After drawing cards, the evil god became my source of吐槽 (tu cao, a form of humorous commentary/criti

Chapter 12 Mental Pollution
The ground suddenly trembled slightly.

It felt like something was churning underground, oppressive and heavy. The first thud was almost imperceptible, but then came the second and the third, the frequency gradually increasing and the vibrations becoming more and more intense.

An Jing staggered, as if the ground beneath her feet had lost its support, and sand and gravel rolled down from her feet.

She tried to maintain her balance, but the sudden instability forced her to take a half step back.

It's not just her.

The three lantern bearers also moved almost at the same time. They keenly sensed the unusual movement, crouched down, placed their hands on their weapons and equipment, and quickly scanned the direction of the villa.

The next second, a soft "click" sound suddenly came from the courtyard in front of the villa, which had been as quiet as a stone monument.

Then came the second and third sounds—like the structure of wood, bones, and joints being pieced together in an extremely unnatural way.

The three lamp bearers subconsciously looked up.

Then, they witnessed a scene they never wanted to see again in their lives.

The main entrance to the villa was now quietly open.

"Someone...?"

No, it's a group of people.

Or rather, something that looks like a "person".

They were all dressed in tattered clothes, covered in blood, pale-faced, with bloodstains and broken wounds on their faces. Each of them had died in the villa, including 013 and 016.

At this moment, they stood in a neat row in front of the open villa door, even standing on the ground below the stone steps, densely packed, as if they were a silent army.

They didn't speak, they didn't move.

Only countless pairs of dim, ashen eyes, yet burning with an eerie gleam, all looked at An Jing and the procession of lantern bearers.

At that moment, An Jing felt as if something had struck his mind, a buzzing sound filled his ears, and his back felt completely icy cold.

She recognized those faces.

Of course she recognizes it.

Her classmate.

We used to attend classes together in the classroom, play around in the dormitory, and finally scream and cry in this magnetic field, dying in a pool of blood.

At that moment, they were all standing there.

Standing in front of the villa, he stared blankly at An Jing with empty eyes, as if asking a question.

What gives you the right to live?

Why do you live?

An Jing's vision went black for a moment.

She desperately tried to suppress her heartbeat, and even though her fingertips were trembling slightly, she remained firmly rooted to the spot and did not move an inch.

Breathing felt like a blade stuck in my throat.

This mysterious creature is releasing powerful mental pollution.

Don't move.

The system's voice was extremely low, as if coming from underwater: "It's acting. It's unsure if I'm on you... so it's trying to test you with these things."

“It…” An Jing’s voice was hoarse, “It controlled these corpses?”

No, it didn't bring them back to life. It merely wove an illusion using their 'shells'.

The system's audio is also unstable.

But it might be mimicking a fragment of their memory. In other words…

Before the words were finished, a sound suddenly rang out in the courtyard.

"An Jing?"

The voice came from the mouth of the "person" at the very front.

A girl in a white dress had a deep bloodstain on her face that almost cut through her cheekbone, and blood at the corner of her mouth, yet she smiled as if nothing had happened.

Her eyes were fixed on An Jing, and her voice carried an almost intimate lightness.

"Why are you over there? Why don't you come over?"

“Huang Weiwei…”

An Jing's eardrums were throbbing. She felt as if all her strength had been drained away, and she took a small step back. She then clenched her palms hard to regain her balance.

That's not Huang Weiwei.

Huang Weiwei is dead. She died right in front of me, a gruesome death, and I watched helplessly as she dragged me away down the stairs.

But her voice really does sound like it.

Even her tone of voice, her soft laughter, and the ending of her words were all perfectly natural, like when she had just returned from the school gate and someone was calling her from the other end of the corridor to go buy drinks together.

"An Jing, don't you remember?"

"We agreed to go on a trip together."

"Didn't you say... that I could go home after the exams?"

"You're lying..."

"I can't go back! Why didn't you save me, An Jing? It hurts so much! An Jing, why didn't you save me?!"

That face was smiling.

But it became increasingly distorted, and the bloodstains at the corner of its mouth began to slowly spread upwards, as if being pulled by some invisible thread, revealing a strange arc.

The "crowd" standing behind her also began to sway slightly, like the wind blowing paper figures, but without making a sound. Only the malice wrapped in that deathly silence became clearer and clearer.

An Jing's vision began to blur.

It felt as if countless rusty nails were scraping at the edge of her consciousness, gradually stripping away her judgment of reality.

Hold your breath. Close your eyes.

The system's voice forcefully pierced through this terrifying illusion, its deep tone snapping her already fragile nerves: "[This is a mental pollution-type hallucination inducement. Do not respond, do not move, do not speak.]"

It's piecing together an image from fragments of your memory; once you respond, it can pinpoint the unusual fluctuations within you.

It knows I'm here. It's betting that I'm on you.

An Jing gritted her teeth and closed her eyes.

Huang Weiwei's voice continued, becoming increasingly "real," each syllable like a steel needle piercing her eardrum.

"An Jing, you've really gone too far."

"We clearly agreed..."

"Come and stay with me, okay?"

What's the point of living alone?

Her voice was like countless memories replaying, echoing again and again, relentlessly haunting him. An Jing's breathing grew heavier and heavier, cold sweat trickling down his back, soaking his spine.

Footsteps suddenly sounded.

She walked over.

Huang Weiwei walked over lightly, blood gushing from her body.

Each step felt like treading on blood, splashing up a sticky, rotten, and damp mess.

An Jing's muscles were taut to the limit, and his fingernails were almost digging into his palms.

If it really gets close... should she open her eyes and fight back? Or expose the system?

Just then, 001's cold, hard voice rang out:
"Preparing to activate the temporary air purifier—five-second countdown!"

The sound was like a heavy hammer blow, striking An Jing's ear hard.

She forcefully pulled herself back from the brink of collapse and suddenly opened her eyes.

The group of "people" remained motionless the moment she opened her eyes.

Huang Weiwei did not come to us.

It was as if the scene had frozen.

It's as if it never existed.

But that malice still lingered in the air, like a fishbone stuck in the throat, as if it would burst forth again at any moment.

An Jing took a deep breath, a coldness he had never felt before flashing in his eyes.

She got it.

This is not a test.

This is a warning.

That mysterious creature has really set its sights on her.

If you used cards when you got caught up in it, then you've truly fallen into that mysterious trap.

(End of this chapter)