CHAPTER 13: GHOST ANIMAL (10)

Chen Qing felt frustrated. She was the first to notice Chen Tian’s reaction. Sensing that something was wrong, she asked the other;

“Brother, what’s wrong with you? Why do you suddenly look like that?”

Chen Tian wiped his face, took a deep breath, and said, “I have a feeling that the thin monkey may be the little black dog that was killed at the church.”

“That little black dog kept barking and looking around frantically from the moment we saw him in the villager’s arms until we reached the church. It seems strange now that I think about it.”

Some of the people in the living room had heard Chen Tian talk about the church incident, while others hadn’t. Regardless, hearing the words “killed” made them uneasy.

Chen Qing asked, “Really? Brother, didn’t you say that that little black dog was just a puppy?”

Zhu Shuangshuang said, “It’s possible. The black dog that the fat guy killed might have been already pregnant, and even if the skinny monkey didn’t kill the black dog himself, he was still responsible for the puppy’s death. So, he turned into a little black dog the next day?”

The person next to the black robe immediately asked, “What happened to the little black dog specifically? Can it still be saved?”

Chen Tian said, “During the bridesmaid’s live stream, there was a rag-doll cat and a little black dog on the chopping board. The bridesmaid said she wanted to make a rag-doll dog.”

A ragdoll dog?

Hearing this term, everyone was chilled to the bone.

If their guess was correct, one tuned into a big black dog, beaten and stabbed, dragged away on a dog leash and sent to the crematorium.

Another one was transformed into a small black dog during a livestream, and then subjected to a cruel spectacle where it was cut open, possibly with a cat’s head placed on top of its own, while its life slowly ebbed away amidst the cheering of the onlookers.

The living room of the villa was exceptionally calm, yet the stillness was permeated with feelings of apprehension and distress.

They thought that everything would be fine as long as they buried the black dog, but now they realized that the thin monkey might have killed it.

“He just kicked the black dog to help the fat man trap it, and then...”

“What about when they ate meat?”

“If one person is tortured and killed in one night, who will be next?”

Everyone else was worried about themselves. Only Chen Qing was worried about Chen Tian.

As a sister who grew up depending on Chen Tian, Chen Qing was the person who knew him best in the world.

At the game base, Chen Tian established a mutual aid society. Others thought he was foolish, while some secretly mocked him and others felt he was seeking fame.

Only Chen Qing knew that Chen Tian was genuine in his actions, and was one of the few people in the game who genuinely wanted to help others.

In this horror game, a person could not persist without a little faith. However, this faith differed from the peace and harmony of the real world. Some believed in insanity, others in blood, and some others in destruction.

For Chen Tian, helping others was his faith and what drove him to persevere.

He not only helped members of the club, but also helped other players in the game.

In the past two days, a player was tortured and burned to death, while another was dismembered because Chen Tian did not intervene. It was unclear if the players were humans, dogs, cats or other animals.

This dealt a severe blow to Chen Tian’s faith, which he depended on.

Chen Qing could not bear to see Chen Tian like this, so she held his hand and said softly, “Brother, you came to save me and Ning Su, that’s why you didn’t pay attention to the church.”

“Of course, I had to save you. No matter what, you’re always my first priority.”

Chen Tian quickly regained his composure and said, “Assuming that our hypothesis is correct, it appears that the fat man underwent a transformation and became a black dog, and he was killed on the same evening that he killed the aforementioned black dog. On the other hand, the thin monkey merely assisted in trapping the black dog and did not cause it any harm, so he only underwent change and transformed into a small black dog on the subsequent evening.”

“There is a possibility that the time for turning into the corresponding animal is determined based on the degree of harm to the animal, and it may not be one or two people per day. In that case, it is possible that all those who have eaten meat will turn into animals on the third day.”

Another possibility was to select the player with the highest degree of harm to animals from the remaining players each night and turn them into an animal.

Everyone’s face looked unpleasant. No one wanted to become an animal and be slaughtered.

Therefore, they had to speed up the decryption process and leave this dungeon before the third night.

But obviously, it seemed unlikely with the current conditions.

Chen Tian said, “Let’s all talk about what we have done to harm animals since entering the instance and what meat we have eaten the most, so that we can be prepared.”

Everyone explained in detail one by one.

Except for the fat guy and thin monkey, the other players had not harmed animals, mainly eating meat at the banquet on the first day.

Zhu Shuangshuang ate the least, and as a girl, she naturally had a smaller appetite than the adult men who were all over 180 cm tall. She also had a light diet before entering the game.

