WTNL Chapter 67

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Antai Comunity
Chapter 67: Counterattack

“…Deal?”

Granny Wen’s voice was hoarse and old, and she slowly raised her cloudy eyes, fixedly staring at the young man in front of her, as if wanting to see through the other party’s seemingly calm appearance and analyze him from the inside out:

“What do you mean?”

“Actually, whether it’s becoming a follower of the evil spirit or joining their cult later, it’s not what I want.”

Wen Jianyan sighed: “Everything is just forced by livelihood.”

“Those evil spirits and monsters, although I can deceive them for a while, who can be sure that they will never attack me?”

He lowered his eyes, with a look of fear on his face:

“Although I managed to save my life now, staying with these inhuman ghosts is still too scary, challenging my physical limitations as a human being too much.”

Granny Wen narrowed her eyes and said in a calm voice, “In that case, what deal do you want to make with me?”

“After I escaped into the mirror, I think you should have already calculated everything since then and had prepared to refine me into the altar together.”

Wen Jianyan did not answer directly, but slightly bent his knuckles, rubbed the uneven and cold edge of the soul-locking altar, and added slowly:

“And you had also confirmed that I can no longer escape from the mirror, right?”

After realizing that the alienation of the instance meant not leaving the mirror, Wen Jianyan didn’t look for Granny Wen first, instead, he tried to use the old method, letting the evil spirits in the soul-locking altar drag him back into the real world through the mirror just like before.

But he failed.

The channel that originally connected the two worlds was blocked from the outside, making it impossible for all the anchors who entered it to leave.

Wen Jianyan soon realized what was going on outside.

He and Su Cheng ran out of the mirror world and turned Granny Wen’s room into a mess. Under the siege and interception of many paper figurines, they finally chose to enter the mirror to escape.

Granny Wen didn’t choose to chase in. On the contrary, she chose to close the passage to prevent anyone from escaping and then continued with her plan–to refine these anchors together with others into the soul-locking altar.

In this regard, Granny Wen obviously made two-handed preparations.

Even if the anchors whose names were written on the yellow paper did not succeed in killing each other, the act of throwing them into the mirror itself was a betrayal of each other, and they could still be sacrificed.

“I could have broken the altar and ended it all, but you see, I chose to come to you and make a deal.”

Wen Jianyan spread his hands:

“In the end, I’m just a human being. In fact, I don’t want the evil spirit to be released and cause harm to the world… I tried so hard just to survive.”

“So, as long as you are willing to reopen the passage and let me return to the real world, I am willing to return this last soul-locking altar to you… As for what you want to do in this mirror world and what you want to do to other people, I promise not to intervene.”

The young man raised his eyes and said sincerely:

“How about it?”

Granny Wen didn’t answer but stared at the other party silently with her cloudy eyes as if thinking about something.

Wen Jianyan let the other party scrutinize him with a calm expression.

He seemed to have already guessed Granny Wen’s current attitude and had already prepared accordingly. He took out a contract from his pocket, and slowly pushed it over: “I understand. If I were in your position, I’m afraid it would’ve been hard to believe myself.”

This was exactly the contract he signed with Ji Guan in the previous instance. As long as the contract was signed, both parties would be bound by the system’s rules and would be forced to fulfill the content of the contract.

“I believe you should be able to tell that this is the real thing.” Wen Jianyan blinked.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[! This should be an item exchanged in the store, right? Can you also sign it with an NPC?]

[I don’t know… It seems that no anchor has tried it?]

[In theory, it should be possible. I remember that this prop does not strictly stipulate that the signatory must be an anchor.]

[Even taking this out, this guy really wants to make a deal! I’m shocked, is he really planning to draw?]

[Ah… that’s it. I didn’t expect it would be a draw in the end. Huh, it’s boring.]

Granny Wen lowered her eyes and read each word carefully, not missing half of the details above.

It said that as long as she opened the passage back to the real world again and let Wen Jianyan go out, he would return the soul-locking altar to her and promise not to come to fight again. He would not interfere with Granny Wen’s actions again and would no longer be her enemy.

Finally, she raised her head and said in a voice without fluctuations:

“How can I be sure that you haven’t tampered with these terms?”

“You can’t.”

Wen Jianyan shook his head.

