Chapter 1982: Ghost Skull Mystery 43

Left! Down! Jump! Dodge to the right!

Lin An! Stay close to me!

Jiang Haochen charged ahead, wielding two short knives, slashing wildly at the air like a madman.

Perhaps to outsiders this scene looks absurd, but to Jiang Haochen it felt like they had charged into Avici Hell, facing death every second.

The headless ghosts surrounding them from all sides were like a corpse horde, sealing them off tightly; bloody gaping mouths held in hands hissed and bit.

Lin An couldn't see behind him, only able to observe via the camera reflection on his back; with a narrow field of view, he could only keep firing, trying to carve a bloody path.

His stamina was draining rapidly.

Pfft! Pfft!

The sounds of blades and bullets entering bodies were dull and bloody.

Fortunately, aside from their odd attack style, these headless ghosts weren't much stronger than zombies; otherwise, given their current combat power, they'd likely be devoured on contact.

Lin... An... huh... I'm still useful... right?!

Jiang Haochen drove a knife deep into the headless ghost's spine like splitting wood, then kicked it off and handed it to Lin An to finish with a shot.

Although they had never fought together before, for some reason their cooperation was fairly seamless, and they managed to carve out a bloody path!

Ignoring the seven or eight hands grabbing at him, to keep Lin An unharmed, Jiang Haochen slammed his body into the pressing ghost horde, bearing their bites and tearing open a gap for Lin An to follow.

Rip!

Fuck!!!

A sharp pain flashed across his right face, ignoring that his right ear had been torn off, Jiang Haochen gritted his teeth and used his left foot to brace against several heads' bites, shielding Lin An as he rushed through.

The agony of having flesh chewed alive drove one mad.

Especially for Jiang Haochen, charging into the ghost horde was like voluntarily jumping into a meat grinder, watching himself being shredded bit by bit.

Fuck you... mom ahhh! Eat! You bunch of dog scum!! Eat Laozi's foot! Give Laozi a mouth! Fuck your mother!

Staggering, after a headless ghost bit off half his sole, Jiang Haochen cursed in pain, his blood rage flaring; he seemed to go mad, thrusting a foot into the ghost's mouth, furiously trying to 'choke to death' that head!!

Trembling all over from the pain, under the ghosts' grabs and bites, he felt like a sweater losing threads with each step; perhaps halfway he'd unravel into loose fibers, dying without a whole corpse.

To be honest, despite the apocalypse having lasted this long, he'd never been in such a sorry state before.

Conserve stamina... speak less...!

Boom!!

With a low shout, Lin An swept his gun sideways, then after a rapid downward stab he blew up the ghost head biting Jiang Haochen's right foot. The gun barrel was slick and sticky, the bloody stench seeming to drown them; in the camera's reflection, the world looked like a distorted ghost face.

Though only a few hundred meters, it felt like a chasm; hearing the angry roars behind him grow louder, Lin An knew the time Zhang Tie had bought him was almost up.

These headless ghosts seemed unconscious, more like a living wall guarding this place, devouring any intruder.

But there were too many; if they couldn't pass quickly, the pursuing rear ghosts would catch up at breakneck speed and crush their skulls with a bite.

Save what...?!

Lin An! I'm asking you—am I useful or not!

Rip

Fuck!

With a large chunk of flesh torn from his left shoulder, Jiang Haochen cried out in pain, unable to free his hands, he actually turned his head and bit the raised head.

He then jerked his head back, spat out the dead man's face skin he'd bitten off with a 'pah', and burst into loud laughter.

Hahaha! Lin An! Am I not badass!

Like a madman, Jiang Haochen gulped down the foul black blood in his mouth, his eyes wild as he limped forward again.

Don't let his occasional childish, sulky behavior around Lin An fool you; on Earth he's notorious for his ferocious fighting, seen by his subordinates as a suit‑wearing thug.

He no longer cared what becoming of fighting these ghosts would turn him into.

From the moment he agreed to join Lin An on this mission, his very marrow held only one obsession: to prove himself!

Very good..

Can you still hold on..!

Boom!

With a muffled grunt, Lin An barely ducked a thrown head lunging at him, but his right thumb was snapped off by the nearest ghost.

Ignoring the excruciating pain in his right hand, Lin An raised his gun and swept again; after shaking loose a brief gap, he hauled the captured Jiang Haochen forward less than ten meters.

He couldn't move forward, completely stuck!

Having fled all the way here, Lin An felt his stamina nearly exhausted to the limit.

Even though Jiang Haochen drew the ghosts' attacks, Lin An's body bore several torn wounds, bleeding heavily; dizzy and weak from blood loss, his steps began to falter.

