In a brief silence, Su Er suddenly asked, "Have you ever encountered a tongue-pulling ghost in previous dungeons?"
Ji Heng shook his head.
Su Er frowned: "What if the other party is not a young lady, but an old man in his seventies or eighties?"
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to eat it.
Ji Heng glanced at him and said, "You are quite picky."
"…"
He didn't know if it was an illusion, but as soon as he finished speaking, Suer felt a sinister wind passing by.
In fact, the forced kiss was just talk. He didn't think he had the ability to push a tongue-pulling ghost against the wall.
Ge Xuyan's death made the players feel that time was running out. Without having time to experience the grief of the other party, they went out one after another to carry out their own plans.
Suer and Ji Heng did not stay in the yard for long, and were outside collecting clues about the three brothers who were most popular.
After finding out where they lived, Su Er thought for a moment and said, "I'll make a better judgment after getting to know them more closely."
Ji Heng was very experienced in this area and chose to pay a direct visit. He acted like a weakling, though his tone lacked much humility: "We would like to visit Mr. Li."
The person who opened the door was a young man in his early twenties. He asked, "Who is Mr. Li?"
Ji Heng: "Anyone will do."
The man looked at them with scrutiny.
Ji Heng lowered his head slightly: "We two grew up in Yutang. We were punished for drinking alcohol secretly a few days ago, and we were rejected when we tried to find a job."
Su Er cooperated very well and echoed, "Everyone in this town trusts the three gentlemen of the Li family. If you can help to intercede for them, it won't be difficult to find a job."
The young man was disgusted when he heard that they were drinking secretly. He was about to drive them away, but then he rolled his eyes and changed his mind for some reason: "Wait here for a while."
After saying that, he closed the door temporarily, as if he was going back to discuss something with someone.
For a moment, they were the only two people left outside the door. There were sparrows chirping in the tree behind them, making a very loud noise.
Su Er smiled and asked, "Will you agree?"
Ji Heng: "There's a 100% chance they'll agree, and a 70% chance they'll let us stay here temporarily to help."
Thinking of the guard's desire to find someone to publicize the incident when he faced the corpse that morning, Suer's tone became even more mocking. "Then we can publicize how, under his guidance, we repented and embarked on the right path."
It is indeed a good example of vote-buying, but it seems ridiculous compared to the respect for rules here.
Ji Heng saw through his thoughts and said calmly: "Rules are rules, and people's hearts are people's hearts. They can't be generalized."
About three or four minutes later, a man in his fifties walked out of the door. His hair was combed meticulously, and his mouth was always pursed into a harsh arc because he never smiled for many years.
Su Er and Ji Heng bowed respectfully and greeted him.
The man was quite satisfied with their attitude: "Come in with me."
The town emphasizes blood ties, and the Li family lives in a large house.
The man, assuming he was the elder, naturally didn't want to say too much. The young man took over the task and introduced himself, "This is my father, Li Youzun." After a pause, he said, "I'm Li Shouzhang."
According to previous clues, Li Youzun was the oldest of the three brothers and had the best reputation. Originally, he was the clear choice for the position of Chief of Guards, but Li Youzun had a daughter who, during an argument, used vulgar language, causing his reputation to decline.
I still remember the disdain with which the breakfast shop owner spoke of Li Youzun's daughter: "This ignorant youngster brought trouble upon the elders of the family. Fortunately, she still had some sense of shame. She hanged herself two days ago. I heard her tongue was sticking out."
When Su Er recalled this, he looked at Ji Heng, who nodded, indicating that the tongue-pulling ghost was most likely Li Youzun's dead daughter.
Although the game world is cruel, it emphasizes cause and effect. The clues that can be collected in it can often echo each other until they are completely connected.
Su Er heaved a sigh of relief at this moment, gently tugged at Ji Heng's sleeve, and mouthed, "It's a little sister."
He's OK again.
Ji Heng's eyelids twitched slightly, and he pretended not to hear what he said.
"There's a piece of land behind the house. You'll be in charge of that." Li Youzun said, "Of course, the wages won't be too high."
Su Er pretended to be grateful: "I am very grateful that you can help me out of this urgent situation."
Most of the children in Yutang have only finished junior high school. Everyone tells them that they have lost their parents and must not lose their education. These children usually have low self-esteem and will learn a skill to make a living after graduating from junior high school.
