Takumi, I’ll be staying in the countryside for a few days.

Chen Sheng gazed at the headless young woman before him. Even though he knew perfectly well that this was all just a game, he couldn’t help feeling a bit speechless at the sight.

He put away his “beginner’s equipment” once more.

Having played this so-called healing game up to this point, Chen Sheng finally understood just how lethal this “beginner’s equipment” truly was. To put it bluntly, aside from that black-faced revenant he’d brushed past, none of the ghosts he’d encountered so far could put up much of a fight!

“All right, all right, stop crying. If someone owes you money and you want them to pay you back, that’s perfectly reasonable—it’s only right. After all, debts should be repaid, that’s the natural order of things! But I’m not the one who owes you, so there’s no point in turning vengeful against me,” Chen Sheng said, offering comfort for the sake of the “quest” he hoped to trigger.

“S-sorry!” the headless girl stammered, her eyes filled with terror as she looked at Chen Sheng.

Ever since she’d transformed from a regular ghost into a vengeful spirit, she’d lost the ability to harm others. In fact, driven by her growing resentment, her malice had intensified, escalating from the “ill-fortune” level straight to “bloodshed.”

After all, it’s an age-old rule—redemption weakens, corruption strengthens.

Moreover, a ghost’s power doesn’t come from cultivation. The distinctions between “ill-fortune,” “bloodshed,” and “calamity” are merely categories created by the locals to classify spirits.

On the other hand, with her newfound malice, the headless girl could now finally see the executioner’s noose, which was usually invisible to her.

The terrifying power of that penal tool warped her very senses.

Already petrified of Chen Sheng, she now trembled on the edge of terror. Suppressing curses, wielding execution tools, and flaunting lawlessness—this man was, in her eyes, nothing short of a doomsday fiend disguised as the living!

Noticing the NPC’s reaction, Chen Sheng assumed his words of comfort hadn’t been enough to trigger the “quest.” Determined, he tried again: “You don’t need to apologize—it’s not your fault. If someone owed me money and kept dodging repayment, I’d get angry and turn vengeful too.”

Yet upon hearing this, the headless girl grew even more flustered, unsure if she should be relieved or remain terrified.

After all, there was only one spirit in this town’s depths strong enough to ascend into a fiend, and yet, the man before her was a bona fide one!

The headless girl no longer regarded Chen Sheng as human at all.

It was just like those other ghosts trapped in the wealthy Li family’s villa, seeking substitutes to take their place.

Summoning her courage, she said, “Actually, I don’t really care for money that much.”

She feared that failing to answer might result in being devoured on the spot. She’d heard the stories—some fiends relished devouring ghosts, swallowing them whole without even chewing.

“You don’t like money?” Chen Sheng’s expression turned odd.

Everyone else demands, “Give me back my life!” but here she’s shouting, “Give me back my money!” and yet claims she doesn’t like money?

Under Chen Sheng’s scrutinizing gaze, the headless girl panicked further and quickly contradicted herself: “No, I mean—I like money!”

Afraid he might not believe her, she emphasized, “Yes, I like money. I said it wrong just now.”

Seeing her flustered like this, Chen Sheng surmised it must be a setting in the game—this NPC was probably programmed to fear being called materialistic, no doubt the work of that mischief-making developer, whose tricks he’d experienced more than once.

He shrugged and said, “Don’t be nervous. Liking money is perfectly normal—who doesn’t like money in this world? But, since society doesn’t encourage flaunting it, maybe next time you can be a bit more tactful.”

The headless girl hesitated, her denial stuck in her throat, and curiosity got the better of her. “A bit more tactful? How?”

Chen Sheng stroked his chin and replied seriously, “Takumi, I’m going to the countryside for a few days.”

The headless girl was bewildered.

Such a cross-referenced movie line was lost on her.

Her confusion, however, surprised Chen Sheng. There’d been a “Brother Haonan” earlier, so why didn’t this NPC recognize this reference?

“Oh, maybe only those who get this joke are a bit older. So the developer is trying to act young, or maybe he’s just afraid we’ll all realize he’s bald, so he avoids these weird crossovers?”

Chen Sheng always assumed the worst of others, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.

“Does that line mean something?” the headless girl couldn’t help asking.

“Of course, it has meaning…” Chen Sheng began to explain the plot of a certain movie to her.

He was earnest, even though the headless girl was, in his mind, just an NPC.

After all, he found it amusing.

The story was simple: a streetwise young man meets a girl who loves money. When things get ambiguous between them, the girl still goes off with an “uncle” for a few days—for money—spending both days and nights together.

In the end, the young man achieves enlightenment, realizing women only slow down his driving, and sets off resolutely on his path to become the king of the mountain pass.

As Chen Sheng finished recounting the story of the “drift king,” a sobbing sound echoed from nearby.

It was instantly clear this wasn’t the headless girl.

It was a man’s voice.

And it came from a distance.

Curious, Chen Sheng looked over and saw a pale-faced, sloppily dressed young man emerge from the darkness.

The boy wept incessantly, crimson tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

He was obviously not among the living.

A perfect fit for the style of this healing game.

“Why are you crying?” Chen Sheng asked.

“I was wounded by a curse carried on the wind, and after hearing your story, I felt so much empathy for Takumi that I couldn’t help but weep,” the boy replied.

A curse in the wind?

Chen Sheng made a mental note of this detail, but he was more interested in the story hidden behind this boy’s appearance.

Not out of nosiness, but out of genuine curiosity—and perhaps hoping to dig up another “quest.”

So, he asked, “Are you also a hapless youth? Oh, I mean that in the original sense of the phrase—it’s a compliment, not an insult.”

He realized the newly appeared NPC might not get the reference, so he clarified, “What I mean is, I can help you win the girl you like.”