Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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The female ghost seemed annoyed and fell silent.
Gu Wuji tentatively knocked on the door a few times and pushed it, but even his attempts to force it open failed; some abnormal force seemed to be preventing him from entering.
Then, the surrounding ghosts suddenly swarmed towards Gu Wuji, their terrifying faces now close enough. Of course, this was nothing to fear for any high-level player; they experienced such things as frequently as eating and drinking.
Gu Wuji reached out, intending to use a purification spell on the ghosts, but suddenly felt a strong burning sensation on the back of his hand, causing him to freeze.
“Damn it, it’s the mark of the evil god! Why now—” Gu Wuji was slightly startled, and this time the mark’s heat was far more intense than before, making him feel as if half of his arm had lost all feeling.
The intensity made him suspect he was about to encounter the dungeon’s boss, and an ominous premonition washed over him.
At this moment, the ghosts had already closed in. Instinctively, Gu Wuji took several steps back, his body slamming violently against the door with a loud thud.
His hand, intentionally or unintentionally, touched the door, and the mark on the back of his hand suddenly glowed. The door, which had been unmovable no matter how much he knocked, was now easily pushed open.
“This is…”
Gu Wuji looked at the open door behind him, revealing a pitch-black space inside.
At the same time, he felt the heat from the mark on the back of his hand dissipate, as if everything had been merely a prelude to opening this door.
….
Nelson, inside the room, was extremely anxious. He stood nervously by the door, wanting to open it but lacking the courage. After all, countless ghosts lurked outside.
Moreover, he had originally hoped Gu Wuji would die here, but now he needed him for something useful, so he kept him alive. Even if danger arose, he could simply find another person; after all, these people who had come with him were cannon fodder that Nelson planned to use.
But then he remembered Gu Wuji’s selfless act of pushing him aside, leaving him to face danger alone. Even Nelson couldn’t remain unmoved.
He instinctively moved closer to the door to listen for any sounds outside, only to hear the violent pounding of the door and the wailing of terrifying ghosts… He knew without a doubt what kind of hellish scene lay outside.
Gu Wuji was just an ordinary person with no strength to even kill a chicken; now, surrounded by so many ghosts, he was surely dead beyond any doubt.
“Damn it,” Nelson thought, his courage waning. He would never sacrifice himself for a cannon fodder. He had come here to become the master of the entire family.
While firmly establishing his own beliefs, his conflicted emotions caused Nelson’s affection for Gu Wuji to grow stronger.
Although Gu Wuji had initially only wanted to keep Nelson out of the way, things had taken an unexpected turn.
Finally, Nelson took a deep breath, turned around, and felt a heavy weight in his heart— a sense of mourning for the unknown fate of Gu Wuji.
As the heir to the family fortune, he already knew many of the casino’s unspoken rules when he arrived in this hellish place. He figured Gu Wuji was unlikely to survive this time.
“I never expected you to have such deep feelings for me. Considering you saved me, I’ll provide your family with financial assistance after I leave…”
Nelson muttered to himself, glancing up casually, his gaze suddenly settling on the oil painting on the wall.
The painting depicted a taciturn young man with rather handsome features. It looked like an ordinary decorative painting, but upon closer inspection, one could see the madness hidden in the man’s eyes.
Nelson was even more familiar with this painting; he had seen it countless times at home… Yes, it was a portrait of their legendary ancestor.
But for some reason, he felt something different this time. There was a strange force drawing him to the painting, compelling him to slowly walk towards it.
….
The door was wide open, and a large number of ghosts appeared behind it. Any player here, whether they wanted to or not, would be forced to enter the room.
But the door remained awkwardly open for a long time without any response. Gu Wuji was busy purifying the ghosts, frantically trying to keep up, but he was incredibly satisfied, his face glowing as if he’d encountered some great joy.
The being inside the door was utterly speechless; it never expected things to turn out this way… At this rate, wouldn’t this person purify almost all the ghosts in the place?
Suddenly, a sound inaudible to humans came from inside the room, and the ghosts outside scattered as if startled, leaving the entire hall empty in the blink of an eye.
“Sigh, there are still so many ghosts to purify,” Gu Wuji said, looking back with some reluctance before stepping through the door. Inside, Gu Wuji saw a room layout similar to reality, but the details felt somewhat off… However, since he hadn’t entered the previous room, he wasn’t entirely sure.
