Chapter 270: Wraith (17) A Leaf Blinds My Eyes

On the first day of the “Wraith” dungeon, in the Bamboo Forest shrouded by night, Qi Si opened his eyes. In the mirror-like surface that flashed before him, he saw his own reflection: a figure with long hair dressed in red, holding a lantern.

Beneath his identity card in the upper right corner of his vision, a small card depicting a blood-clothed skeleton quietly solidified, embedded against a purple-black background, dark and eerie.

【Your Identity: Wraith】

【Identity Effect: When you are in a room alone with a single person and the distance does not exceed three meters, you may choose to kill them;】

【In any location, you may kill someone by directly touching their shoulder;】

【You must kill one person every day, otherwise your soul will scatter and you will turn into Nothingness;】

【If you kill a ‘Wraith’ by mistake, you will be erased by the Mountain God.】

Wraith was clearly Qi Si’s identity in this dungeon, or rather—his faction.

As one of The Undying walking through the game, being assigned to the Ghosts faction by the dungeon was, in a sense, quite reasonable.

The Bamboo Forest was full of deceptive barriers, and lonely souls or wild Ghosts could easily lose their way within, circling around and lingering indefinitely.

Qi Si simply found a clean spot to squat down and began folding the Directors Special Pass into various shapes… just for fun.

After waiting listlessly for about half a minute, a deafening roar suddenly echoed from the deep forest, shattering the mist lingering among the bamboo.

A path paved with white stones revealed itself before him, winding forward.

Qi Si put away his Cursed Pendulum, lifted his paper lantern, and strolled along the path for a while until he reached the archway outside Yanghua Town.

A person wearing a yellow Taoist robe was already standing there, holding a lantern in one hand and a tattered ancient book in the other.

【main quest has been refreshed】

【main quest: Eliminate all humans among the players】

As the two lines of text appeared, Qi Si walked toward the person dressed as a Taoist with a faint smile.

Seeing Qi Si, the person quickly came forward to meet him: “Are you a player too? This is a team dungeon, we…”

Qi Si’s smile remained unchanged as he reached out and lightly patted the man’s shoulder.

【You have used your identity effect once today; one person killed】

【Please kill the next person within twelve shichen】

Amidst the cold system notification, fresh blood splattered onto the pages of the ancient book.

The player in the Taoist robe fell straight back, gradually losing physical form as he fell. Only an empty Taoist robe remained, wrapped around the ancient book and the lantern, drifting lightly to the ground.

Qi Si reached out to scoop up the deceased’s belongings, stuffed the robe and lantern into his backpack, and began studying the ancient book, which was clearly an item inherent to a dungeon character.

Inside the book was a letter, through which he learned that the dead player’s identity was a Taoist invited by Master Meng to deal with the Wraiths.

—This identity was quite good; now it was his.

The first page of the ancient book contained a description of Wraiths:

【As the old saying goes: “A leaf blinds the eye.” Wraiths use bamboo leaves to blind people’s eyes, luring travelers to their deaths in the tiger’s belly.】

【The bamboo leaves are things of illusion…】

Qi Si read through it once, casually tore out the page, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his backpack.

Another half-minute passed, and Qiu Xin, dressed in a purple Ruqun, walked out of the Bamboo Forest. Her gaze flickered almost imperceptibly toward Qi Si’s shoulder.

Qi Si closed the ancient book, tucked it under his arm, and nodded at the girl with a smile: “Are you a player too? Let me introduce myself first.

“My name is Lin Wen. I’m a Specimen Maker in reality, and in this dungeon, I’m a Taoist…”

…”Lin Wen, Taoist.”

“A wanderer of the world, called Tang Yu.”

“I am Lin Ya, a Doctor.”

The players briefly introduced their identities to Meng Fang so that he could match the names with their faces.

Meng Fang was the Master Meng who had written the letters inviting the players to Yanghua Town, and also the General Meng in the dungeon’s background who had ordered the town to be set on fire after failing to defend it.

He exchanged a few pleasantries, then turned to lead the way, guiding the players toward the back house.

