Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 171: Pumpkin

“No badge. We need to keep searching.” Xu Wang’s voice arrived in the kitchen before he did. “Any issues with the electrical switch?”

Kuang Jinxin paused, then shook his head. “No, no movement.”

Wu Sheng followed into the kitchen, pondering aloud, “I just thought of a method that might catch it in its electrical state, all at once.”

“But even if we catch it all at once, how are we going to insert the cross?” Qian Ai, the last to enter, was initially pleased to hear Wu Sheng had a plan but quickly became concerned about the feasibility.

Wu Sheng responded, “We’ll adapt when the time comes. If all else fails, we can just switch off the power again.”

Hearing this, Qian Ai agreed, considering their control over the electrical switch as akin to having unlimited lives in a game. If one attempt fails, simply restart by cutting the power. This thought brightened the prospects considerably.

While listening to Wu Sheng and Qian Ai, Xu Wang’s gaze was on Kuang Jinxin. “Xiao Kuang, what’s wrong with you?”

Kuang Jinxin appeared dazed. When called upon, he responded cluelessly, “Huh?”

Xu Wang grew concerned, fearing his teammate was unwell. He checked Kuang Jinxin’s forehead, finding it slightly warm and sweaty, typical of a feverish cold, and quickly asked, “Do you have a cold?”

Kuang Jinxin felt awkward, unsure how to explain, and dryly said, “No.”

Xu Wang, skeptical, moved his hand to check if Kuang Jinxin’s face was also hot. Just then, Chi Yingxue pulled Kuang Jinxin away.

Chi Yingxue wrapped his arms around Kuang Jinxin from behind and took over the diagnosis.

“He’s a bit warm.” He felt Kuang Jinxin’s cheek with the back of his fingers. Noticing the unusual heat, he grew concerned. “You’re not really sick, are you?”

Kuang Jinxin, feeling the warmth of another body against his back, dared not move, his face burning. He was suddenly grateful for the darkness caused by the power cut.

The words Chi Yingxue just said had thrown him into turmoil—his mind was in chaos, his heart was in disarray, his face felt hot, and so did his heart. He couldn’t even tell if he was more happy or afraid. Because Chi Yingxue was unpredictable and followed no rules; when he’s angry today, he might throw knives, and when he’s happy tomorrow, he might hand out sweets. Kuang Jinxin feared that eating the sweets would only make it hurt more when it was time to collect the knives.

Qian Ai noticed Kuang Jinxin’s awkward expression and quickly deduced the cause. “Xiao Xue, loosen up a bit. You’ll make him overheat from the hug.”

Chi Yingxue frowned but heeded the advice, loosening his grip, worried he might indeed be causing discomfort.

Kuang Jinxin took the opportunity to escape Chi Yingxue’s embrace and stood at attention in front of Xu Wang, dismissing his chaotic thoughts to focus on the task at hand. He straightened his back and said in a loud voice, “Captain, I’m not sick. I’m healthy, ready to fight and bear burdens.”

Xu Wang was relieved to see that Kuang Jinxin still had his youthful vitality. He was a bit more at ease but still reminded all his teammates, “If you really feel unwell, just speak up. Don’t try to be a hero. We haven’t even used our healing illusory stationery yet. And, if worst comes to worst, even if we don’t make it through today, it’s not a big deal. We have our save point.”

Returning to the living room, Wu Sheng instructed Xu Wang and Qian Ai to retreat to the corner where the hallway meets the living room, where they could both see the living room and have the corner walls for cover, maximizing their protection from any potential harm from the living room.

Then, he positioned himself in a corner of the living room, diagonally opposite Xu Wang and Qian Ai, putting the maximum distance between them.

Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Wu Sheng turned his head towards the kitchen and shouted loudly, “Xiao Xue, Xiao Kuang, turn on the switch—”

As his words fell, the small lights lit up.

The living room, which had been dark for so long, was once again bathed in a mysterious light.

Wu Sheng held his breath and focused, activating [Nowhere to Hide]. Soon, the room was filled with light particles again.

