The roller coaster’s third challenge ended, and they obtained all three clues.
The first clue was that “it likes to find a substitute,” the second was “Great joy, Great sorrow,” and the third was a “double happiness” character.
After looking at the three clues, the three cards in Li Zhi’s hand turned to ash. It was clear that the system didn’t want players to exchange clue cards directly. As for whether people believed in verbal clues without proof, that was another matter entirely.
Players weren’t professionals, and with so many types of ghosts in folklore, even with the clues, it would be difficult to narrow down which ghost they were dealing with. Since the system gave them such a puzzle, it wasn’t going to let them figure it out through wild guessing.
Li Zhi analyzed, “The certification area should have information on all the ghosts, and their descriptions are likely related to these three clues. But based on the system’s usual style, these clues won’t allow us to pinpoint the correct answer immediately—there will still be misleading elements.”
She thought for a moment and then confirmed, “When the time comes, I’ll go in first, select the answer, and then come out to tell you all.”
Her teammates trusted both her ability and integrity, nodding in agreement.
If it had been someone with a bad reputation, even if they came out and told their teammates the answer, the others probably wouldn’t believe them.
Finally bidding farewell to the roller coaster, Owen Dong felt confident again. He knew his performance had been poor earlier, and the audience was likely dissatisfied, so he was eager to redeem himself with the next task. He quickly suggested, “Let’s try the Ferris wheel next!”
The most prominent ride in the park was the glowing Ferris wheel, visible from any angle under the night sky.
No one knew when the red light would come on, but no one objected, so they headed toward the Ferris wheel. The layout of the park wasn’t complicated—it provided a clear route for tourists that avoided any detours. By following the path illuminated with eerie green and red lights, visitors could experience all the rides along the way.
In addition to the nine main rides, the park also featured many immersive horror scenes. In just the few hundred meters they had walked, they had already encountered little ghosts screaming as they were fried in oil, the black and white guardians of death chaining up souls, and Meng Po offering bowls of soup for players to taste. It truly embodied the concept of “a ghost at every step, a scene at every turn.”
Chi Yi said, “I can’t even imagine how popular this park would be if it actually existed outside.”
You Jingmeng nodded in agreement.
The scenes were too realistic. It wasn’t just an underworld-themed design—it was like the underworld had been transported into the park.
After passing the “Bridge of Helplessness,” they came upon a road lined with coffins. Standing on both sides of the path were several motionless zombies with yellow talismans stuck to their foreheads. White mist swirled around them, and cold winds blew, making the talismans flutter as if they might fall off at any moment.
No one knew if these zombies were real or just NPCs. If the talismans fell and the zombies broke their seals to attack, it would be game over. Everyone quickened their pace and hurried through the path.
Fortunately, no zombies chased after them. After turning a corner, the road suddenly opened up. To the left, rows of red lanterns bearing the double happiness symbol hung from posts, while on the right, white lanterns with the character for mourning were displayed.
The stark contrast between red and white, joy and sorrow, hit everyone like a collision. Even the players felt suffocated, not to mention the viewers watching from their screens.
Chi Yi’s legs immediately went weak. “Zhi Zhi! Quick! Hold me up! I’m going to collapse!”
Who wouldn’t feel creeped out by this scene? The five of them huddled together, continuing down the lantern-lined path. Soon, they heard the sounds of a lively crowd. As their view widened, they saw two open courtyards on either side of the road.
The courtyard with red lanterns was clearly hosting a wedding. Over a dozen red tables were set up on the grounds, draped in red silk, with the doors and windows plastered with red double happiness symbols. The wedding banquet was packed with guests, and a bride and groom dressed in bright red attire were making rounds, toasting everyone in high spirits.
On the right, however, under the white mourning lanterns, a funeral was taking place. In front of the courtyard stood a black coffin, surrounded by wreaths of flowers. The funeral banquet was equally packed with guests, all silently eating, while mourners dressed in white knelt before the coffin, sobbing to the sharp sound of a suona horn.
Chi Yi took one look and immediately shut her eyes tight, clinging to Li Zhi’s arm like a peaceful blind person.
After walking a few more steps, she felt Li Zhi stop. On one side, there were congratulations and laughter; on the other, mournful sobs and the eerie sound of the suona. Chi Yi felt herself on the verge of fainting and urged, “Hurry up, Zhi Zhi!”
Li Zhi suddenly said, “Look.”
Look at what?
Chi Yi couldn’t resist opening her eyes, following the direction of Li Zhi’s finger.
On the left, at the red wedding banquet, sat a person in white mourning clothes with a sorrowful expression. On the right, at the white funeral banquet, there was someone dressed in bright red, beaming with joy. But calling them “people” wasn’t quite accurate; they clearly looked like ghosts.
This scene was too eerie. Chi Yi felt her scalp tingle as she heard Qi Yongyi exclaim excitedly, “It matches perfectly with the clues of ‘extreme joy and sorrow’ and the double happiness character! These two might be the key to the correct answer!”
