Chapter 8

Chapter 7 – Changming Town 7

Under the moon, in front of the graves.

Shi Zong’s hand trembled as he received a compulsory red-thread storyline—

The moonlight, like cold smoke and gauze, gradually made the graveyard even more eerie.

Jiang Wan’er lifted her face, looking a bit confused, a bit desolate, and somewhat fearful.

“Second Young Master, I…I…”

She seemed frightened. After standing up, she quickly took two steps back.

But then she saw Li Ershao relentlessly following her, both hands reaching out. “Wan’er, come with me. Okay? Come with me! Stay with me! Stay with me in the underworld!!!”

Her former lover had turned into a murderous spirit. Jiang Wan’er’s pupils contracted, terror flooding her face. She immediately turned and ran toward the river.

Leaving this graveyard should be enough, right?

I need to get across to the other side of the lake quickly!

Unexpectedly, after only a few steps, she ran into a familiar figure exuding decay.

—It was her second husband, Wang Zhien!

“You… you too…”

Jiang Wan’er stumbled, nearly falling, her whole body trembling uncontrollably.

“Wan’er. I agree with him. Come to the underworld, stay with me.

“When we were in the human world, the timing of our meeting wasn’t right. By the time I met you, it was too late—you had already fallen for Li Ershao.

“So, Wan’er, give me another chance. Come down first, in the underworld. The three of us will meet you there. We can compete fairly…”

Three?

Three who?

Could it be…

Out of the corner of her eye, Jiang Wan’er noticed something and broke out in a cold sweat.

A tall figure in a suit, also pale-faced, approached.

It was Li Darshao, the eldest young master of the Li family.

Jiang Wan’er had only recently married him, and he had fallen ill shortly after. Whenever they met afterward, he was either in bed or in a wheelchair.

She hadn’t seen him stand in a long time, and now he looked both unfamiliar and familiar.

After a brief shock, only fear remained in her heart.

Eldest Young Master Li Darshao, Second Young Master Li Ershao, Wang Zhien from the Wang family—seeing the ghosts of these three men, Jiang Wan’er was completely overwhelmed with terror.

In addition, a vague feeling, similar to disgust, rose from deep inside her.

This emotion was even unfamiliar to Jiang Wan’er herself.

But she couldn’t dwell on it; she had to fight for her life and carve out a path to escape.

The three ghosts almost formed a circle around her.

Knowing she couldn’t force her way out, she pretended to still have feelings for them, chatting casually to lower their guard, planning to escape when the opportunity arose.

Eldest Young Master Li: “So, Wan’er, who do you truly like? Who do you want to be with?”

Wang Zhien: “You have the nerve to ask that? You were the cruelest to Wan’er!”

Li Darshao: “Second Young Master, that’s not fair. When Wan’er first joined the family, I treated her well. Later I fell seriously ill and didn’t want to delay her, so I pretended to be indifferent…”

Li Ershao suddenly interjected: “Brother, you truly hurt Wan’er’s heart back then. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Looking at the two brothers, Wang Zhien quickly added: “Don’t try to scheme behind my back, you two. This time, I definitely won’t lose!”

…

Taking advantage of their squabble, Jiang Wan’er quickly fanned the flames.

She said, “Why wait to choose later? I’ll choose now. Each of you give me a reason. Whoever convinces me, I’ll decide to be with them.”

Her words successfully escalated the argument between the three.

Soon enough, they actually started fighting.

Now’s the time. I have to escape now!

Taking a deep breath, Jiang Wan’er immediately turned and ran toward the river—

A moment later, at the Four-Leaf Clover River.

Shi Zong, forced to act out a “three ghosts fighting over one woman” scenario, was silent.

By the river, the red thread on his hand finally disappeared.

Zuo Sanqiu followed, barely holding back laughter.

“Whoa, hahaha. At first, I was really scared. But then this… hahaha…

“Such a pity, why didn’t Young Master Wang say his line—‘I’m not here to break up this family, I’m here to join it’?