Ning Su ate the most.

Ning Su said, “I ate six pork knuckles.”

“...”

Other players: “Were you a starving ghost in your past life?”

Zhu Shuangshuang and Su Wangsheng: “No, actually he was starved to death before he got on the bus.”

Chen Tian said, “Then everyone must pay extra attention if you see a pig tomorrow.”

He turned to Ning Su and said, “If you turn into a pig, don’t run around. Just hide under your bed or in the living room sofa and wait for us to find you.”

Su Wangsheng said, “Wake me up immediately.”

Ning Su nodded, still groggy.

It was already past four in the morning after all the commotion ended.

Everyone didn’t say much, went back to their rooms, and managed to get two or three hours of sleep.

The black-clothed man and the others were staying on the second floor. Just as they entered their room, another person knocked on the door.

Initially, there were five people on their side: Fatty, Thin Monkey, Black Robe, Assistant, and Scarface, a prospective member of the Yinhua Club.

As one of the top clubs in the game’s base, the Yinhua Club was very strict in selecting its members. If personal data met the club’s requirements, they could only become prospective members. They had to pass a level two or higher dungeon test in order to be truly accepted.

This was Scarface’s test instance, with Black Robe and his assistant as the examiners.

After Black Robe and his assistant decided to steal or destroy the bride’s body, they immediately called Scarface to join them.

Compared to destroying the bride’s body, stealing it had a lower risk, so they ultimately chose to steal the body.

For a period of time, they used binoculars to monitor the location of the groom’s family from both a tree and a rooftop. While Black Robe kept the people in the wedding room occupied, the assistant kept watch, and Scarface entered to take the body.

Stealing the body was not difficult. The body was placed directly into the system’s backpack.

Players could use points to open a storage space in the system, and as long as it was not a living creature, it could be stored.

This plan was very feasible and went smoothly until they actually went to steal the body.

When Scarface snuck into the wedding room to steal the bride’s body, he found out that the bride, who was tied to the bed with red silk, was still alive.

When she saw Scarface, she struggled frantically with red eyes.

Outside, the assistant signaled for him to hurry up, and he could hear the sound of urgent footsteps from the nearby hallway.

The black-robed figure instructed him to steal the bride’s body.

In a panic, the scar-faced man twisted the bride’s neck and stuffed her into his system backpack before running away.

Once he had made it out, he calmed down and realized that what he had just done was not right.

He had been afraid of not being able to complete the task assigned to him by the black-robed figure and had acted hastily, killing the bride in the process.

If the bride had been alive, she might have been more useful.

If the black-robed figure found out, he might scold him, and his chances of becoming an official member of Yinhua would be ruined.

When the three of them met up, the black-robed figure asked if he had stolen the body, and he simply said yes, without saying anything else.

The black-robed figure patted him on the shoulder, pleased with his response. “Not bad. Once we leave this instance, you’ll officially be a member of Yinhua.”

The scar-faced man smiled ingratiatingly, more convinced than ever that he shouldn’t say anything.

But just now, after hearing about the monkey being dismembered and seeing everyone talking about what they had eaten or done, he suddenly felt a strong sense of unease when he returned to his room.

“What’s wrong?” the black-robed figure asked him.

The scar-faced man hesitated, opening his mouth twice before finally saying, “The system tells us that all living beings are equal, but right now we’re only limiting it to equality between humans and animals. Shouldn’t we also avoid harming plants and humans?”

Tonight everything had gone surprisingly smoothly, and the efficiency had been high. The black-robed figure was in a good mood, so he responded kindly to the scar-faced man.

“Equality should be between different species. But what you said makes sense too. We’ll try not to kill anyone, and it’s the villagers, not us, who will harm Zhu Shuangshuang.”

The scarred man opened his mouth again, but didn’t say anything.

Meanwhile, Ning Su returned to his room and found the child who was about to turn into a black mushroom at the head of his bed.

He picked up the child.

As Su Wangsheng walked in, he suddenly saw Ning Su holding a one-eyed, one-handed ghost, and was startled.

He really jumped, accompanied by a frightened “ah!”

“Hmm?” Ning Su looked at him suspiciously. “Are you afraid of ghosts? Is the little Taoist afraid of ghosts?”

Su Wangsheng remained silent, walking into the room with a tense body.

Ning Su understood.

He placed the child on the bedside table next to him and pulled out an eyeball and a small hand from under the pillow.

