Chapter 278: Wraith (25) The Lonely Path to Exterminating Evil

Tang Yu’s reaction was calmer than expected; there was neither fear nor anger in his eyes.

He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Qi Si with a cold sneer. “Qiu Xin told me. Your faction’s main quest is to eliminate all humans. What’s your plan now? Kill me outright, or turn me into a Wraith as well?”

“Since I can still leave the Bamboo Forest as a human, it’s clear enough you don’t intend to turn me into a Wraith. That leaves only one option…”

“No, your value is much higher than you imagine,” Qi Si shook his head, interrupting Tang Yu. “Your actions from here on will be the key to whether Teacher Luo and the others, as well as Student Lin Ya, can survive.”

Tang Yu raised an eyebrow. “Heh, since you put it that way, I’m all ears.”

Qiu Xin expressionlessly gripped the back of Tang Yu’s neck, dutifully playing the role of the captor.

Lin Chen stood beside Qi Si with a vacant stare; his mind had been wandering for a while.

Bamboo leaves rustled, falling like snow and forming a thin layer on the ground. On the other side were rotting flesh and white bones.

Qi Si stood upon the bloody mud, turned his head toward Lin Chen, and said in a gentle voice, “Lin Ya, you still have the 【Honor Student’s Note】, right? Take it out.”

Lin Chen did as he was told in a daze.

Qi Si commanded, “Use 【Pilgrims Blessing】 on yourself, then ask: ‘Which is the key clue to killing the Tiger Demon?'”

【Name: Pilgrims Blessing】

【Type: Skill】

【Passive Effect: Having devout faith makes you slightly luckier than the average person. You have a fifty percent chance of guessing correctly in a one-out-of-four choice, and there is a probability of turning danger into safety when encountering a fatal crisis.】

【Active Effect: Bless any existence within the instance, slightly increasing their luck in that instance (limited to one use per instance).】

A milky-white glow emanated from beneath Lin Chen’s clothes. Phantom white feathers converged layer by layer into massive wings, gently enveloping him.

The two layers of luck-boosting effects stacked. The feathers shattered into specks of white light, drifting and floating around his slender body before gradually vanishing into the murky void.

Lin Chen held the crumpled note and asked clearly, “Which is the key clue to killing the Tiger Demon?”

Elegant black handwriting slowly appeared on the note: 【All ghosts fear the Zhan.】

Qi Si took the note and showed it to Tang Yu. “Although Student Lin Ya has become a Wraith, he still has the quest to kill the Tiger Demon. I believe Teacher Luo and the others, who have become Nothingness, are the same. It looks like we’ll have to trouble you to play the role of Wu Song and slay the tiger.”

No one responded to Qi Si’s joke.

Tang Yu frowned. “According to this note, the Tiger Demon, as a ghost, fears the ‘Zhan.’ Then why isn’t he afraid of you guys? Aren’t you ‘Zhan’?”

Qi Si countered, “Would you fear the people you killed yourself?”

All the clues were now completely clear.

The Tiger Demon could not be resisted with human strength, but it followed the rule that “ghosts fear the Zhan.”

The nature of a “Wraith” is that of a “Zhan,” but because they died at the hands of the Tiger Demon, they cannot serve to frighten it.

To kill the Tiger Demon, one needed to find or create a “Zhan” other than a Wraith.

“A ghost dies and becomes a Zhan.”

The answer was obvious.

Qi Si gazed into Tang Yu’s eyes, offering a smile that could be described as gentle. “I recall that the Jiuzhou Guild has always advocated the principle of sacrificing the few to save the many. As a former member of Jiuzhou, I wonder if you would be willing to die once for us?”

Tang Yu narrowed his eyes. “Are you trying to take the moral high ground to kidnap my conscience?”

Qi Si gave an open and honest “Mm,” his smile unfading. “You can certainly refuse. After all, you’ve already left Jiuzhou, and the so-called guild rules can’t bind you anymore, can they?”

His gaze lingered on Tang Yu’s shoulder, the implication more than clear.

Tang Yu laughed out of anger. “If I refuse, you’ll just have Qiu Xin tap my shoulder and kill me, won’t you?”

Qi Si maintained his friendly smile. “So, what is your choice?”

“I see. I never had a choice from the beginning.” Tang Yu smiled bitterly, looking directly at Qi Si. “Even if I entered the Bamboo Forest again and turned into a Wraith, as long as the main quest includes ‘kill the Tiger Demon,’ there’s no way around the plan you proposed.”

“And since everyone has turned into Wraiths or Nothingness, no one is left to oppose the Tiger Demon. All of us with the quest to ‘kill the Tiger Demon’ will die. Since death is inevitable either way, I might as well take a gamble. Even if I lose, at least I’ll die for a cause.”

He paused, then changed the subject. “But I have one more question. How can you be sure that after I die, I’ll become a Zhan instead of becoming Nothingness like Teacher Luo and the others?”

“I’m not sure,” Qi Si raised the 【Pocket Watch of Fate】 on his left wrist, his gaze sincere. “If you fail, I’ll activate the item’s effect to rewind time by one minute and try another plan.”