Before meeting Meng Fang, the players might have had some criticisms regarding his actions of sending soldiers to evict the townsfolk and burning the town.

But after meeting him face-to-face, no one showed even a hint of dissatisfaction with his past conduct.

Ultimately, everyone was there to complete a quest. The main quest was indirectly assigned by Meng Fang, and no one wanted to needlessly provoke a core NPC.

Whether the townsfolk lived or died had nothing to do with the players. Any excess kindness or sense of justice had long been eroded away through one dungeon after another; for veteran players, being sentimental over predetermined victims was the height of stupidity.

Furthermore, in Qi Si’s view, it wasn’t as if he hadn’t committed arson before. The scorched earth policy was also quite in line with the rationalist principle of “benefiting oneself at the expense of others” and was worth encouraging.

The three followed side-by-side behind Master Meng, silently passing through corridors and walkways while inconspicuously observing their surroundings with their peripheral vision.

Despite it being a large three-entry courtyard mansion, there wasn’t a single maid or servant to be seen along the way. It was so desolate that it felt crude, like a poorly made paper funeral offering.

The presence of the living was as faint as in a tomb; it seemed Master Meng was the only one in the deathly silent building.

“I will not hide it from you all: the wicked tiger outside the town is actually the Mountain God we worship daily.”

Meng Fang stopped behind the screen wall in the backyard, turned back toward the players, and began his story:

“Years ago, when the foreign tribes from the north invaded, the imperial court retreated step by step. I was but a minor local official. All I could do was wander with the people under my governance, coming to the area of Yanghua Town to escape the disasters of war.

“This area was not a strategic military location, but a Tiger Demon of great power occupied the nearby mountains and forests. I happened to know some Taoist arts, so I negotiated with that Tiger Demon. I proposed that it protect us and not easily interfere with the lives of the people, and in return, we would be responsible for providing for it.

“There were many of us, and if we fought with our lives, the Tiger Demon would not come out unscathed either. It had no choice but to agree to our terms. Only then did the people settle down here.”

Meng Fang’s expression was sincere and open, his attitude humble and polite without any official jargon. Yet, he made no mention of the fire that burned the town, as if the great fire that destroyed Yanghua Town did not exist in history.

Lin Chen frowned slightly, but knowing it was inappropriate to ask directly, he whispered to Qi Si in his mind: “Brother Qi, does Master Meng not know he’s already dead, and has he forgotten what he did back then?”

Qi Si did not answer, instead raising his eyes to look into Meng Fang’s: “Master Meng mentioned in the letter that he hoped we could eliminate the tiger threat for Yanghua Town. May I ask if that Tiger Demon has done something to violate the agreement?”

“Indeed,” Meng Fang nodded heavily. “According to the agreement, we would select candidates to provide for the Tiger Demon every day and send them out of town. I did not expect the Tiger Demon to be insatiable, sending many Wraiths to infiltrate the town and secretly harm people.

“Just half a month ago, a Wraith sneaked into my home and attacked my mother. Although I arrived in time, my mother was still afflicted by tiger venom and remains unconscious. That is why I thought of inviting you all to come and take a look.”

Qi Si nodded slightly and asked again: “Then may I ask, Master Meng, where does that Tiger Demon usually appear?”

Meng Fang said: “If you go out through the back door of your Residence and walk straight for thirty-three zhang, you will see a Bamboo Forest. The Tiger Demon is within that Bamboo Forest. I hope you all can eliminate the threat for us as soon as possible.”

The players looked at each other.

Lin Chen hesitated for a moment before saying tentatively: “If your mother is suffering from tiger venom, I might not be able to provide much help. Medical books don’t mention how to treat such ailments, and I have never diagnosed or treated such a case.”

Tang Yu also cupped his hands toward Meng Fang at the appropriate time: “Master Meng, since it’s useless for Doctor Lin to stay and he might even be in the way, why not let him leave first?”

His intention was to find a way out of Yanghua Town, but to his surprise, Meng Fang furrowed his brows and said apologetically: “Now that you have entered the town, the Tiger Demon likely already knows my plan. It will certainly not let any travelers pass easily… Leaving rashly might lead to misfortune.”

