[{"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-41":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},2299010,4497,"Chapter 41: The Butterfly That Chases Light","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-41",41,"\u003Cp>Thump. Thump. The sound of metal heel spikes striking floor tiles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before she could even rejoice at finding her daughter, Feng Yu shu’s eyes fell upon a young man in a checkered long-sleeve shirt and work pants, his feet clad in sturdy hiking boots whose embedded anti-slip steel spikes struck the ground with a thump-thump rhythm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normal walking wouldn’t produce such a crisp, resonant clatter—but he was jumping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like a classic Hong Kong zombie, the workman kept his legs together, rigidly straight, hopping up the stairs one bound at a time, crossing the corridor, leaping toward Feng Yu shu’s location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To Feng Yu shu, this absurd spectacle was utterly horrifying, sending a chill down her spine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because she had just seen this workman moments ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was when she’d been slipping along the wall, carefully avoiding the fresh corpses strewn across the floor as she made her way to the stairs with Ning Zhe—each corpse bore a different death pose, expressions frozen in their final moments: some dazed, some confused, others utterly terrified.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among them was an electrician, calmly inspecting a transformer and the wall wiring, his face serious, utterly focused, completely unaware of death approaching—until that intense, focused expression hardened like plaster cast onto his corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workman jumped forward again, his arms hanging straight at his sides, pressed tightly against his hips, his entire body rigid as a spear driven into the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His gaze remained fixed, the same serious expression still locked on his face as if he were still inspecting the wires at the moment of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump-thump—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workman leapt two more steps, closing the distance in an instant—he now stood only two rooms away from Feng Yu shu.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The opulent crystal chandelier above the corridor scattered delicate, dazzling light onto the floor, stretching the man’s faint shadow long and thin; the icy threat of death flooded Feng Yu shu’s chest, tightening her nerves to their limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hadn’t run because Ning Zhe and her daughter were still inside the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ning Zhe… the ghost… it’s coming up the stairs…” Feng Yu shu’s voice trembled, forcing down the fear in her throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost instantly, a soft girl’s voice came from inside the room—Bai Zhi’s voice:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Turn off the lights.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Yu shu froze: “Ah Zhi?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Turn off the lights,” Ning Zhe’s voice echoed out too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Yu shu immediately understood—he meant the chandelier—but there was no time to find the switch; she frantically rummaged through her handbag, pulled out her iPad Mini, and hurled it straight upward at the crystal chandelier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a sharp crash of shattering crystal, the chandelier went dark, plunging Feng Yu shu’s vision into dimness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The corridor’s chandeliers weren’t limited to just the one before her—others still glowed, and bright white light spilled from windows lining the hallway; the entire castle was brilliantly lit, except for the space directly in front of Feng Yu shu’s door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thump—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The workman’s feet slammed onto the floor; he stood perfectly still, his expression rigid as if scrutinizing something—or merely frozen in the posture of death.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Is the ghost motionless now?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Yu shu stood before Bai Zhi’s door, tense, staring at the rigid corpse standing beneath the light, not daring to breathe. She felt her heart pounding like a wild horse struggling to burst from her throat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, a black-and-white bird flew out the window—a magpie.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe leapt onto Feng Yu shu’s shoulder, observing the rigid corpse beneath the light alongside her, his thoughts swirling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“After the lights went out, the ghost stopped moving,” Ning Zhe observed the surroundings, speaking softly: “More precisely, once you hid in the dark, the ghost stopped moving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Yu shu looked around—indeed, the vast, brightly lit castle had almost no unlit corners, except the spot where she stood. It reminded her of Bai Zhi’s earlier words: “Within this ghost’s range, light means danger, darkness means safety. Hide in the dark, and the ghost won’t find or kill you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ghost now matched Bai Zhi’s description perfectly—still standing rigid beneath the chandelier, its focused expression as if searching for something, yet never finding it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, a sharp sound came from downstairs—like overturned furniture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hmm?” Ning Zhe noticed that at the instant the noise sounded, the corpse’s eyes had flickered slightly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was looking at the floor—or rather, at the first-floor lobby beneath it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next moment, the workman’s corpse collapsed onto the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His body no longer stood straight; he fell face-down, splattering vivid little bursts of blood, limbs splayed irregularly, just like every corpse Feng Yu shu had encountered on her way here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The ghost is gone,” Ning Zhe murmured: “It couldn’t find you hiding in the dark—maybe it turned to investigate whoever made the noise downstairs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Feng Yu shu exhaled deeply, her entire body suddenly going limp, her legs trembling with weakness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ning Zhe… you saved me again…” Feng Yu shu pressed her hand to her chest, still shaken: “I don’t even know how to thank you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It was your daughter who saved you—not me,” Ning Zhe said dismissively: “Figure out how to open the door.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having confirmed the condition that “darkness = safety,” Ning Zhe relaxed slightly, spent some time, and with Bai Zhi’s help from inside, they pried open the blocked door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the door opened, Feng Yu shu rushed forward, pulling the girl in her loose pajama dress into her arms, voice trembling with tears: “Thank goodness—you’re safe… thank goodness…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhi didn’t seem used to her mother’s embrace, but didn’t pull away; she tucked her stray strands behind her ears, revealing a pale, exhausted face, and looked at Ning Zhe standing nearby: “Who are you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’m Ning Zhe.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhi shook her head: “I know your name. I’m asking your identity—who are you? How do you know about the ghost? What’s your relationship with my mother?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe spread his hands: “You could say I went into your dream with your mother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Huh?” Bai Zhi froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Let’s go inside—it’s dark in here,” Ning Zhe said, stepping past the mother and daughter into the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three entered, closed the door, and Feng Yu shu briefly recounted to Bai Zhi how she’d wandered into He Family Village and escaped with Ning Zhe’s help; Ning Zhe listened silently. In the darkness, the girl’s expression was unseen, but her breathing grew heavier and more rapid as the story unfolded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So… it’s true…” Bai Zhi’s voice was stunned—Feng Yu shu’s experience had clearly shaken her deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You now know my origins, so now it’s my turn to ask,” Ning Zhe said, ignoring Bai Zhi’s emotional state: “When the ghost first appeared in the estate, I tried investigating its killing scenes—and I died. At the time, I was perched on a tree branch; even the nearest corpse was over ten meters away. But just now, your mother was less than ten meters from the ghost—closer than I ever was.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So why did I die instantly, without time to react at all—while she had time to freeze, stare, be warned, then scramble to turn off the chandelier?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe’s voice was quiet, but each syllable was precisely enunciated: “Why didn’t the ghost kill your mother immediately?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bai Zhi fell silent for a moment, then answered:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because the ghost fears light.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ning Zhe was surprised: “Didn’t you say earlier that the ghost requires light to kill?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why now say it fears light?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1241,"2026-06-20T06:29:21.893Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d408521faa0883269ccc7262debd203a7296aab47267a8e826863dbb8c92b9bc","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-42","survival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-chapter-40",353,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsurvival-guide-in-a-mysterious-world-cover.jpg"]