Chapter 352: The Evil God is My Wife
After dealing with the burial ground’s male ghost, the group didn’t encounter any more evil spirits on the road. Even the dark fog ahead seemed to have dissipated quite a bit, as if it was just gathering its forces for a big reveal.
Finally, they arrived at Guan Village. The group stared at the desolate village.
If Eternal Life Village had an eerie vibe, this place leaned more toward desolation. Of course, there was still an air of oddness, but it wasn’t nearly as oppressive as Eternal Life Village.
“Are there really people living here?” Zhao Mingyue asked, observing the overgrown weeds. By eight o’clock, the village was nearly pitch black, with only a handful of houses still lit, their lights dim and windows tightly shut.
“It feels like it’s not as dangerous here as in Eternal Life Village.”
“Of course, that’s obvious,” Shen Shuyun chimed in, stepping forward and scanning the village entrance. “There’s just one evil god hanging around, and she’s pretty weak. Compare that to Eternal Life Village, where there are four powerful evil gods! How can you even compare?”
“Forget about the back village; even the front village is cursed without a blind spot. You can’t take a single step without worrying about getting caught. Here, other than the heavy yin energy, what else do you sense?”
“Let’s put it this way: In Eternal Life Village, you can immediately tell there’s an evil god; in this place, you just think, ‘Oh, there are probably ghosts lurking around.’”
Zhao Mingyue completely agreed with Shen Shuyun’s explanation; it seemed to be the case.
In comparison to Eternal Life Village, Guan Village felt like a horror game setting where the protagonist could escape simply by solving puzzles. Even if they encountered ghosts, they just needed to be careful and unravel the truth step by step. The ending could be either escape or being taken down by the Black Water Goddess.
Eternal Life Village didn’t offer that luxury. The protagonist who dared go there would likely turn into a believer in seconds instead of figuring anything out.
With that thought, Zhao Mingyue’s eyes grew strange; why was she feeling so proud?
As if Eternal Life Village being more dangerous was something to brag about.
“The signal here is terrible—actually, nonexistent. That Mechanic hasn’t shown up in a while, so they probably don’t know about our plans today.” Shen Shuyun scratched her head and stepped forward, largely because she was scared of Bai Yu.
The whole Mechanic situation was something she decided on her own without the Mechanic’s awareness.
Deciding matters without consulting, but since the Mechanic was keen to rescue their wife, it seemed alright.
As they walked into the village, a few ghosts were crouching in the dark corners, easily visible to Zhao Mingyue. They hadn’t even bothered to camouflage themselves.
Then she noticed those little ghosts had bl**d threads sneaking out under their feet, sucking them dry. In the blink of an eye, all visible ghosts in the village were gone; the unseen ones were probably in bad shape too. Bai Yu tracked these bl**d threads by scent, and since they weren’t visible to the n*ked eye, it wasn’t a problem.
Even the old lady sitting on a stone up ahead was devoured by the bl**d threads. She looked like the key NPC who would lead them into the “game.” The first step in the puzzle-solving process would be to deal with this old lady, gradually falling into the Black Water Goddess’s trap.
Unfortunately, Bai Yu clearly wanted to skip the puzzle-solving and jump directly to the final boss battle.
As they headed toward the Mechanic’s home, a figure in red climbed out of a dry well, only to be yanked away by tentacles and devoured mercilessly.
All the illusion tricks and blocking ghosts along the way were also consumed by Bai Yu, ensuring a smooth journey.
When she arrived, Bai Yu wanted to see what sort of tricks the Black Water God was pulling. Since they were already there, there was no need to hide—charging through was the best approach.
“Black Water God, Black Sun God—those names are surprisingly similar,” Zhao Mingyue murmured, noticing that almost every household in the village had wells. It was as if every family had two wells; she couldn’t fathom why they needed so many. Most were sealed up, while some unsealed ones even had figures in red clothing living inside.
Arriving in the village center, a large well came into view, and in front of it was an altar topped with decaying carcasses of cattle, sheep, and pigs.
