Chapter 279: Wraith (26) Bones Fill the Pine Ridge

The diffusion of responsibility effect combined with herd mentality means that once immoral behavior becomes a group choice, the guilt borne by each individual is greatly reduced, and even acts that violate public order and good customs can be given legitimacy.

But if everyone does it, does that make it right?

Lin Chen descended the stairs, and when he reached the first-floor lobby, Tang Yu was sitting at a table, pouring himself bowl after bowl of wine.

Seeing Lin Chen come down, he pointed to the seat opposite him and said in a relaxed tone, “The dungeon is almost over. Want a drink?”

Lin Chen was stunned. He really didn’t expect Tang Yu to be so open-minded and able to let go of the grudge so quickly.

He hesitated, sat down, and asked, “Brother Tang, don’t you hate me?”

“Why would I hate you?” Tang Yu scoffed, “At first, I thought you were the mastermind, but now it seems you’re just playing yourself, a scapegoat pushed out by Lin Wen. You didn’t decide anything, so what good would hating you do?”

Lin Chen was silent for a moment, then whispered, “Brother Lin calculated against you to let me live. If it weren’t for me…”

“Stop! You’re a grown man, don’t be so wishy-washy like a little girl.” Tang Yu raised his hand in a’stop’ gesture, “Without you, there would be someone else. It’s just an added option.

“This dungeon is designed this way: sacrificing one person to help everyone complete the main quest is the optimal solution indicated by all clues. If I don’t die, someone else will have to die.”

He picked up his bowl, tilted his head back, and took a gulp of wine, laughing breathlessly: “Blame the Eerie Game. It’s supposed to be a cooperative dungeon, and in the end, we shook hands and made peace, but it still has to throw a trolley problem at us.”

The logic behind these words can be said to be a consensus reached by various factions on the game forums.

In the Eerie Game, it’s inevitable to encounter confrontational dungeons and situations where one person must be sacrificed to save the majority. All players basically default that sacrifice is valuable, even if it’s forced, and the culprit is the Eerie Game for creating moral dilemmas.

After all, with the Final Dungeon existing, the slogan ‘all humanity unites’ is well-known.

As long as one person can clear the Final Dungeon, everyone will be released, and the deceased will also have a chance to be resurrected.

And to clear the Final Dungeon, allowing more valuable people to survive, is in the interest of all humanity.

No one can gainsay that.

Lin Chen often frequented the forums and naturally knew of this sentiment, but he never quite agreed with it.

He shook his head and said hoarsely, “But I think that’s wrong. Everyone wants to live, and no one should be coerced into giving up their life.

“A person can be great and selfless, but they shouldn’t be gagged, bound, and sent to a sacrificial altar, only for others to judge it as ‘voluntary sacrifice.'”

“Well said. So, at first, there was indeed a moment of anger, where I felt you were treating me like a fool, like a tool.”

Tang Yu shrugged, shaking his head with a smile: “But it’s nothing. Even without this whole charade, if it came down to fair competition for a sacrificial spot, I’d definitely go without a second thought.

“‘People’s police for the people.’ Although the Security Bureau is rotten now, I believed that phrase when I was a kid, and I still do…”I should have died a long time ago. Before, when I was catching a criminal, that bastard stabbed me right here in the heart,” Tang Yu pulled open his collar and mumbled indistinctly, “I was ready to die then. I’m really not afraid, really. Being alive now is already a huge bonus…”

He was undoubtedly drunk, his face flushed and pale in spots, the corners of his eyes red, yet his voice was still laughing: “Heh, you can’t tell, can you? I’m really a policeman. They say you have to be fiercer than the criminals to deter them. Do I look like a bad guy to you, like this…?”

Tang Yu clutched Lin Chen’s sleeve, holding on tightly.

Lin Chen let him hold on, forcing a smile, and said, “Brother Tang, from the first time I saw you, I thought you were a good person…”

“What kind of talk is that? Am I not acting like myself?”

“Uh…” Lin Chen didn’t know what to say for a moment.

His palm felt a little itchy. It turned out Tang Yu had quietly grabbed his hand and was writing lines of words with his fingertips.

“I know you and Lin Wen are not relatives. Be careful of Lin Wen; he is using you, making you a Chip in his scheme.”

“The meaning of the Identity Card is extraordinary. I don’t know too much information, but Fu Jue does. Go find him.”

“Never lose the initiative, never actively give up opportunities to advance, and never easily trust others.”

Lin Chen understood the meaning of the three sentences, his heart filled with astonishment, and he suddenly looked up at Tang Yu.

The latter had already withdrawn his hand, still looking drunk as he poured and drank by himself, his posture slumped… In the room on the second floor, Qi Si leaned motionlessly on the wooden bed, his fingertips caressing the silver bracelet on his right wrist.

Qiu Xin had gone upstairs via the other staircase as soon as Lin Chen went downstairs, and sat opposite Qi Si.

