Chapter 402: Paying a Heavy Price for a Child

'Catch them alive!'

'Can you do it?'

'You're in charge of guiding the target. I'll do the catching.'

'Good!'

Zhang Yong had no objections.

Chen Gongshu didn't have to worry about the operation at all.

These fake ghosts were obviously taking advantage of the familiar environment inside the ruins to deliberately create a terrifying atmosphere.

Once the system map has identified them, they no longer have any effect.

Because you can always tell where they are. You can take targeted measures against them.

They are all human.

As long as they are human, there is nothing to fear. As long as they are carbon-based lifeforms, there is no gunfire that cannot kill them.

Keep walking.

There are many piles of stones ahead. It looks like a mass grave.

If you look closely, you will see that these piles of stones have actually been carefully deployed by someone.

Intentionally or unintentionally, they create an atmosphere of being trapped by ghosts.

If you're not careful, you'll end up back at the start. This creates a terrifying atmosphere.

How do you break out?

With grenades. Blow up the piles of stones.

Without the obstruction of the piles of stones, you can go straight ahead. The wall of ghosts no longer exists.

Unfortunately, there aren't enough grenades. So, you can only think about it.

As a result, after walking for a while, you really do end up back at the start. This shows that the person who deployed the piles of stones is indeed very skilled.

However, Zhang Yong doesn't feel anything.

When he was a child, he played the first generation of the Chinese Paladin, walking through mazes and such, so he is not afraid.

Moreover, he does not need to walk around.

His target is the fake ghost.

Gradually, he closes the distance with the opponent. The opponent does not notice.

The pile of random stones also obstructs the opponent's view. Therefore, Zhang Yong is actually quite well hidden.

There is a misty white smoke coming out.

Vaguely, there seems to be phosphorescence. It helps to create a strange atmosphere.

Haha. This fake ghost seems to be quite professional, as it actually knows how to use phosphorus.

If someone who doesn't know the situation is enveloped in white smoke and then surrounded by a faint, very eerie phosphorescent light, their judgment will be impaired.

At that time, all the opponent needs to do is shake a few times inside the white smoke to achieve the best effect.

Even someone like Chen Gongshu can't withstand the phosphorus smoke.

In fact, white phosphorus is toxic when burned. Prolonged inhalation can cause hallucinations.

You must cover your nose and mouth with a damp towel. Use it as a disinfectant mask.

Of course, the most important thing is to catch the culprit. Pull it out. Then interrogate it.

Here it comes...

Here it comes...

Zhang Yong waved his hand quietly.

He had led his men to ambush in front of the white shadow in advance.

The small white dot was moving towards them.

Zhang Yong crouched behind the pile of rocks.

He had to crouch.

Otherwise, he might be discovered.

He quietly takes out the hawthorn stick. It is his special weapon.

Perfect for a surprise attack. Even ghosts are the same.

Ten metres...

Five metres...

The white figure is running.

It is not floating. It is running. It only looks like it is floating from a distance.

Turning. Just in time to meet them.

Zhang Yong stands up from behind and raises the hawthorn stick. He delivers a blow to the back of the white figure's head.

Pop!

The white figure collapses limp.

No resistance. No hesitation. Just wilted on the spot.

Zhang Yong: ...

Huh? Fell over so quickly?

It seems like my level of beating people senseless has improved again?

Not bad, not bad. This skill tree point is correct.

Chen Gongshu: ...

Everyone else: ...

Surprised. I didn't realise that Zhang Yong was so quick on his feet!

A blow from behind, just right. Clean and neat. Put the person down. But there's hardly any external injury.

Zhang Yong puts the hawthorn stick away. He rushes up.

He steps on a white shadow.

Then he realises it's a woman. Seems quite young?

But when he steps down, he reveals the other person's neck. He looks at the skin. It's very white. Very tender.

He lowers his head.

He pulls open the collar of her shirt.

Sure enough...

It's a woman.

Young.

Well, it's a female ghost.

The problem is, he's not Ning Caishen!

Turn her over.

Pull off the white ribbon around her body. Throw it aside.

Check again. It really is a woman. It's confirmed. It's a person. A woman. A young woman.

Look at her face. It's wearing a pale, pale mask.

Trying to peel off the mask. But it's stuck.

Forget it.

Wait and see later. No rush.

Since she's already in his hands. Isn't that just a piece of cake?

Haha.

Fortunately, Chen Gongshu pressed his gun against his mouth. Otherwise... Hey. One shot and this woman would have been a goner. The image is too beautiful to think about...

Handcuffs. Tied up. A professional hogtie straight away.

The woman wakes up.

Shocked. Confused.

Looks around. Looks at Zhang Yong. Tries to speak.

But Zhang Yong quickly stuffs a rag in her mouth. Her mouth is sealed shut.

