Although the task had restarted, there was one change—Mi Shu’s wrist no longer bore the Red String; it had been used up during the previous task.
"What should I do then?" Mi Shu asked.
"You don’t have to do anything. After the task starts, you will fall into a deep sleep. We won’t be able to see you, and neither will those Resentful Infants. When the cycle restarts, we will et at the entrance of the village," Cheng Cha patiently explained.
Upon hearing this, Tong Han slowly took a breath, "So, you’re saying that with each task cycle, we lose a red string. When all the Red Strings are used up, we will be trapped in this haunted place until we die."
"Exactly," Cheng Cha nodded, "So we must find the loophole and end this task before the worst-case scenario unfolds."
The situation could not have been more critical. Cheng Cha arranged for everyone to continue patrolling the areas they had previously surveyed. The area previously supervised by Mi Shu would now be under his charge, and he emphasized that no one should act rashly unless it was absolutely necessary. Each person was to attend to their designated tasks.
This was a true test of each team mber’s strength, but fortunately, the few remaining were all sufficiently strong. Cheng Cha was well aware of their capabilities.
After offering incense, Cheng Cha directed the four individuals to form a circle, holding hands, heads bowed, eyes closed. Mi Shu, who had lost his Red String, stood in the center of the circle. Quickly, that chilling and resentful atmosphere reappeared, and as they opened their eyes, a bizarre scene unfolded—Mi Shu, who had just been standing in the middle of the circle, had vanished without a trace.
Without a word, the four individuals quickly dispersed, each running towards their own designated areas, ready for another fierce battle.
The area Tong Han was responsible for was where the house owner lived, surrounded by several brick and tile houses, with a relatively tall building in the center. The courtyard was intricately designed, subtly incorporating the principles of Bagua and the gates of life, though Tong Han only had a superficial understanding of it.
She first inspected the surrounding brick and tile houses and found no issues. She then turned her attention to the tallest and largest building. The building was very new inside, with fresh fruits and vegetables still sitting on the table, giving off the impression that the owner had just left.
The lighting inside the building was also fairly good; at intervals, candles on candlesticks flickered occasionally, tugging on the nerves.
With previous experience from Yang Xiao, Tong Han was extrely careful. After ensuring there were no problems on the first floor, she went behind the door, closed it, and then cautiously stepped on the wooden staircase leading to the second floor. The wooden staircase, being old, creaked with every step, which was particularly grating in the quiet night.
Tong Han kept her steps as light as possible. Upon reaching the second floor, she found the lighting even poorer, with the corners slightly shrouded in darkness. She had to pick up a candlestick and carefully inspect the room, which thankfully contained only a few large items such as a dressing table, a bed, a wardrobe, or so tall columns.
After making a round, Tong Han found another staircase leading to the upper floor. Compared to the previous one, this staircase was much more stable. Before she could ascend, she halted abruptly upon hearing a very faint "creak" from downstairs!
Tong Han imdiately realized that the door downstairs had been opened. She didn’t dare to move, holding her breath, waiting for another sound from below.
This ti it was the creaking sound of the wooden staircase, unable to bear the load. The sound was not loud but was frequent—sothing was ascending the stairs, and not just one thing, but several. Tong Han heard no stomping of footsteps; these creatures moved silently.
It was those townspeople disguised as Resentful Infants. Tong Han hadn’t expected them to arrive so quickly, and what was stranger was that from entering the door to ascending the staircase, they had hardly paused at all—that is, they didn’t search the first floor but ca straight for her upstairs, as if they had locked onto her location from the beginning.
Why?
Had she exposed herself sowhere?
Tong Han couldn’t understand, and now was not the ti to think about it. She imdiately began to move, continuing upstairs. The third floor was much smaller. Tong Han looked around; there were only three places to hide: under the bed, in the water tank, or in the wardrobe.
Considering that these Resentful Infants walked on their hands, under the bed was the first to be ruled out, and the wardrobe was too obvious, so that was ruled out too. Tong Han, not being particularly large, could just fit into the water tank, which was thankfully not full, only half-filled. After wedging herself in, she replaced the lid above, and lay in ambush, silent and still.
No sooner had Tong Han hidden herself than the faint creaking noise reached the stairs from the second to the third floor. Tong Han could distinctly feel a chill in the air, the temperature in the water tank dropping several degrees, making her shiver uncontrollably.
First, she heard the sound of the wardrobe doors being pulled open, then the noise of rummaging—Tong Han paled. These actions were enough to suggest that the Resentful Infants had discovered where she was hiding, or at least strongly suspected she was there; otherwise, why wouldn’t they search elsewhere?
But why?
Tong Han replayed her entire search route, unable to spot any mistakes. How could it feel as if these Resentful Infants had cheated?
