"Aaaaaah!" Song Gua screamed in despair. Unfortunately, he was firmly bound and couldn't move at all.
The three players Song Gua had turned into puppets were Silver-level. Even as puppets, their levels weren't high, but they were completely obedient to Song Gua.
Seeing their master in danger, they writhed and clicked, rushing to Song Gua's side to protect him.
But they were no match for Ghost Song Gua. In just a few moments, they were tormented by the suction force he released, their faces contorted in pain, howling in agony, and could only cower and retreat to the side.
A younger female player nearby covered her mouth and sobbed uncontrollably.
Zhang Langlang trembled with rage, pointing at Song Gua: "Song Gua! You not only lost your own life, but you also attacked your teammates! You killed them and turned them into puppets, are you planning to kill us too?! If you hadn't been so obsessed with revenge, you wouldn't have caused such a huge mess with Ghost Song Gua! You deserve to die! I'll wait and see your end!!"
Xie He stood quietly to the side, silently watching everything.
Song Gua was already unable to struggle. After hearing Zhang Langlang's words, his whole body seemed frozen. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
Ghost Song Gua was still staring at Song Gua eerily: "Face..."
"Face, give me your face..."
"Ahhhhh!" Song Gua curled up on the ground, screaming incessantly, his legs kicking wildly. He kicked up a chunk of grass on the playground. His skin was peeled off like a sock being removed, revealing bright red muscle fibers.
At the last moment, blood splattered. The entire body transformed into a withered, black log, lying lifelessly on the ground. Instantly, a pool of glistening blood filled the small depression beneath the "log."
The viewers in the live chat were stunned by the scene, exclaiming:
[Holy crap?! All that's left after he died is a pool of blood. No one who offends this guy ends up well, 66666.]
[Seriously, if you mess with me, I can send you to your death without a sound.]
[Song Gua is a loyal follower of the Great Demon King Ji Yun, isn't he? If Ji Yun comes back to cause trouble for Xie He, Xie He is in big trouble!]
[Of course! Yunyun is a genius player in the game; he cleared all the levels by the age of 12. No one can beat him! Waiting for Yunyun to come back, sob sob sob, I miss my darling Yunyun.]
"Click. Click—" Ghost Song Gua twisted his neck. After acquiring Song Gua's face, he became a carbon copy of Song Gua, only with a much stronger sinister aura in his eyes.
Xie He watched him silently.
The faceless ghost Song Gua and the ghost girl were identical; both desperately wanted the substitute player's face to revive themselves—so the first thing he did upon waking was to search for a face.
How strange.
The ghost girl was the same; she chose to jump to her death, yet afterwards regretted it.
She clearly had a face, she had a life.
—Like those people in the news who ingested paraquat, initially seeking attention and care from family and friends, but after drinking it, they began to reminisce about their lives. At this point, they wanted to live, but it was highly likely futile; they could only watch helplessly as they suffocated—why seek death while alive, only to regret it and want to live well when near death?
Song Gua was already dead.
Ghost Song Gua looked at his fingers; they were vibrant, the color of fresh flesh—truly the most suitable color for his face. He began to possess human warmth and body temperature, and his eyes filled with joy and excitement.
"Sizzle!!!"
But a dying puppet, at the last moment, rose and viciously bit through Ghost Song Gua's throat with its sharp teeth, making a sound like snapping celery.
Having been reborn with human identity, Ghost Song Gua was no longer immortal—a moment of shock flashed in his eyes, his black pupils gradually dilating.
And the puppet, where Ghost Song Gua had attacked it, was gushing black blood.
Finally, it collapsed onto him, unable to hold on any longer.
Song Gua, Ghost Song Gua, the three players who had transformed into puppets…all…dead…
A faint sunlight streamed down, yet the air seemed heavy with a persistent, lingering haze.
Several piled corpses on the lawn were no longer human. Two players, transformed into puppets, lay twisted and stacked to one side, while Song Gua was crushed at the bottom like a withered tree trunk, only his hands, shrunken like chicken claws, visible. Beside them lay the intertwined corpses of Ghost Song Gua and another puppet, their bodies locked in a deadly struggle.
Zhang Langlang gazed at the scene before her and let out a long sigh. She suddenly asked Xie He, "Xie He, I have a question for you."
Xie He looked at her, gesturing for her to continue.
Zhang Langlang: "I don't understand why Song Gua turned those three into puppets. To deal with you? That doesn't make sense. I saw you become the traitor... very strong... Song Gua himself definitely couldn't beat you, so what could these three puppets do?"
"They were indeed dealing with me," Xie He said.
Zhang Langlang's doubts deepened, and the other two players also cast puzzled glances at Xie He.
Xie He chuckled, "When Song Gua discovered that Ghost Song Gua wasn't helping him, but even wanted to kill him, he was already looking for a way out—"
Xie He continued, "Actually, you only need to consider Song Gua's goal—to kill Xie He—to understand."
