Three Towers Game

Chapter 319 Yin prevails over Yang, ghosts prevail over humans

The door opened.

But this time the door opened differently. Last time, when the water ghost came in, it terrified everyone, but then the water ghost just sat in the corner.

Just as Li Wei was clinging to a sliver of hope, thinking that perhaps this time he wouldn't lose his life, that perhaps he would be like Zhang Qiang, and that nothing would actually happen to him...

After locking onto Li Wei, Wang Hai pounced on him like a madman.

He exuded a ghostly aura, a strange, faint gray mist.

Wang Hai has become a ghost.

He said coldly:

“I was just a human, and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to do anything to you, but I never expected that I would now have the power to kill you.”

Wang Hai's expression grew increasingly ferocious.

His skin began to rot, and his body showed signs of cracking, but strangely enough, he could still drag his body around.

No one dared to approach Wang Hai like this.

No one tried to save Li Wei.

It's obvious which outcome is better: offending a ghost or offending a person.

Wang Hai finally caught Li Wei, and after he lunged at Li Wei, the two quickly began to wrestle.

Li Wei screamed in agony:
"Help! Help!"

No one came to the rescue, and the vengeful spirit behind the bar made a mocking sound:

"Those people you set up are all inside him."

Even the water ghost in the corner smiled, but the smile quickly moved to Xiaoya's face, and Xiaoya let out a soft "heh".

Old Zhou felt a chill run down his spine; he guessed that Li Wei was probably not alive.

There are still six people in the house, but there are three ghosts...

If Xiaoya also becomes a ghost, wouldn't that mean there are five people and four ghosts?

In the bar, the number of humans and ghosts was almost equal. This place was too terrifying, and he couldn't help but have the urge to escape.

But outside... ghosts roam freely.

Wen Xishu knew that the tower could turn people's beliefs into reality; gods and ghosts were all manifestations of this power.

The Ghost Festival, which originally had no real meaning, has acquired a concrete form of expression.

In many ghost stories, ghosts are scary.

But there are also many ghost stories where the ghosts are pitiful.

Their only basic need is to settle scores and avenge wrongs.

So at this moment, Wang Hai's body... began to split apart. On the surface, it looked as if he had fallen from a tall building and been torn to pieces...

But this is not the case.

In reality, countless wronged souls used Wang Hai's body to begin their revenge.

"Give me back my life!"

"you liar!"

I'm going to bite you to death!

"Do you remember the curse I cast before I died?!"

Different voices emanated from Wang Hai's shattered body, which transformed into gaping demons.

They began to frantically tear at Li Wei.

Soon, Li Wei could no longer howl, because his neck had been bitten to pieces, and his body soon began to shatter.

His internal organs, limbs, and head were all in a broken state, and the stench permeated the bar.

Li Wei is dead.

And those shattered flesh and blood began to take on an illusory appearance.

They slowly began to piece themselves back together from their original broken state.

Wang Hai's outline was pieced together again, and he said softly:
"That beast is finally dead, thank you."

This was supposed to be said to Wen Xishu, but Wang Hai was already so ethereal at this point that he was barely recognizable.

Li Wei's shattered, dismembered body quickly began to melt, as if some kind of cleaning mechanism existed in the bar.

Before long, the ghost disappeared, and Li Wei also disappeared.

Everything seemed as if it had never happened.

Looking at the spot where Li Wei's body had disappeared, Old Zhou couldn't help but say:
"So...cruel...ugh..."

Old Zhou vomited again.

Xiaoya said:

"Where did that ghost go?"

Zhang Qiang and A Fei were also puzzled by this.

The phonograph did not appear, indicating that the new rules could only be discovered by the players themselves.

Everyone looked at Wen Xishu without prior arrangement. Even though Zhang Qiang was very unhappy with Wen Xishu, he knew that this teacher was very good at figuring out the rules.

Wen Xishu lived up to expectations:

"When someone drinks the blue wine and someone drinks the red wine, the visitors outside the door, whether human or ghost, will become ghosts."

"I've already summarized this point earlier. The following is about further supplementary information."

"Everyone, with Zhang Qiang in front and Xiao Ya and Li Wei behind, it seems that these ghosts are all connected to our past."

“I think we weren’t locked up in the bar for no reason; we are all guilty.”

“Li Wei has already atoned for his sins, because I know about Li Wei’s crimes, as well as Xiao Ya’s crimes at the time.”

"This is one of my special abilities."

"In short, Li Wei and Xiao Ya have something in common: their past is known to others."