The next second, Tong Han shuddered. She heard knocking sounds—sothing was striking the water tank she was hiding in. The sounds were soft, perhaps made with fists or with nails, and her heart leaped to her throat.
Just as Tong Han was about to rush out, ready to play a ga with them if necessary, the knocking suddenly stopped, followed by the creak of the stairs. The ghosts had actually left, a scene that greatly puzzled Tong Han, who had just survived a catastrophe.
However, it was not safe to stay here long. After waiting for the sounds to completely disappear, Tong Han slowly pushed the lid open with her hands. The next second, she saw several sinister faces clustered outside the vat, pairs of resentful eyes staring fixedly at her.
"Play a ga! Play a ga! Play a ga!"
Tong Han wasn’t nearly scared to death like Mi Shu had been last ti. In fact, just before she lifted the lid, she had anticipated this outco, but she had to take a gamble, as hiding in the water vat for a long duration wouldn’t resolve anything.
This wasn’t rely a task of escape; they needed to find the camouflaged Ginseng Essence as fast as possible.
A gaunt man reached out to grab Tong Han, but she swatted his hand away, "Don’t touch , I can walk on my own!"
Tong Han stood up from inside the water vat and stepped out, soaking wet yet her deanor was anything but weak. "What are the rules of the ga?"
The ghosts who had previously descended the stairs had now run back, each face filled with a malicious grin. A hunchbacked woman ca forward, holding a large pair of scissors, "We play ’lose a piece,’ whoever can’t take it anymore loses!"
"Lose a piece, lose a piece!!" Hearing this, everyone around got excited, cheering louder and louder.
Seeing the woman gesturing, Tong Han understood that ’losing a piece’ ant a showdown of endurance with self-mutilation using the scissors.
Knowing it was a battle of endurance, Tong Han’s lifted spirits finally settled; she wasn’t afraid of this.
The hunchbacked woman, encouraged by the others, went first. She lifted the large scissors and harshly cut off half of her little finger, then boastfully tossed the severed finger at Tong Han’s feet, "Your turn, your turn!"
Without fuss, Tong Han took the scissors and *snip*, cut off her own left ear, then casually handed the scissors back to the hunchbacked woman, "Continue."
The hunchbacked woman paused, then her expression turned fierce. She pulled a hamr from her bosom, placed her hand on the edge of the water vat, and slamd down hard, completely flattening half of her palm, causing the woman to cry out in pain as snot and tears erged, and she wailed chaotically.
"Your turn, your turn!!" Seeing this, the onlookers shouted rowdily, their faces showing a brutal desire to see Tong Han torn apart.
Tong Han picked up the hamr from the ground, weighed it in her hand, then stretched out her hand, slowly rolled up her sleeve to expose her left arm, placed it on the vat, and with fierce determination, swung the hamr down with all her might. Her forearm imdiately broke, the broken bone piercing through the flesh, and even the wrapped fascia and blood vessels were visible. Tong Han had bitten through her lip to keep from crying out, her face deathly pale, nearly fainting from the pain.
Seeing this, the previously noisy Resentful Infants suddenly fell silent, especially Tong Han’s opponent, the hunchbacked woman, who made no sound.
Tong Han didn’t intend to let her off and threw the hamr down at the woman’s feet. By the rules, the woman had to do sothing more extre than Tong Han, or she would lose.
But the woman hesitated for a long ti and didn’t pick up the hamr. Instead, the other onlookers couldn’t stand it anymore and sward her, holding her down while an elderly man picked up the hamr and aid it at the woman’s head.
"Smash! Smash! Smash!" soone shouted hoarsely, "Just smash it, and we win, you can’t lose the ga!"
But the next second, the hunchbacked woman, mustering strength from sowhere, screeched and broke free from her restraint, kicking the elderly man in the face. She stood inverted and quickly scrambled away, nearly flying down the stairs.
The woman had run away, and the outco was decided. The onlookers, bound by the bet, reluctantly let Tong Han go and dispersed. By now, Tong Han was at her limit, her vision darkened, nearly fainting, but she forced herself to stand. She couldn’t collapse now; there was still a mission to complete.
She staggered down the stairs, the door to the first floor open. The ghosts were nowhere to be seen. Breathing heavily, she resisted the pain in her body and the sharp pain in her brain. Anyway, she had won; winning the ga ant saving the precious Red String.
As she left the building, she aid to continue her search for the Ginseng Essence nearby. Her arm twisted eerily, her blood soaking through half of her clothing, leaving a trail of drips behind her.
Turning to look around, suddenly, from the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the building behind her, the sa one she had just exited.
The more she looked, the more sothing seed off. The next second, as her consciousness began to blur, she finally noticed the problem: the building was two-storied, consisting only of an upper and lower floor.
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