Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 39 Desperate Counterattack and the Skull Key

Cold sweat beaded on Jiang Jin's forehead. The muzzle of the hunting rifle, whistling, was less than half a meter from his brow, and the veins on the gun barrel were already gleaming with a dark red light.

Liang Qin said coldly, "You don't need to play dumb in front of me. If you don't speak, I'll fire a Soul-Devouring Bullet at you. This kind of bullet is made by fusing resentment crystals with black dog blood. If it hits a reincarnator... hehe, you don't want to know what the outcome will be. How about this, you obediently hand over the goods, and I'll plead for you and spare your life, how about it?"

Jiang Jin knew that to survive today, he had to buy time. But no matter what, he would never relinquish the power of life and death to the enemy.

“Mr. Liang,” Jiang Jin slowly raised his hands, his tone sincere, “I really didn’t take any paper bags, but if you’re willing to put down your guns, I can help you look for them.”

Wu Qin sneered, his eyes flashing with ghostly fire: "Stop pretending! The blood pact has been broken; there are only two possibilities—either the paper bag was destroyed, or someone else has reclaimed it as their master! Do you think I'd believe you?"

Liang Qin's finger tightened slightly on the trigger, but a hint of hesitation flashed in his eyes.

Jiang Jin keenly seized on this point and immediately pressed his advantage: "Mr. Liang, you are a ghost hunter, you should know that firing a gun in a place like this could attract 'them'..."

He deliberately left it unfinished, but Liang Qin's pupils contracted slightly.

—Qingtan Residential Area is a place that harbors countless mysterious things.

Wu Qin waved his hand impatiently: "Liang Qin, don't be intimidated by him!"

During this brief period, Jiang Jin's brain was constantly working at high speed.

"How about this, let me see what I got in the horror dungeon, maybe it has the paper bag you mentioned? But, could you put the gun down first, in case it goes off accidentally?"

"Hmph, finally you're obedient." Wu Qin stepped forward and said, "Boy, I am a LV2 Soul Reaper: Ghost Raiser. Once a LV2 Soul Reaper successfully obtains five resentment crystals from five vengeful spirits, they can become a LV3 Soul Refiner! I have already obtained four, and I'm already one foot in LV3! So, don't even think about playing tricks on me!"

Seeing that Jiang Jin was cooperating, Liang Qin put down his hunting rifle and said, "Hurry up, my brother doesn't have much patience."

Then, Jiang Jin pretended to be flustered and pulled something out of his watch.

It was a small cloth bag.

"This isn't a paper bag!" Wu Qin shouted angrily. "Are you kidding me?"

Jiang Jin quickly pretended to be at a loss, secretly loosening the drawstring of the bag slightly, and said, "Ah, well, let me look again..."

Wow!

Then, he suddenly "accidentally" lost his grip and dropped the cloth bag on the ground, spilling the snow-white glutinous rice all over the ground!
This is exactly the bag of glutinous rice that Old Man Huang Jianhua gave to Jiang Jin before he passed away!
Wu Qin and Liang Qin both lowered their heads at the same time, realizing something was wrong!

The second rule of the restricted area in Qingtan Community is: "If you find glutinous rice scattered on the ground, you must step on it barefoot."

"You little bastard, you tricked us!"

"you wanna die!"

Jiang Jin quickly waved his hands and said, "No, no, it was an accident! I didn't mean to!"

Even Liang Qin, who initially thought it was low class to bully the weak, secretly resolved to kill Jiang Jin with his own hands later!

Helpless, Liang Qin quickly put the hunting rifle away and placed it in his Reincarnator watch, then started taking off his shoes and socks with Wu Qin. Jiang Jin also squatted down and untied his shoes and socks!

Although they knew it was probably Jiang Jin's doing, they had no choice but to take off their shoes and socks for now. And considering that Jiang Jin himself would also have to squat down to take off his shoes, preventing him from escaping or retaliating, Liang Qin and Wu Qin began to wonder if it really was an accident.
Jiang Jin knew that Liang Qin might fly into a rage and shoot, but he had checked the instructions for the Reincarnator's Watch. The Reincarnator's Watch could only be removed by the Reincarnator himself, and even if he died, the watch would only turn into a "skull key".

