Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 450: Chapter 386: Hide and Seek

Mi Shu dared not make a sound, as she silently prayed in her heart, hoping that these ghostly entities would leave quickly. However, contrary to her wishes, not only did the ghost children not move away, but they began to circle the area nearby, pacing over and over again.

After watching for a while, Mi Shu discerned some patterns; it seemed like these ghost children were intent on lingering there. Even weirder, they had roamed the entire courtyard, even visiting several nearby brick and tile houses, but they had specifically avoided this clump of bushes.

An ominous premonition emerged in Mi Shu’s heart. Her gaze fixed on the wandering ghost children outside, as she desperately looked for a chance to leave. At last, those who were disguised as townspeople left the courtyard in their bizarre fashion, and only then did Mi Shu breathe a sigh of relief.

But now was not the time to relax. She continued to stay hidden, not daring to make a move, worried that the ghost children had not gone far but were hiding somewhere, waiting for her to walk out and fall into their trap. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Time ticked away, second by second, with a deafening silence surrounding her. Mi Shu felt it was about time to act, so she slowly stood up. Just as she was about to leave her hiding spot, she suddenly felt a chill on her back. She spun around and lifted her head, the scene before her petrified her, sending an icy chill down her spine, as if ice had formed in her blood vessels.

Lined up neatly on the wall behind her were rows of heads, male and female, old and young, teenagers among them, at least a dozen, each one grinning, staring at her with a chilling gaze.

The scene was so sudden and shocking that Mi Shu’s heartbeat stalled for a moment. She had wanted to flee, but her legs gave out, and she was tripped by the exposed tree roots, falling to the ground.

"Play the game! Play the game! Play the game!"

The group of ghost children seemed to fly over the wall, appearing one by one in front of Mi Shu, surrounding her. Each one’s face was filled with a sinister smile as they shouted loudly, closing in on her with every step.

At this point, Mi Shu was not allowed to refuse. She reached for her right wrist, and thankfully, the Red String was still there, which meant she still had a chance.

"Fine, I’ll play your game, but I get to set the rules!" Mi Shu feigned composure in front of the group of ghost children, trying to create an opportunity for herself.

"No way! We found you, you lost at hide and seek, we decide the new game!" a woman with a big braid spoke up sharply.

The woman didn’t wait for Mi Shu to argue, scanning her up and down as if coming up with an idea, her expression turning ferocious, "Poisonous Viper crawl, let’s play Poisonous Viper crawl!"

At her words, the rest of the group joined in the clamor, one voice louder than the next, "Play the game, Poisonous Viper crawl! Poisonous Viper crawl! Poisonous Viper crawl!"

Their speech was slurred, as if they were missing half their tongues, and amidst the noisy clamor, Mi Shu couldn’t make out what they were shouting until a dull-faced man with two trails of yellow snot emerged, staggering forward. Reaching into his trousers, he quickly pulled out a slender snake before Mi Shu’s horrified gaze.

The snake was entirely black, with a triangular head that kept flicking its tongue. Even more terrifying was that near its head, the snake had a pair of pincers like a scorpion’s, and several hairy legs resembling those of a spider.

Upon seeing this, Mi Shu’s mind buzzed. She had never seen such a creature, not even heard of it, but its mere appearance was enough to make her panic.

Then the woman began to explain the rules, her voice not very clear, but Mi Shu understood. It involved letting the Poisonous Viper crawl over your body, with the one who endured the longest being the victor.

The woman volunteered eagerly to have the venomous snake placed on her body first. It crawled up her arm and then, coiling its strength, shot forward abruptly, biting the woman’s nose, using its front pincers to dig into the flesh of her face. The pain made the woman cry out wretchedly. It took her a great effort to tear the snake off, ripping off half of her nose in the process, and mutilating her face, revealing the grotesque nasal cavity in a scene too horrific to describe.

But the others showed no concern for their kind, instead turning their attention to Mi Shu, clapping their hands and shouting loudly, "Your turn, your turn!!"

Running away now would be foolish. Mi Shu took in a deep breath, deciding to take a risk. As she shakily extended her hand, the poisonous snake quickly wound around her arm. Just at first contact, Mi Shu furrowed her brows, sweat beading on her forehead.

The venom of the snake was far beyond imagination; even a mere touch on the back of the hand caused the skin to corrode instantly, the wound turning an eerie black. The snake slowly crept up her arm, then, coiling its body, gathered strength, preparing to strike just as it had done to the woman earlier.

But Mi Shu was not one of those ghostly beings; if it bit her, she might not die instantly, but she would fall, thus losing the game.

"Bite her! Bite her!" The crowd cheered excitedly, their enthusiasm uncontainable.