“But if you think my conditions are not good enough and you don’t want to spare my life…” The young man pursed his lips and pulled back with a look of pain and fear on his face:

“I’m afraid I’ll have no choice but to fight with you to death and break the seal of the soul-locking altar.”

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Hahahahahahahahahaha, using the most cowardly tone and saying the most ruthless words.]

[Lmao!]

[The main thing is Granny Wen doesn’t have the upper hand in this transaction. The anchor has already collected all the winning items and is only one step away from victory. As for Granny Wen, if she doesn’t want the evil spirit to really be free, she basically has no choice but to accept.]

[And these conditions of the anchor are indeed quite reasonable, there is no reason to refuse.]

[Forget it, a draw is a draw, alas.]

Granny Wen’s room fell into a dead silence.

Wen Jianyan waited patiently.

Granny Wen sat motionless by the table, staring at the contract on the table in front of her, half of her face was hidden in the darkness as if she had become an immovable sculpture.

Finally, after a long time, Granny Wen moved.

She raised her head slowly, and said tremblingly: “Okay, since you promised not to meddle in my affairs in the future and go against me, it’s not that I can’t let you go.”

As she spoke, Granny Wen took out the cinnabar and pressed her handprint on the contract. The next second, the contract turned into specks of light and disappeared into the air.

Wen Jianyan smiled and said, “It’s a pleasant cooperation.”

The contract had been estabilished.

Granny Wen stood up leaning on her walking stick, came to the Bodhisattva statue, dug up the thick incense ash, and took out the small Bagua mirror from it.

Scarlet paper talismans were pasted on the surface of the Bagua mirror, sealing it tightly.

She patted the incense ashes on the Bagua mirror with her wrinkled palms, muttered something in a low voice, and then slowly removed the talismans one by one.

As the talismans attached to the mirror gradually disappeared, Wen Jianyan found that it was completely different from the Bagua mirror he had seen before. Although it was still made of copper and the patterns and decorations on it were the same as on ordinary Bagua mirrors, the inscribed text that originally symbolized the world map inside the mirror was clearly revealed, showing a dazzling scarlet under the dim light.

If the mirrors Granny Wen gave to the anchors were the sub-mirrors before, this should be the main core mirror.

Granny Wen raised her eyes to look at Wen Jianyan and said hoarsely, “Okay, come here.”

Wen Jianyan walked over.

“Put your hand on the mirror.”

The young man complied.

A familiar voice from the system sounded in Wen Jianyan’s ear:

【Ding! Congratulations to the anchor for obtaining the hidden item (difficult) in the instance! 】

【Collection degree: 4/5】

“……”

Good guy!

Wen Jianyan’s spirit lifted.

Granny Wen closed her eyes, chanting something in a low voice.

The next second, Wen Jianyan felt a strong pulling force coming from the mirror, accompanied by strong dizziness and a strong smell of incense ash from the end of his nose.

He staggered a step, propped his hands on the wall, and stabilized his figure.

Wen Jianyan raised his head.

He was standing in the middle of Granny Wen’s apartment at the moment, and the remainder of the contract’s completion sounded in his ears.

Obviously, he had now left the mirror world and returned to the real world.

“Are we cleared?”

Granny Wen raised her eyes and looked at the young man standing before her.

Wen Jianyan nodded: “It’s clear.”

He straightened his collar and turned around to walk out.

There was a faint smile on Granny Wen’s face. She turned around and walked to the table step by step while leaning on her walking stick and staring at the other person’s back.

“Squeak.”

There was the sound of the door being opened.

Wen Jianyan pushed open the door and raised his eyes.

Under the dim light, countless paper figurines with pale faces and smiles stood at the door, staring at him with their painted eyes.

Behind him, Granny Wen’s old voice sounded faintly: “I remember, the contract stipulates that I only promise to bring you back, and there is no promise not to do something to you, right?”

Wen Jianyan’s face changed, and he turned to look at Granny Wen: “You—”

The crooked old woman had a sinister and vicious smile on her face: “You don’t really think that I won’t do anything to you after you have done such disrespectful behavior to the Bodhisattva statue, do you?”

The more she spoke, the sharper and angrier her voice became. The dim light above her head fell, making bumps on the statue appear even more obvious, and some places were even scratched off, making it look extraordinarily miserable.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Hahahahahahahahaha, Granny Wen is really good at holding grudges!]

