Chapter 283: Wraith (End) — Solo Remembrance of Long Years

The faint green flame emitted a soft glow through the thin paper lampshade. The tiny points of light converged into a stream, swaying and pointing in one direction.

The Guiding Green Lantern leads the way, the wandering soul returns home.

Qi Si stood up straight, holding the lantern as he descended the stairs, with Qiu Xin following silently behind him like a ghost.

The two went down to the first-floor hall, walked out of the Residence, and met up with a dazed Lin Chen.

A puzzle-solving instance for seven people, with three surviving, is considered a decent survival rate.

If it weren’t for the confusing actions of Luo Haihua and her husband, and Qi Si’s attempt to kill someone on the first night, more might have survived.

“Brother Qi, Mr. Luo and the others don’t have a Guiding Green Lantern. Does that mean they can’t leave?” Lin Chen asked hoarsely.

Qi Si’s confident plan of sacrificing one to save the majority was based on the premise that Luo Haihua and her husband could leave the instance.

Qi Si, Qiu Xin, and Luo Haihua and her husband made a total of four people, which was an absolute majority against Lin Chen and Tang Yu. Tang Yu’s sacrifice then made sense.

However, if Luo Haihua and her husband were not counted, the number of people in the Wraith faction and the human faction would be exactly equal, making it debatable who should be sacrificed.

Qi Si nodded: “From the prompt text, it seems so. But it’s no pity; they collaborated with the Ghosts to deceive people and provide false clues. They deserve their fate.”

He recounted the facts he had just confirmed at the Residence in Town East to Lin Chen, who reacted with astonishment.

Lin Chen had never expected Luo Haihua and her husband to mislead players on crucial clues. Firstly, this was theoretically a team instance where cooperation was possible, and secondly, Luo Haihua and her husband were members of the Jiuzhou Guild and appeared to be good people.

Deception and hostility yielded no benefits. Even if they dragged all other players down with them, it didn’t mean they could leave alive without a Guiding Green Lantern.

So, why would they do this? Was it merely out of selfishness?

Lin Chen felt his worldview being reshaped again and again in this instance, almost battered into cracks and fragments.

He thought for a moment, then asked, “Brother Qi, half an hour ago, I saw five Guiding Green Lanterns. How did it suddenly become four?”

“Who knows?” Qi Si, who had deliberately scrapped one Guiding Green Lantern, said without changing his expression. “Maybe it’s a system bug, or perhaps Tang Yu thought the green lantern was useless and extinguished one?”

Qiu Xin, who knew everything but couldn’t say a word due to the Soul Contract:…6.

The three walked west, guided by the green lantern, encountering no figures, only ashes upon ashes.

The extent of Town East seemed vaster than when they arrived, stretching endlessly as far as the eye could see, as if wandering aimlessly across a plain where gods had fallen.

Invisible tendrils seemed to surge in the air, and a suffocating sensation, maddeningly oppressive, entered their bodies through their nostrils, filling their cavities and blood vessels.

The further they walked, the more they were enveloped by an inexplicable fatigue and numbness, as if trudging at the bottom of a lightless, soundless deep sea.

The ashes beside them began to create flameless combustion relying on heat. After the flat surface ground was burned away, the pitted ruins beneath were exposed.

Various human corpses, male and female, old and young, tall and short, fat and thin, were piled on the ruins, all without exception having died with their eyes wide open, covered in blood.

The fear deep within their genes stirred a throbbing pain in their chests, and a wave of nausea continuously rose, sparing even those accustomed to seeing corpses.

It was more like a mechanism of the instance, a deliberate challenge designed before dawn.

At the same time, a scene of calm unfolded before their eyes: the intact Yanghua Town, where countless men and women in ancient and modern attire lived, their faces brimming with happy smiles.

“Don’t go any further, it’s so tiring, you can’t get out…”

“Reality isn’t that great either, why not stay here, far from death and fear…”

“We all live here, you won’t be alone…”

Thousands of whispers converged into a single stream, tirelessly pouring into the players’ minds.