Want to scream?

Dream on!

You won't make a sound.

At this time, the other two dots obviously didn't notice anything unusual.

They must be women too. They were still wandering around.

'Go!'

Zhang Yong waved his hand.

He led the others to hunt for the second target.

Now that he knew the opponent was a woman, he suddenly felt much more energetic.

He couldn't deal with female ghosts. But women were fine.

100 metres...

50 metres...

He approached the target without making a sound.

With the map as a guide, no matter how erratic the target may be, it doesn't matter.

Quietly observe.

Silently judge the trajectory of the target woman's movements.

Gradually, he discovered that she wasn't just wandering around. She had a relatively fixed route. It's just that outsiders find it hard to detect.

Quietly ambush.

Instead, he made use of the messy pile of rocks.

He crouched behind the pile of rocks, holding a hawthorn stick in his hand. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him: why not use a peachwood stick next time? It really can scare away evil spirits!

Soon, a second woman appeared.

Poof...

Zhang Yong hit her from behind with another stick.

Sure enough, she fainted on the spot.

He went up to check. She took off her clothes. It was indeed a woman. She was also young.

I want to see her face. I want to see if she's pretty. It turns out that her cheeks seem to be stuck together with something. Could it be that she's disguised herself?

The previous one was wearing a mask. Is this one disguised directly?

More advanced?

Never mind. Handcuff her. Tie her up again. And gag her with a rag. This is foolproof.

At this time, there is a third female ghost...

Oh, it's a woman.

She doesn't realise that something is wrong.

The messy white smoke and the strange phosphorescence actually blocked her vision as well.

As usual, she was moving quickly inside the pile of rubble. The white silk ribbon hanging from her body fluttered in the wind, making her look just like a ghost.

In fact...

it really wasn't very useful.

It was only good for scaring the faint of heart. Or people who had done something wrong.

So, she was eventually ambushed by Zhang Yong.

Poof!

Knocked out again.

Done.

Three female ghosts. No. Women. All captured.

Zhang Yong gathered the three of them together. Stripped all the white silk ribbons from their bodies and bundled them together. Then waited for them to wake up.

As it turned out...

They woke up quickly.

They all stared at Zhang Yong fiercely.

It seemed that they were not afraid.

And they didn't stare at the others.

The three of them, six eyes, just stared at Zhang Yong.

Obviously, they were all very clear. There is a head for every crime. It was Zhang Yong who had seen through them. It was also Zhang Yong who had knocked them out.

So...

Zhang Yong, even if he turned to ashes, they would all remember.

'Sorry. My name is Liu Heizi.' Zhang Yong started to bluff again, "This is a bit abrupt, I'm sorry...'

Chen Gongshu and the others pretended not to hear. They turned their faces away. To avoid being too embarrassed.

They really wanted to say, "Can you change the opening line?'

The three women are all stunned. And then you say you're sorry?

Sure enough, the three women look at each other. All of them grit their teeth.

They are very angry.

Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do.

They are still tied up in all sorts of ways!

They can't move at all.

They can talk, turn their heads, and roll their eyes. But they can't do anything else.

'What do you want?' one of the women asks.

Zhang Yong: 'Money.'

'What?'

'I heard there are treasures here. Is that true?'

'No.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

'Okay. Then I'll have to send you to drink the soup of the woman who doesn't remember.'

Zhang Yong draws his gun.

Lying to death?

Hmph!

However, the three women are not afraid.

Facing Zhang Yong's black muzzle, they seem to deliberately straighten their bodies.

Zhang Yong: ...

They don't seem to be playing by the rules!

No wonder. Everyone else has the guts to pretend to be a ghost. That shows how brave they are.

Oh no...

He can't actually shoot.

Everyone else was just pretending to be a ghost, it's not a capital offence. He's not an animal.

He can't even wound them!

They've done nothing to deserve this. Shooting someone randomly. He's worse than an animal.

There's nothing he can do. He can only reluctantly put the pistol away.

It seems like he can't torture them either? It's too bloody.

So what should he do?

I don't know...

Hold on...

'We're leaving,' Chen Gongshu suddenly said. "You take care of them.'

'Me? No..." Zhang Yong sensed that things were not going to be good.

Chen Gongshu was once again letting him take the blame.

Obviously, he didn't think these women were easy to deal with.

If they had been Japanese spies or bad guys, then it would have been fine to just get physical. But they weren't.

Since they couldn't get physical, the next step was going to be troublesome.

Unless they were knocked unconscious again.

That was Zhang Yong's specialty. So it was handed over to him.

Chen Gongshu quickly got away.

'You two, come with me too!'

'Huh?'

'Don't get in the way of your captain.'

'Yes!'

Not only did Chen Gongshu take the men and run, he also took Zhong Yang and Yang Zhi with him.

