Chapter 139

Xu An didn’t take the drink—he didn’t drink that stuff.

Tang Tian, holding the drink, asked the long-tongued woman in shock, “Why did you come up here?”

Wasn’t she supposed to be guarding the entrance?

Although Tang Tian also understood—people (or ghosts) who love watching drama and hearing gossip couldn’t resist a spectacle like this.

The long-tongued woman gave a fairly reasonable explanation: “Isn’t he stuck here?”

So coming up to take a look for a while wouldn’t delay anything.

Tang Tian found that very reasonable too.

While Tang Tian and the long-tongued woman were just casually brainstorming, the livestream chat completely exploded. Line after line was filled with:

“I ship it!”

Paranoid Bride Ghost × Popular Female Star—the sequel is here, and this time it’s just pure, blatant sweetness.

…

【She, the Bride Ghost from Happiness Village, is the biggest boss in the village—the strongest fighter in the entire dungeon—but for the sake of a few brief meetings with the big star Shi Jian, she willingly gave up everything and became Shi Jian’s spirit pet... New viewers, do you really think the Bride Ghost wanted to kill Shi Jian? No, it’s just tsundere behavior. She’s reserved. What she really wants to say is: ‘She’s mine.’】

There were other interpretations too.

【Paranoia, deep infatuation, unwavering devotion—now with added yandere traits. The Bride Ghost is clearly the most popular male character archetype right now... She never says “I love you,” but every action, every word screams love for the big star!】

【If I didn’t know the truth, I might’ve believed it. (dog head emoji)】

The master, seeing this scene, felt utterly deceived. From Shi Jian and the others’ expressions, he thought some new helper had arrived, but this was clearly helping Shi Jian’s side—viciously smashing his puppets even worse than Shi Jian had done.

Watching his fake-smile employees get torn apart in seconds by the Bride Ghost, the master trembled all over in fury. He blurted out to Shi Jian:

“You’re even playing these sneaky tricks—damn, your acting is way too real!”

Was it really necessary to mess with someone’s psyche like this?

He actually believed it.

Shi Jian looked very innocent in the face of the master’s accusations.

She admitted that in the past she often acted, using all kinds of performances to confuse the ghosts.

But this time she really wasn’t acting.

They genuinely thought the Bride Ghost would come straight at her with a knife—just didn’t expect the ghost to be so obsessed with being the only one to do it, to the point that she turned on the fake-smile employees just to eliminate competition.

Still, Shi Jian had no intention of explaining this to the master—after all, the current situation was working in their favor.

Now’s the time!

Shi Jian quietly tightened her grip on the chainsaw, her body tensing.

The Bride Ghost’s combat ability needed no elaboration. Taking down the fake-smile employees was like playing Fruit Ninja—and Shi Jian seized the chance while they were being pinned down to make her move.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. The viewers hadn’t even shifted their attention from the Bride Ghost’s last line when they vaguely saw something dart out.It was Shi Jian.

Shi Jian shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, rushing straight to the master. He didn’t even have time to utter a single word before the rapidly spinning chainsaw blade embedded itself into the area of his heart.

Shi Jian remembered what the dark-eyed girl had said. She pushed with her arm, driving the chainsaw in even deeper.

“Vrrr—”

The sound of the sharp blade meeting flesh and bone echoed in the sealed space.

The master’s face was full of disbelief, but there was nothing he could do. The light quickly faded from his eyes.

He was dead.

Reflected in Shi Jian’s beautiful eyes beneath the flat mirror lenses was the master’s expression of shock. Her hair lifted slightly, and Shi Jian smiled as she summed it up: “Strike while the enemy is down—what else?”

The whole point was to catch him off guard. Were they supposed to give him a chance to react?

…

【Shi Jian fairy is the best!】

【She’s the goddess of exorcism!】

【Aaaaah! Wifey is so badass—nice work!】

Tang Tian also thought it was beautifully done.

