Chapter 135: Infinite Cannon Fodder (25)

Bai Bei’s appearance wasn’t unexpected.

In a typical dungeon, if players successfully identified the culprit, the dungeon would close, and the killer ghost could no longer harm them. Conversely, if they failed to identify the culprit, the killer ghost would be unrestricted in its killings, forcing the players into a boss battle.

This dungeon had a bug; the players couldn’t exit, so how could ghosts not come knocking?

The only silver lining was that the current killer ghost hadn’t yet reached an invincible state. The main objective of a B-rank dungeon was for players to survive seven days. This meant within those seven days, the killer ghost had weaknesses, giving them ample time to devise a plan to kill it.

Yuan Ju and Zhuang Wu exchanged glances before swiftly springing into action. Mu Bai didn’t possess any powerful items or abilities, so all he could do was ensure his own safety and try not to become a burden on the others.

At this critical juncture, the players no longer bothered hiding their true capabilities. Yuan Ju knew just how much Bai Bei wanted him dead—much like how fervently he desired to slay this vicious ghost. If the ghost played its trump card, it would undoubtedly aim straight for Yuan Ju first.

A card suddenly appeared between Yuan Ju’s fingers. A golden light enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye, he was transformed.

He now wore a black top hat, a tailcoat, and carried a walking stick with an eagle’s beak handle. The black-haired youth removed his hat and bowed towards the evil ghost. “Here for the magic show? My… dear audience.”

Bai Bei raised an eyebrow slightly, his pale figure eerily materializing before Yuan Ju. His voice was chilling, filled with malice and killing intent that made one shiver upon hearing it. “Magic? I don’t care for these party tricks. Why don’t you just obediently die?”

As the words left his lips, the malevolent ghost’s hand pierced through Yuan Ju’s heart. When he tried to grasp it, his fingers met only air. The figure before him had vanished, and he found himself trapped inside a square wooden chest.

“Magic trick—‘The Great Escape,’ no, ‘The Great Ghost Transformation,’” came the youth’s voice from outside the box. Just as Bai Bei was about to move, red threads wrapped around his body. These were clearly no ordinary ropes; where they touched his skin, wisps of smoke rose, leaving scorch marks in their wake.

Bai Bei paid no heed to the pain, tearing at the red threads with his bare hands. They burned through his palms, revealing stark white bone beneath.

“A boring party trick,” Bai Bei said, his body passing through the wooden box as if it were nothing, “I’ll just float right out.”

Outside the box now stood an array of Pa Gu Mirrors arranged in a circle.

These mirrors were potent talismans against evil spirits, capable of suppressing malevolent energies and banishing demonic influences.

The mirrors themselves originated from Zhuang Wu’s formidable item card, [Mirror Illusion]. This allowed her to conjure various reflective surfaces, hiding within them safely until discovered. Anyone caught under the gaze of these mirrors would fall prey to illusions, providing the perfect opportunity for her allies to strike!

This was a strategy the players had meticulously planned earlier. By leveraging Bai Bei’s hatred towards Yuan Ju, they aimed to incite the evil ghost to attack him first. Yuan Ju would then devise a way to deplete the ghost’s yin energy. While the evil ghost was injured, Zhuang Wu would seize control of its true form with a prop, and then…

“Hurry!” Zhuang Wu didn’t know how long it would take for the evil ghost to regain consciousness. She hurled all her offensive items, especially those that could harm supernatural beings, at the ghost.

Yuan Ju possessed even more item cards than her and didn’t hold back, vividly demonstrating what it meant to strike while the iron was hot.

Surrounded by the Eight Trigrams Mirrors, the evil ghost stood in the center, its eyes vacant as half of its body became unsightly due to the damage from the item cards within moments.

By the time the evil ghost awakened, it would be too weak to pose any significant threat to them.

Mu Bai, who had been hiding nearby, finally approached Yuan Ju and clicked his tongue in amazement. “Is that it? You’re truly a master, boss! That was incredible!”

Yuan Ju remained silent, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on the trapped evil ghost. Even as the flesh on its body began to rot away, revealing white bones that crumbled into dust, his brow never relaxed.

“Too easy…” Yuan Ju felt it was strangely effortless, which instead made him feel something wasn’t quite right.

“Why is ease bad?” Mu Bai said with a grin. “As long as we solve the problem, that’s all that matters!”

Mu Bai’s head twisted 180 degrees, an eerie, deranged smile appearing on his face. With a flick of his wrist, the sharp blade had already plunged into Yuan Ju’s chest. “Isn’t this wonderful? Don’t you think so, Magician?”

“W-watch out—!” Zhuang Wu’s image appeared on the mirror surface as she controlled the Pa Gu Mirror to shine light on “Mu Bai.” Their teammate had been possessed by an evil ghost at some point, and the face reflected in the mirror… was unmistakably the dead Bai Bei’s!

Before “Mu Bai” struck, Yuan Ju had vaguely sensed something amiss, but the evil ghost moved too quickly. He could only just manage to use his magic techniques to mislead his opponent’s vision.

His heart remained intact, but the evil ghost’s dagger had indisputably stabbed him in the abdomen.

Yuan Ju swiftly retreated, blood gushing from his wound. The evil ghost seemed to have used a common weapon—a sharp dagger—to avoid drawing attention during its attack. This also explained why Yuan Ju failed to immediately detect the demonic assault.

The vicious ghost wearing Mu Bai’s face flicked blood from his dagger and sighed. “Ah, how many stabs will it take for you to die? Magician, tell me, how many blades does it take…” The demon cackled with a twisted grin. “No matter, no matter, one by one we’ll count.”

