Chapter 274: Wendigo: It's Ji Ming, Hilarious, He's Off

Muscles twisted, organs shattered, spine broken……

Heibai's body simply couldn't withstand the close-range critical hit boosted by righteous qi, and was directly blown open with a near-penetrating fatal wound.

What's worse, the blood that should have welled up from his throat was blocked by the steel bead he'd accidentally swallowed, leaving him unable to make a sound, let alone exhale.

Combined, even though Heibai's vitality was already tenacious enough, by the time Ji Ming withdrew his fist, lacking support, he collapsed like a puddle of mud.

Moreover, in his slight spasms, even the already extremely difficult cough became incredibly feeble, as if he were about to blow out the lamp and pull the wick—a countdown to his complete death.

Having killed him ruthlessly, Ji Ming's smile didn't fade; he crouched down, tore a strip of cloth from Heibai's outer armor, and wiped the bloodstains from his own arm.

"Stop coughing, no one wants to hear your last words; everyone's just waiting for you, this evil bastard, to die quickly so we can pop the champagne."

Heibai was obviously furious at this remark, even the breath he was about to swallow was forcibly pulled back; his eyes widened in anger, and he longed to devour the person before him alive.

Just then, perhaps because miracles truly exist in this world, or perhaps because some floor tiles in this long-neglected old conference hall were already warped.

Anyway, as Heibai unintentionally trembled and twisted, the blood flowing from his abdomen spread out, and one branch stained the Wendigo necklace that Ji Ming had casually tossed to the ground.

In an instant, that little strand of bloody fluid seemed to come alive, seeping along the engraving on the pendant and soaking the entire tile; the next moment, a foul aura emanated.

Moreover, despite there being nothing nearby to block light, a shadow sprang forth from nowhere, gradually expanding outward, arbitrarily marking out a patch of ground.

After all, as one of the Wendigo's arrangements set up in Sunshine City, how could Heibai possibly lack even a trace of the divine veil?

As long as he awakens this tile with his own blood, he can forcefully call for aid, summoning the incarnation of the Great Shadow God to descend, protect his followers, and slay all heretics.

Thus the vague shadow gradually solidified into a bloody, massive form bearing a skull-deer head—this is the incarnation of the Shadow God.

……and also some entity that, back when it was underground here, was essentially angered to death.

For a while now no one has summoned it, but today the Wendigo seems in a great mood; before even lifting its head, a string of classic lines poured out like spilled beans.

"The Great Shadow God has already descended! Who dares to harm my faithful……"

Then they saw a figure wearing a question-mark mask standing beside them, emanating a familiar scent.

"……"

An inexplicable silence lasted a full five seconds; upon seeing the mortal before them brandish a shawm and wave it, the large deer head lifted its skull and gazed up at the ceiling at a 45‑degree angle.

Their eyes held three parts sigh, three parts resignation, three parts bewilderment, and a full ninety‑one parts 'what the fuck'.

Then……

And just like that, without a sound, they vanished in utter confusion!

Perhaps fearing further trouble, even the tile engraved with their sigil exploded into powder on the spot, making summoning impossible any further.

Shocked melon‑eating onlookers. jpg

His smile hadn't even faded before it smeared across his face—Heibai. jpg

In despair, he had thought that even if he died he might still manage a one‑for‑one exchange; he widened his eyes and shouted with his last breath.

"Ah!?"

Then he just lay there in a daze, dead~

And as he died, Ji Ming's body burst forth with a dazzling golden radiance—this was because his total righteous qi was surging wildly, his bodily capacity temporarily unable to contain it, forcing excess to leak out.

Glancing at the Righteous Qi Nurturing Technique, which had surged up by two full layers, even Ji Ming couldn't help marveling at how heinous the opponent's crimes were—so vile that killing him alone could offset a hundred good deeds.

Heibai's gruesome death also stirred the players' thoughts; they fear neither battle nor death, but the negative emotional fluctuations brought by the evil god's recent descent truly unsettled them, prompting an immediate barrage of discussion.

"This appearance—could it be some uncanny evil god? A proper god wouldn't show up like this."