Shi Jian’s chainsaw had already split open the master’s chest. She felt it had cut into the heart.

Shi Jian was thrilled: according to the dark-eyed girl’s tip, piercing the heart would break the dark spell—meaning they could now complete the side mission.

Victory was just ahead!

Just as Shi Jian was planning to finish the job more thoroughly, a red figure suddenly swept past.

The Bride Ghost unexpectedly beat Shi Jian to it. She used her long fingernails to scoop out the master’s heart entirely, then quickly shoved it into her mouth and began eating it.

Yes, eating it.

As if afraid someone might snatch it from her.

Shi Jian: “…”

Tang Tian: “…”

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Of course, Shi Jian soon broke the silence. Now she was the one in disbelief.

Shi Jian’s pupils contracted in shock as she shouted at the Bride Ghost, “Why do you eat everything?!”

The viewers initially thought Shi Jian was angry that the Bride Ghost had ruined things.

After all, the master’s heart was key to completing the side quest.

But then they heard Shi Jian frown and say, “Isn’t that filthy?!”

Shi Jian was just slightly breaking down.Eating a raw heart—and the master’s heart was even a little blackened—and the Bride Ghost just ate it like that?

Shi Jian couldn’t understand it either. The Bride Ghost’s mouth wasn’t even that big—how did she manage to fit it in?

Everyone: ??? That’s what you’re focusing on?

It was starting to sound like someone lecturing their kid or pet not to eat random stuff.

The long-tongued woman looked at the fallen master and acted as his mouthpiece, saying, “Shi Jian’s being a little rude.”

And faced with Shi Jian’s loud questioning, the Bride Ghost chose to turn her back, avoiding her gaze, and continued chewing.

She was really into it—her cheeks were puffed out with how much she was chewing.

Shi Jian snapped out of her frustration and got back to the point. “…What’s going on here?”

Tang Tian leaned in close to Shi Jian and shook his head—he didn’t get it either.

“She was really into eating organs before?”

Tang Tian pointed at the Bride Ghost, wearing an expression that said he truly didn’t know what to say.

Shi Jian couldn’t recall the Bride Ghost ever eating anyone back in Happiness Village. And after she became her spirit pet, Shi Jian had only ever fed her expensive spirit pet treats.

But—“Anyway, she seems to be really enjoying it right now.”

The beauty was silent.

Shi Jian could feel that this heart seemed to have a strong pull on the Bride Ghost.

The viewers, with their godlike perspective, could see everything clearly.

In the brief moment when Shi Jian had ambushed the master, the Bride Ghost had already taken care of most of the fake-smile employees. One moment she was tearing them apart with her bare hands, and the next, her eyes were locked onto the heart now exposed to the air. That’s when the heart-snatching-eating moment happened.

Xu An picked up on the situation. “The real question now is, can we still complete the mission like this?”

Shi Jian couldn’t answer—but she saw someone who could.

The dark-eyed girl had been paying close attention to Shi Jian’s progress. After using every bit of her strength to make it to the rooftop, she didn’t even want to recall how difficult the journey had been.

By the time she arrived, the master was already lying on the ground. It looked like things had ended—Shi Jian’s side had won.

But the moment Shi Jian saw her, her eyes lit up.

“Just the person I needed!”

“You said earlier, if we want to stop everything, we need to pierce the master’s heart—so… does chewing it to bits count?”

The dark-eyed girl could understand the first part—she even nodded along, yes, that’s what needed to be done.

But when she heard the end: ????

What? Chew what?

She’d never thought a few short words could be so difficult to process.

But even that wasn’t the most shocking part.

The one who took the real critical hit… was the team leader.

…The team leader had finally managed to break free from Xiao Mei’s restraints with all his strength, and he arrived burning with rage.

He was coming to settle the score with Shi Jian. He wanted revenge.

He had been completely screwed over by Shi Jian!

In his head, the team leader had already imagined countless scenarios of successful revenge. His entire ghostly form was puffed up with pride, overflowing with confidence and righteous fury.

