Tang Ning held Gong Yun's hand and ran towards the graveyard, keeping an eye on Lin Yun behind him as he ran, afraid that something unusual might happen with the corpse on Lin Yun's back.
The corpse of Tang Xianheng, with its eyes wide open, looked particularly eerie at the moment, especially when Lin Yun started running. The corpse's mouth opened wide and swayed, its purple tongue trembling, sometimes almost hitting Lin Yun's face.
Tang Ning couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine, admiring Lin Yun's composure.
In the distance, the sounds of intense fighting could be heard. Tang Ning looked back and saw Lin Guijing's arm being torn off and Han Ankang's chest bearing deep scratch marks. Both of them were struggling, and the culprit causing these two players' injuries was Han Yuannian's corpse.
Tang Ning suddenly widened his eyes, not because of the zombie-like Han Yuannian, but because he saw—
The one restraining Han Yuannian turned out to be Grandpa Ji, who was supposed to be dead!
Trembling, Grandpa Ji bound the struggling Han Yuannian with a red rope, while Lin Guijing and Han Ankang helped to restrain him. Seeing Tang Ning and the others approaching, Lin Guijing quickly said, "Han Yuannian suddenly pretended to be dead, and this expert appeared to save us!"
Lin Guijing and Han Ankang had never been to Ji's Village and didn't know that the expert they mentioned was Grandpa Ji. They could see that Lin Yun and Tang Ning seemed uneasy, so despite feeling relieved to have survived, their expressions darkened.
Lin Yun had seen Grandpa Ji acting strangely before, and he also remembered Tang Ning mentioning that Grandpa Ji sacrificed his life to help Ji Ke call back his soul, even instructing Tang Ning not to collect his body before he died.
How could someone who was supposed to be dead suddenly appear here?
No, under the bright sun, there was a figure behind Grandpa Ji.
Could it be that Grandpa Ji hadn't died after all?!
Upon closer inspection, Tang Ning realized that he had never truly confirmed Grandpa Ji's death.
When the soul-calling ended, it was late at night. Tang Ning only knew that there was no movement from Grandpa Ji behind him. Moreover, before Grandpa Ji set off, he said some sentimental words, so Tang Ning mentally prepared himself for Grandpa Ji's death in this soul-calling.
So he subjectively believed that Grandpa Ji was dead.
The next morning, when they went to pick pearls, Tang Ning didn't see the old man's body along the way. But at that time, no one paid attention to these details, and everyone just assumed that the old man was dead.
"Golden Cicada shedding its shell, not bad," Gong Yun suddenly praised lightly.
Tang Ning stared blankly at Grandpa Ji receiving praise from Gong Yun, and suddenly realized that something was very wrong.
Since blood sacrifices were supposed to start with livestock, followed by sacrifices of children, the elderly, and women, after people like those in Ji's Village disappeared, why could Grandpa Ji still appear in the village?
Apart from his eccentricity, Grandpa Ji, this old man, actually emerged unscathed in the chaotic blood sacrifice, and it seemed that his eccentricity was just an act.
"Tang Ning!" Grandpa Ji shouted at Tang Ning, "Now's the perfect opportunity! He has drained all the Yang energy from you, and he's just a facade now. Quickly shake him off and come to me!"
Just a facade?
Tang Ning looked at Gong Yun, who still appeared calm and indifferent, unable to discern his true intentions. His aura was excessively powerful, so powerful that it made people overlook his pale complexion and slightly bluish lips.
Upon closer inspection, Gong Yun's complexion did indeed appear different from the previous night.
"My lady," Gong Yun grabbed his hand, but whether it was due to tenderness or being affected by Ji Lianyun's condition, Gong Yun did seem to lack strength.
Tang Ning felt that if he exerted some effort, he could shake off Gong Yun's hand.
"How long will you persist in delusion and mistake a ghost for your husband?!" Grandpa Ji shouted, "Anyone associated with him will die! The entire Ji family village, except for me, will perish! When he drains your Yang energy again tonight, neither you nor I will escape death!"
"Don't go over there, he will kill you," Gong Yun whispered softly in Tang Ning's ear, "I once wrote a marriage contract on your neck. I can only draw Yang energy from you. If you go over there, he will cut your neck and destroy the marriage contract."
A marriage contract on his neck?
Tang Ning felt bewildered as he touched his own neck.
"What are you youngsters still hesitating for?" Grandpa Ji scolded impatiently, "Do you think swapping the bodies was his doing? It was him, not you, who buried Tang Xianheng! Only by killing this demon in human form and sealing his tomb again can this disaster be stopped!"
With this statement, several players changed their expressions. They indeed had some suspicions that Gong Yun was behind the body swap.
Grandpa Ji continued relentlessly, "He is very weak now, just a common sickly person. He dares not lay a hand on you because doing so would deplete his remaining Yang energy, and the real Ji Lianyun would emerge!"
"Why do you say he prevented us from burying Tang Xianheng?" Lin Guijing asked.
Grandpa Ji pointed at the grave coldly, "Do you know what this feng shui treasure hole is called?"
Tang Ning had heard from Lin Yun that this grave had excellent feng shui, but Lin Yun couldn't explain why exactly, because each card world had many differences in worldview, and the feng shui knowledge learned in this world couldn't be applied to the next.
"This is the Yin-Yang Point Dragon Den!"
