79: Chapter 79 Killing the Takeout Ghost Again

Chu Xuan could never forget that in the last dream, he already had the chance to kill Chen Qing, who was possessed by the Night Demon's Clone.

However, [Future Tang Zheng] actually failed to send the method to truly kill a Strange Creatures, and all of this seemed to be the interference of the rules.

This time, the message sent by [Future Tang Zheng] clearly had omissions regarding the [eerie bus], which Chu Xuan, who was already on guard, immediately noticed.

Almost the instant Chu Xuan sent that sentence, the Phantom Demon suddenly let out a shrill roar:

"Purifier? It's actually a Purifier?! This is a certain-kill guidance granted by the gods; you must die!!"

In an instant, Chu Xuan felt as if his spirit was being ravaged by a storm, and his already dim and blurry vision seemed to have another layer of mosaic added to it.

In his daze, he sensed the final hint given by [Future Tang Zheng]:

[Before 3:30 AM, West Gate of the train station, dilapidated bus, pay 10 spirit money... also the Great Buddha's characteristics, you must be careful... can't be killed... smash... Flower Cotton Jacket...]

When the hint reached the Great Buddha, Chu Xuan felt his spirit begin to fall into disorder. The information he received became fragmented and incomprehensible, as if he had developed some kind of cognitive impairment.

He could not see, hear, or speak, as if he had fallen into a dead, silent deep sea. Everything around him became profound and pitch black; the immense pressure made it impossible for him to breathe, and even moving a single muscle was incredibly difficult.

Only in the deepest part of his Soul did the Phantom Demon's maniacal laughter still echo:

"Lowly insect, I won't give you a single chance! Even if I fail to possess you this time, you will surely die. The new life born from our Fusion will eventually return to the gods' embrace..."

"And I, by killing a Purifier in advance, will surely receive guidance and usher in redemption and rebirth under the gods' calling! Only you will die completely, with no future ever again!!"

"In this game, you lose after all!"

The maniacal laughter broke Chu Xuan's last shred of will, but in his final moments, a faint smirk curled on his lips.

Lost?

No!

I've already won!

[Your consciousness has been erased.]

[You are dead.]

...

...

"Never trust anyone!"

"Never trust anyone!"

"..."

Chu Xuan slowly opened his eyes. He didn't get up immediately; first, he opened his personal panel to take a look.

50 points of spirituality value were deducted, leaving 25 points.

This confirmed Chu Xuan's suspicion once again: every time he died in the dream, 10 additional points of spirituality value would be deducted upon re-entering.

His health points hadn't changed, still 95.

"I thought you were in a hurry to sleep for some special purpose, but I didn't expect you to really just take a nap. This is truly strange... My friend, can you explain this to me?"

The Phantom Demon's gentle voice sounded as if it were scripted, echoing faintly just like in the last dream.

Chu Xuan's expression remained unchanged: "You think I just took a nap?"

"Otherwise? Did you do something I don't know about?"

The Phantom Demon's genial laughter suddenly stalled: "Why did your spirituality suddenly drop so much? Did you just do something I don't know about?"

Chu Xuan's heart stirred.

Before entering the dream today, his spirituality value was 90. When he first entered the dream, his remaining spirituality value was 50, and the Phantom Demon hadn't mentioned it then.

Now, during the second entry today, the Phantom Demon suddenly mentioned the missing spirituality value. Was it because too much had been lost at once?

No, that's not right!

Compared to last time, another change was that his current mindset was somewhat different from when he entered the dream last time.

Last time he entered the dream and discovered he could do so, his mood was one of hard-to-conceal joy, which the Phantom Demon captured.

But this time, his mindset was very calm because everything was as expected. He even felt a sense of control, as if he held the winning cards, because he knew the Unique Sequence told to him by [Future Tang Zheng].

Perhaps it was this difference in emotions that led to the Phantom Demon's different performance.

Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said out of the blue, "You can see my System page, right? You have everything about me at your fingertips?"

"My friend, you truly are a human full of wisdom." The Phantom Demon's smile deepened. "However, I can't see your talent skills. Can you tell me?"

Chu Xuan didn't answer. He guessed that the Phantom Demon couldn't see his talent skills, perhaps because his talent came from "Rule Dissipation."

Just like the reason he initially bound with the System was to awaken his talent, he just didn't know what kind of extraordinary item that so-called Curio was.

"Let me guess, is the spirituality you lost this time related to your talent?"

The Phantom Demon smiled gently: "Hmm... I can't sense your emotional fluctuations. You're deliberately suppressing them. It seems my guess was correct. Let me guess again..."

Chu Xuan ignored the Phantom Demon's noise and quickly opened his phone to find the chat box with [Future Tang Zheng]. The last record in it remained unchanged.

— [I actually failed to send such a critical matter; this must be the interference of the rules! I should have noticed earlier...]

It seemed that as the dream restarted, the communication with [Future Tang Zheng] was also reset. Perhaps only the chat history of the last dream of the day would be preserved.

Before Chu Xuan could think too much, [Future Tang Zheng] had already sent a message.

[Tang Zheng: Chu Xuan, thanks for the reminder. I successfully survived this calamity. Although I still suffered some significant injuries, I managed to pull through.]

It was still just like a script, the same content as in the last dream. However, this time Chu Xuan didn't wait for the other party to continue and quickly typed out a paragraph:

[I know what you're going to say. Don't get excited yet. Quickly pull yourself together and carefully observe your surroundings. Whatever you do, don't let anyone ambush you at this time!]

Because of the Phantom Demon's presence, Chu Xuan didn't speak too plainly, but this should be enough. In the last dream, the other party was ambushed due to a momentary lapse in attention.

[Tang Zheng: You were right. I can faintly feel a killing intent locked onto me. This... a lot of new memories have appeared...]

[Tang Zheng: Not good! Chu Xuan, you have to be careful. In my new memories, you were killed by a Delivery Ghost. At this exact time, it will knock on your door!]

Perhaps because of Chu Xuan's reminder, [Future Tang Zheng]'s reaction was significantly faster than last time. Chu Xuan silently straightened his clothes and then took the oil lamp out of his backpack.

Bang, bang, bang...

A knocking sound came from outside, followed by a familiar voice:

"Hello, your delivery is here."

Chu Xuan carried the oil lamp and walked toward the door.

Whoosh—Ding-a-ling!!

The locked door was pulled open, and a string of bells hanging behind the door let out a crisp sound, revealing the Delivery Ghost standing outside.

"Hello, your..."

The Delivery Ghost had a bright, sunny smile on its face, but before it could finish its sentence, it was enveloped in a dim yellow light, followed by a sharp fruit knife slashing across.

Pfft!!

Accompanied by splattering blood, Chu Xuan brought the knife down. This time, it only took five seconds to cut off the Delivery Ghost's head, half the time it took before.

[You have slain Specter: Lurker. Your spirituality +35.]

[Current spirituality value: 55]