...
Song Gua hated Xie He to the core.
What was most hateful was that he was also in the same traitor's camp as Xie He.
This identity had both advantages and disadvantages for Song Gua.
The advantage was that Song Gua was now part of the traitor's camp, both human and ghost, not a normal living player. The game's rule that players couldn't kill each other was temporarily invalid for him; he could…attack Xie He!
The disadvantage was that only Xie He was the true traitor.
Song Gua had entered many dungeons; he knew the extent of a traitor's authority, even possessing ghostly skills—a cheat code in the game—if the two really fought, Song Gua would most likely…lose, and die.
Song Gua couldn't kill Xie He right now.
...
On the playground, Xie He casually remarked, "Song Gua discovered he couldn't kill me directly. In fact, as a ghost, I'm almost impossible to kill—in this situation, players usually use ghosts to kill, or exploit the rules to kill—but the ghosts aren't on Song Gua's side—so he had to start searching for new game rules that could kill me, making me die by those rules."
...
Song Gua, searching for rules, quickly realized something. At this point, the traitor faction, being both human and ghost, had already detached themselves from the identities of living players. Wouldn't the traitor faction and the good guys faction be able to...kill each other?!
The game has a bug?
No, it can't be.
The game will definitely find a way to fix this loophole to ensure the game continues.
...
Xie He, "To fix bugs, the game inevitably introduces new rules."
"So, Song Gua, obsessed with finding rules to kill me, took advantage of his status as a non-player character and challenged the game's bugs, killing a player with a mixture of fear and excitement—to see how the system would fix the 'mutual killing' bug—"
"I received a message earlier: [Congratulations player Xie He. The traitor's faction's main quest: Destroy the good guys' faction, current progress 60%.]—I didn't do anything, but our game progress continued, and the points weren't credited to me—that's enough to prove that my teammate Song Gua killed them."
"I looked at the three players' corpses; the red spots on their bodies had disappeared, a sign they had joined the traitor's faction."
Players killed by the traitor are forced to join the traitor's faction.
“Song Gua discovered Rule One: Players killed by the mole will be forced to join the mole's camp—this gives him a way to kill me.”
Old Zhang couldn't wait: “What way?”
Xie He reminded him: “Song Gua is very good at finding clues and rules. Just like how he immediately searched through my closet, after finding this rule, he quickly thought of another known rule.”
Guided by Xie He, Zhang Langlang's eyes suddenly lit up, and she exclaimed with sudden understanding, "[The three players ranked last in points on the losing side will die immediately at the end of the instance!]!"
"That's right," Xie He nodded. "My ranking is low, so I'll die if the traitor's faction loses. Song Gua was once a member of the good guys' faction, and he knows their main quest: to help them complete it—meaning the traitor's faction, with its low points, is doomed to die—and those three players, whose levels are lower than Song Gua's, were brought in by him to take the fall, so that if the traitor's faction loses, he won't be among the bottom three in points on the traitor's faction, thus surviving the instance."
Zhang Langlang pondered, "I understand. But there's still one question: why did you dare kill us? If we really died..."
She was terrified that Xie He had only used them as a daring experiment.
“He won’t really kill them,” Xie He said confidently. “Song Gua killed one player, which means he must have found that the other player could be used as a scapegoat, otherwise he would have killed two more players—but dead players can’t be used as scapegoats, you can’t just desecrate their corpses after the game is over. This proves that players killed by the mole will join the mole’s camp, and they will resurrect after joining the mole’s camp, which is why Song Gua dared to kill the other two.”
Zhang Langlang immediately understood.
Xie He leaned quietly to the side and continued, “Furthermore, reducing the number of good guys will force the system to adjust the balance, thereby increasing the good guys’ win rate.”
“In short, Song Gua is helping you win, to kill me, the one with the lowest score—that’s Song Gua’s strategy.”
The soft sunlight fell on Xie He, gilding his pale face with a thin layer of light. Xie He always gave off a lazy, indifferent feeling when he spoke, yet it sent chills down the spines of his listeners.
Despite being a new player, his logic was remarkably clear, easily surpassing even higher-level players in the dungeon.
Zhang Langlang couldn't help but admire him, saying, "Now I understand."
Everyone stared at Xie He, pondering his words, utterly shocked.
Xie He, adopting the perspective of a criminal, discussed how to kill himself in every sentence… it was already chilling.
Furthermore, this person didn't need to witness their actions; a mere thread was enough to see the iceberg beneath the calm surface of each person, creating a chilling sense of unease.
Fortunately, they had all listened to Xie He back then.
Although at that time, they had awakened as moles, with no way out but to follow Xie He's path—transforming all the students on the verge of exploding and dying from the ZA virus into moles. Finally, through the player still alive in the good camp, who voluntarily joined the good camp, this transformation was completed—removing the curse from their bodies and returning to the good camp.