Qi Si patiently picked out a few sentences to listen to closely, then laughed: “Staying here, unable to even die, how boring.”

He switched the lantern to his left hand, grabbed Lin Chen’s wrist with his right, and pulled him forward.

Glancing back accidentally, Qiu Xin’s figure was already gone.

After walking a bit further, what they saw was no longer ancient people, but figures dressed in modern attire.

“Stay,” they said. “You’ve already become Ghosts. Even if you leave the instance, what’s the point?”

“You will harm everyone. You are pollution, a virus, part of the strange invasion of reality…”

“Stay, for the sake of other players…”

Qi Si suddenly thought that Luo Haihua and her husband didn’t seem to bear much malice towards the players; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been willing to lend him the 【Photo Negative】.

Was their misleading clue in Town East also due to the instigation of these Nothingness, thinking that keeping everyone in the instance would benefit more people outside the instance?

What a self-righteous and grand idea… “Why?” Qi Si, who was already a Ghost, retorted with a smile, “What do other people’s fates have to do with me? If I can’t return to reality, what’s the point of reality existing?”

The voice in his ear adopted an accusing tone: “Selfish! If everyone thought like you, then no one would be able to clear the Final Dungeon!”

Qi Si said “Oh” and asked seriously, “So, you wouldn’t be trying to say that your elaborate efforts to knock over the lanterns in the first few days were to prevent us Ghosts from returning to reality?”

Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? If I had known, I wouldn’t have turned other players into Wraiths. Now it’s troublesome; we’ve all become Wraiths, what can be done?”

Qi Si’s tone lacked any regret; instead, it was full of sarcasm.

He thought of the strange entity he had guided when he was sixteen, called 【Ever-Burning Fire】.

Ghosts who died in the fire were trapped within the flames, endlessly igniting fires, burning more and more pedestrians to death.

Humans, out of projection and compensation, often want to drag others into the same predicament when they find themselves in trouble.

A “Wraith” is often more vicious than a tiger, simply because it wants to highlight its own good fortune by contrasting it with the misery of others.

Qi Si saw through this clearly and sneered, “If you truly wanted to save more people, you could have informed us of relevant information via paper and pen on the first day of the instance. If you were truly upright, you wouldn’t need to hide in dark corners, waiting for an opportunity to knock over our lanterns.

“Only with a Guiding Green Lantern can one leave the instance. You lost your Guiding Green Lantern for some reason and are permanently trapped in the instance. All your wasted words are merely an attempt to keep others here to await death with you.

“This is the selfish gene of humanity at play, which I also possess and can understand. But to harbor dark intentions and then concoct a narrative to self-aggrandize, don’t you find it ridiculous?”

Lin Chen listened silently, then asked hesitantly, “Brother Qi, but if we really become Ghosts, what should we do?”

Qi Si sighed, looking at him with the gaze one would give a child: “What if you’re a ghost? What if you’re human? The countless bones in Yanghua Town mostly died at the hands of humans.

“Humans won’t give you a pass just because you’re human, nor will they exterminate you just because you’re a ghost; they might even revere you a little.

“In that case, being a ghost is more comfortable than being human, isn’t it?”

Lin Chen tilted his head, thought for a while, and then softly retorted, “But isn’t that different? The timeline of Yanghua Town is ancient, and there’s a large background of alien invasion…”

“What’s different?” Qi Si retorted. “Humans always tend to fragment groups using various elements like ethnicity, region, and gender, as if a few similarities mean they are comrades who can jointly resist aliens.

“But the truth is, wealthy individuals of the same ethnicity won’t generously share their wealth just because of skin color, and within the same region, there are often disparities in wealth, status, and prestige. Even people of the same gender will fight tooth and nail when their interests clash.

“Sometimes the difference between people is greater than the difference between humans and beasts. The exploiting class cannot understand why people at the bottom would kill for three thousand yuan, and the ruling class enacts unjust laws, thinking themselves wise.

