NFM Chapter 66

As she spoke, Feng Ailing looked down and seemed to see something, her expression turning utterly perplexed: “The bottom of the well…”

She squinted for a long while but still couldn’t make out what it was. Seeing her strange demeanor, Ruan Tian walked over: “Inside the well?”

“Young lady, could you take a look for me? My eyes aren’t what they used to be, I can’t see clearly…” Feng Ailing moved aside. Seeing no immediate danger, Ruan Tian leaned over: “What’s in here?”

The next moment, a powerful force struck her waist. Before Ruan Tian could even scream, Feng Ailing pushed her in!

The well was indeed deep, just as Feng Ailing had said. Within three seconds, Ruan Tian hit the bottom with a heavy thud, followed by the sound of bones and flesh breaking. After pushing Ruan Tian down, Feng Ailing nervously pressed down the well cover, as if doing so would muffle Ruan Tian’s screams.

‘Amitabha… Amitabha…’ she muttered neurotically.

The world beneath the well cover finally fell silent. She moved the cover slightly and whispered down the well: “Young lady? Young lady?”

No response came from below.

‘It worked, it actually worked…’ Thinking of the note written by Ren Chun, Feng Ailing’s eyes welled up with tears of excitement. She tremblingly clasped her hands together, ‘Her life has been exchanged for mine, I succeeded!’

Over the past month, she had been worn out by the stray cats constantly appearing in her home. Neatly written notes kept appearing on her desk, each word screaming for her life. The note clearly stated that her end was near.

Just when she was almost giving up, this morning she found a new note in her bowl.

‘Let’s play a Game. In the past, you spread rumors that cost me my life. Now that I’m dead, you continue to live in this world… Can you live with a clear conscience, thinking that your words couldn’t harm others? As long as you don’t act yourself, you’re not the executioner, right?’

‘If you want to live, use an investigator’s life to exchange for yours!’

‘The well in your backyard is very deep, with no water. If someone falls in, they will surely die. You can choose to refuse or try your luck, it’s all up to you.’

After observing all the investigators, the first one who came into her sight was the gentle and easily manipulated Ruan Tian. She didn’t expect things to go smoother than she had imagined.

Ruan Tian was completely unsuspecting of her—which was quite normal, firstly because she lacked experience, secondly because the death countdown hadn’t reached its end, and thirdly… which player would believe that the NPC they were supposed to protect would want their life?

Feng Ailing, exhausted from her success, sat on the ground, biting her fingers fiercely and laughing a nervous, relieved laugh. After a while, she replaced the well cover and ran back into the house, screaming in panic: “Something terrible has happened!”

“A Ghost, I saw a Ghost… it was Ren Chun!” she shrieked, “She took Ruan Tian away—!”

Her screams woke Liao Guan, who was still playing on his phone, and Cheng Xin, who was dozing in another room. Several people rushed out of their rooms, led by Zhang Mingge, his face stern.

“Where did the Fierce Ghost go?”

Feng Ailing randomly pointed in a direction, and Zhang Mingge and the others, without hesitation, chased after it.

The driver followed the players for a while until he could no longer keep up, leaning against a tree to rest. The players ahead didn’t wait for him, quickly disappearing, leaving him alone on the road.

“These people don’t even wait for me…” he complained, rubbing his legs.

‘Wait, what am I complaining about? I’m just an NPC,’ a thought popped up in his mind, “I was kidnapped before because of my bad luck, now those two devils are out, and the others are gone…”

This was the perfect time to escape!

The driver was overwhelmed with emotion, a long-lost desire for survival surging in his heart. He felt a sudden burst of courage, sensing freedom just ahead.

The next moment, his face froze.

‘But now, where else can I go but stay by his side?’ A wave of sadness washed over him.

He had no car, no identity, just a ghost wandering in the Instance. The system seemed to have forgotten about this driver, with no intention of bringing him home. He was like Su Mian, driven out of her home by Gu Beicheng, with no place in the world left for him.

‘But following them is clearly seeking death,’ the driver squatted on the ground, thinking hard, ‘They have missions, I don’t, I need to find a way to hide somewhere safe…’

After much thought, he had already walked back to Feng Ailing’s house. Seeing him, Feng Ailing was visibly startled. She tried to calm herself and cautiously asked him: “That Ghost… did you catch it?”

The driver shook his head. Hearing this, Feng Ailing secretly swallowed hard. She kept glancing at the clock on the wall, watching the hour hand gradually approach twelve, then cautiously asked him: “That… investigator, is there still a number above my head?”

“Huh? What number?”

“You… can’t see the number above my head?”

Being an NPC, the driver naturally couldn’t see the number above Feng Ailing’s head, so he honestly and confusedly shook his head. Seeing the outsider’s reaction, Feng Ailing was overjoyed. She threw away the cup in her hand and kowtowed three times to the sky: “Heaven bless me, heaven bless me… the life exchange succeeded! The life exchange succeeded!”

She was ecstatic, wishing she could run out and bring back a few boxes of concrete to fill the dry well in the backyard. The driver watched her actions in confusion, but a cold voice reached his ears: “What life exchange?”

It turned out that after chasing for a while, Zhang Mingge and the others found no trace of Ruan Tian. Though anxious, considering the number above Feng Ailing’s head was about to reset, they hurried back to the Feng house. Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered, they heard Feng Ailing’s mad laughter. Seeing everyone had returned, Feng Ailing’s mouth gaped open, too late to put on a disguise.

