If the other three Soul-Suppressing Nails are in the same condition as this one, then they will only have less than an hour left. In reality, they will have even less time. Searching for them one by one will be a struggle in terms of time. If any changes occur along the way, it will only waste more time!
"We still have three useful compasses left, which correspond to the three Soul-Suppressing Nails." Jiang Ran handed two compasses to Ye Ye and Alansta respectively. "Next, we must split into three groups. Even if we can't decipher all the runes immediately, we must at least decipher one pillar to stabilize the Soul-Suppressing Nails."
Jiang Ran glanced at Alansta again: "You know, if any one of the four Soul-Suppressing Nails goes wrong, we probably won't be able to get out of here alive, so I think you know very well how to choose."
“You can trust me,” Aransta said, taking the compass. “And you can only trust me.”
And so, Jiang Ran and Gwen, Ye Ye and the big black dog, and Alansta and Laast each formed three teams, one person and one ghost, and went to the three Soul-Suppressing Nails.
Outside the live stream, high-ranking officials from both China and the United States were watching the live stream intently. These people from the United States could spend money without hesitation to have other countries' ghost storytellers replace Jiang Ran, but once their own SSS-level was involved, they would become uneasy.
When Aransta was SS-rank, it didn't matter where he died. These higher-ups would only feel sorry for him for a while. If they could replace Jiang Ran, they might start celebrating with champagne.
Adding just one letter completely changes the meaning.
Therefore, they would rather Jiang Ran live than let Aransta leave alive.
After leaving the area around the Soul-Suppressing Nails, Jiang Ran returned to the area shrouded in black mist. Gwen held Jiang Ran's hand to prevent them from getting separated. In an environment with unclear visibility, a person's sense of security is greatly reduced, which in turn breeds feelings of fear and apprehension.
While most ghost stories aren't as terrifying as those depicted in horror novels, they still require the ghost storyteller to have a strong mental fortitude.
Walking in the silent darkness, the light overhead had disappeared, or rather, it couldn't penetrate the black mist at all. Although it was supposed to be daytime according to the time, it was darker than night.
The sound of a child crying came from the black mist. Jiang Ran stopped in his tracks. The intermittent crying sounded somewhat eerie. It seemed to be coming from directly in front of him. The fact that he could perceive the direction so accurately meant that the source of the sound was not far away from Jiang Ran.
[Rule Sixteen: Ignore any unseen wails coming from the black fog. If you encounter someone crouching on the ground crying, do not approach them to investigate, and absolutely do not see their face.]
"Let's take a detour."
Adhering to the principle of "better to avoid trouble than to cause trouble," Jiang Ran didn't want to provoke this thing. Since he knew its location in advance, he could simply take a detour.
However, that ghostly thing didn't seem to be planning to let Jiang Ran go. The crying sound in the black mist was moving, and Jiang Ran could feel that the thing was getting closer and closer to him. It seemed that there was no way to avoid it.
The crying stopped abruptly.
A thin, bony hand grabbed Jiang Ran's ankle.
The little boy, dressed in tattered clothes, squatted on the ground and started crying again, his right hand gripping Jiang Ran tightly and refusing to let go, while his left hand drew circles on the ground.
"Big brother—who are you?"
Jiang Ran did not answer his question.
"What's your name, big brother?"
In an instant, the little boy stood in front of Jiang Ran, staring intently at him with eyes full of bloody tears!
Jiang Ran had already closed his eyes, so even with the little boy's sudden attack, he didn't see his face.
"Tell me your name, big brother!"
The little boy grinned and tried to reach out to touch Jiang Ran's chest, but in the blink of an eye, he received a solid punch to the chest!
"As long as I don't see your face, you're no threat to me!"
Jiang Ran drew his short knife and swung it down in front of him. The little boy barely dodged it, and his angry yet tearful voice sounded quite eerie.
"You're a bad person! Big brother! I'm going to kill you! I..."
While the little boy was still in a fit of impotent rage, a pair of scissors pierced his chest from behind.
"How dare you harm me... I'm going to tell my father... and have him exterminate your entire clan..."
The little boy's body lay on the ground.
The three parties proceeded as planned, and they did not seem to encounter anything particularly noteworthy along the way. Ye Ye and the big black dog were the first to find the next Soul-Suppressing Nail because the compass they were holding corresponded to the Soul-Suppressing Nail with the shortest distance.
"Brother Dog, I'm leaving the password-cracking to you!"
"I already told you to call me Desert... Pshaw! You almost made me blurt out my real name! If your brother dies, you'll be the one to blame!"
Aransta's operation quickly got on track, and Jiang Ran also devoted himself to deciphering the runes. As the runes on each pillar were deciphered, the Soul-Suppressing Nails stabilized.
Wasn't this process a little too smooth?
But then I thought about it again. To complete this task, you have to decipher all the runes within a limited time and kill at least one bounty hunter in order to get the lamp oil and compass. It sounds simple, but it's not actually that simple. In fact, most people can't complete it.
Is that all?
Jiang Ran successfully deciphered the runes on the fourth pillar, thus burying the second Soul-Suppressing Nail underground forever. If they can also decipher the runes on the other two pillars, they should be able to clear the level.
Everything was moving in a positive direction, but Jiang Ran felt somewhat uneasy.
"Hey, hey, hey, we've got nothing to do right now anyway. You haven't told me the novel yet, have you? Wasn't that guy named Tang Si supposed to challenge the Great Emperor one-on-one? Did he win?"
"Yes, he won. He used Blue Silver Entanglement, and the opposing emperor laughed uncontrollably until he laughed himself to death."
"ha?!"
What exactly went wrong? The four Soul-Suppressing Nails correspond to the four compasses, so in theory there shouldn't be a problem. But if we just clear the level like this, who will be credited for the success?
After all, everyone participated in sealing the Soul-Suppressing Nails. Does that mean the three of them should be counted as clearing the level together? There's never been such a precedent in the world of supernatural tales.
Jiang Ran was thinking, and so were the people in front of the screen.
Judging from the footage in the three live streams, all four Soul-Suppressing Nails have been sealed, but nothing has happened, and there is no sign of the game being completed.
"Does that mean I have to pull out the Soul-Suppressing Nail to pass the level? No, that's not it!"
Jiang Ran squatted down and carefully recalled the runes engraved on the two Soul-Suppressing Nails. The order of the runes on the two Soul-Suppressing Nails was different. There were a total of five different runes. Not only did the runes on the four pillars next to the same Soul-Suppressing Nail have a certain pattern, but it seemed that the runes on different Soul-Suppressing Nails also had a certain pattern!
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