“How… how could this be?”

The bizarre events that happened to Shi Liaozhi were now replaying on Qin Jian.

Those before him hadn't returned.

What returned... was only that boat that looked problematic.

The boat quietly emerged from the thin mist, with no one on board.

Including that guy who called himself Hao Shuai.

He too had disappeared.

His pupils trembled incessantly, and the paper figure's stiff arm began to bend. Indigo fingers slowly extended from beneath the sleeve, inlaid with several pieces of rotten, shapeless red fingernails.

At this moment, the fingernails were everted, and the already swollen, club-like fingers constantly dripped with turbid, yellow mucus, drawing viscous strands in the air, in Qin Jian's terrified peripheral vision.

Waves of stench invaded his nostrils, and Qin Jian felt his breathing stop.

The weight on his back continued to increase, and a tingling sensation came from his neck. Something wet and textured slowly slid along his neck.

Moist, rough, and with an inexplicable stickiness.

He almost immediately realized what it was.

A tongue!

The ghost on his back... was licking him with its tongue.

Terrified and pale, Qin Jian felt like he was dying. Living until today, until this moment, he had truly experienced despair.

"Why?" Qin Jian struggled to turn his stiff neck, the fear in his eyes gradually overcome by intense resentment. "A chance at life? You promised me a chance at life... Where is it?!"

He had considered more than once to throw off the ghost on his back and jump into the lake.

But until the very end, he endured.

Because he knew that was definitely not the best option.

His real chance at life was only one thing.

Those few sentences!

The paper figure behind him was getting heavier and heavier. This was a tangible pressure. Not long ago, the weight of the paper figure behind him had already exceeded the weight of an ordinary woman, and... that feeling was continuing.

People who die by hanging are lighter, and people who die by drowning are heavier, Qin Jian had heard from the older generation.

All the muscles in his body were exerting force, and his joints gradually emitted a frightening sound, as if they were about to break in the next second.

At the critical moment of life and death, Qin Jian, gritting his teeth fiercely, slowly calmed down.

"At the third watch, the boat travels on the lake, the encoffining garments travel at night, fortune lies in the silver frost."

His eyes were red.

The third watch referred to the start of this game, and the boat traveling on the lake corresponded to the game's rules. What he needed to think deeply about were the last two sentences—

"The encoffining garments travel at night, fortune lies in the silver frost."

The encoffining garments... should refer to himself. He was the only one wearing black funerary clothing.

Night travel was also easy to understand. Traveling by boat at night, wouldn't that be night travel?

But what about this 'fortune lies in the silver frost'...

Just as Qin Jian was gritting his teeth against the increasingly exaggerated pressure, he suddenly noticed that the surrounding mist had suddenly thinned a lot. Then, on the lake surface a dozen meters away from him, a silver full moon was reflected in the water.

His lips trembling, Qin Jian's eyes lit up in an instant. "'Fortune lies in the silver frost'... no, not fortune, but path!" Tears streamed down his face with excitement. "It's the path lies in the silver frost!"

This silver moon... was the path to life!

He mustered his last bit of strength, his eyes fixed on the moon reflected in the water. After a moment, the boat actually did as he wished, heading towards the moon reflected in the water.

Just as he passed over the full moon, Qin Jian clearly felt the pressure on his back disappear.

That ghost... had vanished.

"I did it!" Qin Jian suddenly collapsed on the boat, his expression hysterical, snot and tears flowing out together. "I... I don't have to die!"

"I survived..."

At this moment, as the mist gradually dissipated, the people left on the shore could naturally see what was happening on the lake. But unlike Qin Jian's joy after surviving a disaster, the faces of the remaining Fatty and Chen Qiang were unusually heavy.

His throat bobbing unnaturally, Fatty shifted his gaze from the moon in the water beneath Qin Jian, and quietly raised his head, looking at the sky.

The entire night sky was pitch black, like a pool of viscous stagnant water.

Not to mention the moon, there wasn't even a single star.

…

Qin Jian died.

He died in front of You Qi. Recalling the process of Qin Jian's death, You Qi, this seemingly rough and burly man, was shaking like a leaf.

In fact, he was still trembling. Soaked to the bone, he was wrapped in a quilt, his hands cupped around a warm cup of tea, as if trying to draw warmth from the tea to warm himself.

"Don't rush, tell me slowly, what exactly happened to Qin Jian?" It was Shi Liaozhi who spoke. His yellow hair was wet, especially the cuffs of his pants, which were still dripping.

An Xuan and Xia Meng sat on either side of You Qi, their undisguised gazes examining You Qi, as if trying to dig out all the clues he possessed.

Jiang Cheng sat opposite You Qi. He was calm and collected, a stark contrast to the anxious Shi Liaozhi.

Chen Qiang sat alone by the bed, keeping a certain distance from everyone.

Fatty wanted to squeeze in with the doctor, but after thinking about it, he squeezed in next to Zuo Jing instead, trying to stay close to her to keep warm.

As if feeling safer in a crowd, You Qi slowly calmed down. He licked his lips first, then asked in a tentative tone, "You... you've all encountered that kind of thing, haven't you?"

Actually, there was no need to guess, because everyone was soaked, except for Fatty and Chen Qiang, who were behind Qin Jian.

Hearing this, Shi Liaozhi shivered and said, "Don't mention it, it's too damn weird. Those brides are all ghosts!" He swallowed, his eyes filled with fear, "I don't know what happened in this house, so many brides died."

"It shouldn't be." An Xuan thought for a moment and replied. His voice was very calm, giving people the feeling that what he said was the truth: "It's just that no matter which paper bride we choose in the end, they will turn into ghosts on the way back."

"There should only be one ghost." He glanced at Shi Liaozhi and continued.

An Xuan's speculation was still relatively reliable, which could be felt from everyone's reaction.

If so many ghosts appeared in the instance at once, that would be too terrifying.

"You... do you still want to hear me out?" You Qi asked, wrapped up like a dumpling.

"Speak."

Through You Qi's recollection, they roughly understood the process of Qin Jian's death. The bizarreness and horror of it had exceeded ordinary people's imagination.

"When I came back, I happened to meet Qin Jian. He looked very strange at the time." Seeming to have thought of something, You Qi shrank back and continued, "He was walking alone by the lake, very close to the water, as if his shoes had already stepped into the water."

"I subconsciously wanted to remind him to stay away from the water, but before I could speak, I... I discovered..."