Chapter 70 — IAVD (QT) Chapter 70

Wu Letong’s words from last night still echoed in their ears.

He had said that he followed behind the boss and personally saw that every place the boss passed through became a river of blood, corpses strewn everywhere. Even the woman who had argued with Huang Wenli was among the dead—there wasn’t a single living person left in the entire village.

But now… what was going on with the people by the river?

And that silhouette washing clothes—why did it look so much like that woman from yesterday?

Lu Zhizhen froze. She exchanged a look with Huang Wenli, shock written clearly in both their eyes.

“Should we go up and see her face?” Huang Wenli suggested.

Lu Zhizhen reflexively wanted to refuse, but the words stopped short. After hesitating for a moment, she said softly, “Then… let’s take a look from farther away.”

Huang Wenli nodded.

The two of them moved, using the figures by the river as the center point, shifting their path like a compass arm rotating ninety degrees, arriving upstream where they could finally see those figures’ faces clearly.

“It really is her?!” Huang Wenli widened her eyes, exclaiming in disbelief.

The woman chatting animatedly with others was none other than the one who had suffered domestic violence yesterday—rescued by the players, only to turn hostile and show no gratitude afterward.

She squatted by the river washing clothes. Bruises from the beating were still visible on her face. Looking closer, there was even sweat on her forehead from working, glistening under the sunlight. She looked like the most ordinary rural housewife imaginable, with no sign at all of having been injured further—or of having died.

Lu Zhizhen’s heart tightened. Wu Letong wouldn’t lie to them, so what was going on?

A thought she didn’t want to believe flashed through her mind.

Could it be that…

These people were all ghosts?!

Lu Zhizhen’s heart began pounding wildly. She silently stepped backward.

Huang Wenli seemed to have reached the same conclusion. Her face went pale as she grabbed Lu Zhizhen’s sleeve nervously. “What do we do, Sister Lu? Do we still go find Wu Letong?”

“Let’s go back first.” Lu Zhizhen felt a chill creep into her chest, sweat forming in her palms as she forced herself to analyze calmly. “If they’ve turned into ghosts, that means the rest of the village has probably become ghosts too. There are more than three hundred villagers—that’s over three hundred ghosts. If we go that way, we don’t know how many dangers we’ll run into. We’d be safer staying at the boss’s house. At least with the boss’s wife there, these ghosts probably won’t dare cause trouble there.”

Her reasoning made perfect sense. Huang Wenli thought it over briefly and quickly agreed.

“Okay, let’s go back first.”

She no longer minded how boring the second floor was. No matter how boring it was, it was better than being dead.

Over three hundred ghosts appearing in broad daylight under the blazing sun—no one knew if the person walking beside you might suddenly turn into a ghost and attack the next second. That kind of uncertainty and sheer numbers-induced fear made one’s scalp prickle and heart grow cold just thinking about it.

Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli clasped hands tightly, bodies close together, shrinking themselves into an inconspicuous presence as they headed back from the river.

Just then, the woman washing clothes finished scrubbing a garment. She wiped the sweat from her head, stood up to stretch her legs, then lifted her head—and spotted the two of them.

“Hey, isn’t that the little girl who cursed at me?” she called out.

Her eyes rolled slightly. Seeing that Huang Wenli was with only another woman and no men, her eyes lit up. She strode over and blocked their path. “What, not chasing after me to scold me today?”

Huang Wenli turned her head stiffly, bitterness filling her heart.

If she’d known this woman would turn into a ghost, she wouldn’t have argued with her even if she were bored to death.

Wasn’t staying alive good enough?

Lu Zhizhen stopped as well, regretting yesterday’s actions. She shouldn’t have gone along with rescuing the abused woman in the first place.

Her thoughts had aligned with Wu Letong’s—investigating the deep pool might have yielded greater clues. But as a newcomer, she hadn’t been confident enough to speak up and stop them.

Now that she thought about it, going to help the abused woman yesterday hadn’t led to a way out at all. Instead, it had triggered the killing condition tied to the boss’s wife.

It would’ve been better to stay by the deep pool. Even if they found no clues, it would’ve been better than interfering with that woman.

Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a regret pill. What was done was done; whom they’d offended was already offended.

Huang Wenli had a grudge with this woman, and now the woman had become a ghost, clearly intent on causing trouble for her. All they could do was take things one step at a time and try their best to survive.

Moreover, the woman hadn’t revealed her ghost form yet, which meant they hadn’t triggered her killing condition. There was still a chance to salvage the situation.

Lu Zhizhen cleared her throat softly and secretly pinched Huang Wenli’s palm, signaling her to stay calm. Then she forced a strained smile, stepped forward half a step, and said, “She’s young and didn’t know any better. What happened yesterday really was too much. I scolded her after we got back. I’m very sorry.”