They seemed unable to break through.

Through the camera's reflection, Lin An could already see Zhang Tie and the others being overwhelmed.

Barring accidents, in just a few seconds the rear ghosts behind them would catch up.

By then they'd still be trapped in the ghost horde, able only to await death.

(At least a full team must charge together; each cleared stretch requires someone to deliberately die and lure the ghosts—just like facing zombies, and they must not be overtaken by the rear ghosts.)

(Starting the next round, they must immediately go find people, taking advantage of Gao Tian and the others not having triggered the rear ghosts, then go find Andre!)

A restart seems inevitable.

His whole body icy, his consciousness fuzzy, Lin An felt a heavy weight in his heart.

He had hoped to test in the first round whether his cognition met the mission requirements, but that now seemed impossible.

If the second round also falls short, it would mean that in the third round he must not only gather everyone as quickly as possible, but also seek out information he hasn't found yet along the way.

It appears there are two chances to restart, and either way he could complete the mission.

But upon reflection, two attempts might not be enough! Any mistake and he'd still die here! Especially, Lin An still hasn't figured out what the ghost skull actually is!

(Can it be filled in? If we judge by the logic of the headless ghost's appearance, then which team would the missing clue be on!?)

(Is it on the Qing Kai clansmen? Or the golden bull? Or perhaps also the Crushing Star?)

Before Lin An could finish thinking about what they were lacking, behind him, a miserable scream and a roar finally sounded:

"Lin... An! Charge past! Charge past ah ah ah!!"

The sound stopped abruptly, turning into a teeth-aching swallow.

Only seen, behind Lin An's back, the golden bull that had been attracting the headless ghosts to the left was actually eaten alive, its raised right hand like a broken branch, swaying in midair.

At the same time, Zhang Tie, who had attracted the most headless ghosts, was also exhausting his last strength as a slave, dragging the headless ghosts on his body as he fell to the ground.

"Lin Dui!! Be careful...! I'll go first... one step!"

His throat was bitten through; unlike the golden bull, which had already been hopeless before death, Xiong Hanzi now wanted more to help Lin An gain some extra time.

But human strength has its limits; seeing Lin An and the other seemingly dragged dead-center in the clearing, Zhang Tie also realized they probably couldn't try anything this time.

It's a pity; if they weren't expending so much stamina, perhaps Lin Dui could have a bit more confidence, a bit more information.

"Lin... An... I feel like I can't hold on..."

"Fuck..."

"That group of ghosts is catching up!"

Struggling to turn his head, with half his eyeballs gouged out, Jiang Haochen gave a bitter laugh, indicating he had no strength left to clear the path.

But no matter what, he would still try to move a bit farther away, to see if he could let Lin An charge to beneath the light gate. Just like accumulating experience, they thought to clear this mission, they wouldn't finish without dying a few times.

Seeing the headless ghosts behind already howling and leaping forward, Jiang Haochen, after saying that, suddenly turned his head, exerting his last strength to smash open the headless ghost in front.

Go as far as you can! Even ten meters is meaningful!

His heart sank; feeling the icy chill rapidly approaching from behind, Lin An also knew they had reached their limit.

But even knowing there was no hope, Lin An had no intention of giving up; he would rather die in the last meter!

However, just as Jiang Haochen let out a roar, his whole body lunged toward the ghost crowd and rushed out, the next second Jiang Haochen actually froze, incredulously shouting:

"Wait!!?"

"Lin An!! My strength! My strength suddenly recovered a bit!!?"

"Hum!"

A red light flashed and vanished; Jiang Haochen first froze, then became excited and ecstatic.

Mental power! His mental power recovered a trace! Although not much, compared to his current state, even the strength of a First Level would be enough for him to wreak havoc everywhere!

After confirming it wasn't an illusion, Jiang Haochen suppressed his inner joy, instantly turned back, and a burst of flame exploded from his right hand.

Exactly! That's the mental power skill he mastered before the Third Level! Mental flame!

"Boom!!!"

Like throwing a grenade, the instantly exploding mental power fireball immediately blew the headless ghosts between them apart.

Seeing the headless ghosts chasing from behind the two, Jiang Haochen let out an even more vicious laugh, and swung his right hand again:

"Damn it! What can ghosts do!? Take my universal big bang!"

As soon as his words fell, the fireball he threw flew over Lin An's head, directly blasting a large swath of headless ghosts into fragments.

Not caring how cheesy the line he shouted in his excitement was, Jiang Haochen threw another fireball, then hurriedly tried to bring Lin An along in a frantic charge!

But just as he turned, he felt the mental power he had painfully recovered instantly fade.