The meaning was clear: the players could not leave without getting rid of the Tiger Demon.

The originally different main quests had converged; whether it was leaving Yanghua Town, curing Old Lady Meng, or dealing with the Wraiths, none could bypass the Tiger Demon.

【main quest has been updated】

【main quest: Kill the Tiger Demon outside Yanghua Town】

Two lines of silver-white text refreshed on Tang Yu’s and Lin Chen’s system interfaces.

Qi Si saw the human faction’s main quest through Lin Chen’s perspective. He lowered his eyes slightly and said with a half-smile, “Master Meng, I have a question. Since you all were once able to make the Tiger Demon wary by fighting with your lives, then now—”

“Why don’t you all fight together one more time?”

Meng Fang let out a long sigh: “That Tiger Demon is no longer an ordinary Tiger Demon. It died of old age many years ago, but because its cultivation was too high, it did not enter the cycle of reincarnation. It has become a ghost-demon that none of us can deal with—I can only seek help from you renowned righteous warriors.”

Ordinary people couldn’t deal with ghost-demons, so seeking help from martial experts and Taoists made some sense, but why involve Lin Chen, who only knew how to heal people?

There was clearly something wrong; could they be looking for a scapegoat?

Seeing the players’ eyes flickering, Meng Fang quickly added: “If you warriors are truly at your wit’s end, it is no matter. In five days at most, I will surely find an opportunity to send you away.”

The main quest hadn’t changed; it was still “Kill the Tiger Demon” rather than “Survive for five days.” It was easy to imagine that Meng Fang’s promise to send the players out of town in five days likely held many variables.

“Five days” was probably the time limit of this dungeon to prevent players from stalling, requiring them to complete the task within the specified time, or else the guaranteed death mechanism would be activated.

Meng Fang smiled and said: “You all should stay in the town for a while and treat it as a visit. If you have any requests, I will do my best to fulfill them. For food or drink, I can have Li Yi deliver them to you. I happen to have a few jars of freshly brewed fine wine in my cellar; you all can have a taste.”

The players were all in spirit form and didn’t need to eat, drink, or wash. As for enjoyment, firstly, they weren’t in the mood, and secondly, they didn’t dare to cause extra trouble.

As for the wine… did he think this was Jingyang Ridge and the players were Wu Song?

In the silence, Qi Si spoke as if casually: “The Scholar brother who guided us yesterday was quite talkative, and I had a very agreeable conversation with him. I don’t know why he was replaced this morning. May I ask if he can be brought back?”

“This…” A look of confusion appeared in Meng Fang’s eyes. “I knew Li Yi had spoken with you yesterday, so I arranged for him to continue being responsible for guiding and accompanying you. Could it be that he switched with someone on his own?”

His confusion did not seem feigned.

Qi Si chuckled: “I suppose I was overthinking. After exorcising too many Ghosts, one inevitably becomes paranoid. Seeing that Brother Li was more hospitable toward us this morning than yesterday, I thought he had been replaced. I didn’t realize it was because Master Meng had instructed him.”

He paused and then asked: “I have one more thing. I wonder if there is a Mass Grave or similar place in the town? I will be performing a ritual to deal with that ghost-demon tomorrow or the day after, and I might need to use the feng shui of such a place.”

Hearing this, a strange look flashed in Meng Fang’s eyes: “To be honest with you all, ever since we settled in Yanghua Town, all corpses have been transported out of town and given to that Tiger Demon to handle…”

All corpses were given to the Tiger Demon? Then what was the deal with the pile of bodies behind the Residence?

Qi Si narrowed his eyes at Meng Fang’s open and honest expression… By the time the players emerged from the Meng Residence, the sky over Yanghua Town was nearing dusk.

The vast white sky was being painted over inch by inch with gray, and the boundary between it and the distant houses with white walls and black tiles gradually became difficult to distinguish.

Faint shadows of houses spread across the ground in all directions, and once connected, they became as vast as the sea.