...
With the curse lifted, everything in the school returned to normal, and the barriers that had previously enveloped the players, belonging to the original owner, were gone.
Ordinary teachers and students, unlike the players, lacked the stamina and had been unconscious on the playground for a long time, only now slowly regaining consciousness. The bloody entrails on the playground remained, looking mangled and bloody. Upon witnessing this scene, several students broke out in a cold sweat and fainted.
Principal Zhang, who had just opened his eyes and saw the corpses before him, cried out "Ah!" and collapsed to the ground, his legs giving way.
The ghost girl, initially assuming the players were trying to help her by killing the students, hadn't stopped them.
Now, seeing the students she had painstakingly cursed not only alive but also restored to their original faces, the ghost girl, her own face now exposed, roared hoarsely and lunged at the players—
Her true appearance was nothing like Xie He's.
The ghost was extremely thin, dressed in a pale white dress, her small red shoes dangling in the air clearly identifying her as a ghost.
When Principal Zhang saw the ghost girl, his mind went completely blank, as if struck by a hammer. His face turned pale, his eyes bloodshot, and he stammered, "You...you...how could you be you?! How did you become like this?"
The ghost girl seemed quite pleased with this sight, tilting her head and staring at him. "It is indeed me. Your daughter, Zhang Xiehe. Isn't that exciting?"
It was as if she had carried out the cruelest revenge, a chilling smile lingering in her throat.
"Hehe, what are you saying? Tell Daddy how you became like this," Principal Zhang said, his face filled with heartache as he walked towards her.
But the ghost girl retreated step by step, then vanished completely.
Principal Zhang, unable to accept it, covered his face and broke down in tears. Zhang Langlang quickly went to comfort him.
Xie He watched silently from the side, recalling the notes she had seen in the dormitory earlier.
There must be something between them that wasn't clear.
Where would the ghost girl run to? The dormitory was a place she wanted to enter but couldn't; otherwise, she wouldn't have lingered outside for so long, banging her head on the ground without going in.
Where else could she feel safest?
───
Ten minutes later, a group of people went to Sui Yuan's residence.
Xie He knocked on the door: "Dr. Sui, I'm looking for someone. Has she been here?" His voice was unhurried, sounding quite lazy.
Sui Yuan's cold gaze swept over everyone, then he nodded silently, opening the basement door to indicate they could come in.
When there were outsiders, Sui Yuan was always very cold, as if a single word could kill him.
Xie He's gaze fell on Sui Yuan's fingers as he opened the door.
Dr. Sui wore pure white medical gloves, his fingertips holding a small, pure black jar soaked in water. The pure black glaze of the ceramic pottery accentuated his slender, strong fingers. But the jar was open, and empty.
Xie He's heart skipped a beat.
Where was the contents? Did he throw it away?
He threw it away—the gift I gave him.
"Excuse me, let's go in and take a look," Xie He said calmly, a smile still on his face.
His fingers silently tightened on the card in his pocket, his gaze falling on the other man's pale neck.
Was the blood that seeped out when the sharp edge of the bottle cap grazed his throat warm? Could the blood that trickled down his fingertips bloom into a dark poppy red?
Sui Yuan hummed in agreement.
Xie He clearly saw the other man's delicate adam's apple bob gently; his skin was pale.
Upon entering the room, Xie He glanced at the shelves filled with bottles and jars. Only when he saw a few small black jars did he loosen his grip on the card and lead the way as usual.
After navigating the winding corridors, the group arrived at the morgue.
The morgue was eerily cold, as if air conditioning was on. Some miscellaneous items remained in the corners, appearing like ghostly shadows due to the backlighting.
In the center of the room, an orange light bulb cast a dim, eerie glow, its beam illuminating the corpse lying in the center.
The corpse was covered with a layer of undulating white cloth.
A long, slender, pale hand hung limply at its side. They had heard the person had been dead for three years, but the hand, though pale, looked as if the person had only been gone a short time, as if it might rise from the dead at any moment, sending chills down their spines. Everyone's teeth chattered, and a cold sweat ran down their spines.
"He He," Principal Zhang cried, already throwing himself onto the corpse. He was dressed in a solid black suit, a robust man who appeared to be a successful middle-aged businessman, yet he was now wailing uncontrollably. His thick shoulders were trembling.
Xie He felt a pang of sympathy at the mere mention of those two words, wanting nothing more than to shut him up. He patted Principal Zhang's back: "Those who jump to their deaths are already broken into pieces. If you fall like that, you'll be flattened into a pancake."
His expression was languid, his voice slightly raised at the end, "...For midnight snacks?"
Principal Zhang: "..."
He quickly straightened up, coughing softly, and hastily wiped away his tears.
