flicking their tongues from trees, all targeting the same prey.
The circle of fire continuously shrunk, and shrunk again… Just as the candles were about to press against him, Zhou Qi’an remained surprisingly calm this time. He suddenly produced something in his hand—
It was a water drop pendant.
He had once used this item to escape from the church. He hoped it would still work.
Recently, he had been angered too much. Although he knew Zhou Qi’an had stolen the pendant, due to repeated incidents, the Village Chief had no time to deal with it.
Not to mention the Priest.
These incidents also prevented him from thinking meticulously about every matter as he once did.
The moment the pendant appeared, the candle flame seemed to solidify for a moment. Zhou Qi’an held the pendant high, and the next second, he shot out like an arrow, chanting: “That’s it, I just found a pendant by the small river, I’ll go ask which villager dropped it!”
Before his words faded, he used the last bit of [Sailfish Potion]. With the super acceleration, he had already run over ten meters away.
The distance grew wider and wider. Behind him, the two still-forming eyeballs of the tumor were actually purplish-red. The entire mass of flesh stared directly at the fleeing figure.
The color of the eyeballs began to change, growing darker and darker, just like the sky.
Zhou Qi’an continuously sprinted in the opposite direction. He was running towards a safe zone, but that snake-like gaze clung to him like a maggot on bone, always lingering.
There were no other obstacles on the way back to the courtyard. In the opposite courtyard, only the female teacher was present; the others hadn’t returned yet.
Zhou Qi’an looked at the completely dark sky, guessing that Shen Zhiyi and the others had encountered some trouble, otherwise they wouldn’t still be in a high-risk area after sunset.
“Any findings?” the female teacher asked.
Thirsty, Zhou Qi’an didn’t want to talk, rubbing his arm and merely grunting in response.
The burning sensation hadn’t completely dissipated.
Noticing his perfunctory attitude, the female teacher didn’t say much either, silently waiting for the others to return.
It wasn’t until almost 8 PM that Zhou Qi’an decided not to wait anymore and got up to go check.
The female teacher reminded him, “Going out at this time, you might not even make it there.”
“I’ll run there.”
“…”
The female teacher wanted to persuade him further, not because she was worried about his personal safety, but because staying in the courtyard alone was also terrifying.
Just as she was about to speak, several footsteps sounded from outside. The two looked up, and to their surprise, including Shen Zhiyi, the remaining few had all returned together.
The young girl had a bandage wrapped around her arm. The deep wound on her hand was healing at a visible rate, clearly indicating the use of healing items.
Kou Tuo and Xu Gui, meanwhile, occasionally glanced at Shen Zhiyi and Ying Yu, their expressions complex.
The female teacher quickly asked, “Where did you go? Why are you only just back?”
Shen Zhiyi didn’t look at the female teacher. He walked directly to Zhou Qi’an and said, “We’ve made some good discoveries.”
Since he said “good,” it must be of considerable value. Zhou Qi’an calmly waited for him to elaborate.
“The location of the wooden stakes has been found.”
Zhou Qi’an’s eyes suddenly shot open: “Where?”
The young girl began to explain to him.
“This goes back to the Corpse Driving mission. Earlier, I wandered around the village but didn’t find much, so I also went to the church. There was a temporary ‘Under Maintenance, Temporarily Closed’ sign hanging at the entrance…”
What an eerie scene.
Zhou Qi’an tapped his chin with his finger. So the sign was eventually hung up.
“As soon as we saw the sign, we knew Mr. Shen must be inside.”
Zhou Qi’an keenly noticed that the young girl’s expression was somewhat odd when she said this.
What he didn’t know was that, to put it nicely, they “encountered” him. In reality, what the young girl saw at the time was Shen Zhiyi using his shadow to block an attacking skeleton, which could be explained by his skills… The other thing, the young girl couldn’t help but glance at Ying Yu again.
This person had used multiple different items consecutively, operating them very smoothly, like a wealthy player disguised among poor players.
“Knowing that they had triggered the Corpse Driving mission, I went to help.”
The young girl had previously formed an alliance with Kou Tuo. They had a way to communicate, so she used a communication item to call Kou Tuo over.
The female teacher subconsciously asked, “What Corpse Driving mission?”
Kou Tuo: “If you don’t drive corpses, of course you wouldn’t know.”
The female teacher froze.
Kou Tuo had always worn a gentle mask, but for some reason, he was now publicly humiliating her.
“It’s about going into the mountains to dig up bones to fill the damaged parts of the church.” Kou Tuo said coldly, “According to the clues given by the mission, the wooden stakes are hidden in the corpse-raising ground.”
The female teacher was about to speak, but Kou Tuo interrupted, “Don’t ask me what the corpse-raising ground refers to. Clues aren’t obtained by asking.”
Compared to the female teacher’s indignation, Zhou Qi’an directly ignored Kou Tuo’s odd behavior and processed the information in his words.
Previously, those “reserves” who were sent to the altar as vessels for the Saintess’s reincarnation were specially stored in one place, nourished by death qi and cold qi. Later, some of these corpses even flowed out of the dungeon.
The “corpse-raising ground” Kou Tuo mentioned should refer to the place where these corpses were kept.
At this point, Kou Tuo suddenly added, “I hope this lady can at least contribute something in the dungeon.”
The female teacher finally couldn’t help but retort, “I didn’t know there was a Corpse Driving mission. Nobody called me.”
“Is that so?” Kou Tuo said coldly, “Have you made any contributions on other clues?”