The woman looked Lu Zhizhen up and down in surprise. The domineering look on her face eased slightly, as if satisfied. She nodded. “See, it takes an older girl to be sensible. You’ve got way more brains than that little one. Say, girl, are you married? Want me to introduce someone to you? My husband’s younger brother doesn’t have a wife yet. He’s only thirty-two, strong, great at farm work. Sure, he doesn’t have a house, and he’s a bit dark and skinny, but he dotes on his wife. I’m telling you unmarried girls, what matters most in a man is that he treats his wife well—everything else is unimportant…”

Lu Zhizhen’s expression gradually turned blank.

…Was she being set up on a blind date?

Married middle-aged women had an almost abnormal enthusiasm for matchmaking. Ignoring Lu Zhizhen’s reaction entirely, the woman went on and on, praising her candidate for a full three minutes.

In this bizarre yet oddly lively atmosphere, Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli strangely began to calm down.

The other party… didn’t seem like she was going to transform into a ghost and kill them?

Finally, the woman’s mouth grew dry and she stopped. She looked at Lu Zhizhen, wiggled her eyebrows exaggeratedly, and smiled ambiguously. “Well? Not bad conditions, right? What do you think—interested?”

Lu Zhizhen: “…I’ll think about it?”

The woman immediately looked displeased, irritation flashing in her eyes. “What’s there to think about? The betrothal gift is six thousand—we’ve already prepared it. If you agree, I’ll have my brother-in-law bring the money to your house right away.”

Lu Zhizhen smiled awkwardly. Then inspiration struck, and she came up with a suitable excuse. “Thank you for your kindness, but I already have a partner.”

The woman paused, her face darkening. “What? Why didn’t you say so earlier? Are you playing me?”

Seeing her turn hostile so quickly, her expression terrifying, Lu Zhizhen’s heart skipped a beat. She immediately backed down. “No, our relationship isn’t good. We’re actually planning to break up.”

The woman eyed her suspiciously. “Really?”

Lu Zhizhen nodded rapidly.

Satisfied, the woman nodded in return. “Breaking up is good. Come by my house sometime and meet my brother-in-law. You’ll see that marrying a good man like him is the right choice.”

Recalling how viciously the woman’s husband beat people, Lu Zhizhen couldn’t help but complain internally: By “good man,” do you mean someone good at beating people?

But escaping the woman was the priority. She agreed without hesitation. “Okay, thank you, big sister. I’ll come when I have time.”

The woman smiled, grabbed Lu Zhizhen’s hand, and patted the back of it. “Then it’s settled.”

Lu Zhizhen tensed. The woman’s hand was cold and stiff—like two blocks of ice—sending a chilling cold straight into her heart in the spring noon.

If she weren’t afraid of offending a ghost, she would’ve yanked her hand back immediately.

After much effort, she finally got the woman to stop pursuing Huang Wenli. Exhausted, Lu Zhizhen sighed inwardly as she watched the woman return to the river to wash clothes, then turned to look at Huang Wenli. I sacrificed way too much for you. Huang Wenli had watched the whole thing like a play. Now, as if she’d read Lu Zhizhen’s thoughts, she pressed her palms together in gratitude, then made an OK sign and whispered, “Female lead role in a movie with at least thirty million investment.”

Lu Zhizhen froze, surprise and delight flashing in her eyes as the corners of her lips lifted quickly.

The two turned and continued back toward the Ji house, chatting softly.

“Sister Lu, do you think those people are dead or alive? Why do they look so normal—and even tried to set you up on a date?”

Lu Zhizhen sighed. “They’re dead. When she touched me just now, it felt like ice.”

Huang Wenli looked sympathetic. “Sister Lu, you sacrificed so much for me. If we make it out, how about I ask my parents to acknowledge you as their goddaughter? You’ll be my sworn big sister.”

Lu Zhizhen was startled. “Isn’t that a bit much?”

“It’s fine. I’m about to get a younger brother anyway. The family assets probably won’t be left to me. Splitting half with you doesn’t matter. Best if we squander everything before my brother’s born—let him come into the world as a poor kid.”

Lu Zhizhen fell silent. She reached out and patted Huang Wenli’s head, finally understanding why she’d ended up in the game.

Huang Wenli quickly recovered her spirits and pretended nothing was wrong. “It’s fine. I’ve thought it through—nothing matters more than staying alive. If they want a second child, let them. I don’t care. As long as I can get out of this horror game, I’ll do anything.”

Lu Zhizhen murmured worriedly, “I’m afraid it won’t be easy. Wu Letong probably hasn’t encountered a game world with three hundred ghosts either.”

“Yeah, it’s way too hard. Who would’ve thought the villagers the boss killed would turn into ghosts?”

Huang Wenli complained irritably. She turned to speak to Lu Zhizhen beside her, but before she could say anything, her gaze suddenly went vacant. Her expression twisted into terror, her whole face contorting.

Lu Zhizhen’s heart sank. “What’s wrong?”

She nervously followed Huang Wenli’s line of sight—and met the bruised, swollen face of the abused woman, who had somehow appeared behind them, looking dazed and deep in thought.

“So… I’m dead?” the woman murmured.

Her lips curled into a strange smile. “Right. I did die.”