July 31, 2023 by Wyrd
“Ying Ying! Ying Ying!!!”
“Is there any way to save her?”
“Isn’t this world a world where you can live even if your head is blown off?”
Dai Dong couldn’t accept Jiang Ying’s death. He covered her neck with one hand and shouted loudly.
He had always appeared calm and composed, but at this moment, he was in a state of panic, almost on the verge of collapse.
Everyone could tell that their relationship was extraordinary.
No one could bring themselves to be the cold and cruel one to tell him that even though a part of her could be saved, she would only live for a few more days.
Jiang Ying still had a faint breath. She opened her mouth, with thin traces of blood oozing out, but she couldn’t say anything and took her last breath.
Dai Dong broke down even more, tightly holding her hand and tremblingly shaking it. “Jiang Ying... Ying Ying, hold on, there must be a way.”
The flower attendants in the courtyard stood silently on the side, watching.
The only one moving was Gui Sheng.
After pulling the two girls apart, he stood there for a while, then noticed two pieces of meat by the bridge and went over to pick them up.
One of them was covered in fresh minced blood, like internal organs.
He held it in his hand, examining it.
This scene brutally triggered Dai Dong’s despair and sorrow. He pushed the child against a wooden pillar with great force and yelled angrily, “What are you doing?! You monster!”
The child slammed into the wooden pillar with a “bang,” and the sound of the impact between the skull and the wood beam echoed. The piece of meat in his hand fell to the ground, and droplets of water splashed on his white t-shirt. The child’s eyes widened, staring blankly at him.
Zhu Shuangshuang, who had just been helped up by Su Wangsheng, suddenly felt a tightness in her heart.
Before anyone, including herself, could react, a hand appeared around Dai Dong’s neck.
The hand was pale and strong, stained with some pus-yellow liquid from having just fought the rotting hand. It slid down Dai Dong’s sinewy neck as it tightened.
Dai Dong’s face turned red, and he couldn’t breathe as he was lifted by the neck.
His feet thrashed violently in mid-air, saliva continuously dripping from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes rolled back.
Several players nervously stepped forward, and the lifted Dai Dong was thrown directly into the lake by the young man.
In the lake, a massive rotting hand was still moving, and Dai Dong trembled weakly between its two fingers.
He had just passed through the Ghost Gate, and now he was about to be caught by the hands of death.
Ning Su stood by the lake, looking down at the person who was coughing and choking on the water, his gaze cold and his voice indifferent. “Are you awake?”
A piece of decaying finger touched Dai Dong, that finger became excited all of a sudden. The finger turned over, arm-length nails poked straight down.
Dai Dong was completely exhausted, his eyes wide open in horror and despair.
It was that nail that pierced through Jiang Ying’s chest, tearing open an irreparable wound.
Just as the long nail was about to touch him, a white silk thread shot into the water, pulling him out.
As soon as he stood on the ground, he was kicked in the shoulder. The foot that kicked him effortlessly crushed his knee, forcing him to kneel and lie on the ground.
Directly facing Gui Sheng.
“Don’t vent your incompetence and hatred on others.”
Gui Sheng was born half-human and half-ghost, never having interacted with people. He grew up eating the nails of people and the meat given by the butcher from the ghostly village of Huaiyang.
He lacked common knowledge of the human world and didn’t understand human rules.
Whether picking the Gu Witch’s insects or pieces of meat, the child did it only because he knew Ning Su liked to eat meat, and the child just wanted to pick it for him.
He didn’t understand the distinctions between different meats; he only understood that meat was something Ning Su liked.
Ning Su had not encountered many Ghost Masters before, but he believed there was probably no other Ghost Master like Gui Sheng. Despite possessing the terrifying ability to create an underworld, he had never truly harmed anyone, displaying a nearly pure innocence and naivety.
Perhaps this made others think he’s an easy target for bullying.
With tears streaming down, Dai Dong’s hands pressed against the ground as he finally broke down. “Why? We were supposed to get married after leaving this instance. We had an agreement...”
Manman gently pulled the bewildered Gui Sheng off the wooden pillar, patting his head. “Little brother Gui Sheng.”
Gui Sheng: “Mhm...”
Manman: “The happiest thing in this world is when we encounter danger. There’s a brave mom who stands up to protect us, right?”
The little ghost boy paused for a moment, his eyes suddenly shining, waving his little arms and nodding, “Mhm!”
He ran to Ning Su’s side, hugging his leg and looking up at him with sparkling eyes.
Ning Su ruffled his hair.
The child’s hair was particularly soft, although it would get flattened after sleeping for a while under the covers, causing some trouble, but it still felt good to touch.
Ning Su couldn’t help but pat him a few more times, and the remaining liquid on his hand transferred to the boy’s hair.
Manman: “...”
She sighed as if this scene was part of her daily routine.
Taking a step forward, her white dress was just under a centimeter away from Dai Dong.
At only four years old in human form, she was about the same height as him, who was kneeling on the ground.
She tucked the hair on her right side behind her ear, her pitch-black long hair silently hanging behind her, oddly blending with the courtyard’s eerie atmosphere.
“A useless man,” she slightly lowered her head, her small cherry lips parted as she spoke softly to him.
“You should have chopped off that rotten hand to avenge your girlfriend,” she had a sly smile on her lips and her voice was childlike, “What does bullying my little brother would do? If it weren’t for my little brother, your girlfriend would have turned into a puddle of flesh.”
The crying of Dai Dong grew louder, and it was unclear whether it was tears or water from the lake that fell drop by drop.