Grandpa Ji looked at everyone and asked loudly, "Do you know what our Ji family village has been guarding for generations?"
"That's a true imperial tomb!"
Everyone was shaken by the words. Tang Ning had seen that figure in the sedan chair. He wore a crown with twelve hanging ornaments, something only a true emperor could wear.
That existence was indeed not the King of Hell.
Equally noble and unattainable.
"Tang Xianheng specifically chose this grave and arranged this marriage for the purpose of stealing the dragon energy! If he succeeds in burying within seven days, he will be able to steal half of the luck! Do you think Gong Yun, as the owner of the tomb, is willing to watch his own luck flow away?!"
Lin Guijing and Han Ankang noticed a significant change in Gong Yun's demeanor.
For the players, what Gong Yun actually was didn't matter. The key was whether Gong Yun would prevent them from completing the mission.
Gong Yun didn't care about the gaze of the outside world; he just stared back at Tang Ning without blinking.
"My lady," Tang Ning saw a hint of unease in Gong Yun for the first time. Gong Yun had always been so intimidating that people feared him, but now he looked almost "vulnerable" as he gazed at Tang Ning. "Don't."
If Gong Yun had still been staring at him with crimson eyes, Tang Ning might have been too afraid to let go of his hand.
Tang Ning couldn't help but feel a vague fear of Gong Yun. He was afraid that Gong Yun was always so powerful that he couldn't be understood, he was afraid that Gong Yun was as mysterious as a fog, and he was afraid of Gong Yun's inherently otherworldly nature.
However, at this moment, Gong Yun seemed to subtly overlap with the former Ji Lianyun.
"Will you help me bury Grandpa?" Tang Ning asked in a trembling voice.
Gong Yun tightened his grip on Tang Ning's hand. "I will."
"Then why didn't you remind me just now, remind me that we buried the wrong person?" Tang Ning looked into Gong Yun's eyes, very seriously, although he couldn't tell if Gong Yun was telling the truth or lying, at least at this moment, he felt that Gong Yun was telling the truth.
"I don't care about luck."
"I just have a feeling. I always feel that once the burial is completed, my lady, you will disappear—"
Tang Ning froze. If the burial mission was successfully completed, he would indeed leave this world.
"If you are willing to truly become my wife, the luck of a thousand autumns can be our betrothal gift."
Tang Ning's heart trembled suddenly.
He was always easily swayed by similar words and actions, whether it was Mo Yunchu abandoning everything to enter the seal for him, or Qi Yunchao awakening and sacrificing powerful energy for him, to now Gong Yun saying that the luck of a thousand autumns could be their betrothal gift.
"Don't listen to his nonsense!" Grandpa Ji shouted, "Hurry up and act!"
Han Ankang and Lin Guijing looked at each other. Compared to the enigmatic Gong Yun, they were more inclined to believe in Grandpa Ji, who had a logical reasoning. After all, from their perspective, if they were the owners of the tomb, they would never tolerate anyone daring to steal from them in this way.
Although they decided to stand on Grandpa Ji's side, Han Ankang and Lin Guijing didn't immediately approach Gong Yun.
Although Grandpa Ji kept saying that Gong Yun was weak at the moment, judging by how loudly Grandpa Ji was shouting and how hesitant he was to take action himself, it was clear that even if Gong Yun was weak, he still had the ability to seriously harm them.
A cornered rabbit will bite, let alone this unpredictable and terrifying NPC.
Experienced players could read each other's intentions easily. While they seemed to be attempting to attack Gong Yun, in reality, they were preparing to snatch Tang Ning away from Gong Yun.
It was obvious to everyone that the key decision rested on this newcomer.
"Lin Yun." They saw the newcomer suddenly look towards Lin Yun, who was carrying Tang Xianheng's body on his back, as if he had something to say. So Han Ankang and Lin Guijing temporarily stopped in their tracks.
Regardless of what the other NPCs said, the players would still lean towards their teammates from the same world.
After all, even though teammates sometimes didn't speak human language, NPCs in the card world would speak nonsense.
Lin Yun met Tang Ning's gaze.
Those clear eyes were always easy to read. When distant, they were very distant, but once the ice was broken, they could touch soft emotions like melted water.
Since he had placed the talisman on Tang Ning's head last time, Lin Yun seemed to have changed.
"Can I trust you as a teammate I can entrust my life to?" Tang Ning asked nervously.
Lin Yun felt like he might be laughing.
Perhaps he really had some issues. Last time, he went crazy and gave the talisman to Tang Ning without mentioning it, and now, in a life-and-death situation, he could still manage to laugh.
In this oppressive and chaotic world, what did it matter to occasionally lose one's mind a few times? Instead of coldly surviving in silence, it was better to truly let oneself live according to one's own nature.
"Yes, you can," Lin Yun replied seriously.
Tang Ning felt a bit encouraged. He said weakly, "I think we should trust Gong Yun."
Gong Yun's pupils suddenly contracted.
When Tang Ning said this, he himself didn't have much confidence either. He was afraid Lin Yun would ask him why, because he couldn't come up with any convincing words.
"Alright." Although Lin Yun was still carrying Tang Xianheng's body on his back, he was as agile as before when running. He turned back a few steps and shouted at Tang Ning, who hadn't reacted yet, "What are you waiting for?"
"Run!!!"