Xu Wang and Qian Ai peeked from behind the corner wall, eyes fixed on the living room. No one was sure if the plan would work, but they had their [Stationary Box] open on their arms, ready to assist at any moment.

When the light particles completely filled the house and the scattered electronic parts on the floor seemed ready to move again, Wu Sheng narrowed his eyes and without hesitation activated the [(Offense) Bolt from the Blue].

A bolt of lightning struck down in the center of the living room, suddenly making it as bright as day.

In the deafening sound of thunder, the glowing charges near the lightning, under the effect of high voltage, all converged on the lightning!

Then, more bolts of lightning struck down in the center of the living room, increasing the voltage severalfold. The range of attracted charges expanded accordingly.

Qian Ai’s high school physics was long forgotten, so when Wu Sheng explained this method, he only half understood. But now, he could clearly see those charges being sucked into the center of the lightning, slowly forming a human shape with arms, legs, and a head made of glowing particles!

Qian Ai and Xu Wang exchanged looks, both faces filled with the same surprise.

But just as the ghostly figure began to take shape, the “previously attacking objects” scattered on the living room floor rose into the air again.

Xu Wang and Qian Ai didn’t expect that even after being forced into appearance and struck by lightning, the ghost could still launch an attack. They immediately equipped Wu Sheng with new defense stationery.

Wu Sheng wasn’t disturbed at all, trusting all defense to his teammates, and focused on pulling the ghostly figure made of light particles closer to him.

He held Xu Wang’s cross in his hand, ready to plunge it into the ghost’s heart if it got close enough.

After a standoff of about two minutes, Wu Sheng knew that he couldn’t keep up the [Bolt from the Blue] much longer; he could only last a few more seconds at this intensity. But the particle person was still at least three steps away from him.

If he stopped [Bolt from the Blue], all the charges would be free again, making all his previous efforts in vain. If he charged forward to stab with the cross, the [Bolt from the Blue] would also be interrupted because he’d be concentrating all his power on the cross, and he wasn’t confident he could cover those three steps and accurately stab the ghost before the charges dispersed.

So, he needed the ghostly figure to come close enough to have a chance of winning, but at the moment, they had to resort to plan B.

“Lao Qian!” Wu Sheng called out decisively.

Qian Ai, already prepared, charged out like a tiger descending the mountain, diving straight into the lightning area towards the ghostly figure, unaffected by the lightning striking around him, as if entering an uninhabited territory.

From the corner, Xu Wang focused, maintaining the [(Defense) Super Insulator] he had equipped his teammate with.

Qian Ai rushed up to the ghostly figure, raised the cross, and stabbed.

The ghostly figure, as if sensing the fatal danger, suddenly soared.

Qian Ai’s stab missed. He looked at Wu Sheng in astonishment. Initially, he didn’t understand why the ghostly figure could still move. But seeing Wu Sheng gritting his teeth, sweat covering his forehead, and noticing the lightning, though not obviously, was indeed weakening, he understood immediately.

Wu Sheng couldn’t restrain the ghostly figure much longer. This was their last chance.

The ghostly figure struggled close to the ceiling.

Qian Ai looked up, narrowed his eyes, and locked onto the target. He slowly raised his arm, holding the cross, then threw it with all his might!

The cross flew out swiftly, like a whirlwind of a flying dagger. Its sharp tip hit right at the ghostly figure’s heart.

At that moment, the ghostly figure seemed to have a physical body, firmly blocking the cross, preventing it from piercing through, aiming towards the ceiling.

The room’s lightning and thunder instantly vanished, and Wu Sheng staggered, barely stabilizing himself while panting heavily.

The ghostly figure, impaled with the cross, slowly floated down, landing right in front of Qian Ai, much shorter than him, resembling a young boy.

Qian Ai looked down at this second ghost. The joy of victory diminished his fear. He began to “communicate” with the ghost, in a manner like schooling a younger brother. “You see, my [Swish Swish Hidden Blade] wasn’t practiced for nothing. Running away? Where could you go that I couldn’t stab you down with a flying dagger? Don’t doubt it. I’ve got the arm strength from [Invincible Hot Wheels] you know…”

The ghostly figure had no choice but to listen, as it was destined to follow “Qian Ge” since the cross was planted by Qian Ai.

