Chapter 21: “Survive!”

Chapter 21: "Live On!"

"Who exactly are you? According to the writer, veteran players are absolutely impossible in a new player's first game. You don't seem like a newcomer, but you also don't seem like a ghost..." Qin Ge's words trailed off mid-sentence, seemingly recalling Su Bai's transformation into the ghost bride, leaving him momentarily speechless.

"Never mind."

Qin Ge pondered with a troubled expression for a long while, ultimately shaking his head and offering only: "Thank you."

They didn't know who Su Bai was, or rather, the question of "who Su Bai is" held little significance for them. Had Su Bai chosen not to intervene, they wouldn't have survived long enough to even ask.

Since they had lived, sincere gratitude was due.

"Thank you! Thank you..." Wan Shasha, still reeling from the earlier events, came back to her senses wanting to express her thanks properly, only then realizing they didn't even know the name of the person before them.

"No need," Su Bai said, shaking his head with a smile as he saw Zhang Yibu hurriedly rise from his seat. Then, his expression turned serious, "Perhaps the next time we meet, you'll have a chance to return this favor."

"The game isn't over yet." Su Bai glanced at the burning ghost village and warned the trio, "Until you hear the voice announcing you can leave the game, as long as this bus remains safe, do not get off."

"If you choose to get off, then... good luck."

As he spoke, Su Bai glanced toward the driver of the Route 444 Last Bus. The driver, with his unusually long neck, poked his head out to look at Su Bai before quickly retreating, seemingly unaffected by the ghost bride or Su Bai.

The bus, for now, was safe.

After delivering this familiar warning, Su Bai took a deep breath, steadied himself against the door to recover from his weakened state, and stepped off the bus.

The moment he stepped off, it was as if a long drought had been met with sweet rain. His completely drained body was thoroughly immersed in the red moon's light. Though the red moon's glow was cold, it was a familiar and comfortable environment for Su Bai.

Unfortunately, depleted strength wouldn't recover just by basking in moonlight. Su Bai took another deep breath, quickly adjusted to his current poor state, and began walking forward.

Walking along the path untouched by flames, Su Bai indifferently watched the ghost village residents burning. Most were shadowy figures with indistinct faces, mere weak ghosts with little power.

Occasionally, some villager ghosts whose faces could be clearly seen bore wounds pierced and slashed by ghost hands, having fallen in the fiercest areas of the fire. Perhaps they were among those who had tried to lure players off the bus earlier.

The ghost bride continued walking ahead. Su Bai didn't immediately quicken his pace to catch up. Rather than wasting energy on running, it was better to save some strength for any potential dangers.

Having struggled in the nightmare world for ten years, Su Bai didn't believe in absolute safety and would never allow himself to exhaust all his strength. In the eyes of other players, this "monster" with his sometimes bizarre behavior—and even fashion sense—always held more than one card up his sleeve.

Walking slowly along the path, even as the village on either side was nearly consumed by flames, memories of his previous life's visit to the ghost village surfaced in Su Bai's mind.

In his previous life, the ghost bride would disembark at the ghost village stop on the second arrival. By then, the number of passengers on the bus would have exceeded ten. There were no evil ghosts like the white qipao ghost daring to snatch prey from a tiger's mouth in front of the ghost bride. Su Bai and the other new players survived until that point but ultimately had no choice but to disembark with the ghost bride, "invited" to attend a feast in the ghost village.

It could be said that in that game on the Route 444 Last Bus in his previous life, Su Bai and the other players spent most of their time in the ghost village.

Because they voluntarily chose to disembark, the ghost village in the eyes of these newcomers was no different from an ordinary village at night. The villagers weren't faceless shadows but appeared with ordinary, even kindly, features.

Torches and bonfires were everywhere outside the village. Inside, "double happiness" decorations and red lanterns could be seen. Some newcomers even thought the ghost village was a safe house in the game, genuinely believing they were there to attend a feast.