The flower attendants in the courtyard remained silent for a while, until someone finally spoke. “What should we do with this hand?”
They all knew that it was this hand that pierced Jiang Ying’s chest, causing her death.
It was dangerous, and the players found it challenging to stop it. For some unknown reason, it was hovering at the bottom of the lake.
Just as they were about to discuss this issue, Yenan Wang, who hadn’t appeared until now, finally showed up after all the commotion ended.
He had brought people with him.
Upon seeing the figure from a distance, Ning Su immediately stashed the two children in the system’s skill items slot.
The Holy Maiden was still wearing a black robe, and the blood-red runes on it faintly glowed under the moonlight.
Behind her was a group of people in white robes, similar to those in Boss Qi’s dark warehouse.
She held a staff and flew towards the giant hand in the lake.
The staff looked like dark wood, with deep green vines spiraling around it. It seemed heavy but not sharp enough, yet it pierced straight into the palm of the giant hand. Regardless of its frantic struggles, it couldn’t break free.
The rootless fingers twisted, stretched, and writhed, causing a huge wave.
When the water wave slid down from the roof’s bamboo tube and landed on them, the players realized that there was no more blood in the lake; it had returned to its light green color.
The giant hand struggled in vain, gradually shrinking under the staff until it reached the size they had seen in the morning.
The Holy Maiden retracted the staff and said to Yenan Wang, “It’s a contaminated flower.”
Her gaze swept across the courtyard, pausing for two seconds longer when passing Ning Su. “If anyone else’s flower is contaminated, bring them out.”
Yenan Wang explained, “A contaminated flower is one that grows human body parts on it. It’s dangerous. Keeping such flowers is useless; they need to be replaced with uncontaminated ones.”
Growing human body parts was considered contamination.
Hearing this, several players felt uncomfortable, as if being human was something dirty.
They still took out those flowers; after all, they were indeed dangerous.
Ning Su also carried his flower out of the room. The eyes of the people in the courtyard shifted to his flower, including the Holy Maiden.
Zhu Shuangshuang asked him softly, “Why did you bring your flower out? It looks normal.”
Ning Su replied quietly, “Mine is not normal.”
Seeing everyone looking at his flower with confusion, Ning Su reached out and patted a round, red flower bud, whispering, “Come out, come out quickly.”
The flower bud remained tightly closed, showing no response.
Ning Su then tapped another flower bud and said, “Don’t be afraid, they’re not here. Come out quickly.”
Indeed, his flowers did have problems. Yenan Wang said there was no point in raising this kind of flower. Even if it wasn’t him raising it, it would just be a waste of energy and time.
This flower bud didn’t react either.
Ning Su had to use his hands to pry it open, but the flower bud was tightly closed, and he couldn’t open it even for a moment.
Looking at Ning Su forcefully breaking the flower, the players who thought that the flower was normal fell silent.
Yenan Wang couldn’t bear it anymore. Unpolluted flowers were considered sacred objects; how could they let him damage it like this?
He took a step forward, intending to stop Ning Su. However, at that moment, Ning Su suddenly exerted force and forcibly opened the flower bud.
Inside the bud was a bloody and strange-looking face, slightly bruised and swollen.
“...”
All the other players were afraid of these body parts growing out, only this one was so subtle.
The Holy Maiden glanced at him and waved her hand, instructing a white-robed person to take away his flower.
The other players’ flowers with issues were all taken away, leaving only the shrunken hand at the bottom of the lake.
As a white-robed person was about to take it away, the silent white-haired flower attendant spoke to the Holy Maiden, “I wish to serve this flower.”
The Holy Maiden looked up at him and asked, “You saw how it killed a flower attendant, didn’t you? Are you sure?”
The white-haired flower attendant nodded. “I’m sure.”
The Holy Maiden smiled at him and said to the white-robed man, “Since the flower attendant desires to serve this flower wholeheartedly, why should we stop him?”
In the end, the white-robed men took away the lifeless body of the flower attendant.
Suddenly, Dai Dong stood up and pushed them away. “Don’t touch her!”
The Holy Maiden coldly replied, “After the flower attendant’s death, she will be buried in the Land of the Sleeping God. It’s her honor.”
Seeing Dai Dong still holding her tightly, the Holy Maiden said with a smile, “If you want to accompany her, you can go to the Dark Swamp together.”
Dai Dong hesitated for a moment.
It was night time now, and they all knew what lurked in the swamp at night. They had seen the horrors of whatever creature was deep in that swamp.
Yenan Wang had repeatedly warned them to come back before nightfall.
That monster, whatever it was, was already like that when the sun hadn’t completely set. What more would it be when it was this late at night?
But as Dai Dong hesitated, the body of Jiang Ying was already carried away on the shoulders of the white-robed man. He couldn’t make it in time to snatch her back.
The players remained silent, saying nothing.
After the Holy Maiden took the flowers and the flower attendant away, Yenan Wang said, “It’s alright, go to sleep now. Tomorrow evening, you’ll go find flowers again until you find an unpolluted one, then you can learn to serve flowers.”
Ning Su made a sound and was the first to return to his room.
Zhu Shuangshuang and Su Wangsheng glanced at Dai Dong, who seemed lost and soulless, and then returned to their rooms as well.
One by one, the players returned to their rooms, leaving only two flower attendants behind.
The white-haired flower attendant carried the rotting hand with a hole in it and slowly walked back to his room.
Dai Dong stared at the rotting hand in the white-haired flower attendant’s arms, his eyes filled with intense hatred.
Ning Su returned to his room and released the two children.