All of that came to a halt the moment he heard Shi Jian say—

“We need to pierce the master’s heart, so… does chewing it to bits count?”

Team Leader: !!!

The master’s heart was actually chewed up by Shi Jian?!

When she’d said earlier that she was going to eat the boss, she really wasn’t joking.

The team leader froze in place. He no longer had even a shred of desire to get revenge on Shi Jian. He carefully lightened his footsteps and quietly switched to escape mode, retreating the way he came. Now all he could do was pray Shi Jian didn’t spot him.

Team Leader: It’s not that I’m a coward—who could keep a straight face in front of a heart-eating maniac?

I gotta save my own skin. I still have a physical body, after all.

…

Shi Jian had no idea the team leader had just played out a one-man drama with no audience before slinking away. Her attention was still on the task at hand.

The dark-eyed girl was confused too, but she still cooperated. “In theory… it should be fine?”

It’s destroyed either way, right? As long as it’s smashed, it counts?

Shi Jian let out a sigh of relief and beamed. “Then it counts.”

“Did you get the notification?”

She raised her phone and asked Tang Tian and Xu An.

Earlier, they had accepted the side mission. Just now, their phones had notified them: “Side Mission [Break the Dark Spell] Completed.”

There was also a follow-up: “Rewards will be issued after the instance ends.”

Those two lines looked absolutely beautiful to Shi Jian.

The Time Reversal Card—they had secured it.

Tang Tian and Xu An spoke at the same time:

“Got it.”

“Me too.”

Completing this side mission hadn’t been easy. There were twists and turns, but in the end, it had worked out.

The mood instantly brightened. Staying tense throughout the entire instance was exhausting.

The long-tongued woman pointed to the side and reminded Shi Jian, “She’s coming at you.”

Actually, even without her saying anything, Shi Jian had already noticed.Over on the other side, the Bride Ghost had rebelliously finished eating the master’s heart with her back to Shi Jian. The moment she swallowed the last bite, she charged straight at Shi Jian—seamlessly, without pause.

She moved so fast, even dust trailed behind her.

Her nails were spread, razor-sharp.

The Bride Ghost’s desire to stab Shi Jian’s heart had never changed.

Shi Jian: “……” Still at it.

With that kind of energy, couldn’t she find something more productive to do?

Shi Jian wasn’t too flustered, though. Even though they hadn’t been immediately removed from the instance yet—likely some kind of buffer period—she now had the Spirit Pet Ball in hand.

Xu An had picked it up and handed it back to her. When the master rang the bell earlier, Shi Jian’s Spirit Pet Ball, along with the Bride Ghost, had fallen out of her inventory.

Now that she had the ball again, no matter how wild the Bride Ghost got, it wouldn’t matter.

Shi Jian just stood there bored, waiting to put the Bride Ghost away.

But as the Bride Ghost ran, her body suddenly underwent a dramatic transformation—she seemed to shrink rapidly.

Though the Bride Ghost had originally been slightly shorter than Shi Jian, she still had the height and build of an adult woman. But now, she abruptly shrank into the form of a little girl about three or four years old.

Even her clothes and accessories shrank with her.

Shi Jian blinked: ? What is this now?

The chibi version of the Bride Ghost didn’t seem to notice anything was wrong—until she reached Shi Jian.

Shi Jian didn’t dodge. Instead, she reached out and pressed a hand against the little ghost’s head experimentally.

Tang Tian, watching from the side, was a bit nervous—Shi Jian’s move seemed a little risky. But soon he realized… there wasn’t actually any danger.

With her head held down, the mini Bride Ghost couldn’t move at all. She kept flailing her arms, swinging her limbs, but due to her small size, she couldn’t even touch the hem of Shi Jian’s clothes.

Seeing this, Shi Jian burst out laughing. Towering over the chibi Bride Ghost, she controlled her easily and said, enunciating each word:

“Go ahead—jump up and stab me!”