Chapter 43: Fainting (7)

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

"Qin Su, can I trust you?"

"I will protect you."

"But how can there be true peace between humans and ghosts?"

"I'll prove it to you."

This was Qin Su's promise to Shu Yushuang, and it was also the first promise she made after becoming a vengeful ghost.

Shu Yushuang came to see the village chief again to confirm something.

If this dungeon were a game, then to get information from the village chief, certain conditions would have to be met.

Shu Yushuang believed that the scenes she had just witnessed were not only important information but might also lead the village chief to reveal more.

This time, before Shu Yushuang could knock on the door, the village chief opened it first. Seeing this, Shu Yushuang immediately felt more confident.

She cut to the chase: "Village chief, I want to know what kind of person the bride you mentioned earlier actually married?"

"That's a strange question. What else can you marry? Of course, you marry a man."

"Is he really human?"

“Of course, if she didn’t marry a human, who else could it be?"

“But the groom I saw at the wedding was a paper doll."

Upon hearing this, the village chief's expression changed drastically. She peeked out and looked around, and seeing that no one was around, she immediately pulled Shu Yushuang into the house.

"Don't talk nonsense. This happened decades ago. How could you possibly see it?"

Shu Yushuang narrowed her eyes. She finally realized there was a huge loophole, and what was worse, she had only discovered it now.

The village chief in front of her looked to be only in her early thirties. How did she know about things that happened so many years ago?

"Then how do you know about things that happened decades ago?"

"I heard it from my mother, what's wrong with that?"

Okay, it seemed things weren't as Shu Yushuang had thought.

"So you don't know the specifics of that woman's marriage back then?"

"Actually, I've heard my mother mention it. The woman was originally going to marry the eldest son of that family. That eldest son was frail and sickly from childhood, and he didn't have much time left to live. He was in a hurry to marry that woman, firstly to bring good luck, and secondly to ensure that his family line would not end."

Shu Yushuang couldn't help but criticize: "He was about to die and still thinking about abusing his wife? He deserves it. What use is a family line with such poor genes? It's better to end it."

The village chief nodded in agreement: "It is indeed broken."

Qin Su stared intently at Shu Yushuang's face on the screen; she had never seen Shu Yushuang so agitated.

Qin Su knew that Shu Yushuang's childhood experiences had caused her great harm and had a profound impact on her, and she really wanted to hug her...

"Fang Xiqiong, do you have a way to get me into her instance dungeon?"

"You overestimate my abilities."

By now, Shu Yushuang had left the village chief's house. Since the village chief didn’t know anything about the paper groom, she didn’t want to waste more time there.

But Shu Yushuang guessed that perhaps the man was too ill to get out of bed, so he used a paper doll instead.

She tried to start the car again, but found that it wouldn't respond this time.

It seems that this car can only be used at certain points in time.

Shu Yushuang looked up. Even though she had spent a long time in that village, when she returned here, she realized not much time had passed at all.

That village seemed like a separate time and space. Time passed there, but it didn’t affect the village here. The flow of time in both places was different.

Shu Yushuang walked back to her residence. The two skeletons in the yard, dug up again by some bored person, were now lying quietly on the ground. No matter how she looked at them, they were thoroughly dead.

Shu Yushuang looked into the room through the window and was surprised to find that all the other Executors were sitting in the living room again.

How did they return so quickly?

The Executors sat there blankly, doing nothing, saying nothing, not discussing the dungeon, like a group of walking corpses.

It wasn’t until Shu Yushuang opened the door that they seemed to be switched on, starting to discuss things heatedly.

Shu Yushuang watched them coldly. What was going on with these Executors? What were they hiding from her?

Sun Tingting bounced over to Shu Yushuang. It was obvious she was in high spirits, probably because she had gotten some important clue.

"Shu Yushuang, what did you do today?"

Shu Yushuang replied dismissively, "I just wandered around the village."

"Did you find anything?"

"Which kind of thing are you talking about?"

"Did you find any ghosts?"

Shu Yushuang instinctively glanced at the yard, then asked, "Aren't the ghosts those two skeletons?"

"Don’t joke around. How could skeletons be ghosts?"

Shu Yushuang frowned. Only then did she remember that she was the only one who had witnessed the two skeletons committing murder yesterday.

But why did Sun Tingting think the skeleton couldn't possibly be a ghost?

Had she seen something else kill someone?

This means that there are more than two vengeful ghosts in this village, and there is more than one truth behind them.

This was the reason Shu Yushuang hadn’t received the task completion prompt after hearing the village chief’s story.

The village chief may not be lying, but she only knows half the truth.

Shu Yushuang asked Sun Tingting again, "Did you see a ghost?"

"Yes, a paper doll."

"Paper doll?"

Shu Yushuang immediately remembered the paper groom she had seen earlier.

Could it be that the paper groom turned into a ghost after death? No, paper dolls are inherently dead, and a moving paper doll was already a ghost, right?

"Yes, I didn't realize it was a paper doll at first. It was so realistic, it looked just like a living woman."

"Woman?"

"Yes, that paper doll was made to look like a woman."

“Where did you see it?”

"It's in that field you mentioned. A man slapped his wife twice, and then that paper doll appeared. She pulled all the man's flesh and blood out of him, turning him into a paper doll too. But this is a bit different from what you said. Didn't you say the person you saw turned into pieces?"

"There’s more than one ghost."

"What?" Sun Tingting’s expression changed to one of fear. "More than one? That’s so difficult..."