“People of the same race, same region, and same gender, due to their different positions, have different interests and demands, and are bound to only do things that benefit themselves. Who knows if the one sitting in that position is a human, a ghost, a monster, or an alien?”

“Correspondingly, as single individuals in a group, what difference does it make whether we are humans, Ghosts, monsters, or aliens? In the end, we are all selfish beings driven by egoism.”

Lin Chen listened blankly, then asked in a hoarse voice, “If that’s the case, Brother Qi, why do you keep saving me again and again?”

“Why…” Qi Si narrowed his eyes, as if truly stumped by the question, needing to ponder and recall.

Two seconds later, he uttered a familiar answer in a flat tone: “Perhaps it’s because your name sounds a lot like a Protagonist in a novel; I feel investing in you wouldn’t be a loss.”

The same words can derive new meanings under different contexts and experiences.

Lin Chen caught the word “invest,” and his eyes darkened slightly.

After establishing the Guild, Qi Si had deliberately instilled some dark aspects in him, probably hoping he could quickly adapt and engage in that silent war of intrigue.

He also gradually understood that so-called pure innocence only existed in ideals; in reality, there was no goodwill without reason, and every gift of fate had long been marked with a price in the dark.

Since Qi Si was optimistic about his potential and invested in him, as the recipient of his kindness, all he could do was try his best to create value and prove that Qi Si had not invested in the wrong person.

—Three life-saving graces, no amount of repayment would be too much.

The two continued westward, without a word.

The Nothingness around them, having realized it couldn’t deceive them, completely dispersed. The pressure on their bodies was greatly reduced; although breathing was still difficult, it was no longer suffocating.

Before long, they arrived before the giant mirror that divided the town in two.

Qi Si and Lin Chen stepped through one after another, as if rising from the bottom of a lake, finally shedding all shackles and feeling completely at ease.

Looking towards where the Meng Residence had once stood, they saw a sudden burst of flames burning on the pile of ashes that should have been extinguished, hot and intense like the spirits of Halloween, twisting into various shapes, baring fangs and brandishing claws in the night sky.

The flame was also greenish-blue, yet it was out of place with the surrounding cold stillness. The fuel that fed it was a greenish object; upon closer inspection, one could vaguely make out a human form.

After the Tiger Demon was killed, Meng Fang regained his body according to his transaction with the Evil God.

Perhaps to atone for his sins, or perhaps feeling that all the townspeople were gone and being a lone commander was meaningless, he too, like the townspeople, leaped into the fire, igniting a bonfire with his body.

Qi Si expressed his inability to understand this kind of self-sacrificing, unrequited plot, especially when the Protagonist had done many inexplicable things, making him hated by both sides and neither human nor ghost.

Both fame and fortune lost, a futile effort. Perhaps he just couldn’t accept reality and chose to end it? Who knows?

“Bang, bang, bang!”

The watchmans gong rang in the silent night, the Void conscientiously keeping watch in the deserted town.

Meng Fang was dead, so the instance mechanism that induced sleep was naturally broken, and drowsiness could no longer arise.

Daylight suddenly broke, like a giant knife slicing open the dark sky, and brilliant white light was born from the belly of the night, showering everyone and everything, sharply solidifying into a shell.

Clusters of black smoke, formed by countless human faces, surged from the west of the town. The vengeful spirits, who should have possessed the Scarecrow at this moment, found no bodies, letting out cries of confusion and terror.

But soon, all emotions turned to joy.

They noticed the bonfire ignited by Meng Fang’s body, burning with a faint green glow, indistinct in the brighter daylight but undeniably present.

After the flames that had engulfed the entire Yanghua Town extinguished, only this bonfire continued to burn tirelessly. It was clearly a ghost fire, yet it didn’t inspire fear; instead, it added a sense of grand solemnity.

“The lamp… it’s the Guiding Green Lantern…”

“Take us… home…”

All the black smoke completely reversed direction, rushing towards this last green fire between heaven and earth.