At the critical moment, Mi Shu made a decision that even she herself could hardly believe after the fact. Just before the snake lunged to bite her, she acted first, opening her mouth wide and biting down on the snake’s head. As her eyes gradually reddened, Mi Shu grew desperate, her muscles tensed as she forcefully bit off the snake’s head and spat it out onto the ground.

The townspeople who had been cheering around were stunned into silence as the scene fell quiet, and moments later, the snake owner burst into a wail like a cry of mourning, collapsing to the ground and weeping over the lonely snakehead, until the woman slapped him across the face, sending him sprawling on the ground.

Mi Shu won. Half of the snake’s body still clung to her arm, and these ghostly creatures, abiding by the rules, let Mi Shu go and left straight away.

As Mi Shu watched the backs of these characters disappear, she could no longer hold herself up and collapsed to the ground with a thud, retching violently and even vomiting up several spider legs. Her face was now green, and her body convulsed uncontrollably, clearly showing signs of poisoning.

She struggled to stand up, but her body could no longer support her, and she fell again, this time facing upwards, lying on her back on the ground. Her heartbeat became erratic, and her vision started to blur. In a daze, she looked up to see a worn-out red lantern hanging on a branch above her, swaying in the wind as if to greet her in her final moments.

As her memories flashed back, like a pre-death montage, Mi Shu’s mind gradually calmed down. Suddenly, as if she was experiencing a resurgence of energy, she focused on the red lantern above her head. There was no wind in the room, so why was the lantern swinging so violently?

Cheng Cha had warned her that anything transformed by the Ginseng Puppet would surely have a spot of red on it, an indisputable flaw that could not be concealed.

Since she was dying anyway, it couldn’t hurt to gamble one last time. Mi Shu slowly opened her mouth, fixating on the increasingly illusory and double-imaged lantern, and called out with difficulty, "Mallet."

The swaying lantern immediately stopped moving. The tree that the lantern hung on began to shrink slowly, and its rough, mottled bark gradually smoothed and whitened, but Mi Shu couldn’t wait any longer. Using the last of her strength, she untied the Red String from her wrist and tied it around a protruding tree root on the ground. The next second, she lost consciousness.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Mi Shu felt light before her eyes and warmth beneath her. She slowly opened her eyes, and as her vision cleared, she saw a delicate face.

"You’re awake!" Tong Han’s voice was filled with surprise.

It was only then that Mi Shu realized the person holding her was Tong Han, with the others standing nearby while Yang Xiao and Sui Chengguo wore only a single layer of clothing, which they had draped over her.

"Well done!" Cheng Cha couldn’t help praising, "A new cycle has begun. It seems you’ve found that guy."

After they moved aside, Mi Shu realized they had already left the Ginseng Leader’s residence. They were now outside the town, with the archway emblazoned with the words ’Doll Temple’ not far away.

"Hawking wares and toys, adding to the family with every bowl, singing of red ties, fortune coming from all directions, ladies and gentlemen, don’t miss out as you pass by, a reward for your patronage, let the prosperity begin~~"

With a drawn-out hawking cry, the fog in front of them cleared, revealing a bustling street scene. Mi Shu withdrew her gaze and swallowed with difficulty, confirming to herself that indeed, a new cycle had begun.

After a short rest, Mi Shu was able to stand up. She found no signs of poisoning or wounds on her body; all that had happened seemed like a dream except that her energy was severely depleted, leaving her extremely weak.

Cheng Cha explained that this was normal and told her not to worry. The group headed towards the archway, where a crowd had already gathered in front of the performer’s stall.

This time, they obtained the Cloth Tiger with practiced ease. On the way, Yang Xiao curiously asked whether the toys were fixed each time. Cheng Cha shook her head, explaining that they would receive the Cloth Tiger only after listening to the entire spiel of the performer. If they wanted something else, they would interrupt the performer early, but that would offend the performer, resulting in a random prize.

The specific mechanics involved the performer having Gold, Silver, and Copper Coins on his right side, and toys on his left; this was an unchanging rule, the same every time. Therefore, excluding the Cloth Tiger and choosing from the left side, they would be left with two options: either a wooden spinning top or a pellet drum, Cheng Cha explained.

"What do we do now?" Yang Xiao asked.

Cheng Cha patted the Cloth Tiger hidden inside her clothes confidently, "We’re going to the gambling house. According to the pattern, this time it will be a draw, which means half a loss. When we leave, we’ll get a note equivalent to the value of a wooden spinning top. Then we’ll exchange the note for cash at the money house, and use the cash to buy clothes at the cloth store."

"A wooden spinning top can roughly buy 500 pieces of clothing, but the cloth store only has 494 in stock. They won’t have enough to cover it, so we’ll exploit this loophole to make a scene with the proprietor. If we push it hard enough, she’ll call the manager of the money house to question him, and we’ll stir the pot further until they start arguing, and that will destabilize the world."

"That’s how we escaped the last time," Cheng Cha added.