He compared the eyeball in front of the child’s eye socket, playing with it like a Lego toy, and stuffed it into the dark, round eye socket.

The eyeball turned around and stayed in place.

Not only did the child have different skin colors on both sides of his face, but his eyes were also different. One was as black as a black grape, and the other was slightly darker gray, with a blood-colored light flashing across it.

Ning Su saw the magic of the species in him.

He touched the corner of the child’s eye and looked regretful. “Actually, it’s cute to have one eye on one side and the eye socket on the other. I’ve never seen anyone with perfectly round eye sockets.”

Su Wangsheng: “...”

Ning Su picked up the child’s hand again. “Stretch out your arm.”

The child, who had been staring at Ning Su obediently, stretched out his arm and Ning Su “clicked” the small hand into place, which was not much different from installing a robot.

Ning Su turned around with a child in his arms and said to Su Wangsheng, “In this game, you have to overcome your fear of ghosts and touch him.”

Su Wangsheng looked at the little ghost in confusion.

The little ghost called “Ding Suji” also looked at him for the first time, taking his gaze away from Ning Su’s face.

His two hollow eyes, slightly different from each other and devoid of emotion, faced Su Wangsheng. One of them had a hint of blood, perhaps because it was just newly attached back to his eye socket.

Su Wangsheng’s face suddenly changed.

He was indeed a young Taoist before entering the game, but his level of cultivation was shallow and he had never truly caught a ghost. However, he had encountered many yin creatures in his sect, and had even encountered non-human beings like the butcher in this dungeon.

But none of his previous experiences could compare to the overwhelming fear the little ghost instilled in him now.

This fear wasn’t just the tingling of the skin or the chill in the heart, it was a terror that could penetrate the deepest part of one’s soul and cause one to go insane and break down if they’re not mentally strong enough.

Just as Su Wangsheng’s face turned paler, and he was about to break down, the terror suddenly disappeared.

Ning Su grabbed his wrist and pressed his fingers against the little ghost’s face.

In this state, Su Wangsheng’s fingers were weak and powerless, but he still managed to poke a small dimple in the little ghost’s face.

It was tangible, cool, and soft.

Su Wangsheng was slightly stunned.

Ning Su said, “There are many species beyond humans that are very cute.”

The little ghost’s face was indeed not as terrifying anymore, but as soon as Su Wangsheng looked at it for a moment longer, he felt like the little ghost would suddenly laugh, and its small mouth would get bigger and bigger, swallowing his fingers and even his entire body.

Su Wangsheng quickly withdrew his hand and said, “It’s getting late, we should go to bed.”

“Indeed,” Ning Su stood up. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

Wait a minute!

Was he just going to leave? Leaving him alone with this little ghost?

Ning Su saw him pointing at the child, looking anxious. “Oh, he needs a wash, too.”

The child was not very clean, especially his fingernails, which were dirty from crawling on the ground before. There was some dirt hidden under his small, grayish nails.

Ning Su washed him clean.

Unexpectedly, the child who could make his eyeballs run around and attach anywhere was actually afraid of foam getting into his eyes.

When Ning Su was washing his hair, some foam got into his eyes, and the little hand kept waving in the air.

After washing the child clean and letting him out, Ning Su began to wash himself.

Su Wangsheng still saw a ghost coming out of the bathroom.

All the villagers had arranged freshly laundered clothes for them, consisting of identical white T-shirts in the same size as the ones they had previously worn.

Naturally, there was no change of clothes for the child.

Ning Su put a white T-shirt on him.

The child’s face was slightly opened, looking like he was four or five years old, but he was exceptionally small and skinny. With the white T-shirt on, he looked like he was wearing a floor-length dress.

The shirt was still one of those with a very large and long hemline.

The child had just learned to stand and walk, and was very unsteady on his feet, wobbling around in his long skirt and stumbling twice for every step he took.

Su Wangsheng looked at the child, who had wet and soft hair, falling and getting up again, listening to the constant “plop” and “thud” sounds. Suddenly, he felt that the child wasn’t so scary after all.

As he was thinking this, the child fell again with a “plop” sound and landed on Su Wangsheng’s white t-shirt. Their eyeballs popped out and rolled to Su Wangsheng’s feet.

Su Wangsheng couldn’t say anything.

***

Author's note:

Child: Do you want me to perform a "cute and brainless" act for you?

Su Wangsheng: N-no, I couldn't bear it if you didn't have eyes.