Chapter 354: If You Want to Live, Run to the Front Hall

After securing his important test subject, Qi Suian immediately began the dissection.

’As expected, the Yang Qi structure has changed. It’s become more three-dimensional, and its effects are more potent.’

’But the real increase isn’t in resistance, but compatibility.’

’So the Doomsday Game is trying to use universal rules to create a group of survivors who can master those very rules.’

’But this works out in my favor.’

Qi Suian extracted the Yang Qi structure. By recording it, he obtained a new structure.

’It should be a C-rank talent.’

’The evolutionary paths can be divided into three types: Accommodation, Resistance, and Attack.’

’For survivors’ Yang Qi structures, the Doomsday Game’s default evolutionary path seems to be primarily Accommodation.’

’After all, the Resistance and Attack paths are limited to dealing with ghosts. This limitation becomes even more pronounced once the structure is guided by the Doomsday Game.’

’Accommodation, on the other hand, allows one to contain ghosts and derive new abilities from them, leading to more efficient growth and aggressive expansion.’

"Unfortunately, enhancing the Yang Qi structure inevitably brings contamination," Qi Suian sighed.

The reason was simple. To upgrade a talent, one needed a corresponding Exploration Value. Exploration Value equated to Truth, and Truth was contaminated. It was a vicious cycle: upgrading a talent was impossible without incurring contamination.

So, a contamination-free, C-rank version of the Contamination Resistance talent was impossible.

Qi Suian stitched up Ye Rui’s wound, administered a painkiller, and then let him wake up from the anesthesia.

He had a few questions for him.

Ye Rui groggily awoke. The moment he saw the Armored Man, his first instinct was to get up and run.

But Qi Suian instantly pinned him down.

Two sharp slaps later, he was fully awake.

This time, he didn’t dare try to run.

’If he’s hitting me, it means he doesn’t plan on killing me.’

’Otherwise, he would’ve just killed me already.’

"How many people did the Doomsday Game choose for its second batch of survivors in the Netherworld?" Qi Suian asked directly.

Ye Rui was shocked by Qi Suian’s question. He never expected the Armored Man before him to ask such a thing.

"A thousand from each country."

"Are you a survivor, too?" Ye Rui hurriedly asked back.

"I am. So, what’s the attitude of the various nations toward the Doomsday Game?" Qi Suian asked.

’Pan Fan wouldn’t know. He’s from the fifth batch and this is his first survival mission, so he couldn’t have a clear picture of the national attitudes.’

"A love-hate relationship, I’d say. Very few survivors made it through the last mission, let alone acquired any resources."

"The various nations are more interested in finding the technology the game uses to grant restorative resources, then figuring out a way to break free from it."

"But that’s just wishful thinking," Ye Rui said with a scoff.

In his eyes, the Doomsday Game was like an omnipotent god. The very idea of resisting it was impossible.

Qi Suian ignored Ye Rui’s attitude and continued, "Tell me about your talent, Contamination Resistance."

He deliberately omitted the talent’s rank. After all, Qi Suian didn’t know the man’s actual situation; C-rank was just a guess with little hard evidence.

"This... what’s there to say? Aren’t they all the same?" Ye Rui wondered, then asked tentatively.

His reward was a heavy slap from Qi Suian.

"I told you to talk. Don’t play dumb with me." Qi Suian could easily see what the man was trying to do.

Qi Suian knocked a few of his teeth out. Only then did he start talking honestly. "I used Exploration Value to evolve it to C-rank, unlike Tang Ya, who drew a charm-type talent."

Qi Suian didn’t know Tang Ya, but he knew she was one of the people he had turned into a living observation device.

’She was most likely the head from the contaminated version.’

"The effect was upgraded from a ’minor’ boost to a ’minor-to-moderate’ one. If there are no other dangers, I can probably tank the contamination and complete this mission’s mandatory objective," Ye Rui continued.

The description of the talent was limited, so naturally, he didn’t know much more.

He spilled everything the Doomsday Game had told him.

Because Qi Suian was wearing the Tai Sui God armor, completely obscuring his body, Ye Rui couldn’t get a read on his attitude and didn’t dare say more than was necessary.

He didn’t want to say the wrong thing and earn another vicious beating.

’But he was certain of one thing: this Armored Man didn’t have the Contamination Resistance talent that they all possessed.’

’Every survivor’s base talent is D-rank Contamination Resistance. The differences only appear later through upgrades or drawing new talents.’

"What intelligence have you gathered while exploring during this mission?" Qi Suian changed the subject.

Ye Rui clearly didn’t have any more detailed information about Contamination Resistance.

’This batch of survivors has little value left. Once I deal with this mess, I’ll be ready to leave this layer of Truth.’

Ye Rui wasn’t surprised by the change in topic and immediately recounted what he had found.

"The temple was a front for accumulating wealth. The person from before was the one in charge of it all."

"He had mastered some of the Golden Body Ghost’s power..."

Ye Rui explained slowly as Qi Suian listened in silence.

The gist of it was that they had failed in their attempt to flee with the money and were eventually cornered and wiped out by the authorities.

The Golden Body Ghost was that grotesque creature with the pig’s head, human torso, and snake’s tail.

