The cold wind blew onto Tang Ning's face, causing him to abruptly open his eyes. He found himself standing by the window, which had been pushed open at some point. His hand reached out to the window, gripping a blood-stained hemp rope.
Wait, when did he reach out his hand?!
Tang Ning quickly withdrew his hand as if scorched by flames, shivering from an inexplicable chill that swept over him.
Once again, the night wind blew in, leaving Tang Ning drenched in cold sweat. He stood panting heavily by the open window, clutching his rapidly beating chest, scanning around but seeing nothing—not the old lady singing opera, nor the braziers burning paper money.
What had happened? Was everything just an illusion?!
No, the hemp rope was real!
Tang Ning trembled as he grasped the rope in his hand, its rough texture reminding him that what just occurred was not merely his imagination.
Tang Ning stared intently at the hemp rope in his hand. It bore a striking resemblance to the one used to tie Uncle Wang's feet, yet the bloodstains were slightly different.
He reached for his phone and noticed the signal was back, but upon opening the group chat, he didn't see Lin Yun's message, "I've given you the rope, Ning Wa Zi, remember to burn the paper for me." Instead, it remained on their midday exchange.
A thing had somehow delivered the rope to him through mysterious means. Everything that had just happened must have been an illusion created by that thing.
No wonder his phone suddenly lost signal. Normally, if the ghost hadn't truly departed, the signal wouldn't have returned. In the illusion, the ghost was still present, yet it communicated with him through the phone and the players in the game.
Upon closer examination, there were loopholes everywhere. However, in the midst of extreme fear, Tang Ning couldn't think calmly. Now, reflecting on it, that situation was probably the ghost's first attempt to deceive him, using his memories to fabricate illusions. It seemed the old lady didn't intend to harm him after all.
For a moment, Tang Ning's heart was engulfed by a surge of gratitude for the extra lease on life. With trembling fingers, he typed on his phone, "Have you encountered any abnormalities while keeping vigil? @Everyone."
Lin Yun: "No, how about your side?"
Tang Ning bit his tongue—it hurt. This time, it shouldn't be an illusion. He quickly recounted the events he had experienced in the group chat.
Lin Yun: "The hemp rope given by the ghost lady is likely a crucial item to restrain Uncle Wang! Wait for me, I'll be there right away!"
Han Ankang: "That's great! With this hemp rope, our safety factor for tomorrow's funeral will increase. However, since the ghost lady mentioned 'remember to burn paper for me' to you, you'd better act accordingly."
Lin Guijing: "We have the paper money here. The key is how to burn it for that ghost lady."
The family group chat buzzed with lively discussion. This newly discovered hemp rope was a godsend to everyone. Previously, Tang Ning had once managed to successfully bind Uncle Wang's feet, but the next time they saw Uncle Wang, he had successfully freed himself from the rope. Players privately discussed that the idea of using the hemp rope to restrain Uncle Wang should be correct, but perhaps it was lacking something, allowing Uncle Wang to free himself.
Now, with the appearance of the new hemp rope, the family speculated that using a second rope to bind Uncle Wang again might be the true method to restrict him.
"Knock, knock."
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Tang Ning set down his phone and went to open the door. A gust of evening wind rushed in, carrying a chill. Lin Yun arrived hurriedly, his face a bit pale, reaching out eagerly as soon as he reached Tang Ning's door.
"You're here so fast," Tang Ning said, picking up the hemp rope in Lin Yun's hand. "Let's go burn the paper money together later. Do you know how I can burn it for that old lady?"
Lin Yun's pale hand gripped the hemp rope.
Tang Ning paused, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him because he saw two hemp ropes—one in his and Lin Yun's hands, and another tied around Lin Yun's foot!
"Tang Ning!!!" Lin Yun's anxious voice rang out. Tang Ning suddenly looked up to see another Lin Yun running over, while standing in front of him—
was Uncle Wang, tied with the hemp rope!!!
Oh no!
Tang Ning abruptly grabbed one end of the rope, while Uncle Wang's hand firmly clasped the other end. A tremendous force erupted from the other end of the rope, the rough texture cutting into Tang Ning's palm. Despite using all his strength, Tang Ning couldn't stop the rope from slipping away from his hand.
Just as the rope was about to disappear from his grasp, Tang Ning's other hand, clutching a blood-stained handkerchief, also touched the rope. The blood-stained handkerchief touched Uncle Wang's hand, and his iron-like grip suddenly loosened. Tang Ning, propelled by momentum, fell to the ground as the blood-stained handkerchief inexplicably split in half, seemingly drained of its power from the previous collision with Uncle Wang.
This was a one-time use item!
Tang Ning lay on the ground, holding onto the rope, watching Uncle Wang approaching step by step. This time, he didn't hesitate at all, desperately trying to tie the rope around Uncle Wang's leg!
However, just as the rope was about to touch Uncle Wang's ankle, he suddenly stepped aside, avoiding Tang Ning's hand holding the rope.
