Chapter 226 The Haunted Construction Site on Huaishu Road 24

Chapter 226 The Haunted Construction Site on Huaishu Road 24

The owner of the paper effigy shop was the yin-yang master, a fact that stunned everyone in the room.

Yiwu understood: "Could it be that the task assigned to the Northwest Team is the opposite of ours?"

The yin-yang master was on the side of the chairman of Sinar Mas Department Store, and his stance was contrary to that of the female ghost. Naturally, the tasks he set would be detrimental to the female ghost.

Qin Fei agreed: "Most likely."

The yin-yang master had given them tools to ward off ghosts last night. At first glance, it seemed like he was helping them, but in reality, the female ghost wouldn't harm anyone who hadn't broken the rules.

His actions were merely to reduce the players' chances of encountering the female ghost, preventing them from learning the truth and ruining his plans.

The four player teams had unknowingly been pushed into two opposing camps by the plot.

Lu Cheng's expression was grave: "We need to keep a close eye on those two teams."

They had indeed accepted the female ghost's task, but she was incoherent and hadn't told them how to help the male ghost appear.

The female ghost was confused, but the yin-yang master wasn't.

If the yin-yang master had already given advice to those two teams, their situation would become quite precarious.

As they spoke, chaotic footsteps echoed in the corridor outside.

Lu Cheng extended a vine to take a look and immediately showed a smile: "The players from the fourth and fifth floors are back!"

An Yang and Zhu Ning, along with a few people from the neighboring Dormitory No. 3, were among them.

No one knew what they had experienced upstairs, but they all looked as if they had narrowly escaped death, with sweat drenching their foreheads.

The only downside was that the North Team players were also unharmed.

Lu Cheng opened the dormitory door and saw the two puppets from the Butterfly Guild walking past without even acknowledging him, their cold and distant demeanor making him shake his head.

"Still no good, Sister Ghost! Why didn't you get rid of them!"

...

After Cui Wenxuan returned, Dormitory No. 1 and Dormitory No. 3 met up.

Everyone sat together to exchange information, and Qin Fei and the others learned about what happened on the fourth and fifth floors that morning.

"We really had terrible luck today," said Cui Wenxuan, completely forgetting his image as a player from a major guild. He began complaining as soon as he sat down: "Those two floors are simply not meant for humans."

An Yang explained: "In the past few months, the yin-yang master hiding on the third floor set up an array to suppress evil spirits on the fourth and fifth floors."

Naturally, the yin-yang master couldn't sit idly by while the female ghost wreaked havoc in the building. To weaken her powers, he set up the array.

Mi Yang was puzzled: "What does the ghost-suppressing array have to do with you?"

An Yang wiped his face with a bitter expression: "It wasn't supposed to..."

The materials used for the array—cinnabar, yellow talismans, bone powder—were scattered everywhere, mixed with construction debris.

Initially, the players couldn't tell the difference between the two, and many inadvertently touched the array materials.

Then, their misfortune began.

While the array on the fourth and fifth floors might have weakened the female ghost's power, it didn't restrict her movements.

The female ghost, hiding in the shadows, seemed to regard those who touched the array materials as allies of the yin-yang master. Suddenly, without warning, she attacked.

Caught off guard, the players were chased around the entire floor.

Cui Wenxuan smiled bitterly: "The female ghost truly lives up to her name; no matter where we hid, we couldn't escape her."

During the chase, some players were dragged into an illusion from a year ago due to their failure to hide in time.

"In the illusion, we all played roles of people who had encountered ghosts before."

The female ghost lurked in various ways within the illusion, appearing unexpectedly to try to kill the players.

Cui Wenxuan and his team barely escaped the fourth and fifth floors alive.

"Luckily, we had good fortune and no casualties, but two players from the West Team died," Cui Wenxuan sighed.

However, the players did gain something from the experience.

The illusions were reenactments of past events, revealing much of what had happened.

"In the illusion I entered, I played a man hit by a car."

As An Yang spoke these words, the room fell silent, and everyone stared at him.

An Yang was startled: "...What's wrong?"

He had been talking since he returned and hadn't heard the full story about what happened at Sinar Mas Department Store.

Qin Fei held a new cup of hot water, which had been given to him by the original polluter.

Qin Fei's expression remained unchanged as he gently said: "Nothing, please continue."

"Okay." An Yang scratched his head, "Anyway, the man I played seemed to be an important character. If I'm not mistaken, he was the husband of the female ghost chasing us."

"In the illusion, there seemed to be an incident at Sinar Mas Department Store, with a crowd gathered outside the building."

"I and the female ghost—who wasn't a ghost yet, just a young girl—were very angry and demanded to see the person in charge, but he kept hiding in the car. I got so frustrated that I went to pull open the car door."

The people in the car had a very bad attitude and were unwilling to get out to communicate. Instead, they instructed the driver to drive away directly.

In the chaos, the man who went to demand an explanation was hit by the car.

After hitting someone, not only did the car not stop, but it sped up even more.

The young man lying on the ground was dragged under the car for dozens of meters.

On the road opposite the Sinar Mas Department Store, a bright red blood trail was left behind.

The torrential rain diluted the blood, washing it into the sewers along with the rainwater.

An Yang frowned and said, "This illusion plot is quite sinister. Although I played that role, at the critical moment, I couldn't control that body at all and could only watch helplessly as the car came towards me."

