Chapter 155: The Curse Card

“Lost… did I? Hahahahaha… You killed me… but did you know… in this Mysterious Domain… there’s this thing… called the Curse Card… an Eerie Card… The one who has the Curse Card… whoever kills you… within one day after your death… will suffer… this world’s… cruelest curse! Hahahaha… You dared… to kill me… so just… wait for it… the cruelest curse… I left you… is coming!” After several more bouts of wild laughter, Zhou Ling coughed out a torrent of blood. Her body went limp as she collapsed.

Lü Yang couldn’t afford carelessness. He used the chair leg in his hand to violently jab and churn several more times into Zhou Ling’s chest, turning it into a massive bloody hole. Only then, getting a little closer, did he stomp heavily on Zhou Ling’s neck. He pulled the chair leg out and stabbed it into Zhou Ling’s body over a dozen times, creating transparent, bleeding holes, thoroughly pulverizing all her internal organs.

Lü Yang stood up, thought for a moment, and then swung the chair leg with force, smashing Zhou Ling’s head. Using his hands, he pried her skull open, digging out all her brains. He flung them onto the ground, handful by handful, then stomped them into mushy pulp. Finally, after confirming she was utterly, completely dead—from her heart to her brain, down to every organ—only then did he relax.

“You hate her that much? She loved you once, you know? And she was with you… intimately. Did you really need to abuse the corpse like this?” Yi Ya couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She frowned, bent over, and dry heaved onto the floor. If she hadn’t known it was Lü Yang, she would have definitely thought he was a deranged killer who enjoyed desecrating corpses.

“YES!!”

Lü Yang stared at Zhou Ling’s corpse, a mix of lingering hatred and lingering dread. This woman had left too large a shadow on his mind. Even after reducing her to this state, Lü Yang still worried she might suddenly start laughing wildly, get back up, and stab him in the back.

Or maybe she’d emerge from some corner, declaring this whole thing was just a dream Lü Yang was having… and that she was the one controlling everything, that she even created this Mysterious Domain…

As long as a Mystic Scholar wasn’t completely dead in the Mysterious Domain, as long as they had a breath left when returning to the Real world, they’d be restored by a Healing Card. So, there was absolutely no room for carelessness here.

Lots of cliché plots in movies and TV show the heroes defeating the final boss, then hugging and crying sweet nothings instead of making sure with a few extra shots or stabs. Then the boss isn’t quite dead, jumps up and ambushes the dumbfounded couple. One of them shields the other, taking a fatal wound before the survivor finally realizes and finishes off the boss, kneeling to weep over the corpse. Turning a happy ending into a tearjerker tragedy, tugging at heartstrings while fulfilling the twisted masochism of the scriptwriters and directors.

Lü Yang, of course, wasn’t that stupid.

“Successfully hunted the Death Assassin Zhou Ling. Completed black-letter task! Earned 20 Phantom Points, 10 Eerie Stones, 2 Gui Pearls, 1 Gui Amber…”

“Obtained 10 Money Cards…”

“Obtained 2 Healing Cards…”

“Obtained 1 Intelligence Card…”

“Obtained 1 Invisibility Card…”

“Obtained 1 Gender-Change Card…”

“Obtained 1 Soul Attach Card…”

“Obtained 1 Fate Card…”

“Obtained 1 Curse Card…”

“Obtained 1 Engineering Spectralist certification card…”

“Promoted to Intermediate Gui User…”

“Commencing primary soul enhancement…”

“Soul enhancing…”

“Soul enhancement complete…”

“Eerie Computer DNA binding released. Initiating soul binding…”

“Verifying soul strength…”

“Soul strength meets binding requirements…”

“Soul binding complete…”

“Eerie Computer entity retrieved…”

“…”

A rapid series of notifications sounded in Lü Yang’s mind… As expected, teaming up to fight a boss was different from solo play! The rewards for killing boss Zhou Ling seemed incredibly rich…

Hahahaha, not just rich—it was explosive! Ten Money Cards? Ten thousand bucks! Was this like getting paid? Damn! Getting paid for killing? Maybe I don’t have to keep working that hard laborer gig doing roadside construction anymore!

Since the task completion notification appeared, Death Assassin Zhou Ling must really be dead, right? This wasn’t just a dream?

No! Who knows if she faked those notifications?

Lü Yang quickly scanned his surroundings, worried that just when he was feeling triumphant, Zhou Ling would suddenly appear behind him with crazed laughter, declaring it was all part of her plan, that everything was under her control.

If even the system notifications couldn’t be trusted… then what could be believed?

In the Mysterious Domain, nothing could ever be one hundred percent trusted. Not what you saw, not what you heard, not even that.

Truth, lies, illusion, reality… Lü Yang was clearly starting to crack. Compared to his absolute confidence right before Zhou Ling died, now, after utterly destroying her corpse, Lü Yang instead felt paranoid.

