Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

[I can use blood energy, and Zhan Lan also possesses mental power. Even if I don't use it, this book can still enhance Zhan Lan's self-defense capabilities.]

Zheng Zha thought to himself that if it weren't for Alice's current unavailability as a professional, he would probably have directly tried to learn the ancient Egyptian incantations in the scriptures and turn this knowledge into a practical power.

But that won't do; we must be patient.

Who knows if those two books might contain some ancient wizard's trap? Just because Evelyn had them without incident doesn't mean others will be safe. If the situation were critical, then of course we'd have to go through with it, even if it's risky, but since the situation is already under control, it's definitely better to leave matters of expertise to the professionals.

..............................

"So you gave the Necronomicon to Saito Hajime?" Zhan Lan asked with light steps, holding a black cat in her arms, a calm smile on her face.

After dealing with some trivial matters, Zhao Yingkong left on her own, saying she needed to find a place to prepare for battle. It seems that losing to Alice wasn't a minor blow to her pride. Zheng Zha, naturally, couldn't interfere and could only let her act as she pleased.

The others either had no assignments or lacked the ability, and Zhang Jie found a place to smoke, so the team that patrolled the area around Hamunaptra and explored the terrain became Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan.

"Ah, I gave the scriptures to Saito Hajime. After all, he knows ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. If he deciphers some of them beforehand, at least he'll have a catalog when he needs to use them."

“The main god acknowledges that this is a quest item, and it can also be taken back to the space for infusion and learning. So I think as long as the incantation on it isn't used, even if there's a trap, it won't be triggered. Besides, this was Saito Hajime's request.” Zheng Zha said, “He probably wants to help. After all, Saito Hajime is a veteran who has experienced a horror movie, and he's encountered unconventional newcomers like Xiao Honglu and Margot Lloyd. He must be under a lot of pressure.”

“You’re becoming more and more like a captain.” Zhan Lan glanced at him. “You would never have been willing to take this risk before, and you would have wanted to shoulder all the risks yourself. Now you know how to divide the work and cooperate.”

Zheng Zha gave a wry smile.

"Chu Xuan taught me a lesson. It's funny, really. When he was alive, I thought he was wrong about everything, but after he died, I realized some of what he said made a lot of sense. As the team leader, I should take responsibility, especially for our team..."

He clenched his fist slightly.

"To be honest, when Xiao Honglu was setting up his scheme, when he said he wanted to use those Americans to trigger the curse, I really wanted to interrupt him. They were living, breathing people, how could we just watch them die? But..."

Zheng Zha sighed and loosened his fist.

“I have to be responsible for the Zhongzhou team. Between the lives of outsiders and the comfort of my teammates, I have to choose the latter. Even if it gets my own hands dirty... it’s necessary.”

“You’ve worked very hard, Zheng Zha.” Zhan Lan gently stroked the black kitten in her arms. “As a captain, we all see your efforts. But there are some things you can’t escape… It’s time for you to have a serious talk with Zhang Jie.”

"..." The man turned his head away, avoiding eye contact.

"Give me a little more time." Zheng Zha's face was somber, his tone filled with undisguised dejection. "Also... give him a little more time."

“I understand, but we don’t have much time left.” Zhan Lan stared straight ahead. “Have you noticed something? Something only us veteran players would notice.”

"When we needed wisdom and ranged abilities, the Supreme God sent Chu Xuan and Zero. When we needed melee abilities and occult talents, the Supreme God sent Zhao Yingkong and Saito Hajime."

"The Supreme God has always been providing the team with the most urgently needed talent, and this time, He brought Xiao Honglu and Alice. Do you think this is because the Supreme God misjudged the situation, and that's why He sent someone like Miss Alice, whose combat strength is comparable to that of a veteran who has watched four or five horror movies, to our side?"

Zhan Lan shook her head.

"No, that won't happen. The Supreme God won't issue missions that are destined to end, whether it's for us or for the Indian team. The Supreme God won't let one side face a desperate situation the moment they appear. However, the timing of the Indian team's arrival is now within our control. If the Indian team's combat strength is equal to or only slightly better than ours before entering the Legend of the Gods and Demons, then we can wipe them out almost without taking any damage."

