Chapter 281: Wraith (28) Returning Peace to the World

In the year he died, Meng Fang struck a deal with the god in charge of Contracts; a new Yanghua Town was built upon the sea of blood and mountain of corpses of the old Yanghua Town.

The bones of those who died tragic deaths were piled in the corners of the town, and tens of thousands of Scarecrows were cast into the town for the souls of the unjustly dead to possess.

Those Scarecrows were in the shapes of humans and tigers, divided into various identities based on their colors, such as Scholars, commoners, wealthy households, beggars… Meng Fang did not know why such complex classifications were set among the Scarecrows, but he did not dare question the god’s decision.

Under the god’s divine power, every Scarecrow was programmed with new memories; they forgot their past of dying in the fires of war and believed they had followed Meng Fang here to escape the chaos of war.

The vengeful spirits, now possessing new bodies, became the residents of the new Yanghua Town, treating this place as a Peach Blossom Spring untouched by the disasters of war.

Grateful for Meng Fang’s guidance, they honored him as the head of the town, calling him ‘Master Meng.’

Meng Fang still remembered the events of his life and death. As time passed, his memories became clearer, bringing more self-reproach and pain.

This was the price he paid for praying to the god. He endured it silently, treating it as a form of atonement.

In life, he failed to protect his land, ultimately causing thousands of people to perish and countless families to be scattered in order to resist the enemy. After death, he could finally step out from the responsibility of loyalty to his sovereign and focus more on the innocent commoners.

When he first died, he realized it was precisely because of his stubborn defense and the burning of the city that the people were slaughtered. His ideals of governing the world and helping the people conflicted, and he was nearly overwhelmed by confusion.

But now, watching those residents who should have been dead living like the living again, dwelling in peace and working in contentment without a care, the cracks in his ideology gradually mended. The pain of chewing on his memories alone no longer seemed so unbearable.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last. A resident with the identity of a Scholar gradually noticed something was wrong and organized a group of people, wanting to walk out of Yanghua Town.

Meng Fang remembered clearly that the god had told him that any resident who left Yanghua Town would truly die.

He was afraid and earnestly tried to persuade the Scholar and the others to give up their ideas, but he could not find a way to convince them without raising suspicion.

Helpless, he had to chant the god’s honorable name and pray to Him once more.

The god in red descended from the sky. After hearing Meng Fang describe the uncontrollable situation, He curled His lips into a bloodthirsty smile: ‘If you are worried about them knowing the truth, then simply kill all those who have noticed.’

Meng Fang raised his eyes in shock.

The god said indifferently: ‘When a ghost dies, it becomes a Jian. When a Jian dies, it becomes Nothingness. And a ghost killed by a Jian will directly turn into Nothingness—unseeable and unhearable.’

The god told Meng Fang that becoming Nothingness did not mean dying; it just meant they could not be seen or touched by others. They could still live freely in another space.

The sacrifice of a few was insignificant compared to the stability of the overall situation. Meng Fang hesitated for a long time before asking the god what he should do.

The god said: ‘I will send a few Jians into the town every so often. They will deal with those disobedient Ghosts. All you need to do is stuff those Ghosts into human-shaped bodies.’

The god had once bestowed upon Meng Fang the power to mobilize Ghosts. That day, Meng Fang used it actively for the first time, stuffing the souls of the Scholar and the others into human-shaped straw bundles under the cover of night.

Subsequently, a group of outsiders with strange behavior entered Yanghua Town. Under their actions, the souls of the Scholar and the others vanished entirely.

Not long after, the god appeared again, followed by a giant tiger made of straw.

He pointed toward the west, and the tiger turned into an afterimage, flying into the Bamboo Forest on the back mountain to the west of the town.

He looked down at Meng Fang, His gaze full of pity: ‘With the Tiger Demon entrenched outside the town, the people in the town will no longer dare to leave. This is a new deal: I will give you the authority to modify memories and take back the body I previously gave you.’

Meng Fang agreed to this deal. It seemed like a profitable bargain that could maintain peace and stability for a long time.

Combining the existence of the Tiger Demon and the outsiders, he wrote a logically consistent set of memories for the residents regarding a ‘Mountain God’ and ‘Wraiths.’