Xie He stared intently at him. "Don't you have anything to say, Principal Zhang? Logically, the spirit of someone who died unjustly should linger around the body for a long time, but your daughter clearly doesn't want to talk to you."
"As a father, why do you think she committed suicide?"
Principal Zhang covered his face with his hands, took a few deep breaths, then released them. His eyes were still red, and his voice was hoarse. "I divorced her mother early. He He lived with her mother before, but her mother later died of a tumor. I brought He He to the city—I think there must have been a problem with her upbringing."
Xie He thought to himself, "Good job shifting the blame; directly to an old friend who can't speak." He asked again, "You have a new family?"
"Yes, I do," Principal Zhang said. "My current wife and I never had children; we only loved our daughter. He He's grades were good at school, and she was obedient, but it's a pity that she died so young..." As he spoke, he seemed to age considerably, sniffling uncontrollably.
Perhaps it was because of his tall, burly physique, making him look like a weeping crocodile.
Did he really care for her?
Xie He remembered the time in the restroom when the students called her a "motherless brat." If the principal and his wife truly treated their daughter well and cared for her in every way, why would others say such things? All signs pointed to her as a particularly pitiful girl.
But the ghost girl had spread a virus at the school after her death and even tried to kill him…
Forget it, Xie He now felt that none of these people were innocent and didn't deserve sympathy.
“Unfortunately, the school is currently under lockdown. I haven't been able to contact anyone outside, and I don't know when the lockdown will be lifted,” Principal Zhang choked up. “She said she liked flower lanterns, and I was just about to buy her some, but I haven't had a chance yet… Sigh… She's only a teenager, this silly girl, so impulsive at such a young age. How am I supposed to live now…”
Xie He dozed off.
Back then, when the curse hadn't been lifted and Principal Zhang mistook Xie He for his child, his attitude was definitely not like this.
Xie He propped his face up with his arm and said, "You're lying, Principal Zhang. If she doesn't show up, the injustice won't be cleared up. Who knows when she'll come back to kill you all?"
As he finished speaking, he emphasized each word, his dark eyelashes lifting, giving him a terrifying and malevolent air.
A smirk lingered in his voice.
Principal Zhang felt a chill run down his spine, his body trembling slightly. He quickly said, "I was thinking again, could it be that her stepmother beat her? Sometimes I see her stepmother going into her room, and the two of them talk about something. Every time He He comes out, her eyes are bloodshot, and she disappears into the bathroom."
At that moment, the players' phones rang.
[Congratulations to the players in the Good Faction, you have obtained a clue: The Ghost Girl suffered abuse from her stepmother. Points +50, current main quest progress (1/3).]
Zhang Langlang glanced at Xie He in surprise. Xie He was actually casually helping them trick the principal.
But Xie He was the mole himself, unable to switch factions. Once the Good Faction's quest was completed, he would be dead. Zhang Langlang couldn't understand what he was thinking, and felt a complex mix of emotions.
Principal Zhang realized he'd let something slip and his face paled. He said warily, "No, it wasn't her stepmother. I know, it must be that doctor! I was so caught up in my grief that I completely forgot about that!!! I saw that kid running to the infirmary every day. Why would an ordinary doctor hide my daughter's body! He must have had a crush on my daughter, pursued her, and then dumped her. My poor daughter was still clinging to him and being played, which is why she jumped!"
Clinging to him?
Xie He thought back to the moment earlier, when he fought with Ghost Song Gua and his broken ribs pierced his back.
He didn't feel much.
In that instant, he only wanted a dimly lit room. He wanted Sui Yuan's trembling fingertips to touch his broken bones, to kiss his painful wounds, like a deity approaching against the light.
He must have been influenced by the original owner of this body.
Seeing the ghost girl's corpse in Sui Yuan's basement, he wanted to give Sui Yuan his own heart.
Hopefully, dealing with the ghost girl will reduce these influences, allowing him to focus on targeting Sui Yuan.
Just think of Sui Yuan as a golden 820 points.
Principal Zhang was still pointing at the corpse, sternly saying, "This is the evidence of Dr. Sui's crimes. You must all testify for me—"
Principal Zhang's eyes were full of certainty as he suddenly ripped open the white sheet.
Everyone held their breath, preparing to welcome the dismembered body that had jumped from the building; time seemed to stand still—
With a "whoosh," the heavy white sheet fell.
Principal Zhang continued, "He's even started hiding corpses. No one would believe he hasn't been in love for thirty or fifty years. He must have been eyeing my child for a long time, this big pervert!"
When he looked down, he realized something was wrong.
What was revealed was the corpse of a handsome young man, naked from the waist up.
Everyone: "..." In love for thirty or fifty years?
Author's Note:
Xie He: "???"
Don't ask, I want a crystal coffin, a crystal coffin, a crystal coffin.
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