Stop thinking. If he kept doubting like this, there’d be no end.

Assume it was real for now. Time to head back to the Real world with Xiao Ya and enjoy the victory.

And that insanely powerful Mysterious Tool? The Interstitial Space cube? Where’d it suddenly disappear to?

Dammit! That was my loot! Confiscated by the Mysterious Domain? That’s not fair! Give it back! GIVE IT BACK!

Gone. Really gone!

Screw this!

The notifications had all ended. Yet, Lü Yang waited a little longer, and the Mysterious Domain still didn’t end. He and Yi Ya still hadn’t been ejected back to the Real world.

There was no notification about completing the task of rescuing Yi Ya either!

Lü Yang looked at Yi Ya standing before him and started worrying again.

“What’s going on? Can you tell me?” Yi Ya asked Lü Yang, looking at the corpses filling the hotel lobby. She helped Liu Yin up from the floor—he had risked his life to save her and wasn’t dead yet.

“Well… it’s a terribly long story to explain,” Lü Yang really wasn’t in the mood to explain things to Yi Ya right now. He was deeply confused about what the true Path of Survival was for this Mysterious Domain.

The Eerie Computer audio already said the Death Killer Zhou Ling had been killed, so why hadn’t the Mysterious Domain ended?

Could this really all just be his imagination?

And Zhou Ling… could she be hiding in some dark corner right now, watching him with a sneering grin?

“Make it fast then… Especially the part where you two passionately embraced and kissed?” Yi Ya said with a mysterious smile, giving Lü Yang a shove. The smile seemed to cover a slightly sour tone.

He had saved her, but what Zhou Ling said sounded to Yi Ya like a story where a man desperately needed money. His girlfriend got him the money, solving his crisis. But then one day, the man learned the money came because she slept with someone else… He’d feel…

Liu Yin suddenly stood up. Limping, he walked towards Zhou Ling’s body. He touched her unrecognizable face gently, softly calling her name… His voice was unbearably sorrowful… It made Yi Ya, standing beside Lü Yang, tear up.

After a long while, Liu Yin mournfully picked up Zhou Ling’s mutilated corpse. Step by step, he walked towards the direction of the hotel’s shattered glass doors.

“Where are you going?” Yi Ya chased after him to ask.

“Let him go,” Lü Yang called Yi Ya back.

Seeing Liu Yin like this, he clearly intended to carry Zhou Ling’s body into the Black Mist outside the door, ending both himself and her utterly… Perhaps he felt life held nothing left without her, or he simply wanted to join her. Whatever the reason, it was his choice. Trying to dissuade him would be pointless.

Though they had successfully hunted the Death Killer Zhou Ling, the Jinda Hotel Mysterious Domain still hadn’t ended. That left one final possibility… maybe destroying Zhou Ling’s corpse completely was necessary to truly end this?

“Will you talk? What is all this? Why did so many people die? How did I get here?” Yi Ya pouted, asking Lü Yang with obvious annoyance. She had too many questions, but could only ask them one at a time.

“Short version: it’s dangerous here. I need to get us both out safely. After we leave, I’ll tell you the whole long story no matter how long it takes,” Lü Yang brushed her off. Right now, he needed to concentrate every ounce of his mind to find the Path of Survival out of this Mysterious Domain.

“Shouldn’t we… call the police? You didn’t… kill all these people, did you?” Yi Ya stared at the floor littered with corpses, eyes wide.

“This is a Parallel World, not the Real world. There are no police. Dead people don’t bring murder charges. I’ve told you about this Parallel World before, didn’t I? You didn’t think I was joking?”

“Really?” Yi Ya sounded skeptical, yet seemed mostly convinced.

“It’s true. Parallel Worlds exist. They are far more dangerous than our Real world. If you get trapped in one and cannot find the Path of Survival to escape in time, you will likely die here. If the ‘us’ here dies, the ‘us’ in the Real world will be completely erased too…”

“Then let’s get out fast! Is it that way?” Yi Ya pointed to Liu Yin’s back as he carried Zhou Ling’s corpse toward the Black Mist.

“No. That’s the path to death. Stepping into it means certain damnation,” Lü Yang shook his head.

“Then tell me all about this Parallel World! Maybe I can help figure out the Path of Survival!” Yi Ya seemed very confident in her intelligence.

“That’s… tough… Better left to me…” Lü Yang gave Yi Ya a wry, uncertain look.

“Do you think I’m dumber than you?” Yi Ya instantly got upset, grabbing both sides of Lü Yang’s cheeks with her hands.

“That’s not about smart or dumb. It’s just that explaining all the causes and consequences… wouldn’t fit even in a full-length novel…” Lü Yang looked helpless.

“That long? If you skip the filler, it wouldn’t take that many words! Give me the gist! Five minutes! Can you do it in five minutes?”