Yanghua Town became stable once again. However, unlike before, every so often, six or seven outsiders would enter Yanghua Town.

Those outsiders scurried around inside and outside the town. Most of the time, they killed each other, and occasionally they would come into contact with the residents.

Meng Fang noticed that the resident playing the role of the Scholar always proactively approached the outsiders, as if trying to investigate something.

Having lost his body, Meng Fang consequently lost much of his humanity, becoming more passive and cold. He no longer hesitated, repeatedly using the same method to have the outsiders deal with those restless Scholars.

He also tried to directly seal the identity of the Scholar, but whenever that thought arose, the power to mobilize Ghosts would briefly disappear.

He gradually realized that the initial deal the god made with him was not salvation or a gift, but exploitation and a curse.

The hidden danger of discovering the truth was buried within the bodies forged of straw. Memories would accumulate generation after generation; even if modified constantly, it was merely drinking poison to quench thirst.

That god was tasting his pain as he exhausted himself, while simultaneously turning Yanghua Town into a venue for some other purpose for those outsiders to gallop through.

And he had no choice but to accept.

As days passed, there was more and more Nothingness in Yanghua Town. Occasionally, their outlines would appear in mirrors or light and shadow, alarming the remaining residents.

Residents continued to grow suspicious, and Meng Fang had to make a third deal with the god.

The god divided Yanghua Town into two parts: the East Town and the West Town. The East Town was illusory, while the West Town was real, separated by mirrors.

Nothingness was placed in the East Town, while the residents were settled in the West Town.

Because their living space was cut by half, the residents had to alternate their activities between day and night, spending the rest of the time trapped in their rotting physical bodies.

—Just like it was now.

The price Meng Fang paid in this deal was to become a ‘Jian’ that could not see the light, living in a Residence with mirrors for walls.

When the god was about to leave, Meng Fang asked, ‘I feel pain. I do not know when I can truly die?’

The god lowered His crimson eyes and said, almost as if bestowing a favor: ‘After the Tiger Demon is killed, you will regain your freedom. Everything will return to the beginning, to when I made the first deal with you.’

Once a person has a future, death becomes the last choice.

Meng Fang asked, ‘I cannot leave Yanghua Town. How can I kill the Tiger Demon?’

The god raised His right hand, and a crow with crimson eyes appeared out of thin air, landing on Meng Fang’s shoulder.

The god said: ‘Every seven days, seven outsiders will come to this world. Write letters and invite them over using reasons that fit their identities.’

With hope, Meng Fang wrote letter after letter, inviting outsiders to Yanghua Town. In the endless waiting, he finally received news that the Tiger Demon had been eliminated.

Even though his emotions had long been eroded by the long years, he still felt joy.

Everything was returning to the beginning. He still had a chance to manage Yanghua Town from scratch… Nothingness would be reborn as residents. This time, the god would set him free, and he would build Yanghua Town into a true Peach Blossom Spring without interference… The mistakes he committed would finally be redeemed, and he would surely atone for his past sins… But he didn’t expect someone to start a fire… After setting the fire, Qi Si took the 【Directors Special Pass】 out of his inventory and hid it in the wide sleeve of his left hand.

Although he didn’t know how broad the effect of ‘entering and exiting the Frog Hospital at any time’ was, the survival pressure in the later stages of puzzle-solving dungeons was usually not too great. There was no need to worry about an NPC suddenly going berserk for a boss battle.

Well, this experience came from the ‘Grand Performance’ dungeon.

Time ticked by, the fuel burned out, and the firelight gradually dimmed.

Almost all the Ghosts visible to the naked eye had thrown themselves into the sea of fire, and the streets were much cleaner and empty.

Qi Si looked at Meng Fang nearby, his smile mocking and biting: ‘In life, you acted as a Wraith for the nobility, and after death, you enclosed a piece of land to play role-play. Are you conducting an anthropology experiment?’

Meng Fang’s story was simple: he was essentially tricked by the Contract, becoming a slave to the dungeon step by step, yet still full of hope and dutifully playing the role of an NPC, helping the Contract work.

Using sugar-coated ‘gifts’ to let the dealer taste sweetness, while burying sharp hidden dangers inside, only to detonate them at once and create new demands.

