[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world":3,"chapter-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-22":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Survival Guide in a Mysterious World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2298991,4497,"Chapter 22: Thoughts of You Drift On","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-22",22,"\u003Cp>Feng Yu shunted his gaze away from Ning Zhe and remained silent for a long time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once it became clear that the ghost’s medium for stealing identities was “perception,” many past events fell into place: the deaths of Xie Sining and Gu Yunqing, Zhang Yangxu’s ordeal, and even Ning Zhe’s earlier cruel mockery and cold sarcasm toward Ye Miaozhu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more he understood, the harder it became for Feng Yu to suppress her fear and chill; looking back at the past with her current knowledge, she realized every one of Ning Zhe’s inexplicable actions had a flawless logic and clear purpose, every seemingly reckless decision backed by absolute certainty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe seemed to know nothing of fear or confusion; he observed every death with detached perspective, analyzed every absurd event with absolute reason, pulled the single thread that unraveled the knotted dead end from a tangle of chaos, and outlined the elephant in the room amid total darkness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What kind of person is he…? The more she thought, the stranger Ning Zhe felt to her—stranger than a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old adolescent, stranger even than a “human.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You deliberately provoked Ye Miaozhu until she lost control, drawing the ghost’s attention,” Feng Yu whispered, lowering her voice: “Are you using her life to test your theory about the rules?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What else?” Ning Zhe smiled faintly: “If I were the ghost, to trigger my killing rule, I’d pick someone alone—especially fools driven by emotion. They’re easiest to strike.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If no one tried to scatter the group, and everyone stayed clustered together in vigilance, the ghost would have no chance to strike, and Ning Zhe could never verify his theory about the ghost’s killing rule.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, Ye Miaozhu was emotional enough—and foolish enough—to seal Ning Zhe’s theory with her death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The puzzle is solved. Now we simply follow the steps to unravel the rules here,” Ning Zhe said, releasing Feng Yu’s hand and lightly patting her tear-streaked cheek before turning toward the farmhouse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching his leisurely back, Feng Yu suddenly understood one thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rules are rigid, absolute, admitting no ambiguity or hypocrisy—black is black, white is white; there is no gray zone in between. This entire world operates under fixed, black-or-white rules, and obeying them is the prerequisite for survival.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Even gods are no exception,” Feng Yu murmured: “Yes, every existence must obey the rules—even gods.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pulled out her phone to check the time: just past seven in the morning, still far from lunch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe strolled into the room housing the snake god’s portrait. This time, Feng Yu felt no doubt—she understood what Ning Zhe was doing, and he had always known.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Imagine if Ning Zhe kept sneaking into every house to steal the snake god’s offerings—what would happen? By noon, when each household followed custom and placed a small bowl of food before the snake god’s image before lunch, they’d find the morning offerings already eaten. By whom?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What would they think? A stray cat? A mischievous child? Or…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe couldn’t control what people believed, nor could the ghost—so he could only keep increasing the sample size, rushing house to house, stealing the offerings relentlessly, maximizing the probability of “that thing” happening.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just one household—no, just one person. Even if only one person, upon seeing the stolen offering, believes it was the snake god who ate it, then…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe lifted his gaze to the swirling snake god in the portrait, picked up a piece of green bean with his chopsticks, and placed it in his mouth to chew: “Then I have a chance to win.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this was an ideal scenario—he couldn’t be certain this method held any meaning, or whether it would even work. But he had no other choice. In this strange world ruled by rigid laws, finding even a path that might lead to victory was rare enough—even if that path led straight into an abyss, he had to walk it. Walking the abyss at night, treading thin ice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe’s expression was calm, his vacant eyes like stagnant, lifeless water.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the next moment, his face twisted—he clutched his throat uncontrollably, writhing in agony: “Shit, this is fucking spicy.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Minutes later, Ning Zhe stepped out of the snake god’s shrine and called for Feng Yu to follow him to the next house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Women’s perceptions are subtle—Feng Yu noticed Ning Zhe’s eyes were slightly red, as if he’d just cried, though he’d quickly wiped away the tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For some reason, seeing this, Feng Yu felt a long-absent sense of “relief”—perhaps because she’d finally glimpsed Ning Zhe’s vulnerability, his humanity.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could fear. He could panic. He could weep alone in the dark, then bury every emotion and pretend he was unshaken…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So you can cry too?” Feng Yu whispered to herself, her gaze softening as it rested on his shoulders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Ning Zhe was hissing as he sucked in cool air—the thing he’d just eaten wasn’t a green bean at all, but a disguised green chili.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If I were the snake god, I’d damn well convict you of sacrilege…” Ning Zhe cursed inwardly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each lost in their own thoughts, the two moved quietly through the alleys of Hejia Village, sneaking into homes to steal the snake god’s offerings. Though each portion was small, the sheer number added up—Ning Zhe inevitably grew full, and the growing boy couldn’t withstand such forced feeding.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet to maximize the sample size, Ning Zhe pressed on, house after house, meal after meal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>While stealing the offerings, both Ning Zhe and Feng Yu remained hyper-alert, never letting the other out of their sight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know how, but the ghost has shown the ability to ‘teleport’ within Hejia Village—can’t afford to be careless,” Feng Yu thought anxiously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She dared not let Ning Zhe leave her sight too long—who knew the next door she opened wouldn’t reveal him? Meanwhile, Ning Zhe pondered another question.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Of Hejia Village’s two puzzles, only the one about the ghost has been accurately solved. My theory about the snake god remains unverified.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“...What if I’m wrong?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And even then—would the ghost simply sit idle, doing nothing to counter him?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1025,"2026-06-20T06:29:21.893Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","dde2538d8f28dffb5fb3278f3defa7732c3909291620652fedf583f6c41ffc4b","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-23","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-21",353,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurvival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-cover.jpg"]