Chapter 142: The Alter Ego Says He Loves Me (31)
Lin Chuan’s broken body appeared illusively in front of Xiao Yinnian, then gradually repaired and solidified under the sound of Xiao Yinnian’s whistle.
Meanwhile, Ding Xiu, carrying her blade, stepped onto the stairs, approaching them step by step.
The village had no boundaries; like the area around the nursing home, it was shrouded in fog, with no visible exit.
The only way out should be within the Cao family home.
However, Xiao Ji and the others had already visited all the rooms and found nothing that seemed like an exit.
Now, they weren’t facing the question of whether Xiao Ji could personally tear the mistress apart, but rather the problem that even if they killed the person or destroyed the ghost, how would they escape?
Ding Xiu was coming upstairs. The creaking sound of her footsteps on the wooden boards hit Xiao Yinnian’s heart directly.
Su Wan likely also knew that if they didn’t escape now, they would probably perish here. She poured everything from her pockets in front of Xiao Ji without reservation.
“Is there anything useful?”
Xiao Ji fell into a brief contemplation for a moment, then snapped out of it, picking a fire-starter from Su Wan’s pile of miscellaneous props.
He ignited the wedding dress on Ding Yun’s body, the incense in front of Cao Jiu’s memorial tablet, and the hair of the little girl in the jar.
The fire began to spread at an abnormal speed.
The moment Ding Xiu saw the flames ignite, she let out a shrill scream and rushed toward the four, wielding her blade.
Unfortunately, the raging fire obstructed her path.
The entire Cao residence began to become illusory in the firelight, and the previously solid wall behind them vanished, turning into a pitch-black corridor.
The flames began to burn along the corridor.
“Go.”
Xiao Ji grabbed Xiao Yinnian’s hand, turned, and ran into the corridor.
This time, no one chased them from behind, but Xiao Yinnian’s heart didn’t feel much lighter.
Because when he once again passed through the blinding white light and returned home, the hand that had been holding him was also released.
He gasped for air, sitting on the edge of the bed. The first thing he did was call out in his mind:
“Are you there?”
The mind was silent; there was no reply.
Xiao Yinnian’s heart rose to his throat. He quickly opened the mission panel to check his points.
At this moment, the points panel showed:
[Wish in redemption, points have been cleared.]
At this moment, Xiao Yinnian suddenly developed an extremely strange feeling.
It wasn’t the wild joy that a wish was about to be realized, but a worry about the unknown.
He felt that everything was like a bizarre dream.
The words “Wish in redemption” felt like a gambler who had been lured into a scam system for online gambling and, after winning a huge sum enough to overturn his ruined life, saw the words “Withdrawing” but didn’t see the money arrive for a long time—a sense of unreality.
Xiao Yinnian wiped his face and lit a cigarette. When the cigarette had burned out, he walked into the bathroom.
The moment the hot water poured over him, that sense of unreality became even stronger.
He began to open the mission panel every few minutes to check the redemption progress.
But each time, it was still “In redemption.”
Xiao Yinnian began to feel anxious and tried to find things to do to relieve this anxiety.
After showering, he cleaned the house from top to bottom. Even the floor tiles were wiped clean inch by inch as he crouched on the floor.
By the time he finished all this, the sky outside was completely dark.
Only then did Xiao Yinnian once again cautiously open the mission panel.
Unfortunately, it still showed “Wish in redemption.”
This immense disappointment and anxiety were like finally gathering the courage to send a confession message to someone you secretly loved, but not receiving a reply for a long time.
In his helplessness and anxiety, Xiao Yinnian dialed Lin Chuan’s number, attempting to distract himself.
“That whistle—what was that about?”
Lin Chuan didn’t beat around the bush. “It’s a special prop limited to use in the nursing home. It can summon and resurrect the souls of the dead who died in the nursing home.”
Originally, this prop’s power was not to be underestimated when used in the nursing home.
But once out of the nursing home, this prop basically became junk.
Xiao Yinnian understood.
Lin Chuan had died in the nursing home, so he was considered a soul of the nursing home.
After speaking, the two fell silent.
After a good while, Lin Chuan asked, “Yin-ge, where’s Xiao Ji? Have you saved up enough wish points?”
Xiao Yinnian lit another cigarette.
“Enough. It’s in redemption. Do you know roughly how long the redemption takes?”
This time, Lin Chuan couldn’t give Xiao Yinnian an answer.
“Sorry, Yin-ge. I didn’t make it to that step.”
Xiao Yinnian hung up the phone, lay back on the bed, and became completely insomniac.
It was only in the latter half of the night that he found a hypnosis station on his phone and fell into a light sleep while listening to the white noise.
When the alarm went off the next day, he woke up with a start. The first thing he did was open the mission panel.
This time, the words on it finally changed.
Xiao Yinnian looked at the line on the panel: [Wish redemption successful, click to confirm receipt.] He did a “carp skip” and sat up.
He quickly clicked the “confirm receipt” button. The panel changed again, and another line appeared:
[End mission?]
Simultaneously, two buttons appeared below: one said “Yes,” and the other said “No.”
Xiao Yinnian hesitated for a long time.
He wanted to wait until he saw Xiao Ji before ending the mission.
But the system didn’t give Xiao Yinnian time.
Soon, a row of small urging characters appeared at the bottom of the panel, roughly meaning that if the player didn’t choose, the system would default to ending the mission in 60 seconds.
Xiao Yinnian couldn’t choose.
Xiao Ji wasn’t there; he might run into trouble if he entered a mission world alone.
Most importantly, even if he could handle a mission alone, what was the point?
The wish he wanted to redeem had already been realized. He didn’t even know why he was doing missions anymore.
He waited quietly. Watching the countdown end, the system defaulted to his exit.
The mission panel vanished.
Xiao Yinnian was stunned for a while, then as if suddenly thinking of something, he reached out to touch the jade pendant around his neck.
To his horror, he found that the jade pendant was gone.
Translator’s Note: A “carp skip” (鯉魚打挺) is a martial arts/acrobatic move where a person lying on their back jumps to their feet.
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