"I recall Sunshine City wasn't just recently plagued by uncanny disturbances across the city, right? Could it be that after just calming that, it's already surging back?"

"Eighty percent likely the officials are just hiding Easter eggs again; maybe this thing is the boss after the game's public test—watch out, and even if you die you can still summon a deer‑head cutie to fight."

"Actually, similar uncanny appearances aren't the first time; earlier the Adventurers' Association seemed to be hunting moles, and ended up killing a high‑ranking goat‑man linked to the uncanny."

"How serious is this? The Business Alliance sent an uncanny mole to threaten us—could we also spin this into a scandal and turn the tables on them?"

"That really is a good idea that fits players' habits, but before we could think it through, someone interrupted us speaking."

"But this person's already been killed, and that tile's shattered—if they come to investigate on site, we probably won't have any evidence."

"All we can say is that when a bunch of disinterested smart people gather to do a disinterested good deed, their problem‑solving efficiency is always exceptionally high."

"In just a few words they grasped the crux of the whole issue and pinpointed the core pain point."

"Indeed, even if the players have some ability, it's only in the Outer City; their influence in the Inner City is minimal, and the stereotype is that they're a bunch of barbarian thugs."

"So even if they had many more eyewitnesses, the Inner City folk wouldn't believe them, let alone cause trouble for the Business Alliance and make them experience how disgusting it feels to be hated."

"But for Ji Ming, isn't this exactly a proper, justified appearance—'showing his face' before the players—a great opportunity?"

"So he slowly wiped clean the blood on his arm and, in a low voice, put forward a suggestion."

"I've heard there's a Divine Chosen with an excellent reputation in the Inner City, deeply versed in uncanny matters, and who also helped resolve the previous frenzied beast incident."

"If you go find him, have him investigate any lingering uncanny aura here and on Heibai, even uncover the culprit—wouldn't that prove everything?"

!!!

"Is this feasible?"

"Having received the Mysterious Merchant's nearly point‑triggering side quest, the players, still astonished, launched another round of discussion."

"As for the final discussion result, it's quite simple——"

"Anyway, trying it costs nothing, and we're all fellow Easterners like the Divine Chosen—old friends helping old friends, behind the scenes we'll... uh, never mind, we just need to lend a hand."

"Immediately the players split up, heading for the places where the Divine Chosen usually appears most often."

"Although the Inner City checkpoint originally intended to give them a hard time, upon seeing piles of silver coins and the opponents' far higher levels, they all shrank back and hurriedly let them through."

"And coincidentally, the direction the Brocade Night Patrol squad headed was none other than Ji Ming's main base—the clinic he currently uses as a residence."

"Ji Ming, familiar with the area, arrived and glanced at the vendors lining both sides of the commercial street, then at his companions' faces."

"Although everything here is familiar, putting the two together really feels…"

"Moreover, why are they all staring at me? Am I an eight‑year‑old? The kind who travels untethered and is bound to get lost?"

"What's wrong, why are you all staring at me?"

Still, Cang Lang walked out, speaking softly.

I know you once participated in the game's promotion work, and now this so-called Eastern person's God's Chosen name is also pronounced 'Ji Ming'; we really doubt whether he might be the NPC you played.

Impossible, I'm the protagonist!

Putting this simplest rebuttal aside for now, Ji Ming still spoke confidently and righteously.

How could that be possible? First, there are many things in this world pronounced 'Ji Ming'; if you don't believe me, let's go in and see, then we'll know!

No way, that's so awesome?

You... you really dare to go?

What's there to be afraid of? Let's go!

Under Ji Ming's lead, the group hurried into Wai Shu Clinic.

Recently, although Sunshine City's atmosphere was tense, the number of injured civilians and adventurers actually dropped; moreover, AdaiEr gradually grew accustomed to the doctor's treatment routine, so the clinic's workload has not been busy lately.

But the clinic AdaiEr took over carried on Ji Ming's era of connections and relationships; for instance, now some patients waiting to see the doctor, upon seeing a group of unfamiliar faces, actually enthusiastically looked after the local host family.

After making room for them and giving each a cup of hot water, one of them lightly coughed.

