### Chapter 225: An Que’s Solution
The gap was just too massive, the pressure crashing down on them like a boulder squishing their chests, that feeling of being on the brink of d*ath playing a never-ending game of tag with their nerves. If they hadn’t been through a fair bit of chaos before, they might’ve crumbled like a house of cards by now.
When they first strolled in, they at least had a clear idea of what was causing this pressure and why it was so strong.
But now, with their captain’s body taking a nosedive, that sense of hopelessness began to seep from the depths of their hearts like an unwelcome visitor.
They knew exactly where this pressure was coming from—more precisely, it was their bodies screaming in a panic. The reason? Simple. If they didn’t skedaddle soon, they’d be pushing up daisies in no time.
But the way out was sealed off by thick black bl**d threads—no escape for them.
Over a dozen female madmen sauntered toward them, grinning like they had just discovered a way to win the lottery. Creepy, right? Very much so!
The phrase “sc*m Game” was tattooed in their brains. Yet no matter how hard they rummaged through their memories, they couldn’t find a single gossip about that phrase. This organization? Never heard of it! Let alone interacted with it!
“Qian Mian, aren’t you scared of dying? You dare say whatever’s on your mind,” one of the female madmen chimed in.
According to their unspoken rules, spilling any tea about the sc*m Game meant either you kick the bucket or someone else does it for you.
Of course, it wasn’t absolute—as long as the information didn’t slip out, and they sorted out the problem within a set time frame, all was well in the world.
Everyone knew that, so the comment was more of a jab than a real threat.
“I just feel a bit peeved,” Qian Mian sliced through a Gatekeeper like butter. “These weaklings have the gall to surround us?”
As part of the sc*m Game, even with a brand-new identity, their intrinsic pride remained untouched. They considered all the locals to be trash. If a local offed them, how could they even claim to participate in the sc*m Game and survive to the final stretch?
For them, it wasn’t that they couldn’t accept d*ath—it was that being taken out by trash? Totally unacceptable!
If trash could k*ll them, that was like admitting they were beneath the trash!
“Bai Yu, when is it our turn?” Dragon Lady crossed her legs, mentally chatting with Bai Yu inside her.
“No rush. Just hang tight. Whoever comes, we’ll eliminate,” Bai Yu replied casually.
The situation was in their favor: the Gatekeepers and Ghost Domain were wearing each other down like two tired dogs. They didn’t have a clue what was happening inside the factory until it was too late.
“Alright, I’m just getting a bit twitchy watching her k*ll.”
“Patience.”
“Alright, fine. I’m definitely not the most anxious one here. That little girl over there seems to be the most antsy!”
The Dragon Lady cast a glance at a nearby metal shanty.
Zhao Mingyue, Lu Liangting, and Chen Yunshi were holed up inside, having no chance to escape.
If they weren’t needed, then they could sit tight while avoiding the risk, saving Bai Yu the trouble of worrying. Out of the three inside, Zhao Mingyue was a powerhouse, and Lu Liangting’s life was precious too; those dozen girls had come for him. Chen Yunshi? She might be the odd one out, but if she got herself killed, who would even notice?
Originally, Chen Yunshi should have been part of the madmen brigade, but Bai Yu pondered and decided it was safer to let her and Qian Mu hang together.
Screams and pleas echoed around them as the sound of knives slicing through flesh filled the air.
Twelve against twenty-five? It looked like a total slaughter on paper, but the reality was far from balanced. The Gatekeepers were crumbling faster than a stale cookie.
Their methods were almost useless against the living. Sure, they had some moves, but they were more like wannabe warriors. Generally, they could handle a few wicked ghosts or brutish men, but those moves were about as effective against the madwomen as juggling water balloons in a hurricane.
Releasing the evil spirits meant nothing; they weren’t afraid of close combat, and the long-range psychic attacks barely scratched them. A few pesky Red Clothes were yanked away by Bai Yu’s bl**d threads.
The whole showdown lasted a whopping three minutes.
Yes, you heard that right—three minutes.
In such a short time, not a single Gatekeeper was left standing, and to be precise, there wasn’t a single intact corpse left. Expecting these madwomen to leave behind whole bodies was like wishing for a unicorn. Each hit was more brutal than the last!
By the end, the remaining Gatekeepers were crying, collapsing at the entrance, wailing as they got devoured down to their last shred.
“Boss, it’s all done. What’s next?” Qian Mian dusted off her hands and strolled back to a spot two meters away from Bai Yu.
The moment her words left her mouth, every madwomen turned to look at her.
When the first and third parties teamed up, how do you break this stalemate?
The answer was… join them!
If you can’t beat them, attach yourself to their leg like an overly affectionate puppy.
