Chapter 141: Guess or No Guess.

Chapter 141: Guess or No Guess.

After dealing with the chef, Zhong Yi tossed the empty oil canister aside, took the lighter, and headed back to the dining area.

There were still people in the restaurant. When he first entered, a person had directed him to the oil and lighter.

It was a young woman, in her early twenties, dressed in the Dongshan Hot Springs Hotel uniform. She hid tremblingly behind a cabinet. Upon seeing Zhong Yi, she emerged, her legs wobbly, and pointed him towards what he needed.

To her, at least, Zhong Yi appeared normal.

"Can you walk?" Zhong Yi approached, offering his hand to help her up.

The girl nodded, using the cabinet for support. As she tried to stand, her legs wavered. But after taking deep breaths, she refused Zhong Yi's assistance and bravely took her first step.

"There are... there are others. Can you save them?" The girl pleaded as she looked into Zhong Yi's eyes. "If you find me a burden, leave me behind. But can you... can you save them? Not everyone has turned into those monsters."

Zhong Yi gazed silently at the girl. He understood her sentiment. Not all the staff at the Dongshan Hot Spring Hotel had mutated; only some had. For the others, this was an unfolding catastrophe.

Someone had to save them.

Zhong Yi nodded in agreement. Even if she hadn't spoken up, he would have felt compelled to rescue them.

"I'll lead the way!" The girl began to sprint towards the exit. Upon reaching the doorway, she glimpsed the ashes lying there. Grief painted her expression, but she didn’t pause and continued to guide Zhong Yi.

"Stop!" A voice echoed. Zhong Yi turned in confusion but saw no one.

"It's just ahead," the girl panted, pointing. "They're hiding in the staff changing room!"

Without hesitation, Zhong Yi rushed in, but in a split second, he backed out.

The floor was coated in a sticky substance. Something was off.

"Run!" He suddenly shoved the girl aside as half-melted humanoid figures surged from the changing room.

Suddenly, a hand reached out from a nearby room, pulling both of them inside and quickly sealing the door.

Turning around, Zhong Yi saw a room filled with trembling elderly men and women – the unmutated staff.

An elderly man at the forefront began to speak but was cut off when the ground vibrated. From outside, there was a frantic, heavy pounding, as though dozens – no, hundreds – were hammering at the door with relentless force.

"Something's wrong. We need to get out," Zhong Yi stated, noticing pinkish fluid seeping through the door's cracks. The lock was warping from the force, and the doorframe wobbled precariously. It was only a matter of time before it gave way.

Amid the tremors, several elderly people clung to one another, struggling to stay upright. One of them suggested, "We can go through the window."

Though it was sealed with anti-theft bars, they had tools. Originally meant to fend off the mutated, a fit old man had wielded a saw to protect them as they sought refuge in this room. Now, he quickly set to work sawing through the bars.

In no time, a large hole, large enough for a person to crawl through, appeared. The old man called out, "It's time to leave!"

Zhong Yi and the girl assisted the elderly out of the window. As the last two were about to exit, the door finally collapsed under the relentless assault.

"Com... complaint!" the girl yelled shakily, her voice trembling. But it seemed to have no effect as the transformed figures immediately charged towards them.

"Go ahead, I'll cover you."

Zhong Yi bent down, picking up the chainsaw that Grandpa had dropped beside him.

——

Ji Xingchen felt the vibration from the ground, and at the same time, the security guard leading the way up ahead stopped.

In the darkness, the security guard's expression contorted for a moment. He gasped sharply twice before suddenly turning to Ji Xingchen, "Doesn't he care about you?"

Ji Xingchen simply looked at him.

The security guard lunged at Ji Xingchen, "He really doesn't care about you. You're useless! Worthless!"

Ji Xingchen was knocked to the ground. It was then that he calmly said, "Are you referring to Chi Shen?"

"Yes," the security guard suddenly burst out laughing, releasing his grip, "You too were abandoned by him!"

Ji Xingchen didn't resist. He propped himself up against the wall, rising to his feet and straightening the collar that the security guard had mussed, "Actually, in this plan, I was indeed the one to be abandoned. I designed it that way, to find out where your true self was hiding."

The security guard's eyes widened in shock.

"By capturing me, you'd think you had leverage and show yourself to seek Chi Shen," Ji Xingchen continued, "So from the start, I was meant to be abandoned."

"Your plan?!" The security guard, or perhaps a fragment of Jiang Haotian's consciousness, seemed to realize something, "Then, you and he aren't lovers?!"

"No," Ji Xingchen shook his head.

"You deceived me! Both you and Chi Shen deceived me!" He shouted, appearing as if he wanted to say more, but Ji Xingchen abruptly interrupted him.

"But now, I miss him."

Ji Xingchen glanced in the direction of the vibrations, ignoring the other man and slowly walking forward.

——

The black blade spun gently, trailing a flowing dark mist through the air. Inside the control room, an elderly-looking Jiang Haotian abruptly dodged, narrowly escaping the blade's swipe.

"I never thought you'd even manipulate emotions," Jiang Haotian said, clinging to the wall like a spider, his eyes filled with resentment, "Is there anything you don't scheme? Do you know what he's going through now? Such a handsome man, now begging me in tears not to kill him. Hahaha!"

Chi Shen looked at him with a peculiar gaze, as if saying: Go on, I love to hear it.

