Chapter 105: Still So Wicked After Death
Lin Huai slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the faint, warm white light resting in her palm.
She was genuinely stunned. This glowing orb was actually the dying memories of that fallen officer!
Without hesitation, she retrieved an empty memory crystal ball from her inventory and gently guided the light inside.
Although the item description had always stated that these crystal spheres could store memories, Lin Huai had never figured out the extraction method. It was only today, by completing this quest, that she finally discovered how to use them properly.
Watching the clear crystal sphere begin to glow with a soft, milky pearl light, a satisfied smile touched her lips.
Her current journey through the City of Wrongful Death was already proving far more fruitful than in her previous life.
Back then, she had merely followed the baseline guidelines, seeking out a few kind-faced, approachable spirits to clear simple, low-effort chores. The rewards she received were ordinary tokens—embroidered handkerchiefs or small dried flowers. Those items served only as proof of completion to turn in at Ghost Gate Pass, with no practical value whatsoever.
This time, the very first quest she cleared had unlocked the secret of preserving memories—a reward infinitely more valuable than any symbolic token.
Walking deeper into the city, Lin Huai tuned in to the squad’s private voice channel, where her teammates were actively sharing their quest progress.
Old Wang’s voice was the first to boom across the line, brimming with bitter complaints:
“I swear, this place is unbelievable! I ran into an old bricklayer. I didn’t even want to take his quest, but his flimsy brick wall suddenly collapsed and buried me alive! Then he turned around and blamed me, shouting that my footsteps shook his newly laid mortar when I walked by!”
He huffed in outrage. “Tell me, does that make any sense at all? He’s clearly running an insurance scam on me! A rogue like that deserved to be crushed by his own wall in life!”
Lin Huai let out a light laugh. “So what now? What’s your assigned quest? Rebuilding the wall?”
At that question, Old Wang blew a gasket: “I tried reasoning with him! I pointed out that his layout was structurally unsound, had zero load-bearing support, and would definitely fall over again. And what did he do? He cursed me out, told me I knew nothing about civil engineering, and ordered me to haul bricks for him!”
He groaned miserably. “It’s infuriating! I’ve been hauling red bricks for a solid hour now, and I still don’t see the end of it…”
The squad voiced their heartfelt sympathies, followed immediately by a chorus of uncontrollable laughter.
Before Old Wang could finish venting, Hungry Spirit Blue Knight’s mournful wails echoed through the channel. “Ahhh… I’m so miserable!”
Fastest Hand at SF Express quickly asked, “What happened to you? Did you get sentenced to hauling bricks too?”
Blue Knight’s voice was dripping with tragedy. “I think my situation is worse than hauling bricks! I met a spirit who wouldn’t stop crying about his tragic fate. He grabbed my sleeve and rambled on and on. So I replied, ‘You think that’s rough? My life is ten times worse than yours!’ or something like that…”
He sniffled. “And would you believe it? The guy insisted on having a full-blown misery competition with me!”
“In the end, I made up a bunch of sob stories and finally proved my life was more tragic than his. But instead of handing over a useful reward, he slapped a title onto me—Tragic King…”
Panic crept into his tone as he pleaded toward Lin Huai, “Boss! Boss, please tell me this Tragic King title doesn’t carry a permanent debuff! It won’t curse my drop rates or ruin my luck, will it?”
Lin Huai had no idea what hidden effects such an odd title might carry. After a thoughtful pause, she offered a pragmatic guess: “Any item or label handed out by these NPCs is technically meant for the gate turn-in. Once you submit the title as your quest proof at Ghost Gate Pass, it should clear out.”
Blue Knight whimpered, “What if the gatekeeper refuses to take it back and forces me to wear it forever?”
Flash Delivery Yellow Knight burst into loud, cheerful laughter. “Hahaha! Then Second Brother will just have to cruise down the highway as the reigning Tragic King of the wasteland! Hahaha!”