To gloss over the peace, the dealer had to use new deals to fill the holes.

Even if the Contract asked for exorbitant prices and took huge profits, they had no choice, because one slip-up meant being smashed to pieces.

They were like addicts, happily exchanging their surplus value for a pittance of charity, hoping a new deal would help them escape their sea of suffering.

Step by step, they lost their bottom line until they had nothing left.

Qi Si felt no pity or regret for this; he only found it quite useful as a reference, thinking that next time he tricked someone into signing a Contract, he could perhaps do it more elegantly.

Like a dark, mischievous child who designed a trap full of spikes and used bared-teeth threats to drive small animals into it, all just for the sake of fun.

At this moment, he commented with mock seriousness, “I once considered locking hundreds or thousands of people together, setting up various game theory dilemmas, and recording the probability of humans making different choices. If I had the ability to edit memories like you, it would certainly have been much more convenient.”

Meng Fang calmed down, not reacting with anger, pain, or other negative emotions due to Qi Si’s words. Or rather, he had long since lost the mechanism to generate emotions under the wash of thousands of years of memories, becoming indifferent and devoid of desire.

He simply shook his head and said calmly, “I caused their families to be destroyed and their homes lost; now I only want to return to them a few years of peace and health. I have a clear conscience.”

“Truly a clear conscience?” Qi Si’s smile didn’t fade, as if he intended to argue the truth to its end. “As a Zhan, watching the Nothingness in the mirror every day, you should have been scared to death long ago, unless—

“Those Nothingness all died at your hands, just as a Tiger Demon would not fear the person it killed, and thus does not fear the Wraith that serves it.

“If I’m not mistaken, the death of that Scholar fellow last night was also your doing, wasn’t it?”

“I had no choice.” Meng Fang gave a bitter smile. “When I was alive, the enemy invaded. Any man of character should not yield an inch of land. After death, the opportunity for resurrection was hard-won; I could not let a few people disturb the peace of the rest.”

“But on what grounds?” Qi Si smiled as he watched Meng Fang. “In the era you lived in, the world never belonged to those unlucky townsfolk; it belonged to the princes and nobles.

“The townsfolk never enjoyed the luxury of the elite in life, yet they had to lose their lives for the rule of those in power. After death, they could have entered the cycle of reincarnation peacefully, but for some inexplicable reason, they became Nothingness… You tell all the townsfolk that you will never hurt them, but the more you emphasize it, the more guilty you seem.”

Meng Fang said, “I know I have my faults, so I will do everything in my power to make amends.”

“But you don’t even dare give them the right to choose.” Qi Si’s smile faded, replaced by a solemn tone. “Modifying memories, keeping the people ignorant, using thousands of people as test subjects for your political ideologies. You don’t know what they want, nor do you intend to find out; you just gag them and send them to the altar as sacrifices for the change of dynasties.

“Do you really want to save the world, or do you just want to find an answer for yourself? Or perhaps, to win a good name and seek peace of mind?”

Qi Si was no saint himself, but he didn’t hesitate to use the rhetoric of morality to pressure others.

He had done similar things many times, so he could easily grasp the psychology of such people and seize upon the loopholes.

Without waiting for Meng Fang’s answer, he continued on his own: “Killing thousands of commoners and burning thousands of houses is heartless; plotting with a tiger but breaking your oath is faithless; occupying a city for self-defense without being commissioned is lawless; and using someone else to kill, deceiving us into risking our lives to subdue the tiger, is immoral.

“You used the Tiger Demon’s name to eliminate dissidents and maintain the stability of your rule in Yanghua Town. In essence, you are nothing but a Wraith of that ridiculous set of virtues, moved by your own hollow slogans. In life, you forced the people to perish with the city, and after death, you refuse to let go of their souls—

“So I might as well ask you a question based on the morals you believe in: What have the common people done to deserve this?”

【main quest completed. Please follow the guidance of the Guiding Green Lantern to leave the instance.】

【Note: Each Guiding Green Lantern can only open one exit and guide one person through.】

Two lines of silver-white text hung high on the system interface; the instance had reached its end.