Li Zhi nodded. “We should pay attention to these two ghosts when we reach the certification area.”
After passing through the area of clashing red and white, the Ferris wheel appeared not far ahead. Owen Dong, now excited, quickened his pace. Just as he neared the ride, a heart-wrenching scream rang out from above.
Everyone froze in their tracks, looking up. They saw one of the Ferris wheel’s cabins hanging precariously on the edge before it suddenly detached, plummeting straight down from the sky. There were clearly people inside, their screams echoing as the cabin fell, crashing into the lake beside them with a loud splash, sending water flying everywhere.
Li Zhi rushed toward the lake, but the cabin quickly sank into the water. Apart from the rippling waves, nothing else remained on the surface.
Owen Dong’s previously excited expression turned to one of shock, his body frozen in place, hands and feet growing cold. “Were those… were those our people inside?”
You Jingmeng, still trembling from their earlier fall, stammered, “It… it must have been…”
Owen Dong’s face turned deathly pale.
He had been too naïve. How could he have thought that the Ferris wheel would be simpler than the roller coaster? None of the rides in this amusement park spared lives.
Li Zhi waited by the lake for a while, but no one resurfaced. Realizing they couldn’t be saved, she turned back to the others. She overheard Chi Yi asking Owen Dong, “So, are you still going to ride it?”
Owen Dong, his face white as a sheet, was at a loss for words.
Suddenly, the entire park was bathed in red light. The crimson glow illuminated everyone’s faces as Li Zhi walked over. “Let’s go cast our votes for the ghosts first.”
Owen Dong quietly sighed in relief. Yes, let’s vote first. They could decide what to do after that.
The group made their way toward the certification area. When the red lights came on, the scary NPCs hidden throughout the park had all disappeared, and the flickering red lights now guided them down the nearest path. By the time they reached the certification area at the park’s entrance, the other players had also returned.
Li Zhi counted and saw that only fifteen players remained.
Among the four who had left earlier with Pei Hongyu, two were missing—they must have been the ones who fell from the Ferris wheel. Including Zheng Qi, they had already lost three teammates in the first round.
Each team had experienced different rides and gathered different clues. Everyone eyed each other cautiously, deep in thought, but no one stepped forward to suggest exchanging information.
Even if someone was willing to share, could anyone really trust them?
The red lights in the certification area flickered and changed to green, and the two black doors, which resembled tomb gates, slowly creaked open. Inside, a mechanical voice from the system announced, “First round of ghost voting begins. Players, please enter one by one to cast your votes.”
Pei Hongyu was the first to stride inside.
Once he entered, the black doors closed again. After about a minute, the doors reopened, and Pei Hongyu emerged, whispering a few words to Tang Nanshan, who nodded and entered next.
Soon, the players with Pei Hongyu cast their votes one by one, but they clearly had no intention of sharing information with the others. Once they voted, they simply left.
After Li Zhi and her group finished voting, she nodded to her teammates and walked toward the now-open black doors. Inside, she found a narrow corridor, about twenty meters long. After passing through it, Li Zhi finally arrived inside the certification area.
The first thing she saw was a wall filled with ghost images, just as she had predicted. Each ghost had a picture and a description displayed beneath it. Below each photo was a small red button, obviously used for voting.
However, the [Ghost] system, notorious for toying with its players, had no intention of giving them much time to think or study. The moment Li Zhi stepped into the voting room, a red countdown clock appeared on the right-hand wall, marking the beginning of a time limit.
59 seconds…
58 seconds…
Players had only one minute to use the clues they gathered to find the corresponding ghost on the “Wall of Ghosts.”
If the ghost tied to the clues was completely unfamiliar, even having all three clues might not be enough to identify the correct ghost in such a short time.
Li Zhi quickly scanned the wall, her eyes racing over the images. Her gaze soon focused on two particular ghosts. One wore mourning clothes and was seated at a wedding banquet; this ghost was called the “Mourning Spirit.” The other was dressed in red and seated at a funeral banquet; this one was called the “Joyous Spirit.”
Beneath the images were their descriptions. The Mourning Spirit was a person who had died tragically at a wedding banquet. It appeared at weddings to seek a substitute, and if someone made eye contact with it, they would be killed. The Joyous Spirit, on the other hand, was someone who had died at a funeral. It would appear at funerals to find its substitute.
The three clues—”seeks a substitute,” “extreme joy and sorrow,” and the “double happiness” character—all matched both spirits.
The only problem was that both the Joyous Spirit and the Mourning Spirit fit the clues. The countdown on the wall had already begun its final ten seconds. After a brief moment of thought, Li Zhi made her decision and pressed one of the buttons.
As the one-minute countdown ended, Li Zhi took one last glance at the wall, sweeping her eyes over it quickly. In that moment, she couldn’t help but miss Tan Manyu’s photographic memory. If she were here, she would have memorized every ghost on that wall in under a minute.
Seeing that Li Zhi wasn’t leaving, the system’s cold voice urged, “Voting has ended. Please exit the certification chamber.”