Now, she tilted her head and asked, “What’s your plan next? It shouldn’t be to sit in the Residence and wait for Tang Yu to complete the main quest, right?”

“I plan to set a fire in Yanghua Town, a fire big enough to burn everything down.”

Qi Si picked up the lantern, inserted his index finger through a gap into the lampshade, and gently poked the candle inside: “Meng Fang tricked us here, using us to eliminate his rivals and remove hidden dangers. And I, precisely, hate being used the most.

“If I just let him comfortably enjoy the fruits of his labor, I reckon I’d be so uncomfortable I couldn’t sleep every time I thought about it later.

“For the sake of my future quality of life, I have to use some means to make him lose everything.”

These words were just for others; the real reason was—

Qi Si wanted to see if he could permanently close this dungeon by destroying the map.

Thirty-five days had passed since the record of the ‘Carnivore’ dungeon being permanently closed; at a frequency of once every seven days, that was exactly five dungeons.

And Lin Chen, including this dungeon, had cleared exactly five official pool dungeons… It was a casual thing to do, and if it could divert some attention and stir up trouble, all the better.

“Oh.” Qiu Xin mused, “But after the first night, you should have known that the lanterns in our hands are very important. Ghosts covet them, and they are likely the key for spirits to leave Yanghua Town.

“Teacher Luo and the others said that in another space in Yanghua Town, there are a large number of Ghosts of deceased players. I suspect they are trapped here forever precisely because they lost their lanterns.

“And you can’t determine whether the original lanterns will lose their effect after igniting a fire capable of burning down Yanghua Town.”

“Good analysis.” Qi Si nodded in agreement, “So, I don’t plan to use my own lantern.”

He looked at Qiu Xin with a half-smile: “I don’t think you’re very keen on living either. How about you lend me your lantern? I’ll go set a fire and see. If something goes wrong, we can just use the Pocket Watch of Fate to rewind time, right?”

“You can fool others, but don’t fool yourself.” Qiu Xin rolled her eyes, “You used that item on the first night. It’s a wonder you used it as Chips to string people along for so long.”

Upon hearing this, Qi Si sat up straighter, his expression becoming serious: “I don’t recall ever showing you the item’s status.”

Qiu Xin said expressionlessly, “On the first night when I climbed out the window, I caught a glimpse of you seeming to open the window, but then you didn’t, for some reason.

“But considering you possess a time-reversal item, I have reason to deduce that you had actually opened the window, but encountered an irreversible situation midway and were forced to use the item to rewind time.”

“I understand.” Qi Si uttered four words, then fell silent for a while.

When he went to open the window on the first night, he really hadn’t considered that his figure could be seen through the thin paper window by someone outside.

No, to be more precise, he hadn’t expected anyone to risk climbing out the window, and for the timing to coincide exactly with when he was opening it.

One could only say, fate is truly mysterious.

In the slightly awkward atmosphere, Qiu Xin was the first to change the subject: “Your teammate seems to sympathize with Tang Yu. Perhaps he will be persuaded and interfere with your subsequent plans.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Qi Si chuckled coolly, “I’m not Jiuzhou. I don’t have so much desire to control my companions’ thoughts. If they get in the way, I’ll just kill them.”

Qiu Xin raised her eyelids to glance at him, then wordlessly shifted her gaze away.

Qi Si leaned back, closed his eyes to rest, and slowly sank his consciousness into the dark, profound mental palace.

The red-robed humanoid phantom wandered among the hanging vines, finally stopping before a blood-red vine and reaching out to touch the leaf at its tip.

The moment contact was made, Qi Si suddenly gained Lin Chen’s perspective.

Tang Yu’s words and the characters written on his palm were conveyed to him in an easily understandable, non-narrative information format.

He read those words back and forth several times, then chuckled softly when he opened his eyes again.

Whether Tang Yu wanted to poach a teammate to trip him up, or genuinely wanted to save the misguided Lin Chen out of a simple sense of justice, his intentions were destined to fail.

The Soul Contract can control a person’s thoughts, actions, and life without fail. Once signed, it becomes reality.

And Qi Si would be even more careful in the future, never allowing a skill-sealing situation like in the Frog Hospital to happen again.

However, some of the information provided by Tang Yu was still worth noting.

First, the Identity Card holds another mystery. Even within the Jiuzhou Guild, it’s a closely guarded secret, and even someone at Tang Yu’s level only knows the general idea.

Second, Fu Jue knows all the information about the Identity Card, and from Tang Yu’s tone, he’s very willing to share this information with the Identity Card holder.

“It won’t be long before someone from an old guild contacts me. Should I take this opportunity to get in touch with that ‘Savior’?

“However, giving information so easily to Lin Chen, a complete stranger, doesn’t rule out a trick…”

Qi Si pondered slightly, narrowing his eyes… On the first floor, Tang Yu placed his wine bowl on the table. Whether truly drunk or feigning it, he swayed as he stood up and drew the saber from his waist.

As Lin Chen watched in a daze, he directly slashed the saber at his own neck with a backhand.