“Seriously, why am I playing Jiang Wan’er? This role is every otome player’s dream! Those three men are all handsome…

“Hahaha, I’ve never seen ghosts fight over a woman in my life…”

Shi Zong glanced at him coolly, interrupting in a flat tone. “You seem to have forgotten, you almost became my fourth husband. If the wedding had gone smoothly, you might have been like them. Zhang Lang—”

The words “Zhang Lang” successfully shut Zuo Sanqiu up.

Realizing something, Zuo Sanqiu turned and saw that the three ghosts seemed to notice Jiang Wan’er had escaped. They silently stopped fighting, looked toward this side, and began approaching step by step.

He immediately stopped laughing, stood, and dusted himself off. “Let’s go!”

After crossing the river in haste, Zuo Sanqiu shook off the water from his legs and glanced toward the opposite bank. The three ghosts had reached the riverbank and were staring over.

Three men, all handsome but with different appearances, stood under the moonlight with pale, gray faces, their eyes deep and unreadable.

Yet they didn’t attempt to cross.

After a while, they turned in unison and returned to the graveyard, their figures disappearing among the tombstones like moonlight.

Zuo Sanqiu exhaled deeply and collapsed onto the grass.

His legs were frozen from the river, his back sweaty from fear—hot and cold in turn, as if he were splitting in two.

At this moment, he clearly saw that the three ghosts were actually players.

“So strange… really strange. What’s going on with this scenario?”

He couldn’t help but look at Shi Zong. “You said there’s truth on the other side of the river. Did you figure it out?”

Shi Zong asked, “Don’t just get distracted by that ridiculous drama. Did you notice anything off?”

Zuo Sanqiu thought and replied: “Mm… They like you, probably because of the love spell. The potion must be taken regularly to maintain its effect. Li Ershao just died, so that aside, the other two shouldn’t be affected by the spell anymore, yet they acted deeply in love in front of you.”

Shi Zong said: “Putting the spell aside, all three mentioned the same thing—they want me to go to the underworld with them.

“If this were a story of unfinished human-ghost love, if a ghost were obsessive enough to want to kill a lover to bring her down, what would he do?”

Zuo Sanqiu: “He’d immediately kill the lover. But these three ghosts… they fuss, act in love, play melodrama, even fight… yet they don’t harm you!

“One, maybe two not touching you is fine… all three? Strange.

“Wait… this is a variant scenario. The ghosts should know magic, right? But their fighting and arguing… acts just like humans?”

“They didn’t kill me, maybe because they don’t want to, maybe because they can’t, or maybe they still need me for something. Either way, they don’t intend to kill me.”

Shi Zong said flatly: “They didn’t kill me, yet kept telling me to go underground. When I first appeared in the graveyard, they appeared before me and said this. Why do you think that is?”

Zuo Sanqiu thought for a moment and realized: “They’re trying to scare you. They want… right, they want you to be frightened and leave the graveyard! They don’t want you to continue exploring!”

“Yes.” Shi Zong nodded. “This further confirms my guess. There is indeed crucial truth on the other side of the river. But my three husbands don’t want me to know yet.

“No rush. Let’s go. Tonight we need to find a place to stay. We’ll dig up the grave later.”

Seeing Shi Zong turn toward the town, Zuo Sanqiu followed. “You want to dig up a grave? You’re not going to do it yourself, right? You mean to make me do it?”

Shi Zong: “Are you willing?”

Zuo Sanqiu: “If I’m not willing, you’d just call me ‘Zhang Lang,’ right?”

Shi Zong: “Zhang Lang is clever.”

“…Please shut up!”

“Okay.”

“Hey, wait. Why did you call me to hide behind the bushes?

“I don’t feel like I helped at all.

“Do you think those three ghosts are really ghosts?

“I feel like my parents didn’t want to harm me. Why did they make me marry? What is the point?”

Zuo Sanqiu asked many questions; Shi Zong didn’t answer.

Suddenly realizing something,

Once he crossed the river, he might encounter the ghosts of the three men trying to harm him.

In that case, he could call out Zhang Ye, played by Zuo Sanqiu, to tell the three men that they hadn’t truly married yet, and that the Zhang family’s use of Jiang Wan’er wasn’t finished.

Then the three ghosts surely wouldn’t kill her.

