Chapter 71: A Narrow Escape
“So what if I died once before? I can always claw my way back to life! But if you die today, you’ll never get another chance!”
With a cold sneer, Lin Huai brought the massive astral greatsword crashing down.
There were no fancy tricks—only pure, overwhelming power and blinding speed! The heavy blade sheared through the air with a deafening whistle, cleaving directly into the crown of the evil ghost’s skull with enough force to split a mountain!
With a sickening crunch of shattered bone and tearing sinew, the demon’s head and torso were sliced straight down the middle. Foul, black blood erupted in every direction, but the strike still failed to finish it.
The instant its body split open, the monster dissolved into two swirling clouds of black mist. The dark vapors shot sideways to evade, merged back into a singular form in the blink of an eye, and lunged from an impossible angle.
Razor-sharp claws slashed across Lin Huai’s waist and abdomen. A freezing, venomous ghost aura poured directly into the open wound, sending a violent shudder straight through her soul.
Lin Huai had prepared for this. Demonic fiends from the Hungry Ghost Path were far more vicious than ordinary high-tier monsters, easily shrugging off low-tier talismans.
Even her greatsword couldn’t extinguish it in a single blow.
The moment she launched the greatsword earlier, she had already jammed Yang energy crystals into every socket along her war scythe. Clenching her teeth against the searing agony in her side, she twisted her wrist and swept the heavy crescent blade in a brilliant golden arc, slicing clean through the black vapor and scattering the smoke apart once more.
Before the demon could reassemble its form, Lin Huai yelled at the top of her lungs:
“Yellow Springs Road Guide, open fire!”
Before stepping out of the hearse, Lin Huai had already ignited the engine and ordered the navigation system to arm its defense grid and lock the golden light cannon.
As she leapt backward, a brilliant barrage of golden light cannon shells and energy fire cascaded from the armored vehicle, pinning the demon beneath a radiant, blazing net of destruction.
Explosions tore through the gloom as the monster shrieked in agony.
Lin Huai raised her arm and thrust her open palm forward. With a deep, hollow hum, the massive jade coffin atop the vehicle groaned as its heavy lid slid open. A tremendous vortex of suction surged from within the casket, pulling every trace of dark mist and malevolent aura within a fifty-meter radius toward its interior.
Naturally, that included the evil ghost trapped within the smoke!
“No… this is impossible—!”
The demon’s final, desperate screech was cut short with a heavy thud as the jade lid slammed shut.
The battle was over.
Lin Huai collapsed onto one knee, resting her weight against the haft of her scythe as she gasped for breath. The sudden drain on her physical stamina and spiritual reserves, paired with the burning ache in her torn flesh, left her unable to stand.
With the demon sealed, the tear into the Hungry Ghost Path closed, and the choking black fog hanging over the sinkhole began to thin. Only then did the Bone-Picking Child hurry across the clearing.
His sunken eyes were still stained murky and dark, shifting frantically with concern. Unable to step beyond the rim of the chasm, he hovered along the edge of the pit, his raspy voice trembling with worry: “Sister Lin, how are you holding up? Is there anything I can do to help?”
Lin Huai’s face was chalk-white. She could feel her life force draining away by the second. The freezing Yin poison coursing through her bloodstream was chewing into her soul, threatening to drag her down into a bottomless abyss and turn her into a vile ghost just like the monster she had killed.
Straining every muscle in her fingers, she pulled out the Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill that she had kept tucked away in her inventory for so long, slipping it past her lips.
This peerless life-saving treasure was finally put to use at her most desperate hour.
[Nine Revolutions Soul Returning Pill: Consume when near death to trigger immediate full-recovery revival (restores all Health, Stamina, and Spiritual Energy to maximum capacity and cleanses all negative status effects).]
The pill dissolved on her tongue like sweet nectar. Within sixty seconds, a surging wave of pure vitality flooded through her veins, driving the bitter frost from her marrow.
Her wounds knit together at a pace visible to the naked eye, fresh flesh and skin smoothing over the bloody tears. Lin Huai felt her strength return in an unstoppable rush.
Three minutes later, she rose to her feet with steady balance and renewed vigor. She smiled warmly at the Bone-Picking Child. “Thank you, Little Bone. It was a close call, but I managed to put that monster down.”
Reaching into her pouch, she pulled out a generous handful of Yin crystals and offered them across the gap. “I don’t have many grand treasures to give, Little Bone. Take these crystals as a token of my thanks.”
Seeing her fully recovered, Little Bone let out a relieved sigh. He waved his hand, gently turning down the crystals. Instead, he tapped his own chest, looking at her with a serious expression: “Sister Lin, don’t forget the promise you made—you still owe me a piece of your spine.”
With a soft crack, he snapped off a joint from his own semi-ossified pinky finger and held it out to her. “We promised to build our fortune together, Sister Lin, so you need a proper keepsake. Whenever you want to return to the Mass Grave, this finger bone will guide your way.”
He added, “Besides, I’m going to report this planar rift to headquarters right away. They’ll dispatch enforcers to seal the tear permanently. The next time you visit, you won’t have to worry about rogue fiends ambushing you.”
Lin Huai took the slender bone fragment and stored it carefully in her inventory. Turning back toward her vehicle, she called out, “Understood, Little Bone. I’ll be back to see you soon.”
To ensure she made it safely out of the burial mounds, Little Bone raised his hand as the armored hearse turned around. A warm, protective sphere of white light enveloped the entire vehicle, shielding it from the restless dead as it rolled away.
Sitting inside the quiet cabin, Lin Huai remained completely unaware of the glowing shroud around her.
By the time the hearse finally navigated out of the desolate graves and merged back onto the asphalt highway, it was already late afternoon.
Checking her system interface, she noticed an urgent private message from Peace and Violence.
He was asking if she had run into a player named Iron Egg and wanted to know what had really gone down at the crossroads.
Lin Huai frowned. Opening the Elite Squad chat, she saw that the rest of the squad was fiercely debating the same topic. She typed a quick message into the group.
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: I just made it out of the intersection. What’s this about an Iron Egg?
[Milk Tea Seven Parts Sugar]: Boss! You’re finally online! Did something happen? We were so worried about you!
[Cute and Sparkling]: Exactly! That Iron Egg girl went straight to the main chat, claiming you purposely sent her down a path that stripped away her best gear while you took the middle route for yourself!
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: ??? Crossroads force a mandatory duel. She begged not to fight, so I told her she could just surrender and move along. Surrendering triggers an automatic item penalty. Seeing how young she was, I even went out of my way to warn her to take her special items out of her backpack before confirming!
[Old Wang from Building Materials]: I knew our Boss would never pull something so petty! It’s obvious that Iron Egg girl was just looking for someone to blame for her own stupidity. She messed up, lost her gear, and had the nerve to slander the Boss!
[Hungry Spirit Blue Knight]: Looks like my earlier scolding wasn’t harsh enough! Hang on, I’m heading back to the lobby to tear into her again!
[Bone Ashes Mixed with Rice]: What on earth actually happened while I was gone?
Lin Huai was completely baffled, having missed everything that had unfolded across Zone 444 during her time in the mist.
The main lobby was flooded with thousands of messages, making it nearly impossible to scroll back and piece the argument together manually.
Thankfully, Peace and Violence’s information-gathering setup proved its worth. Lawyer He quickly traced the origin of the rumors, took screenshots of the entire chat history, and posted the full log into their private group.
Scanning through the messages, Lin Huai realized that a low-level player she had shown mercy to had turned around and stabbed her straight in the back.
