Chapter 71 — IAVD (QT) Chapter 71

There was no doubt about it—this was the real crisis.

This woman had not died only once. She had died countless times at the hands of Wang Qiuyue and Ji Chunsheng. Eventually, they discovered that no matter how they killed the villagers, they would revive the next day, having lost all memory related to their deaths, living on like normal people. Only then did Wang Qiuyue and her son finally stop, weary of the futility, and leave these scum—who had once killed them—alone.

She allowed them to exist like walking corpses, creating the illusion of peace and prosperity in Ji Family Village, quietly living with her son while waiting for a husband who might never return.

Fortunately, Ji Xiu did return, filling the last of her regrets.

And it was precisely because of this that Ji Xiu dared to slaughter the entire village.

He knew that these villagers would only suffer for a brief moment before death, then revive the next day with no memory of it. That was why he could calmly commit such a brutal act, venting his rage on behalf of his wife and child.

And he had no intention of stopping after killing them once.

Since they could revive every day, then they would die every evening.

This world had no hell—but he was willing to create one for Wang Qiuyue and Ji Chunsheng, condemning these villagers who had once harmed them to endless torment, unable to reincarnate, suffering again and again.

There was only one rule.

After reviving, the villagers could not be allowed to realize that they had died.

Over the past three months, no one knew how many times these people had died at the hands of Wang Qiuyue and her son. The pain of death had layered itself deep within their suppressed memories, warping their minds.

As long as they didn’t remember, everything was fine.

But once they realized they were dead, all those memories would surge back at once, stimulating their already vicious hearts and causing these otherwise weak spirits to erupt with terrifying power, acting completely out of control.

This was a killing condition.

The greatest killing condition in this game world.

And now, Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli had tragically triggered it.

The woman overheard Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli whispering and realized that she was dead. All her memories resurfaced at once, and she began muttering to herself.

As she spoke, her appearance underwent a horrifying transformation.

Her rough, sallow face gradually turned deathly pale. Her dark, strange pupils became dull and lifeless. Blood-like tears slid from the corners of her eyes. Her body seemed to be slashed by invisible blades, wounds splitting open as red seeped out, spilling across the ground in an ever-spreading pool.

This was not the amount of blood a living person could lose.

In just a few seconds, the woman completely changed. Her limbs were mangled, her wounds ghastly. Her vacant eyes fixed on Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli, and the corners of her broken mouth curled into an eerie smile.

She looked like a terrifying, shattered female ghost.

The instant Lu Zhizhen saw her clearly, her heart nearly stopped.

Adrenaline surged wildly. Her mind screamed at her to run—to dodge—but as the ghost drew closer, her scalp went numb, and she couldn’t move even a finger.

Huang Wenli was the same.

Back in the bathroom, she couldn’t see clearly and had barely managed to pull Lu Zhizhen away. But now, facing this horrifying apparition head-on, she lost all rationality. Her mind went blank, unable even to think, much less grab Lu Zhizhen and flee.

The shattered ghost stared at them, tugged her lips into a stiff, twisted smile, and extended her broken, bloodstained claws toward Lu Zhizhen’s face, her voice dripping with malice.

“Since I’m dead, you’ll die with me.”

Lu Zhizhen and Huang Wenli closed their eyes in despair.

Huang Wenli felt miserable. Her luck had always been good—but no amount of luck could save them now…

“Stop!”

Wu Letong’s shout rang out from not far away, steady but tinged with panic.

Huang Wenli froze, then opened her eyes in disbelief, looking toward Wu Letong like someone on the brink of death seeing a savior—her gaze filled with shock and wild joy.

Was her luck really that strong?

Could someone really come to save her at such a critical moment?!

But almost immediately, her expression froze, disbelief giving way to despair.

The ghost’s movement paused for just a fraction of a second at Wu Letong’s shout. In that instant, he lunged forward.

No one knew what item he used, but his speed was astonishing—so fast that only an afterimage could be seen.

He reached the ghost, his face cold and ruthless, pulled out a talisman from his chest, and slapped it onto her body, restraining her. Then, in the brief moment he bought, he grabbed Lu Zhizhen’s wrist and fled without looking back.

Huang Wenli was left behind.

She stood there in a daze, staring at Wu Letong’s retreating back, her eyes unblinking as her simple teenage heart shattered into pieces.

In truth, if Wu Letong had wanted to, he could have spent just one more second to take her as well. It might have reduced their chance of escape—but only slightly. Their survival odds would have dropped from eighty percent to fifty.

Yet he hadn’t spared even that thought.

Huang Wenli suddenly realized, in a dazed clarity— So this was how unimportant she was to him.

These past two days, his tolerance toward her had made her think there was some unspoken understanding between them…

Teenage girls were especially prone to mistaking fear and excitement for mutual feelings. She had believed Wu Letong at least had a bit of goodwill toward her—or at the very least, saw her as a friend.

Now she knew it had all been her own imagination.

But before the hurt could fully spread, a more urgent problem loomed.

Wu Letong had restrained the ghost and saved Lu Zhizhen.

What about her?

Pulling herself out of her scattered thoughts, she glanced at the immobilized ghost, her heart pounding wildly.

Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes and turned to run.

At that very moment, the talisman on the ghost ignited and burned away on its own.

The shattered ghost was free.

From the moment Wu Letong slapped on the talisman to now, less than two seconds had passed—so little time that it was no wonder he hadn’t taken Huang Wenli with him.

Unfortunately, Huang Wenli was still a newcomer. She hadn’t reacted in time, nor had she seized the chance to escape. Even if she ran now, with her ordinary speed, she would be caught almost instantly.