In short, bringing Zuo Sanqiu along was purely for self-preservation.

On the way, Shi Zong briefly explained his thoughts.

Zuo Sanqiu was completely stunned. After a long moment, he looked at him in disbelief. “What the hell? I’m already dead? When did you come to that conclusion?”

Shi Zong answered honestly: “After chatting with you this afternoon.”

Zuo Sanqiu nearly jumped out of his skin.

If he was already dead, how could he die again?

This is a variant scenario. Playing as a ghost in the game wasn’t a problem.

Why didn’t Shi Zong tell him the truth?

Was he worried that if I knew, I wouldn’t wholeheartedly help him?

Why does Shi Zong have so many schemes?

Why is he so unwilling to trust others?

The more he thought, the angrier Zuo Sanqiu got.

Though he had some grievances with Shi Zong, overall he was still grateful to this boss.

If it were a stranger, he wouldn’t stand by and watch them die, let alone someone he knew.

Apparently, Shi Zong didn’t trust his character at all.

Not only that, he treated him purely as a tool.

Zuo Sanqiu glared at Shi Zong, ready to curse, but Shi Zong said: “Ghosts can die again. After all, there’s a sorcerer in the dungeon, and a sorcerer can exorcise ghosts.”

Zuo Sanqiu immediately retorted: “But when you schemed all this this afternoon, you didn’t even know Elder Gong was a sorcerer! You were just lying—”

Shi Zong interrupted him: “I’m just trying to survive, and I’m also bringing you to uncover the truth.

“The system designs such a complex story for a reason. If I die, many clues are lost, and it might end up as an ordinary orthodox mystery. But with me guiding you to restore the story, the rewards for all of us are higher. Helping myself is actually helping you.”

Zuo Sanqiu: “……”

—Wait, that’s not the point! The point is you insulted my character!

“Moreover,” Shi Zong suddenly said, “I actually changed my mind about crossing the river. I think maybe none of you four are really dead.”

What does that mean?

Zuo Sanqiu wanted to ask but suddenly felt a jolt in his hand—

The system had a new plot arranged!

2:30 a.m.

Jiang Wan’er and Zhang Ye found a place called Eternal Burial Inn to stay.

The inn was huge, seemingly transformed from an ancient garden, with lakes, lawns, pavilions, corridors, and many rooms—sprawling over a wide area.

Strangely, there wasn’t a single staff member in the inn.

Fortunately, the rooms were fairly clean. They picked two, tidied up a little, and settled in.

Staying the whole night in the room was part of the unavoidable red-thread storyline Shi Zong received.

He suspected that the murder in this dungeon would happen tonight.

From a game design perspective, player-controlled characters can act freely during the story phase. That’s fine.

But the murder requires careful, detailed reasoning—every detail matters.

During this time, the system restricted the player’s freedom, which was understandable.

Shi Zong guessed correctly.

When Jiang Wan’er woke up, it was 8:40 a.m.

After washing up and stepping out, he encountered Zhang Ye, played by Zuo Sanqiu, in the corridor.

Looking at him, Zuo Sanqiu delivered a line: “I was about to go out and buy you something to eat, but everyone had disappeared… so I had to return to the inn and make something in the kitchen myself. Later, I was told… Elder Gong had died!”

In Shi Zong’s mind appeared the system’s text—

【[Storyline 2] successfully activated. The deceased in this storyline is ‘Elder Gong.’】

【The death of Elder Gong triggers the dungeon’s murder case. Players must identify the real killer of Elder Gong.】

【Elder Gong died at Dongxian Fufu Residence, his home; in his living quarters was a note—‘Jiang Wan’er is at Eternal Burial Inn.’】

【After investigating the whole town, anyone not staying at Eternal Burial Inn last night is impossible to be the culprit. Preliminary deduction: among the six people who stayed at the inn last night, one is the killer. They are Jiang Wan’er, Zhang Ye, Li Guangrong, Li Guangtong, Li Zhaodi, Wang Zhien.】

Author’s note:

Xiaoshi’s dungeon path—encounter the boss, make the boss fall in love with me, boss dies. Hooray~