Chapter 68.2 Crazy Love Season
The viewers’ curses were too loud. The production of【Paranormal Time Drone】had already been suspended by the official authorities.
Those eerie cracks that opened up were just like this darkness, ignored and unnoticed by all.
After who knows how long had passed, the scarecrow finally ceased its nearly contorted struggle. When it looked up again, a glint appeared in its eye. Like a baby taking its first steps, the scarecrow attempted raising its hand and taking a few steps. Gradually, it adapted to its new body.
The scarecrow hurried back to the edge of the trash can, leaving behind only a pool of blood on the ground.
It lowered its head, deep in thought.
The scarecrow that could pose a threat to Wen Shi was gone. Today’s events seemed to mirror things the other had experienced as a child. He and the adult Wen Shi crossed paths at Big Factory, so at this point in time, Wen Shi should have been saved.
The scarecrow approached a shop window, its mouth moving, forming a rather peculiar curve at the corner of its lips.
It was rather unsightly.
Likely to frighten people.
The big eyeball decided not to smile in front of Wen Shi for now, to avoid startling him.
Easily breaking the lock, the straw demon reached for the cheapest strawhat on the shelf and placed it on its head to cover its odd eye and mouth. Then, it turned and headed back to the self-built house.
Jian Qingrong had been studying monsters and oddities for years. Successfully turning a pile of ghosts into a videotape and storing it in the data room was his most inconspicuous achievement.
Faced with this rewind, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
The past couldn’t be changed, and all changes came at a cost. Being trapped in the past felt more like some entity wanted to manipulate him into killing the couple.
He wouldn’t make such a foolish mistake. However, there were certain things that were necessary.
Amid the blazing self-built house, Wei Yue anxiously discussed with her husband what to do next, completely unaware that behind the utility pole stood the straw demon.
The young couple’s faces were deeply imprinted in the single eyeball’s memory, every change in their expressions noted from head to toe.
He merely observed, memorizing the couple’s features, but hesitated to take further action. The intangible force finally confirmed that the scarecrow wouldn’t intervene, bringing an end to the time rewind.
…
Inside the nameless black clinic recommended by the game, the handsome middle-aged man was negotiating with the barefoot doctor in the hallway.
On the small bed, the child gripping the safety charm suddenly regained clarity in his gaze. The overhead surgical light wasn’t very bright, but it felt blinding to him. As real memories gradually returned, Wen Shi’s breathing became erratic.
He turned his head slightly, avoiding the bright light above. When he saw the familiar figure in the hallway, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, his breath caught. However, before Wen Shi could take a second look, the system prompted:
“Congratulations on successfully avoiding the deal with the demon.”
“Time rewind has ended.”
“This rewind incurred an additional audience fee of 290,000 underworld coins and 20 pounds of incense ash. Upon successfully returning to the village, the player will receive a dividend of one thousandth.”
Everything in front began to blur, from the surgical light to the ceiling, all transitioning into a reddish hue. After a whirlwind sensation, the clinic, the figure in the hallway… everything vanished completely. After an unknown period of time, focus returned to his vision, met with the vast mist among the mountains.
The dizziness hadn’t subsided. On the winding path, Wen Shi stumbled, and a hand reached out from the mist, pulling him in time.
“A’Sang.” The mist made Wen Shi sure that he had returned to the instance’s forest map.
After he subconsciously called out, he realized that the one holding him wasn’t A’Sang but the hand of the scarecrow!
Wen Shi reflexively tried to shake it off, but the hand held on tighter.
Struggling a few times, during which the scarecrow showed no malice, Wen Shi considered the rule that scarecrow needed deals to kill. He stopped resisting and regained his balance, politely yet distantly saying, “Thank you.”
The scarecrow wanted to respond, but it was an incomplete entity after all, incapable of producing sound like a real demon using its straw body.
Its empty mouth was merely a decoration.
Seizing the scarecrow’s momentary bewilderment, Wen Shi pulled his hand free.
“Dad.” A’Sang’s voice came from a few meters away, and before Wen Shi could respond, his thigh was hugged.
He lifted A’Sang, vaguely able to see worry in the child’s expression through the mist.
“I’m fine,” Wen Shi reassured.