“Lingling doesn’t like too much gore,” the demon said, shaking his head in apparent disappointment. “I can’t just peel off your skin and turn you into mincemeat. No way—I mustn’t scare her. My little Lingling is so timid. So could you please… hurry up and die?”

“Damn!” Zhuang Wu couldn’t hold back an expletive. “How did Xiaomu even get killed after wasting all those item cards?”

Yuan Ju deceived his own senses to ignore the pain, coldly stating, “I’m afraid he set his sights on the weakest—Mu Bai—from the moment they met.”

The demon was more cautious than they had imagined; anger hadn’t clouded his judgment. From start to finish, he targeted the weakest first. They had been solely focused on killing the demon, forgetting whether Mu Bai was safe or not. Three minutes of absolute protection were indeed insufficient to ensure Mu Bai’s safety…

“Are you all not taking me seriously enough?” The malevolent ghost’s chilling aura spread throughout the castle hall, casting everything into shadow. “Every single one of you, none of you respect me! This is preposterous…”

The ghost grumbled as it stealthily followed Yuan Ju. When it stabbed him again with its dagger, the sensation changed once more.

“A rabbit?” The ghost pulled out a dead rabbit from its blade, which had been dressed in a magician’s outfit. A young man suddenly appeared, pulling a shower of confetti from his top hat before vanishing just as quickly.

“Oh, hiding now, are we?” The ghost grabbed the rabbit by its ears and tossed it aside. “Let’s see where you’ve hidden yourself.”

The ghost’s head abruptly swiveled towards the mirrors that could harm ghosts, its expression darkening. “Don’t think you can hide forever…”

In the mirror, Zhuang Wu was equally astonished. Her mirror only allowed her, as the master, to freely pass through. Yuan Ju should have been unable to enter; he… where did he go? Was this part of the magician’s next trick?

The dead rabbit, discarded by the evil spirit, suddenly opened its eyes. The rabbit gracefully crept up to the evil spirit. Just as it was about to pounce on the evil spirit, it was caught by another person’s hand.

“Look at what I found,” the red-haired youth said, waving the rabbit in his hand. His blood-red eyes gleamed with interest. “A rabbit that plays dead.”

“Miya!” Zhuang Wu exclaimed, her face filled with horror. Why would this vampire appear here?!

It wasn’t just Miya. A sweet-savory scent spread throughout the area. In the corridor, a water mist gradually dispersed, revealing a monster standing two meters tall. Its massive deep blue fish tail clearly marked him as non-human.

As soon as Zhuang Wu saw the man’s handsome face, she didn’t think twice—her first instinct was to flee; she had to get away from here immediately!

If it were only an evil spirit, she and Yuan Ju could still work together to kill it. But now there wasn’t just an evil spirit, but also a vampire, and… a terrifying merman—one that seemed best not provoked.

Medius… Lingling had called it her pet fish.

Zhuang Wu had initially taken these words as Sea King’s boastful joke. Who would have thought… it was actually true?

“What are you doing here?” Miya rolled his eyes with obvious disgust. “I’ve got this situation under control.”

“Protecting Lingling is my responsibility,” Medius declared. He had spent only a day recovering from his injuries. I’ll prove myself to Lingling; I won’t lose to anyone!

“Hmph.” Miya was too lazy to engage further and reached out to smash those mirrors. However, he still held onto a rabbit. As soon as he moved, the rabbit’s legs twitched, transforming into a pigeon that flapped its wings and attempted to fly away.

Zhuang Wu manipulated her multi-faceted mirrors for escape, knowing it was her most powerful tool card. She believed that if she remained cautious enough, she could evade capture by the monsters.

But then…

The merfolk emitted their high-pitched cries, sound waves far exceeding what the mirror surfaces could withstand. The glass shattered audibly, while Zhuang Wu, hidden within one of them, felt her ears ring and her head spin. She collapsed onto the ground dazedly.

It’s over, Zhuang Wu thought, her face pale. We’re completely… finished.

This was a true S-rank dungeon—no one could handle the creatures inside.

No wait, there was someone who could: Lingling, Lingling could…

As Zhuang Wu recalled the task set by the Main God, she cursed aloud:

“Main God, you son of a bitch! You never intended for us to survive!”

“Heh-heh-heh, she didn’t come for you! She’s just a liar!”

“Have you forgotten how she abandoned you before? Foolish Arnold, how much longer do you plan to wait?”

“Hurry up and fulfill the Master’s command! Offer that woman as a sacrifice to the great god!”

Arnold’s head was flooded with these nagging voices. Pressing his hand against his forehead, he muttered, “Hold on, just a little longer. She said she’d come find me tonight. I can’t go out like this!”

“If she doesn’t show, will you keep delaying and fail to prepare the sacrifice?”

“It’s time to act, Arnold!”

“I understand,” Arnold replied gravely. “If she doesn’t come tonight, I’ll go out…”

“You’re wasting precious nighttime waiting for the devil. You fool…”

The creak of an opening door interrupted Arnold’s thoughts.

His heart skipped a beat. As he gazed upon the woman’s lovely face illuminated by candlelight, an uncontrollable joy spread throughout his being.

She hadn’t lied to him! This time, she hadn’t left without a trace—she had returned!

“I’m sorry, Arnold.” Tong Ling closed the door behind her, her first words filled with remorse. “Something unexpected happened last night, so I couldn’t make it to see you. Will you blame me?”

Arnold’s eyes followed her figure intently. When Tong Ling turned towards him, he hastily diverted his gaze. ”…No, it doesn’t matter whether you come or not.”

Tong Ling chuckled softly, her eyes scanning Arnold’s form. Feigning disappointment, she said, “I missed you terribly. Don’t you miss me at all, Arnold?”