Blood splattered, but quickly etherealized into mist, fading from crimson to watery red, then dissolving into nothingness.

Ghosts don’t bleed. Once this was clearly recognized, all the illusions that the dungeon had deliberately painted as peaceful were revealed to be false.

Lin Chen saw Tang Yu’s figure become blurry, its edges rippling like water struck by a pebble.

Color began to drain from the neck, where the saber had left a crack, gradually revealing a translucent texture like thick plastic.

Cracks spread in all directions at a visible speed, and in two breaths, the body collapsed into fragments, exposing a similarly shaped humanoid beneath it.

A streak of blood appeared out of nowhere, permeating upwards from the humanoid’s feet, inch by inch coloring the transparent form with vibrant hues.

The re-colored humanoid still looked like Tang Yu, but it had shrunk by a whole size, appearing paler and more fragile, as if a gust of wind could scatter it.

“Lin Ya, I’m leaving. Too lazy to say goodbye to them.” Tang Yu’s expression was much clearer than before, a detached indifference devoid of joy or sorrow.

Dressed in black, he picked up his saber and turned to walk towards the Residence’s main door.

Only one sentence echoed in Lin Chen’s ears:

“If one day, one of you really clears the Final Dungeon, remember to mention it to the Eerie Game and resurrect all of us who died along the way. Don’t you dare forget.”

The sky had darkened, and night was falling. In the distance, the Night-Watchman’s cry sounded:

“First watch of the Xu Shi (7-9 PM), dry weather, beware of fire!”

…Outside the Residence, on the east-west avenue of Yanghua Town, Qi Si walked slowly, carrying a lantern.

This lantern wasn’t his; it belonged to the unlucky fellow he killed on the first day, but it made no difference.

In ancient times, the utility of lanterns was not to be underestimated for anyone.

Lighting the way at night, decorating for festivals, guiding Ghosts, scaring away demons and monsters… Since Sui Ren learned to use fire, night was no longer a forbidden domain for gods and Ghosts; humans, with fire and light, were able to contend with gods and Ghosts for time.

Qi Si stopped in the center of the town.

The crowd there had not yet completely dispersed. Scarecrows with painted faces moved about in the darkness, appearing like a multitude of Ghosts from afar.

Qi Si removed the lantern cover, exposing the white lantern inside. The previously dim candlelight suddenly flared astonishingly bright, and eerie greenish-blue flames danced on the bone-like candle, both cold and warm.

The crowd was startled. The Scarecrows uniformly turned their heads to look at the candle in Qi Si’s hand.

They yearned, yearned for that greenish-blue ghost light.

Their desire reached its peak, stirring a tremor in their souls. Wisps of black smoke, hidden beneath their straw bodies, flickered in and out of sight, as if ready to burst forth at any moment.

They stretched out their hands, wanting to touch the guiding light, the netherworld fire, yet they timidly dared not advance, merely shuffling and circling like wandering spirits or wild dogs.

A chorus of ghostly wails, only indistinct words could be heard.

“Light… there’s light… take us away…”

“Wuwuwu… I remember, I died so horribly…”

What was fake was ultimately fake. The townspeople, bewildered by the illusion, could no longer remain ignorant and unaware the moment they saw the green lamp.

They wanted the guidance of the green lamp, wanted to return home, wanted to reincarnate.

Amidst the encircling Ghosts, Qi Si grinned strangely like a hyena, like a child who had thought of a brilliant prank and was about to unleash a breathtaking destruction.

He suddenly raised the candle in his hand high and flicked it towards the nearest house.

The green flame landed on the thatched roof, quickly spreading along the dry thatch and wooden planks, engulfing a large area in mere seconds.

Qiu Xin, carrying a wine jar, splashed its contents along the path, and the flames, drawn by the alcohol, chased after it, spreading like waves.

The original flames were a ghostly green, but after consuming tens of thousands of fuels, they burst into a vibrant bright yellow.

The people bathed in the strong light resembled bonfires, merely insignificant markers before the vast, boundless light and heat.

A world accustomed to gloom suddenly encountered light, and its brilliance became a clamor.

Only acceptance, only silence, only… “Fire!”

“It’s fire!”

The townspeople shrieked, unable to tell if it was fear or eagerness.

The memory of being burned alive made them avoid fire like the plague, yet their instincts as Ghosts, following the guiding green lamp, irresistibly compelled them to chase the flames.

Humans are animals after all; they were finally overcome by instinct, one after another rushing into the flames.

The raging flames, using the Scarecrows’ bodies as new fuel, burned even more fiercely and brilliantly, burning breathtakingly.

The orange-red blaze bloomed under the purplish-black night sky, turning the entire Yanghua Town into a grand bonfire.

—Like a festive celebration, bringing ecstasy and inciting revelry.

Amidst the raging inferno, some Night-Watchman dutifully cried out:

“Second watch of the Hai Shi (9-11 PM), close doors and windows, guard against people and Ghosts!”