"What do you want to choose?" Ji Heng asked him after giving an example.
Su Er tried his best to avoid eye contact: "Look at you."
Wei Jun had recovered from the pain of the contrast and simply spoke about the matter itself: "Death is a scam, but wealth and honor are sought through risk."
In the game, you have to pay for what you get. The things that ghosts give voluntarily can often bring huge benefits to players, but they are also fatal.
Su Er knew what he meant, but pursed his lips and said nothing. Because of their friendship as classmates, he preferred to believe that Zhu Yun wanted to give him something, but due to the rules, he could only give it in exchange for killing her.
This analysis may be stupid, but it can bring considerable psychological comfort.
Ji Heng saw the yearning in Su Er's eyes and made the final decision: "Then go and take a look."
At daybreak, the three of them set out together.
According to Suer's plan, he tried to rush to the scene. If he was lucky, he might be able to get the treasure and catch the last train of the fortune teller.
Wei Jun laughed after hearing this: "Fortunately, it's Ji Heng and I who are with you."
Otherwise, with this kind of personality, whether or not he would be killed by ghosts is another matter, but he would definitely be beaten half to death by players with a broken mentality.
Su Er smiled and suddenly looked up at the gray sky. The moon hadn't completely disappeared yet, as if making its final struggle before sunrise. He couldn't help but say, "Cao Ledao and the other player are about to die. I wonder if they can make it through."
"Very little." Wei Jun said honestly, "Only if they take the initiative to attack and look for clues will there be a chance of turning things around."
In his opinion, among the remaining players, only Song Jiayue has this qualification.
Su Er didn't say much. He helped when he could in the game, but the rest of the time, he had to earn his own life.
Wei Jun stopped and said, "I think I understand why Ji Heng chose you to go to the tomb."
Soul raised an eyebrow.
Wei Jun pointed to the haunted house just ahead and said softly, "Knowing there's a tiger in the mountain, I still go there."
Ji Heng, who was walking in front, did not deny it. He walked forward, knocked on the door symbolically, and then pushed it open.
The house was still deserted and overgrown with weeds.
Sulting hoped to continue encountering obstacles so that he could explore the well with legitimate reasons after finding it.
Unfortunately, Tian Yi Gua didn't give him this opportunity. The old man sat on the stone table, cooking the corpse fluid. Seeing that the snake behind them hadn't grown much, he narrowed his eyes in surprise. His gaze swept over Su Er, and his dissatisfaction almost reached its peak.
"What did you do to the snake?"
It would be fine if the scales were damaged, but the pair of cold snake eyes were now dull.
Su Er glanced back and was also shocked by the miserable appearance. He calmed down and said firmly: "It's fake, it's a scam."
Thinking back, he really hadn't done much to the flower snake. He'd simply let the children rub it and give it an electric shock, and he'd rarely fed it blood. Compared to the flower snake's repeated attempts to kill people, Su Er felt he was repaying evil with kindness.
Of course, Tianyi Gua does not agree with this argument.
"You don't deserve it."
The old man waved his hand, and the flower snake swam back to him as if it was liberated.
"Wow." Wei Jun looked at Su Er: "The last thing that can threaten you is gone."
Su Er looked up at the sky: "Today is a good day."
It didn't matter whether his fate was changed or not. He had chosen a flower snake back then simply to mine potential information and escape the dungeon. Now that he knew snakes were likely to eat people, and if they continued to live in their place, they would be a threat.
"…"
The moment the flower snake returned, the old man regained his composure. After drinking the freshly cooked corpse fluid, he seemed to be in a good mood.
Su Er leaned forward and said, "I'll fill it up for you."
The old man looked at him deeply. He had seen shameless people before, but he had never seen a shameless person who was so familiar.
Sur tentatively reached out his hand towards the small teapot, and seeing that the other party did not stop him, he lifted it up and backed away little by little. During this time, the old man suddenly coughed, and in a few breaths, Sur retreated several meters away.
Running backwards is so steady and so fast!
Wei Jun, with a complicated expression, expressed everyone's thoughts: "He's truly a talented player."