Zhao Mingyue covered her nose, waving her hand in front of her face. “No wonder it stinks so bad in here; I thought it was just the village.”
Seeing this, Bai Yu used bl**d threads to fling the altar away, tossing it outside the village.
“This Black Water God likely uses water as the source of her curse. While the curse isn’t spreading quickly, it’s convenient for gathering believers.”
The Dragon Lady stood in front of the well, keenly sensing that the curse’s intensity peaked within it.
In various religions, water is often considered sacred—a holy medium, if you will. Black Water God was cursing through water, making it easy to control the village.
“That’s why all the other wells were sealed up.”
“You’re right.” Suddenly, a strange female voice chimed in.
Zhou Wan was dressed in rags, her face hidden behind a cloth, which seemed to be stuffed with herbs. At first glance, she looked like she stepped out of a time capsule thirty years into the past.
“The Black Water Goddess uses water to control followers; it’s all karma.”
“So, what brings you here?”
Facing the Mechanic’s skepticism, the Dragon Lady shrugged. “Sorry for barging in uninvited, but I couldn’t reach you. You float around like a ghost with no internet—I couldn’t be bothered to come to this spooky place to find you.”
“What you need to know is that I’m here to help you.”
“Help me?” Zhou Wan furrowed her brow.
“Of course! Let me introduce you; the Dragon Lady standing up front is one, and this little girl to my left is Zhao Mingyue. Then on my right is our heavyweight, nicknamed the Doctor, though we usually just call her the Redemption Enforcement Officer.” Shen Shuyun cracked a joke while casually introducing their mission.
“About your wife, the Doctor will help you. Don’t worry; as long as you don’t cause trouble, she won’t do anything to you.”
At the mention of the Doctor and the Dragon Lady’s nicknames, Zhou Wan’s expression changed completely. She stared at Bai Yu for a long moment before finally speaking, “Thank you.”
She indeed needed assistance; just relying on her was far from enough.
How tragic it was that as a member of the sc*m Game, she couldn’t even handle a single evil god.
“Thank you for understanding. I knew you’d agree. Now, let’s not chat here; let’s head back so you can fill the Doctor in on the details.”
While Shen Shuyun and Zhou Wan were talking, Bai Yu had Zhao Mingyue take out her black phone. Sure enough, the task was triggered.
[You have triggered the Redemption Task: The Wife in the Well.]
[The wells in the village have all dried up; if this continues, no one will be able to live here. The Village Chief says he has a solution.]
[The elders of the village have been gathering to discuss something; I overheard them mention summoning a deity.]
[The ritual to summon the deity has begun, and I can’t believe the chosen one turned out to be her.]
[Our time together is growing shorter. As long as the village is drought-ridden, she must go to pray for blessings of water, starting with once a month, then once a week, and later every day.]
[The villagers are saying her divine power is failing because she disrespected the deities. To appease the deities, they bound her to the altar and submerged her at the bottom of the well.]
[The deity was indeed awakened, but she never returned.]
[Doctor, your task tonight is to help 0544 find her love.]
[Upon completing the task, you will receive a reward: Love Water.]
With a quick glance, Bai Yu’s gaze rested on the last line about the task reward. Something about it felt off—just from the name, it didn’t sound like anything genuine.
Also, the task description was the same old formula, just a rough overview. The details still needed figuring out.
Even the task objective was a simple line: help the Mechanic find her love.
All the redemption tasks she had completed were about recovering memories, but this one was special.
“The Black Water God isn’t that strong; it’s just that I’m too weak.” On the way back, the Mechanic sighed, her gaze distinctly dejected.
She was having a hard time accepting this outcome.
In the sc*m Game, she was powerful, having endured countless trials to fulfill her wish of rescuing her wife. But now, with everything seemingly in front of her, her efforts felt like a joke. Even if she returned, she still wasn’t a match for the Black Water Goddess.
Not only that, but if she continued to tangle with the Black Water Goddess, her own life would be at stake.
Lately, she often pondered what all the hardships in the sc*m Game were for.
