Chapter 117: The Tiger's Substitute Soul, A True Gamble with Life
Clicking sound...
The familiar grinding noise from between teeth faded, and the Crying Mourner Supernatural Creature awoke at some unknown moment, its hand gripping the Rooster Player who had been trying to flee.
Chen Guang’s horrifying face lifted in the flickering light, streaked with dried tears. His head tilted to the side, his hollow eyes fixed on the Rooster Player.
"Impossible... It hasn’t been ten minutes yet. I calculated it precisely!"
"Why did it wake up early? My [Crowing] has never failed before..."
The Rooster Player’s eyes widened, her face draining of color.
Chen Guang didn’t speak. Instead, he pressed his weeping face close to the Rooster Player’s ear. His lips twisted downward, his pitch-black eyes brimming with resentment. The sobs escaping his mouth sounded like the wails of wronged spirits weeping on the bridge of the Netherworld.
The crying was faint.
Ji Yan couldn’t hear it.
But the Rooster Player, frozen in terror, heard it with perfect clarity.
It was as if an invisible hand had pierced her skull and squeezed her brain...
Soon, her body began to convulse, her eyes rolling back, her lips trembling.
When the Crying Mourner released her, she collapsed to the ground.
Thick, yellowish-brown fluid oozed from her nose and mouth—her liquefied brain seeping out from every orifice.
Even Ji Yan felt his scalp prickle at the sight of such a gruesome death.
What was even more horrifying was that Chen Guang’s face slowly turned toward Ji Yan.
His stretched skin twisted into an expression caught between laughter and tears, as if he had already lost his mind from sheer despair.
Clearly, if the Crying Mourner began weeping now, the devastation would be catastrophic.
"Run!"
That was the only thought in Ji Yan’s mind. He spun around and bolted.
This Deteriorating NPC was beyond any Strategy Guide.
A terminally ill patient couldn’t possibly develop goodwill toward players.
But just as he tried to flee, the Horse Player remained utterly calm and even blocked his path.
"Why run? The Goat Doctor isn’t afraid of death, yet you’re scared of a crying Supernatural Creature?"
Hearing the Horse Player’s teasing, Ji Yan gave him a thumbs-up. "You’re the real deal for not running!"
The Horse Player chuckled. "It’s already too late to run."
Ji Yan turned his head—the Crying Mourner had silently appeared right behind him.
A bone-chilling cold instantly made every hair on his back stand on end.
The moment he turned, the deranged, weeping face was right in front of him, lips curling as something terrifying seemed to crawl out from its throat.
Realizing it was about to cry, Ji Yan gripped the Hammer with one hand and glanced at Gu Meng.
Gu Meng, lounging lazily as a bystander, shrugged. "Don’t look at me. If it wants to cry, there’s nothing I can do."
But in the end, the anticipated horror never came.
Chen Guang didn’t unleash his deadly weeping. Instead, he straightened up.
The madness on his face faded, replaced by eerie calmness. His emotions stabilized, as if he had become a different person.
Then, he smiled. "Just kidding, Goat Doctor."
The dissonant tone and the strangely familiar yet unfamiliar smile made Ji Yan freeze.
Then it hit him.
"You’re the Tiger Doctor?!"
"We’ve only met once, yet the Goat Doctor recognized me. Impressive."
The Tiger Player, wearing the Crying Mourner’s face, clapped his hands in amusement.
The Horse Player clearly knew all along and teased, "A goat skilled in lying, never thought you'd be the one tricked for once."
"Goat Doctor, didn’t wet your pants, did you?"
Ji Yan ignored the Horse Player’s taunts and quickly deduced the reason. "Is this your Wish Privilege?"
"One of the Wish Privileges—[Substitute Soul]. Once activated, I can temporarily possess any Supernatural Entity NPC for 15 minutes," the Tiger Player replied calmly.
His voice still carried a faint sob, but the dissonance was jarring—Chen Guang’s devastated, weeping face speaking composed words made it all the more unsettling.
"One [Substitute Death], one [Substitute Soul]."
"Your Wish Privileges are getting more absurd by the minute," Ji Yan mused silently, wondering if the two had deliberately kept this from him.
The Horse Player burst out laughing as if hearing the biggest joke. "Maybe you should compare your own Lies Parchment before calling ours absurd?"
The Tiger Player added, "[Substitute Soul] was something I obtained after completing 70% of the Strategy Guide on the Tiger Supernatural Doctor. It actually took me a lot of effort."
"It’s more of a last-resort survival method."
"Originally, I planned to keep it hidden to surprise that Dragon guy."
Ji Yan asked, "Then why reveal it now?"
The Horse Player grinned. "Didn’t want you calling us useless teammates who didn’t help at all."
Ji Yan: "..."
"Still, I’m curious. You were clearly dead—how did you revive and turn the tables on those guys so thoroughly?" the Tiger Player inquired.
This indirectly confirmed that he had been present the whole time, merely observing.
But the Tiger Player wasn’t slow. He quickly pieced it together.
"It’s the Lies Parchment."
"What did you write on it when you were on the verge of death?"
Ji Yan saw no reason to hide it. "A simple lie."
"I made the [Lies Parchment] fake my death, targeting the Rat Player. If she believed I was truly killed by the Crying Mourner Supernatural Creature, the privilege would activate—healing all my injuries and transferring the viral rot onto her."
The Horse Player and Tiger Player took a moment to process this.
Wait— Why would such a lie even work?
But soon, their expressions shifted as realization struck.
From the very beginning, Ji Yan had never intended to use the [Lies Parchment] on the Crying Mourner.
Knowing he was about to die, he exploited the parchment’s overpowered privilege to forcibly enter a "false death" state it created.
This way, Ji Yan, who should have been on the brink of death, was artificially "extended," delaying his demise until the [Lies Parchment]’s trigger duration ended.
Thus, Ji Yan seized the only chance to survive—by deceiving the Rat Player and the others!
Once they believed he had truly been killed by the Crying Mourner, the deception was complete.
The privilege activated—Lies Become Reality!
"But such a lie comes at a cost. What did you pay?" The Tiger Player clearly understood the parchment’s workings.
"The cost was my life."
"If the lie failed, I’d really die."
"Since I was going to die anyway, this deal wasn’t a loss for me."
Ji Yan’s tone was light, even carrying a faint smile.
Even the Horse Player couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
It's hard to say whether Ji Yan was too insane or too cunning. In such a desperate situation, most people would have lost their composure and their thoughts would be in disarray. Yet this guy not only remained calm but also managed to devise a plan to "fake death" using the Sheepskin Scroll in such a short time. This was a genuine "gamble with life" in the truest sense!
"No wonder this guy survived the Goat Supernatural Doctor's Death Trial," the Horse Player thought to himself, staring at Ji Yan. "His calmness is terrifying..."
The Tiger Player also fixed his gaze on Ji Yan, his eyes flickering imperceptibly.
"Stop looking at me like that—it's creeping me out," Ji Yan said, feeling uncomfortable under their scrutiny.
But the Tiger Player added, "Still, you didn’t rely solely on the Sheepskin Scroll, did you?"
"For example, how did you know there were other hidden players in this room?"
"And how did you know the Rat Player would be among them, that she would definitely use [Theft] on your Toolbar?"
His tone was casual, as if merely making conversation.
Yet Ji Yan keenly sensed the deliberate probing behind it.
With a faint smile, he replied, "My sixth sense has always been spot-on."
"Sixth sense?"
The Tiger Player's expression flickered with surprise before he chuckled calmly. "Then that sixth sense of yours is indeed accurate."
"Just like the Goat Doctor's Talent..."
"..."
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