Dense smoke billowed, but it did not extinguish the flames; instead, it made the fire burn even more fiercely.

The bonfire, no taller than a person, burned warmly, enveloping all the remaining Ghosts, like a ship sailing through a storm, carrying its passengers home.

Lin Chen stood still, watching this scene that signified a true end.

Qi Si took the opportunity to recount the part of the world-building background related to Meng Fang.

The venue was destroyed, and all NPCs were dead. It was a foregone conclusion that this instance would be permanently closed.

As a Ghost, he wouldn’t leave a clear record, which conveniently allowed Lin Chen to take the MVP spot, stand in front, and draw attention.

Lin Chen didn’t know Qi Si’s thoughts.

He gazed at the bonfire, murmuring with emotion, “When prosperous, the common people suffer; when ruined, the common people suffer. Starting with Meng Fang and ending with Meng Fang, it’s a decent conclusion.”

Silver-white text refreshed, accompanied by the festive sound of exploding fireworks.

【Ghost (Exit) Gate has opened, all rules and world view have been deciphered】

【Congratulations to the player for clearing the team instance “Wraith”】

The lantern in his hand dissolved into afterimages and vanished. Qi Si felt something and looked up at the sky to the west.

There, faint green light points outlined two archways, clearly the path guiding lonely souls from other lands back home.

It brought peace to the heart, and the heart yearned for it.

His perspective was suddenly pulled from the ground, suspended high in the sky.

He saw his red-robed, disheveled body float lightly upward, drawn into one of the greenish archways.

Then the world spun, scenes rapidly shifted, and when they finally settled, a dense, lush Bamboo Forest appeared, with terrifying tiger roars echoing from its depths.

A middle-aged man dressed as a traveler lay quietly on a large rock in the forest, then suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.

He looked into the distance and murmured to himself, “What I just saw was bizarre. Was it real? Or a dream?”

The scene shifted, and the middle-aged man was sitting at a desk, writing furiously without pause, completing an article in one go.

【I once roamed the Great Void and stumbled upon an old tale. Though there is no way to verify or supplement it, and its authenticity is hard to discern, its principles, when used as a mirror of history, can serve as a teacher for future generations.】

The scene changed again, revealing raging fires consuming houses and scrolls.

Officials with torches escorted the middle-aged man to prison. Someone kicked him into the cell door, spitting at him: “What’s the use of writing all this? You’re going to lose your life!”

Accused of “misleading the world and deceiving the people,” the middle-aged man was escorted to the execution ground.

Amidst the cheers of the onlookers, a head thumped to the ground.

The body was thrown into the mass grave, whose shallow soil had also buried Yanghua Town, and would bury even more people.

It wasn’t until many years later that a crooked stone tablet was erected in the center, inscribed only with the three large characters “Yanghua Town.”

In front of the tablet, someone had placed a food box, filled to the brim with Qingming rice balls.

【The man-eating tiger is none other than the human heart. Only those with great wisdom and courage can subdue the tiger within their hearts. Others, when misled by the Heart-Tiger, whether by fame, profit, power, desire, time, circumstance, righteousness, or reason, can all be made into Wraiths.】

【“Wraith” True End – “Subduing the Tiger” collected】

【Automatically teleporting out of the instance in three minutes】

The ending CG roughly explained the fate of the identity the player assumed.

This unlucky fellow, passing by a Bamboo Forest, had his soul accidentally drawn into Yanghua Town, and under the player’s control, experienced a chaotic ordeal.

After leaving Yanghua Town, with his soul returned, he was deeply moved by this dream-like experience and wrote an article to warn the world, but accidentally lost his life in vain… Of course, none of this concerned Qi Si anymore.

The screen gradually darkened, leaving only the silver-white text highlighted.

Qi Si half-closed his eyes, waiting for the settlement text, with the distant sound of a watchmans gong faintly echoing in his ears.

A cry, like a hallucination, came from beyond the heavens, ethereal:

“Zi Hour, third watch, all is well!”