[The main reason is… who asked the anchor to smash someone’s god! Nothing can offend a fanatic more than this.]

[Hahahahaha, this Bodhisattva statue is really miserable. I think its head has been crooked.]

“Now that the soul-locking altar has been obtained, you are useless…” Granny Wen stared gloomily at Wen Jianyan, who was not far away and reached out to pick up the soul-locking altar.

The heavy weight made her palm sink.

Granny Wen was slightly taken aback and involuntarily suppressed her voice. She lowered her head and looked at the soul-locking altar in her hand with some doubts.

The weight seems…not quite right?

Suddenly, there was an ominous premonition in her heart.

Granny Wen disassembled the mouth of the soul-locking altar and looked into the soul-locking altar—in the jar; besides the original bones and the unsealed Bagua mirror, there was another mirror.

But this mirror was bare, without any talismans attached to it.

The bright copper mirror lay quietly on the bottom of the altar, reflecting the dim light in the room.

Granny Wen’s pupils shrank, and her fingers trembled involuntarily.

This… this is…

This is impossible!

Something flickered in the mirror.

“Cluck.”

“Cluck.”

The familiar sound of bones rubbing against each other sounded in the small space.

A pale arm protruded from the mirror.

The young man standing at the door smiled softly, his amber eyes narrowing slightly: “I remember, the contract only stipulates that I will not interfere in your plan, nor will I be your enemy… But I can’t guarantee that if something came back with me, they wouldn’t do something to you.”

Granny Wen stood there with a pale face, staring at Wen Jianyan, who was not far away, as if she wanted to tear him into pieces with her eyes and execute him on the spot again and again.

A pale, deformed monster crawled out of the mirror; a huge black hole-like mouth was split on its face without facial features, and its sharp teeth sank deeply into Granny Wen’s arm.

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh—”

Her stooped, short body trembled like a sieve.

There was a piercing scream from Granny Wen’s throat, and the shrill voice contained strong fear and resentment, echoing in the narrow room.

Thin arms that could only belong to monsters were wrapped around the old woman’s body, and pale fingers grabbed her clothes, hem, arms, legs, and throat and climbed onto her hair, ears, and face.

Like embracing a lover, they tightened up little by little.

There was a crackling sound of bones cracking.

Granny Wen’s eyes were full of resentment, and she stared at Wen Jianyan through the gaps between the pale fingers: “You lied to me! You lied to me!!!”

“Bitch, I curse you, you will die a terrible death!!!”

“Bodhisattva bless, Bodhisattva bless!!!” Her bloodshot scarlet eyes were rolling in the depths of their sockets, appearing frantic and terrifying:

“Evil spirits can never win, never!!! You all have to die, Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva will help me!”

“Oh, don’t tell me, I almost forgot…”

Wen Jianyan seemed to have thought of something and took out the phone from his pocket.

He turned on the camera, adjusted the focus and angle, then squatted down slightly and took a photo of the scene in front of him, seriously: “Don’t move.”

Granny Wen, who was unable to move, was so angry that her eyes were about to explode.

“Crack.”

The sound of shutters rang through the room.

The sound of the system rang in his ear:

【Main line task: Take pictures of the evil spirit has completed; Reward points: 10000】

【Completion degree: 100%】

【Current plot modification: 93%; Reward points: 50000】

Wen Jianyan stood up in satisfaction.

Judging from the timing of the release of this task, the real evil spirit sealed in the mirror had not yet appeared, and he had not yet become a so-called believer of the evil spirit.

According to the updated description of the main line task, Wu Qinghe decided to take a photo and use it as the cover of the video in order to make his video more topical and attract more attention and traffic.

From this, it could be seen that the evil spirit in this main line task should be referred to in general, not specifically.

He looked down, inspected the photo he had just taken, and selected a dark filter for it.

In a chaotic, narrow room filled with countless evil artifacts, the crooked brass statue of a Bodhisattva stared down at everything. Granny Wen’s old face was distorted by fear and despair; embraced by countless pale arms, she cast a vicious glance outward.

Wen Jianyan was very satisfied with his photography skills.

