All she wanted to know was when this damned concoction would finally run out.
Fighting off just a single catacomb ghost was hard enough. Now, Shushu was cursed with this wretched powder and faced with hundreds, if not thousands, of specters.
Su Bai, unable to hide her impatience, barked the question with a furrowed brow.
Lin Qing simply spread his hands, exasperated. "It doesn’t expire. As long as you're in this dungeon world, the inducer remains active. And... Sister Ye, you can’t use any powers. If you do, it triggers the maximum effect. Even more ghosts will be drawn to your scent!"
He’d tossed the inducer into the prize pool as a joke, never expecting his idle alchemy would end up on her.
Because he'd mixed it at random, not even the creator himself could manufacture an antidote.
Even if he could, by then, the game would be long over.
"What are you talking about?"
Su Bai looked utterly incredulous.
Ye Shu’s face clouded over as well.
Lin Shuya was just a rookie. How could she possibly wield something this powerful?
Did someone else give it to her?
"Xiaobai, Lin Qing, you two go on ahead. I can handle these things on my own."
Ye Shu grabbed Da Piaoliang and hurried toward a side tunnel.
Su Bai knew it was for her own good, but was still the first to object.
"I'm not leaving!"
Ye Shu turned back, her expression menacing. "Fine. If you can keep out of my way, then stay. But the ghosts in this catacomb dungeon are even a handful for me. Don't expect me to save you if things go wrong."
Su Bai: “……”
So, she was being rejected, then?
Ye Shu soon melted into the darkness of the passage.
"Lin Qing? Do you think Shushu can get away from those ghosts… huh? Where did he go? Slipped away without a word."
Su Bai slumped weakly in the corner, hugging her knees. She had pushed herself to the limit just killing two catacomb ghosts earlier—that was already her breaking point. Tagging along with Shushu would only be a burden. Staying put was the best choice.
"Clink—"
A new vial of restoration fluid rolled from her pocket onto the floor.
Su Bai picked it up and muttered, "So you all knew, huh?"
She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a patchwork of burn wounds and fresh blisters, the angry marks of fire.
Her awakened fire abilities were far stronger than in her previous life, but they now ran wild, beyond her control—one slip, and she easily wounded herself.
But whenever she thought of Ye Shu and the scuttling, endless tide of ghouls, she’d rushed headlong into the fray, every hardship forgotten.
In the end, she couldn’t help with anything—Ye Shu still had to clean up her mess.
……
"Hoo… hoo…"
A guttural, slithering cry of ghosts echoed behind.
Ye Shu didn’t bother using the teleportation talisman again—those things were too expensive.
With only half the game gone, she needed to save the rest for emergencies. Now, her only option was to snake her way through the labyrinth on foot, following sheer instinct.
Luck held. She was still running, still alive. The ghosts never quite caught her.
The bad news: she was nearly spent. Every muscle howled from the relentless chase.
Ye Shu pressed against a stone wall, using her peachwood sword as a cane, eyes locked on the corridor ahead.
"Hoo… hoo…"
She’d been running for half an hour; it took the catacomb ghosts only minutes to catch up.
Just as she readied herself for a bloody last stand—one woman and her own blood against the swarm—the system alert chimed in.
[Ding! It’s now 6:00 AM in the inner world. Players wishing to redeem rewards should prepare their ore crystals in advance—the night phase is over.]
The catacomb ghosts blocking her way simply vanished, as if melting into thin air.
"Saved!"
"Thought I’d have to slash myself up again."
"If this keeps up, I'll be anemic for sure."
Ye Shu flopped to the ground without a care for image, gasping, still managing to stuff two red dates into her mouth.
It was day twelve in the game.
The caves now boasted not just harder stone and more ghosts, but also volcanic rock. The first mine she dug into was a nest of it. Caught off guard, she was nearly pounced on by a catacomb ghost and almost plunged into the molten flow below.
"Gurgle... gurgle..."
Molten lava gurgled and spat burning hot gas at her feet, the soles of her shoes threatening to melt away. Sweat stung her eyes, sour and fiery, half-blinding her as she clawed up the rock face.
The wall was slick as glass.
Ye Shu inched up, three steps forward, two sliding back, inch by inch towards the cave's mouth.
The catacomb ghost still stood there like a broken toy, motionless, but as soon as it stirred, she booted it straight into the lava.
She remembered, by day, these ghosts grew weak as kittens.
"Thump—"
The thing fell into the lava, vanishing without even a sound, its spirit charred to nothing in a flash.
"Dare to ambush me? Die, you fool!"
Rummaging through the cave, Ye Shu found three high-grade ore crystals—the first time she’d ever struck such luck.
The second cave was just an ordinary hollow—no ghosts, no crystals.
The third—
One ghost slain, one mid-grade ore crystal won.
……
After ten caves, Ye Shu had stashed away five high-grade, six mid-grade, and ten low-grade ore crystals—plus two hundred points. It felt as though life itself had handed her the cheat codes.
She traded every crystal for lanterns and supplies.
Day thirteen in the inner world.
By day, Ye Shu mined. By night, she scrabbled madly from the pursuing catacomb ghosts.
Day fourteen.
Mining. Hiding.
Day fifteen.
Dig. Teleport. Flee.
Ten days raced by.
Ye Shu came to a strange acceptance of being hunted by monsters. As long as she never stopped moving, no ghost would ever catch her.
Of course, her sanity deteriorated dangerously at times—every so often she’d break and turn savage, becoming as much a slayer as the ghosts themselves. But when the madness lifted, she found herself cut and battered, wounds covering every limb.
If she hadn’t stockpiled so much restoration fluid before this all began… she’d be dead from blood loss already.
"Hiss—"
"Headache!"
After slaughtering a hundred or more ghosts in one berserk fit, Ye Shu suddenly awoke, barely remembering her rampage.
Bodies littered the floor—among them, in the corner, a familiar figure.
Lin Yaoyao shrank in the shadows, shivering, eyes squeezed shut, too afraid to look. The memory of that massacre was sharp in her mind—that female player, with her bare hands, crushed the catacomb ghost.
Terrifying beyond belief—
That had been a high-level catacomb ghost!!
To reduce it to tatters of skin with just her hands… it was almost unreal.
Ye Shu glanced at the cowering figure, then simply turned on her heel to leave.
Lin Yaoyao, though timid and shrinking, heard those footsteps and, despite her fear, hurried to follow.
This player was terrifyingly strong—surely, her safest bet.
Ye Shu sensed Lin Yaoyao’s intent and issued a cold warning.
"Stay away from me. I don't like strangers trailing after me."
Any sane person would have bolted far away at that warning, but Lin Yaoyao was different. She recognized Ye Shu’s voice as that kind-faced player she’d met before.
"Uh… Sis, we've met before."
Such an old-fashioned way to strike up conversation.
And Ye Shu wasn’t about to waste breath—she strode away without a backward glance.