The outcome was predictable. The feast lacked the necessary food to begin, and the clueless human players became prey trapped in the clutches of the evil ghosts. The more fearful and despairing the humans, the more coveted they were as meals by the ghost village's evil ghosts.

In his previous life, Su Bai felt no fear or despair, making him unsuitable as prey for the ghost villagers. By chance, he stumbled into the village house where the bride, A Xi, was held.

Even as ghosts, both the villagers and the ghost bride were trapped in an endless cycle—always searching for the bride, imprisoning her, and then sacrificing her. As ghosts, these villagers had likely long forgotten why they made these sacrifices or what they were sacrificing to, merely repeating this despairing and terrifying story endlessly in the nightmare world.

The bride, brought to the village by the ghosts, was locked in a village house. Heavy chains and shackles bound her hands and feet, and even her bridal veil was adorned with silver bells. Any sound she made while struggling or trying to escape would draw villagers rushing in to investigate, even attacking the noisy bride.

At that time, the bride, like when she first appeared on the bus, was nothing but a memory-less, irrational beast. Yet, even then, the ghost bride didn't immediately attack Su Bai. One sat quietly on the edge of the bed, the other stood quietly in the room, curiously watching the ghost bride—no words exchanged.

It wasn't until the sound of gongs and drums signaling the start of the feast came from outside that the quietly seated ghost bride suddenly erupted into violence and struggle. The moment she noticed Su Bai, she even attempted to pierce his body with her ghost hand!

At that moment, the resonance that would change Su Bai's fate emerged.

In his previous life, Ghost Bride A Xi, awakened by this resonance of fate, entrusted Su Bai with her obsession and wish to "live on." Knowing the commotion from her outburst would attract villagers, she willingly possessed the still-powerless Su Bai, disguising him as the bride in the village house.

The village feast would last a long time. Only after it ended would the bride become a sacrifice.

Carrying the entrustment to "live on," the possessed Su Bai, dressed in bridal robes, remained motionless in the village house.

Just as Su Bai heard the prompt that "the game is about to be cleared," an unmistakable blaze ignited in a certain direction outside the village house—the direction of the ghost village's ritual altar!

As the torches and bonfires at the altar flared up, Su Bai, possessed by the ghost bride, was taken by the villagers from the village house to the altar and thrown into its raging flames.

When thrown into the fire, Su Bai from his previous life thought it was the end of the game, his end. Though he had no particular wishes or goals at the time, he felt a faint regret—that he couldn't fulfill A Xi's wish to live on properly.

But Su Bai, burning in the fierce flames, felt no pain. The fire, much like the light of the red moon, had no warmth and instead felt cold.

It was the ghost bride possessing him who wailed in the flames, her agonized cries echoing endlessly in Su Bai's ears.

"Live on!"

"Live on!"

"Live on!"

This was not only A Xi's entrustment to Su Bai but also the ghost bride's own obsession, the reason for her endless cycle in the nightmare.

The ghost bride in the flames grew increasingly weak. If she hadn't possessed Su Bai, perhaps A Xi would have lost consciousness due to the flames, only to wake up again on the Route 444 Last Bus, perpetuating this nightmare indefinitely.

But because of a variable like Su Bai, the weakened A Xi didn't fall back into the cycle. Instead, she awakened Su Bai's "Evil Ghost Puzzle" ability, willingly becoming his first puzzle piece.

Even so, after knowing Ghost Bride A Xi for ten years, Su Bai was well aware that regrets still lingered in her heart.

In the ten years since leaving the ghost village, this beginner game Su Bai could never return to still existed somewhere in the nightmare world. Even without Ghost Bride A Xi, other ghost brides would wander this endless road.

For ten years, A Xi had always helped Su Bai like an older sister, but her own story seemed paused indefinitely, never reaching an ending that would put her at peace.

×

Snapping out of his memories, Su Bai looked at the flames consuming the ghost village, feeling that this raging inferno might be one of the most fitting endings for it.

A Xi, can you be free of regrets this time?

Seeing the ghost bride ahead stop walking, Su Bai slowly caught up to her.