"That's impossible, so I'm guessing. Either the Indiana team is stronger than we thought, or... a breakthrough newcomer has emerged on the Indiana team, just like Miss Alice!"

“However, there may be a third possibility.” Zhan Lan raised her head and looked intently at Zheng Zha.

Do you remember what happened in the world of Ju-on 2?

..........................................

Zhang Heng let out a soft breath, stretching his tired arms, and put down the longbow, whose performance he had now completely mastered. He was originally a substitute athlete for the Olympic archery competition, and for him, bows and arrows were far more suitable than guns and bullets. Having been in this era for so many days, he had completely trusted the information revealed by the Zhongzhou team.

Mummy, Imhotep, the Reincarnator team battle... a catastrophic future is already looming. I've heard from others that the Central Plains team is the weaker side in this, so they'll likely be overwhelmed in the upcoming battles.

"I can only rely on myself now." Zhang Heng clenched his fist tightly, feeling the strength slowly returning to his muscles.

Just then, he saw Qin Zhuiyu and Gao Hongliang walking towards him. The two had disappeared after setting up the camp, and now they seemed quite intimate.

"I need someone to help me, Brother Zhang Heng." Qin Zhuiyu said with a friendly smile, extending her hand to Zhang Heng.

"Do you have time? There are some things I'd like to talk to you about."

Chapter 18. Alice is working hard.

"How could I possibly forget?" Zheng Zha clenched his fist tightly.

Ju-on 2 was the previous horror movie world for the Central Continent Team. The objective of the mission was to survive seven days of pursuit by the female ghost Kayako. He still remembered those nightmarish seven waves of ghost tides, one after another, each time more devastating than the last.

The wise man Chu Xuan from the Central Plains team died in the seventh wave, and very few of the newcomers survived. Although it's certain that Chu Xuan was determined to die, those newcomers... they originally had a chance to survive!

If it weren't for that betrayal. If those new recruits hadn't tried to steal the Buddhist scripture retrieved from the ancient temple—the one that could restrain Kayako. If they hadn't, enraged after being exposed, killed and tore up the scripture, then those final days would never have been so tragic.

This has happened once before, and Zheng Zha will never allow it to happen a second time.

He took a deep breath.

"You mean... the newcomers are planning to get their hands on those two scriptures? No, that's impossible. The Supreme God wouldn't adjust the difficulty this way. What's the difference between that and directly manipulating the minds of the reincarnators, turning us into a bunch of puppets?"

However, Zhan Lan countered, "That's right, the Supreme God wouldn't do that. But what if the one who does it isn't the Supreme God?"

................................................

“I refuse!” In a secluded stone hall in Hamunaptra, Zhang Heng resolutely rejected Qin Zhuiyu and Gao Hongliang’s invitation after they told him about their ‘grand plan’.

“That’s a foolish idea. I won’t help you steal those two scriptures.” Zhang Heng slung his bow over his shoulder, held an arrow in his hand, and prepared to leave.

A few minutes earlier, these two men approached him saying they wanted to talk about something. However, after Zhang Heng followed them to a secluded location, Gao Hongliang and Qin Zhuiyu revealed a plan that was utterly suicidal.

They actually planned to steal the Book of the Sun from Evelyn!

"Don't rush off, Brother Zhang Heng. Let us finish speaking first." Seeing Zhang Heng about to leave, Gao Hongliang quickly stepped in front of him. "We have our reasons too."

Zhang Heng looked at him coldly.

“In war, attacking friendly forces is a capital offense. And we are already in the midst of war.” His voice was cold and resolute. “This is a world of horror movies! A world where magic and mythology exist, Imhotep is about to be resurrected, and then an even more powerful Indian Army will appear as the enemy. I won’t do anything foolish like infighting at a time like this!”