“Fine, I’ll trust you this once.” Tang Yu nodded, accepting Qi Si’s answer.

He was silent for a moment, then asked, “I commit suicide now, and if I successfully become a ‘Zhan,’ I head back to the tiger’s den and kill the Tiger Demon. Is that it?”

“Wait until night. As the saying goes, ‘a dark moon and high winds make for a night of murder’…” Qi Si looked toward the Residence and said in a consultative tone, “At least let’s go back first and ask about Teacher Luo and the others’ situation before deciding if you should take this risk, okay?”

Listening to Qi Si’s hypocritical concern, Tang Yu broke out in goosebumps and couldn’t help but shrug.

Qiu Xin, who was gripping the back of his neck, asked coldly, “Can I let go now? My hand is sore.”

Tang Yu silently flipped the bird: “…”

Qi Si glanced at him with a smile. “Xiao Tang, you should have figured things out by now. You won’t make any more pointless struggles, will you? If so, just nod, and I’ll have Qiu Xin let you go.”

“Lin Wen, f*ck your ancestors…”

…The group quietly returned to the Residence through the back door and gathered in Luo Haihua and her husband’s room.

That’s the good thing about puzzle instances: once the clues are cleared up and the specific plan for clearing the stage is known, subsequent developments become smooth.

The survival difficulty plummeted, and the sense of fear and crisis would be greatly reduced. All that remained was to steadily handle the cleanup work.

Qi Si sat on the wooden bed by the nightstand, picked up a ballpoint pen, and wrote two questions on a blank sheet of paper:

【1. Is your main quest still “Escape Yanghua Town” or “Kill the Tiger Demon”?】

【2. Have you made any new discoveries in the other space?】

He placed the ballpoint pen back on the nightstand.

Two seconds later, an invisible presence picked up the pen, manipulating the tip to draw a checkmark over the words “Kill the Tiger Demon” and an X next to the second question.

The answer was clear.

Including Tang Yu, there were four people in total with the quest to “Kill the Tiger Demon.”

Trading one person’s risk for the completion of four people’s quests was a guaranteed profit from any perspective.

Tang Yu stood silently to the side, looking down at the symbols appearing on the paper, and said flatly, “Right now, only I am in the human faction while also having the status of a ‘ghost.’ We only have one chance.”

“It will succeed,” Qi Si’s voice was as warm as a breeze. “Even if you don’t trust me, you can trust Student Lin Ya. He’s a guy overflowing with kindness and has a 【Plague Doctor】 identity card that can bring the dead back to life. He will definitely save you.”

He looked back at Lin Chen, who reflexively condensed an ink-black identity card at his fingertips and showed it to Tang Yu.

“Save me?” A mocking smile curled Tang Yu’s lips. “You can’t save me. Your main quest is to eliminate all humans. After the Tiger Demon is killed, I will be the last human, and I can never be turned into a Wraith.”

“If I don’t die, you guys will. How can one person’s life compare to five? Therefore, I must die.”

Qi Si comforted him in an obviously fake tone, “Maybe once you kill the Tiger Demon, we’ll be free and won’t need to do that main quest anymore?”

Tang Yu looked away, indicating he couldn’t be bothered to believe any nonsense.

Qiu Xin pursed her lips, indicating that wasn’t what was said last night.

In the long silence, Lin Chen figured out the logic, his expression turning grim. “Only Wraiths can survive, and humans must die… is that it?”

Tang Yu gave him a deep look and forced a smile. “Yes, but I can accept such an ending.”

“So, as the identity card holder, just live on for the sake of humanity’s future.”

He dropped those words and turned to walk out of the room.

Qiu Xin followed behind him like a ghost, never leaving his side, not forgetting to close the wooden door behind her.

Only Qi Si and Lin Chen remained in the room, along with the invisible forms of Luo Haihua and her husband.

Lin Chen crushed the phantom of the identity card, lowered his head, and stared at the floor.

Qi Si leaned back on the wooden bed, flipping through the pages covered in handwriting.

In the silence, Lin Chen suddenly spoke up, “Brother Qi, the reason you didn’t announce the plan in front of everyone wasn’t because you were afraid it would leak, but simply because you wanted me to become a Wraith and Tang Yu to die, right?”

“You knew that between Tang Yu and me, one of us had to transform into a Zhan as a human and sacrifice ourselves after killing the Tiger Demon. You didn’t want me to do it, and you were afraid Tang Yu would refuse to cooperate, so you just went ahead with the plan, forcing Tang Yu into a corner where he had to sacrifice himself…”

“Correct. So, are you planning to hold me accountable now?” Qi Si put down the papers and lifted his eyelids to look at Lin Chen. “I told you on the first day that I would let you live until the end. You didn’t refuse back then, did you?”

“In a faction game, for some to live, others must die. Could your naive self really not have thought of that at the time?”

Lin Chen was speechless.

Since entering this instance, Qi Si had indeed told him multiple times that he would let him live.