Pretending not to notice the others' gazes, Sur approached the well, poking half his head out and peering into the murky water for a long time. The carcass of the dead flower snake that had been thrown in that day was still floating on the surface, miraculously, without any maggots.
It is not actually accurate to call it a well. It does not circulate with the groundwater. It is more like a vat where various corpses are thrown into and then filled with unknown liquid for soaking.
Su Er didn't see anything special.
Seeing his timid look, the old man smiled coldly: "Do you want me to take you down to have a look?"
Suhr declined the offer.
There was a long spoon hanging on the side, probably used by the old man to collect corpse fluids.
Suer stirred it once, but didn't find anything the first time, so he stirred it a second time.
The old man couldn't bear to watch it anymore and shouted, "Stop it."
Su Er looked up and saw the disgust in his eyes, feeling a little puzzled.
"Scoop from the top." The old man seemed to be feeling a little nauseous.
Su Er was stunned for a moment, but the white fox came over to stop him from continuing his suicidal behavior: "He is half human and half ghost, and he drinks these to prolong his life."
The so-called cooking process and savoring the tea with tea sets are, after all, nothing but self-deception.
Suer couldn't understand why ghosts couldn't behave properly. Gou Baopu and the gardener saw that the meatballs he made with monster meat looked like this that day. It was obvious that ghosts shouldn't have any aversions to these things.
Sur didn't give up and tried one last time. His arm stiffened slightly in mid-air and he felt the surface of the spoon seemed to touch something soft and slid over again.
"So you came here for that thing." The old man's eyes moved and he walked straight over.
This time, Sur didn't retreat, but deliberately walked to the other side to keep a safe distance.
The old man rolled up his sleeves, reached into the thick corpse fluid and stirred it. Finally, he pursed his lips into a line and pulled hard, and an eyeball as big as a fist appeared in his hand.
This was Tianyi Gua's territory, and unless he was killed, there was no way to conceal the truth. Su Er didn't react much when he saw his strange eyeballs being taken away, just waiting for the old man to propose his terms.
Unexpectedly, the next moment the other party actually handed him the eyeball.
Su Er was in a dilemma whether to accept or not.
"I was entrusted with this thing and promised to give it to the right person."
Facing the old man's evil smile, Su Er asked: "What does it mean to be a destined person?"
"According to her, I want to skin and kill her a thousand times, but it wouldn't be enough."
"…"
Su Er carefully held out the long spoon: "Please put the food in."
The old man's eyelids twitched. How could a person be so afraid of death?
At this moment, Ji Heng, who had acquiesced to Suer's actions throughout, suddenly appeared in front of him with lightning speed, pulled Suer back a few steps, and almost at the same time, his eyeballs jumped out of the spoon, jumping up and down in the air, rushing towards Suer.
This scene was obviously beyond the old man's expectations, and he was a little surprised.
Its eyes seemed to be locked on Sur. Even though Ji Heng was blocking its way, it still made a detour and attacked from behind.
Ji Heng punched him, but his eyes trembled and he didn't react much.
Su Er had seen the other party beat ghosts to death. Could it be that the eyes were more powerful than ghosts?
"Space." Ji Heng's face darkened.
When the force value exceeds the critical point, it can slightly distort space to harm ghosts and monsters, but this eyeball can obviously escape in different spaces. If this is the case...
Ji Heng pushed Suer away, but it was too late. His eyes were clearly still one meter away, but they suddenly appeared in front of Suer and merged directly into his forehead.
"Two eyeballs?" Su Er was stunned.
Ji Heng frowned: "This is a physical entity. What we just saw was probably the afterimage left behind by it escaping through space."
Su Er didn't quite understand what he heard. He only knew that he had an extra eye inside him. He touched his forehead tremblingly: "I'm not... Erlang Shen?"
Ji Heng didn't say anything and poured out some incense ash from a small bottle. Sul didn't know what it was, but seeing Wei Jun walking behind him and staring at the incense ash with a look of pain and envy on his face, he knew it was of extraordinary value.
"have eaten."