The ghost’s expression turned ferocious as she glanced at the talisman reduced to ash, her eyes flaring red.

She didn’t immediately chase after Wu Letong and Lu Zhizhen. Instead, she swung around and lunged for Huang Wenli, intending to deal with her first.

Huang Wenli’s uncanny luck saved her once—just as the ghost struck, she happened to move, narrowly avoiding the attack.

And it was in that instant that Ji Xiu finally arrived.

Wu Letong had gone out to work the fields with Ji Xiu that day. Since Wu Letong was here, Ji Xiu couldn’t be far.

Wu Letong had sensed Lu Zhizhen was in danger and rushed ahead using an item; Ji Xiu was simply a step behind.

The brief struggle Huang Wenli endured was enough time for Ji Xiu to appear.

When the ghost saw Ji Xiu, her second attempt to grab Huang Wenli froze.

Ji Xiu…

The ghost’s feelings toward Ji Xiu were complicated.

In life, she had joined the rest of the village in killing Wang Qiuyue. Afterward, she had been killed repeatedly by Wang Qiuyue, her resentment sky-high. But with her memories erased and no power to oppose Wang Qiuyue, she had never managed revenge.

Even so, in moments when her memories resurfaced, her hatred for Wang Qiuyue never faded.

But then Ji Xiu returned.

Her fear of men was carved into her bones. Even as a ghost, she feared male authority, daring not act against Wang Qiuyue in front of Ji Xiu.

And now, she didn’t dare harm Huang Wenli in front of him either.

Ji Xiu’s arrival left her face twisted with malice—but her hands stopped against her will.

Huang Wenli seized the chance. Without thinking about why the ghost had frozen, she bolted, abandoning Wu Letong and rushing straight toward Ji Xiu.

“Boss—help!”

Ji Xiu glanced at her, then looked past her and spotted the ghost, brimming with resentment in broad daylight.

He raised an eyebrow in mild surprise, said nothing, and let Huang Wenli hide behind him as he calmly rummaged through his basket and pulled out a firewood knife.

Spring plowing required tools, and he had brought several with him—including that knife.

The moment the knife appeared, the ghost’s expression changed drastically. She turned and fled toward the river, charging at the villagers there while shouting:

“Wake up! Wake up! Don’t forget—we’ve been dead for a long time!”

As her voice fell, the villagers by the river snapped out of their daze and instantly transformed.

Dark energy surged along the riverbank.

Ji Xiu didn’t care. He tossed the other tools to Huang Wenli, gripped the knife in one hand, and walked toward the ghosts.

The shattered ghost had awakened her companions hoping numbers would help—but clearly, Ji Xiu was utterly unconcerned.

She glanced back, and through her rage-clouded mind, realized this wasn’t enough. They needed to awaken the entire village.

But in the next second, pain tore through her—and she lost consciousness.

Ji Xiu had already reached her.

The knife rose and fell.

A soft sound followed, like air bursting or water being struck.

The blade passed through her form, and her figure rapidly faded.

She was gone in a single strike.

Ji Xiu’s expression remained calm, as if this were nothing worth noting. He weighed the knife lightly in his hand and looked toward the remaining ghosts.

The ghosts: “……”

Watching Ji Xiu cleanly eliminate the ghosts by the river and stroll back, Wu Letong, Lu Zhizhen, and Huang Wenli stood frozen in shock.

Ji Xiu’s strength was far beyond their understanding.

Those resentful, grotesque ghosts hadn’t lasted even a moment before him.

When Huang Wenli finally came back to herself, her admiration for Ji Xiu reached its peak.

This was what a real man was like.

Unlike Wu Letong—who abandoned his companion and ran at the sight of danger.

Still flushed with adrenaline and relief, she picked up the basket and tools Ji Xiu had left behind and handed them to him with both hands, eyes full of gratitude.

Ji Xiu took them and smiled faintly. “In the future, stay away from the villagers. None of them are good.”

Huang Wenli nodded rapidly. “Mm-hmm!”

Wu Letong steadied himself and approached with Lu Zhizhen, probing cautiously. “But they don’t really seem human…”

Ji Xiu glanced at him. “Didn’t you see yesterday? They stopped being human long ago. No matter how many times they’re killed, they revive the next day.”

He hadn’t expected that just a few hours away would lead the girls into such trouble.

One or two villagers awakening wasn’t a big issue—but if the entire village awakened, their combined power would be terrifying. Even Wang Qiuyue and her son would struggle.

He loved his wife and child too much to let things spiral further.

So after some thought, he decided to reveal part of the truth.

“I don’t know what kind of existence they are. After reviving, they lose all memory of death and live normally. But once they learn they’ve died, all those memories return, their resentment skyrockets, and they become extremely dangerous.”

He looked at the three of them. “That’s why I warned you to stay away from the villagers.”

“I definitely will!” Huang Wenli answered loudly, thoroughly shaken.

Wu Letong and Lu Zhizhen quickly echoed her and thanked Ji Xiu for the warning.

After that, Wu Letong wanted to pry for more information—about the killing conditions, whether Ji Xiu himself was the way out.

Ji Xiu remained indifferent and refused to answer.

Wu Letong was disappointed but didn’t press further. Ji Xiu was their strongest support. No matter how many secrets he had, they couldn’t afford to offend him.

With Ji Xiu’s warning—and Wu Letong leading the players to stick close to him—the next three days passed without a single casualty.

In the blink of an eye, it was the sixth day.

That night, a commotion broke out in the village.

Someone had fallen into the water.