Chapter 120: A Twist of Vengeance

It’s over…

Yenir exhaled softly as he fixed his complex gaze on two glimmering crystals in the distance.

Sure enough, they were most likely Soul Crystals.

Glancing at the replica barrier around him gradually solidifying, he realized the instance was rapidly taking shape.

Without hesitation, he charged toward the Soul Crystal. After seizing it, Yenir barked orders at a still bewildered Chen Yong, who moved like he was sleepwalking.

“Let’s go!”

“We’ll talk outside!”

…….

Outside the Settlement, inside an SUV.

Of the three vehicles that had arrived, only one was fully occupied.

Fiddling with the Soul Crystal in his hand, Yenir felt a slight ease in his heart. It was hard to say exactly how he felt at that moment.

Holding two Soul Crystals—each valued at roughly four units and totaling about 320,000 points—their worth was undeniably high.

Moreover, as he grabbed the crystal, Yenir discovered a bead—or rather, an eyeball—on a female ghost corpse dissolving in the water.

“Ghost Eye: Blue Artifact”

“Item Effect: Wearing the Ghost Eye grants you information within your field of vision, with a chance to receive extra system alerts.”

“Item Description: Her eyes were gouged out. This is the eye that formed after her death, steeped in vengeful energy.”

It looked much like a piece of black glass.

Clutching the Ghost Eye, Yenir understood that the first ghost corpse belonged to another paranormal incident. If everything went well, following the river upstream might even trigger a new mission.

After drowning, the girl must have transformed into a vengeful ghost under the other party’s influence.

After mistakenly bringing the corpse back, Li Rou planned to avenge her mother.

But perhaps the little girl never expected that her ultimate enemy would be the very ghost she had retrieved. It was as if fate had come full circle—killing the ghost became a twisted form of revenge.

“Lord Ye Lin… What on earth, what exactly is happening…”

Inside the SUV, Wang Zheng’s hands still trembled as he lit a cigarette, his eyes wide with astonishment as they fixed on the replica barrier now taking shape in the distance.

From start to finish, they still hadn’t figured out what was going on.

Especially since Yenir had inexplicably resolved the entire incident.

Taking the cigarette from Wang Zheng, Yenir paused thoughtfully before speaking slowly:

“Actually, this incident wasn’t complicated—it was just riddled with traps.”

“The story originally began like this…”

“Within the Settlement, the girl lived a harsh life with her mother and grandmother. As a family without a man, they were routinely bullied by fellow survivors. In one dispute, someone accused the woman of stealing food—or perhaps it was that Zhang Xuemei had gone to the Riverbank to fish.”

“That day, amid a torrential downpour, Zhang Xuemei accidentally slipped into the water and was rescued by people downstream.”

“Being non-awakened, she lacked any system communication ability, so she couldn’t inform her family that she was still alive.”

“Maybe she was hoping to fetch some food, or maybe someone had told her to work a few odd jobs at the Safe Zone so someone could pick her up along the way. Zhang Xuemei then headed to the nearby Safe Zone.”

“But in the little girl’s eyes, she didn’t realize her mother was still alive. In a child’s logic, she mistakenly believed someone else had driven her mother to death. Consumed by hatred, she must have confronted someone, even begging for help to retrieve her mother’s corpse.”

“Unsurprisingly, people here refused her plea. With no other option, the little girl went alone to the Riverbank, trying to recover the only person she had ever depended on—Zhang Xuemei.”

“But tragedy struck. During her search, the little girl accidentally fell into the water, leading to her death.”

“Meanwhile, another female corpse from a separate paranormal incident had been swept up from the riverbed by the heavy rain. Under the influence of that event, little Li Rou transformed into a vengeful ghost.”

“Yet, she remained unaware of her own death, muddling along as she dragged the corpse back home to bury it.”

“Afterwards, she vowed to avenge her mother. In her dying curse, she unwittingly influenced all the survivors in the Settlement, making them instinctively start drawing water—this is why I suspect the little girl once pleaded with people to retrieve a corpse.”

“Drawing water and retrieving corpses are just too similar…”

Sparks danced intermittently between his fingertips.

Exhaling a cloud of smoke, Yenir paused briefly, sighing inwardly.

“The rest is simple.”

“After Zhang Xuemei returned, the girl realized that the female ghost was not her mother. Upon witnessing her own corpse and her mother being devoured by the ghost, she too transformed into a ghost, seeking revenge by killing the corpse.”

“This is the lifeline provided by the system.”

“Search… and vengeance…”

“It’s just that by entering too early, we couldn’t discover the truth before real retribution began.”

A look of stunned silence played across his face.

Chen Yong and Wang Zheng exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with shock and fear.

They hadn’t expected the whole incident to unfold this way.

Still reeling, the two took a deep breath and sincerely thanked Yenir.

“Lord Ye Lin… This time, really…”

“We can’t thank you enough…”

It was unimaginable. With all the clues and information so off, if Yenir hadn’t restored the truth in time, they might have faced total annihilation.

“This is insane…”

“Even the ghost’s identity was mistaken. Who would have thought that Zhang Xuemei never truly died, and the key to breaking the deadlock lay with another ghost girl!”

They were utterly astonished.

As the two shook their heads in disbelief, Wang Zheng recalled the girl’s earlier deranged behavior. In hindsight, he somewhat understood why.

It turned out the girl had already been off her rocker.

“But you know, I was expecting a touching story—something truly moving… Now that I think about it, it’s rather twisted.”

“The survivors here aren’t any better; the girl even killed the wrong person, the first ghost slaughtered indiscriminately, and poor Zhang Xuemei met a pitiful end. In the end, the last two ghosts vanished amidst the chaos… The whole event was a total mess.”

Chen Yong, a fan of old horror films, spoke with a conflicted expression as he shared his thoughts.

Yenir just smiled indifferently and replied calmly:

“There aren’t that many touching stories. Ghost stories are pure horror. What, did you expect a happy ending?”

“If the ghost formed by the girl doesn’t dissipate, given the little girl’s warped mind, our survival is far from guaranteed.”

“Her existence is driven by an obsession with revenge.”

…….

No more words.

A few minutes later, Chen Yong and Wang Zheng regained their composure. Looking at the fully formed instance, their eyes lit up with fervor.

With such a twisted instance, they knew that once they cracked its secrets, the potential rewards would be enormous.

Turning his head, Wang Zheng, now earnest—and no longer just inviting Yenir out of courtesy for Zhang Yong—spoke seriously:

“Lord Ye Lin, regarding the Credit Points we promised you earlier, I’ll have the Merchant Guild transfer them shortly.”

“Fang He is dead. As for the 100,000 points we promised him, I plan to add that to your account as well.”

Yenir nodded subtly as he regarded the ingratiating Wang Zheng, though he was not surprised.

The next instance was bound to evolve further, and if they wanted to turn it into a ‘cash cow’, they would continue to rely on him.

Three hundred twenty thousand plus 100,000 plus 300,000… not counting that blue artifact…

Beneath his calm exterior, Yenir couldn’t help but feel a slight thrill.

A total haul of 720,000! Plus, with the Merchant Guild backing Wang Zheng, the Spiritual Energy Fruits they needed next should nearly cover the costs!

If all goes well, he’ll be promoted to Stage Three within the week!