It was just incense ash, but Suer could accept it and swallowed it obediently.
Ji Heng: "Do you feel a burning sensation?"
Su Er shook his head: "It's a bit bitter."
Ji Heng: "That's good."
In the face of Su Er's puzzled gaze, Wei Jun helped explain: "This means that you are not parasitized by the monster."
The old man seemed to be very interested in the eyeball that had merged into Sur's body, but because of the blood oath he had made, he did not dissect the person to investigate.
"Get the stuff and get out of here."
Su Er had many questions in his mind. On the one hand, he was worried that it would be inconvenient to ask because there were other people present. On the other hand, the answer given by Tianyi Gua might be misleading, so it would be better not to explore it. So he nodded to Ji Heng, indicating that he wanted to leave.
As soon as he stepped out of the door, a strong pain came from his head, as if something exploded inside. Sur quickly sat down against the wall with his head in his hands.
After calming down a bit, I looked down and saw that my spiritual value had decreased a lot.
Ji Heng didn't help him up immediately. He let him rest there for a while before asking, "What's wrong?"
"I saw..." He clenched his fingers, leaving traces of nails on the ground. Su Er's face was extremely ugly. "The streets... are all full of snakes."
It was the same snake that appeared in their room last night, with a human face and a snake body, but it was transparent and attached to a human shell.
Wei Jun, who was closest to the door, looked outside. This place was remote, with not many people passing by, and they all looked quite ordinary.
Ji Heng thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid it has something to do with that eyeball. It should have a special function just like the charm value."
Unfortunately, the two sides have just merged, and Sul cannot control them freely.
Wei Jun's expression turned unhappy when he heard this: "It's troublesome. We can't let him walk with his eyes closed all the time."
Su Er smiled bitterly: "I can see it even with my eyes closed. It feels amazing."
He supported himself on the ground and stood up, looking at the old man in the distance: "What have you done to the people of Tianji City?"
Facing the Tianyi Gua, there was also a tingling in the head, but it was not very strong. The old man's condition seemed to be different from the snake people outside... Suer touched his forehead, and the things that merged into his body seemed to help him see the essence of things.
The old man sighed: "That eyeball is really a good thing."
If I had known earlier, I shouldn't have sworn a blood oath and should have found a way to take it for myself.
"Didn't you see..." The old man sighed regretfully, his attitude superior: "I have granted most people a longer lifespan."
Sur thought of the scene on the street when he came here. Some people were bargaining, and some were shouting to do business. How could monsters pretend so well, unless they didn't know that they had turned into monsters.
Bai Hu nearly fainted after hearing this conversation. Tianji City was filled with so many experts, how could they all become ghosts? The key point was that she hadn't noticed anything unusual.
Soul looked at him: "Why?"
The old man said calmly, "Just like the jade pendant you brought here... Even though I gave him something to protect himself, the child still died at the age of twenty."
As the culprit, the white fox didn't dare to say a word at this moment.
"Evil spirits like demons and ghosts can live for thousands or even hundreds of years, but humans only have a few dozen." The old man said calmly, "It's clear that humans are the leaders of all spirits."
It was easy to use his past fame to gain trust and reform the people here bit by bit. He succeeded and has no regrets.
"These people still retain their original consciousness and think they are normal people. They just occasionally lose control at night, but it's not a big deal."
Unfortunately, the research is not yet complete, and if one survives in this state, he or she can only live to the age of seventy at most.
Suer had no intention of reasoning with the madman at all. He was thinking about how to get out.
There were more people walking around in the market ahead, and the pair of eyes hidden within his body were automatically observing without control, which would eventually drain his spiritual power. There was only one Tianyi Gua in the house, and the Flower Snake was its original form, so the impact was negligible.
Seeing Suer's plan, the old man gloated and said, "You can stay with me, but only you can stay."
After he finished speaking, he looked at Wei Jun and Ji Heng and said, "If you don't leave before I finish this cup of tea, I will chase him away."
It's dangerous to stay, but it's not a wise decision to go out and hang around.
Even if you hide, who knows what will appear on the streets when it gets dark.
