See the Law of Deception

Chapter 3 Summoning Ghosts (2)

Even though several passengers had already boarded the train and completed their missions, and knew how dangerous the train journey was, their expressions changed at this moment.

The mission has a time limit of only 12 hours. Not to mention that there are men in the team, even women cannot have the identity of "pregnant woman" within 12 hours.

Nobody wants to die, so nobody wants to be assigned that mission.

What made Lu Jinzhao feel somewhat fortunate was that the train stipulated that assignments would be made by random selection, so at least he didn't have to worry about being assigned the most difficult tasks because he was a newcomer.

The atmosphere was tense. The bespectacled newcomer looked as if he was about to cry, and he looked helplessly at everyone: "Isn't this just sending us to our deaths?!"

Jiang Yingzhi frowned upon hearing this, while Lu Jinzhao sighed inwardly without showing any emotion. Sure enough, people lose their rationality when they feel fear; this newcomer named Zhou Wenbo had completely forgotten Jiang Yingzhi's warning long ago.
Even if the mission is clearly about going to your death, you still have to do it.

Now is not the time to worry about whether the train is sending people to their deaths, but to consider how to resolve this seemingly certain-death situation if I were to be assigned this mission.
Lu Jinzhao looked around. For some reason, this Chinatown seemed a bit desolate, with a gloomy atmosphere that exuded a ghostly aura. Fortunately, there were still people living here, and the shops were all open, so if you needed to buy something, you could still find a suitable place.

"By the way, we'll need some props to complete the mission. How do we pay for them?" Lu Jinzhao asked from the street.

"Pay with the train ticket; buying your life is very expensive." Jiang Yingzhi didn't answer Zhou Wenbo's question, but answered Lu Jinzhao's.

Lu Jinzhao nodded, understanding her unspoken meaning: the currency on the train ticket was probably different from the currency in the platform mission instance.

Zhou Wenbo's expression darkened after being ignored, but he didn't say anything more. The people around him didn't seem to care much about the newcomer's question either, and only looked at Lin Shuyue and asked:
"How do we draw the numbers randomly?"

"Let's draw lots. The slips of paper are numbered 1-10. Whatever you draw is what you get," Lin Shuyue replied. After she finished speaking, no one objected. After deciding on the order of the draw, Lin Shuyue went to the small shop next door, borrowed a pen and paper from the owner, made the slips of paper, and placed them in her palm.

"You should know that there are rules for trains, and I can't cheat myself, so let's begin."

Lu Jinzhao was fourth in the draw, neither good nor bad. She didn't pay much attention to the expressions of the people who drew lots before her, since it wouldn't change the outcome in her hands anyway.

Before even opening the note, Lu Jinzhao could feel a slight dampness in her palms. She knew it was because she was too nervous.

As long as it wasn't number 9, she could accept any other result. With that in mind, Lu Jinzhao didn't hesitate any longer and quickly opened the note in her hand.

【8】

Lu Jinzhao breathed a sigh of relief. The 8th, a corneal transplant from a dead person, is one of the worst methods, but it's obviously much better than a pregnant woman committing suicide.

The numbers were drawn one by one. The one who got no turn was the one who held an umbrella indoors, and the one who drew the number for the pregnant woman who committed suicide was Jiang Yingzhi.

Some people visibly relaxed, while others looked at Jiang Yingzhi with a mixture of worry and pity, as if she were already dead.

Lu Jinzhao had no time to consider other people's feelings right now, after all, the one she drew was, in her own opinion, the most difficult one besides the one about pregnant women committing suicide.

How can I successfully complete the task?

The companions beside him were discussing the order; they clearly did not intend to act alone, but to complete the ghost-seeing ritual one by one in sequence.

When asked about Lu Jinzhao, she seemed to be lost in thought.

"What's wrong?" Lin Shuyue turned to look at her, not understanding why this newcomer was still spacing out at a time like this.

Lu Jinzhao snapped out of her reverie: "Uh, I was just thinking about my corneal transplant surgery."

“Indeed, yours is a bit troublesome.” Lin Shuyue frowned slightly upon hearing this.

She drew the Cup Fairy, and the preparations were simple. However, Lu Jinzhao's transplant of a dead person's cornea was the most troublesome among them, except for Jiang Yingzhi.

"Unfortunately, I don't have any clue either." She shook her head regretfully, but she didn't lie because she was afraid of trouble.

Lu Jinzhao didn't expect anyone else to give her any advice or help. She didn't reply, but continued to think, her gaze constantly shifting around her.

Chinese restaurants, gold shops, herbal medicine shops, rice noodle shops, residential buildings, middle-aged women carrying vegetable baskets, red signs everywhere, children peeking curiously at them, a puppy on the street whose puppies have just been born, and a bookstore not far away.

Lu Jinzhao's eyes lit up, and he quickly approached Lin Shuyue, asking with a hint of urgency, "Sister Shuyue, you said that the train wouldn't make things difficult for passengers because of language barriers, so is there definitely a doctor here who can perform surgery on me?"