"Either repent to the ghost or let the ghost seek justice. Therefore, the ghosts corresponding to Xiaoya and Li Wei have all disappeared."

Let me make a bold guess here—

"Only when our evil deeds are known to others can we take targeted revenge."

"Only after a ghost has served its purpose will it disappear like it did in the previous round. Otherwise... it will stay in a corner like a water ghost, looking for other people who refused it entry to take its place."

"In other words, if Zhang Qiang doesn't reveal what he did in the past, that is, the crimes he committed at the docks... or if we don't uncover his secrets—"

"Then the water ghost will stay here forever and find Xiaoya to be its substitute... no, maybe not a substitute, but assimilation, turning Xiaoya into a ghost. In this process, it might use Xiaoya to tell the truth."

"But it's also possible that it will turn other people into ghosts as well."

"In short, ghosts can be let in, let them settle their grievances and seek revenge, as long as we can uncover the truth."

These words caused everyone to lower their heads simultaneously, as if each of them harbored a secret.

Even the nerdy guy, Afei, was startled by these words and shuddered.

Xiaoya, on the other hand, has let it go.

Then there was Doctor Chen Ming, who surprisingly revealed a strange smile.

Wen Xishu looked at Zhang Qiang.

Zhang Qiang suddenly grinned maliciously:

"What rubbish! Can't these ghosts just do whatever they want? I'm a cop, I'm not going to do anything bad! Stop speculating."

"Why should I tell you about the past? Who do you think you are?"

Wen Xishu knew that Zhang Qiang wouldn't speak easily.

He knew even better...

Zhang Qiang is probably not so easily intimidated. He may not be as easily frightened as Li Wei, who fell into extreme emotions after being startled at the bar.

Zhang Qiang was also carrying a gun, but Wen Xishu was confident he could subdue Zhang Qiang with a gun...

But he felt it hadn't come to that point yet. And all of this was just speculation.

However, Wen Xishu's words did indeed push Zhang Qiang to the opposite side of everyone. Even Old Zhou, after vomiting, couldn't help but say:
"Officer Zhang... Mr. Zhang, why don't you say something? You should take responsibility for your actions and not harm others."

Old Zhou's words ignited Zhang Qiang's anger:

"I'll shoot you and turn you into a ghost, you believe me?"

Actually, everyone could see that Zhang Qiang didn't seem like a policeman, and what the water ghost said was true.

But Zhang Qiang has a gun.

and--

The knocking sound came again soon after.

Wen Xishu glanced at Xiaoya, who gave a strained smile:
"I can hold on a little longer," said the vengeful spirit behind the bar.

"It's coming, and you can't stop it!"

The others ignored it.

Wen Xishu glanced at it and memorized the sentence. At this stage, he could only take it one step at a time.

"I wonder which character the next ghost will be related to."

Chen Ming? A Fei? Lao Zhou?

A knock came at the door.

Boom, boom, boom.

The first tap was very light, and the second and third taps didn't seem very heavy either, as if they were testing the waters.

"Is anyone there...? Can I come inside and take shelter? It's too dangerous outside."

It was a girl's voice.

Compared to the previous bitter and resentful tone, this voice sounded extremely peaceful.

The crowd immediately gathered around and looked at Afei's computer.

It would have been better if they hadn't looked, because what they saw startled everyone.

Because the "thing" outside the door, apart from its voice, resembled a person in every other way.

It was a centipede with countless heads tied together. There were about seventeen heads, and its whole body exuded a black aura.

This look sent chills down everyone's spine.

If there were no cameras...

The sound alone is enough to deceive people.

Even Wen Xishu, upon hearing only the voice, couldn't help but wonder if it was a human this time.
So far, if Xiaoya hasn't lied... and hasn't been affected by the water ghost, almost everyone who knocks on the door, except for the time Xiaoya did, has been a person.

"Could you open the door... It's really dangerous outside!"

But thanks to A-Fei's methods, everyone was able to see what was happening outside.

Wen Xishu was just very curious...

"It's definitely not human, but its body is made up of many human heads, some of which are facing upwards. Surely it can see the camera, right?"

"Or does it think the camera is not working?"

Zhang Qiang said:

"Can I drink now, Lao Lao?"

His hand had already landed on the red wine glass.

Even so, everyone became cautious after Wen Xishu's previous speech.

Apart from Zhang Qiang, no one else drank alcohol.

The target this time was too obvious; it was definitely a ghost. Therefore, Wen Xishu finally said:
"Raise your hand if you think the other person is not human."