Once A’Sang was sure he was safe, he urged, “The mist is getting thicker. Dad, let’s go quickly.”
Wen Shi nodded, patting A’Sang as he inquired, “What about the vial?”
Seeing that he still cared, a human-like emotion, stiffness mixed with gratitude, appeared on the scarecrow’s muscle-less face.
A’Sang shook his head, only mentioning that he saw Wen Shi catch it.
Wen Shi blinked, struggling to recall anything related to the vial, but his mind was a jumbled mess.
“Trouble.”
Wouldn’t this mean that Jian Qingrong would become a one-eyed dragon if he lost it?
“N-no worries.” A’Sang seemed to stumble over his words when it wasn’t about himself. “That eyeball is really strange.”
By “strange,” he meant something highly complicated.
The item【Small Lamp】lost its ability to illuminate in the red mist. Wen Shi carefully searched the nearby ground, his hands exploring inch by inch, eventually touching the scarecrow’s body.
Many of the experiences from the time rewind were blurred, but he had a faint memory that the demon kept trying to convince him to make a deal, promising to help him take revenge on his family.
Wen Shi seemed to have grasped the crux of the issue, speculating that the demon’s failure stemmed from the fact that the family the demon referred to and the family he had in his heart were entirely different.
“Asymmetric information can be deadly.” He shook his head.
Ignoring the scarecrow’s attempt to stop him, Wen Shi persisted for a while. After confirming that the vial was nowhere to be found, he let out a soft sigh.
Now, he could only hope that the eyeball would automatically find its way and navigate independently to reunite with its owner.
Suddenly, the scarecrow half-knelt in front of Wen Shi, gently brushing against his palm as if wiping off dust.
What the hell?
Wen Shi looked at it warily. Was it preparing to employ some kind of soft approach?
The next moment, the scarecrow circled to the front again, bending down.
A’Sang understood at once, “It seems like it wants to carry you, Dad.”
“?” Wen Shi really wanted to ask if this scarecrow’s brain was caught in a door, but then again, a bunch of hay being caught wouldn’t matter much.
The side quest, which was to return to the village, hadn’t been completed yet. Wen Shi couldn’t afford to be careless. “I won’t make any deals.”
The scarecrow nodded, even though his movements couldn’t be seen clearly, the sound of straw rustling could be heard.
Feeling dizzy and facing quite a distance to travel, he remembered that he had taken a nap to get here when he arrived in the morning. Now, with the free ‘mount,’ there was no reason not to use it.
In the end, Wen Shi ended up jumping onto the scarecrow’s back. Without violating any rules, the demon couldn’t just toss him down the mountain for no reason.
“A’Sang…”
A’Sang knew what Wen Shi wanted to say, “Dad, I’ll walk on my own.”
He had far more stamina than the average person, and he was an active person by nature. This stretch of mountain road was nothing for him.
Surprisingly, the scarecrow’s back was quite spacious. It was quite comfortable to lie on.
Bored, Wen Shi decided to see what tricks this scarecrow had up its sleeve. He deliberately started braiding small plaits with a few strands of straw from its cracks. To his surprise, not only did the scarecrow not get angry, but it also pulled out a few more pieces of straw for him to play with.
“……” You cooperating like this is starting to scare me a little.
Wen Shi rubbed his nose and decided not to dwell on the scarecrow’s change of heart. Instead, he kept calling out to the game, trying to negotiate in his mind.
“I can forego the rewards, but could you make a copy of the rewind for me?”
The notification had mentioned that the entire process would be recorded by drones. The game should have a copy of it.
“Once I get it, I’ll show it to Ji Yuanzhi. After all, he’s been investigating me all this time. Having a video will make things much easier. I promise to only play it in the game, and I won’t take it to the real world as evidence without putting in the effort.”
The greatest value of suffering lay in when it was witnessed by others.
The notification remained silent, so Wen Shi sang a monologue to himself, “If nothing else, could it be shared widely? Let more NPCs see it, publicize my kindness.”
Unconsciously, the scarecrow passed through the densest part of the mist.
The ground had been shaking quite frequently tonight, with four or five tremors within half an hour. It was clear that a lot was happening on the other side of the Ghost Gate.
Wen Shi furrowed his brows, imagining the scene in Sealed Coffin Village right now as the Ghost Gate remained open.
