I Became a God in a Horror Game (Unlimited)
Chapter 358

Mu Sicheng swallowed the words “This is fucking fine too” with a sullen look, took a deep breath and changed the subject, “What should we do next? Will that Taoist zombie never hurt us?”

Bai Liu shook his head. “From the information on the mural, this Taoist zombie will go berserk in the later stage. Not only will he kill outsiders, but he will also refine the villagers, hurting us too.”

“What should we do then?” Mu Sicheng frowned, “Do you know when this Taoist zombie will go berserk?”

Bai Liu pondered. “It should be the seventh day after the death of those old people in the temple. That’s when the yin energy is the heaviest.”

Mu Sicheng paused. “Isn’t that just a few days away?”

“Yes.” Bai Liu nodded and walked out. “From the information we have obtained so far and the reactions of Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi, we should be in some kind of competitive game, playing a certain role. The one who passes the instance or kills the opponent first wins under the conditions that match the role-playing.”

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and glanced at the footprints left by Yang Zhi and Kong Xuyang when they fled in panic. “And if I’m not mistaken, they have played this game once before. This can’t be their first time here as they act too familiar with the tomb’s arrangement.”

“Fuck, bitches.” Mu Sicheng clenched his fists, his face enraged, “I hate it most when people who have completed the game use this strategy to bully noobs.”

“But the next part should be a completely novel game plot.” Bai Liu raised his eyes and smiled, “I like fair games, so now we are on the same starting line again.”

Mu Sicheng was puzzled. “Haven’t they played together before? Why are they unfamiliar with it?”

Bai Liu smiled and said, “There are also different side plots in the game, leading to different endings. Judging from how afraid they are of the Taoist zombie and how they intentionally avoided it in the tomb, they should not have taken this side plot last time. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have not known how to deal with the Taoist zombie.”

“To put it simply, they should have taken a [normal end] line last time.”

Bai Liu tilted his head and beamed with glee, “But I’m choosing the [true end] route this time. We are now both in a state of ignorance with no information on this branch of the story; from now on, it all depends on one’s ability.”

After saying that, Bai Liu turned around and continued walking outside with no change in his expression.

Mu Sicheng paused, opened his mouth to ask something, but in the end he didn’t ask, and followed Bai Liu in silence.

… If triggering this so-called [true end] plot was Bai Liu’s purpose from the beginning, then from the moment they entered the tomb, encountering the ghost trap to accidentally separating from one another, causing Mu Sicheng to cross the ghost bridge alone, resulting in his soul and spirit being separated and trapped, marrying 30 brides, to saving Mu Sicheng’s body, and Bai Liu almost dying at the ghost bride midway…

Among these, each event seemed to be accidental, or it could be said that they were traps set by Kong Xuyang. Yet they seemed to allow them to escape danger, and intentionally or unintentionally benefit Bai Liu each time.

Because Bai Liu sacrificed himself to save Mu Sicheng, Mu Sicheng was now devoted to Bai Liu. Because Mu Sicheng married those brides, they happened to avoid the Taoist zombie. Because of the Yin Energy gathered by the trap set by Kong Xuyang at the door, Bai Liu was able to successfully awaken the Taoist zombie…

… It seems… that from the very beginning, every person and thing here had been carefully arranged by Bai Liu.

He was just a puppet in Bai Liu’s hands, following the path Bai Liu had written long ago and thought was interesting.

Used without knowing it, but still giving everything and feeling grateful.

Mu Sicheng looked at Bai Liu’s slender back as he walked forward holding the candlestick and saw a faint smile from Bai Liu’s side profile, feeling a chill down his spine.

Bai Liu turned around and gave him a questioning look, his eyes unguarded, “What’s wrong?”

Mu Sicheng noticed the two sharp teeth on Bai Liu’s lips, and the cold air in his heart suddenly dissipated. His expression and tone softened again. He scratched his head a little awkwardly. “… Nothing, just wondering if you’ve been affected after giving me so much vitality?”

Bai Liu smiled casually, “It’s okay, I will recover it slowly, don’t worry about me.”

Seeing that Bai Liu was talking to him without any grudge, Mu Sicheng felt relieved but also guilty.

It was his conspiracy theory and malicious speculation about Bai Liu.

How could a person who plans everything and exploits it ruthlessly to the extreme be the same Bai Liu who made himself pale and haggard just to save him?

Bai Liu held up the candlestick, the orange flames shining on the side of his face, making his smile warm and benevolent, but there was no emotion in his eyes. “We are teammates and we should help each other.”

Mu Sicheng nodded as a matter of fact, “Of course.”

On the other side.

Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi stuck several disguise talismans on their bodies and hid in the shade of bushes. They dared not even breathe as they looked from afar at the motionless Taoist zombie standing watch at the gate of Yinshan Village.

The taoist zombie had a towering height and seemed to be two meters tall at first glance. He wore a Taoist robe with a yellow base and a black outer layer, a gold crown inlaid with jade on his head, thick-soled black and white cloud patterned boots on his feet, and a long peachwood sword on his back. His whole body was emitting an ominous blood-red glow.

Its fangs grew to its cheeks and were covered with rusty blood stains. Its nose, eyes, and forehead were dark purple. From time to time, a low, hoarse rumbling sound came from its throat. The nails of its raised hands moved slightly, like a warning beast.