Xu Wang, initially wanting to give Qian Ai a big hug for the victory, saw him getting along so well with his new “little brother” and decided to focus on caring for their own advisor instead.

Chi Yingxue and Kuang Jinxin, hearing the commotion, knew it was a success and immediately rushed back to the living room.

Wu Sheng wiped off his sweat and unfolded the map. “Let’s hurry to the next location.”

Xu Wang leaned over the map and saw that the remaining three locations were all in the eastern part of the town, the closest one still quite a distance from where they were.

“Let’s take a break before we go. It’s not a short journey,” Xu Wang suggested, taking out a bottle of water from his backpack and handing it to Wu Sheng.

Wu Sheng didn’t hesitate, unscrewing the cap and drinking half the bottle in gulps.

Kuang Jinxin raised his hand. “Captain, there’s no need to walk. I have a car.”

……

[Owl: Someone used [(Defense) Pumpkin Carriage] on you~~]

With the prompt sounding in their ears, two brown horses pulling a giant pumpkin carriage descended from the sky.

The horses were truly majestic, and the pumpkin was indeed real, just with four additional wheels.

“……” The five companions looked up at the giant pumpkin over two meters high, and the air suddenly fell silent.

Kuang Jinxin felt particularly awkward, having not expected a real pumpkin carriage, fresh as if it was just picked from the field. Its inside was still intact, even if it was made into a Halloween decoration.

“Well, it’s actually quite appropriate for the occasion.” Qian Ai patted the pumpkin shell, hoping to offer some comfort to Classmate Kuang.

“Aren’t you coming up?” A voice called from above.

Qian Ai looked up, startled. “When did you get up there!”

Chi Yingxue was sitting on top of the giant pumpkin, leaning against the whimsically curled pumpkin vines, swinging his long legs comfortably. “It’s quite comfortable sitting here.”

With a role model, the four companions immediately followed suit, using hands and feet to climb onto the pumpkin, while the ghost doll and ghost figure floated up.

Once everyone was aboard, Kuang Jinxin communicated with the stationery, and the two majestic horses neighed and galloped away like the wind.

Holding onto the pumpkin vines and smelling the faint scent of pumpkin, the companions felt a bit of the pleasure of a midnight drive.

A journey that would have taken at least forty minutes on foot was completed in a moment by the pumpkin carriage. This time, the house wasn’t by the street but at the very end of a side road, surrounded by grass and trees. In the quiet of the night, it appeared lonely and eerie.

It was still a two-story house with an attic. All the windows were dark, with no light inside.

The five companions were calm by now; a haunted house equals darkness. They would actually panic if they encountered one with all lights on.

Approaching the door, Wu Sheng noticed that this house had a door with the upper half made of glass and the lower half of a door panel. The white door with translucent glass would have looked beautiful in bright sunlight.

But now, the glass showed only darkness.

Wu Sheng didn’t rush to open the door but leaned slightly towards the glass to look inside, seeing nothing but darkness.

Xu Wang asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s too dark.” Wu Sheng felt something was off. “Even without lights, there should be moonlight.”

Especially since this house had unusually many windows. The moonlight should enter and reflect inside, and it shouldn’t be as pitch black as ink.

“Squeak—”

Without anyone touching it, the door opened by itself.

Wu Sheng dodged backward in time, avoiding being hit by the door.

The wide-open door revealed its inside to the visitors.

The five companions finally understood the source of the “darkness”—thick black plastic covered the door’s glass from the inside, sealed tightly, not letting a single ray of light through.

Walking cautiously into the entryway, the door silently closed behind them.

The group passed through the hallway into the living room, with Wu Sheng leading the way with a flashlight. The light illuminated the red floor, the slightly cold furnishings inside, and each window.

All the windows were covered with black plastic.

Blocks of black, like ghosts, completely isolated the entire house from “light”.

The five companions felt oppressed and suffocated, enveloped in this darkness.

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