Choosing the lesser of two evils, Soul whispered, "I'll stay."
Ji Heng handed him the bottle he had previously poured out of the incense ash and whispered, "Control the use of your eyes as soon as possible."
Soul nodded.
But a moment later: only the old man and Su'er were left in the house.
"If you stay, you have to work." He was extremely malicious towards Su Er: "Come with me."
Every time he came here, his activities were limited to the outskirts of the house. This was the first time Suer entered the inner courtyard.
The main hall was bare. The old man lifted a few small blue bricks, revealing a small iron door. Beneath lay a hidden cellar. Walking down the long stone steps, the air was damp, cold, and fishy.
As the torches on both sides were lit, everything inside finally became clear.
The surrounding stone walls were carved with images of many gods, including Nuwa, Fuxi, and some gods whose names could not be pronounced. Each one had a human face and a snake body, but the carvings in this place lacked majesty and instead gave off a touch of evil.
In the front, an old man's body was frozen in ice. There were no signs of post-mortem lividity, suggesting he had died recently. The skin below the neck had become completely covered in snakeskin patterns, resembling a dense web at first glance.
The old man handed Sur a knife and said, "Take out the snake eggs from his body and soak them in the corpse fluid. As for his internal organs, take them out separately and store them in small jars."
After giving the task, the old man turned and walked up: "The moment the moon comes out, if you don't hand in the finished product..."
The following words were replaced by a sneer, and then a reminder -
"Remember, there are at least hundreds of snake eggs, and there are also some in the brain. Not a single one can be lost."
Suer was certain that this guy was deliberately disgusting and punishing him.
Being in a cellar with corpses couldn't be a pleasant experience. There were many small cans on the shelves, each with a label, and the liquids inside were of different colors.
There were a few jars at the bottom, and Suer could barely make out some of them: pig's heart, and it seemed there were also duck intestines, mouse's tail, etc.
He took a breath and walked over to the body.
Something seemed to be wriggling inside the dead man's shrunken stomach, as if about to burst out at any moment. Sur guessed it was snake eggs; if they came out, he would definitely die without a burial place.
Fortunately, the Tianyi Gua does not specify that things must be alive, so we can find a loophole in this regard.
For safety, the best way is to kill the snake eggs first.
Su Er poured all kinds of strange liquids down his mouth without thinking. Worried that the snake eggs might not die, he added some incense ash left by Ji Heng before he left.
…
The sky gradually darkened. The old man leaned against a tree and looked at the pitch-black sky. He stretched out his skinny hand and said, "Life is only a hundred years long. It's too short. I can't accept this..."
The moon finally came out.
Tian Yi Gua's personality has changed a lot in the past few years. He is obsessed with survival and even wants everyone to live a hundred years. But occasionally he can't control himself and kills people. Killing can give him a kind of pleasure.
He stood up with a smile and walked in one direction.
Suer was sitting on the small iron door of the cellar, motionless. When he saw the old man coming, his eyes flickered and he took a step back.
The old man smiled and said, "Failed? Looks like I have no choice but to ask you to leave."
Tianji City is not safe at night. Anyone who goes out will surely die.
The old man stepped closer, eager to see him being eaten.
"You said before that humans should live for hundreds of years. I don't think that's right." Su Er didn't beg for mercy. Instead, he smiled a smile uglier than crying. "We should live as long as the sky."
Thinking that he was afraid of death and was deliberately saying flattering words, the old man curled his lips and was about to say something -
Boom!
There was a loud noise under the iron gate, as if something was banging against it.
The old man frowned. At normal speed, snake eggs would not grow so fast.
Sur stated what he had done: "I poured all the liquid into the body and added some other things."
Hearing this, the old man showed a hint of interest: "Can it promote the differentiation of snake eggs inside the corpse?"
This is an unexpected gain.
Sur shook his head, blocking the entrance tightly, and said faintly, "There is a creature whose lifespan is even longer than that of the snake people..."
Clang, clang! The crashing sound became more violent, and the iron door was almost deformed!
Su Er's face turned pale: "...That thing is called a zombie!"