Even in the eyes of these madwomen, Bai Yu and Dragon Lady were two massive, strong legs to cling to. Now that the two strong legs had fused like a really weird fusion dish, any frown from them would mean they were shrinking.
“Wait! Let’s wait for the others to arrive,” Dragon Lady piped up.
“Got it!” The twelve girls flanked Bai Yu and prepared for the next batch of bait.
—
An Que stood toward the back of the crowd; rather than launching into chaos, the two groups were directing the evil spirits to gobble each other up.
The spirits from the Gatekeepers were a tad weaker than those from the Ghost Domain, but they could still hold their own in embracing chaos. The battlefield seemed to be at a standstill.
“Something’s off.”
Still twisting his prayer beads, his eyes drilled into the battlefield while his thoughts wandered back to the abandoned factory not far behind.
People had been inside for a few minutes, so why was there not a single peep coming from it?
Whether they found the Evil God or he was just chilling inside, there should have been some commotion by now.
Plus, was it his imagination, or did he catch a whiff of bl**d hanging in the air? It seemed to be leaking out of the abandoned factory, adding a splash of drama.
With the distance and the building in the way, if it was just a few corpses leaking a bit of bl**d, he wouldn’t be sniffing it out. If he could smell it, that meant many were met with a grisly end.
“This is impossible. Only two and a half minutes have passed.”
“Qian Mu’s power should not allow that.”
An Que felt a twinge of anxiety; he snapped a bead between his fingers, and a shadow whipped from underneath him, zipping straight towards the factory.
His gut told him something was up inside. Years of experience screamed that two and a half minutes should mean tossing twenty-five pigs in there, and Qian Mu wouldn’t be able to do this kind of cleaning that fast.
What the heck was happening? He needed to see for himself.
Spirits couldn’t share his sight; they could only sense fluctuations in the emotions of the evil spirits.
But that was enough; he could glean a good idea of the chaos unfolding in the factory just from their reactions.
The shadow slipped into the factory entrance, and his first sight was akin to a hellish nightmare, bl**d and limbs scattered everywhere. It looked like a bloodbath in there—organs floating around like grapes in a smoothie, and not far away was a pair of eyes bulging in terror from a severed head.
It was a horror movie come to life, and the thrilling nature of it made even him—a spirit—feel fear.
Just as he was processing that shock, a feminine voice chimed in, “Well, well, look at this little ghost! Peeping, are we?”
The spirit turned just in time to receive a delicate hand slapping across its face…
Smack!
An Que froze. The prayer beads in his hand exploded like a poorly engineered firecracker.
He glanced down. Sure enough, it was that spirit he sent out moments ago.
When the bead shattered, it indicated the spirit was completely off the menu—no salvation would be coming their way.
Why?
Had it really only been fifteen seconds since it had departed?
This spirit met its end with feelings of despair and fear.
Clutching the beads, An Que felt compelled to turn back toward the abandoned factory.
In his view, the factory was mostly shrouded in night’s embrace, the black door tightly shut, and a faint stream of bl**d fragrance oozed out—intensifying as if a nail were being driven into his heart.
One thing was certain: trouble was brewing in that factory.
On one side, the Ghost Domain was still grappling with them; on the other, an abandoned factory that held an unknown disaster.
What he dreaded the most was Qian Mu being way too powerful.
“Could it be that the transformation has already begun? After they entered, they saw Qian Mu’s true form and immediately got turned into believers?”
“Qian Mu’s curse is the ultimate trap; even a glance can lead to corruption.”
“But how do I explain the bl**d scent?”
“What exactly did that spirit see before it bit the dust?”
An Que clenched his fists. At this point, sending more people would just be sending them to their doom. They’d have to go all in together.
He thought long and hard, trying to conjure a way to bait Qian Mu out.
His left hand absently rubbed the ring on his right hand—a bone ring embedded with a red gemstone.
The bone came from the body of Thousand Eyes Godmother, and the ruby housed her heart’s bl**d.
This was his trump card. With it, he felt confident in taking down Qian Mu. But if he used it now, what would he do later?
“Listen, everyone, retreat into the factory!”
The way to break the situation was to shift the battlefield. If they continued dragging this out, Qian Mu might just slip away without a hitch.
That punk may be doing this on purpose, trying to make him back off to buy some time.
While saying that, he also whispered, “Sorry, Yinian. My people are weaker than I thought. How about you sneak in first to test the waters? I’ll send others in soon.”
“Absolutely!”
Yinian detached from An Que, racing forward in the form of mixed black mist, blending malevolent thoughts and will, sprinting toward the factory.
She could hardly contain her hunger to devour the Thousand Eyes Godmother.
—
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