“Brother Kong,” Yang Zhi was sweating profusely, and his voice was extremely soft, “… Is there anything in your book of Maoshan Taoism that can control it?”

Kong Xuyang was furious and helpless. “If I fucking had any other options, would I still be hiding here with you?!”

Yang Zhi’s legs went weak and he half-knelt on the ground. “But it is a zombie after all! There must be a way to control it or slow down its attack with orthodox techniques!”

“There are indeed many methods in my book that can control zombies.” Kong Xuyang’s expression was despondent, “But they are ineffective against this thing, because it is not only a zombie transformed Taoist with profound Taoism, but it can also break the spells by itself.”

“Moreover, there is a golden glow of merits and virtue on this thing, which means that he did a lot of good deeds during his lifetime. Many people are grateful to him, praying to the heavens to keep him free from disasters after his death and to keep his sanity. It can be said to be a ghost blessed by heaven. Orthodox techniques do not affect it.”

“No!” Yang Zhi was stunned. He pointed at the zombie and said, “Brother Kong, you and I both know that this was created from a Taoist priest for immortality.”

“This Taoist deceived and sacrificed hundreds of men, women and children from the entire Yinshan Village. He used evil sorcery to transform himself into an immortal and conscious monster. With such huge atrocities, how could he have a golden glow of merits and virtue?!”

“I’m also puzzled.” Kong Xuyang looked gloomy. “In order to refine corpses, this Taoist used the red and white1 evil spirits of living people to bury himself. He forced unmarried girls to die on the way to get married and forced old people to drown in the pond, being buried with him. This is how he refined such a vicious zombie that killed countless people.”

“Yes.” Yang Zhi nodded frantically. “This zombie has continued to absorb the vitality of the descendants of Yinshan Village; due to its killings, it resulted in the extinction of all the descendants of the village. Then finally, after a hundred years, it absorbed enough yin energy and was able to fully recover and come into the world.”

“Zombies are born by sucking blood, and we have the blood of the descendants of Yinshan Village. This Taoist zombie has been fed with the vitality of the village’s descendants for so many years, and will automatically look for people with similar taste…”

Yang Zhi shuddered and muttered to himself, recalling, “… On the seventh night of this game last time, I just felt something rushing out of the tomb, and the blood vein of the player next to me was bitten and sucked dry. The whole person turned into a stick of human flesh in just a dozen seconds. If we hadn’t run fast enough…”

Kong Xuyang interrupted Yang Zhi with an ugly look, “Stop talking.”

For a moment, both of them fell silent. The only sounds in the bushes that could be heard were the chittering of cicadas, the chirping of crickets, the low growls from the zombies’ throats, and the heavy, tense, suppressed breathing of Yang Zhi and Kong Xuyang.

Sweat dripped from their chins.

“Fuck it.” Kong Xuyang gritted his teeth and cursed, “Laozi has played so many games, but I’ve never seen such a vicious monster!”

“It has no prepared action, no ultimate, and no selection conditions for killing players. It’s basically immune to all skill attacks and moves. Its defense values ​​are ridiculously high.” Yang Zhi shook his head, then added with tears welling up in his eyes, “Once it is released, there is no time to find its weaknesses. One dies immediately.”

“Fortunately, it hasn’t gone completely crazy yet.” Kong Xuyang managed to calm down. “We just need to pass the game before then. We’ve passed it once, so it’s not a difficult task…”

Yang Zhi stared at the zombie cautiously, “But Brother Kong, since it is released, we can’t take the normal end path we took last time. If we force ourselves to take the original path, we will be bitten to death during the chase…”

“We can only take the [true end] path related to the background decryption of this zombie.” Yang Zhi smiled bitterly, “First, we need to find the weakness of this zombie and control it.”

“But we haven’t taken this path before, and it’s dangerous. Compared to Bai Liu and his teammate, who have already explored the tomb and haven’t been attacked by this zombie for some reason, they might actually have the advantage…”

Kong Xuyang was silent for two seconds. His face turned purple with anger. He raised his foot and wanted to kick the tree in front of him to vent his frustrations, but just as he was about to kick, the zombie on the other side moved, turning towards Kong Xuyang.

Kong Xuyang was so alarmed that he immediately huddled up into a ball, not daring to move. After a long while, when he was sure that the Taoist zombie was no longer looking at him, he cursed in a low voice, “… Cheapskate Bai…”

Before he could finish the last “Liu” character, the zombie immediately turned around, glared at him, baring its teeth and growling, seemingly about to jump towards him.

Kong Xuyang was frightened and angry. In a confused state, he changed his words incoherently, “Bai Liu is not a cheapskate, I am a cheapskate, I am the cheapskate, okay?!”

Upon hearing this, the zombie nodded with satisfaction, then returned to guarding the village. Its eyes were dull and lifeless, as if it had returned to its unconscious state, ignoring Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi outside the village.

Yang Zhi: “…”

Kong Xuyang: “…”

Kong Xuyang’s eyes were red with outrage as he gritted his teeth and said, “Fuck, why is a zombie siding with Bai Liu?!”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

[1] Reference to the funeral and wedding customs in Yinshan Village