Lin Huai had no other comfort to offer. “You’re on your own with that one…”
Intending to cross over to the opposite riverbank, she strolled along the stone path until she reached an arched bridge.
Just as she lifted her foot to step onto the span, an old man sitting by the bridgehead suddenly thrust out his wooden walking stick, deliberately trying to trip her!
Fortunately, Lin Huai was watching the stone steps carefully. She caught the movement in time, pulling her boot back and avoiding a face-first fall onto the cobbles.
Stopping in front of him, she let out an exasperated sigh. “Old gentleman, you’re already long dead. Are you still this spiteful?”
Leaning heavily on his stick, the old man pushed himself to his feet and shuffled right into her path. “I’ve been sprawled here for ages! Don’t you know you’re supposed to help an elder up? Young people today truly have no manners.”
Lin Huai gave a faint, cool smile. “Aren’t you standing on your own two feet right now? You’re up, so that settles it. May I pass?”
She had zero interest in picking up a chore from such an unreasonable spirit.
Unfortunately, the old man had zero intention of letting her walk away.
His bony fingers clamped onto Lin Huai’s sleeve, dragging her toward a stone table sitting beside the bridge. “No leaving today! Since fate brought us together, you’re not walking away until you finish a game of chess with me!”
Carved deep into the stone tabletop was a Chinese chessboard, complete with an ongoing match laid out in worn wooden pieces.
Lin Huai had occasionally watched Old Lin play during her childhood, but she had never learned the rules herself.
Wanting nothing more than to leave, she answered truthfully: “Old gentleman, I honestly don’t know how to play Chinese chess. Please find someone else.”
The old man shoved her firmly into a stone stool, then took the seat opposite her with an air of complete arrogance. “If you don’t know the moves, I’ll teach you! Either way, you have to beat me three times before you step foot on that bridge!”
Resigned to getting it over with, Lin Huai reached out and immediately slid her primary General piece straight forward. “If you just want three games, losing to you three times won’t be a problem…”
Before the sentence left her mouth, a wooden cane cracked sharply against the top of her head!
Thwack!
The old man roared at the top of his lungs, “Who on earth opens a chess match by moving their General forward?! Are you completely brainless?!”
Lin Huai clutched her throbbing scalp, her eyes narrowing with rising irritation. Suppressing her temper, she returned the General to its baseline, paused for a beat, and tentatively pushed a basic Soldier piece one space forward.
The cane didn’t strike her this time. It seemed she had guessed a valid opening move.
Even so, Lin Huai truly had no grasp of the rules.
In one turn, her Horse charged in a straight line instead of its diagonal step. On the next, her Cannon curved around an obstacle, and her Chariot leapt clean over her own defensive line…
When the old man’s cane struck her head for the eighth time, Lin Huai’s patience snapped completely.
She shot to her feet, her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.
The old man didn’t flinch in the slightest. He merely tilted his head up, eyeing her with smug, cold contempt. “What? Thinking of laying hands on me? Hitting NPCs is a direct violation of system rules. Take one swing, and you can kiss your quest completion goodbye!”
Lin Huai ground her teeth, a dark, dangerous smirk spreading across her lips. “Heh heh… Why on earth would I hit you? I’m enjoying every single second of this…”
Just as the words left her mouth, a heavily built man with a fierce Buddha tattoo covering his shaved head swaggered past the bridgehead.
His face was cross-hatched with jagged scars, radiating the unmistakable aura of a dangerous street thug.
As he walked, the thug cleared his throat with a loud, guttural rattle, spitting a heavy glob of mucus directly toward the roadside.
By sheer coincidence, the thick spit landed inches from Lin Huai’s boots.
She skipped back swiftly; otherwise, the filth would have splashed straight across her clean footwear.
A sudden, brilliant spark ignited in her mind. Spinning around, she pointed an accusatory finger at the tattooed brute, her voice ringing out in furious, theatrical disgust:
“Where did an uneducated swine like you crawl out of?! Is your throat stuffed with raw sewage?! Spitting all over the street like an animal—do you even know how to act human?!”
