Lin Yun sat in the room with Tang Ning for a while, then he asked Tang Ning to hold the blood-stained handkerchief from Ji Lianyun in his hand, no matter what, he must not let go of the handkerchief when in danger.
The players knew very well that Ji Lianyun's blood had a restraining effect on ghosts and monsters.
Although most people could guess, no one dared to treat Ji Lianyun as a blood bag, nor did anyone dare to take this handkerchief lightly, because Ji Lianyun had never wiped his blood on anyone else from beginning to end. In the world of cards, if an NPC gives you something, you can accept it, but if an NPC doesn't give you something on purpose, never go and grab it blindly.
Because sometimes demanding something from certain entities might lead to losing even more.
Tang Ning constantly lost his yang energy to Ji Lianyun, exchanging it for blood protection, reaching a delicate balance within himself. Others had no right to intervene for their own gains.
"With the red wedding dress and the blood-stained handkerchief on you now, they are both very useful items. With these, you may have the best ability to protect yourself among all of us," Lin Yun said.
"I'll be guarding the spiritual hall tonight. Under the ghostly state, there is a high chance that Ji Lianyun will provoke the one in the spiritual hall. So, I'll leave it to you to guard Ji Lianyun in this room."
Tang Ning nodded as he squeezed the handkerchief.
Before leaving, Lin Yun couldn't help but glance back. The figure behind him, wearing a red wedding dress and clutching the blood-stained handkerchief, sat anxiously next to the coffin, resembling a beautiful bride waiting for her groom to arrive.
As if sensing Lin Yun's gaze, Tang Ning lifted his head and managed to force out a faint smile, as if telling Lin Yun that he could handle it alone.
Lin Yun lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions surging within them, and silently turned away.
In the room, only Tang Ning and the unconscious Ji Lianyun remained. Tang Ning glanced at the time, it wasn't even midnight yet. He had to wait until the appointed time before he could use the Reviving Joy card on Ji Lianyun.
For now, all he could do was guard Ji Lianyun. Han Ankang had said that there was a chance that Ji Lianyun would become a ghost under these circumstances, but the premise was that the entity wanted to come out.
Tang Ning looked at Ji Lianyun sleeping in the coffin, his eyes carrying a mix of hope and fear that he himself wasn't aware of. He was afraid of the evil spirit hiding within Ji Lianyun's body, but he had no choice but to pin all his hopes for the future on that evil spirit.
That evil spirit had to come out soon, or else, facing tomorrow's funeral, he couldn't imagine what would happen.
Compared to the unknown horrors of tomorrow, the evil spirit attached to Ji Lianyun didn't seem so terrifying after all.
After hesitating for a moment, Tang Ning carefully leaned down and whispered in Ji Lianyun's ear, "Husband, when will you wake up?"
Ji Lianyun's eyes were closed, his pale face devoid of any color, like a piece of paper. His lips were tinged with a hint of blood, leaving a glaring trace as if a pen dipped in cinnabar had left its mark on rice paper.
It was red, ominous, and sinister.
Tang Ning only glanced at it once before tremblingly withdrawing his gaze, his weak voice continuing to murmur in Ji Lianyun's ear, "Husband, please wake up soon, okay?"
"Husband, I'm so scared here all alone."
"..."
It seemed like there was a faint movement in the silent room, and Tang Ning quickly looked towards Ji Lianyun's body. Even the eyelashes were motionless, there was no sign of movement.
Yet, there were indeed rustling sounds coming from the darkness.
Tang Ning hesitated for a moment, looking around the cramped room. Everything was clearly visible in the small space, with no black hair rustling around, nor paper figures peeling off paper scraps. Was it just his imagination?
Tang Ning tightened his grip on the blood-stained handkerchief in his hand. He scanned the room and his wandering gaze suddenly fixed on the small window. It was deep into the night, with only dim lights illuminating the room, yet outside the window, there was a faint red glow flickering.
Tang Ning's pupils constricted as he saw a joss paper floating in the air, accompanied by a low crying sound seeping in through the window. Goosebumps covered half of Tang Ning's body—
What was this?!
Tang Ning stared fixedly outside the window. In the darkness, he vaguely saw another piece of joss paper floating up, this time only half of it.
The eerie red light spread along the window sill, and as the joss paper swayed in the air, it slowly drifted down. Tang Ning's heartstrings seemed to tremble along with it. He kept his eyes on the window while quickly checking his phone, only to find that there was no signal.
"Wu wu."
The joss paper floated up again, and the faint crying sound echoed, as if a cold wind was passing through the gap in the window, emitting a strange sound.
Tang Ning's heart was hanging high. He glanced back at the unconscious Ji Lianyun, hoping that Ji Lianyun would open his eyes in the next second. But the reality was, even if Tang Ning reached out to touch Ji Lianyun, there was still no response.
Ji Lianyun's unconsciousness offered no deterrent to the evil spirits. Tang Ning knew that he could only rely on himself now.
Stay calm.
He must stay calm.
In the world of cards, the terror of ghosts and monsters gradually escalated. Tang Ning had read on the forums that sometimes, a ghost would burn joss paper in front of a player. When all the joss paper was burnt, the ghost would suddenly take away the player's life. It turned out that the joss paper was the player's life fee.