"But those veterans aren't the army! They're not the government!" Gao Hongliang roared in a low voice. "Look at what kind of people they are! They're laborers, novelists, charlatans, and people living in mental hospitals. They're just a bunch of poorly organized, low-quality rabble! They're just giving orders because they arrived a few days earlier!"

“But Zhang Heng, you’re different. You’re a promising Olympic shooter. I’m a senior executive at a multinational corporation. Qin Zhuiyu is a household name! We have important talents; we shouldn’t be bossed around like this!” He held out his hands in front of his chest, his tone full of seduction.

“We’re all newcomers, we need to have our own voice. Otherwise, we’ll be humiliated or even sacrificed by the veterans! But as long as we get the Book of the Sun, they’ll have to listen to us.” He said in a low voice, “I’ve seen that movie. Imhotep can only be buried with the Book of the Sun. And burying him only requires reciting those few incantations… As soon as Imhotep is resurrected, while they’re busy dealing with their own problems, we can immediately seize the book. There are three of us, and only Evelyn. Even if we add O’Connor and Jonathan, if you give them an arrow, Evelyn will have no choice but to surrender. And at that time…”

Gao Hongliang suddenly waved his hand downwards.

"As long as they want to watch horror movies, they'll have to listen to us. No, with that book, even Imhotep and the Indiana team will be at our mercy. We will become a significant fourth force!"

"And then?" Zhang Heng asked coldly. "And after that? How do you plan to return to the Main God Space?"

"Let them kill each other and perish together," Gao Hongliang said nonchalantly. "The veterans won't dare force us. If we commit suicide, they'll get negative points. And as long as they don't have the Book of the Sun, Imhotep is invincible. Once they're both exhausted, we can just cast a spell to banish Imhotep, right? That's putting us in an invincible position from the start!"

"You're completely insane." Zhang Heng looked at him as if he were a dead man. He pushed Gao Hongliang, who was blocking his way, to the ground. "If you want to die, go ahead. I'm not playing along. And I'll report this to Captain Zheng Zha."

"How can you be so ungrateful!" Gao Hongliang cursed angrily, but Zhang Heng ignored him and walked outside.

Just then, Qin Zhuiyu suddenly called out to him.

"and many more!"

Zhang Heng turned his head slightly. "If it's just more of this nonsense, there's no need to say anything more."

"Do you really enjoy watching women be humiliated and die in front of you?!" Qin Zhuiyu's voice was sharp as a knife, piercing Zhang Heng's chest. His body swayed, and his face, which he turned around to face, was already deathly pale.

"You... how could you..." Zhang Heng said hoarsely, unable to even stand up straight.

"Of course I know." Qin Zhuiyu gently smoothed her hair. She certainly didn't know what Zhang Heng had been through in the past, but having seen countless men, she could easily tell that Zhang Heng had emotional wounds, and the kind of emotional wounds that stemmed from extreme guilt. Combined with some snippets of Zhang Heng's usual words, it wasn't difficult to draw a vague conclusion.

Clearly, she made the right bet.

“I don’t want to go against the veterans; we just want to protect ourselves.” She sighed softly, exhaling a gentle breath as if speaking to a lover. “Aren’t you willing to protect a vulnerable and helpless woman?”

"I..." Zhang Heng opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word of refusal. In his eyes, Qin Zhuiyu seemed to overlap with the image of his ex-girlfriend, Ming Yanwei. The girlfriend who was snatched away in front of him by thugs, and whom he abandoned and ran away alone because of a hemophobia attack!

That was the deepest wound of his life, even though he later went back to kill those thugs despite his fear. But his defiled girlfriend was gone forever. That was a wound in his heart that he could never heal...

He lowered his head helplessly. The arrow in his hand rolled to the ground, just like his heart, which had long since fallen to the ground.

Author's Note:

....................................

I was wrong... I should have used a geometric sequence...

Section 19. Shut up! Our cause is just!

When Zheng Zha and Zhan Lan returned to the camp, Zhang Heng and the others had already returned to the camp square. Everything seemed as if nothing had happened. Zhang Heng continued to maintain his bow and arrows, while Qin Zhuiyu and Gao Hongliang were still fiddling around the tents, their activities unclear.

