Chapter 147: Substitute
Qin Wan did not change her mind because of this.
Choosing to believe the ghost’s words was the most stupid practice.
The ghost would not spare her just because she really betrayed her companions; it was just another trap to put her to death.
She had not forgotten that at this moment, it was her misfortune, not Lu Jinzhao’s.
The situation that seemed most unfavorable to Lu Jinzhao, at a time like this, must certainly be the most unfavorable to her, Qin Wan!
So no matter what the ghost wanted her to do, she absolutely could not comply.
Seeing her unmoved, the Substitute Lu Jinzhao standing behind her slightly frowned in some confusion, as if encountering a situation she could not understand.
The ghost could not understand human emotions and could not possess all of human wisdom just by creating a substitute, but this Substitute Lu Jinzhao was indeed slightly “smarter” than the substitute Zhou Zimo beside her.
The palms landing on Qin Wan’s back increased more and more, cold sweat continuously dripped from her forehead, and she clutched the pocket watch in her hand while her mind kept thinking about what other methods there were?
What other methods were there besides the pocket watch?
She could not think of any.
Qin Wan felt frustrated because of this.
Perhaps this was why, even though she had a fate, she still had to expend a large amount of lifespan to survive inside the platform.
If not for the good luck of obtaining this special fate, gaining the favor of First-Class, and acquiring sufficiently powerful supernatural items, she would probably have died long ago.
Qin Wan’s emotions suddenly sank into a dark quagmire, and with the cold touch from behind, her emotions were also pulled infinitely downward.
Until Lu Jinzhao, who had always been coldly watching from the sidelines, suddenly walked toward her.
Because of the ghost, Qin Wan was not in her original position at this moment but a few steps farther from Zhou Zimo and Lu Jinzhao, though not far, and Lu Jinzhao obviously needed a closer position.
She stopped only when she reached Qin Wan.
Qin Wan was somewhat puzzled about what she intended to do when she heard Lu Jinzhao ask: “How many minutes do you have left on your misfortune?”
“About two minutes.”
Lu Jinzhao nodded: “I can help you, but in exchange for the skin on your back and three ribs, is that okay?”
“Okay!” Qin Wan agreed immediately.
Then, she felt Lu Jinzhao’s slightly cool hand take her wrist, and something like a bracelet was fastened onto her wrist by her.
The instant it was fastened, Qin Wan immediately felt that this was a supernatural item.
Immediately after, the temperature of her entire body began to drop at an unscientific speed, her heartbeat became slow, her breathing, which had been too rapid due to tension, also calmed in an instant, and her bodily functions seemed to suffer some kind of restriction, continuously decreasing, dropping toward the direction of a dead person.
Also at the instant she fastened it, those cold hands behind her actually stopped increasing!
After all, what could the ghost get from a “corpse”?
But the hands pressed against her back could not fall off because of this; the instant the bell was fastened, this supernatural item blinded the ghost’s perception, and in its eyes, Qin Wan at this moment had already become a “corpse,” but these hands grabbing Qin Wan knew she was a living person, not a corpse.
Thus, the bell and the ghost fell into supernatural confrontation.
Lu Jinzhao could see this bell shaking wildly in a state it had never been in before, the bell sound continuously ringing, getting louder and louder, and she immediately realized that it was because this bell was not powerful enough and could not completely block the ghost’s perception; it absolutely could not hold out for ten minutes.
No, probably not even five minutes.
Lu Jinzhao slightly frowned, intuitively feeling that this would not work; supernatural items taken out from low level instances indeed could not hold up for long in high level instances?
“Qin Wan.”
In the darkness, someone began calling Qin Wan’s name.
“Qin Wan.”
“Qin Wan, the Qin Wan who says something?”
With each call, black human shadows began gathering on the street.
Their faces could not be seen clearly, their figures could not be seen, only the sounds closing in could be heard.
Accompanying the calls, the bell on her wrist shook more and more violently, as if it would shatter and break at any moment.
Qin Wan, who had just felt a bit relieved because of the bell’s effect, immediately looked up at Lu Jinzhao: “What to do?”
The ghost seemed unable to find Qin Wan, but because of the “misfortune” influence, its target had always been Qin Wan, so in the darkness, it kept calling Qin Wan’s name.
“I have to leave here, at least, escape the hands on my back!”
Lu Jinzhao decisively said upon hearing this: “Go!”
But as soon as Qin Wan took a step forward, she let out a cry of pain.
“My back… it hurts so much!”
Those hands that were clearly just lightly pressed against her back, the instant she tried to leave, became like nails piercing into her back!
Every step forward felt like her flesh and blood and soul were being torn apart.
The voices calling Qin Wan from all around were getting closer, about to form an encirclement, and Lu Jinzhao saw a crack already appear on the surface of the bell.
And yet less than half a minute had passed!
It was too useless.
She did not want Qin Wan to die here, because she could not be sure what Qin Wan herself would become after being replaced by the ghost?
Would her corpse still be usable?
So it was best to let Qin Wan survive.
Thus, Lu Jinzhao did not hesitate; her fingers swayed slightly, controlling the shadow puppet to climb onto Qin Wan’s back.
“It will hurt a bit, endure it.”
As she spoke, the shadow puppet sensed those hands on Qin Wan’s back belonging to the substitute and began gnawing ferociously.
These hands were not the ghost’s body, just individual blank substitutes wandering in this city without having obtained a “person”; they all craved Qin Wan and were unwilling to let her leave; every hand tried to reach into Qin Wan’s body and brain to take away her soul and everything.
“Don’t just stand there stupidly, try leaving here.”
Lu Jinzhao grabbed Qin Wan’s other wrist; the supernatural power from the shadow puppet that had kept Qin Wan unable to move instantly disappeared; every time Qin Wan tried to step forward, a hand from her back would pull her, and the shadow puppet would immediately find that hand and bite off its finger.
In this process of pulling, blood continuously flowed from Qin Wan’s back; her back was already drenched in blood, skin torn and flesh exposed.
In the moment when the pain made her brain go somewhat blank, Qin Wan still had the presence of mind to think: the skin on her back was all ruined; would the transaction with Lu Jinzhao still count?
But Lu Jinzhao did not give up on her because of this; she was always someone who kept her word.
Those hands gripping her one by one fell away; Qin Wan arduously walked forward, and with every step, large amounts of blood and minced meat fell from her back.
She thought, perhaps her back no longer had much flesh and blood left, only bones remaining.
But miraculously, she had not died yet and could still move.
She realized it must be the bell Lu Jinzhao fastened on her that was taking effect.