“Thank you, I’ve already thought up the title of this video; it’s called good and evil will be repaid; how about it?” Wen Jianyan looked up at Granny Wen and asked with a smile.

Granny Wen’s eyes were fixed on Wen Jianyan all the time, her distorted lips squirmed as if she was silently cursing.

Wen Jianyan showed a thoughtful expression:

“Calling it counterattack is not bad either.”

“Cluck.”

“Cluck.”

This time, the bone rubbing sound came from Granny Wen.

Under the oppression of countless external forces, her body was deformed, twisted, and compressed again and again, just like every soul imprisoned in the soul-locking altar before being dragged alive into the small jar.

The walls became scarlet and soft little by little.

“Thank you.”

A stuttering and somewhat unaccustomed voice sounded.

Wen Jianyan shrugged: “This is a deal we made before, isn’t it?”

He walked to the cabinet, picked up the mirror that Granny Wen had just taken out, and put it skillfully into his pocket with a careless smile on his lips, “Didn’t I tell you, even if God the Father isn’t summoned, I can also set you free and let you complete your revenge—”

“Crack.”

There was a slight, metallic crack.

Wen Jianyan was startled, subconsciously stopped his voice, and turned to look in the direction of the voice.

The last soul-locking altar was half down on the ground, with scarlet blood and broken flesh remaining on the narrow mouth of the bottle. The ground was already stained red with blood, and a steady stream of blood gushed out from the mouth of the bottle.

The Bagua mirror with the talisman on its surface lay in a pool of blood, and the talisman on it was soaked in scarlet blood.

“Crack.”

There was another cracking sound.

This time, Wen Jianyan finally saw that a thin crack appeared on the Bagua mirror and then spread rapidly.

Wait wait wait?

Wen Jianyan’s pupils shrank.

Wait a minute?!

No no no right?

He took out his phone in a panic and opened the Nightmare app:

【Main line task: Destroy all the soul-locking altars and completely release the evil spirit.】

【Completion degree: 97%】

In just a few seconds, that number jumped up again: 

【Completion degree: 98%】

Antai Community’s live broadcast square cheered: 

“Oh oh oh oh oh! The black side is going to win!!”

The winning rate bar hanging above the head finally began to tilt for the first time!

“The black side’s winning rate is like a landslide, starting from the middle position and then skyrocketing!!!

“Ahhhhhhhhh happy!”

“Although the black side won this time, in fact, there were not many people left on the red side. Most of them were either transformed or died in the internal struggle. It is obvious that the instance Antai Community has been alienated this time. But in the end, the death rate was actually the lowest in instance’ history, which I really didn’t expect…”

“Hahahahaha, I finally stood with the right team this time.”

“This instance should be over soon, right? At most two or three minutes, hurry up; I can’t wait for the dividend!”

Most of the audience were discussing happily and enthusiastically, looking forward to the next point dividends.

However, some viewers suddenly noticed something strange: 

“By the way, the faction victory is obvious, but why does that black anchor look so unhappy?”

“Eh…it seems to be the case eh.”

“Speaking of which, he could’ve won directly just now, but he took the initiative to make a deal with Granny Wen… Besides wanting to benefit his congregation, is it true that he doesn’t want to complete the main line task?”

“Why? I can’t figure it out!”

Wen Jianyan’s face turned pale.

No, no, no, no?

Will the seal be lifted after the caster is finished?!

This idiot mission didn’t even remind me of such an important matter!!

Wen Jianyan was a little bit broken.

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, slowly reached into his pocket, and took out the mirror fragment he found from the Bodhisattva base.

The mirror was pitch black and chaotic.

He didn’t know if it was his illusion, but the figure of the man who had only been left as a phantom seems to have become… a lot more solid.

“Hiss!”

Wen Jianyan felt a strong tingling pain from his fingertips; his fingertips were cut by the edge of the fragment, and the mirror fragments slipped from between his fingers, making a jingle.

At this moment, a familiar system prompt sounded in his ear:

【Ding! Congratulations to the anchor for completing the main line task: destroy all the soul-locking altars and completely release the evil spirit.】

Wen Jianyan: “………”

Is it still too late for me to immigrate to Mars?

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The author has something to say: 

Paying back to the evil force (limited to dog liars)

Wen Jianyan: In any case, first calm down and look for a time machine…

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