Su Er felt quite sympathetic at first, but with the previous experience of Li Youzun's daughter, he suddenly felt that in this sick place, no one was really living well.
·
There are some scattered trees in the back field.
"Every year, my father would take us to plant trees here," Li Shouzhang said with a sense of honor. "You must take good care of them. And my father hated weeds; he would remove them whenever he saw them."
Soul glanced around: "But there are not many trees here."
Li Shouzhang: "Those that are crooked will be cut down at the roots."
As soon as he finished speaking, Suer saw a tree lying on the side of the road whose leaves were not completely yellow yet. It looked like it had been cut down not long ago.
Li Shouzhang explained a few routine tasks and turned to leave. Su Er shook his head. "Cut them down by the roots? Fortunately, these trees haven't grown yet, otherwise their roots would spread dozens of meters underground and would be too exhausted to kill them."
The two of them guarded the land, seeing no one else. It wasn't until lunchtime that someone finally called them. The Li family had two nannies and, since they had some money, a night watchman. These helpers had their own place to eat.
Normally, you could get the most useful information from them, but unfortunately, no one at the table spoke, and even the sound of chewing was rare. No matter how eloquent you are, you can't put it to good use.
After quietly finishing his meal, Su Er was about to go look for Li Shouzhang, but unexpectedly, he came over. He glanced around to make sure everyone was there before speaking, "Tonight is the seventh day after my sister's death. My father wants to invite someone to pray for her soul to be reborn. Please don't go out after ten o'clock."
Suer found the right opportunity to ask about accommodation: "The roof of the place where we live now is broken."
Li Shouzhang was young and considered to be one of the easier people to talk to here, so he arranged two adjacent small rooms for them to stay in temporarily.
During lunch break, Suer and Ji Heng sat under a tree in the backyard.
"Would it be better to stay tonight?"
Ji Heng nodded: "Something is bound to happen on Soul Return Night. It would be beneficial to learn more about the Li family, but there are risks."
Soul made it clear, raising a more realistic question: "Why haven't other players come to inquire about the situation?"
If nothing unexpected happens, the final candidate for the Chief of Guard will be one of the three brothers of the Li family.
Ji Heng said calmly, "Maybe they have other plans."
·
The house was very quiet. Everyone spoke softly and walked silently. As the sun was about to set, some unusual movements were finally heard. Suer hid in the shadows and observed. A monk in a cassock walked in, surrounded by people.
Beside him, besides Li Youzun, there were two middle-aged men who looked very similar, most likely Li Youzun's brothers. They were talking about something, but unfortunately, they were too far away to hear clearly.
The work was finished early. Before going into the room to rest, Ji Heng gave Suer a piece of talisman paper.
"A new ghost that just died won't be too powerful," Ji Heng said. "I brought this talisman from a zombie dungeon. It can restrict the ghost's movements if you stick it on."
Sur looked at both sides curiously: "Is there a time limit?"
"No more than five minutes, enough time for you to run out and call for help."
Soul thanked him: "But I shouldn't be that unlucky."
"Players are more likely to attract the attention of ghosts than natives." Ji Heng said no more and walked into the room first.
Su Er stared at the talisman in his hand, wondering what preparations he could make if he really encountered a ghost at night... He quickly came to the conclusion: catch up on some sleep.
Staying up late will reduce people's concentration. In order to ensure a certain degree of sleep, Suer almost forced himself to fall asleep.
It was impossible to sleep soundly at this time. The sky turned from dark to black and finally to thick ink. In the midst of half-dream and half-awake, the sound of chanting scriptures reached his ears. Su Er opened his eyes and quickly woke up.
The air was so cold that he checked to see if the windows were closed. The biting cold made it almost impossible to move.
Sur was now certain that the ghost was targeting him.
No wonder Ge Xuyan didn't escape on the first night. The coldness slowed down the frequency of his body movements.
He lowered his head and blew into his palms. The moment he looked up, a cold air hit him. A face suddenly appeared in front of him, its mouth ulcerated, and its hollow eyes shrouded in resentment.
Sur couldn't help but take a small step back and managed not to scream.
After staring at each other for a few seconds, the female ghost lost her patience first and stretched her skinny hand directly towards his mouth.
Su Er flexed his stiff fingers, stretched out his arm, and, enduring the chill, placed the talisman on the ghost. For a moment, he wondered if the talisman would fall off, but fortunately, like the two ends of a magnet, it stuck firmly to the ghost's shoulder.
