A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 400 The Fourth Ghost
This ascendant, codenamed "Rong Kong," seems to have encountered some accident while guarding the Yanglao Village quarantine zone. Not only did he lose his life, but his corpse and the ghost he was riding also fell all the way from the mortal realm to the -2 level of the Xiyu realm.

Ning Zhe squatted down in front of the scattered body parts, rummaging through them and quickly recovered the things that had been stolen earlier:

Two notepads, a lighter, tissues, Plumeria's bank card and key, and a few dry wheat stalks, but they were no longer of much use.

Besides these items that originally belonged to Ning Zhe and Plumeria, there were other things scattered on the ground:

Scissors, a calligraphy brush, a teacup, a few copper coins that hadn't been spent yet to buy a life, and a broken bowl—I don't know where they were stolen from.

"This Rong Kong is really ruthless when it comes to stealing; he wants to touch everything."

While searching the ground, Ning Zhe roughly deduced how the ghost fell to the -2 level:

Besides the Plague God, the Earth God, and the Mad Fire imprisoned in the deepest part of the Seventh Ghost Realm, there is actually another hidden ghost in Yanglao Village. If nothing unexpected happens, that hidden fourth ghost should have an extremely tricky 'instant death' rule.

"The seven layers of the Sheep Prison Village are separated by 'death'. There is a plague god here, so ordinary physical damage, poison, or illness cannot kill people. Living people here cannot even go to the underworld on the 0th layer, let alone fall into the deepest part and come into contact with the mad fire."

"Back then, when Ji Taihao's mother wrote to him, he asked him to come here. As a mortal, without some strange help, it would have been impossible for Ji Taihao to go deep into the Ghost Realm and obtain the fire seed."

"But it was precisely this mortal without any supernatural aura that broke through the seal of the Plague God and fell from the first level of the mortal realm to the zero level of the underworld. If nothing unexpected happens, he should have triggered the hidden instant death rule in Yanglao Village and been sent to the underworld by the fourth ghost."

Ning Zhe pulled out a tissue and wiped the blood off the Rong Kong employee ID card. He then put it in his pocket along with the things he and Plumeria had lost earlier, thinking to himself:

"The ascendant codenamed Rong Kong must have accidentally violated the rule of instant death while guarding the Yanglao Village quarantine area, alarming the hidden fourth ghost and falling into the underworld."

—The matter can still be reasonably explained up to this point.

“It’s normal to break the rules unintentionally, but after falling into the underworld, this Rong Kong should be mentally prepared for the fourth ghost in Yanglao Village, and should be more careful in his actions.”

"Moreover, his belongings also included money to buy his life, which shows that Lan Shiwen had taken precautions against such unexpected situations, so that he could spend money to buy his life should he really encounter misfortune."

Given such thorough preparation, why did [Rongkong] repeatedly violate the rules and fall all the way to the -2 level of the Xiyu Realm?
"...He was probably already 'disqualified' when he died for the first time." After thinking it over, Ning Zhe could only come up with this explanation.

The ascendant codenamed Rongkong died disqualified upon his first death, and those who wander here afterward, violating the rules, are all the three-armed demons named Rongkong.

Ning Zhe lowered his head and saw a dark, limp ghost hand among the scattered pieces of corpse. It lay limply on the ground like a small snake with broken bones, motionless under Ning Zhe's gaze.

Once a thief is caught, he can no longer steal; that's the rule.

Ning Zhe stood up and saw two blurry figures, one tall and one short, standing in front of the earth god temple. The tall one was Plumeria, and the short one was Yin Lishang. Separated by several layers of worlds, they could not be seen clearly.

Then, the shorter figure swayed and collapsed, as if drunk. Plumeria, standing beside her, reached out and caught her, then tossed a round, coin-like object into the air. The coin landed silently. But something had already happened.

Plumeria put one arm around Yin Lishang and raised the other hand in the air, making an 'OK' sign.

Then the shadow beneath Ning Zhe's feet moved, pointing at Plumeria standing in front of the Earth God Temple, and then raised its foot in a 'stomping' gesture.

The aunt on the ground immediately understood and the special rule was triggered three times in a row, bringing Plumeria from the mortal world to the -2 level of the Xiyu, and bringing her to Ning Zhe.

“Master!” Plumeria quickly recovered from her shock, her face full of joy, but she realized as soon as she opened her mouth that she could no longer speak.

Ning Zhe handed one of the two notepads to Plumeria, then took the other and wrote in it: "Is the bet over?"

Plumeria nodded and picked up her pen to write: [Yes, Master, I won the 'Plague God' from that little girl, and then lost it to the local earth god of Sheepfold Village.]

Ning Zhe nodded, then pointed to the limp, black ghostly hand on the ground:
[This is the ghost that stole our initiation items and personal belongings before. Be careful, don't take your eyes off it, or you might break its rules again and get robbed again.]

[This ghost's name is probably 'Rong Kong,' and its rules are related to 'observation' and 'theft.']

This ghostly hand can select an item from a target and steal it without regard to any obstacle. Even the barrier of the seven layers of ghostly realms cannot stop it from extending its wicked third hand.

However, this kind of theft requires one prerequisite—it cannot be discovered.

If either the thief or the item it intends to steal is being observed, the theft will fail.

After being caught stealing, this ghostly hand falls into its current listless state, much like a thief caught by the police. The duration of this listlessness is currently uncertain.

[I don't know what the other side effects are yet, nor do I know if any hidden conditions need to be met to successfully steal it, but this is a very useful ghost.]

I need it, Melia, win it back.

Ning Zhe winked at the girl beside him.

Plumeria nodded seriously, stepped into the scattered pieces of flesh, and gently raised her left hand.

As Plumeria targets the lying-on-the-ground Ghost Hand, the rule of [Love Takes] is triggered again, and a new gamble begins.

Unlike Rongkong's sneaky theft, Aiqu relies on gambling games to forcibly deprive other players of their chips, which seems more aboveboard and also more dependent on luck.

(End of this chapter)