If he just waited passively, when the crisis really came, he would only meet his doom. Thinking of this, Tang Ning gritted his teeth and stood up. He was wearing a red wedding dress now, which could withstand several attacks from ordinary ghosts. If things went wrong, he could carry Ji Lianyun and rush out, meeting up with other players at the spiritual hall.
It's okay, don't be afraid.
Tang Ning held his breath and walked step by step towards the window. The closer he got, the clearer the crying sound became, eerie and hoarse. Tang Ning's heart pounded heavily, and he broke out in a cold sweat while clutching the blood-stained handkerchief.
He tiptoed to the corner of the wall, feeling a chill creeping up from the soles of his feet. The disturbing crying sound from outside the window continued intermittently. Tang Ning could hardly breathe; he almost wanted to turn around and run, curling up beside Ji Lianyun without caring about anything else.
Stay calm, stay calm. You're already standing by the window!
With a determined heart, Tang Ning restrained the urge to flee and looked directly outside the window—
He saw an old lady with gray hair squatting in front of a brazier. She was dressed in tattered clothes, crying while burning joss paper.
As if sensing something, the old lady suddenly raised her head, locking eyes with Tang Ning through the window.
Tang Ning's heart nearly leapt out of his throat!
Under the firelight, the old lady's face looked especially eerie. Her eyes were wide, clouded as if suffering from glaucoma, and her loose skin was covered in age spots. She looked at Tang Ning and whispered, "Ah, it's Ning'er—"
The strange voice sounded like a fingertip scratching on a board.
Tang Ning swallowed hard, unable to determine whether this old lady was a human or a ghost. He dared not respond, fearing that a response would attract some unclean entity.
In Tang Ning's uncertain gaze, the old lady struggled to stand up slowly. With a terrifyingly aged face, she moved closer to the window behind which Tang Ning stood. Tang Ning quickly took a step back. He saw the old lady standing behind the window, her clouded eyes constantly moving, as if she had seen the red-painted coffin inside the room.
A strange expression appeared on the old lady's face. She slowly raised her hand, covered with age spots, and made a gesture of greeting. She opened her mouth and sang in a hoarse voice, "Brother Liu speaks~ with biased words! Who says women~ should enjoy leisure!"
Tang Ning took another step back, widening his eyes as he watched the bizarre scene before him. Through the glass, he could only see the flickering firelight illuminating the hunched figure, like watching a strange shadow play in the night.
"Men go to war~ at the border! Women weave~ in the garden! They work the fields~ during the day and spin cotton~ at night." The old lady swayed her head and body while singing, her movements shaky.
"What's wrong with these women~ compared to men?" The old, thin hand kept trembling as the old lady turned around, taking step by step towards the darkness of the night—that was the direction of the spiritual hall!
Tang Ning held his breath. Today was the day of mourning. Was the old lady here to pay her respects?
Or was it a ghost coming to attack the players?!
He took out his phone to alert the other players, but the phone still had no signal.
Panic-stricken, Tang Ning stood guard beside the coffin. After burning joss paper and singing, the old lady hadn't done anything else to him. Was it because she had some scruples towards him or Ji Lianyun in the coffin? What was the meaning behind her singing?
Tang Ning kept holding his phone, hoping to see a signal appear. The faint singing voice seemed to sway in from a distance. Just then, a message suddenly popped up on his phone, and Tang Ning quickly opened it to check.
Lin Yun: "Have you encountered an old lady singing opera outside your room? @Tang Ning"
Tang Ning hurriedly replied: "Yes, she's still burning joss paper in front of my room. What is she doing at your place?"
Lin Yun: "She's standing outside the spiritual hall singing non-stop! We dare not interrupt her."
Han Ankang: "The opera she's singing is 'The Ballad of Mulan.' What message is she trying to convey?"
Lin Guijing: "Besides burning joss paper, what else has she done? Has she entered your room? @Tang Ning"
"Dong! Dong!" The muffled drumbeats echoed in the silent night, seeming to strike directly on Tang Ning's heart, as if the funeral drum at the entrance of the spiritual hall had been sounded!
Lin Yun: "She's come in!"
With just a simple sentence, Tang Ning's entire body tensed up. Even through Lin Yun's words, Tang Ning could feel the suffocating tension on the other side. Tang Ning typed quickly: "She called me 'Ning'er' from outside the window, then sang opera, and then left. How are you guys now? What is she doing?"
Lin Yun: "She has a hemp rope tied to her foot!"
A hemp rope tied to her foot?!
Tang Ning's scalp tingled. How could a living person have a hemp rope tied to their foot?!
Tang Ning: "And then?!"
No one in the group responded to Tang Ning anymore.
Tang Ning stared at his phone, knowing for sure that Lin Yun and the others must have encountered an attack by ghosts or monsters, so no one replied to him.
What to do? What to do!
The ghost or monster hadn't entered his room. Was it because it was afraid of Ji Lianyun in the coffin? Or was there another reason? Would rushing to the spiritual hall now help his teammates?
Tang Ning's mind was in chaos. Just then, there was a message in the group!
Lin Yun: "Hemp rope."
Tang Ning quickly replied: "What about the hemp rope?"
Lin Yun: "I've given it to you."
Lin Yun: "Ning'er."
Lin Yun: "Remember to burn joss paper for me."