Absolute Destiny Game
Chapter 517 - 84 Heroic Knight Paper Puppet

Chapter 517: Chapter 84 Heroic Knight Paper Puppet

At the time Xiao Jie killed a street vendor, the other three players were also using their own methods to earn ingots.

Bai Ze found a place full of ghosts and pulled out a zither from his bag, starting to play on the spot.

The game had a musical instrument system; playing it was quite similar to music rhythm games. Bai Ze didn’t have many ways to make money, so he had to resort to performing.

He had learned this zither skill specifically to apprentice at the Xuanxu Palace, spending half a year to advance from entry-level to Grandmaster Level. With his mesmerizing zither skill, he was able to join the prestigious Xuanxu Palace with his mere 40 Spiritual attribute.

At that moment, as the melodious zither music played, many aimless wandering ghosts in the streets were drawn to it.

Ghosts couldn’t enjoy worldly delicacies and many pleasures, so the music became a rare entertainment for them, especially with Bai Ze’s superb technique and using the "Emotional Mode."

Instantly, every listener became captivated, and some even shed tears.

Soon, a large group of wandering ghosts gathered around, many of whom didn’t have any possessions, but still had some ingots in hand and continuously gave tips despite their situation.

System prompt: You have received 1 ingot from Ghost Chun Yiliu.

System prompt: You have received 1 ingot from Ghost Sheng Jiatian.

System prompt: You have received 2 ingots from Ghost Qi Weibai.

System prompt: You have received 5 ingots from Ghost Yun Zhu.

System prompt: You have received 100 ingots from Fox Demon Hu Yulan.

Yet, Bai Ze, watching the incessant stream of numbers, didn’t feel much joy—still unsure what to do with his Grandmaster Level swordsmanship...

————

I Want to Be Immortal went straight to the gambling den in town.

This place was crowded with "rich ghosts," each with lots of ingots, calling out loudly and spending lavishly.

It was implied in the text that these ingots weren’t ordinary mortal money nor were they products of the netherworld, but rather "yin money" burnt by descendants during ancestral worship ceremonies. Moreover, not just any casual burning was effective—it had to be done on worship days by sincere descendants with a Faith attribute exceeding 15 to successfully send the paper money to their ancestors, and the higher the Faith, the better the exchange rate of the ingots.

Since Qingquan Town was destroyed in a war long ago and most townspeople perished here, with few descendants surviving abroad, few came to Ghost Mist Ridge to offer papers yearly, making these ingots quite rare.

Those who could afford to gamble lavishly here were mostly those who had relatives outside.

I Want to Be Immortal entered the gambling hall with 500 ingots, feeling somewhat excited.

Looking at the various gambling games like Mahjong and Pai Gow, memories of his childhood resurfaced—he often won lucky money from relatives during festivals.

Now, he was eager to test these gambling ghosts’ skills.

He walked straight to a Mahjong table, observed for a while, and realized the rules were from Yun Chuan Mahjong? What a coincidence, he was from Yun Chuan.

Thus, he boldly joined the game.

——————

Meanwhile, Sister Ye Luo was leisurely wandering around, using ingots to buy information from local ghosts, and finally learned some desired information. In the middle of her screen, there was an icon resembling a compass.

This was the exclusive secret technique of the Impermanence Walker, capable of displaying the categories of different ghosts on the screen.

However, what she was looking for today was somewhat unusual.

Ah, it really is here! On the mini-map, an icon with a red ghost face suddenly appeared.

Ye Luo followed the icon, and as she walked, the path became more remote, eventually reaching the edge of the Ghost Market.

Before her appeared an ancient-looking small building, which was different from the noisy atmosphere of other places in the Ghost Market and seemed rather secluded and even a bit sinister.

Even the surrounding ghosts were reluctant to come close to this place.

Ye Luo pushed the door open and walked in. The inside of the small building was ancient, the floor covered with floating dust, yet it also resembled a woman’s boudoir, quite elegant.

After wandering around for a bit, Ye Luo’s eyes brightened—she found it!

On the wall in front of her hung a huge painting.

The painting depicted a vividly colored red-feathered phoenix perched on a withered branch of a parasol tree. The lower half of the phoenix sported magnificent feathers, while the upper half, though bird-like, faintly resembled a tragically expressive woman, adding a touch of mystery.

Ye Luo took great interest in examining the painting before her. The entire painting displayed a piercing red on the screen, obviously the source of the resentment.

On the painting, two lines of poetry could also be seen.

"Born a phoenix bird, resting on the parasol branch."

She clicked with the mouse,

[System prompt: You have discovered an unfinished ancient poem on the painting, which seems to express some of the thoughts of its subject from her life.]

Then a dialog box popped up.

Option 1: There’s nothing interesting to see here.

Option 2: Try to complete this poem.

Option 3: Tear the painting down.

Without hesitation, Ye Luo chose option 2, and a text box appeared on the painting, allowing text input.

"Compose a poem? Haha, that sounds fun." Ye Luo pondered for a moment; the lines on the painting were quite ordinary, with no special meaning, so completing them wasn’t too difficult.

Thinking it over, she casually wrote two more lines.

"Colorful feathers lightly spread the wings, clouds and rosy sky dance together."

"Humph, nothing more than vulgar," a frosty voice suddenly sounded as the expression of the woman on the painting visibly turned displeased.

Ye Luo was not alarmed, thinking maybe her addition wasn’t good? But the two lines on the painting itself weren’t of any great caliber either.