The female teacher’s gaze drifted. She did prioritize her own survival, which was understandable in a dungeon.
“Bullying just me, what kind of ability is that? If you’re so capable, scold everyone equally.”
Undoubtedly, she was alluding to Zhou Qi’an’s “distribution based on labor” from that afternoon.
The moment the words left her mouth, the female teacher suddenly regretted it. She vaguely felt she had stepped into some kind of trap.
To one side, Zhou Qi’an had already figured out the reason, and his smile was quite meaningful.
Gradually, the female teacher came to her senses. Kou Tuo and the others hadn’t gone directly to find the wooden stakes. There was only one possibility: they didn’t know the exact location of the corpse-raising ground.
“Corpse-raising.”
The female teacher mumbled, repeating the words. Assuming there hadn’t been an explosion that afternoon, Xu Gui would likely have died on the altar. Where would her corpse have been sent after death?
Would it have been sent to the corpse-raising ground?
A strong sense of unease rose within her.
“Not resting yet.” A creaky old voice suddenly came from the doorway. Everyone’s expressions changed. The already uneasy female teacher nearly jumped.
The Village Chief was fully dressed, a smile stretched across his lips, but no amusement reached his cloudy eyes.
He stared almost exclusively at Zhou Qi’an, as if trying to pierce him with his gaze. The others were still curious about the reason, but their attention was quickly drawn by the Village Chief’s next words:
“The altar has some problems, so the blessing ceremony cannot be held for now. This accident has already resulted in four casualties,” the Village Chief sighed. “They will be buried tomorrow. Distinguished guests must be careful not to have any accidents. After all…”
He deliberately drew out his words: “We are quite particular here. If a girl dies, she must be prioritized for burial in another place.”
The word “prioritized” was heavily emphasized.
The female teacher’s face changed dramatically.
Zhou Qi’an wasn’t surprised.
The main missions were linked one after another. According to the normal process, players would surely die when taking turns on the altar. Their corpses would then be sent to the corpse-raising ground, giving the remaining people a chance to find the wooden stakes.
Of course, they still had a chance now.
One option was to continue waiting; there would definitely be other changes when the villagers were buried tomorrow. Another option was for one of them to die tonight, and they could go directly to the corpse-raising ground tomorrow.
The longer the time dragged on in the dungeon, the more dangerous it became. The unusually long twilight this afternoon was a premonition.
Kou Tuo probably guessed some plot developments. By focusing fire on the female teacher and making everyone dislike her, they could then justifiably… use her life to speed up the game.
The female teacher couldn’t help but take a step back, looking at her teammates sitting around the stone table.
Because of her injury, tears welled up in the young girl’s eyes, making her appear pitiful. She had the same expression when she killed the square-faced man.
Kou Tuo, needless to say, was toying with a dagger, glancing at the female teacher’s neck several times, as if deliberately tormenting her psychologically.
The other three also looked quite indifferent. Only Ying Yu said to Xu Gui, “You come and stay in our room tonight.”
This at least freed up a single room for the female teacher, so she wouldn’t have to share a room with the young girl.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” When the female teacher finally looked at Zhou Qi’an as if seeking help, the latter’s heart was as calm as still water: “Do you see the Village Chief’s gaze trying to swallow me alive? Am I scared?”
The female teacher couldn’t help but glance at the doorway upon hearing this.
Indeed, it was a gaze that wished to flay and dismember a person. Even across the night, one could clearly feel the Village Chief’s killing intent.
Kou Tuo whispered, “What did you do now?”
He was so angry that the wrinkles on his face were distorted, even more so than after the altar explosion.
“Nothing much.” Zhou Qi’an said casually, “I just discovered that the tumor on the Village Chief’s back cannot be touched directly with hands, nor can you make eye contact with it. Currently, I don’t know how many months pregnant the Village Chief is, but when it ripens, we’ll probably all be attending a funeral.”
“Oh, right, he’s pregnant with a Priest.”
He just went all out, face-to-face.
“…”
The entire courtyard suddenly fell silent.
The Village Chief’s expression froze.
The players’ faces were even more spectacular, each one more surprised than the last.
After an unknown amount of time, the usually steady Kou Tuo suddenly raised his hand and slapped himself: “My damn mouth.”
In the small courtyard, every word echoed in everyone’s ears.
The players didn’t even bother to be surprised about the connection between the Priest and the Village Chief. At this moment, their thoughts were surprisingly consistent: Why couldn’t he have said that in private?
Why did he have to go all out face-to-face? Doesn’t the Village Chief deserve some dignity?!
Fortunately, the Village Chief maintained his expression, though his lips trembled slightly. He probably never dreamed that Zhou Qi’an would directly expose the matter in front of him.
Kou Tuo regained his composure and let out a dry laugh: “Expert Zhou is still so good at joking. As expected, he’s the team’s…”
After racking his brains, he barely managed to come up with a word: “mood booster.”
Happy “Booster Zhou” cheerfully hummed in response, then asked, “Priest, are you happy?”
Fallen leaves were stirred by the lingering wind. The courtyard was like a torn canvas, and the air fell silent once more.
__
The author has something to say:
Zhou Qi’an’s illiterate couplet:
First line: The ghost that wishes to kill me, shall first all be slain;
Second line: Then mourn the ghost’s misfortune, eradicate evil completely;
Horizontal scroll: Don’t mess with me.
Shen Zhiyi’s illiterate translation:
Kill them all.