You... ah, you've finally made it to the Inner City! I heard you cleaned up those gang lackeys thoroughly—great, I love seeing those three families' scoundrels get their comeuppance!

Exactly, exactly!

With praising the God's Chosen as the main topic and praising the doctor miss as secondary, these few talkative patients dragged the whole team into chatting, their mouths chattering on for a long while.

No wonder they're enthusiastic; it turns out that, unbeknownst to them, the players have seemingly become heroes in the eyes of Sunshine City's lower-class citizens.

After all, they wholeheartedly think of cutting flesh from the superiors, rather than, when feeling a bit uneasy, rushing to squeeze oil from the miserable.

And upon hearing that the Easterners had come to seek the God's Chosen elder for help with some strange-related matters, each one eagerly offered suggestions and ideas, contributing many proposals.

However, the previous patients were mostly minor aches and pains, so there wasn't much waiting; the team members soon saw the so-called God's Chosen student, the doctor's assistant.

Ah?

Aurora let out a gasp and quietly began typing in the internal group.

【Although I can't tell Europan appearances apart, is she of age? That God's Chosen won't be employing child labor, will they?】

Ji Ming:... I didn't!

In this world, let alone sixteen or seventeen—there are plenty of noble infants swaddled and already busy with engagements—so you absolutely cannot use modern societal limits to judge adulthood; don't spout nonsense!

Fortunately, others didn't care about this either, after all, if they strictly followed their own laws, they'd probably still be beheading people at the city gate at noon by now, only to find that the damned wretch they aimed at is nowhere in sight.

Not only Aurora couldn't tell other races' appearances apart; AdaiEr frowned and scanned everyone's face, lingering a second longer on Ji Ming's face, but still couldn't tell whether this person resembled her own God's Chosen or was actually him.

Therefore she could only, under the doctor's guidance, first raise her vigilance and extract some words and related information from this group of Easterners.

Only after confirming that they were indeed looking for the doctor for a matter, and not trying to trick him out to start a new industry, did she say that the doctor had not left the clinic since morning; since it's a major strange-related affair, she could go report it, but couldn't guarantee the doctor would go.

Here they come, here they come, God's Chosen!

Watching her step by step ascend the stairs, everyone in the team couldn't help but feel somewhat excited.

From the moment they entered Sunshine City, they had heard countless legends about the 'doctor' or 'God's Chosen saint', so many variants that they could fill a separate section at ComicMarket.

After all, even the players couldn't help but become curious, wanting to see what this existence, hailed by the populace as a living saint, actually looks like.

Then, in their anticipation, they heard that little girl's laughter from the second floor, followed by a steady and light pair of footsteps coming down.

A white robe with gold trim, pure white delicate gloves, soft yet with a hint of sharpness, facial contours with just the right curve. And on the head, a radiant golden halo that shines brilliantly without being ostentatious.

With such looks and such style, it's not just our side's thigh! It must be a super big boss spanning multiple versions!

So... although his appearance indeed resembles Ji Ming to some extent, the difference in aura and demeanor is simply too great.

This isn't something you can catch up to just by looking alike; it requires time and effort to polish, and that's also the biggest difference between a star impersonator and the star themselves...

Seeing everyone silent, Ji Ming shrugged.

Maybe they referenced my face when modeling, after all I'm quite charming in social interactions.

Bystander:...

This one downstairs is naturally the genuine Ji Ming; then who is that slowly descending upstairs?

——【Suggestion Technique】 isn't Ji Ming's exclusive patent either; naturally it's the magic taught to him by Silvia.

Anyway, it's just making an emotionless social machine walk around here acting; a function that modern technology can achieve through programming, and for this person it's a piece of cake.

And Ji Ming does this in order to completely separate the player's identity from the NPC's; after all, the player will soon step onto the world stage and also needs some naturally likable NPCs to help guide them.

He wandered around the Inner City with the team, took a look at the relatively normal otherworldly city scenery, then logged off with the excuse 'It's getting late, I want to restore normal sleep to relieve stress', switching back to his main account that was already nearing the White Wolf Ancestral Temple.