His face changed; Jiang Haochen subconsciously looked down at his feet, as if realizing something, and hastily retreated:

"Lin An! Have you recovered your strength!?"

"Come over! It seems we can recover our strength if we cross the middle!?"

Although he didn't know what was happening to himself, his quick reaction let Jiang Haochen instantly realize his strength would recover, seemingly related to distance.

At the same time, Lin An also came to his senses and rushed toward Jiang Haochen at top speed.

He understood Jiang Haochen's meaning.

They seemed to be stuck exactly at halfway across the clearing; perhaps like a supply point, as long as they charged here, they could recover their strength to finish the last stretch of the road!?

If that's really the case...!?

In less than a second, Lin An, under Jiang Haochen's cover, leapt forward and threw himself over.

However, beyond both of their expectations, after crossing the midline, Lin An felt no mental power fluctuation; instead, he suddenly felt an indescribable unease!

"Not recovered!?"

"No effect on you!?"

In the moment they locked eyes, Jiang Haochen's face changed, his heart filled with surprise and doubt.

Impossible! His mental power really did recover, and he could clearly feel that the closer he got to the exit, the more his mental power recovered!

Forget it! No point worrying about that; even if only he could recover, that's still good!

Not wanting to think more, seeing the ghost horde closing in again, Jiang Haochen grabbed Lin An and only intended to bring him to carve out a final path!

He could even try contacting the mission to see if it counts as completed!

"Rumble rumble! Boom! Boom!"

Just as Jiang Haochen had thought, as the distance to the light gate grew nearer, his mental power recovered more and more.

But over just a few tens of meters, he even felt his mental power was almost restored to around Third Level!

Unlike his previous helplessness and frustration, Jiang Haochen burst into loud laughter, simply going crazy with explosions, as if taking revenge, blasting the encircling headless ghosts into pieces en masse!

"Lin An! I said I'm absolutely not lacking!"

"Bring me in, it's definitely your best choice! I know my talent is unparalleled! I, Jiang Haochen, am also a genius!"

The scorching firelight turned the whole clearing into a sea of fire.

Leaving aside the mission's strangeness, in the Skull Ghost mission, theoretically having Third Level strength—or even Second Level—would be enough to sweep aside everything! Especially, he could even see the ghosts!

This must be his special talent! He's perfectly suited for this kind of special mission!

He was far less excited than Jiang Haochen.

Under Jiang Haochen's frantic barrage, although the light gate loomed ever closer, Lin An's unease only grew stronger.

He didn't know where this feeling came from, as if some unimaginable horror were about to happen!

(Wrong! Why do I feel something's off!?)

(Power restored!? Why has Jiang Haochen's power recovered, but not mine!?)

It wasn't that Lin An was so narrow-minded as to 'be jealous' of Jiang Haochen's talent; for Lin An, as long as he could complete the mission, he didn't care if Jiang Haochen performed better than him!

Even though the situation kept improving, and Jiang Haochen even took the lead, Lin An's suppressed feelings almost choked him!

Meme.. faith.. nonexistent.. imagination.. headless ghost.. ghost skull..!

I can't connect them, I just can't connect them!

It was like facing a math test—he had no idea how to solve it, yet the paper had to be finished!

Where's the problem!? Where's the problem!?

He seemed to notice Lin An's increasingly pale face, mistakenly thinking Lin An had been shaken by his own performance, and Jiang Haochen laughed heartily, not caring at all.

"Lin An! It's no big deal! I have a special talent! Everyone has weaknesses sometimes—don't worry, the reward for this mission is mine...!"

Less than ten meters from the light gate.

Just as Jiang Haochen finished laughing, he felt his talent might have accidentally hit the right answer for the mission.

In an instant, his smile froze, his pupils constricted sharply.

It was as if he'd seen the impossible, something too horrible to add to.

"No... no...!? How could this be!? How could it be like this!!?"

"No!!!!"

A scream of terror bordering on despair woke Lin An.

Only then, beneath the light gate, a headless corpse suddenly came into view, its blue armor vivid beyond compare.

At that moment, the ghost's invisibility seemed to vanish as well.

Beside Qing Kai's corpse, a headless ghost holding a head stared at them silently.

The head being held was none other than Jiang Haochen's.

"I... died!? My head... no!!"

"We have no head!!?"

The moment they realized the truth, with a "thud," Jiang Haochen's body went limp, his head rolled with a "gurgle" and came to rest before Qing Kai's corpse.

In deathly silence.

Lin An trembled as he reached up to his own face.

It was a rotting face.

Before Qing Kai's corpse, a line of bloody characters, like endless darkness, instantly swallowed everything.

"The ghost skull is on our necks."