"It’s not about the poetry," Ye Luo suddenly said to herself, observing the phoenix on the painting closer. The bird’s eyes seemed quite sorrowful, almost as if filled with great sadness.

She reinputted,

"Rosy feathers bloom bright, heart harbors sorrowful thoughts."

Finally, there was a response. Under Ye Luo’s verses, two lines of text immediately appeared.

[What refuge can a grieving heart seek, where can a wounded heart lean?]

It seemed she had guessed correctly.

Ye Luo immediately responded.

[The phoenix trapped in a cage, cherishes the rare moments of freedom.]

More text emerged on the painting.

[In death, you meet a soulmate, why did you come so late?]

Ye Luo did not hesitate, typing in new words once more.

[To enter the cycle of reincarnation, to know each other again in the next life.]

"Re-enter the cycle of reincarnation? But how easy can that be?" With a faint sigh, a woman in red slowly emerged from the painting.

Zhu Fengyun (Red Ghost): Level 27 Rare Elite. Life Value 2000.

Indeed, it was a red ghost!

Engaging a red ghost could earn a large number of Merit Points, as these ghosts, renowned for being wealthy because they died with their dowries during marital processes, were often rich.

This time, she planned to severely exploit her for ingots.

"Indeed, it’s not easy, which is why Impermanence Walker Ye Luo has specifically come today to escort you."

This was Ye Luo’s professional mission—to usher in a high-level fierce ghost.

Unexpectedly, coming to rescue someone this time allowed her to complete her professional mission as well.

The ghost’s face suddenly showed a hint of fierceness. "Though I wish to re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, the resentment in my heart is hard to dissipate. I fear I might not be able to tread the path of reincarnation or cross Wangliu River. What do you say?"

Ye Luo smiled slightly. "They say a dying man’s words are kind. No matter how deep the resentment, dying a few times will scatter it."

"Ha ha, then I will trouble you, sister." As the red ghost spoke, a red glow suddenly ignited from her body, shifting her instantly into a combat state.

Ye Luo drew her sword, and her voice turned icy, "No need for courtesy." As she spoke, her sword slashed out... Man and ghost immediately plunged into battle.

————————

Ninety minutes passed quickly, and the three gradually arrived at the designated meeting point.

Ye Luo was the first to arrive. Seeing Bai Ze and I Want to Be Immortal arrive together, she casually asked, "How did it go, how much did you make?"

"I’ve only made a little over three thousand ingots," Bai Ze said helplessly. These ghosts were just too poor—had I, a Grandmaster level zither player, played for so long only to earn this little?

"Eight thousand," I Want to Be Immortal boasted proudly. "How about you, Sister Ye Luo?"

"Fifteen thousand," Ye Luo responded calmly.

This shocked the other two. "That impressive? How did you do it?"

"Just luck, I guess. Where’s Sui Feng?"

I Want to Be Immortal said, "I messaged him and he said he needs a few more minutes. Shall we go find him? He’s over by that chess stall."

As they arrived, Xiao Jie was about to finish his game.

"It can’t be, it can’t be!" The Chess Master looked incredulous. "I have lost again—even letting you have three moves and I still can’t win. How can this be?"

Xiao Jie thought this was quite good. After all, chess AIs now totally dominated human players; even national players were no match for them. This old man was doing quite well, considering—at least he would be considered professional level in the world of Go.

Too bad, even if you had played tens of thousands of games, it was nothing compared to the training volume of an AI.

"Ha ha, old man, don’t be angry—anger is bad for your health."

The Chess Master almost came back to life from his anger. Angry and harming my health? I’m already dead, what more can go wrong?

"Forget it, forget it, today, I met a true master. I willingly concede defeat—take it."

[System notification: You have won the game. You’ve gained 32,000 ingots.]

Success! Xiao Jie was delighted. Two thousand turned into four thousand, four thousand into eight thousand, eight thousand into sixteen thousand, and sixteen thousand into thirty-two thousand—four games won him 32,000 ingots outright, which totaled 34,000 ingots including his original stake.

If this kept on, could it not go on forever?

However, looking at the old man’s face, it was clear he had no more ingots to lose, and he gruffly removed his sign in indignation.

"Wow, awesome, Feng! Thirty-two thousand!"

"Just okay. How did you guys do? Anyway, we’re running out of time. We need to hurry and rescue the person. Let’s talk while walking."

The four headed toward the stage, quickly summarizing today’s gains on the way.

Hearing that they had all earned quite a number of ingots, Xiao Jie felt rather pleased. "Not bad, not bad, but I’ve got enough ingots for myself now, you keep yours and buy something nice, there’s some good stuff in this Ghost Market."

He was also planning to buy something to take back.

Of course, rescuing Xia Yi the Unrivaled was the priority.

Upon reaching the stage, the Puppet Master was indeed still there. Xiao Jie directly clicked trade, placing twenty thousand ingots on it.

"Here are twenty thousand ingots, where is the person?"

The Puppet Master appeared somewhat surprised. "You guys are quite impressive, earning enough ingots so quickly—well, it seems I’m not destined to keep that Heroic Knight."

Soon, a paper figure was placed in the trade bar.

[Heroic Knight Paper Puppet (Unfinished)

Use: Release the Painting Saint Secret Skill, freeing the Heroic Knight.

Current conversion rate: 73%, time left until fully transformed: 27 minutes 43 seconds.

Item description: The Painting Saint Secret Skill transforms the unreal into real, even a living person can be turned into a paper puppet, this paper puppet is not yet fully transformed, still having a sliver of vitality.]