Jiang Haotian was completely stunned, his maniacal laughter frozen on his face. Moments later, he snapped back with a venomous voice, “He's just another pawn to you?! Another pawn? Another pawn?!”

He appeared utterly unhinged. From within his body, withered hands broke through the skin. His expression was twisted, and even his voice became distorted, “I will kill you here, avenge your lover. It was you who abandoned him—"

Chi Shen calmly swung his Mo Dao, severing the elongated withered hands reaching out to him. His expression remained unchanged, still utterly composed. “For that, Ji Xingchen thanks you.”

This statement seemed to infuriate Jiang Haotian even more. After one hand was severed, even more grew from his body. He roared, “Why can you still look so calm?! Do you think I'm like those worthless creatures from hell? This entire East Mountain Town is my body, every flesh and bone can be my sustenance. Those mere copies in the game could barely consume two players. How can they compare to me?!”

More withered hands lunged at Chi Shen. Wherever the hands reached, walls grew mold, chairs and tables rapidly decayed and broke. This was the power Jiang Haotian brought back from the death game—the power of aging.

Amidst the web-like assault of withered hands, Chi Shen let out a sigh.

“You’ve truly become a malevolent spirit.”

The Mo Dao in his hand traced a circle, severing all the withered hands within a half-meter radius. Then, with a swift thrust, Chi Shen plunged the Mo Dao into the ground.

Dark ghostly energy erupted like a tidal wave, shattering the floor instantly. The ghostly energy snaked between the debris, quickly morphing into a colossal Mo Dao that penetrated the entire control room and the ground below.

“Why didn't you run when you saw me? Why did you stay...” Chi Shen waved his right hand, the dark ghostly energy and Mo Dao merged back into him, flowing seamlessly into his body. “Because your core is here.”

The withered hands that had filled the control room dropped lifelessly. Jiang Haotian's humanoid figure crashed from the wall, reduced to a mere skeleton, before dissipating into dark ghostly energy.

Amidst the destruction, a withered hand quickly scurried to a computer, pressing the 'Enter' key with urgency. This was the last shred of consciousness from Jiang Haotian, a desperate attempt to send a message even in death.

Chi Shen approached, crushing the hand under his foot. The hand turned into ghostly energy and vanished.

Chi Shen looked at the computer screen. The person Jiang Haotian was chatting with was named "Benevolent Father". All previous chat logs were erased, and the unsent message read: "Chi Shen is the key."

Soon, the broken walls of the control room collapsed. Amidst the rubble, Chi Shen walked out leisurely, heading towards the main entrance of the East Mountain Hot Spring.

At the entrance stood a figure, or rather, a ghost. Now translucent like a spirit, he adjusted his glasses and looked up as Chi Shen approached. Ji Xingchen put his glasses back on, saying, “We're going back.”

Chi Shen nodded, “We are.”

The tunnel that Ji Xingchen had previously traversed reverted to its original state. It was just a corridor, and Ji Xingchen had been led in circles, creating the illusion of an endless path. Now, a woman in red stood in the middle of the corridor, mumbling to herself, “I... saved Ji Xingchen. Ji Xingchen...”

She looked around and called out, “Ji Xingchen?”

Overlooking the desolate corridor and the dissipating ghostly energy, she seemed unaware that her body was gone, and she began to cry on the ground, “Ji Xingchen, don't die!”

Outside in the hot spring area, a circle of red candles surrounded Zhong Jingzhu and two male students. The candles emitted a strange green light. Any mutated humanoid touching the light turned to ashes. After a massive ground tremor, the melting humanoids suddenly became silent, frozen like wooden statues before turning into skeletons.

The group exchanged glances. Guilian realized his body was also fading. In haste, he pressed himself against Zhong Jingzhu and quickly uttered, "It's resolved, we can leave now!"

Outside the employees' locker room, Zhong Yi was exhausted. He instinctively waved the chainsaw in his hand, but was eventually pinned down by several melting bodies. Just before losing consciousness, he spotted a pair of red embroidered shoes before him.

He stretched out his hand desperately, only for a cold hand to grasp his.

At a peak outside the Dongshan Hot Springs Hotel, someone was tidying up a tent. The area looked like it had been a campsite for a few days. The man looked rather ordinary, perhaps chilled, as he zipped his jacket up to his neck.

"Look what I've found!" another man in tactical boots approached briskly.

Wei Zhuo looked at the man, who was holding a little girl. But calling her a "little girl" wasn't quite right, as her form was translucent – she was a ghost.

"I thought I'd stroll near the hot springs to see how Jiang Haotian was doing. To my surprise, I found this little ghost! Isn't she the one who was lurking by Chi Shen? I saw her sneakily wandering around the hot springs, seeming like she wanted to enter but didn't," the other man said with a grin, "Do you think we can use her to threaten Chi Shen?"

Wei Zhuo didn’t even glance at the little ghost girl and simply shook his head, "No use."

"But I heard they're close, isn’t Chi Shen her father?" the other man asked, puzzled.

"Who did you say is my dad?" The little girl suddenly struggled, "He's not my dad, I hate him!"

Only then did Wei Zhuo take a moment to look at the little girl.

"I know what you want to do. You want Chi Shen dead," the girl’s large eyes flashed with malice, "I want him dead too. I can help you. I know his weakness. He isn’t human, he's... a ghost."