Each task was filled with challenges, sometimes life-threatening. Had she known it would lead to this conclusion, she likely wouldn’t have persisted this far.
She also kept telling herself that her efforts weren’t all in vain; at least she had returned.
As long as she came back, there was hope.
With this thought in mind, Zhou Wan glanced at Bai Yu.
This was the renowned Doctor, first in rank, and she wondered what her current strength would be after switching bodies—she seemed powerful, but how powerful, she couldn’t be sure.
But none of that mattered; she just wanted to know if the Doctor could take down the Black Water Goddess.
In such a short time, it seemed tough, but who knew?
Since she dared to come here, it meant she had confidence—truly worthy of her ranking; the speed at which her power grew was terrifying.
“If I stay here, I can only ensure that I won’t be affected by the Black Water God. Otherwise, I can’t promise anything. Even I can’t roam the village at night for too long.”
“There aren’t many living people around anymore; they’re either followers of the Black Water Goddess or evil spirits. Also, one thing to note: absolutely avoid touching the water here. Not only should you not drink it, but it’s best not to touch it at all; the Black Water Goddess’s power mainly comes from water sources, making it very easy to get cursed.”
Once Zhou Wan finished speaking, Shen Shuyun piped up, “You don’t have to worry about that; leave the Black Water business to us. Her curses are nothing to worry about.”
“Then let’s proceed.” Zhou Wan didn’t say much more.
Under her guidance, they soon arrived in front of a run-down tile-roofed house—the only one in the village still lit. All the other homes with lights were now extinguished.
“The place might be a bit messy inside.”
Stepping into the yard, they found it cluttered with parts, circuit boards, and various weapons and devices Zhou Wan had created.
Unfortunately, these items could only serve as a defense to keep the evil spirits out of her yard. Aside from that, they were relatively useless. Mainly due to limited materials, she couldn’t find or afford the electromagnetic weapons that could deal with ghosts.
The kicker was that the weapons she could make were physical damage types, which were basically ineffective against ghosts.
It was as if she had collected enough parts to craft an exoskeletal suit, but what good would that do if it couldn’t hit ghosts?
Zhao Mingyue was dazzled; she noticed a row of firearms hanging on the wall and swallowed hard.
Her intuition told her these guns and the nearby rocket launcher and Gatling g*n were the real deal. Although she wasn’t a military enthusiast, it was evident that these weapons were made exceptionally well, with countless details.
There was even a large flamethrower—she couldn’t help but wonder if it could k*ll ghosts.
Casually picking up a handgun from the table, the Dragon Lady examined it closely. “Good stuff!”
“Stop admiring it; it’s not useful, at least not for dealing with ghosts.” Zhou Wan moved chairs and benches outside from within the house and peeled off the cloth hiding her face.
“Feel free to take whatever you like. Besides these things, I have nothing else to offer. They can’t k*ll ghosts, but people? Sure.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Shen Shuyun shouldered the rocket launcher, amazed. “How did I forget about this? If I had come to buy weapons sooner, those little skirts wouldn’t have stood a chance!”
Everyone was basically just flesh and bl**d—one shot from a rocket launcher would guarantee a k*ll.
“Let’s sit.”
Turning on the lights in the yard’s awning, Zhou Wan placed her arms across her chest, leaning against the table.
“Let’s get down to business. I don’t know where to start, so why don’t you just ask me anything?”
“Actually, there’s not much to ask.” Shen Shuyun put the rocket launcher down on the table and picked up a rifle. “Let’s temporarily set aside the Black Water God. Let’s talk about the details of your situation; that’s the most important.”
Zhou Wan understood the nature of the redemption task, and Shen Shuyun’s request cleared things up for her.
“Well, it’s like this: the Black Water Goddess is actually my wife, or more accurately, half of her soul. But she doesn’t recognize me anymore, and has totally lost her humanity, turning into an evil god.”
Zhou Wan’s statement was shocking, particularly the first line, which left Zhao Mingyue stunned.