Yes, although it's redundant, Wen Xishu decided to establish a process to ensure that no one would steal the drinks later.

Everyone raised their hands, except for Zhang Qiang, who scoffed, "It's pointless to take off your pants and fart."

Wen Xishu said:
"Then let's drink some red wine."

Everyone voted for the ghost. This round went smoothly, and everyone thought they could catch their breath before the next knock on the door.

But just after everyone finished voting, Afei suddenly fell off his stool, and his laptop also fell to the ground.

Ah Fei stared in astonishment, his mouth agape and his eyes wide.

"Look...look!!"

Everyone was startled by Afei's reaction, and then they were all stunned when they looked at the screen.

Wen Xishu's heart skipped a beat.

Scammed?
The centipede-like figure outside had somehow transformed into a terrified young girl, who was pounding on the door.
"Please! Let me in!"

Yes, she is no longer a ghost, but has become a human.

“She…she’s a ghost! Right? She just disguised herself as a human!” Afei said.

Everyone hopes it will be like this.

But Yuuki already sensed that... the demon's methods had evolved.

Recalling the words of the vengeful spirit at the bar not long ago, "It's coming, you can't stop it!", Wen Xishu already had the answer in his heart.

His heart sank to the bottom.

Dynamic difficulty level.

This is a term from a game. Simply put, many game designers are lazy and, in order to always keep players feeling pressured, they dynamically adjust the game difficulty over time.

The game difficulty has increased, or rather...

The ghosts have upgraded their methods.

Is it because there are fewer people?
Wen Xishu suddenly thought of this.

The fewer the living, the more methods the ghosts have; the more methods the ghosts have, the harder it is for the living to survive, and thus the more likely the ghosts are to become stronger...

This created a vicious cycle.

Li Wei's death led to a decrease in the bar's "popularity".

This is, of course, speculation, but Wen Xishu has always believed in his own speculations.

"I want to forget you," the gramophone voice came again.

"It's a pity you've mistakenly killed a second person. Sometimes, don't just look with your eyes, use your heart to strategize. Given that you're almost all wiped out..."

“Here’s a new rule for you: once the number of vengeful spirits reaches four… everyone will die. But don’t think that nothing else will happen when there are three vengeful spirits.”

"Wish ya'll good luck."

The Haven Bar will soon transform from a human stronghold into a ghost stronghold.

Everyone faced the terror of death.

At that moment, in the center of the bar, under the spotlight, appeared the face of a resentful, red-clad girl:

"You will all die! You will all die!"

"Guess what, the next one knocking on the door will be a person or a ghost?"

"You always have such confidence in your technology. Have you ever considered that you might be deceived by your own technology?"

The last sentence was spoken by the girl in red to A-Fei. A-Fei seemed to be struck by those words, and since he hadn't strayed far from the area where the vengeful spirits resided, he directly entered the illusion.

His past mistakes brought tears to his eyes.

"No! It's not my fault! It's not my fault!"

He began to talk nonsense.

Wen Xishu immediately darted into the area of ​​vengeful spirits. Because the girl in red was positioned in front of the bar, there were fewer corners for living people to move around.

The face of the girl in red and the face of the vengeful spirit that first appeared behind the bar both looked at Wen Xishu, their faces twisted, sinister, and ghostly.
Do you think you have no story to tell today?

"Guess who will be knocking on the door later!"

Wen Xishu ignored him and brought Afei out directly.

Everyone was forced to the doorway and into a corner before they could barely shake off the clamor in their minds.

Ah Fei was breathing heavily:

"I'm...I'm sorry, I trusted the images on my computer too much. I never imagined she wasn't a ghost, but a person!"

Wen Xishu sighed:
"It's not your fault, nor anyone else's. The decision was made together."

"I underestimated the difficulty of the game's changes. But that won't happen again."

We must find a standard for judging ghosts.

Once we find this, the survival problem will be solved.

If this point isn't addressed, there's no way to delve deeper into the mission and uncover the secrets behind each individual.

At this moment, Xiaoya let out another cold laugh:

"Zhang Qiang, you're about to die."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines; the second mistake of killing an innocent person had led to their current dire situation.

The fourth time will result in total annihilation; this rule has been proven by the phonograph.

But as Wen Xishu said, the situation will probably be very bad when the third wronged soul appears.

Wen Xishu forced himself to calm down:
"It's not a matter of life or death yet, but we can't afford to make any mistakes... Calm down."

He comforted himself with this thought, wanting to quickly come up with a way to break the deadlock.

But then, that damn knocking started again!
(End of this chapter)