Shu Yushuang ignored what Sun Tingting was saying. She was thinking, didn’t the paper groom turn into a ghost? And where did this paper woman come from?

Shu Yushuang gradually felt her thoughts becoming chaotic.

How many ghosts are there in this village? What's the connection between the paper woman and the paper groom?

What was the reason the paper doll committed the murder?

Shu Yushuang thought she was very close to the truth, but Sun Tingting's words brought her back to square one.

She still knows nothing about the other truth, and everything has to start all over again.

Qin Su could see Shu Yushuang's frustration, so she comforted her, "Don't worry, there's still plenty of time. If you need my help, just let me know."

Shu Yushuang remained silent, but this time she nodded.

Qin Su excitedly grabbed Fang Xiqiong’s wrist.

"Wouldn't you call that progress? She's willing to accept my help!"

Seeing Qin Su so excited, Fang Xiqiong could only nod helplessly.

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

She moved a little further away from Qin Su with a hint of disdain. To be honest, Qin Su's current behavior was quite embarrassing.

"Don't get too excited yet. This dungeon is very difficult, and you might not be able to help her."

"If I can’t help her even from the god’s perspective, then there’s no way to complete this dungeon."

"Oh," Fang Xiqiong suddenly became interested,"A ghost from last century actually knows what a god’s perspective is?"

"My learning ability is very strong. I’ve heard the Executors talk about it."

"Do you know what a god’s perspective actually means?"

"It means watching everything a person goes through from an outsider’s point of view, seeing many details the person themselves can’t see."

“You’re right,” Fang Xiqiong nodded approvingly, “but you have to understand. The god in this game isn’t us, and it’s certainly not the Executors. It’s the controller of this death game. Maybe what you’re seeing right now is just what 'it' wants you to see."

"You mean, we've become part of this instance as well?"

"Can't you see it from the black screen just now?"

Qin Su stared dejectedly at the screen, her heart filled with frustration.

She thought she had found a way to help Shu Yushuang, but she never expected that she would still be unable to escape control in the end.

“When will this kind of life finally end?”

"Keep trying to find a medium. Once you find one, you can gain some freedom."

Qin Su didn't speak again. She already had another plan, of course, the prerequisite being to find that mysterious medium first.

…

Shu Yushuang did not answer any more of Sun Tingting's questions and went straight upstairs.

She was exhausted, both physically and mentally, and only Qin Su could give her a little comfort.

"Qin Su, are you still watching?"

"Yes."

"Can you see me when I go to the bathroom?"

"Huh? This..."

"Forget it, we’re both women, and you’re not human anyway, so I forgive you."

"What does this have to do with whether I'm human or not?"

Shu Yushuang quickly changed the topic: "Can you see how many ghosts are in this dungeon?"

"Aren't there only those two?"

Hearing Qin Su say this, Shu Yushuang immediately felt disappointed.

"I thought you could see everything."

"Sorry..."

"This isn’t your fault."

Qin Su waited for a long time, but Shu Yushuang didn't say anything more.

She dejectedly spoke to Fang Xiqiong: "It seems you were right. The things I can see are also controlled by 'it.'"

"You don't need to be so disappointed. There's definitely a way to help her. And just watching her like this, aren't you already happy?"

"But that's far from enough."

"Actually, if you want to be with her forever, there’s another way: when she enters your dungeon, turn her into a resentful soul."

Qin Su looked at Fang Xiqiong with a slightly fearful and unfamiliar gaze. After a long while, she gently shook her head.

"I never would have guessed your thoughts could be so terrifying."

"I’m just giving you the best suggestion from the perspective of a vengeful ghost."

"This is not the best suggestion! Why can’t she just live a good life?"

Fang Xiqiong waved her hand, sighed, and said, "Alright, let's stop here. I understand what you're thinking."

After that, neither the human nor the ghost spoke again; an invisible barrier seemed to have formed between them.

After the "movie" time skipped again, Fang Xiqiong finally spoke softly: "They all think Executors can’t turn into vengeful ghosts, but I know that if an Executor doesn’t die in the dungeon, they’ll definitely turn into a vengeful ghost."

Seeing that Qin Su didn't react, Fang Xiqiong continued, "Back then, I also wanted to enter her instance, be killed by her, and become a resentful soul. But the Fang family can’t become Executors, and when we die, we die for good. We can’t turn into vengeful ghosts, or resentful souls, or wandering souls*."

*can't remember If already noted this but:

厉鬼 (Lìguǐ) = Vengeful/ Malevolent/Fierce ghosts - caused by malicious/wrongful death.

怨魂 (Yuànhún)= Resentful souls - caused by betrayal or maltreatment when they were alive.

游魂(Yóuhún) = Wandering souls - restless, roaming spirits who lack proper burial rites, living relatives to honor them, or a clear path back to the underworld.

The first two are often used interchangeably, nowadays.

Qin Su finally turned her head and looked at Fang Xiqiong in surprise.

Fang Xiqiong smiled bitterly. "Maybe the controller feels sorry for me, allowing her to visit me occasionally. But we’re all just 'puppets in its hands.'"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."

"It's alright. I want to protect the Executors because I don’t want to see anyone go through life-and-death separations. I gave you this suggestion because I wanted you all to... forget it, no matter what, I shouldn't have encouraged you to kill."

Qin Su looked at Fang Xiqiong for a long time before finally saying, "Don't work so hard. You can't save everyone."

"Yes, I know."