Of course, they didn't run far. They kept a close eye on the situation from afar. If the three women had any ill intentions towards Zhang Yong, they would still have to come back to help.

For now, they would leave everything to Zhang Yong.

After all, this guy was lustful and greedy, so he would definitely be able to handle a few women.

Zhang Yong: ...

Chen Gongshu, you bastard!

You deliberately dug a pit for me to jump into!

'Are you new here?' one of the women asked.

'How do you know I'm new here?' Zhang Yong frowned. He wanted to run. But he didn't want to.

After all, he had to find out what kind of people they were!

He had come this far, so he couldn't just turn around and run.

What if they are rich and beautiful women? Wouldn't it be a great loss if I ran away?

'Because I haven't seen you before.'

'Have you been here for a long time?'

'Two or three years.'

'What are you doing here?'

'We are looking for a man of destiny.'

'What man of destiny?

"Someone who can save us from our suffering.'

'Oh...'

Zhang Yong wanted to say something but stopped.

He wanted to say, haven't you read too many novels?

and a man of destiny!

And escape from the sea of suffering!

Should I yell, 'My life is up to me, not up to fate'? That would be more sensational.

Come, strike a pose, I'll take your picture!

'What's your name?'

'Liu Heizi.'

'Where are you from?'

'Songhu.'

'Your date of birth?'

'What?'

'The time you were born. The lunar calendar.'

'I...'

Zhang Yong felt increasingly strange.

Why did the conversation suddenly turn to his birth data?

Damn, that scared me.

I thought they were going to force me to marry someone! Bad match...

'Have you forgotten?'

'Not really.'

'When were you born?'

'Well...'

Zhang Yong quickly did some calculations.

If he said he had travelled back in time from decades in the future, that would definitely not work.

Then what was the identity of Liu Heizi, his own identity, when he was born? How old was Liu Heizi? Twenty-five?

OK, let's say he was twenty-five. A young man is fearless. At that age, he was at the peak of his powers.

He did some quick calculations and said, 'I don't remember the lunar calendar. I only remember the solar calendar.'

'What year was that?'

'October 10, 1910.'

'So that was...'

A woman seems to be calculating quickly.

Zhang Yong: What does that mean?

Are you converting the lunar calendar?

Nonsense. How can you convert the time 25 years ago?

Suddenly I heard the woman say, 'Year of Gengxu, dog, eighth day of the ninth lunar month. Five elements, Daxi earth. Confronting the tiger, killing the south. Twelve heavenly stems, beginning of the day. End of the month, crow staying in the stars. Guardian deity, Jinkui. Suitable for travel, cleaning, buying a house, opening a business, breaking ground, praying for blessings, planting, worshipping ancestors, laying the foundation, consecrating, praying for children...'

Zhang Yong: ...

Speechless. Is she a robot?

She can remember the almanac from 25 years ago so clearly?

A tape recorder?

And she's asking for a child? Haha, I'm laughing so hard I sound like a goose.

However, gradually I felt something was wrong. I noticed that they were all listening attentively.

In particular, when they heard the words 'ask for a child', it seemed that the other two women both trembled. As if they had finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel.

Zhang Yong: ...

I don't feel good.

I turned around and tried to run.

But I found that they had surrounded me.

The three of them, forming a perfect square, surrounded him.

This...

'You...'

'Master Liu, are you married?'

'No,'

Zhang Yong answered honestly.

He really wasn't.

There were quite a few women. But none of them were legally married.

'Have you been promised in marriage?'

'What do you mean?'

'Married before birth.'

'I don't think so,'

Zhang Yong shook his head. He was beginning to feel that this was all a bit ridiculous.

What's the point of asking these questions? Do they want to marry me? Make me a son-in-law?

Heh heh.

Wait.

I haven't thought about it yet!

'Master Liu, why don't we go somewhere else to talk?' the woman said.

'Yes, yes, yes!' Zhang Yong couldn't have asked for anything better.

Ruins, phosphorescent fire, white smoke...

It always feels a bit uncomfortable.

The disguises on them have not been removed, and they look strange.

'Follow me!'

'Okay!'

Zhang Yong followed them.

He noticed that they were not entering the ruins, but walking away from them.

They were returning to the outside world.

Near the ruins was a lonely old house.

The three of them arrived in front of the old house. The woman who spoke earlier turned back to Zhang Yong and said,

"Master Liu, please wait a moment.'

'Oh!'

Zhang Yong nodded.

Let's wait. It's best if they just disappear into thin air.

Somehow, he always felt a little uneasy. His left eyelid kept twitching.

He was worried that they would make him their captive husband...

What if they were beautiful as heavenly beings, wealthy and well-connected, and wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law, paying a huge sum for a child...

Should he say yes? Or should he say yes?

Sigh...

It's so difficult.