Instead of running out to seek help, Su Er stared at the ghost. Ji Heng had said that new souls were often not very strong. In other words, this would be a good experimental subject.
First, he took out the electric shock device and shocked the other person. The female ghost opened her mouth because of the pain, and the area of ulceration became larger.
Su Er tried again, and the surrounding temperature gradually rose, indirectly confirming that the female ghost was indeed in a weakened state. He carefully recorded his observations. The electric shock device could replenish the host's energy, but it caused damage to the ghost.
Why is this happening?
Unfortunately, only two test subjects had been found so far, preventing further data collection. Soul sighed, retracted the shock device, and moved on to the next test. He asked the ghost seriously, "Did you fall in love with me at first sight?"
The female ghost shook her head desperately, her long hair dancing in the air, and I don't know if she understood or not.
Soul frowned and said to himself, "It seems that charm value can't make ghosts feel close."
Since it can be ranked alongside strength and spiritual power, it must have its value. After thinking about it, I tried blinking an eye to discharge electricity.
The female ghost's eyes were clearly empty, but the way she looked at him was as if she was looking at some monster.
The talisman paper could only delay for five minutes. Even with the electric shock device, Su Er did not dare to rely on an uncertain thing for his safety. Seeing that there was not much time left, he quickly hooked his finger at the female ghost and made a few poses that he thought were cool.
"How about this?"
"How about this?"
"Tell me, are you in love with me?"
While trying different things, Su Er's sixth sense, which had become particularly sharp since entering the game, suddenly alerted him. He suddenly looked out the window and saw a familiar figure standing there: "Ji Heng?"
Ji Heng touched his left earlobe, which was a secret signal they had agreed upon beforehand to prevent dirty things from disguising themselves as humans.
Sur opened the window, but the bungalow had no guardrails, so the person outside jumped in easily.
Ji Heng: "I heard some noise coming from your room."
He waited a long time for help, so just in case, he decided to go out to check the situation. After all, breaking in through a window is easier than breaking in through a door. He never expected that what awaited him would be the scene of Soul posing to the female ghost.
At this moment, the female ghost put a talisman on her face and huddled in a corner, shaking her head frantically. There were more wounds at the corners of her festering mouth, and she looked so pitiful.
Su Er defended himself: "This is all superficial. She just pulled out Ge Xuyan's tongue last night."
Ji Heng turned a deaf ear to her and walked up to the ghost. Instead of asking for information about the Li family, he asked a rather peculiar question: "Are there any other people like you in this town?"
The female ghost grinned with a bloody mouth and made a threatening expression.
Ji Heng pointed at Su Er and said, "Or I can let him try him."
The female ghost was silent for a moment and shook her head violently.
Ji Heng repeated the question, and this time the female ghost nodded quickly, indicating that there were people of the same kind.
Ji Heng: "Li Youzun is your father?"
The female ghost continued to nod.
Ji Heng: "What happened before you died?"
The female ghost opened her mouth and stuck out a long tongue, making it impossible for her to speak normally.
Su Er reminded: "You still have your hands, write it down."
Since this hand can pick out the tongue, it should also be able to hold a pen.
After saying that, he actually found half a pencil in the drawer.
The description of the female ghost was not much different from the rumors. After the incident, her family regarded her as a disgrace, and people in the town also talked about her. She couldn't bear it and chose to commit suicide.
As Ji Heng lowered his gaze, thinking, the light on the talisman gradually faded, and the ghost felt the power returning to her body. Without hesitation, she seized the moment, her nails growing longer as she fiercely stabbed at the eyes of the person before her. Without even looking, Ji Heng raised his palm and pushed forward, stopping the ghost's movement a few centimeters from her target.
Regarding the force value, the booklet only indirectly mentioned a sentence: Over 150 can slightly distort space to deal with ghosts. Only after actually witnessing this scene did Su Er realize how incredible it was.
Seeing the ghost girl's body gradually becoming nothingness, Su Er frowned: "Is there any way to deprive her of her power and keep her soul? I will send her away after studying her charm value."
The eyes that originally contained only resentment suddenly showed fear.
Ji Heng gave him a deep look, holding back. In the split second before the ghost vanished, he reached out and closed her eyes, still brimming with resentment, and said calmly, "Go in peace. May there be no Su'r in hell."
"…"