Li Zhi turned and walked out. As soon as she emerged, Chi Yi rushed up to her, eager for an answer. “How did it go?”
Li Zhi replied, “I voted for the Mourning Spirit.”
Chi Yi nodded without hesitation and went straight inside without asking any further questions.
The others gathered around, and Li Zhi gave them a quick rundown of the situation inside. “There’s a Wall of Ghosts, with descriptions of all the spirits. You only have one minute.”
After hearing her explanation, Owen Dong hesitated. “The Joyous Spirit has ‘joy’ in its name. Doesn’t that fit the clues better?”
Li Zhi responded, “The Mourning Spirit died at a wedding banquet. I think that fits the ‘double happiness’ clue better.” She glanced at Owen Dong. “That’s my reasoning. If you don’t trust me, you can vote for the Joyous Spirit.”
Owen Dong gave an awkward smile. “Of course, I trust you. I’ll vote for the Mourning Spirit too.”
As they talked, two players who had teamed up with Pei Hongyu approached cautiously. The male player, Wei Xiao, asked in a low voice, “Li Zhi, can we exchange clues?”
Li Zhi smiled warmly. “Of course.”
Unlike the aloof Pei Hongyu, Li Zhi was clearly more approachable. Wei Xiao and his companion visibly relaxed. Wei Xiao began, “We just did the carousel ride. Our first clue is ‘travel in pairs.’”
Li Zhi nodded. “We did the roller coaster. Our first clue was ‘seeks a substitute.’”
Wei Xiao continued, “Our second clue is ‘soul capture.’”
Li Zhi said, “Our second clue was ‘extreme joy and sorrow.’”
Wei Xiao paused, clearly taken aback. Their clues seemed much simpler than Li Zhi’s, and his companion, Han Wenlin, frowned. “Why are your clues so complicated? Ours seem pretty straightforward.”
Li Zhi asked, “What’s your third clue?”
Wei Xiao shook his head. “We didn’t go for the third round. The danger level was too high. These two clues were enough for us to figure out the correct answer.”
Owen Dong nodded in agreement. “Yeah, your clues seem clear enough—definitely Black and White Impermanence1Black and White Impermanence (黑白无常) are two iconic figures in Chinese folklore and mythology, known as guardians or enforcers of the underworld (阴间). They are responsible for escorting the souls of the deceased to the afterlife, making them key figures in traditional Chinese ghost stories and death-related customs..”
While they were talking, Chi Yi finished voting and came out, with You Jingmeng going in next.
Li Zhi thought for a moment and added, “Without a third clue, there could be a misleading element in your answer.”
She didn’t want to see any of her teammates die, and since Wei Xiao had been willing to exchange information, she decided to be honest. “We voted for the Mourning Spirit this round. I suggest you vote with us.”
Han Wenlin looked displeased, but Wei Xiao pulled him aside and said politely, “Thank you, Li Zhi. We’ll go discuss it with our teammates. We experienced the ride with Cheng Jiayue.”
Li Zhi glanced over and saw the girl, Cheng Jiayue, standing not far away, watching them on her tiptoes.
Chi Yi, curious, asked, “Weren’t you teamed up with the ‘Perfect Couple’ group? Didn’t you experience it together?”
Wei Xiao shook his head. “They went to ride the Ferris wheel, so we split up and did different experiences.”
It seemed that Du Jia and Chen Tianran had successfully completed the Ferris wheel challenge.
Li Zhi nodded. “Alright, you can go now.”
After everyone in Li Zhi’s group had finished voting, Wei Xiao entered the verification room. You Jingmeng asked quietly, “Big Boss Li, do you think they’ll follow your advice and vote for the Mourning Spirit?”
Li Zhi shrugged. “No idea.”
Owen Dong chimed in from the side, “Actually, their answer isn’t wrong either. ‘Travel in pairs’ and ‘soul capture’ clearly point to Black and White Impermanence.”
“That’s not necessarily the case,” Chi Yi remarked. “We still have the Joyous Spirit as a misleading element, so why wouldn’t they have one too? We should try the carousel ourselves later and see what the third clue is.”
Qi Yongyi nodded in agreement.
When Wei Xiao’s group finally emerged from the verification room, the last to go in was the ‘Perfect Couple’ team.
Li Zhi approached Wei Xiao and asked, “Want to exchange information about the death conditions of the rides?”
Wei Xiao thought for a moment before replying, “You’ve already told us the answer to the Mourning Spirit, so there’s no need for us to ride the roller coaster anymore. If you’re going to try the carousel, though, its first round shakes violently. If you’re not careful, you’ll be thrown off and trampled into pulp—you need to hold onto the safety bar in front. The second round shakes even more, and the safety bar disappears. You’ll have to cling to the horse’s head to survive. I got thrown off during the second round, but I had a defensive item, so I managed to survive.”
Li Zhi smiled. “Thanks.”
Unable to resist, Chi Yi asked, “Wei Xiao, did you vote for the Mourning Spirit or Black and White Impermanence?”