Chapter 37: Oh No, Have I Become the Sacrifice?

"Little doll... you aren't from Zhang Mazi's family, are you? You must be that thing that was just cursing at me, right?" the skeleton ghost rasped, his voice dripping with malice.

The finger bones in his hand grew sharper. His gaze toward Wu Wang became increasingly greedy. He hadn't noticed at first, but the moment the boy kicked him and made physical contact, the skeleton ghost caught the faint, intoxicating scent radiating from him. It was a lethal temptation, like a traveler lost in the desert, parched and near death, suddenly catching sight of a bottle of cool, refreshing mountain spring water. He had never encountered anything so exquisite!

Brother, you smell so good!

"No, I'm a butterfly."

Wu Wang’s form gradually returned to his original appearance. He wasn't used to the child’s body; otherwise, he could have flipped further away to create distance just now. He couldn't force a confrontation right now. He wasn't worried about being killed by this vicious ghost, but he was terrified of being captured. As he had thought before, if he lacked the ability to escape, being taken alive would be far more agonizing than death itself.

He cracked his neck and gave a cheeky, mocking grin. "My species is called a 'Reverse Butterfly.' Remember that—I am a Reverse Butterfly."

With that, he leaped high into the air, surreptitiously dropping something that looked like a grenade from his hand. It exploded the moment it hit the ground. In an instant, the entire hall, inside and out, was shrouded in an eerie white mist. The skeleton ghost suddenly realized he could no longer sense the boy's presence at all.

[Smoke-No-Damage Grenade: Creates a mist in the surrounding area. Within the fog, no perception or harmful actions can be performed. Lasts for 10 seconds.]
[Note: "Smoke causes no damage" is a law of the universe!]

This was a trophy Wu Wang had scavenged with tears in his eyes. To be honest, that fellow Earth-Walking Sun didn't have any items for direct combat; almost everything he carried was related to running away. It was a pity that someone so skilled at escaping had eventually died in his one and only greedy adventure. As expected, true peace of mind only came from Aka.

"I want to fly to the sky~ shoulder to shoulder with the sun~ the world is waiting for me to change~" Wu Wang hummed the lyrics to "I Believe" as he drifted further and further away in mid-air.

One had to admit, the "Cloud-Stepping Pace" skill was actually quite broken just by allowing for stacked double-jumps. Theoretically, as long as one had enough stamina, one could literally step from one foot to the other all the way into the stratosphere. The biggest limitation of this skill was supposed to be how to land safely from such a great height. It was the same principle as riding a tiger and not being able to get off.

Wu Wang had tested many landing methods over the past three days. He discovered that the pressure the skill needed to withstand at the moment of activation was based on his current state. In other words, continuous double-jumping was simple because it was always just the weight of his own body. But once he reached a certain height, if he decided to deactivate the skill and let himself free-fall to a safe altitude before trying to double-jump to land, the final double-jump would have to withstand the pressure compounded by the force of gravity. His knees would shatter instantly.

Therefore, Wu Wang chose the simplest landing method: pick a spot where he wouldn't hit anyone and crash headfirst into the ground. As long as the height was sufficient, he would die on impact. And since death meant immediate resurrection, it was essentially a safe landing. Safety didn't mean you couldn't die. The logic was flawless!

*Squish—*

"Where do you think you're going?" The skeleton ghost’s voice echoed from within the hall.

Wu Wang looked down. His chest had been viciously pierced by some sort of sharp, bony object. The ten seconds of smoke coverage had passed. He hadn't expected the creature to be able to strike him from such a distance, where he could barely see the ground below.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—*

The death interrupted his double-jump. Wu Wang heard the roar of the wind in his ears as he plummeted. He narrowed his eyes, aiming to land as far away as possible.

*Boom—*

Finally, Wu Wang crashed hard into the home of a villager. He revived the moment he died. As he opened his eyes, he realized he was with acquaintances—Auntie Li and Uncle Li. Both were staring at him in terror. They were still holding carving knives, working on something. A closer look revealed they were engraving a spirit tablet. The name was already carved:

[Spirit Tablet of Zhang Sanfeng]

"?"

*Seriously, buddy? You're making a spirit tablet for me?*

Before the couple could react, Wu Wang reached out, grabbed the bone spike protruding from his chest, yanked it out, and pressed it firmly against Auntie Li's throat.

"Why are you making this tablet?" he asked coldly.

Seeing his wife threatened, Uncle Li was about to fly into a rage, but the bone spike pressed a fraction of an inch deeper. Auntie Li’s skin broke. Any further and it would pierce her windpipe. He immediately raised his hands, answering anxiously, "Don't do anything rash! Let's talk this out! This tablet is for the little madman halfway up the mountain by the village entrance. The village couldn't find a suitable 'Yin-Marriage Maiden' this year, so we had to use the backup plan."

"Backup plan?" Wu Wang raised an eyebrow.

"The village has been raising that little madman just in case of a situation like this. If we really can't find a maiden, as long as we sacrifice him to the Great God of Yin-Marriage, while things won't go perfectly, at least no disasters will befall us this year," Uncle Li confessed everything he knew.

Wu Wang suddenly understood. So that was it. No wonder the quest description forced him to make a choice: either be the sacrifice for the Great God of Yin-Marriage himself, or offer up the girl he had found to be the Yin-Marriage Maiden. One resulted in his own misfortune, the other in someone else's.

The choice seemed simple, but in reality—whether considering if the girl was related to Wu Xiaoyou or analyzing it from the perspective of clearing the dungeon—Wu Wang could never hand her over. During the three days before entering the dungeon, he had chatted with Baili Dao often and learned the common knowledge regarding the "Spirit Disaster Game." He was facing a Nightmare-level dungeon with a completion rate of less than 1%. If he could clear it just by sacrificing an outsider... then this game would truly be an idiot's errand.

"Redemption or sin..."
"Everything has its fate..."

Wu Wang recalled the two lines from the dungeon description. But he had no time to think further. That weird skeleton ghost was still in hot pursuit! Since the ghost usually wore the old village chief’s skin to face the villagers, it meant he had to put that skin back on before he could come out to chase him. He couldn't very well run at full speed in the guise of the frail, elderly village chief in front of the other villagers. Instead, he would likely order the nimble-footed villagers to go to the crash site and carry him back.

If he hadn't happened upon this spirit tablet, Wu Wang would have been long gone by now. Having finished his questioning, he shoved Auntie Li toward her husband. While the man was busy catching her, Wu Wang turned and prepared to vault out of the house. Before leaving, he noticed a large, white steamed bun on the table and grabbed it to tuck into his pocket. He was still bitter about not getting to eat that bun before leaving earlier.

Just before stepping out, he spoke coldly to the pair:

"Steamed buns have to be white to be swallowed with peace of mind."

Since Uncle Li could say those things, it proved his previous suspicion was correct. The villagers were not ignorant. They knew exactly what they were doing, and they were unrepentant. This entire village was filled with villains.

"Be careful of karma when eating human-blood buns."
"Especially the retribution that comes from those who died unjustly."