Qi Si, however, was in no hurry to leave. He took his time observing Meng Fang’s expression, as if looking forward to discussing moral issues with him.

Permanently closing an instance was nothing more than destroying its basic components—it could be the instance’s location or the NPC’s psychological defenses… Since he had decided to do something, he had to do it thoroughly; in for a penny, in for a pound.

After waiting a long time without an answer from Meng Fang, Qi Si sighed faintly, feeling bored. “You see, you’ve studied this logic for so many years and still can’t explain it clearly. Do you really expect others to believe it?

“Ultimately, humans are self-interested. To prevent their quality of life from being affected, and considering that those not of our kind must have a different heart, townsfolk will naturally resist foreign enemies. But if they were already living in misery, how could they even talk about dying for their country?

“People talk about benevolence and righteousness, but behind it all is nothing but interest. It’s just a pity that too few people in the world see clearly. If everyone were an egoist, how could there be wars? After all, everyone knows that the fruits of victory earned by risking one’s life have to be shared with others, which is a bad deal.”

Having said this, Qi Si burst into laughter as if he had thought of a novel joke.

He laughed for a while before stopping, then turned and passed the stationary Meng Fang, heading straight for the east of the town.

Qiu Xin didn’t understand what was happening, but she silently followed behind him, not forgetting to thrust the empty wine jar into Meng Fang’s arms, returning it to its owner.

Meng Fang:…You shouldn’t bully a Zhan like this.

The two players soon reached the Residence in the east of the town and climbed the stairs.

On the second floor of the Residence, the bodies of Luo Haihua and her husband lay quietly on the bed, looking as if they were dead.

Qi Si stood quietly by the bed, the candle in his hand burning diligently, its small flame flickering.

He stood there, looking down for a moment, then suddenly tilted the candle without warning, setting the corner of “Luo Haihua’s” clothes on fire.

The flames quickly climbed up the clothes, engulfing the entire person in just a few seconds, with an almost eerie speed.

In the firelight, charred yellow vines were vaguely visible, clearly belonging to straw.

“As expected, it’s a fake.” Qi Si put away the candle and smiled thinly. “The east of the town was established to house the Nothingness so that other townsfolk wouldn’t see them. How could it allow two living people to lie there so openly?”

Witnessing Qi Si’s act of burning someone, Qiu Xin was stunned for a second before understanding the situation.

She thought for a moment and asked, “What kind of mechanism is this, placing decoys in the east of the town to deceive players?”

“That’s not important.” Qi Si walked to the bedside table, picked up the paper with writing on it, and handed it to Qiu Xin. “What’s important is why Teacher Luo and the others conspired with the Ghosts to deceive us.”

On the paper, a description of past experiences was written in Luo Haihua’s handwriting. From the known clues and Meng Fang’s account, it was clear that it was complete nonsense.

Things like traveling through time and reaching the future were all there, obviously fabricated by someone who didn’t know the true worldview of the instance to muddy the waters.

Qiu Xin pointed to one of the lines and asked, “Why is Tang Yu involved in this too?”

“As a teacher, Luo Haihua is naturally sensitive to handwriting. Tang Yu was once an important member of the Jiuzhou Guild. As members of the Jiuzhou Guild themselves, it’s not impossible for Luo Haihua and her husband to know his handwriting and mimic it in the instance.”

“…Alright.”

Qi Si stopped talking, turned, and walked to the second-floor balcony. Leaning against the railing, he gazed at the Karmic Fire that was still flickering and burning.

The flames grew smaller and smaller, and after several dozen more flickers, they died out completely, leaving only a few long, thin, thread-like sparks twisting reluctantly.

At the same time, the candle in Qi Si’s hand went out without warning, as if following the Karmic Fire.

【Remaining Guiding Green Lanterns: 4】

It seemed that after burning too many things, the Guiding Green Lantern would be ruined.

He just didn’t know if he could find the exit before the flames went out. It had been nearly an hour; if he ran fast enough, it should be enough to get out of the town, right?

Of course, Qi Si did not intend to court death by experimenting.

With everything settled, he sank his consciousness into his mind, touched the red Soul Leaf, and said, “Lin Chen, I’m on the second floor of the Residence in the east of the town.”