“What life exchange?!” Liao Guan rushed up, grabbing her neck, “Where is Ruan Tian? Tell me!”

He was agitated, not only concerned about Ruan Tian but also remorseful for not accompanying her to the backyard earlier, instead staying to play on his phone. Feng Ailing, grabbed by the neck, almost suffocated. Cheng Xin and Zhang Mingge had to step in, each pulling them apart.

Feng Ailing, now free, coughed loudly. Liao Guan, still held back by Cheng Xin, continued to shout: “She disappeared after going to the backyard with you, tell me! Where did the Ghost take Ruan Tian!”

“How should I know where she went!” Feng Ailing retorted, “She was taken by a Ghost, it’s her bad luck, it has nothing to do with me!”

“Liao Guan, calm down!” Cheng Xin tried to persuade him, “It’s almost twelve, the time is about to reset…”

“Who knows if Ruan Tian was really taken by a Ghost? None of us saw a Ghost, right? It’s all this old woman’s saying…”

Hearing Liao Guan’s words, Feng Ailing’s heart skipped a beat, a strong sense of guilt overwhelming her senses. Looking at the sturdy young men before her, her first instinct was to drive them out.

She picked up a broom and swung it at them with force: “Get out, get out of here! Talking about protecting me? I think you’re just a bunch of charlatans!”

Her sudden change in attitude was baffling. The men, caught off guard, were chased out of the house with curses and kicks.

“Get out, get out of my house!” she screamed.

But Feng Ailing, immersed in the joy of survival and guilt, didn’t realize that at this moment, the “01” above her head finally faded completely, and a blood-red “0” appeared abruptly in the night sky!

Seeing this scene, Cheng Xin’s pupils contracted violently: “The number above your head…”

Feng Ailing, thinking he had discovered the disappearance of the number, became even more nervous. She mustered all her strength to finally shut the door, locking the men out.

Then, she collapsed on the floor.

Outside, Cheng Xin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, wanting to break into the yard, but Zhang Mingge grabbed his hand: “Don’t go in.”

“Why?”

“Good advice is hard to persuade a Ghost destined to die,” Zhang Mingge said coldly, “If she wants to die, that’s her business.”

After a pause, he added: “There are eight more people, we just need to protect the remaining eight.”

Cheng Xin was still unwilling, but with the lock in place, there was nothing he could do. Eventually, he could only slam the lock in frustration and lead the others away.

Inside, hearing the footsteps of the men leaving, Feng Ailing felt a wave of relief. She leaned against the door, catching her breath, then had time to think about what to do next.

‘Whatever they want to do next, let them do it!’ she thought fiercely.

But the life exchange was not the end. Feng Ailing knew clearly that besides Ruan Tian, whom she had pushed into the well, and that overly coquettish Yan Chuchu, the rest of the team were all sturdy young men. If they found the body, the life she had saved from the Ghost Hand might end in their hands.

Though her body was heavy, Feng Ailing’s mind was clearer than ever. Quickly, she took a shovel to the backyard, found some soil, and decided to bury Ruan Tian’s body.

‘Young lady, don’t blame me,’ she silently said in her heart, ‘Blame yourself for coming here, both of us only have one life, in your place, I would choose my own life too!’

After saying this, she felt a sense of peace. She shoveled half the soil and felt physically exhausted. Sighing at the aging of her body, she clutched her waist and stood up.

A chilly wind blew by, and as she stood up, she seemed to see a shadowy figure standing faintly by the shed.

She thought it was her imagination, rubbing her eyes, and the shadow disappeared.

‘It must be an illusion,’ she comforted herself.

But the next moment, as she lowered her head, her peripheral vision accidentally swept towards that direction, and she found that the shadow seemed… closer to her!

A sense of horror welled up in her heart. She picked up the shovel and looked intently towards the shed.

There was no one.

Feng Ailing sighed in relief, but as she poured the last scoop of soil into the dry well and turned around with the shovel, a slim figure appeared before her eyes!

Feng Ailing screamed, almost falling into the well. Supporting herself on the edge of the well, she finally recognized the owner of the figure: “Not sleeping at night, coming here to cause trouble…”

As she spoke, she pushed forward with one hand: “You damn…”

The figure’s head slowly lifted, and the next moment, Feng Ailing saw the most terrifying sight of her life.

“You…”

At that moment, she realized that what she was seeing was not the back of a person.

But the front of that “person”!

The next morning, the system’s prompt echoed in everyone’s minds.

“Feng Ailing has died, the first protection mission has failed. Players, please prepare for the second protection mission.”

Feng Ailing’s body lay by the well, her eyes wide open, her heart missing from her chest. Beside her lay a shovel. The village chief, seeing the scene, closed his eyes and called the villagers to carry her away.

Chu Tianshu stood in the crowd, looking at the gruesome corpse, and whispered to Lin Huai: “This Ghost seems a bit wild.”

“Very wild, the chest is completely torn apart. More like an animal acting on instinct than a calculated killer…” Lin Huai said, “By the way, was the body found by the well?”

“What was she doing by the well at night?” Cheng Xin squatted in the backyard, puzzled.

Liao Guan had two huge dark circles under his eyes. Seeing the scene, he was silent for a while, then said: “I won’t be joining you today.”

“Why?”

“I need to find Ruan Tian… I’ll come back tonight,” he said.

He couldn’t let go of Ruan Tian’s disappearance, feeling it was his responsibility. Cheng Xin wanted to stop him, but heard Zhang Mingge’s voice: “Let him go.”