This time, not only Tang Ning was prepared! Uncle Wang wouldn't be easily bound by Tang Ning like before!
Tang Ning nervously gripped the rope, unsure of what to do next, when suddenly Uncle Wang, who was standing before, changed position, and like Tang Ning, he also lay on the ground!
Even more terrifyingly, he began to crawl on all fours, head and hands moving towards Tang Ning! His bound feet were just a meter away from Tang Ning!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The ground emitted a spine-chilling friction sound.
Tang Ning's scalp felt like it was exploding, and he quickly retreated. He watched as Uncle Wang was about to crawl towards him when Lin Yun, who was standing beside Uncle Wang, squatted down and swiftly retied the hemp rope around Uncle Wang's feet!
Uncle Wang's forward movement paused. He turned his head back, his entire head rotating 180 degrees, giving Lin Yun an eerie look.
Seizing this opportunity, Tang Ning quickly stood up and looked at Lin Yun. He saw Lin Yun skillfully take out a talisman from his pocket.
In that moment, Tang Ning even thought of giving up and letting everything be destroyed.
But then he saw—
Lin Yun, holding the talisman, suddenly stepped over the fallen Uncle Wang and pasted the light, fluttering talisman on Tang Ning's forehead.
"Move," Tang Ning heard Lin Yun calmly instruct.
His black eyes widened to the extreme. Lin Yun before him remained calm, with a cold voice, expression, and demeanor, calmly performing a completely different and insane action from what he expected.
As the talisman was pasted onto Tang Ning's forehead, Uncle Wang on the ground seemed to lose his direction all at once. He opened his mouth in anger, and his seemingly normal face suddenly turned pale, his eyes bulging. A long tongue fell out of his mouth. This was the facial characteristic of a hanged ghost!
An inhuman roar erupted from his gaping mouth.
Lin Yun ran without hesitation towards the door. Tang Ning stared with wide eyes at Lin Yun's retreating figure. This was the first time he wished Lin Yun could run faster, faster!
Uncle Wang stood up straight from the ground. His feet were bound, so he could only move by hopping. His murky eyes looked towards the departing Lin Yun, but he didn't immediately give chase. Instead, he bounced around the room persistently, as if trying to find Tang Ning who had suddenly disappeared from his perception.
Tang Ning realized that he was the player Uncle Wang most wanted to kill. Now that he had obtained the important item, the hemp rope, his priority in Uncle Wang's mind had skyrocketed. He shouldn't worry about Lin Yun, but about himself!
"Thud!"
His feet, bound by the hemp rope, landed on the ground simultaneously, and Uncle Wang took a small leap forward.
Restricted by the height of the room, Uncle Wang's jumps were not large. The room was too small, so small that Uncle Wang's random jumps could easily collide with Tang Ning!
Tang Ning's eyes felt sore from staring, but he dared not relax. He remembered that every time Lin Yun pasted this talisman, his expression remained unchanged. At first, he thought it was the effect of the talisman itself, but it turned out that it was the responsibility of the person being pasted to manage their expression—
Unfortunately, Tang Ning's expression management had never been good.
Especially when he saw Uncle Wang take another step towards him!
This step brought them extremely close, so close that their noses were almost touching. Tang Ning held his breath completely, able to see his own terrified face reflected in Uncle Wang's murky eyes.
If it weren't for experiencing terrifying things in this game, Tang Ning might have screamed directly.
Please! Please don't jump over here again!!!
In that moment, Tang Ning prayed to every deity imaginable. Every cell in his body screamed. Perhaps his prayers worked, as the stiff Uncle Wang changed direction and hopped away.
Thud.
He landed in Tang Ning's direction.
Tang Ning's heart seemed to beat violently for a moment, but the thudding of his heart didn't sound again—
The creature stood still in Tang Ning's direction.
Tang Ning realized that the most terrifying thing wasn't facing this creature face to face, but knowing that it stood behind you, unable to see what it intended to do!
A chilling breath blew towards Tang Ning's neck, as if a gust of cold wind passed by. But there were no windows, so where did the wind come from?
Uncontrollable images of an open mouth blowing air towards him filled Tang Ning's mind.
His sensitive neck trembled, and his shoulders seemed to start shaking, but his strong will suppressed it.
Blown!
Tang Ning gritted his teeth, cold sweat sliding down from his forehead, passing over his eyebrows, thick eyelashes, and slowly dripping into his eyes.
His eyes were filled with sweat, forcing tears, but Tang Ning dared not even blink.
A cold hand fell on Tang Ning's waist, as cold as ice. Tang Ning was already struggling, and when his waist was touched, his body, stretched to the extreme, collapsed—
It's over.
Tang Ning fell into a cold embrace. In the dim light, "Ji Lianyun," who had opened his eyes at some point, chuckled as he hugged him.
"How come my lady collapses with just a puff of air?" Tang Ning heard the slightly teasing tone in the person's laughter.