[That's fine, as long as they don't hold us back. Not all newcomers are as outstanding as Margot Lloyd and Xiao Honglu.]

Zheng Zha ignored Qin and Gao, and walked straight to Zhang Heng's side. He looked at Zhang Heng's neatly maintained longbow, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.

"Nice bow, how about we shoot a couple of arrows?" He patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder.

Zhang Heng chuckled awkwardly, but his hands didn't stop moving. He picked up two arrows, nocked them, drew the bow, and fired—all in one fluid motion. The arrow accurately struck a beer bottle that the American had carelessly tossed aside thirty meters away. The second arrow, following closely behind, hit the larger fragment of the broken beer bottle!

"Haha, amazing!" Zheng Zha praised loudly. "Your archery skills are even better than mine with a gun. You truly deserve to be an Olympic archer. Keep trying to survive. There are magical legendary bows and arrows in the Main God Space. I'll exchange one for you then, and it will definitely allow you to better utilize your power."

"No..." Zhang Heng scratched his head shyly. "I'm just a substitute."

"I don't think those formal positions are better than yours, don't underestimate yourself. Come on, let me analyze it for you..." In the following time, Zheng Zha adopted the same training style he used when he was a white-collar worker, giving Zhang Heng a good motivational lesson. Seeing that the baby-faced young man was quickly swayed by his words, his doubts finally dissipated.

[It seems Zhang Heng is fine, so the problem might lie with Qin Zhuiyu or Gao Hongliang. Well, keep a close eye on them. If these guys are really planning something stupid… then I'll have to be ruthless this time.]

While Zheng Zha was pulling Zhang Heng along, Zhan Lan arrived at the other side of the camp. Saito Hajime was still there, diligently deciphering the incantations on the Book of the Dead. The book was clearly very attractive to him; he didn't even notice Zhan Lan had walked up behind him.

"How's the progress?" Zhan Lan suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Saito was taken aback for a moment, then looked up and saw that it was Zhan Lan before he felt relieved.

"Sorry, sorry, I got so engrossed in reading, hahaha, these ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs are really interesting. Many of the characters have meanings very similar to oracle bone script. For example, this passage is about gathering sand. If you mix human ashes with sand and chant a spell, you can form several mummy guardians. And this passage is said to be able to gather spirits into a storm, eventually forming a tornado. And this passage, and this passage..." He pointed to several passages on the scripture, his face filled with both admiration and excitement.

"I never thought I would actually come into contact with these mysterious forces. Although I had some premonitions after arriving in the Main God Space and meeting Miss Alice, this kind of real contact, research, and deciphering... is truly a first for me."

"Whatever makes you happy." Zhan Lan smiled, pursing her lips. "By the way, haven't those Americans come looking for trouble? I suspect someone might be planning something sneaky, like stealing the scriptures or something..."

“No, no,” Saito waved his hand. “Those guys are all digging in the sand underground. Evelyn only went into the tent to read the Book of the Sun for a while, but she went back down soon after. I guess these ancient Egyptian ruins are quite attractive to them... Sigh, I wonder how badly they’ll ruin these ruins.”

As he spoke, his mood darkened. It seemed Saito Hajime had little interest in things like tomb raiding and archaeology. Even though he was a top student in archaeology…

Just then, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. From the entrance to the excavation site came the terrified screams of the local guides…

..................................................................

"Imhotep's seal has been broken. The curse has now fallen upon the Americans."

Deep within the temple, Alice suddenly felt her progress in cracking Hamunaptra had leaped forward dramatically. She transformed the curse into magic, collecting optical signals from different areas and projecting them onto the lower part of her retina. At that moment, the numerous statues within Hamunaptra became her eyes, allowing her to observe most corners of the ancient city.

She saw the Americans open the coffin where Imhotep was buried, an invisible curse binding them. She saw several local Egyptian guides stealing treasure, only to be devoured by scarabs sleeping within it, screaming in horrific howls.