What caught his attention most was a portrait of a woman hanging prominently on the wall. The figure in the painting was gloomy, her eyes staring straight at him.
Based on his experience in the world of paintings, Gu Wuji immediately recognized that a powerful ghost resided within the painting.
What also bothered him was the obvious wear and tear around the painting, as if it might crack at any moment, making the ghost in it appear like a candle flickering in the wind.
“You’ve come,” the woman in the painting spoke directly.
“Hello,” Gu Wuji greeted her. “May I ask what brings you here?”
The woman said, “Since you’re with that young master, you must already know the rules of this succession competition.”
“There are still some things I’m not quite clear about…”
Then, seeing Gu Wuji’s somewhat bewildered expression, she had no choice but to explain.
The preceding content was similar to what Gu Wuji already knew. In fact, several candidates had come to this place, vying for the position of successor. To become the successor, one had to persevere until the last day and possess the most resources.
“Actually, these chips are the keys to the real test. Only those with a certain number of chips can enter a place like this space and encounter the vengeful spirits like myself who control it. Only those who survive several nights of vengeful spirit trials can truly become the heir.”
“As for those who don’t have enough chips from the start, they will be disqualified on the last day and have no hope of leaving.”
As for bodyguards like Gu Wuji and the other players, they were naturally categorized as NPCs; if they had enough chips, they would also enter a certain space like their employers.
“I see.” Gu Wuji nodded. “So what is this vengeful spirit trial?”
“As you can see, the place where I’m hiding is in a terrible state,” the female ghost sighed. “Originally, I needed you to find a way to repair this painting before I could let you leave. Of course, you certainly don’t have that ability… I initially planned to devour your souls to repair myself.”
“But, on you, I saw that mark,” the female ghost said, staring at Gu Wuji’s wrist.
“What’s wrong with this mark?” Gu Wuji asked. “It’s related to the god you worship, right?”
“No,” the female ghost said. “The rumors about the god in this place are all false. The one who truly controls this place is a casino owner. He has never shown his true face, and no one knows who he is, but he controls everything in the name of a god. And he has the same mark as you on his hand. Through this mark, he can command others, and I was forced to be enslaved by him…”
What the female ghost didn’t say was that she felt Gu Wuji’s mark seemed to be several levels higher than the mark of her master that she had seen by chance.
As she said this, Gu Wuji also saw a faint mark on the female ghost’s cheek. Its quality was obviously not as good as the one on the back of Gu Wuji’s hand.
Gu Wuji: “…” So, the boss of this dungeon is a fanatical follower of an evil god, not the true form of the evil god. Indeed, if the true form had actually appeared, he wouldn’t be standing here now.
If the boss of this dungeon was strong enough, he could seal it away. But if he was not strong enough, he would have to think of a way to summon the evil god.
“We don’t want to continue living like this, so I took a gamble and let you in directly.” The female ghost looked at Gu Wuji, her words suddenly becoming intense. “I hope you can completely destroy this place so we can end this endless nightmare.”
“Then what should I do?” Gu Wuji looked over, feeling that he was getting closer to the truth of this dungeon.
“What you need to do is maintain the current situation, pretend to continue accompanying that young master into other ghost spaces for trials, but you need to use the marks on your hands to control them all, minimizing the casino owner’s power.” The female ghost said.
[Hidden Quest Triggered: Destroy this Cursed Casino.]
[Current Quest: Control the ghosts that appear during the five nights of ghost trials.]
[Completing this quest will permanently end the instance, and the player will receive substantial rewards for officially clearing the advanced instance. Once the quest begins, failure could cost the player their life.]
“Okay.” Gu Wuji nodded. He had considerable experience and was confident in this quest! There were already two hidden quests; it truly lived up to its advanced status.
The only problem was that the mark on the back of his hand came from the evil god. Could he really use it so casually?
“In that case, I’ll tell you all the other information about this casino, as well as the identities and weaknesses of the other ghosts,” the female ghost said anxiously. “We need to hurry, otherwise, when my portrait completely cracks, I won’t be able to reappear to help you…”
“Speaking of the portrait…” Gu Wuji took out some items he had obtained in the world of the painting and smiled at the female ghost. “I think I might be able to help.”
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