At first, he thought it was just comfort, but later he sensed a different meaning, guessing that Qi Si might use some unethical means. Yet he never spoke up to stop him, instead silently accepting it with a clear conscience… Was he truly oblivious, or was he… both cowardly and selfish?

Qi Si straightened up, leaned closer to Lin Chen, and a questioning smile spread across his lips. “Lin Chen, ask yourself, do you not want to live? Or are you so full of righteousness and high morality that you want to give your life for Tang Yu?”

“If it’s the latter, it’s no trouble. Just walk straight out the door now, and in half an hour you’ll reach the Meng Residence. Walk in, take a look at the Nothingness in the mirror, and maybe you’ll get your wish to die.”

“I…”

Lin Chen uttered a single word, the rest swallowed in his throat.

Who wouldn’t want to live? He wanted to live; he wanted to live more than anyone.

In the beginning, he still had a heart full of passion and would never have been willing to let others die just so he could live.

But across one instance after another, witnessing one brutal death after another, he began to fear and value his life.

Not just because he worried about his parents, but also because he knew that death wasn’t the end of everything… If Qi Si had explained the stakes at the very beginning, he might have volunteered to be the sole sacrifice, or at the very least, been willing to draw lots with Tang Yu to decide who would take the risk.

But now, Qi Si had arranged everything for him without discussion, and he found he could no longer say “I’m unwilling” with any shred of self-righteousness.

He silently and calmly accepted the outcome of “living,” despicably letting Tang Yu sacrifice himself instead… Qi Si looked at the pale-faced Lin Chen, knowing that under his verbal manipulation, the latter had successfully fallen into a moral dilemma of self-reproach and shame.

He sighed softly and comforted him with feigned lightness, “Lin Chen, you really don’t need to think so much. Ultimately, I chose to let you live only out of consideration for my own interests.”

“Everyone is self-interested, and I am no exception. I certainly despise many human weaknesses, but I often find it hard to escape them myself. I believe you are the same.”

“Self-interest and survival are written into biological instincts. It is not shameful to follow instinct.”

Since childhood, Qi Si had never been able to understand why humans would develop ethereal emotional needs beyond efficiency and practical gain.

After becoming The Undying, the emotional resonance he had painstakingly built with the world shattered, making him even less able to touch those nuanced feelings.

Although he could still analyze others’ psychology and thoughts based on past experience and accumulated knowledge, and provide appropriate emotional value, it was undoubtedly too energy-consuming.

Considering that Lin Chen was still necessary for the long term, Qi Si felt that rather than wasting energy playing house with him, it would be better to clear things up early.

It would be best to reach a conspiracy through an immoral act, dragging him into the mire of sin and dyeing him pitch black, leaving him with no choice but to keep going down the wrong path.

At this moment, the youth in red split his lips into a ghostly grin. “Lin Chen, you are my guild leader, and we have a mutual understanding. If you were to die suddenly, it would be very troublesome for me to find someone to replace you.”

“I’ve said before that I’m not a good person. I’m practically scum and have caused many people’s deaths. To minimize trouble, letting you live and letting others die fits my code of conduct.”

Hearing this, Lin Chen’s already pale face grew even paler.

He recalled everything about his time with Qi Si. From beginning to end, the youth’s actions were nothing more than based on his intentions.

In Rose Manor, when he refused to drag others down after breaking a rule, Qi Si sought other ways to break the situation.

In Frog Hospital, when he would rather die than be controlled by the Puppeteer, Qi Si risked signing a Soul Contract with him.

In the Wraith instance, when he wanted to live, Qi Si let him live… In the end, Qi Si had always been that kind of person; it was he himself who had changed.

I did not kill Boren, yet Boren died because of me. As the primary beneficiary, what right did he have to complain about Qi Si?

It is hard for people to accept their own imperfections, yet they are forced to take all those negative things in stride.

Lin Chen slumped down and squatted on the ground, not saying a word.

Qi Si sighed softly and began scribbling something on a page with his pen.

A moment later, he handed the page with the new writing to Lin Chen and said, “President Lin, see for yourself.”

Lin Chen looked up and saw a question written clearly on the page:

【Teacher Luo, is your current faction “Wraith”?】

The answer was a trembling checkmark.

Qi Si dropped the paper, stood up, and looked down at Lin Chen on the floor. “In the beginning, there were three Wraiths. Between Teacher Luo and the other, one was a Wraith.

“Perhaps to advance and retreat together, to share trials and tribulations, they used some method to turn the other one into a Wraith as well. Only this explains why they turned into Nothingness on the first night.

“‘A ghost dies and becomes a Zhan; a Zhan dies and becomes Nothingness.’ They are all ‘Zhan’—the ‘Zhan’ of a Wraith—which is why they became Nothingness after being burned to death by the fire. Do you understand?”

Lin Chen looked up at Qi Si in a daze.

Qi Si looked down, his smile appearing both compassionate and mocking. “As you can see, they concealed this point and only confessed it now as one of the Chips to force Tang Yu to take the risk.

“In the face of group interests, individual sacrifice is insignificant. This is a team. This is humanity.

“Everyone is selfish.”