The townsfolk gradually scattered into the streets and alleys, leaving only the three players holding lanterns standing on the street corner.

“At least one question has been answered,” Tang Yu said calmly. “Just as a living tiger eats living people, because that Tiger Demon became a ghost-demon, it has turned to eating the Ghosts of the townsfolk.

“In other words, we’ll likely face certain death against that Tiger Demon; at best, we’re just snacks delivered to its mouth… Old Lady Meng must have been very lucky to survive being bitten.”

Qi Si said with a half-smile: “It’s not even certain if this Old Lady Meng exists. Perhaps she’s just a pretext to lure us here.

“There’s no evidence to prove Old Lady Meng’s existence. Have you ever seen a filial son who, after a Doctor has traveled a thousand miles to get there, doesn’t even let them see the patient once?

“Even if the Doctor explicitly says they can’t cure it, most family members who truly care about the patient would desperately seek any treatment, begging the Doctor to perform a diagnosis.”

“You’ve got a whole theory for everything… Damn!”

Tang Yu cut himself off, his eyes fixed intently on the depths of an alley to the left.

Qi Si followed his gaze.

He saw an old man dressed in black walking out of the alley, carrying a watchmans gong in his hand, chanting a vague song in a slow, melodic voice:

“My wife died to the tiger, my son died as well. Why not leave? There are war disasters in other lands…”

That person was called an old man only because his hair was as white as snow, and the beard around his mouth and nose was also snowy white.

But looking closely, the face behind the hair and beard was surprisingly young, and exceptionally familiar—

It was the Scholar from the first day!

Lin Chen couldn’t help but take a small step forward, making a move to strike up a conversation.

Qi Si casually grabbed his sleeve and said softly: “Something is strange; don’t alert him.”

The light had been too dim before to see clearly. As the Scholar drew closer, the players noticed by the light of their lanterns that the Scholar, dressed as an old man, had clouded eyes and moved with a halting gait. His consciousness was clearly not very lucid.

He seemed to have no memory of the players at all; even upon hearing the sound of Qi Si’s voice, he merely tilted his head slightly before continuing in his previous direction.

He slowly walked into the circle of light formed by the lanterns, his loose shadow swaying as it followed behind him.

Unlike the tiger shadow presented on the first day, this was unmistakably a human shadow, with limbs and a head clearly visible.

Clearly, he was a ghost mixed in the crowd yesterday, yet today, with a change of identity and outfit, he had actually become a human.

By what standard was it determined whether the townsfolk in Yanghua Town were Ghosts or not?

Was the Wraith the players previously understood really the Wraith referred to in the dungeon’s name?

Were there really Wraiths among the townsfolk?

Lin Chen’s body stiffened slightly, and his strained voice reached Qi Si through a Soul Leaf: “Brother Qi, as spirits, the townsfolk shouldn’t have shadows. They only have shadows because they’ve possessed scarecrows.

“Does this mean the shadows we see are actually the shadows of the scarecrows? If the straw is tied into a human shape, the shadow on the ground is human; if it’s tied into a tiger shape, the shadow is a tiger… Why was Yanghua Town designed this way? To scare us? To intimidate the townsfolk?”

Qi Si did not answer immediately, only staring straight ahead with interest.

The Scholar before them dragged a long, thin human shadow, quietly passing through the circle of light and stepping into the deepening twilight beyond.

The shadow behind him submerged into the shadows of the houses, like a drop of ink falling into wastewater used for washing inkstones, merging into one and becoming hard to distinguish.

The flame in the lantern crackled and jumped, tirelessly emitting a pale yellow glow in the vacant night.

All sounds faded into silence with the departure of the figure; travelers caught between sleep and wakefulness dared not speak loudly, for fear of disturbing the deity of the night.

Qi Si withdrew his gaze and glanced down at his Pocket Watch of Fate; it was already seven in the evening.

“Let’s head back. There are still two shichen until the Zi Hour.”

He looked in the direction the Scholar had gone, revealing an inscrutable smile: “And, I already have some conjectures about the world-view of this dungeon—”

“We’ll just have to see if tonight’s victim is indeed that person.”