Ye Rui also told Qi Suian that besides the Golden Body Ghost, there was also a group of "Desire Ghosts" that could change form based on a person’s desires.

The Snake Demon People who had tried to fill Tang Ya—the woman turned into a living observation device—like a cream puff were actually Desire Ghosts.

The tragedy occurred because Tang Ya had tried to use her charm-type talent to control a Desire Ghost. Instead, her own desires were absorbed by it, leading to disaster.

Hearing this, Qi Suian couldn’t help but ponder, ’What would a Desire Ghost turn into if it fed on *my* desires?’

As for the Desire Ghosts’ origins, Ye Rui wasn’t sure. However, he was certain of one thing: they were likely derivative ghosts, formed after the other temple personnel involved in the money-making scheme were controlled by the Golden Body Ghost.

"Where are the Desire Ghosts?" Qi Suian asked.

"In the side rooms, just head..." Ye Rui immediately started giving Qi Suian directions.

"Too much trouble. You’re coming with me."

"Don’t worry. With me around, you won’t die." It was a blatant lie.

’Ye Rui’s value is limited. Once he leads the way, I’ll see if he can be used as bait.’

’If not, I’ll just kill him and take his Yang Qi structure.’

’Either way, he’s useful. It just depends on how I decide to use him.’

Naturally, Ye Rui was unwilling. Then Qi Suian pulled out a pistol, pressed it to the man’s forehead, and suddenly, he became very willing.

’The survivors’ world must have firearms, or at least similar weapons. That’s why he backed down so easily.’ Qi Suian had now confirmed a few things about the world the survivors came from.

With Ye Rui leading the way, they soon reached the side rooms he had mentioned.

A rustling sound came from within the rooms. Listening closely, they could make out some sort of conversation.

"Once we’re done with this job, we can head back to our homes in the country."

The moment Qi Suian heard that first line, he knew. ’These Desire Ghosts aren’t going anywhere.’

"Go kick the door down and lure the Desire Ghosts out," Qi Suian ordered.

’Lure them out? Fine. But why do I have to kick the door down?’ Ye Rui’s expression soured.

"Can I... knock?" Ye Rui asked, resigned.

’If I knock, I can turn and run immediately. But kicking it down is not only arrogant, it’ll slow my escape. No way.’

He knew Qi Suian’s order was malicious, but he had to try and bargain for the sake of his own life.

"Fine. As long as you lure the Desire Ghosts out, I don’t care how," Qi Suian readily agreed.

Ye Rui crept cautiously to the door. He slapped it three times—BANG! BANG! BANG!—then immediately bolted.

He didn’t run back toward Qi Suian.

’I can’t outrun Qi Suian. He’ll just grab me and use me to cover his own escape.’

’If I run in a different direction, I can bet on the Desire Ghosts targeting Qi Suian instead.’

CREAK...

The old door swung open, and a giant ball of flesh squeezed its way out.

The ball of flesh was covered in people, all of them chattering at once. They saw Qi Suian standing nearby.

But they decisively targeted the fleeing Ye Rui, even though Qi Suian was much closer.

"If you want to live, run for the main hall!" Qi Suian called out, giving the fleeing Ye Rui a "kind" reminder.

’The bait is working perfectly.’

As if it hadn’t heard a thing, the Desire Ghost rolled its bloated, twisted body in pursuit of Ye Rui.

As it chased, it muttered a torrent of chaotic, disconnected words.

-----------------

"His Majesty’s sacred edict has arrived." The Mansion Master of Shengshi Mansion dropped a bombshell the moment he saw Yan Jingxing, the Director of the Exorcism Bureau.

"What are His Majesty’s instructions?" Yan Jingxing’s expression grew solemn as he asked immediately.

"The matter of the broken seal in the Sealing Vault is not to be investigated further." The moment the Mansion Master spoke these words, Yan Jingxing was stunned. ’An incident this big is just being swept under the rug?’

"The records are to be sealed and classified. They may not be opened without a direct imperial decree."

"The matter is considered closed. However, His Majesty has also sent someone."

"They are to assist us in finding the survivor from the Doomsday Game and escorting them to the Celestial Capital."

When the Mansion Master finished, Yan Jingxing gave a wry smile. "This is no easy task."

"Shengshi Mansion is already on complete lockdown, and we’ve conducted a thorough sweep. We still haven’t found a single clue. How are we supposed to find this person?"

The Mansion Master, however, seemed much more relaxed. He offered a word of comfort, "Keep a close eye on the Sealing Vault. Perhaps the Doomsday Game tossed this survivor into yet another seal to mess with them."

"That... is actually possible." At this reminder, a look of ’holy shit’ crossed Yan Jingxing’s face. He truly hadn’t considered the possibility.

It was a classic case of overlooking what’s right under your nose.

But at the same time, this created a huge problem. If another seal were to break, it would be even harder to explain.

They were lucky to get a special pardon this time. Otherwise, he and the Mansion Master wouldn’t just be facing dismissal and an investigation—they’d be heading straight for the execution block.

"Thank you for the reminder, Mansion Master. I’ll get right on it. If I find anything, I’ll notify you at once." Yan Jingxing’s seat had barely warmed before he stood up and took his leave.

They could chat anytime. Right now, official business was paramount, and he couldn’t afford to be delayed over trivialities.