Fortunately, the players' portable space could still be used within the illusion. An Yang kept using health potions while being dragged by the car, barely managing to save his life.

At a turning point several dozen meters away, the car drove off, and An Yang finally managed to get out from under it.

The nearby department store was shrouded in mist; although it was clearly close, nothing could be seen clearly.

Only that woman in the eye-catching red dress ran towards him through the mist, crying and shouting as she threw herself onto him.

An Yang's first illusion ended there.

Inside the room, it was very quiet. The players had various expressions, seemingly immersed in their own emotions.

An Yang took a long breath and said, "To be honest, this damn illusion was really hard to endure. When I got out from under the car, the flesh on my back was worn away, and I could see the bones in my elbows."

Qin Fei responded with a "Hmm":

"A year ago in reality, the man you played was dragged to death by the same car you saw in the illusion."

An Yang was stunned.

"Is that so..." he muttered.

Thinking about it, it made sense. Ordinary people don't have potions like players do to replenish health. A normal person would definitely die after being run over and sustaining such severe injuries.

"So," Qin Fei continued, "the newspaper reports we've seen were indeed 'beautified.' The husband of the Red Dress Ghost wasn't killed by being hit by a car; he was deliberately murdered in broad daylight, in front of everyone."

An Yang seemed to understand.

An Yang encountered a car accident in the illusion, but Cui Wenxuan had slightly better luck, barely escaping unscathed.

"I attended a meeting," Cui Wenxuan said, touching his nose. "That meeting was held inside the Sinar Mas Department Store. According to the timeline, it should have been after the events An Yang experienced."

The person who called the meeting was the owner of the B12 1001 Paper Funeral Shop.

"The topic of that meeting was the construction site we entered yesterday."

Cui Wenxuan continued.

"Isn't there a house on that construction site? They built that house to suppress An Yang."

The ashes of the ghost's deceased husband were buried beneath that house.

Lu Cheng's eyes sparkled: "It all fits together!"

Thus, it could be determined that their subsequent task of helping the ghost find her husband would mainly revolve around that land.

Qin Fei asked Cui Wenxuan, "What did you hear during the meeting in your illusion?"

Cui Wenxuan replied, "Not much. The meeting had just started when a cold wind began blowing in the room. The yin-yang master said the ghost had arrived and told us to scatter quickly."

But it was too late. A huge crystal chandelier from the ceiling fell straight down, almost crushing Cui Wenxuan's head.

As a player, Cui Wenxuan was faster than ordinary people and pushed someone next to him forward.

It was unethical but effective, allowing him to avoid disaster.

Cui Wenxuan said solemnly, "The current issue is that we've discovered that the subsequent plot of this urban legend seems to be divided into two opposing camps."

Qin Fei was about to discuss this with Cui Wenxuan but was surprised when he brought it up himself, raising an interested eyebrow.

Cui Wenxuan continued, "Perhaps because the identity An Yang drew was special, the ghost gave him a mission."

Lu Cheng was somewhat taken aback: "Could it be to help her find her husband...?"

An Yang was very surprised: "How did you know?"

Although their understanding of the urban legend's plot was incomplete, unlike the systematic information Qin Fei and others saw in the newspapers, they could roughly discern the two opposing sides in the department store—the ghost and the yin-yang master.

An Yang received the mission just before leaving the fourth floor, and at that time, he was with Cui Wenxuan and a few other members of the South Team.

Just like what happened in the Cosmo Lady Women's Clothing Store, the South Team was also pulled into the ghost's camp and received a "die if you don't help" buff without receiving any mission prompts.

Qi Xiu was initially stunned when he heard this. When he opened his attribute panel and saw the mission prompt that had appeared without notice, his usually expressionless face showed a rare hint of joy.

Their guild had received the mission, which meant they could earn an additional reward at the end of the instance instead of working for free.

The resentment shifted from Qi Xiu's face to Cui Wenxuan's.

So everyone contributes, but when it comes to rewards, they're excluded?

This is discrimination! This is exclusion!

The Dark Fire players looked at the Black Feather and Starlight members with accusing eyes, as if they were X-rays.

A few players from unknown small guilds crouched quietly to one side, not daring to even think about sharing the spoils.

—It's great just to get out alive; what more could you want?

"Never mind." Cui Wenxuan sighed softly and began rummaging through his pockets.

Candles, copper coins, yellow talismans, strange unidentified powders...

A pile of miscellaneous trinkets accumulated on the ground.

Qin Fei blinked. "What are these?"

Cui Wenxuan, with a stern face, replied, "Materials for setting up an array on the fourth floor."

After An Yang received the task from the female ghost, Cui Wenxuan reevaluated the logic of the scenario and then led several companions to thoroughly search the entire fourth floor again.

"I thought that since the plot involves ghosts, we might need these items later. However, the shops on the third floor are our adversaries, so buying from them would be inconvenient," Cui Wenxuan explained.

Fortunately, there were ready supplies on the ground. Taking them would also disrupt the array, thereby enhancing the female ghost's power. Why not?

Lu Cheng's lips twitched. "So you stole things?"

Cui Wenxuan looked righteous. "What do you mean by steal? I call it picking them up."

They were just lying on the ground, unmarked.

If they weren't going to be used, why not take them?