As they approached the last stretch of the road leading to the village, the mist lessened, but the humidity grew heavier. The air was filled with the scent of corpse oil. Drops of viscous liquid occasionally fell from the steep cliffs, sending a chilling sensation throughout his body.
It wasn’t just the ordinary cold and eerie feeling he was accustomed to. This was a thick, ominous atmosphere. Even though without a medium, Wen Shi could sense that in the distance, Sealed Coffin Village seemed to be awakening with countless dormant bodies coming back to life. The malevolent aura was expanding relentlessly, attempting to consume everything in its path.
Successfully navigating through the challenging mountain path, Wen Shi immediately heard someone calling his name.
“Pei Wenwei?” A voice filled with uncertainty reached him.
Looking up, Wen Shi saw familiar faces ahead. The crew and players were gathered not far from the village entrance. He scanned the area from a distance and noticed one person missing, the male player who had injured his leg earlier in the day.
The players’ expressions changed drastically as they spotted Wen Shi. He was comfortably resting on the scarecrow’s back, showing no signs of exhaustion from the journey. It was clear he had been carried back.
Tian Wanling couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, “Look at the treatment he’s getting… The host gave him a ride in the morning, and now a scarecrow carried him back in the evening.”
He was only a step away from someone spoon-feeding him.
Each player drew different lots, leading to varying guides and quests. Wen Shi had the longest and most challenging mission. After all, losing his memory left him in a completely passive state. Without some sort of opposing determination, this task would likely end in his demise.
Descending from the scarecrow’s back, Wen Shi joined the group with A’Sang in tow.
The residual warmth of a human body on his back made the scarecrow feel quite comfortable. Silently, it followed behind Wen Shi.
The guides for the other players had long departed. Faced with the eerie scarecrow that had stuck throughout the journey, they didn’t feel particularly surprised.
Too many bizarre things had occurred in a single day. This could only be counted as one of the insignificant occurrences.
The on-site crew seemed as uncomfortable as frostbitten eggplants. Under normal circumstances, Wen Shi couldn’t resist a few smug remarks. However, seeing the horrifying resentment emanating from the host, he wisely chose to keep quiet.
But there was always someone who lacked tact, like the deformed man who was almost back in the familiar village. He finally broke down, desperate to return home. He yelled, “I’m not participating anymore! I’m just a stand-in anyway. I never formally signed any agreement with you guys.”
The dream of marrying a wealthy widower to inherit a fortune had long been shattered for the deformed man. Now, he only wanted to stay alive. He could tolerate being paired with another special guest, but this was simply unbearable!
The ratings plummeted, and conveniently, there was a venting opportunity at hand. Everyone thought the host would take out his anger on the deformed man’s head. But he didn’t.
The host raised his eyes, fixing his cold gaze on where Wen Shi and the scarecrow stood. He said, with a chilling tone, “Love is about connecting on a deeper level. If you’re unwilling, we’ll find someone who is.”
The players’ expression changed, wondering if the program was actually pairing Pei Wenwei with the scarecrow?
Wasn’t this going a bit too far?
Wen Shi was accustomed to this by now. He calmly stood in place, waiting for the host to announce his new match.
In the cold breeze reeking of blood, only the straw covering the entire body of the demon trembled slightly. Every second of the past day had been torment for the big eyeball. It could only watch as Wen Shi was matched with others, being forced to play those deadly love games.
Finally, it had waited for the chance to stand by Wen Shi’s side.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the previous candidate we found for Mr. Aaron proved to be a complete failure. However, a new candidate has emerged…”
Worried about pricking his delicate skin, the scarecrow hastily tidied the grass in his hand and then reached out towards Wen Shi.
“It’s. Me.”
Each word was enunciated distinctly, with a resounding impact.
The scarecrow’s hand froze in midair.
Facing the camera, the host adjusted his tie clip, wiped off the exaggerated makeup from his face, and walked over to Wen Shi. Amid the astonished gazes of the onlookers, he held Wen Shi’s hand, separated by a handkerchief he used to wipe off the powder. “Don’t let my role as a host fool you. Prior to this, I was a champion at blind dating.”
Indeed, the ace host of “Crazy Love Season” had decided to step in personally!
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