Chapter 34: An Unexpected Glimmer of Hope

Upon discovering that all the coffin bearers were on the right, Brother Qiang deduced that the right path must be a dead end. The left path might have its own dangers, but he figured that with a bit of wit, one could likely evade them.

Therefore, when they reached the fork, he had proposed taking the right path.

However, he hadn't expected the girl in the sun hat to interfere. At the time, he had assumed they would choose the left path, and he had already prepared to set a trap for them in the next round. To his surprise, they had steered themselves toward a dead end. The realization that they had chosen this fate themselves only made Brother Qiang feel more delighted.

"Say what you will, you’re all dead anyway."

Brother Qiang offered a contemptuous smile to everyone before turning and fearlessly plunging into the black river.

*Splash.*

As soon as Brother Qiang hit the water, he drew numerous water ghosts to swarm and feed upon him. The water ghosts that had formed around the boat carrying Huan Xiao and the others also stirred, eager to join in.

In the end, Brother Qiang lacked the courage to face the savage water ghosts and the hostile group. Rather than being terrorized by the ghosts before meeting his end, he chose to embrace death voluntarily, sparing himself the psychological torment.

"...We’re doomed, we’re all doomed!"

Someone, losing the courage to go on living, even considered jumping into the river to end it all. But lacking the final resolve for suicide, she faltered upon seeing the pitch-black water and the greedy water ghosts watching her; she sat back down on the boat, frozen in fear.

Brother Qiang’s two teammates, however, were denied such a choice. They watched helplessly as their boat sank, unable to resist.

"Help! Save me!"

As his teammate desperately begged for help from those on other boats, the other man nimbly leaped onto a nearby craft, shoving one of the three unsuspecting people on board into the river.

"Chen Sheng, what are you doing!"

The occupants of the boat shrieked in terror at the man who had suddenly jumped aboard. Chen Sheng, however, simply smiled and said, "Relax, I’m just taking one of your spots. What are you so afraid of?"

The two remaining occupants were incensed.

The man still left on the sinking boat saw this and a flicker of hope ignited in his eyes as he scanned his surroundings for an opportunity. He tried to do as Chen Sheng had done and find a scapegoat, but the others, frightened by Chen Sheng’s actions, kept a wary eye on him, leaving him no opening. The only boat with just two people on it was too far away.

With no other choice, he could only scream in fury as he sank to the bottom of the river along with his wooden boat.

The drama in the distance was fascinating to watch, but Huan Xiao was soon brought back to reality by Wen Su.

"Xiao Huan, I guessed wrong. Brother Qiang is a total scumbag—he deliberately set us up. What do we do now? We’re really going to die..."

As she spoke, Wen Su caught sight of the coffin bearers on the bank. Her eyes suddenly brightened, and she said to the group:

"Let’s go ashore! We can bypass the Ghost Building from the bank and get back on the boats once they’ve passed it!"

Wen Su’s suggestion brought a silence over the panicked crowd.

"Is that even possible?" Someone questioned, clearly distrusting her.

Another was more blunt: "Great idea. I agree, so why don't you demonstrate how to get ashore for us?"

Seeing that Wen Su was just an ordinary person, they began to express all sorts of doubts. However, they were in desperate need of a solution, so they exchanged covert glances, hoping to make Wen Su the first test subject.

Wen Su hadn't expected this. She had proposed the idea for everyone's sake, but now it felt as though she were being roasted over a fire.

"Xiao Huan..." Wen Su looked at Huan Xiao, helpless.

Seeing her fear, Huan Xiao said, "If you don't want to do it, then don't. We're on the water; there's nothing they can do to you."

"Oh, right! I forgot about that." Wen Su cried tears of relief, holding back the tears that had welled up.

The others, seeing this, withdrew their gazes with regret. A few whose plans had been thwarted glared viciously at Huan Xiao, blaming her for ruining their opportunity.

"I’ll do it."

Unexpectedly, the red-haired man who had spoken to Huan Xiao earlier stepped forward. His face was set with determination as he said, "How can you people ask a girl to take such risks? She’s doing her best to find a way for us to survive, yet you’re all thinking about how to squeeze the last bit of value out of others. You’re not even human!"

"Let me try her method. There are no other options left anyway; we’ll die sooner or later. If we take a gamble, we might just earn a chance to live."

Wen Su looked at the red-haired man with gratitude; he was the second person, besides Huan Xiao, to speak up for her. In truth, Wen Su had almost compromised just moments ago. They were only three hundred meters away from the wooden building draped in red cloth. Their time was short, and they could not afford to waste it.

"This young man is right. Making the girl who suggested the idea take the risk—how is that any different from returning kindness with malice?" The girl in the sun hat stepped forward as well. She said to the red-haired man with admiration, "Then, I’ll leave it to you."

"Leave it to me."

The red-haired man nodded. His two companions remained silent, but they took up their oars and began rowing toward the bank. Although the water ghosts were terrifying, they were not currently acting against them; they were merely frightening set pieces. As they rowed, the water ghosts did not obstruct them—or rather, lacking human intelligence, they hadn't even considered stopping them. These water ghosts were merely low-level spirits tainted by ghost energy, devoid of individual thought and acting entirely on instinct.

"Xiao Huan, do you think he’ll succeed? I’m so worried." Wen Su held Huan Xiao’s hand, her eyes fixed on the red-haired man.

Huan Xiao pondered for a moment before replying, "I don't know. Maybe."

If he succeeded, she wondered if Brother Qiang would be down at the bottom of the river, consumed by impotent rage, given that he had wanted all these boatloads of people to join him in death.

Soon, the red-haired man’s boat reached the bank.

"Brother, we're here," his teammate said respectfully. He lacked the red-haired man’s courage and his sense of justice, capable only of minor tasks that didn't threaten his own life. But that didn't stop him from admiring the man. For someone willing to risk his life to secure a path to survival for them, they owed him nothing but respect.

The red-haired man stood up firmly. Looking at the gravel ground just inches away, he felt incredibly nervous, secretly cheering himself on. Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he stepped onto the bank...

Everyone stared at the water ghosts, and upon realizing they didn't move, they let out a sigh of relief. Excellent; it seemed that leaving the boat did not trigger the water ghosts' killing condition.

As he stepped onto the shore, the red-haired man felt a momentary sense of unreality. He felt the solidity of the ground beneath his feet.

He had succeeded. He hadn't been killed by the water ghosts!

After the initial excitement, the red-haired man ran along the bank, keeping pace with the boats, and waved at the people on board: "I’m fine! You all should hurry and get off, too, or you’ll end up inside the building!"

Although the river was still filled with terrifying water ghosts, he suddenly felt they weren't so frightening after all.