This key can summon a treasure chest, through which one can obtain three items from the Reincarnator's watch, but the items can only be drawn randomly. Even if he put a pair of smelly socks in the watch, he might still draw them. Unless absolutely necessary, they are unlikely to shoot and gamble on the odds.

There is no absolute, foolproof plan when life and death are hanging by a thread. As long as the probability is high enough, Jiang Jin will fight to the death!
At that very moment, Jiang Jin's "Rule Tamperer" ability quietly activated!
The rule was changed this morning, exactly 12 hours ago!
He silently altered the rule—

"Don't step on glutinous rice that has been scattered on the ground with your bare feet."

"要" has been changed to "别"!
And it only applies to Wu Qin and Liang Qin!
They only altered one character, and the two of them combined only have 6% SAN! Jiang Jin doesn't lack SAN right now!

After taking off their shoes and socks, Wu Qin and Liang Qin stepped on the glutinous rice on the ground without hesitation!
"Hmm... wait, I think I've got a new clue..." Before Liang Qin could finish his warning, Wu Qin's foot touched the glutinous rice— *splat!*

Wu Qin's feet rotted instantly, the skin and flesh peeling off like melted wax, revealing the stark white bones!

"Ah—!!" Wu Qin let out a shrill scream, trying to pull his foot back, but found that his bones were rapidly turning black and shattering, as if being devoured by some invisible force!

Liang Qin retreated in terror, and his hunting dog suddenly began to bark wildly—

"No!!" Liang Qin watched helplessly as his feet began to dissolve, black pus and blood gushing out, turning into a pool of foul-smelling, rotting flesh in an instant!

At the same time, Liang Qin's right hand suddenly twisted and deformed, and countless wriggling black threads bulged out under the skin!
He frantically swung his arms, but the black threads had already seeped into his veins and spread upwards along his arms!
Wu Qin's situation is even worse.

His legs had completely turned to bone, and the decay was spreading upwards, to his abdomen, chest cavity... His internal organs were rotting into mud at a visible rate!

“Jiang…Jin…you…!” Wu Qin glared at him ferociously, but his throat was also beginning to be eroded, and he could no longer utter a “ghostly howl.”

The text prompt from the reincarnation system had fully appeared before his eyes: "Reincarnator Wu Qin, the second rule of the Qingtan Community, a Hong Kong-style terrorist containment zone, has been changed..."

Wu Qin's last thought before he died was: How could this be...

Jiang Jin coldly watched them die before his eyes.

Wu Qin's pupils suddenly dilated, and the next second, his head snapped off with a "crack," rolling to the ground and turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water.

Liang Qin knelt down on the ground, countless writhing black threads bulging under his skin, and finally, with a "bang," his body turned into a large mass of blood and flesh.

The undead hound beside him had turned into a pile of bones, then a large amount of ash material was released from its body, and finally, the bones and ash material... all disappeared.

Deathstroke growled, its eyes fixed warily on the pool of writhing flesh and black liquid.

Then, each of their watches transformed into a pitch-black key, with a black skull at the top.

Within the restricted area, the easier a rule is to follow, the faster you'll die if you break it. Conversely, the harder a rule is to follow—for example, when Jiang Jin couldn't turn off the voice-activated light—there's a time lag between the ghost's appearance and its killing him.

Jiang Jin breathed a sigh of relief, bent down to pick up the two skull keys, and also took the crossbow that Liang Qin was carrying.

"Thanks," he smiled at the two corpses, "I'll accept your inheritance."

"Reincarnator Jiang Jin, you have obtained the skull keys of Reincarnators Wu Qin and Liang Qin."

Do you wish to summon the Skull Treasure Chest of the Reincarnator Wu Qin? Yes/No

Do you wish to summon Liang Qin's Skull Treasure Chest? Yes/No

Originally, new reincarnators returning from the instance to the isolation zone would be escorted out by guides. Liang Qin was in charge of this task, but now... he's dead.

Jiang Jin left Qingtan Community alone.

In other words, his crisis is not yet over, so he naturally needs to strengthen his immediate combat capabilities.

Jiang Jin first left room 708 and walked out into the corridor.

The pair of red embroidered shoes by the door are gone.

He looked back at the wall, first clutching the key that Liang Qin had been given, and then mentally selected "yes"!
He couldn't help but wonder: what items would he draw?

　I especially love Resurrection's Evolution Trilogy.
　　So it can also be considered a tribute to him.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)