Lin Shuyue thought for a moment after hearing this, then nodded affirmatively and said, "That's right. Trains usually don't make things difficult for us in these places. If nothing unexpected happens, there should be conditions here that meet your needs for surgery."

generally?

Lu Jinzhao pondered the two words for a moment, but didn't pay much attention to them. After confirming her guess, she decisively said to Lin Shuyue, "Senior, please wait a moment. I'm going to the bookstore to buy something. I'll be there soon."

She turned and quickly ran in the direction she had come from—the bookstore where she had bought "Ten Methods to See Ghosts." It didn't take long; less than ten minutes later, Lu Jinzhao emerged from the bookstore. Seeing her, Lin Shuyue asked curiously, "What did you buy?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Jinzhao took out a business card from his pocket: "I bought the address of a shady doctor who dares to perform any kind of surgery."

"What?" someone asked, puzzled. "How did you manage to buy it?"

Undeniably, aside from the mission about a pregnant woman committing suicide, one of the ghost-seeing rituals that everyone else least wants to draw is Lu Jinzhao's. Not only is it dangerous, but it's also too troublesome. With only 12 hours, how can one successfully transplant a dead person's cornea?
Seeing that it was a newbie who drew this task, several people had already assumed in their hearts that Lu Jinzhao would probably die because he couldn't complete the task.

But now, this unassuming newcomer has quietly obtained the key item to complete the mission?
“Because the train won’t give us trouble in these places,” Lu Jinzhao replied matter-of-factly.

"So what?" Zhou Wenbo was puzzled; he didn't understand the cause-and-effect relationship.

Lu Jinzhao looked at him and felt that if he didn't get out of the car, this person probably wouldn't live for long. But then he saw that the other people were also looking at him with curiosity. It was clear that only two or three people understood what he was talking about.

She simply explained, "Since they won't make things difficult for me in this way, there must be conditions for the surgery here. Time is of the essence, and it's impossible for me to search for it like looking for a needle in a haystack."

“There will definitely be clues. You can figure it out with a little thought, bookstore owner.”

"He mentioned when we bought the books that the last person who bought books from him was dead. He obviously knows something."

"That's it?" Zhou Wenbo frowned, his tone full of confusion.

“That’s settled.” Lu Jinzhao nodded.

In her view, this was already a very obvious hint.

Indeed, she successfully used the 5 points she had saved to buy the doctor's address and contact information from the bookstore owner.

After hearing Lu Jinzhao's words, Lin Shuyue glanced at him slightly and took a closer look at this newcomer whom she hadn't paid much attention to before.

He is very smart, has a good memory, and most importantly, reacts very quickly. He can come up with a solution to the current predicament from a casual remark he made earlier, which is a kind of quick thinking that is very necessary for survival on a train.

"I'm really lucky." Zhou Wenbo muttered to himself. Lu Jinzhao heard his not-so-quiet muttering and gave this unfamiliar man a strange look.

For some reason, she felt that this person had inexplicably started "competing" with the other two newcomers, and she didn't know what they were competing for. Did he think he was the best among the newcomers?

Is now the time to care about these things?

Even though I'm terrified, I still insist on arguing about meaningless things. I always feel like I'm a bit useless.

Lu Jinzhao withdrew his gaze, still wearing a kind smile, and didn't say anything more.

"Alright, Xiaolu has solved her own problem. We also need to prepare some things for the ghost-seeing ritual we're going to perform. Now, everyone go and buy the necessary items. We'll meet back in forty minutes."

Lu Jinzhao took this opportunity to find a doctor and book the surgery. With the referrer and "money," the doctor agreed quickly. However, corneal transplants require some preparation time, and she needed to wait six hours before the surgery could be performed.

After leaving the clinic, the money left on the ticket for saving my life was only 45 yuan, and the doctor took 150 yuan directly.

The sudden scarcity of money meant to buy her life filled Lu Jinzhao with a sense of crisis, but she was helpless at the moment.

Everything was ready; the ritual to see the ghost was finally about to begin.

Lin Shuyue took the lead, firstly because the draw she drew wasn't too difficult, and secondly to test the waters of this platform.

I've heard of the game "Cup Fairy" before. It's similar to Ouija Board and not much different from the game of the Spirit Tablet. Most of the time, it's played by multiple people, but it's not impossible to play it alone.

Right now, Lin Shuyue is going to participate in this ceremony alone.

The dim light in the room shone on Lin Shuyue, making her face, which usually appeared more imposing than others, look particularly serious. She sat upright at the table, on which lay a piece of paper with large characters written on it, with a porcelain cup upside down on top. Beside her were another piece of white paper and a pen, which were all the items needed for the ceremony.

Lin Shuyue sat quietly at the table for about two minutes. The crowd stood silently behind her, neither too close nor too far, and no one spoke. Their shadows stretched long in the dim light, reaching all the way to the corner of the room.

Then, she finally made a move. She took a deep breath, placed a finger on the bottom of the cup, closed her eyes, and loudly recited:
"Cup Immortal, Cup Immortal, please show yourself!"

"Cup Immortal, Cup Immortal, please show yourself!"

This book is a bit slow to warm up.

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(End of this chapter)